"Sissy!!!" Juniper squealed as she ran down the hallway. "Woah, what is happening?" I asked as she rushed into the room.
"I get to see my dollys today!!!" She said with excitement as I smiled. "I know, isn't it exciting?" I asked and zipped up my bag.
"Are we gonna have to leave again?" She asked with an innocence that made my heart actually ache.
"Not for a while. But we'll eventually move again if that's okay with you." I said as she frowned.
"I don't want to." She pouted causing me to sigh and put my hand on her head, smoothing her hair down.
"What if I told you that you would never have to go by the name Addie again. You could just be Juniper all the time." I said as she smiled.
"Really?" She asked as I nodded. "Really." I said as Colby came into the room.
"Colby, guess what!?" Juniper asked excitedly. "What?" Colby asked with confusion. "I get to be Juniper all the time!!" She said causing him to chuckle.
"Alrighty then." He said as I breathed a laugh. "I told her about the possibility of us moving." I said as he nodded.
"Does this mean she's going to help me pick the house?" Colby asked as Juniper nodded. "I want a biiiiiiiig room. And a swimming pool." She said as Colby chuckled and grabbed my bag for me.
"We'll see what we can do." He said then looked up at me. "The other kids are ready so I'll get them all in the car then come up and help you." He explained as I nodded.
"I'll wait here." I said then sat on the bed while he took Juniper's hand and lead her out of the room.
Today we were going back to Texas to restart our life a little bit. I was still in a lot of pain and I was really weak sometimes but I was slowly getting better.
I was still feeling very uneasy, not knowing what fully happened to me and why I was in so much pain, but I didn't want to question it.
We were trying so hard to put all of this behind us since I was now essentially untouchable.
Of course there was a chance that someone would eventually come after me but considering nobody came after the original four for fifty plus years, I felt like I had time before that happened.
We were officially thirty weeks along with the pregnancy which meant the baby was almost here. I had gotten in contact with my OB so I could get in for a much needed check up.
It was hard to explain to her why I've been so MIA, but she seemed to be understanding.
I wasn't able to fly since I was now considered high risk, so we were going to road-trip our way back to Texas.
It was going to be an interesting ride, considering we were going to have four kids stuffed in a car with a cranky pregnant person for a whole ass day, but we were willing to do it for the safety of the baby.
Obviously we would stop and rest but I had a feeling the charm of a road trip would die down very quickly.
I was excited to get back to our house which has been abandoned for so long.
I was excited to set up a nursery for our girl and I couldn't wait to meet her.
This pregnancy has been hard so far and has been extremely unique considering I was running around killing people instead of setting up a nursery or having a baby shower.
Our daughter was strong though. I was so afraid she wouldn't make it but she beat all the odds so far.
I couldn't wait to meet her.
"Jules." Colby said, catching my attention. "Hm?" I asked and shook my head. "Lost you there for a minute. Where were you?" He asked with a laugh.
"Thinking about the baby." I said then took the hands he was offering. "Have you thought of a name?" He asked as I shrugged.
"Haven't really thought about much. I have a couple names I've always liked." I said as he carefully let me out of the room.
"Like?" He asked as I brought my hand to my belly.
"I've always liked the name Maisie." I said as he grinned. "That's a cute little name." He said as I nodded.
"Maisie White." Colby hummed as I looked over at him. "Maisie Brock." I corrected, causing him to grin.
"Would she have a middle name?" He asked as we got in the elevator. "Middle names are overrated but if you want her to have one, then she should." I said as he nodded.
"I'll think about it. Any other names you have in mind?" He asked and wrapped his arm around me.
"Iris was on my mind but I don't know." I said quietly. The truth was I was struggling with the fact that we had the responsibility of naming someone for the rest of their life.
What if she didn't like it?
"We'll keep thinking. We have some time to think." Colby assured as the doors opened.
"She's gonna be here so soon." I said as we made our way towards the car. "I can't wait." He said then opened my door for me.
"Carter, stop!" Jenna groaned as I carefully got in the car. "It's more comfortable! Get over it." Carter said as I narrowed my eyes and looked back to see Carter laying back with his bare feet rested right in front of Jenna's face.
"We haven't even left yet, guys." I said with a sigh.
"Tell him to stop! He's invading my personal space." Jenna said and crossed her arms. "Ya know it's crazy you two shared a womb." I grumbled.
"Carter act like a human for like at least three hours. Can you manage that?" I asked as he chuckled and put his feet down.
"I'm only listening because you could kill me." He said as I sighed. "I'm not gonna kill you." I said and faced forwards as Colby got in the car.
"All checked out and ready to go." He said then looked at me with a grin.
"What happened?" He asked, probably noticing the annoyed look on my face. "We haven't even left and the twins are acting up." I said as Colby nodded slowly.
"Sam." He said then looked back, causing little Sam to pull his earbuds out. "Yeah?" He asked as Colby chuckled.
"You're in charge. Keep the two older ones in line." He said as Jenna scoffed. "It wasn't me." She said as I closed my eyes.
"I don't care. We all need to get along because we are going to be trapped in this car together for a long ass time." Colby said and looked back at the kids.
"Colby!!" Juniper yelled causing me to flinch, my fists balled up.
"No swearing!" She finished, causing me to sigh with relief.
I knew I would have a bit of PTSD after everything that happened but I didn't expect myself to get so freaked out about my little sister yelling like that.
"Sorry, kid." Colby said then started the car, before looking over at me. "It's okay, Jules." He hummed and took my hand after starting the car.
"Yeah." I said quietly as he brought my hand to his lips. "Gross." Jenna mumbled as I narrowed my eyes again.
"I'll leave you here if you don't stop." I said causing her to laugh.
"Chill, Jule. It's my job to be grossed out by your affection." She said and held her hands up in defense.
"I wouldn't tell her to chill if I were you." Colby said as he started driving. He had a point that I was absolutely off my rocker as far as hormones went.
Any wrong move and someone was getting screamed at.
I think everyone in the car understood where I was coming from enough to not be mad at me for it.
At least that's what I would hope.
We drove for a little while, just listening to music as we settled into our road-trip vibes.
"Let me know when you're hungry so we can stop." Colby said as I pursed my lips. "I'm hungry." I said as he laughed.
"We like just left." He said as I nodded. "You just told me to let you know when I was hungry and I'm hungry. I don't care when we left." I said causing him to nod.
"True. Anyone else hungry?" Colby called out to the back of the car.
"Apple slices." Juniper said causing me to laugh. "So McDonald's." I said to Colby, noticing his face shift with confusion.
"That's a weird way to say yes." Colby said as I looked back at the others.
I was actually surprised to see Jenna resting her head on Carter's shoulder with her eyes closed.
I obviously knew the twins loved eachother but they hardly ever showed it.
Sam was still listening to music, looking out the window until he saw me looking back.
"Did you say something?" He asked as I smiled slightly. "Did you want McDonald's?" I asked as he nodded.
"Sure." He said as Juniper squealed happily. It was so cute seeing her still get so excited after everything that's happened.
I was so glad to see the kids so happy.
I knew that all of this was a whirlwind for them and that it was hard to see me trying to recover.
I was glad we were getting to go back to Texas for a while though. It's been such a hard couple months that at times it felt like we weren't going to make it.
I was happy to say that we all made it out alive.