I double check all the bags, still feeling exaughsted. Waking up early has not become my thing anymore. The last two months, at least, have been the happiest of my life. Karla has gotten bigger and stronger. The older she gets the more I think she's starting to look like me - even though she definitely has her Dads eyes.
Will and I have grown closer too. We're happier. Not that we were unhappy before, but now we're better than we were. Will has had a hard time leaving Karla and going to work. I totally understand that. I don't think I'll go back to work. I think I'll stay here with Karla. It would be too hard leaving her everyday.
But with Will just finishing his most recent movie, he has been looking/waiting for another job opportunity. And this comes to why we're up so early. We're heading to Louisiana to Iris and Thomas' house. There's a audition for a show going on there and Will is going to try out. He really wants this job and I hope he gets it. But no matter how much he wants the job, he still dislikes having to wake up so early in the morning to get there.
Will walks into the living room, his clothes looking wrinkled and his hair tussled. He groans, "Too early."
I groan back, mocking him, "It's your job interview. Be happy!"
He grumbles, "I'm up. If you want me bright eyed and bushy tailed, go catch a squirrel."
I smirk, "Maybe I will."
He gives me a fake condescending look, "Nuh-uh, I'm Will."
I laugh, "Okay, I'm going to go get Karla. You want to double check the bags?"
"No."
"Do it anyway."
"Okay." He walks over to the bags, riffeling through them.
I climb upstairs, sneaking into Karla's room. I decorated her room in an adventure theme. There's a poster of the world map over her cradle, and I got silhouettes of our family done to hang on her wall, along with a print out of the quote "Adventure is out there!" From Disneys movie UP.
She has a globe and a pretty white bookcase. I made a small shelving system out of crates and put a record player on it and animal figurines in it. Plus a chest of drawers and a mothers chair in the corner. But I was very proud of how I decorated her room - it seemed to suit our family well.
I poke my head over the side of the crib and find Karla sleeping peacefully. I sigh, looking at her. She takes those quick little baby breaths that remind you of a small little mouse or something. I laid her down in a little gray and pink dress that makes her blue eyes look smokey and lighter when she's awake.
I smile softly down at her before picking her up carefully, cradleing her head. She shifts around a little, her lips puckering. I hold her close to me, carrying her down the stairs and into the living room where we have our bags packed. Wills sees me as I enter the room with Karla and he stands, looking at the sleeping baby in my arms.
He smiles, kissing her for head softly before he gives me a lingering kiss. I sigh into the kiss before I pull away, "Got to get Karla in her car seat and get on the road."
He groans, grabbing my arm and pulling me back, "Nooooo, one more kiss. It has to be a good one."
"But we need to leave-" I start.
He cuts me off, "That can wait. And besides, kissing is much more fun than driving."
I chuckle.
He grins, "Kiss me."
I lean in, kissing him again. Again, I get that similar sensation that i did with the first kiss and every kiss after that, of not being able to breath, having my heart hitch in my throat and hearing the pounding in my ears.
I pull away, smirking, "We're going to gross Karla out one day."
He smiles widely, "Either that or make her look forward to getting married."
I laugh, "No, we're going to gross her out."
He helps me buckle her into her seat, "You think what you will, I'll think what I will."
I chuckle, "But in the end, I will always be right."
: : : : :
When we get to Iris' house, we find a crowd waiting for us. When I say "crowd" I mean Thomas, Iris, Bradley, Shadow, Dylan, Ki, Vanessa and Willa. I don't know what I expected, they all live in the same area and are inseparable - especially since Willa and Dylan are married and Vanessa and Ki are dating.
We walk in and Dylan screams, "OH, WILL, HOW I MISSED YOU!"
Will cringes from the loud noise, "Oh, Dylan, how I've forgotten what a powerful pair of lungs God blessed you with!"
Iris runs over to me, excitedly, "Where's Karla?"
I gesture over to Will, who holds the car seat in his hands, "Will's got her."
Iris takes the seat happily, "I'm stealing your child!"
"You have your own kids you know!" Will calls after her.
