Eenie Meenie Minie Mo

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Author’s Note* This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful "Missed Me" readers. Thanks for caring enough about the characters of that story to ask for more ;D

　

　

　

I was working a little less at the farm now that school started, but was still working there. Piper was six months along now. I didn’t know who was going crazier; she or Liam. As the days drew on, I noticed he’d become more anxious and impatient, always quick to snap at me, but even quicker to apologize. He was a mess. I told Maddie about it one day, and she told me a very good reasons for their ever-changing temperaments.

"Piper was pregnant before," Maddie had explained with a solemn air in her tone. "It wasn’t for very long, a little over a month after she found out, but she miscarried."

"Oh my God, that’s awful."

She’d nodded. "So you’ll have to forgive my brother. He’s really worried about Piper and the baby. Oh, hey! Did you know she’s having a boy?"

I hadn’t, but I was sure to congratulate the parents-to-be when I next saw them.

The sky had been pretty cloudy and gray throughout the day, and by the time I made it to the Nelson’s farm, it was pouring huge droplets of water that splat against my windshield like gianormous bugs. I had "Spiderwebs" by No Doubt blasting through my speakers—well, my mom’s speakers, as I had yet to acquire a car of my own—as I pulled into the long driveway.

Liam was already getting started on stalls by the time I made my way to the barn—immediately soaked to the bone. I was surprised to see Piper down with him, sitting on a stool and talking animatedly to her husband. I was struck again by what Maddie had told me and swore not to bring it up or act differently around her.

"Sup, guys," I greeted, ever the formal one.

If I’d been surprised to see Piper down there, I was doubly surprised to see a whole pack of girls. Okay, so it wasn’t a pack, but there were at least two ladies I didn’t recognize. One was older, definitely into her twenties, while one looked just a little older than me. Lulu, I recognized, though. She looked a little haggard, her blonde hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, her usually radiant eyes a bit dull with dark circles beneath them.

But she flashed me a wide grin. "Hey, Kodi!" Wow, she sounded way more chipper than she looked.

Liam grunted a reply, but he kept shoveling poop into the wheel barrel. Apparently being out- numbered by women wasn’t his thing.

"Kodi!" Piper said chipperly. She gestured to the two friends of hers I didn’t know. "This is Kate," she gestured to the petite blonde, the girl around my age. "And Jessica," she nodded to the older of the two, a dark haired girl with lovely green eyes and olive tinted skin. The two had the same eyes and face shape, it was easy to tell they were related—probably sisters.

I waved awkwardly. "Hi."

"Hey, Kodi," Jess greeted with a kind smile.

"So you’re Kodi McNelly, huh?" Kate said, sizing me up. She was smiling, though, so that probably meant she didn’t immediately hate my guts. "I’m friends with Maddie."

"Oh," I said, because Maddie hadn’t ever mentioned her before; and I felt a little guilty that I’d been excluding her, albeit accidentally.

Kate laughed. "She never mentioned me, did she?"

"No. Sorry."

She waved me off. "Nah, it’s fine. We don’t go to the same school anymore and I live kinda far out, so we barely see eachother."