“You’re not excited about this?” My smile faltered just a little when I looked at her miserable expression. I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Any kind of life altering changes usually freaked Leah out. We hadn’t really talked about having kids much and I knew we were still pretty young, especially Leah, but if it was meant to be, so be it.
“I don’t know, Chase. The timing just seems so off. I’m already busy enough as it is between school, work, and Caleb. It’s just a little overwhelming.”
“We’ll make it work, I promise. Whatever I have to do, I’ll do it. This will be one of the most exciting times of our lives, just wait, you’ll see.” She let out a loud groan and collapsed against my chest. “Why does everyone have to be so damn happy about this?”
**********
I promised to keep Leah busy the weekend that Caleb was gone to keep her mind off the fact that he was gone, and for the most part I did. I think she cried pretty much the whole ride back to our house after we dropped him off with Roy. We both had gone in to check out his house when we dropped him off.
Roy’s house looked like he had went out and bought every single item under the sun for baby proofing, even though Caleb was almost four. He really didn’t need that stuff anymore, but we were both glad that he was putting in the effort. He had also went and bought every kind of boy toy and filled his spare bedroom to the brim. Caleb was in heaven.
I knew Leah was upset about the whole situation, but I’m sure pregnancy hormones were thrown in to the mix as well. I had been around my mom enough through her pregnancies that I knew all about the highs and the lows. Fun times.
Leah worked Saturday, so I hung out with the guys before one of their performances. When Teddy found out we were going to my mom’s for family dinner on Sunday, he couldn’t help but invite himself.
I still hadn’t talked to her about the whole situation at school, but I was planning on it tonight before Caleb came back home. There really was no telling how she would react.
“Leah, I’m so excited to see you!” The front door burst open and my mom rushed out to meet us as soon as I pulled my truck into the driveway. She wrapped Leah in a tight hug and then pulled back to lightly rub her stomach. Way to keep your mouth shut, Mom.
Leah’s eyes widened at the touch of my mom’s hand and her mouth fell open. “You already told her? No offense Mary, but we haven’t even been to the doctor yet. I don’t even have a clue how far along I am. Your son doesn’t know how to keep his lips zipped.”
Teddy laughed and I slapped him in the head when Leah turned her steely gray eyes to him. “You told him too? I guess I should ask, who didn’t you tell?” She crossed her arms over her chest and lightly tapped her foot, waiting for my answer, but truthfully, I couldn’t answer. I had even told the cashier at the grocery store last night when I went out to grab a case of beer.
“Leah, he’s just so excited.” My mom patted her on the back and ushered all of us inside. Instantly, I was assaulted by the mouthwatering smells coming out of the kitchen. I loved coming to my mom’s for dinner, there was nothing like it, even though Leah’s cooking was starting to come pretty close.
We were attacked by all of my younger sisters as soon as we walked in, all of them chattering about the new baby and what names they already had picked out. From the death stares coming from Leah, I knew I was going to be getting serious shit from her later about this.
When we sat down to dinner and the conversation still hadn’t changed, I decided to bring up another topic. “So Ted, you excited about the tour? It’s coming up pretty quick.”
He nodded his head in between shoving mouthfuls of mashed potatoes in and dropped his fork when his plate was finally cleared. “Yup, should be awesome man, too bad you aren’t coming along. It’s gonna be epic.”
Leah cleared her throat, a small smile finally on her face and it was actually directed at me. Maybe I was earning some points back at changing the subject. “I heard Remy and Ally are going too, that should be fun.”
Teddy visibly stiffened when Leah mentioned Ally, I think she was hoping for that effect. I saw the way he looked at her and he was fucking jealous over the fact that she was with Tyler. I tried to bring it up more than once but he always brushed it off saying that he could care less, pulling the next girl in the long line onto his lap.
“Yeah, should be a ton of fun. Different city, different girl or should I say girls.” Leah rolled her eyes at Teddy’s cocky smirk and my mom who was sitting on the other side leaned over and nudged him with her elbow.