Song of the chapter: First Kiss by A Rocket To The Moon
Emily's POV
The day after Austin proposed to me, we had to tell our friends. My parents were extremely happy for us, as was Austin's mom. We waited until the next day because it was too late to tell everyone right after it happened. Oh my god, I still couldn't believe I was engaged.
Austin looked out the window. "Quinn's here."
"Awesome," I said. I pointed my finger at him. "Don't blurt it out as soon as she walks through the door."
"I won't. Scouts honor."
I stared at him. "You aren't a boy scout. You were never a boy scout."
"So? It still works."
"I don't think so," I replied.
"Fine, then Bible."
"Now what is Bible?" I exclaimed.
"The Kardashian family says it when they're telling the honest truth," Austin replied in a matter of fact tone.
"Um, how would you know that?"
"...I don't know."
I rolled my eyes just as Quinn opened the door. "We're here!"
"We?" I asked, looking at Austin.
"She probably brought Jesse and Sheridan with her," he shrugged.
"We're in here, Quinn!" I yelled.
A few seconds later, she appeared with Sheridan in her arms, and with Jesse, Leah, Jace, Taylor, and Alex trailing behind.
"Wow, you brought everybody," I said.
"Well, we ran into Taylor and Alex at the mall so they just came with us," Quinn explained.
"Hi!" Sheridan said happily.
"Hey, Sher Bear," Austin smiled. Quinn set her daughter down and Sheridan ran over to Lucy, who was playing with her stuffed puppy on the ground, Pancakes close by.
"So what's the big news?" Jesse asked.
I looked at Austin and he slung an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. "You wanna tell them?"
I grinned and threw my left hand up to show them the ring. "WE'RE ENGAGED!"
Quinn, Leah, and Taylor all started screaming and they tackled me in a hug. "Finally! Oh my god, congratulations, you guys!"
The boys broke into huge grins and each took their turn hugging Austin. "Congrats, man, it's about time," Jace said. "I was wondering when the hell you were going to do it. We bought that ring ages ago!"
"I was waiting for the right time," Austin chuckled. "But thanks."
Jesse hugged me tight. "Congratulations, sis. I'm happy for you both."
"Thanks, Jesse," I smiled. "I'm happy, too."
"So when's the wedding? Oh my god, we need to start planning it. I've already got a theme in my head, and we'll need to decide on decorations, and what kind of dress you're going to buy and, oh! We need to figure out a guest list-"
"No!" Austin, Alex, and I both yelled at Taylor. The others looked at us confused, but they hadn't known Taylor long enough to know what it meant when she tried to plan something. Or manage something.
"Oh, come on," Taylor told us. "I won't go all crazed wedding planner on you."
"Yeah, and I don't breathe," Austin said. "We just got engaged last night; there's plenty of time to figure all of that stuff out."
"Exactly," I nodded in agreement.
"Fine," she grumbled. "But don't think I'm backing down so easily."
"What are you guys up to now?" Austin asked them all.
"Taylor and I have to go back to the mall and get my car," Alex said.
"Why didn't you just drive here?" Austin asked.
Alex shrugged. "No sense in taking two vehicles to the same place."
Wow, something Alex said was smart and something Austin said was stupid. That was a flip flop. Well, Austin said some pretty stupid things a lot of the time, but compared to Alex...
"We aren't doing anything," the others said.
"You're welcome to stay for supper," I offered. "It's been a while since we've just hung out together."
"Great, I'm starving," Taylor said.
"Me too," Alex said.
"You just ate like three hot dogs at the food court," she said. "You aren't feeding a baby."
"So? I have a big stomach."
"Apparently."
Quinn turned to me. "Alright boys and girls, what are we cooking?"
"Ugh, do I have to help?" Austin whined, the other three boys nodding in agreement.
"Not if you watch the two girls," I replied.
"Sounds good to me." Austin scooped up Lucy as Sheridan crawled up Jace's leg. "Let's go, kiddo, time to chill with your awesome dad and your awesome uncles."
Us girls giggled as they all left the room. Leah spoke up. "Okay, now that we're finally alone...how did Austin propose?"
"Oh, it was so romantic," I gushed before diving into the story.
"He pretended to have a sprained wrist? Damn, he's good. I give him major props for that one," Quinn said when I finished. "That's genius."
"That's something Austin would do," Taylor said.
"That's something you would do," I countered.
"Very true," she agreed. "It's so devious. Remind me to fake an injury when I want Alex to do something for me."
I just rolled my eyes and smiled.
"I'm with Quinn and Taylor on this one," Leah said. "Smart move."
"Yeah, I probably would have figured it out if he hadn't thought of that," I admitted. "But I honestly had no idea."
"I hope my future boyfriend does something spontaneous like that," Leah sighed.
"Hey, you're seventeen. You have a long ways to go, sis," Quinn said. "Relax."
