Lily had a hard time getting what Angel said about Mark when Donovan came to visit out of her head. ‘If that guy cares about anything, he cares about you.’ Was that really true?She kept an eye on him trying to figure that out for herself over the next six months and came to the conclusion that her twin was right. He did care about her but she didn’t know in what capacity. It didn’t seem like he was willing to do anything about it either way.The only reason it mattered was to satisfy her own curiosity. Not knowing had been driving her crazy!Ignoring it and allowing things to carry on as usual was her only option but she hated how much everyone teased her about it. So what if she could finally admit she liked him? It wasn’t going to go anywhere so there wasn’t a point.Lily didn’t know who had hurt him to the point of dismissing any and all attachments but she was willing to bet it had something to do with how he grew up. Not that she had a lot of information about that either. All s
Mark bent down and picked up Lily’s skateboard, tucking it under one arm along with his, before taking her by the hand and leading her out of the skatepark. He found a secluded spot with no one else around before speaking again.He still refused to look at her and shifted nervously. “I won’t ever be able to forget it because of how long I’ve been wondering what it would be like to kiss you. Are you happy now?”It took her a couple seconds to process this but as soon as she did, her face turned red and she turned on him accusingly. “I knew you liked me! Why didn’t you say anything?!”“…was I that obvious?”“Kind of. Answer the question.”Mark sighed. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to like you. I didn’t want to like anyone. Unfortunately for me, you’re irresistible so I let myself get in way too deep. I didn’t want to act on it and ruin everything.”Lily squinted at him. That was somehow both a compliment and an insult. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to think about
Mark noticed the hurt in her voice and immediately denied it. “Lily, no! That isn’t what I meant!”“Then what did you mean?” Lily demanded. “Am I that terrible? I know I was rude before I understood you better but I already apologized about that. I think you’re a great person—I wouldn’t like you if I didn’t.”“I…I’m afraid of my feelings getting bigger and warping to the point that they turn me into something I’m not. I would rather run away from them than take that sort of risk.”“And you didn’t take mine into account at all.”She sniffed crossly and looked away but that belied how disheartened she was. He wasn’t even willing to try! What was she supposed to do about that? She didn’t want to lose him but it wasn’t like she could force him to be with her in a romantic sense or even stay friends. It might be too awkward to do that after this little confrontation.“I’m sorry,” Mark said quietly. “I wasn’t even positive you liked me until now so I didn’t think of your side of things.”Li
Angelina had a wonderful belated honeymoon. It helped her momentarily forget about all her problems but they came crashing back down around her when she got home and suddenly found herself a stay-at-home mom for the first time since Aria was born.She wasn’t used to this. Spending time with her daughter was great and all—she had changed her plans because she wanted to do that more—but doing it constantly without having much variation in her activities started to get to her after a few weeks. She needed to find something else to fit in her schedule before she lost her mind.She and Eddie went on a date at least once a week and they usually hung out with Lily’s friends on Fridays but that wasn’t enough. She needed more mental stimulation than this!He saw her struggling and recommended she try some new clubs or hobbies while she was figuring out what to do with the rest of her life. That was easier said than done but she did her best.Angelina learned how to crochet beanies and made mor
Angelina kept a sharp eye on Aria and Emma as they climbed all over the jungle gym and went down the slides but didn’t want to stand up to do it. She was feeling lazy today.It seemed she wasn’t the only one since a woman who hollered after a boy who might have been seven or eight not to run plopped down wearily beside her. “Mind if I sit here?”“Not at all. Was that your son?” Angelina asked conversationally.Talking to someone while she sat here would be better than sitting in silence. She couldn’t look at her phone to keep her occupied either since she was the adult supervision for two rambunctious kids.“Yeah,” the woman admitted. “Which kid is yours?”“The little blonde girl on the slide.”“She’s a cutie. Looks just like you.”Angelina smiled. “We get that a lot. It seems like she didn’t get any of my husband’s genes at all.”The woman’s eyes widened. “You’re married?! You look so young! I would have thought you were like me.”“…like you?”“An unwed mother from a teen pregnancy.
