"Bye Brinley." Charlie cries, wrapping her arms around my neck.
"I'll see in just a couple of weeks, okay?" I say, pulling away and looking at her.
"Okay..." She turns to Christian, crying harder.
I try to fight my own tears as he picks her up. "Two weeks." He says, almost like he's reassuring himself.
"Two weeks." I breath out. Two weeks until I got to see them again. I was going to lose my mind.
"Bye." He says, walking towards the elevator.
Good news was. My sister was in town, and Mama was coming to visit. We were having a girls weekend, and I couldn't be happier. I only wish Nora could join.
And speak of the devil. I pull my phone out of my pocket to see Nora's name and picture on the screen. I hit the green green button, before her face pops up on my screen.
"Bonjour from Paris!" She yells in a terrible French accent. The Eiffel Tower was behind her and her arm was raised above her head as she grinned.
I laugh, taking a seat on one of the chairs behind the nurse's station. "Hello from the hospital." I say, as a couple of nurses wave behind me.
"I miss you guys. But, not really." She says and I chuckle. "Did they leave?" She asks and I knew who she was referring to.
"Just a couple of minutes ago." I say and she nods.
"When is your sister coming in?"
"In about an hour." I say looking at my watch. "My mom isn't coming until tomorrow."
"I'm sad I'm missing it." She says, a pout forming on her lips.
"Me too. But, you're in Paris so, I think that's a pretty good excuse. Plus, they'll be at the wedding. Which is only two weeks away!" I say and she instantly grins.
"I know. There's still so much to do." She groans, flopping onto a bed.
"We'll get it done. Don't worry." I say and a soft smile appears on her lips.
"I'd be lost without you." She says.
"I know. Alright, I have to go. I have children that need tended to." I say and chuckles.
"You say that like you have like a heard of kids." She says, laughing.
"I kind of do."
"Bye Brin!" She says, yawning.
"Bye Nor." I say, hanging up.
I lean back in my seat, sighing. A text comes through from my sister saying she's boarded her next plane. I quickly text her back before getting back to work. I only had half an hour left of my shift.
*
"Brinley!" My sister yelled as she ran through the airport.
"Em!" I yelled back. She jumped in my arms, dropping her luggage in the process. I stumble back a second before I squeeze her tightly. I set her down, pulling apart from her. "I've missed you, you little shit." I say, ruffling her hair.
"I've missed you too, you big bitch." I dramatically gasp.
"How rude." I say and she chuckles.
I loop my arm through hers as she picks up her leather duffle bag. "Wow, not even gonna offer to carry my luggage?"
"I'm giving you a free place to stay. Don't push your luck." I say and she grins. Her brown hair was a little lighter than mine, with tight curls. She had curtain bangs that curled at the tips and her glasses were perched towards the tip of her nose. She was about a half an inch shorter than me, even if she swears we're the same height. She was wearing an oversized black, Purple Rain t-shirt with black sweatpants and a pair of broken in, platform converse that she customized. She pulled her hair up into a claw clip as we walked towards the exit of the airport.
"Brinley!" A familiar voice yelled as we walked towards the parking lot.
I turn around to see Elsie waving at me.
I smile and wave. "Who's that?" Emery asks.
"Elsie. Come on, I'll introduce you." I say, tugging her arm in the direction where Elsie was.
"Oh, you mean you have friends other than Nora, Logan, and a whole bunch of sick kids?" She teases. I shove her shoulder and she almost falls off the sidewalk. "You motherfucker." She says and I laugh.
"Hey!" Elsie says, wrapping her arms around my neck.
"Hi!"
"Christian and James will be over here in a minute. They were parking." She says and I nod. "What are you doing here?"
"Picking up my sister." I nod towards Emery. "Emery this is Elsie. James Rennard's wife..." I say and Emery's jaw drops.
"Dads gonna kill you!" She teases, poking my side.
"I'm aware." I say.
"Eh. Come here." Emery says, pulling her into a hug.
"Hey hey hey!" James yells as he walks up towards us, Christian behind him. Christian's eyes widen before a smile spreads across his face.
"So are you guys twins?" Elsie asks.
"No." We both say at the same time and Christian, Elsie, and James chuckle.
"Get asked that a lot?" Christian asks.
"All the time." Emery says.
"This is my sister Emery. Emery this is James and Christian." I say and she smiles.
"I'm aware." She says, poking my rib cage again.
"Will you stop that." I swat her hand away.
"You pushed me off the sidewalk." She says and I shrug.
"You deserved it." We banter back and forth for a couple of minutes as the three people in front of us watch in amusement.
"Are you sure you're not twins?" James asks and I narrow my eyes at him. He throws his hands up in defense, taking a step back. "Okay, got it. Not twins."
"It's quite the insult actually. Considering she's 4 years younger than me." I say and Emery rolls her eyes.
"Yes, and you never fail to remind me." She says, leaning her arm on my shoulder.
"Anyways, we should get going. Good luck this weekend. Even though I hope you lose." I say, and Christian grins. "Christian, I will be looking forward my twenty dollars."
"Hold on. We didn't say every game. We said when we played each other."
"We didn't specify." I say.
"Well we are now." He says, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Why? Scared you're gonna lose?" I tease.
"Definitely not. Seattle sucks." He says and I nod my head to the side.
"True. Alright well, we gotta go. See ya in a couple of weeks."
"Bye Brin!" Elsie says, smiling and waving.
"Christian freaking Brooks?! Brinley!" Emery squeals and I nudge her side with my elbow.
"Shut up. They can probably still hear you. You're not the quietest person." I say and she sends me a guilty smile.
"But seriously. How did that happen?"
"Remember Charlie, my patient?"
"Yeah!"
"That's his daughter." I say and her mouth gapes open.
"Oh my God. So you've literally spent the last month and a half, hanging out with him every week?!" She shrieks.
"Pretty much." Do I tell her, I've stayed in his hotel? And he's stayed in my apartment? And I've gone out to dinner with him and his friends?
"Is there something else?" Damn her.
"Well... I may have stayed at his hotel for a night or two when I broke the engagement off with Ethan. And then the last two weeks him and Charlie have stayed at my apartment instead of a hotel..."
"OH MY GOD! You like him!" She exclaims as we get in my car. I slowly nod. "Does he like you?"
I sigh, turning my key in the ignition. "I don't know..."
"I think he does. I saw the grin on his face when he saw you." She says, closing the car door.
"He's coming to the wedding..."
"Really?! Dad is gonna give him so much shit. I can't wait." She says, a playful grin on her face. "Wait. As like.. Your date?"
"No.. Just friends." Sadly.
Word Count: 1,298