She grins, "I know! But this is a BABY!"
We all greet each other, Will, Dylan, Thomas and Ki all give each other bro hugs and I get normal, not-bro hugs. I get hugs from Willa and Vanessa, though, and we all give the normal "It's been so long" speeches.
Ki, who holds a box of Sour Patch Kids in his hand, pops a couple in his mouth and Will watches Ki very carefully while he trys conversing with all the others. Ki of course, immediately notices Wills interest and defensively yells, "KI HONG DOESN'T SHARE FOOD!" And then runs away through the house as fast as he can.
I swear, as soon as Will is around these guys, it's like little kid mode turns on for him, because soon, they're all running around the house, rough housing, messing around, yelling at each other and throwing things.
That leaves us girls to watch our significant others and ask ourselves why we married them or are dating them, etc. We all end up in the kitchen, drinking coffee and talking to each other about life. Iris doesn't let go of Karla for one second, she's enjoying her way too much.
"So, Willa, how is married life?" I ask, drinking my coffee.
All of a sudden, Dylan pokes his head in the kitchen, "Willa, I jut wanted you to know, that even though you aren't naked right now, I still love you!"
And just as quick as he was there, he was gone.
Willa's mouth drops open and she squints, "Oh. Yep. Um, that is how married life is going."
I raise an eyebrow, "So, is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
She shrugs, "Depends on the day. But, I do like being married. Sometimes I want to kill Dylan, but then I remember that I'd miss him too much."
Iris and I both nod, "I feel you."
Iris shrugs, "That's pretty much marriage for you. Sometimes I wonder how Thomas puts up with me, because i'm pretty dang annoying. And then I remember that I have to put up with him too, so we're good."
I nod, "Excellent point. See, I like being married to Will, because we like different types of food, so he never eats my food."
Willa's mouth drops open, "Oh, lucky!"
We hear a yell from the study, "THOU SWAG BELLIED NUT HOOK! THOU HAST SUNKETH MY BATTLE FRIGETTE!"
We all look over in disturbance.
I shake my head, "What the heck?"
Iris shakes her head, "Don't ask. Just don't even ask."
Vanessa shakes her head, "I don't even have any marriage war stories yet, but Ki certainly does scare me sometimes."
I nod, "I think just men in general are scary."
We all nod in agreement.
Willa looks at me, "So what about you? How was pragnacy and baby having?"
I grunt, "It was okay. Except the last month I was pregnant. Every month has 30ish days, except for that last month of pregnancy. You feel like dying in that last month of pregnancy."
Willa smiles, sarcastically, "Oh, gee. I certainly am looking forward to having kids now."
"But you feel better about yourself after you give birth!" Iris says, trying to make it sound all sunshiney.
"But it sucks." I smile, sassily, "They give you stitches in your vagina afterwards because human heads are much larger than vanginas unless there is something terribly wrong with you or your child."
Iris shadows her eyes at me, "I was trying to be positive and uplifting."
I look back at her, "And I was being contradicting and realistic."
She clicks her tounge. I continue, "But anyway, I plan on giving Karla enough dysfunction and wisdom to be graceful and smart but also hilarious and clutzy."
"What a good mother." Vanessa laughs.
Iris says, "Okay, Sid, I think it's time we took you to an insane asylum."
I grin, "Well, I wouldn't be Wills first wife to end up there."
Willa smiles, "Such sass."
"Such consistency." Vanessa adds, "Is this what children do to you?"
"That and the mixture of marriage and a Harvard degree." I nod.
The guys come back into the living room, and for some reason, Dylan comes in with chicken hat on his head, that us missing the chicken head. We all try our best to ignore it and we look at our husband-y people.
"What's up?"
All the guys snort and fall over with laughter as they point to Dylan chicken hat and say, "Chicken butt!"
I face palm, "The insanity."
Iris rocks Karla back and forth, "Hey, Sidney, could you run upstairs and check on Bradley and Shad? I haven't heard them in a little bit and i'm worried."
"Isn't that a good thing if they're being quiet?" I ask.
She shakes her head, "No, it's just suspicious."
