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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
All Grown Up Thinking of Her
JesseI glanced over at Chance a couple of times as I stacked paint cans on the shelf. He was sorting some hardware at the counter, his tongue stuck between his teeth as he concentrated. He had finally become a relatively competent employee over the past couple of months. It had taken a lot more hours of training than I had planned on, and he still had weird little lapses, but overall, I was glad to see the kid get his act together here. I was glad that I had given him a chance, when the rest of the town didn’t seem ready to.He still drove Joe crazy, of course, and there was part of me that thought that maybe I should have hired someone different just so that they wouldn’t be at odds all the time. Joe was my partner in the business, after all. If I left, he would be in charge, and I wanted him to have an employee that he could work with.If I left. That wasn’t going to happen now anyway. Audrey had made it clear that she saw me here, even while she was off in France performing. There
All Grown Up The Test
AudreyI took a deep breath and stared at myself in the mirror. Truth time. All I had to do was flip over the little white stick that was resting on a paper towel there on the edge of the sink. Then I would know.I still didn’t know what I wanted to see there. None of this felt real to me. It felt like something out of a movie, or like something that happened to a friend of a friend. Not the kind of thing that could happen to me. Could I really be pregnant?Of course, I knew that birth control wasn’t foolproof. That no matter how careful we had been, there was a chance that I had still gotten pregnant. I kept going over it in my head, trying to remember if there had been a day when I had forgotten to take my pill, or a day when I had even been late taking it. I knew that it didn’t really matter, though. Whatever the reason for it, this was where we were now.Was I pregnant or not? All I had to do was look.I knew everybody was waiting out in the living room. Trish had asked me if I wa
All Grown Up Maternal Instincts
AudreyI gave myself one last look in the mirror, nodding as though that was some sort of pep talk. I threw the test in the trash and washed my hands. Then, I opened the door. “I’m pregnant,” I announced.Trish gave me a big hug. “Oh Audrey,” she said. She looked like she had a million questions. She tactfully didn’t ask any of them, though, waiting for me to say more.I slumped into a seat in the living room. “I’m pregnant,” I repeated. I looked around at them. “I think I’m going to keep it.” My hand came up to protectively rest against my belly, not that I was showing any signs of the pregnancy there yet. When it really came down to it, there wasn’t a question in my mind.I hadn’t prepared to have a baby yet. I wasn’t married, and I wasn’t settled down. This would shake my world down to its very foundations. At the end of the day, though, this baby had been created out of love. This baby was mine and Jesse’s, the culmination of all those years of friendship and more. I could never g
All Grown Up Rebound
JesseI carefully measured the board and marked it with a pencil, adding the piece to the pile of boards that were ready to be cut. Joe was doing some renovations on his place, and I had offered to help him out in exchange for beer and pizza. It was good to have a project to turn my attention to in the evenings after work, rather than going home and thinking about how much I missed a certain blonde.“There,” Joe said, fitting together one last piece on the left-hand side of the mantle. “Looks good, doesn’t it?” he asked.“Yeah, looks great,” I said appreciatively. Personally, I kept things pretty minimal when it came to furniture and decorations, so when Joe told me that he wanted these two shelving units, one on either side of the mantle, I’d been a bit skeptical.“What the hell are you even going to put on them?” I scoffed. “It’s not like you read, man.” Joe guffawed. “Books are a huge chick magnet,” he said. “Bring them home to a house full of books and they’re sure to sleep with
All Grown Up Going Back
AudreyI rubbed my eyes and yawned hugely, looking at my phone again. Still nothing from Annabelle. She was supposed to be here to pick me up at the Fayetteville airport. I couldn’t help the prickle of irritation that I felt at the fact that she was late. Granted, I hadn’t given her much warning that I would be coming back.That said, I had just finished up 23 hours of travel time, including two layovers, to get back here, and I was exhausted and cranky. Not to mention the fact that I was dying for a shower and a fresh change of clothes. Fortunately, my nausea hadn’t been too bad on the flight, although I had brought my own snacks rather than trying to eat what the airline dished out to me. I’d stuck to water as well. That seemed to help.Still, I couldn’t help feeling the complete opposite of a glamorous ballerina right now. Normally, I dressed semi-professional for flights, in slacks and a nice shirt. When I’d gone to put on my slacks, though, I found that they weren’t at all comfor
All Grown Up Blurting It Out
Audrey“Should we go straight over to his place? Or wait, he’s probably at the hardware store right now. That’s easy. Let’s swing by on the way back to the house. Mom is dying to see you too, but I’m sure she’ll understand if we have to make a stop on the way.” She smirked at me. “You’ll have to keep it to kissing for now, though.”I shook my head. I wasn’t ready for a confrontation with Jesse yet. I hadn’t told him that I was coming back, even though I knew it was only a matter of time before the rumor mill informed him. I should probably talk to him before he heard from someone else. I didn’t want him to think that I was avoiding him. Anyway, I wanted to see him.Not right away, though. I wanted to sleep before I saw him, at least. I was still worn out, and I didn’t want to say something that I would regret.I also didn’t want him to look at me, knowing that I was pregnant, and accuse me of not taking care of myself and, by proxy, our baby. I hadn’t realized how important that was t