Genevieve blinked at Angelina in surprise when she saw her panting in the doorway of her room. “…Hey, Angel. What’s up?”“Do you have any plans after graduation?” she wheezed.“Not yet. There’s only one school close enough to home that I wouldn’t have to move with the major I want and I’m not sure if I’ll get in. I’m thinking about applying to some in L.A. too so I can be near Donovan in case of an emergency but, honestly, I’m still worried about living on my own.“Most apartments aren’t wheelchair friendly, especially the cheap ones but I need it to get around. Technically, I own forearm crutches but I almost never use them because the wheelchair is easier. They’re pretty much only for exercise so the muscles in my legs don’t atrophy.“Honestly, I’m also considering trying to get my degree online so I don’t have to go anywhere. I won’t have a car so I’d have to take the bus everywhere and you have no idea how annoying that is in a wheelchair,” Genevieve sighed. “Why do you ask?”Ange
Eddie didn’t get back from his business dinner until Aria was already asleep and seemed tired but he recovered immediately when Angelina pounced on him, brimming over with an unusual amount of enthusiasm. He grinned at her.“What has you so excited?”“I think I figured out what I want to do with myself instead of being a neurologist!” she exclaimed. “I’m going to need your help though.”Eddie seemed surprised. “My help? For what?”Angelina pulled him over to the couch and sat down next to him grasping his hands in hers before beginning her explanation. “I met someone at the park today whose situation is very similar to mine and I want to help her and Genevieve accomplish their dreams.”She told him everything from the beginning after that and he listened intently until she was finished. She looked at him expectantly and he furrowed his brow.“Are you sure you want to go into business of all things? That’s pretty far removed from what you got your degree in.”Angelina nodded. “I’m not
Mark absolutely hadn’t expected to hear all of that from his boss this morning but appreciated it more than he could say. In addition to being more present for Lily now that they were officially together, he could finally join a bowling league knowing what his schedule would be in advance.He felt surprisingly sentimental about the whole thing but didn’t say anything more on the subject so he didn’t make things weird. He got through the rest of the workday in a bit of a daze and when he was done, he headed over to Lily’s work to pick her up.She was waiting out front with her hair tied back in a ponytail wearing a pair of jeans, sturdy work shoes, and a blue uniform shirt with the octopus earrings he had gotten her. His heart skipped a beat, as it did every time she wore those.She smiled when she noticed him. “Hey, Mark. How was your day?”“Interesting. Edward decided to give me a more consistent schedule out of the blue so I can finally join a bowling league. I think there’s one th
Lily and Mark had a small simple wedding at a garden venue. Angel convinced her to let her apply light makeup for the occasion with the rationalization that she would only be getting married once. It did make her stand out in the pictures so she supposed that was something.All of their friends and her family were there to support them. Aria was the most adorable flower girl ever and her nephew Hunter was the ring bearer. Angel was the matron of honor and Randi and Genevieve were her other bridesmaids. Mark’s best man was Eddie and two of his bowling friends rounded out the wedding party.They went on their honeymoon to Hawaii where they took another submarine tour and hiked what felt like every inch of the island of Maui. Lily was happy but exhausted by the time they got home.Despite experiencing a major life event, not much changed in terms of work or their general schedules for another year when she got pregnant with their son Damien. Her job was kind enough to let her take a year-
Lily inhaled deeply and let the smell of the salty air soak into her soul. It was impossible to worry about anything right now when she was this relaxed.“You certainly seem happy,” Mark noted with a smile as they bobbed in the water.“I am. No one ever wants to go swimming with me. Thanks, Mark. Today has been wonderful and it’s not even over yet. You spoil me too much.”“There’s nothing wrong with a little spoiling.”Lily knew it was pointless arguing with him so she let it go and closed her eyes as she floated there. The ocean was oddly tranquil today. There were hardly any waves at all, which was perfect for swimming.She wasn’t sure how long they stayed in the water like that enjoying the quiet and each other’s company but, eventually, they headed back to shore. He read a book on a towel while she took a nap and let the sun soak into her soul.When she woke up, she felt more at peace than she had in ages. Her boyfriend had planned the perfect day for her. At times like this, it w
Lily’s ongoing struggle trying to be okay with Mark not wanting to move forward in their relationship became more difficult as time went on. On the rare occasions she tried to bring it up, he would quickly change the subject so she gave up after a while.That wasn’t like her. She was so frustrated she was ready to blow a gasket but didn’t want them to fight.So she ambled along expecting nothing knowing that was all she was going to get. It didn’t help that Angel was pregnant with her second child and very excited about the fact. She would be having a boy this time and she and Eddie had already decided to name him Eli.Aria had hoped for a sister but was still looking forward to having a baby to play with even if it was a boy. She was a good kid and Lily had no doubt she would be a great big sister.As much as she looked forward to meeting her new nephew, it got her wondering if she would ever be able to have a child of her own. Her twenty-fifth birthday passed recently and Mark still
