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NATALIE
“Okay, bets on what time the boys will show up?” Megan jokes, making a ‘come on’ sign with her hand.
“An hour,” Sara says, throwing a five-dollar bill towards Megan.
“I’m giving them two,” Lucy bets, giving her cash.
“I’m splitting the difference at an hour and a half.” There’s a knowing glint in Quinn’s eyes. She guesses it right almost every time.
“Nope, they’ll be here in about thirty minutes,” Megan counters.
“I’ve got my money on forty-five,” I say, giving my cash to Megan. She scoops up the money and checks the time, writing it down on a piece of paper. We’ve been hanging out together most of the day for Quinn’s bachelorette party. We got facials and massages earlier, and now we’re at Donna’s Bar, celebrating the upcoming nuptials.
With it being a weekend, it's packed in here, but the noise only adds to the party atmosphere we wanted, so it’s perfect.
“Now, to toast the bride. You are one hell of a woman, Quinn, and we love you.” Megan holds up her drink toward her. Naturally, Quinn’s cheeks pink up, making us all laugh. She’s still not very good at being the center of attention, but we’ve gotten her to be a lot more open about her life.
“To you and Cooper!” The girls echo my words and we clink our glasses together.
“I just want you guys to know how grateful I am for your friendship. I’m sure it wasn’t easy bringing me into the group, but I love you all very much. Even if you make me spill all the dirty details of my sex life,” Quinn says, and we all cheer at her statement. “I also want to say how excited I am for you, Nat. It wasn’t too long ago we were sitting in this same spot, listening to you say you’d never tell Tucker how you feel.”
I grin at her and look down at my ring. A wave of love and disbelief flows through me as I watch the emerald shine in the light.
“I’m still having a hard time believing it, but here we are,” I say as I take a drink of my margarita.
“He did a fantastic job picking out your ring. I’ve never seen anything fit you so well,” Sara says, holding my hand up in the dim bar lights to look at it again.
“No kidding. I don’t think I’d even pick out something like this, but it’s exactly what I would’ve wanted.” I know I am incredibly lucky to have a guy who understands me at such a deep level.
“Have you heard any more from Tucker’s dad?” Sara asks.
I told the girls about our interaction with William because I couldn’t keep something so horrid from them, but I didn’t tell them anything about how Tucker grew up. It’s not my story to tell.
“No, thank god. I hope we don’t have to deal with him ever again, but I know it’s wishful thinking.”
“It’s so sad Tucker’s had to deal with him for so long by himself. Do you think his Uncle Jack knows about it?” Lucy asks.
“Yeah, he does, but what are they supposed to do? If they ignore him, something bad could happen to him, but giving him money isn’t any better,” I point out.
“True. It’s just a no-win situation all around,” Lucy responds.
“Tell us about Noah! I haven’t heard anything about him other than Tucker saved him and has been visiting him,” Quinn exclaims.
Watching Tucker fall in love with that little boy has been incredible. I still haven’t been able to officially meet him because the state has been restrictive of who could visit while he was in the hospital. I only got the one glimpse of him right after the fire, and since he was sedated, I couldn’t talk to him.
“He’s the sweetest little guy. Tucker’s reached out to his caseworker to see if we could adopt him, but who knows when we’ll hear back. He’s living with a foster family now that he’s healed up and out of the hospital.”
“I feel so bad for the kid. He’s had such a shitty childhood and he’s only five,” Lucy says.
“I know. It breaks my heart he’s had to go through so many terrible things. I’m hoping we hear back soon.”
When Tucker first started regularly visiting Noah, I knew he was already halfway in love with the kiddo. It was so cute watching him gush about how smart Noah was and how much he wanted to get to know him better. Then when Tucker found out about Noah’s mom, I knew he’d never be able to let the kid go back into foster care if he could help it.
When he brought up the idea of adopting Noah, I wasn’t surprised in the least. I knew it was coming after he had related so closely to the way Noah grew up. I hope we can give him the stable and loving home every little kid deserves.
Some people would say it’s entirely too early in our relationship to think about adopting a kid, but knowing Tucker’s background and hearing about how Noah was treated, there’s no way I could let him live the same life Tucker did.
“Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help,” Megan says.