All Grown Up Together
Audrey“Have you at least given Jesse a heads-up already?” Annabelle asked. “It is his, right? Not some French dude’s? I mean, it’s okay if it’s some French dude’s, but Jesse’s going to be heartbroken.”I shook my head. “It’s his. But I haven’t told him yet. I wanted to tell him in person,” I said, even though I knew that part of my delay was just that I was having a hard time getting the courage to do it.“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Annabelle said. She paused. “You probably don’t want to tell him in the middle of his work day, huh?”“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “To be honest, I really need a shower and a night of good sleep first.” I glanced over at her, wondering if she would argue with that. I knew that Jesse had a right to know. It wasn’t like I was going to try to keep this from him. I just wasn’t ready for that conversation yet. Surely, she would understand that.Fortunately, Annabelle was nodding. “Yeah, let’s get you home.” She started the car. Was it just my imag
All Grown Up Stranger
JesseWe weren’t super busy on Saturday, and it was easy enough to manage the shop by myself while Joe was on his lunch break. The only trouble was, it gave me a little too much time to think. I was starting to dread that. I still couldn’t stop thinking about Audrey.That said, I was starting to finally feel like I had settled back into my old routine. All right, maybe I was still going to Gabby’s more than I used to, all for the sake of asking Annabelle about her sister. I was starting to get used to the silence around the house in the mornings and evenings, though, and that was what really mattered.I did miss the excitement of being with Audrey. Now, every day sort of felt the same. A colorless blur. Oh, there were certainly moments that were out of the ordinary, like when Chance actually clocked in on time that morning and Joe started cheering for him, confusing the heck out of the kid. That had brought a grin to my face.Most of the day was just the same as the day before: going
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All Grown Up All Grown Up
AudreyI couldn’t believe that Jesse had gone to all of this work to build the perfect nursery for our baby. From the looks of the crib, it was hand-built, not just one of those flimsy things that you put together from the store. I could tell that there was still some work that he planned on putting into that, and there was a rocking chair only half finished on the floor. But Jesse was building me a nursery for our baby.I could barely believe it.Here I had been so worried that he would want nothing to do with me or the baby, when in fact, exactly the opposite was true. He wanted this enough that he was willing to put his love and dedication into incorporating us into his life and his home. He wanted our baby to grow up here just like he had grown up here.He was so perfect. I didn’t know how to tell him that.Instead, I was given the opportunity to show it to him.I caught his hands in mine and tugged him out of the nursery and back down the hallway to his bedroom. This time, I was
All Grown Up Moving Forward
JesseWhen I heard Audrey’s reasons for why she hadn’t told me about the pregnancy, I felt my heart break a little. Not because her reasons were terrible, but because I’d been so terrible to her this week. If she’d only explained things to me before. I knew that was my fault, though. I hadn’t let her explain. We’d been tired and too full of emotions to really talk last weekend, but I at least should have made time to see her earlier in the week.I didn’t know what I’d been expecting from her, but her actual reasons for not telling me were almost too sweet.“I’m assuming that you want to try to get yourself back into shape and go back to being a ballerina once the baby is born?” I said now, at dinner.To my surprise, Audrey shook her head. “Honestly, I think those days are over.”“I’m sure you can talk to your director and work something out with him,” I said, frowning. “I know there was the injury as well as this, but he seems like a reasonable guy. It’s not like you don’t have the ta
All Grown Up Mending Bridges
AudreyJesse slowly came up to the porch, like he thought I might run in the other direction. “You look really pretty,” he said quietly.“Is that all you came here to say?” I asked tartly.The lips of his mouth twitched with a grin. “Just the start of it,” he promised me. “Have you already eaten? I was hoping that maybe I could take you to dinner and we could talk.”I stared at him for a long moment. So now he wanted to talk? I wanted to hear whatever it was that he wanted to say, though. I wanted him, so badly that I ached. I found myself nodding. “Let’s go,” I said, heading toward his truck.We were both silent on the way to the restaurant that had been our favorite as teens. I should have known that he would take me there. Back to where it all began. There was a part of me that was terrified that I was never going to be able to come back here again after this too-serious conversation that we were about to have.There was another part of me that soared with hope, wondering if this m
All Grown Up Missing Him
