AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Baby Bear
Deal. Nice doing business with you. Love you!
“Dang, you couldn’t even negotiate a kiss for me too, before roping me into making her manicotti?” I shake my head at my daughter’s antics.
It’s no secret that she has Bristol’s entire familycompletely wrapped around her finger. Everyone in her family treats Love and me like we are a part of the family. If it hadn’t been for my desire to stand on my own two feet, there’s no doubt her parents would’ve adopted me, ensuring that I could travel everywhere with them.
“What can I say? She loves me more. If I had included you in our deal, she might have said no. Besides, you were gonna make her manicotti anyway. I just made sure I got something out of it.”
“You aren’t wrong there,” I whisper, tapping Love lightly on the shoulder and pointing out the windshield, “Look at that view.”
“OMG, I can’t believe we get to live here,” she whispers as she begins frantically taking pictures, not wanting to miss a single detail.
As we descend into Tyson’s Creek, I notice the lush, rolling hills framing my new home. Off in the distance, there’s a large rustic farmhouse and a few tiny cottages surrounding it. I smile as an old-fashioned wooden sign on the side of the road comes into view, and I read it aloud. “Tyson’s Creek, Tennessee. Population 7,256.”
Love squeals loudly before she rolls down the window and continues to take pictures of the scenery as it rolls by us. Rustic-looking buildings line the road as we inch closer to the center of town. The streets are lined with people, but no one is rushing around or in a hurry to get anywhere. Tyson’s Creek looks exactly like what I envision a small, southern town being. There are a few mom-and-pop shops lining the street and no major chainstores in sight. As we drive downtown, we see The Flickhouse, the small movie theater Bristol has raved about, sitting on one corner. There’s a small bookstore tucked right next to it, with Tyson’s Hardware on the other side. Across the street from the theater is what looks to be a coffee shop-bakery combo named Just the Drip. A few tables are scattered in front of it, with peach-colored umbrellas open and casting shade over each table to protect the occupants from the sun. Right next to it is Bristol’s yoga studio, Nurture Space.
“Finally, we made it.” Love sighs as I pull into a parking space. We barely have time to climb out of the car before Bristol comes flying out the door, with Selina and Leia hot on her heels.
“You’re here!” Bristol squeals, waddling toward us. Her bright red hair glistens in the sunlight as she throws her arms around me, bringing me in for a hug. I wrap my arms around her, careful of her adorable baby bump. Bristol is 5’5”, exactly a half inch taller than me, which she always goes out of her way to point out to me, and she has curves for days. Her entire body is toned from all the yoga. The only sign she’s pregnant is the small basketball-sized bump covered by her shirt, her face glowing with happiness, which makes her appear even more beautiful than usual.
“Only you could make pregnancy look good,” I say, shaking my head as I pull back from her embrace. Her green eyes shine brightly with happiness; a light dusting of freckles covers the bridge of her nose, spilling onto herpink cheeks. “It seems like someone has gotten a little too much sun. You need to remember to put on sunscreen when you go out. You can just look at the sun and you get burned.”
“We’ve been telling her the same thing for months,” Leia comes to a stop behind Bristol, placing her hand on her shoulder. “Not that she doesn’t look amazing when she isn’t pregnant.”
Leia Armstrong is about two inches taller than Bristol, her blonde hair piled high on top of her head in a messy bun; a few tendrils of hair have escaped and are framing her face. She’s dressed casually in a pair of black yoga pants and an oversized sweatshirt hanging slightly off her right shoulder. Her wire frame glasses are perched on the end of her nose, and thick black eyelashes frame her crystal blue eyes, which are shining with excitement.
Selina comes skidding to a stop right beside Leia; both of them are practically vibrating with excitement. This is the first time I’ve seen Selina Grymes in person, and she’s beautiful. Her lightly tanned skin is accentuated by her chocolate brown hair, which is pulled back in a tight bun at the nape of her neck, the typical hairstyle for a ballerina. It’s in drastic contrast to how she usually wears her hair, hanging loosely down her back. Selina is slightly taller than I would have expected, taller than all three of us, but I’ve only ever seen her in pictures sitting down, so it’s not too odd. Her tiny waist is accentuated by a flowing pink dance skirt. The black leotard and pink tights she’s wearing hug every curve of her body.
“Laying it on thick today, aren’t we?” Bristol raises an eyebrow at Leia, causing all of us to laugh.
Leia and I have been chatting back and forth for years, ever since she and Bristol met during their junior year in college after being partnered up for a project. All the details are fuzzy, but it wasn’t too long after that Bristol introduced me to Leia. Bristol declared I was her sister from another mister and demanded Leia and I be the best of friends.
When they graduated, Bristol followed Leia home to Tyson’s Creek instead of chasing her parents around the country until her dad retired. It’d be a lie if I didn’t say I was a little hurt that she didn’t choose to come live closer to me, but it wasn’t until Love was in second grade that I stopped moving around so much, finally choosing to settle down in a town near San Antonio, Texas, wanting to ensure she could make friends and thrive in school without having to worry about if she was going to see them the following year.
Once Bristol got her bearings, she combined her love for yoga and her business degree to open a yoga studio. Business has been good in this small town, thanks to everyone falling in love with her almost immediately. However, now that she’s eight months pregnant, it has gotten a lot harder for her to handle a full class schedule. This created the perfect opportunity for me to escape Ian and start fresh while also helping my best friend. A win-win for everyone involved.
“Okay, I know she’s your original bestie and all, butit’s my turn,” Leia demands before pulling me from Bristol’s grip and wrapping me tightly in a hug of her own. “I can’t believe I finally get to see you in person!”
“Original bestie?” I smile, pulling back slightly and giving Selina a tiny wave.
“You knew Bristol first, hence the titleoriginal bestie,” Leia replies matter-of-factly.
“Whatever you say.”
Leia and Selina grew up here in Tyson’s Creek, but Selina moved to New York to become a famous ballerina right after graduation. A few months ago, she came back to town to heal after an injury and took over the small dance studio near Nurture Space. In typical Bristol fashion, she welcomed Selina into the fold, and our little threesome became a foursome rather quickly.
Out of the three of them, I’d say I “know” Selina the least. Sure, she’s joined a few of our video call gab sessions, but we’ve never really talked about anything too deep. It’s as if she is holding us at arm’s length, but I’m not sure why. Sure, she has plans on leaving town as soon as her injury heals, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still all be friends. Mine and Bristol’s relationship survived for years with phone calls and random visits when time allowed. We are old pros at this.
“I’m so glad you finally decided to move closer to us! Hopefully, the cards didn’t say anything to the contrary.” Selina’s hazel eyes twinkle with mirth before she winks at me, pulling me out of Leia’s arms and giving me a tight squeeze.
“The outcome looks very promising, but you know the cards don’t tell the future, right?”
It took a little while for Leia and Selina to understand how people can use tarot cards to help guide their future, and, at times, I feel as if they still don’t understand, but they never use it against me. They might not believe in all that “mumbo jumbo,” as Leia loves to call it, but they both love me. Although they poke fun, it’s never meant maliciously, but that doesn’t make me any less worried about all of us being in the same place. Talking to someone on the phone or on video calls differs completely from having someone standing right in front of you. What if I’m too weird for them? What if they hate me? Will Bristol hate me then, too?
“Now it’s time to give my baby cousin a kiss,” Love announces loudly, stopping my mind from continuing to spiral.
“Umm, Love? How do you plan to kiss your cousin?” Leia asks in confusion, her head swiveling between Bristol, Love, and me.