I nod, "Right."
I walk up stairs and into Bradley and Shadows room. I find Bradley has Shad in a headlock and he says, "You will tell them you did it!"
"NO!" Shad yells.
I furrow my eyebrows, "Hey, guys, what's up?"
They both look up at me in alarm. At the exact same time they say, "Nothing!"
I smirk, "Oh, yeah, I can see that."
Bradley looks at Shadow, "Come on, let's go downstairs!"
"Okay!" She says, and they run out of the room, hurdling down the stairs as fast as they can.
I hear them yell as I follow them, "MUMMY! DADDY! MUMMY! DADDY! MUMMY!"
I hear Iris, "IF YOU'RE GOING TO KILL EACH OTHER - GO OUTSIDE! I JUST CLEANED UP IN HERE!"
The living room is pretty much in chaos with two children and four man child's, plus the electivly crazy women and a baby. Everyone talks over each other and at least one person is hitting someone at some point in time. It's always been like this with these guys though. If you marry into The Maze Runner cast, you pretty much are marrying everyone in The Maze Runner cast. They're a package deal. You cannot get one version of crazy without the other.
I smile as I watch Will push around and mess around with his guy friends. He laughs as Dylan trys to tackle him. It's one thing to see him be all sweet and loving with Karla, but it's another thing to see him let loose and be a man, just having fun. Totally being himself without having to key down his enthusiasm for being a tough guy. Not afraid of getting dirty and using his strength.
It's adorable.
I don't regret marrying Will for one second.
: : : : :
A couple days after Wills first audition, Iris wakes us up at 9:00 in the morning. She was quiet coming inside our guest bedroom, so when she shakes me awake. I gasp, sitting up quickly, becoming alert and nearly smacking her in the face.
"Jeez, girl! Calm down! It's me!" She whispers.
I whisper back, groggy, but alert from assassin Iris sneaking in on me, "That's why I should be worried! Because it's you!"
She rolls her eyes, "What have I ever done to you while you were sleeping?"
I shadow my eyes, "Remember ninth grade when I was staying the night at your house and you said I sat up and shouted stuff in Hungarian, and then you got up and started saying stuff to me while I was sleeping - just to screw with my head?"
She sniggers, "Okay, yeah, I did that. But besides that?"
I yawn, "Was there a reason for your creepering in here?"
"Yoga." Iris says quietly. "Wake Will up and we're all going to yoga!"
I snort, "Will would never go to yoga in a million years."
"He took ballet for the first half of his life." Iris says, smugly.
"Besides the point." I mutter.
"Come on! Yoga is amazing! You have no idea how good it feels to stretch and get those toxins out!" She says, enthusiasticly.
"You're a hippie." I say, simply, trying to lay back down and go to sleep.
"Sidney!" She growls, "Yoga! Now! Get up!"
"No!" I whisper shout.
"Yes!"
"Even if I went, who would watch Karla? And Bradley and Shadow? Huh?" I say.
"They have child care at the gym! There is no way i'm leaving you alone until you agree to come! Yoga is only an hour long! Sidney! Come be healthy with me! There's a sauna and other excercise equipment too!"
I scowl at her, knowing stubborness runs deep in our family blood. I look over at Will sleeping peacefully. I huff, "Will won't want to come."
"Ah, but see, that's where you play the wife card and you look cute and say you'd love it if he came and he sees it as brownie points for later on in the game and he says 'sure, dear' and then you have a yoga buddy." She grins.
I groan, shifting around, which makes Will begin to slowly come to consciousness. I look back at her, grunting, "Only if Thomas comes so Will doesn't feel like a unmanly man."
Iris grins, "Already taken care of."
She leaves the room, and I run over the things in my head that I need to do to get Karla ready to leave. I look over at Will as he rubs his eyes and he blinks them open. He spots me and he looks at me tiredly, "Hey. What are you looking at?"
I smile cheesily him, "Hey- You're cute- Guess what- we're going to yoga!"