AudreyI shook my head. “It’s more complicated than that,” I sighed. “He just got mad because I didn’t tell him that I was pregnant until we were on the way to the hospital. I lied to him about why I was back here, and he can’t trust me anymore.” I bit my lip. “I deserve it, for waiting for the perfect time. I just didn’t think waiting was going to end up making things so terrible.”“Oh, Audrey,” Annabelle sighed, coming over to sit next to me on the bed and giving me a hug. I knew she was probably going to be running late for her shift, but she didn’t seem to care. She just wanted to make sure that I was all right. I nearly cried with how much I appreciated it.She noticed. “Are you crying?”I had to laugh. “Hormones,” I told her. “I’m pregnant, remember? My emotions are all over the place.”She shook her head and went to grab me a tissue from the box on the dresser. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think he’ll be mad at you forever,” she said. “You didn’t see him when you were in Paris
All Grown Up Baby On Board
AudreyI’d had a great day with Mom and Annabelle, cooing over all the adorable little things that we could buy for the baby in the local mall. I knew that they were really excited about the baby, but as much as I tried to match their enthusiasm, I still couldn’t help but feel upset and unsure. It would have been so much easier if I had known that Jesse and I were an item and that he was going to be there for me. For us.I still hadn’t heard from him, though, and now it had been nearly a week since he had found out about the fact that I was pregnant.It had been a long week. Other than that shopping trip, I had barely left the house. What was there to do? Anywhere that I went around town, there was a chance that I might run into Jesse. I didn’t want to admit that I was avoiding him, but the conversation that he and I needed to have wasn’t one that I really wanted to start in public where anyone could witness it.It was a small town. Soon enough, everyone was going to realize that I wa
All Grown Up Audrey
JesseI took a calming breath to steady myself. No. I at least knew Audrey well enough to know that she wouldn’t do something like that without at least telling me that was her plan. Even though I hadn’t reached out to her, she knew where to find me if she really needed to talk about something like that. She knew where I worked, and she knew where I lived.At least, I thought I knew Audrey well enough to trust in that. If not Audrey, though, I had a feeling I would have caught an earful from Annabelle if her sister was even considering that.“You’re sure it’s yours?” Joe asked.“Yeah,” I said. I grimaced. “I actually asked her if it was someone else’s and that was why she hadn’t told me about it. She got pretty upset that I had even dared to think that she might have been with someone else. I believe her.”Joe nodded, and I could tell he was thinking everything over.“Am I right to be angry with her?” I asked, when he didn’t say anything. “I mean, she flat-out lied to me. You were rig
All Grown Up Processing
JesseI knew that I should probably talk to Audrey. Not talking to her was driving me crazy. She had always been one of my best friends, and if there was anyone that I wanted to talk to, it was definitely her. I missed her. I wanted to know how she was handling all of this. I wanted to know what she was thinking.I wanted to make sure that she was following the doctor’s orders to rest and stay off her feet for a little bit, in case it was the stress that had caused that terrible cramping that she’d had the other night. It had been hard for Audrey to stay off her feet before when her ankle was injured, so I could only imagine how she was coping with it now.I hoped for the sake of the baby, our baby, that she was taking the doctor’s words seriously. I had a feeling she would be, though. Somehow, I knew that she was going to make an incredible mother. That little baby was lucky.It was one of the few things that I was sure of.The rest of it was all uncertainties, and that right there w
All Grown Up Stress
Audrey“Eleven weeks,” I said. “Annabelle and I went for the ultrasound on Friday.” I pulled out the picture to show her, and her face lit up.“Look at that little peanut of a thing,” she cooed. “He looks adorable.”“He?” I asked skeptically. “You can’t possibly tell that from the picture.”Mom tutted. “Let me have my dream,” she said. “It would be good to have a little man around the household again. Besides, look at the way he’s positioned. He must be a boy.”I tried not to laugh. “Maybe it’s a boy,” I said, glancing at Annabelle.“Audrey’s hoping it’s a girl so that she can teach her to be a ballerina,” Annabelle said.“The world could use more male ballerinas,” Mom said, winking at me. “I always wished that I would have a boy to balance out you girls.” She sounded wistful, and I suddenly realized that I had never known if two kids were all that she planned to have or if things just hadn’t worked out for more. It suddenly seemed like something that I should know.Mom was wrapped up
All Grown Up Telling Mom
AudreyI had barely left my bedroom for the rest of the weekend after Jesse dropped me off at home. I couldn’t help thinking of the terrible things that he had said to me out in the driveway. I couldn’t help thinking of how much I deserved for him to say those things and more to me.I had fucked up. I knew that now. No, I had known that all along. I knew that I should tell him about the baby. All the reasons not to tell him seemed so stupid now. I couldn’t even think how to apologize to him, in fact, that’s how stupid all the reasons sounded in my head.Not that I was going to get a chance to apologize to him. I had given him his space on Saturday. He wanted time to cool off and process things, and I would give that to him. Sunday, I hadn’t been able to stop myself from texting him, though. I understood if he wasn’t ready to talk yet, but I just wanted to know when he might be ready to talk. The uncertainty was killing me.He hadn’t responded. Suddenly, I felt panic go through me, eve
