Boston, Massachusetts was a beautiful, marvelous city. There were skyscrapers, large buildings, six-lane roads, and cement bridges that was on top of one another.
"Welcome to Boston, m'lady," Baylor spoke in his Bostonian accent over the radio.
It was well past midnight and I knew Baylor was tired of driving. I told him that we should've pulled over an hour or two ago, but he said there was no sense in doing that since we were close to being at his mom's.
"How far away are we from your mom's?" I asked, speaking loudly. Baylor turned down the radio and asked if I could repeat what I had said.
"How far are we from being at your mom's?"
He pierced his lips. "About thirty minutes."
And as he always does when he's driving, he made sure to grip my hand and place it in his lap along with his.
"I've got it, babe," I told Baylor. His eyes were droopy and he demanded his tired, weak body to grab our bags from the trunk of his car.
"You cannot carry twenty odd bags into the house by yourself."
I moved his hand away from grabbing a bag. "I can make special trips, just go inside."
I heard a groan escape his lips and the front door opened. Out came his mom who waltzed down cemented, white steps from her house.
"Hey!" she squealed excitedly. She framed Baylor's face with her hands and kissed his forehead.
"How's my baby doing?!"
"Mom . . ." he whined. She walked pass Baylor and walked towards me.
"Baylor Kent Parker, now I raised you better than this. Why are you making your girlfriend carry all of your bags?" she screeched at him.
I giggled at his angry facial expression. She grinned at me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and squeezed me into a hug.
"Are you keeping my son in shape?" she questioned.
I giggled, "Yes, ma'am." I winked at Baylor.
He rolled his eyes at me and began walking towards me. The rocks crunched under his feet as he approached.
"Gosh, Baylor, how can you make your girlfriend carry this bag of bricks?" Baylor's mom hissed at him, handing him the bag that she took off of my shoulder.
"She wouldn't let me help!" he whiningly exclaimed.
I took a bag of mine from Baylor's mom's hand and Baylor took two more. His mother carried three all together.
When I entered the house, it smelled of a fresh scent, like fabric softener. It was a humongous house. The floorboards were mahogany along with white doors. The ceiling was high, and when we exited the foyer, there was a grand staircase. This house was huge. Nothing I was used to.
"Where's Dan?" Baylor wondered.
"He's upstairs. He doesn't know you both are here," Mrs. Victoria snickered. For it being after midnight, she sure is in a good mood. Maybe she's just excited.
Baylor slung the bags down on the floor and he said I could just lay them there beside his bags.
"This is a nice house, Mrs. Parker."
She smiled. "Oh, call me Victoria."
I don't see how Baylor could live without his mother. She's extremely wonderful.
"We're gonna go to bed, Mom. I love you." He kissed the crown of her head. She hugged him tightly.
"Goodnight baby, I love you. Goodnight Adalynne," she grinned.
"Goodnight," I returned the smile.
I followed Baylor upstairs and as soon as I was on the second floor, I forgot about my pajamas in my suitcase downstairs.
"I have some old clothes in my room."
When we were upstairs, Baylor lead us down a long hallway. There were plenty of old photographs in frames plastered along the walls.
Baylor's room was like a normal teenage boy's room. It had dark navy blue sheets and a plaid comforter on the bed that was pushed against a wall. There was a flatscreen TV on top of his Xbox on his Chester drawers. A desk sat in a corner along his laptop. There was a bookshelf that held some novels, video games, and movies.
"Nothing special babe."
I followed the sound of his voice and spotted him at his Chester drawers, pulling out clothes.
"This is too tight," Baylor complained while pulling the shirt back over his head.
He reached in for another shirt.
"I like you shirtless," I smirked.
"Oh, really?" He threw the shirt back in the drawer.
I grinned and sat on his bed. It was comfortable, I must say. I patted the empty spot beside me.
"Sit."
He sat beside me, his arm brushing against my arm. I pushed myself onto my knees.
"What are you doing?"