Patience wasn’t Lily’s strong suit. Mark hoped Donovan got back to her quickly because he didn’t want to prolong this more than necessary. Mark didn’t want to ruin the surprise either though. If she knew what he was planning in advance, she might get suspicious.Thankfully, Donovan’s family was available two weeks from then. And so were two spots for what Mark was planning to take Lily to do. He booked the tickets immediately so now all he could do was wait.He already knew his girlfriend would accept his proposal but he was still anxious. Who wouldn’t be asking such a loaded question to the person that mattered to them most?At least she didn’t seem to have caught on yet. She chatted normally on their longer-than-expected drive down to L.A. due to traffic. They didn’t arrive until nearly 2 AM so it was a good thing Eileen told them where the spare key was kept in advance so they could let themselves in.An air mattress had already been set up for them. All they had to do was flop ont
Talking to Angelina about her seizure frequency being pregnant only made Mark feel worse because he knew Lily wanted multiple kids. She would be putting herself at risk more than once and he wasn’t sure he would be able to live with the anxiety. As it was, he wasn’t sure how Edward was able to do it.Maybe that was who he needed to talk to in order to ease his fears. Someone who had been in the position he would potentially find himself in twice.Mark knew that it wasn’t fair to leave Lily hanging forever. He wanted to spend his life with her, he truly did, but he needed to get his fears under control first.“How do you handle knowing your wife could have a seizure any time?” he blurted when he and Edward were in the car on their way to a meeting the day after his conversation with Angelina.He didn’t seem terribly surprised by the question. It seemed that she had told him what they talked about yesterday. “I don’t know. I guess I’m used to it by now. She did have one within five minu
They exchanged numbers and Angelina excused herself to get back to work. She should be able to focus now that she had gotten a bit of a break. It was nice knowing that at least one of her former associates was doing well these days. She hoped they were all able to find things that made them happy the way she had.Mark didn’t even look up when she came back in. He was that focused on his work. She wasn’t able to catch his attention at all until she called his name three times after finishing what she needed.“Sorry, I was in the zone. Are you ready to go?” he asked sheepishly.“Yeah. Thanks for sticking around.”Angelina felt a bit guilty to be inconveniencing him like this but at least he already knew Eddie was a worrywart when it came to her. That was why he wasn’t letting her drive on her own.He didn’t say anything until they were nearly back at her house. “Hey…um…do you always have seizures when you’re pregnant?”That was completely out of the blue. Why would he ask about that?“T
Over time, Taylored’s customer base did grow, if not as quickly as the owners wanted it to. Genevieve and Lita got a huge order to make costumes for a local theater company’s production of The Music Man and that kept them pretty busy for a while but that wasn’t the only big thing happening.After a few months of actively trying, Angelina found herself pregnant again. It was a much happier experience this time and everyone was excited about it. Particularly Aria. She was thrilled at the prospect of having a little brother or sister because a lot of her friends had them.She asked a million and one questions about what she dubbed “our baby.” It was adorable.Though her emotional state was much better, things weren’t too different physically than they had been with Aria because she had to change her medication again and that took getting used to. At least she was planning on it in advance this time and did it before getting pregnant rather than after.She was fairly miserable but hated b
Angelina had been rather busy preparing herself for the grand opening of their shop Taylored and didn’t notice her twin’s distress. Lita’s son was named Taylor so it was a sort of play on his name and the fact that they were tailors on top of designing custom clothes.By the time Genevieve graduated, everything was just about ready to go. Their grand opening was the week after and they had already gotten an impressive amount of advertising done so there should be a decent turnout. It didn’t hurt that they had a great location where they should get a lot of traffic.Having a real estate mogul for a husband could be surprisingly helpful. Before this, she never thought she would utilize his skills for finding great locations.Angelina went to the grand opening for a while since Aria was playing with Emma. Preschool was out for the summer and she missed her friends already. She was such a social little thing.She thought it went pretty well, all things considered. A lot of people came in
Genevieve caught a real break when Angel met Lita. She never would have suggested going into business otherwise but the three of them got on like a house on fire.Lily had been surprised to say the least and asked her twin about it. She smiled softly as she explained that all she ever wanted was to make a difference for people like her and this gave her the chance to do so without taking her away from her family for long stretches of time unlike her original dream.She certainly seemed excited about it. Talking about her potential business venture made her much more enthusiastic than usual. It was cute.Angel had made her own friends too in the various clubs and classes she had joined trying to figure out what she wanted to do so she joined Lily’s friends maybe once a month these days. Lily was happy for her. She deserved to have a life of her own after living someone else’s dreams for so long.Lily looked forward to seeing where this clothing business went. She had already commission