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I grab his face and pull him back up to look at me. I want him to understand.
“Not that I don’t want you to be excited, because I genuinely do. You are having twin baby girls, but I guess my point is—it was very hard for me to witness it, E. And I—”
“Don’t do this.” Tears slide down Eli’s cheeks, causing an even sicker feeling to twist in my gut.
“I just don’t think I am strong enough to watch you do that with her. Not as your girlfriend. She’s going to need you these next six months and even more so during those first few years of their lives. It wouldn’t be fair of me to ask you not to do those things for her. She’s the… she’s the mother of your children.” Just saying that feels like Mount Rushmore sitting on my chest.
“Please don’t ask me to do that.” I’m not strong enough right now to be the version of myself he truly deserves… the last thing he needs right now is another person to take care of.
Eli’s face falls again, buried in his hands this time. His back moves up and down with harsh breaths as the tears fall into his palms. And the selfless part of me wants to scream, “It’s okay. I take it all back. I love you more than life itself. We can make this work. I’ll take a backseat to Cami until the girls are older.” But I persevere, for myself and my friendship with this man.
“I promise I will still be here when you need me. I’ll always be your best friend over anything else.”
He shakes his head profusely. “That’s not what I want. I don’t want to go back to only having half of you, Quinn.”
“Eli, please… don’t make this harder than it is.”
“Quinn, I will never lie to you or omit the truth again… even if I think it will hurt your feelings. Cross my heart,” he pleads, grasping on to me for dear life.
“Eli, it’s not about that. I know you weren’t trying to be malicious by not telling me. It’s what I saw and the reality it set in stone for me.”And he only knows half of it.
“But I need you.”
“And you will always have me. Cross my heart.” I pull his face up so his eyes are level with mine again, just as his driver arrives in front of my building.
“I love you, Hotshot, always and forever.” I rub my nose against his before I slide out the opened back door.
He reaches for me one more time, and I let my fingers slip quickly from his grasp.
“Queenie, don’t do this,” is the last thing I hear before I turn toward my building. Needing the solace of my own space, where I can let everything completely crumble at my feet.
Fifteen
Quinn- 28
Eli- 30
“You two look like naturals,” I say, smiling as I watch my little sister and best friend holding my day-old twin girls.
“We’ve got our five-year plan down.” Sloan beams at Wes.
“Damn, I thought if anyone knew things tend to not go as planned, it would be you two.” I chuckle.
“Ha,” Wes huffs as Sloan ponders my statement.
“Yeah, true that. I guess we better throw that plan out the window. When the timing is right… the stars will align for us.” She boops Addison on the nose, “I hope our baby has their daddy’s eyes just like these cutie pies.”
Thoughts of Quinn and our plans flitter through like a daydream. She’s always on my mind. Even yesterday, as I watched another woman give birth to these two beautiful babies, I couldn’t help but think of her. Wondering what she was doing at that very moment. How she felt when she heard the babies were born or saw a picture from one of the many family members who have stopped by our suite in the last twenty-four hours. It took everything in me not to reach out and tell her I needed her, needed her more than I ever had. But I knew that would be selfish of me.
“I also want to request this big ass suite… I’m sure you’re only getting this special treatment because you’re a baller and all, but damn,” Sloan says, looking back into the other room, where Cami’s asleep in the hospital bed. Something Lo has done several times since being here. They had set us up in a very nice VIP suite, per Cami’s request. I could have cared less, but I do like having my own space away from her when I want it.
“Lo, just tell him…” Wes says quietly to his fiancé, right when I notice the concerned look on her face and the nervous bounce in her leg.
My heart thuds loudly against my chest.Is Quinn okay? Is she seeing someone new? Is she back with Luke? Are they getting married?
I have barely seen Quinn in the last six months. She didn’t even come to the baby shower that was thrown for me at her parents’ lake house. She sent a text apologizing for missing it, claiming she was overseas with the family she nannies for on a two-week European trip.Was she moving to Europe to be an Au pair?
“Is she okay?” My voice sounds scratchy, even to my own ears.