I positioned myself on my knees and leaned against his back. The heat from his body was felt against the loose shirt I had on. I squeezed his shoulders between my fingers and massaged his upper body.
"That feels really good," he hummed.
"I hope it does."
I figured a nice massage would be great for him since he drove for nearly nine hours with road rage and the munchies.
"You're a great girlfriend, y'know."
I smiled and kissed the temple of his head. "You're really sweet."
I pushed my thumbs into the back of his neck. I soon made my hands slide between his shoulder blades and then pushed into his smooth, tan skin with my thumbs. He hummed in pleasance.
He lulled his head back onto my chest and kissed the skin beneath my chin.
"Are you tired?" I asked.
"Very," the back of his neck rumbled as he spoke. "Are you?"
"Probably not as tired as you, but yes, I am."
"Then go to sleep." I yawned at that and he grasped the inside of my elbow and pulled me from behind him.
"I promise this bed sleeps comfortably; better than my bed back home." It was odd how he called Shady Grove his home instead of here in Boston with family.
"Do you wanna sleep by the wall or on the outside?" he asked as he got up from the bed. I followed behind him and he pulled the comforter out from under his pillows.
"I'll sleep by the wall," I offered.
"I sleep away from the wall anyway," he grinned.
I climbed in near the wall and expected him to follow behind me, but he walked towards the bedroom door. He slid his hand against the wall and the ceiling light cut off. It was really dark in here.
I heard his feet scuff against the hardwood floor. I laid my head on a pillow that was on my side of the bed and watched Baylor's dark figure make his way to the bed. The mattress dipped in and I felt his upper body smudge against me. He then pulled the duvet to my shoulders and snaked our legs together.
"Are you comfortable?"
I nodded my head and then I felt his hand lay on my hip. His lips pecked my shoulder and he pulled me into his chest. I loved whenever he pulled me tightly against him - it felt like he was pulling me towards him to keep me safe.
His cheek rested against mine and he found my hand to cross fingers with.
"I love you so, so much," he murmured in my ear.
I kissed his forearm. "I love you so, so much more." I smiled at his warm words from previously.
Baylor knew how to make me smile like an idiot.
"Who was the one to fall in love with who first?" Baylor asked with an amused smile across my cheek.
I hummed, "That doesn't mean a thing."
He cackled in my ear and laid his head on his pillow. I began to feel my eyelids become heavy, and my eyes began to burn. I thought Baylor was asleep at first, but then he moved.
"Thank you for coming here with me."
I yawned. "I'd do anything for you."
***
"Baylor, I can't go down there looking like this!" I squealed. My makeup was smeared, my hair was sticking out everywhere - I just felt icky.
"Adalynne, look at me." His hair looked like sex hair, but that was it. He was still shirtless and he had on some basketball shorts.
"It's normal for a guy to look like you when they wake up. But I feel as if I smell weird. That's a terrible first impression!" I screeched.
Baylor waltzed toward me. He combed my hair with his fingers to calm it down. He then wiped my face with his hands and trailed his thumbs under my eyes.
"There - you look presentable. Now c'mom, my mom has breakfast for us."
I sighed. "I'm blaming you if I get this terrible first impression." He only chuckled.
I followed Baylor downstairs and when we reached the first story, the cool air hit my arms and the floor was cold when I reached hardwood floor. I spotted our bags in the same place they were in last night. I heard some chit chat in the kitchen, and I begged that there wasn't anyone else but his mom and stepdad (or dad?).
"Good morning." Mrs. Victoria smiled.
The big room smelt of pancakes. I saw a man standing in front of the stove, stirring food.
I sat next to Baylor at the island. Mrs. Victoria placed plates of pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, and two strawberries on the side. She placed a glass of milk in front of our plates.
"Adalynne, this is Dan." The guy turned around from the stove and he smiled.
"Hi Adalynne, it's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you, too," I grinned.
"Are you keeping Baylor straight?"
