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She pulls back just a touch, wiping the back of her hands over her face. She sniffles and gives me a sweet smile, all crooked and bleary-eyed. “He was smiling. He said he was so happy, safe. He was with Mom.” She swipes at more tears and looks up to the ceiling. “They looked so happy together. Mom said they’re taking care of our baby until he’s ready to meet us.” The softest giggle puffs past her lips. “She said he was so handsome, like you, but stubborn, like me.”
Claire reaches forward, stroking her fingers down the side of my face. “Mom said she’s so happy we found each other, Avery.”
I’m sure I’ve never smiled so hard in my life, and Claire’s answering beam tells me she thinks so too, her eyes dipping down to my mouth, where my face has absolutely split in two.
The happiness searing through me right now is similar to when I saw Baby Beck on that little machine three weeks ago, when his—or her—heartbeat filled the air around us, like it was placing us in this protective bubble where nothing could hurt us anymore, because love would always mend our wounds. Love would always win. That’s how I felt, anyway.
We had decided to wait to tell my parents until Claire was past the first trimester. It had been surprisingly easy to convince Harper to keep her mouth shut. All I had to say was, Please, Harp. For Claire.
Except that when the ultrasound tech showed us the teddy bears you could get where you put a recording of your baby’s heartbeat into it, I had to have one. And then we went back to Gavin’s, and my parents were there, where they’d been since Thursday for Gavin’s celebration of life. I took one look at my mom, her eyes locked on the bear I was clutching in my hands, and I just couldn’t help it.
I yelled it out. For the second time. Because, fuck me, I want the entire world to know. This woman is growing our damn baby.
And my mom literally fell to the floor in a fit of hysterics, before practically tackling Claire into the wall. Vivi was there, didn’t have a clue what was going on, but wanted in on the action, so she just started jumping up and down, shrieking.
Harper had a feeling I would crack at the ultrasound, so she’d been standing in the hallway videotaping the entire thing. My mom’s reaction video has over eight-hundred thousand views on YouTube, still climbing.
I’m busy cuddling the ever-loving shit out of my baby mama when the bedroom door creaks open and I hear the quiet pad of tiny feet moving across the floor. A flash of red peeks over the edge of the bed before Vivi starts climbing up.
“Oh,” she says, crossing her legs as she sits down before us. “You awake.” She holds up two slices of bread, one in each hand. Just bread, nothing else. Not toasted, no peanut butter or jam. Just the bread. “I bwing you bweakfast in bed. Daddy say I toast it, but—” she shakes her head, “—I say no.”
Vivi manages to haul our asses out of bed, and we meet Casey outside on the back porch, where he’s got real breakfast set up on the patio table for us.
“Plain bread didn’t do it for you?” he asks, amused eyes on his sister as she immediately starts digging in, forgoing a plate and any utensils whatsoever. Her appetite has been ravenous.
Casey reaches for a piece of bacon and Claire growls, slapping his hand away. “Mine.”
He holds his hands up in surrender, giving me a wide-eyed look which I’m pretty sure says I should, quite frankly, fucking run while I still can.
“I can’t believe this is our last weekend here,” Casey murmurs, spinning his mug of coffee around on the table, pensive gaze drifting over the yard.
Claire pulls her knees up to her chest, resting her cheek on top. “Yeah.” A fat tear sneaks down her face, dripping off her chin. “I’m gonna miss it so much. I don’t want to say goodbye.”
“Me neither.” Casey sighs deeply. “What do you think the new owners will do with it? With the house? The property?”
“Whatever you want,” I reply simply, lacing my fingers together behind my head, watching Vivi, Sully, Turkey, and Chester rolling around in the grass.
Casey’s brows pull together. “What?”
Claire’s nose scrunches in confusion, her forehead marred with a crease. I watch it smooth out as her mouth opens. “Avery,” she says slowly. “What did you do?”
Grinning, I pull out the contract I stuffed into my back pocket before we came out here. I slap it down on the table.
Casey and Claire scramble for the papers, but Casey gets there first, elbow his sister’s hand out of the way.
“It’s the purchase of sale contract,” Casey whispers. “For the house.”
Claire dashes around the table, ripping the papers out of her brother’s hand. I watch her lips move as she reads, and then her eyes meet mine. “Avery…why is…why are…me and Casey…”
“You’re the new owners,” I tell them, in case their names and mine on the deed weren’t clear enough.
“You bought my dad’s house?” Casey’s stare is unwavering. “You bought it…for us?”
“Yeah.” I smile, sitting up straighter, running a palm down my chest. It feels warm in there, like I’m proud of my decision. “I did.”
“Why?”
“Because this is your home. It’s where you grew up. It’s where you come to find peace when everything else is too much. It’s where so many of your memories were made with your parents, and even though they’re always with you, I know this is where you two feel them the most.”
