Elle and James have had a whirlwind last few years! Now they have to begin a new adventure, much different then the one that brought them together that fateful day so many months ago!
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January 14, 2024 Elle's POV
"Let me get that," James nags me for the tenth time in a row as I carry the apple pie I baked for tonight's Sunday dinner up the pathway and to the door.
"I'm still capable, you know," I tell him yet again.
He grumbles something under his breath but doesn't complain again as I open the front door and am greeted by the two smiling faces of the Starks. Those smiles turn to frown real quick when they see me carrying the pie and an empty handed James behind me.
"James Jericho Bridgewater! Why didn't you carry the dessert!" Darby scolds as Lucas takes the pie from my hands and carries it off into the kitchen.
"I wouldn't let him," I defend James while hugging Darby. She wraps me in her arms for a long moment, pulling back and keeping her hands on my shoulders as she looks me up and down.
"You are looking healthy," she lets me go, satisfied with my appearance.
"James has been taking good care of me," I smile up at him, stepping back into his arms, his hand falling to my waist.
"He better be," she shoots him a playful glare before hugging her grandson and pushing us into the dining room.
"Let's eat." She orders, pushing us into our chairs, the food already on the table.
"What's the rush?" I laugh as I take my seat and start ladling soup into my bowl
"Bingo night at town call," Lucas answers, walking into the dining room with 4 glasses of water.
"Ohhh," James laughs. "Makes sense."
"When did you start playing bingo again?" I ask as I start to eat the soup in front of me.
"Terry Hoffman, the old hag next door, said that she was the best bingo player Adler has ever seen. And I will not stand for that," she says sternly, not quite a yell but also no an 'inside' voice.
"Some people need to be taken down a peg occasionally. Like when their ego is too big for their britches," Lucas shrugs.
I take a chance and glance at James out of the corner of my eye, the wrong move because we both bust up laughing at the two people across from us.
"You two are too much sometimes," I say, the sentence broken up by my loud laughter. The two of them smile shamelessly as they shrug at us.
"Oh god," James says, slapping his thigh with his palm and coughing, his face turning bright red as he fights for a breath. That gets the other two laughing too. God, this family is great.
After we stop our hysterics, which takes a minimum of 10 minutes, we continue to eat the tomato soup in our bowls before it gets cold. "What time does the game start?" I ask, taking measured breaths to stop from laughing again.
"Oh, here in abouts," Lucas checks his watch, "45 minutes."
"Double time it people!" Darby starts slurping down her soup at record space. We follow her lead and in 10 minutes, we are dishing out slices of pie with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.
"Oh, I almost forgot with all the rush," James takes his wallet from his pocket. "Here," he hands his grandma one of the sonogram pictures we got at the last appointment. I kept forgetting to bring them to her at the diner when I worked, which I've been doing nearly every day since we got back from NYC.
"Oh goodness!" Darby whispers, touching the picture softly.
"So precious," Lucas smiles, leaning into Darby's side to get a closer look at the image. "This is going right on the fridge," he decides.
"Yes, that's the perfect spot for it," Darby nods in agreement, standing and heading to the kitchen. When she returns without the sonogram, her grin is made of pure happiness. "Thank you," she comes over and hugs James and I.
"Of course," I say, rubbing her back. "So how many of those am I going to get?" She glances between James and I.
"Sonograms?" James asks.
"No, dumbass." Darby nudges him. "Great-grandbabies! How many great-grandbabies am I going to get?!"
"Hold on now," Lucas places his hands on her shoulders. "One at a time. How about that?"
"More than one at least?" She asks hopeful.
I look up at James with a smile.
"Definitely more than one," he answers, hand snaking around my waist and landing on my tiny little bump.
"That's what I like to hear," Darby nods, looking up at Lucas like she just won the best prize of all. Lucas rolls his eyes at his wife as I giggle at the pair. I hope James and I are like them when we are old.