Baylor laughed. "It's more like keeping her in line to deal with me." He shoved a piece of pancake in his mouth.
"Hey, you better keep her because she's the only girl who can deal with you." Baylor gave his mother a death glare and returned back to eating. She laughed at Baylor and kissed him on his temple.
"These pancakes are good," I complimented. I dipped a piece of pancake into syrup and shoved it in my mouth.
"Well thank you, have as many as you want," Mrs. Victoria spoke.
Baylor stole a piece of bacon off of my plate. Mrs. Victoria smacked his hand. "Don't steal her food, you let her eat."
I giggled at his mother and then watched Dan as he sat across from Baylor and began to eat.
"Hun, you aren't hungry?" Mr. Dan asked.
"I'll eat in a minute."
Mr. Dan took a bite out of his pancakes, and out the corner of my eye, I saw Baylor slowly moving his sly hand towards my plate.
I slapped his hand away and he began laughing. "Is there anymore bacon left?" Baylor asked.
He seemed comfortable, at home. Not that he never felt at home back in Shady Grove, but he's a different person when he's with his family. Not a bad change, but a good change.
"Yes hun, it's on a plate on the counter over there." Mrs. Victoria said, turning her head and nodding in the direction of the bacon. She was fixing her plate as well.
"What grade are you in, Adalynne?" Mr. Dan questioned. He seemed interested in getting to know me. He seemed kind and gentle, unlike Baylor's dad. Baylor never really spoke of Mr. Dan, however.
"I'm a junior," I answered.
"Oh, really?" Mr. Dan took a bite out of a strawberry. I nodded.
"How do you know Baylor?" Mr. Dan questioned.
"Well he bumped into me in the hallway -"
Baylor interrupted me as he sat beside me. "Um, you bumped into me."
I rolled my eyes at him. "Anyway, he bumped into me in the hallway, made me drench myself in coffee, and made my papers and books fly everywhere."
Mr. Dan cackled, "Baylor, did you pick up her books for her?"
"I did." Baylor crunched on his extra bacon.
"Honey, I already told you how they knew each other. They grew up with one another. Her older brother and Baylor are childhood best friends." Mrs. Victoria patted his shoulder and sat next to him, across from me.
Mr. Dan looked to me. "I'm sorry, with me getting older my memory isn't all there."
Baylor hummed.
We had all finished eating, plates pushed aside, and we carried on a decent conversation. I told his parents about school, my future career interest, my plane crash, and even how Jo had wounded up pregnant by my brother.
"How's school going for you, love?" Mrs. Victoria asked, looking over to Baylor.
"These college classes are kicking my butt, but I'm passing."
I loved their relationship with one another. I could tell that Baylor felt horrible for disappointing his mom from the past. His mother loved him, and he loved her.
"You still sticking to psychology or neurology as your major?" Mrs. Victoria asked.
"That sounds neat," Mr. Dan noted. I grinned over at him.
"Yeah, I think you'd make a better income with neurology. But if you were to study the psychology field, I'd shoot for psychiatry. That career makes a good living," Mrs. Victoria winked at Baylor with a smile. Her legs were pulled to her chest in her chair. She was very young, perhaps in her mid to late thirties.
"And how is your therapy going?" she asked.
Baylor huffed. "It's stupid but it's alright."
Mrs. Victoria didn't bother speaking of it anymore. She knew just like I did that he didn't like speaking of it just by the way he acted when asked about it.
"Your cousins are coming over later. I told them you guys are in town, and Adalynne, they're so excited to meet the girl who's with Baylor."
Baylor's eyes grew to the size as saucers. "I forgot they existed. I never hear from them."
It made me feel good inside when Mrs. Victoria made the statement that Baylor's family wanted to meet me. I'm not being conceited, but it made me feel special; like I was a part of his family.
Baylor stood from the stool and grabbed all of our plates. He took them to the sink and turned the water on to wash the dishes.
"Hun, we do have a dishwasher."
