“Pretty much,” Wren shrugs, beaming at me with a toothy grin. “I’ll probably be going up to Oregon a lot when my nephew comes, though.”
“Ah, I forgot his due date. When is it again?” Xavier asks.
Out of all the guys, he’s been the most enthusiastic about Wren’s nephew. I love kids too. They are just tiny drunk adults and I find them hilarious. But Xaiver has always loved kids. He has three younger siblings, so it’s always been in his nature. He has this innate desire to be a dad. If he wasn’t in NU, he and Michelle would have at least five kids by now, I'm sure of it.
“In a few days hopefully,” she replies. Xavier nods and we all dig back into our food before it gets cold.
Spending more and more time with these guys has made life a little more bearable. We get a live action comedy show by watching Scarlett and Evan interact. We have some rational thoughts from our very own peacekeeper, Xavier. Wren and I are often the butts of the jokes that Kennedy makes. We work well together. Somehow. Finding friends like these isn't easy to come by and I thank my lucky stars every night that I'm stuck with them.
“How much are you betting that we’ll all get back to work after this?” Xavier asks when we are all stuffed and bloated from too many wings and pizza.
“I'm betting my life savings that we’ll all get back to work but less than ten minutes in, these two,” Scarlett starts, gesturing between Wren and me. “Will think of some lame excuse to go to the bathroom together.”
“Can we stop with the sex jokes?” Wren says laughing. “You’re all acting like you’ve never been around two people that have regular sex. It’s concerning.”
“Iwas just asking a genuine question,” Xavier says with a shrug, but I can see the smile creeping up on his face.
“I know you were, Z,” Wren replies calmly before her voice climbs up. “I’m on about everyone else. Miles and I fuck. So what? Matter of fact, that’s exactly what we were doing before you guys came.”
I look at her in amazement shaking my head and everyone starts to laugh. She’s been trying to hide how annoyed she gets when they make those kinds of jokes, but I didn’t think she would actually say something about it. I don’t mind the jokes. Not at all. As long as they’re always concerning us and that she’s no sleeping with anyone other than me. She scrapes her chair out from the table and walks over to me. Everyone’s laughter is still dying down, so they don’t notice when we slip out of the room.
“I think we should do it now, just to piss them off,” Wren smirks as she runs up the stairs.
“You’re insane.”
“Am I? Or am I just practical?”
CHAPTER 50
WREN
Exam week was hell. As expected.
It only dawned on all of us the week before that we’ve spent so much time doing everythingbutrevising. Every time we met up for a study session, we’d all be ready and prepared to do two solid hours of studying. In reality, we spent a good hour with our heads down before one of us, usually Ken, had yet another story to tell that we needed to listen to. Immediately, our focus is broken and all we want to do is talk. We managed to pull through at the last minute and we all did pretty okay. Now it’s just the waiting game until we get our real results back.
The only thing that got me through last week was knowing that I’d be meeting my baby nephew very soon. Austin and Zion are finally settled in Oregon, and they’ve been waiting for baby Marley to show up. He took his time but ten days after his due date, he came out a healthy light skinned baby with the most hair in the world. I haven’t had time to see him yet, but I finally get to meet him today.
The flight was lonely without Miles’ awful singing, but it was sort of refreshing. Since Kennedy’s birthday party, we have not left each other side for any more than twenty-four hours. I didn’t know how badly I had separation anxiety from him but since we got back together, I’ve been latched on him like a koala. I can't help it sometimes. Being with Miles is like taking a warm shower. It's like having the first bite of a chocolate chip cookie when it's all gooey in the middle. He is every good thing about this world, and he makes me feel like the best version of myself whenever he's around. We thought it was best for him to stay in Salt Lake while I visit the baby, just to make sure that we’re both healthy enough when I meet him.
A weird rush runs through me when I land in Redmond. It’s strange to travel on my own but it’s even stranger to be travelling to see my nephew for the first time. I don’t get to be around many babies but the second I am, I’m hit with instant baby fever. There’s something so magical about pregnancy and birth but because I know it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, I will be steering clear from that for a while. Even when I’m in Zion’s truck, on our way to their new house, my knee can’t stop bouncing up and down.
“You okay, Emmy?” he asks, glancing at me, using the nickname he convinced Austin to start calling me. Zion has always been kind to me, even when I treated Austin like a bitch most of the time. He’s always had this calming energy about him. It helps that he loves books as much as I do too.
“I’m just excited,” I admit, unable to fight off the smile on my face.
“Austin is too. I am as well. You’re going to be the first Auntie to meet him,” he replies, looking over at me again before turning his attention to the road.
“Really? I thought Austin said your sisters were coming down.”
“Nah, they’re coming in a few weeks when the weathers a bit warmer for them. It’s not easy trying to adjust from the Jamaican heat to whatever you call this,” he laughs.
It’s a miserable day in Portland. I kind of hoped that the sun would come out so I could spend some time outside here, exploring. I’ve only been through Portland on my way to competitions so, I’ve not been able to just see the sights as they are.
I also hoped I’d get to meet Zion’s sisters. When the girls and I were in high school and Austin and Zion were dating, we were strange kids and got really invested in their lives. It fascinated all of us because we had never seen my uptight sister become such a chilled-out person. After our mini deep dive, we found that Zion has three older sisters all living where he grew up in Jamaica. They’re all Kumina dancers and as tween girls, we got obsessed quick. I never told Austin about my little obsession, but I was secretly hoping of gushing over them in person.
“Aw, that sucks,” I say. The car starts to pull into a cul de sac which I’ve recognised from the pictures I begged Austin to send me. When we’re parked, I turn back to Zion as I go to unclip my seatbelt,hisleg is bouncing up and down. “Is everything okay?”
“I, uh, wanted to ask you something,” he begins. He looks up at me, his dark eyes searching around my face. “I’ve already asked your parents and they said it’s fine, but I wanted to ask you, now that you and Austin have got closer.”
