Aw, we're almost there!
Big surprise on this one, hope you like it -it's cheesier than pizza - in the story it's been a couple of months since the last one.
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Anemia meant I had to take more vitamins, the scary spotting disappeared after I mentioned it to the doctor and things started to look up from there. Günther had been incredibly happy when Tom and I told him he was going to finally get the brother he had wanted for so long. Lena didn't understand much yet, but hopefully by the time the baby came she would have a better notion of what was going on.
Although I would have liked to stay in Germany, we ended up going back to LA to get Günther to start his next school year in America. Mom wasn't too happy about it, she was going to have to take a long flight to see her grandkid in a couple of months. I was nervous about having the baby in America, but Angie decided to take the flight ticket Bill offered and made her first trip to America with us while sitting next to her boyfriend. It meant we could work from LA, so I calmed myself down a little and worried about the healthcare in the US.
The first thing that we saw when we landed in LA and getting home, was an invitation. I told Tom to read it for me while I got Lena out of her baby carrier, from which we were all already tired of.
"You won't believe me." He said with the invitation open in his hands. "It's a wedding invitation."
"Oh, I believe you." I said and sat Lena on my hip.
"From Allison." He said.
"No..." I smiled.
"Told you." He handed me the invitation.
"I spoke to her the other day, she would have..." I took the invitation in dark blue and golden printing. "Son of a beer!" I looked up at him and he shrugged before taking Lena from my arm and holding her against his chest, where she nested to sleep. "With Georg?!"
"Yup."
"I need the phone." I said and turned to go to the living room where Günther was already napping. I giggled and grabbed the phone, making that very angry and surprised phone call. "Allison, why didn't you tell me?!"
"Hey...woah! Tell you about what?" She asked me. "Wait, did you land already?"
"Yes, don't change the subject!" I told her and sat down next to my boy, he turned and threw himself on my lap. "You and Georg, how?"
"Well, he came all the way to LA to see if we could give things a go. We slept together and I offered him to go back to Germany with one condition."
"I am listening." I said with my hand on Günther's hair.
"That I needed him to teach me German quickly." She said. "But I don't think I'll be working, I'll be a soccer mom." She said proudly.
"Oh yeah? Well," I laughed, "you will need a kid first." I said.
"Why do you think the wedding's next month?" She giggled.
"You're kidding me!" I woke up Günther without meaning to. "Sorry, baby."
"No, no I am not! It was the most random thing ever! But I mean... I missed him!" I nodded. "And he refused, he was willing to do stay here! And then I told him I was pregnant and he was like... whatever you wanna do, I'll do it. And I said I just wanted to have that kid with him and... aw, it's the cheesiest story ever..." She grunted in disgust.
"It is." I said. "I'll see you when we're all over the jetlag, okay?"
"Perfect. Call me!"
"I will! Goodbye!" I hung up the phone and put it down on the coffee table before leaning down to kiss Günther's head. "Do you wanna go to bed, baby?"
"Mmhmm." He replied. I waited a couple of minutes before calling Tom.
He had already left Lena in her room upstairs so now I just asked him to tuck Günni in for the night. Tom grabbed Günther and carried him upstairs while I followed them to help. Once we managed to get the little boy changed into his pajamas, we covered him with the blanket and left quietly so he could sleep. It wasn't that late, but Günther was terribly tired, I thought maybe in the next couple of days we would all have time to get used to the new time zone.
"Can we go to bed now too?" Tom asked me.
I smiled up at him and we both went to our bedroom. Tom had dark circles under his eyes and looked tired, I shrugged in response.
"Yeah, of course." I said.
I watched him take off his shoes and throw himself on the bed, I did the same and changed into a pair of pants and a black shirt that looked huge but fitted me just perfectly with the baby bump I already had. Before sneaking out quickly I saw Tom undo his little ponytail.
I looked around the house for a minute. Lena's room was close to Günther's, and then there was the studio; but where would we put our little baby boy? That house was not big enough for the five of us and I was worried of how we didn't think about this before because I didn't look forward to go looking for a new house. I went back to see Tom already sleeping on the bed with his jeans, shirt and socks still on. I looked in the suitcase for my special pillow, once I had it, I laid down on my side with the large pillow between my knees while facing Tom.
"Why are you staring?" He muttered.
I giggled and blushed a little.
"I thought you were asleep." I admitted and he shook his head.
"I can't sleep with my socks on." He explained quietly and I chuckled at that. Most people couldn't sleep without their socks on, but Tom here, was the opposite.
"Take them off." I suggested.
"First my socks, then what? Are you gonna try to get me naked?" He asked and opened one of his eyes with a small smirk on his face.
I rolled my eyes and closed them so I could fall asleep. Tom got up and after a minute he was back next to me, he put his hand on top of mine over the baby bump and I felt his breath on my face before he kissed my forehead.