: : : : :
Have you ever been so exaughsted that you physically can't do anything or process or even think? All you can do is close your eyes and fall asleep in 1.5 seconds? That's how having a baby is, but you're so busy taking care of the baby, that not only do you not sleep - you don't eat, shower, or go to the bathroom.
So one day, in the process of being at the Sangsters house for two weeks, while Iris is out shopping with Bradley and Shadow, I finally manage to get an uncooperative Karla down for a much needed nap.
As I close the door to the guest bedroom, I do a little happy I-finally-got-my-kid-down-for-a-nap dance outside the bedroom door. For those of you unfamiliar with this particular dance, it involves a lot of fist pumping and whispering "YES" a lot of times.
I do a mental survey in my head as to which I should do first - eat or sleep before Karla wakes up again. I decide on eat pretty quickly and walk downstairs to the kitchen to make a sandwich. I take out the bread and some peanut butter, when I hear the front door open.
I look up from the open floor kitchen and living area and find Will walking in the front door. He closes the door and smiles, "Hey, ace, where's Karla?"
I shush him, for fear Karla will wake up, "Sleeping. Upstairs. Be quiet. How was work?"
"Great! I got the part!" He grins, wrapping his arms around me from behind and kissing the back of my neck gentelly.
I gasp, "Oh-my-gosh! That's great!"
"Right?" He smiles, "Filming starts in nine months! So, I'll be back and forth from here and home for about six months."
"Aw!" I pout, "That stinks."
He spins me around to face him, kissing me quickly, "Yeah, it does. But it's a job. And besides, it'll be more fun when you do have me around."
I hum, "I suppose."
He grins, kissing my cheek, playfully, "So shall we have a celebration? We can wake Karla up since the both of you have been sleeping so well lately."
I smile and raise my eyebrow, challengingly, "Do it and die."
He laughs, holding my hand, "Only joking, ace. Only joking."
Author:
OOOOOHHHHH MMMMMYYYYY GGGGGOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!!!!!
Only one more chapter till the epiloge!
Sadness!
So - I have another daily question!
Who is your over all favorite character in this book? WILL AND SIDNEY DO NOT COUNT!
And, do you guys have any questions for me? Anything? I will answer them to the best of my human abilities in the next chapter. And the epiloge chapter. So get me your questions before I post the last chapter and answers will be given.
And -
If you don't want the madness of me to end - be sure to follow me on-
Instagram at Katie Slauson
And Snapchat at sunnycoolkid
Not to mention here - on Wattpad!
I'm going to start doing a kind of annual Snapchat session every Friday where I post pretty much a Vlog. It'll be like a YouTube channel, but not because my Mom won't let me post videos on YouTube because i'm fifteen and underage and creepy stalkers exsist. *pouts profusely*
And, like I said - a Dylan O'Brien fan fiction will be coming after I finish this book! I'll post the name of the upcoming book in the epiloge chapter!
And I plan to keep on writing for a very long time, because it's pretty much my main non-social hobby.
GO ME!
I'll go ahead and give you the excuse for not updating regularly this past week -
1. It's last month of school for me, so the teachers are at the point where they're all like "Oh, crap, we'd better teach them all this stuff real quick! Here have fifty billionth pages of homework!" and i'm just there like O-O "Kay, no biggie. I got this."
SO THAT EXCUSE IS VERY VALID
The second excuse is sort of valid.
ACTUALLY, IT'S VERY VALID -NEVERMIND!
2. I discovered Connor Franta like a year ago, but I never consistently watched his video, and ever since his book came out, I've been binge watching him and IT'S THIS INSANE ADDICTION BECAUSE I'VE NEVER BEEN AN INTERNET PERSON ALTHOUGH I LOVE INTERNET PEOPLE AND NOW I FEEL LIKE AN INTERNET PERSON BECAUSE I'M WATCHING CONNOR FRANTA AND OMG
IF YOU DON'T CALL THAT A VALID EXCUSE I HEREBY CHALLENGE YOU TO FIGHT ME.
Anyway, have a lovely day (and go YouTube Connor Franta. Do it. Right now.).
BYE GUYS!
-Katie