"It's okay." Baylor placed a plate in the draining board. "Adalynne, you can take a shower if you want. I'm 'bout to take one myself."
I stood from the island and pushed the stool in. I tried to grab as many bags as I could and when I felt like I couldn't carry anymore, Mrs. Victoria and Mr. Dan both grabbed a bag of Baylor's and I carried mine.
When we reached Baylor's room, Baylor's mom placed the bag of Baylor's in his walk-in closet that I didn't know was there. In his closet, I placed my bags in his closet and so did Mr. Dan.
"Thank you both."
"It's no problem. Make yourself at home," Mr. Dan said and he walked out of the room.
"C'mon, I'll show you how to work the shower. Baylor's is confusing," she cackled. She seemed like a whole different person than the person she was at the hospital. However, she was under a lot of stress when he was in the hospital.
"You just turn on the water to the temperature you want and twist this to turn the shower head on. I'll get you a towel and washcloth."
She exited the bathroom and I left to go back to Baylor's room to lay out an outfit and grabbed my toiletries. When I went back to the bathroom, a towel and washcloth was laid on the toilet seat.
I placed my shampoo, conditioner, body wash and washcloth on the shelves in the shower.
When I finished showering, I brushed my teeth and then went to Baylor's room to get dressed.
I had just pulled on my bra after I had put on some underwear. "Hey babe, are you in the show - I'm sorry," he cackled.
"It's okay." I put some deodorant on and then pulled on a tank-top and then a shirt.
"Might as well get used to seeing you naked," Baylor smirked as I turned to face him. I saw his amused smile from the bathroom.
I wrapped my hair in a towel and then sat on Baylor's bed to check my phone. The water was heard as he entered the shower.
I had a missed call from Aiden early this morning so I decided to call him back.
"Hey little sis. How's Boston going?" He answered the phone.
"Well, hello to you, too. I've only been in Boston for less than a day, but it's going well. His family is really nice," I replied.
"Mrs. Victoria is a sweet lady and Mr. Dan tries to help you get used to things when you're around them, so you're lucky you have a guy whose parents are very loving like his."
"Yeah, I'm happy and thankful for that."
"So, I think Jo's dad hates my guts," Aiden sighed into the phone.
"Why do you say that?"
"He basically said that I ruined Jo's life by getting her pregnant and such."
I gasped. "Aiden, she's just as happy as you are about this baby. You believe in yourself that you're going to be an amazing dad to your baby, and you'll prove him wrong."
He sighed. "I'm going to try my best. I promised her I would. I told her that I'd get a different job - one that makes more money and will revolve around my family. I told her that I will mature more and buy the baby diapers, formula, wipes and I said that we could make your room her nursery and-"
"Aiden," I paused. "Calm down."
He huffed. "I just want to be the best daddy possible. Sis, I'm so scared that I'll fail and -"
"You're going to do just fine. You have eight months to figure everything out. You're going to be an amazing father because you're an amazing big brother and Jo said you're the perfect boyfriend. You've raised me for almost four years. Stop worrying and begin to think positive about this. You'll be amazing, Aiden. I promise."
He sniffled. "Ugh, why can't you just come home? I just wanna hug you right now. That's like the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."
I rolled my eyes although he couldn't see it. "Oh, shut up." I saw Baylor walk out of his bathroom with a towel wrapped around his lower torso.
"Well, I love you. Just remember what I said. Give my niece or nephew a kiss for me."
"Bye little sis, I love and miss you. And I sure will." Aiden hung up then. I placed my phone on the night stand.
"Was that Aiden?" Baylor asked as he had his back towards me.
"Yeah. He called and asked to see how Boston was. He said when Jo told her dad, he said that Aiden ruined Jo's life for getting her pregnant."
Baylor turned around in his boxers. He rose an eyebrow. "Aiden is going to be a great dad."
I yawned. "I know he will be. He said that he was so scared that he would fail at being a dad."
Baylor pulled a t shirt over his head. "He'll do just fine."