The End, Not Quite||An Anna and the French Kiss Story

Chapter 9|| Josh and Isla

Etienne's mother was delighted of course. The phone call was quick and easy. I'm not going to tell my dad until closer to the wedding at Etienne doesn't want to tell his dad at all. I get awful fathers and I usually think of his father as mine x100. And then I just want to hug Etienne until my arms fall off. I get he doesn't want his father in  his life and that he doesn't want him ruining our day, but I secretly think that he should invite him. But I'm not going to tell them that. Anyway. Etienne was chatting about the apartment and we should be able to get it in about a week. We had already picked one out and figured everything out before we went to Paris. Meanwhile I'm talking to Josh and Isla. They're both complete wrecks and I feel awful. Josh was in their bathroom talking with me while Isla was in their bedroom. Josh told me that Isla can't stop crying and that she won't leave the house. I bite my lip to keep from crying myself. It's just awful. He told me that Isla doesn't want an abortion, they talked about it. We didn't talk about the baby for long, Josh brushes off most of my questions and I try not to ask too many. We decided that they could come in two weeks and stay until the wedding, but that was in two months so we said that they could leave before that. We said goodbye and hung up. I crawled into bed with Etienne. He pulled me closer to him. I sighed happily and slowly fell asleep.

**2 WEEKS LATER**

I'm pacing back and forth on the hardwood of our apartment. Etienne is telling me to calm down but I know he's nervous too. Josh and Isla texted us to tell us that they landed 15 minutes ago. They should be here any minute,

"Sit down, you're working yourself up." Etienne tells me. I guess he's right. There's no point in worrying. I sit down beside him and he puts his hand on my thigh. He kissed the side of my head and grabbed my hand. We sat still for a whole two minutes until the buzzer chimed. I ran to answer it,

"Hi! Okay I'm going to let you up!" I say. I buzz them up and then there's a knock on our door about two minutes later (we're on the fourth floor and there's no elevator). I open the door to see Josh and Isla, Josh is gripping Isla's hand like she's going to fly away. They both have smiles plastered on their face. Josh's is wide, happy and relieved, while Isla is simply... limp. But it's real. She has dark circles under her eyes and is wearing a black dress that goes down to her knees. Etienne stands from his seat and pulls Josh into a hug. His hand leaves Isla's reluctantly and returns Etienne's hug,

"Here, come in." I say, smiling. They come in and we show them around quickly,

"I'm sure you guys are tired. You can sleep in our room. We've got a pullout couch in the living room. We'll sleep there." Etienne nods,

"Oh, we couldn't." Isla says,

"We insist." I say. I can tell that they really are exhausted and they make their way to our room without further protest.