"I was just saying," she defended. Before she could say anything else, there was a shriek from the living room, following two thuds and crying.
"Austin!" I yelled. "What's going on?"
"Nothing, Ems! Lucy and Sheridan just ran into each other. They're fine," He shouted back.
"Watch them better!"
"We are!"
"Leave it," Quinn said as I opened my mouth to retort something.
"We're having chicken pasta," I told them as we got everything out. "That okay?"
"That's more than fine," Leah said. "What do you want us to do?"
And so the four of us girls spent the next hour cooking dinner and we all sat around our big table to eat.
"Oh my god, this is delicious," Jesse said with a mouthful of pasta. "Why are you a songwriter and not a gourmet chef?"
"Really, Jesse? Swallow before you speak," Quinn said.
He swallowed. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.
"Really good supper, ladies," Austin said.
"Quinn and Leah, cook like this at home more often," Jace cut in.
"All you gotta do is ask," Leah told her big brother.
"Alex, how have you already finished?" Taylor asked, astounded at his empty plate. "Again, you just ate three hot dogs!"
"Taylor we've been over this," he said like he was talking to a little kid. "My stomach is my friend. And you share your food with your friends. Therefore, I have to share my food with my stomach."
"God, you are so weird," she said as everyone started laughing.
"Lucy, stop it," Austin said as she stuck her spoon in his face for the third time. "That's not what that's for. Use it like mommy and daddy told you."
"More!" she chirped.
"Yeah, more!" Sheridan agreed.
"You have food on your plate, Luce," Austin told her. "Eat that first."
"But Uncle Austin, I'm all finished," Sheridan told him. "Mommy, more please!"
Quinn sighed and put a little bit on Sheridan's plate, to which she happily started munching on. "I wish she would quit growing so fast."
"Daddy!" Lucy shrieked, starting to fuss in her high chair. "Sher got more, I want more, too!"
"Lucy," Austin warned. "Don't be rude."
"No," she told him.
I sighed. "Austin, just take her."
"Sorry, guys," he said to everyone. "I'll be right back." He stood up and pulled her out of her high chair. "Let's go, missy."
He carried her little screaming body out of the room and upstairs.
"Sorry, she's not usually like that. I don't know what's wrong with her," I said.
Quinn shrugged as she fiddled with her nose ring. "It's all good. Sheridan was much worse when she was Lucy's age." She paused. "Or maybe it was just because I was only sixteen, the age when screaming babies still drive you crazy...oh my god. I bet that was it."
Jesse spoke up. "Hey, Emily, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure," I said, standing up from the table. "We'll be right back."
I followed him to the den where it was secluded. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm really happy for you and Austin. I know when I came into the picture things weren't great between the two of you, but now you're engaged and I think that's awesome," he told me.
I smiled. "Thanks, Jesse. Actually, I think you strengthened our relationship."
"How the hell did I strengthen it? I ruined it," He said, confused.
"Well, at first it was rocky, sure, but you didn't ruin it. I think you coming into the picture made Austin and I realize how much we needed each other, especially when we spent that week apart. Sometimes, couples take each other for granted and assume everything will be okay in the end." I shrugged. "You just gave us that little push. If that makes any sense."
Jesse nodded. "No, I get what you mean. I guess it was a good thing he wanted to pretty much kick my ass all the way to China," he joked. "It showed how much he cares about you."
I laughed. "Totally." I gave him a big hug around his torso. "But seriously, thank you for being happy for me. I'm happy for me, too."
He hugged me back, being careful of my arm. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be happy for my little sister?" He teased.
I softly punched him on the arm. "Oh, shut it; I'm only a year younger than you."
"You're still little," he said. "Figuratively and literally."
"I can't help that I'm vertically challenged!" I called after him as he left the room, his laugh echoing down the hall.
I met Austin back in the hallway as he was coming back down the stairs. "Hey," he said. "What's going on?"
"Nothing, I was just talking to Jesse," I told him.
"About what?" He stopped. "Sorry, that was intrusive. It's not my business."
"No, no, it's okay," I said quickly. "He was just saying he was happy for us. He'll probably talk to you later, too."
"Oh," he nodded. "Okay."
"Where's Lucy?"
"I put her to bed," he replied. "She's being a brat."
"I don't know what's wrong with her lately," I told him. "Something's off with her."
"She's just getting into the Terrible Two's," Austin said. "Yay for toddlers." He saw my look of doubt. "Hey," he said quietly, putting his hand on my waist. "She's okay."
"I hope so," I told him.
He bent to kiss my forehead gently. "We'll keep an eye on her, alright? Relax, Emily."
"Sorry," I told him. "You know me."
"Unfortunately," he teased. "Now come on, we better get back to our friends. We invited them for dinner and we ditched them."
As I followed him back through the house to the dining room, I was tempted to go upstairs on check on my daughter. But Austin was right, I was probably overreacting. I hoped, anyway.