Family Comes First

Chapter 29: Another Feminine Face

 I was only a couple of steps in the house before a girl had her arms around my neck. Trying not to be rude, I put my hands around her waist. An awkward bump was between us. From the way that Jimmy was laughing, I could tell that I must have looked shocked. How else was I supposed to act?

When the girl pulled away from me, I could see that she had short auburn curls that ended at her shoulders. Her thin lips were spread into a gigantic smile. Her torso was swollen, and it was easy to tell she was pregnant. Seven months was my guess.

She tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. Her touch was soft, and I could not stop myself from smiling. It had been so long since I had seen another feminine face.

"You're so beautiful," she said.

"Emmie, get back here," a male voice said while snapping his fingers.

She turned around and went back to him; almost hiding behind his shoulder.

This must be Taylor. It was easy to see the resemblance between him and Jimmy. The main difference was that his hair was shorter and he had freckles splattered across his face. Jimmy pushed me in front of him and laced his fingers through mine.

"She's right," Taylor said. "You got a pretty one."

"I know," Jimmy said, kissing the top of my head. "I'm lucky."

"Welcome to the family, Juliet," Taylor said.

"Thank you," I said.

Jimmy and Taylor both went out to the truck to get our bags. Emme went into the kitchen, so I followed her.

"Would you like something to drink?" she asked.

"No, thank you," I said.

She opened the fridge and pulled out a large blue plastic water bottle. It was only a quarter full. She unscrewed the cap and took a drink.

"Taylor makes me drink a couple of these a day," she said. "He told me that it makes the baby healthy. It makes it a boy."

She ran her hand down her belly, and I bit down on my lip. What if it was a girl? Or worse, what if she died giving birth?

I tried to shake these thoughts from my head. I had to believe that it was a healthy boy or I would never be able to look at Emme again.

Jimmy and Taylor came back inside, and Jimmy had our bag over his shoulder. They walked by us and up the stairs. I stayed in the kitchen because Jimmy did not tell me where to go. They came back down the stairs and went into another room. Emme was leaning against the kitchen counter, so I did the same thing.

"How old are you, Juliet?" Emme asked.

She asked me a question. Girls must be able to ask other girls questions. Jimmy never told me that, so maybe she is just doing it because the boys can't hear us. I could hear their murmured voices in the next room. This was the second time today I could ask questions.

"I'm almost twenty," I said. "And you can call me Julie."

"Well, Julie," she said like she was exercising the new word on her tongue. "I'm twenty, so we don't have an age difference."

"Yeah, I guess."

"My sister, Gabe's wife Lindsay, is seven years older than me. It's nice to have another girl my age here."

I noticed that there was something weird about her nose. It would wiggle, almost representing a bunny rabbit. I had to control myself so that I did not copy her. I would not want to insult her.