“Yeah, I don’t think so.” I picked up her body and she squealed, kicking her feet in the air before I sat her down behind me, and took the front stairs two at a time.
“You are such a cheater.” I heard her groan loudly, and without even turning around, I knew she was stomping her feet, too. Still a princess to this day and I don’t think that fact would ever change. One of the things I loved about her most. “Hello,” I called out, walking to the kitchen first. It was still her favorite place, but she didn’t live in the room anymore.
“We’re up here, honey.” I jogged up the stairs to where my mom’s voice was coming from. Yup, my mom had decided to make the move with us. It had been a hard decision for her, and I hadn’t even asked, she was the one that suggested it. But before she could even put our family house up for sale, Jared and Molly decided to buy it from her, even though my brothers were pissed she was moving to be closer to me. I would always be her baby, what could I say? Della and I tried to convince her that she could move in with us, we even found a house with one of those in-law suites above the garage, but she wasn’t having it. So, she bought this place.
“Hey.” I smiled, standing in the doorframe where my mom was sitting on the floor of the guest bedroom, a feather boa around her neck and a bejeweled crown nestled in her graying hair. “Looks like you two are having fun.”
“Daddy!” Lily dropped everything she was doing, hurling her tiny three-year-old body at me, and I wrapped my arms tightly around her, swinging her in a circle as I pressed a kiss to her forehead.
This right here was the best feeling in the world. I had everything I wanted and couldn’t have asked for anything better.
And to think of how we had gotten here in the first place.
I WATCHED JUSTIN from the hallway, still mad that he had beaten me, stealing all of Lily’s attention away like usual. She was such a daddy’s girl. But I couldn’t stay mad for long, they were adorable together, so instead I stood there, smiling as I watched her whisper something in his ear and he sunk his fingers in to her sides, tickling her until she squealed. She didn’t see me until she had wiggled out of his arms and was laying on her back, looking upside down at me.
“Mommy’s here too!” She got up on her tiny little legs, running straight for me and I crouched down to catch her, loving the feeling that I got every time I saw her, even though she wasn’t exactly planned. I would never forget how my feelings were the exact opposite when I first found out I was pregnant.
“Callie, I need you over here ASAP.”
“Okay,” she dragged out. “And why exactly? Did I forget about one of our shopping trips? Drew is always distracting me lately.”
She giggled but I cut her off quickly. “Now, Callie!”
“All right, all right, calm down. I’ll be there in like fifteen minutes.” Thank you Jesus that I ended up with some of the very best friends, the ones who dropped anything they were doing when you called without asking any questions. Justin and I had been living together for almost a year, but I was still close as can be with the girls. I think I actually saw them more now than when we lived together.
I dropped my phone onto the bathroom tile, hanging my head and feeling the urge to hug the porcelain throne that I had become BFFs with over the past week. I already knew what that stick in the tiny box was going to tell me. I experienced these symptoms once before and they weren’t something that I would ever forget, but I was scared shitless. This wasn’t planned at all. Justin and I were happy, beyond happy, but this wasn’t something we were ready for. I knew when it happened, too. I had been on antibiotics for a killer cold, and of course, never thought about how they would react with my birth control. Classic, I know. But who could really resist Justin Parker when he came at you naked? Certainly not this girl.
I heard the front door open and I prayed that it was Callie. I wasn’t ready to face Justin yet. I had no clue how he would react.
“What in the hell are you doing on the floor?”
“Hi, Zoey,” I mumbled into my hand without even glancing up. “Thanks for coming.”
“I figured she should be here, too,” Callie piped in. “It sounded like something serious was going on. Mia couldn’t make it, though, said her and Nate were busy with—” I looked up when Callie suddenly stopped talking and saw her eyes slowly widen. “O-M-G! What in the hell is that? Are you…do you think…oh my God! Della!”