A couple of weeks had passed since Morgan and I had gotten engaged. I was now 30 weeks pregnant and fully settled into our new Nashville home. Jared and I had not talked since the incident and my practitioner was now Dr.Engler. It pained me deeply to not have my best friend by my side through this huge milestone, but it felt, at times, like things could never go back to the way they were between us. Morgan had been adamant that he did not want me to see Jared by myself, and while I had absolutely no fear whatsoever that he would try to force himself onto me or anything like that, I still respected his wishes. I knew I'd probably be making similar requests, had I been in his shoes and so I did what I could to keep him as comfortable as possible with the situation. We hadn't set a date for our wedding yet, we had both agreed that we should wait until the baby was born and then play it by ear. We knew we'd be too busy as new parents to add planning a wedding to our list of responsibilities, so we decided to focus on our family for now. And I could genuinely say, for the first time in a long time, that I was happy. I had the man of my dreams taking care of me through every waking moment. My daughter had the best father figure I could have ever asked for and an amazing little brother whom she loved to play with. And I was going to have another baby that would be born in a house filled with love and joy, which is more than I could've dreamed of a year ago. The stars seemed to have finally aligned. I did miss Jared, I'd be lying if I said I didn't. But, I couldn't jeopardize my relationship with Morgan, even if it meant having to leave one of the most important people in my life behind. For now, at least.
Lesli and Morgan's sisters had planned an amazing baby shower for us. They had invited all of our friends and family to join us and celebrate our daughter.
"We have to pick a name, people are gonna ask us," Morgan said as we drove to Lesli's house for the party.
"You don't like any of the names I suggested!" I complained.
"Because, I don't want my daughter to end up with a name like Eleanor," he joked.
"Hey!" I said defensively. "Eleanor's a beautiful name, and you already have a step-daughter named Eleanor so that can't even happen," I frowned. He giggled, putting his hand on my thigh gently.
"I just want her to have a cool name, like Indie," he said.
"Ellie's a cool name! It was my grandma's name," I pouted.
"I know, I know," he said softly. "What about Willow?" He suggested. I snorted.
"Willow Wallen? Seriously? Willy Wonka while you're at it?" I laughed.
"I hadn't put both names together," he mumbled, rolling his eyes. "What about, Sailor?" He asked. I played with it in my head a little. Sailor Wallen. Definitely out of the box.
"I don't hate it," I said. He smiled.
"What about her middle name?" He asked.
"Lesli," I responded instantly.
"Really? You want to name her after my mom?" He confirmed softly, visibly touched by my answer. I nodded. "She'll be over the moon."
"So is that it? Did we just pick a name?" I asked him, excited. He chuckled.
"I think so. Sailor Lesli Wallen. It has a nice ring to it."
"It does," I agreed as he pulled into the driveway to his parents' house. Lesli was waiting for us on the porch, as per usual. I waved at her and she waved back. Morgan parked and came to help me climb out of his lifted truck.
"Aren't you a sight to see!" Lesli yelled as I walked towards her. "That little girl is really growing!" She said, pointing to my belly. I giggled.
"Yeah, a little too big if you ask me," I joked.
"Oh stop it, you're glowing," she said. "Everything's already set up. The girls have been working all morning. Most guests have arrived, we're just missing Jared and your uncle John," she told Morgan.
"You invited Jared?" He asked, shocked.
"Should I have not?" She responded, confused. "I mean he's your oldest friend and her best friend, no one told me not to-"
"It's fine, Lesli," I smiled. "Thank you for hosting such an amazing party for our little girl," I said, rubbing my bump softly and looking at Morgan, trying to get him to smile.
"Yeah, mom. Everything looks great," he mumbled, clearly lost in his thoughts. We made our way to the backyard area where the party was to be held.
"He might not even come," I assured him. He scoffed.
"As if he'd miss out on an opportunity to see you." I rolled my eyes. Morgan grabbed my hand and kissed my cheek.
"Either way, you're mine," he whispered in my ear. I couldn't help but to smile. We walked into the backyard and everyone was already there, mingling with each other, eating and drinking. The party was beautiful; Lesli and the girls had really pulled all the stops. Ernest was there with his wife Delaney and their son, Ryman, who was already running around with Ellie and Indie. They had brought a couple friends that Morgan seemed to know and who all seemed nice. Morgan's whole family was there as well; aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. The whole gang. I looked around, trying to find somebody I knew well enough to go talk to when someone poked my shoulder lightly. I turned around.
"Hey," Jared said awkwardly. I smiled. A real heartfelt smile. I knew things had been messy between us, but seeing his face made me genuinely happy.
"Hey," I said softly.
"Congratulations," he said, handing me a pink teddy bear. I grinned, putting the plush animal next to my face.
"So cute," I giggled.
"Uncle Jared!!" Ellie yelled, running up to him and hugging his leg. Morgan, who was now a few feet ahead of me, turned back around as soon as he heard Ellie yelling. He frowned.
"Got some nerves showing up here," he told Jared.
"Your mom invited me, I thought you knew. I can leave if you-"
"Stay," I said, taking his hand into mine. "I'm happy to see you," I smiled. Morgan looked at me, disapproving of what I had just said.
"Can we have a sidebar for a second?" Morgan asked me, pullin me away from Jared. I followed him a little bit further, where we stood out of earshot.
"What the fuck, Aubrey?"
"Look, I'm happy to see him. I don't know anyone else here. It's all your friends and your family," I defended myself.
"You know my family!"
"Some of your family," I corrected.
"Well, you know Ernest, and you've met his wife-"
"Once."
"What?"
"I've met his wife once, Morgan. I don't know these people. Having met someone and knowing someone are two wildly different things. I know Jared. I know his heart and, sure, he messed up, but haven't I? And haven't you? I want him around for this part of our journey. He's my friend and he's yours too," I explained. He sighed.
"Fine, he can stay, but no-"
"Hi, Morgan!" A tall blonde girl said, interrupting us. "Do you remember me? I'm Delaney's friend, Georgia," she smiled. A big smile with perfect white teeth.
"Sure," he mumbled. I looked at him, confused by his reaction. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. He wasn't the type of guy who mumbled words in front of pretty girls. He was usually so confident, this didn't feel right. Something was up.
"Delaney told me you were getting married! Couldn't have guessed that the last time I saw you," she giggled. He put his arm around my waist, pulling me in closer to him.
"Yeah, getting married to the love of my life," he said, smiling at me. "So, Delaney invited you?" He asked, confused.
"Yeah, your mom apparently told her she could bring her girlfriends. She said it would be good for your fiance to meet some nice girls since she wasn't from here, so she brought a couple girls. Obviously Del' doesn't know what happened bet-"
"That's cool," he said, cutting her off. "It was nice to see you, uh, Georgia was it?" he asked. She nodded, smiling at him. "Alright, take care," he smiled before walking away with my hand in his. We went and sat on a bench by the little pond. He exhaled slowly.
"What the fuck kind of party is this?" he whispered to himself. "First, Jared. Now, this."
"Who is she?" I asked, not sure I wanted to hear the answer.
"Just some girl, a friend of Delaney's," he said casually, scratching the back of his head. Then the realization hit me.
"She's the one with the lacey red underwear isn't she?"
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I hope y'all like this! All the votes and comments I got in the recent few days really do melt my heart!
Xo
LadyBug