"We need a name." I reminded him. "And some room for him." I whispered.
"We'll figure it out later," Tom put his chin on my head and I cuddled against his chest, "for now he's simply... Tinny Man."
I didn't reply, instead I allowed myself to drift off dreaming. We didn't wake up until a couple of hours later, Günther had found a way to cuddle between Tom and me and was not completely lost on his own dreamland with his head against my chest. I looked up to see Tom staring at Günther on the same way I had done.
"Is it too early?" I asked him, judging by the look on his face, it was. "Do you remember that Mexican tacos truck?" Tom closed his eyes and grunted.
"Don't tell me you want some right now..." he complained.
"Please?"
In the end Tom woke Günther up and managed to convince him of going with him. Almost an hour later they came back with the Mexican food I missed from LA.
"Mommy?" Günther asked when we were eating sitting at the kitchen table. I looked at him and waited for him to talk. "Can we get another dog?"
I closed my eyes and turned to Tom.
"Uh... maybe you can get a fish?" Tom guessed while looking at me. I narrowed my eyes and sighed, that was not what I expected him to say. "Or maybe not, look man..."
"We miss Scotty and Bora!" He complained, interrupting Tom.
"We miss them too, sweetie, but you're about to have a little brother!" I tried to reason with my six year old, not a smart move. "We won't be able to give that dog the attention it deserves."
"Daaaad!" He pleaded.
"Oh...your mom's right!" He shook it off, "listen to her, no doggy." I nodded.
"Aw, that sucks..." Günther complained.
After Günther got over the rejection of his puppy request and decided to go upstairs to play video games, Tom took Lena out of her crib and got her changed to take her out with him when he took Rize for a walk.
I watched him place her on the pink baby stroller while I played with my unruly morning hair.
"What are we gonna do about the nursery?" I asked him. "We don't have any room and we need to get it done quickly."
"Hey, calm down..." Tom showed me his hands and turned to me for a second before turning back to Lena. "We can turn the studio into a nursery and build a nice studio on the back." He suggested but I wasn't very into that idea, the part where we had to build a new studio. "We have a lot of room on the back and the studio was originally a room so..."
"It doesn't have any windows." I pointed out.
"Okay... let me think about this." Tom straightened up and pushed the stroller toward the door. "It's gonna be fine, don't worry." He gave me a quick peck on the cheek. "We'll be back soon."
"Yeah, careful with the other dogs, Lena gets scared really easily!" I managed to tell him before they all left.
For next two days we struggled to go back into our routines and recover from the jetlag, Lena was the first one to get over it, and I was the last one. Or maybe I was just worried... I ended up giving up on the idea of remodeling the studio and let Tom make a couple of calls so we would sell the place and buy a bigger one.
When I saw Allison for the first time since we came back to LA she looked the same as I remembered her, except that she was staring down at her almost invisible baby bump. I knew how it felt, at first only you realized it was there, then after some weeks it started showing and you only felt fat for a couple of weeks until the baby bump had the shape of a baby bump and people started noticing and asking how far along you were, touching your belly in a way that made you feel like a dog getting pet. But Ally loved it.
"Can you tell?" She asked me immediately after hugging me. I looked at her and shook my head with an apologetic smile.
"Not yet, Ally." I said. "I think no one will be able to tell on your wedding." I told her.
"Oh, I just wanna see it!" She signaled at her stomach. "How's your little one doing?"
"Are we talking about Lena or this baby?" I wondered and she rolled her eyes. "Well, the tiny man – as Tom calls him – is a little bit underweight, but we'll work on it."
We sat down at a table near the back in the restaurant Allison loved and probably missed the most while living in Germany, and looked through the menus.
"And how are the big brother and sister?" She put the green menu down.
I smiled and chuckled.
"Günther is over the moon!" I told her. "He was like "mommy, you got it right this time!" and well..."
"He said please, Jo. He deserves that brother!"
We had lunch and went looking for a wedding dress that wasn't too tight. By the time we went back to her place, Georg was sitting in the living room with an instructions manual and a baby car seat next to him.
"Would you look at that?" I said when I saw him. Allison looked at Georg and ran over to him.
"Aw, you didn't have to!" She kissed Georg's cheek and he put the instructions down.
"I wanted to." He said. "Hey Jo!" He waved.
"Hey." I waved back and turned to the door, obviously they didn't need me there at the moment. "I'm gonna go now, so..."
"Are you gonna walk?" Allison asked me almost alarmed.
I nodded with a smile.
"It's only five minutes..." I said.
"Five LA minutes." Georg corrected me. "It means it's twenty." He said.
"He's got that right." Allison said. "Call Tom, he should come and take you home safe and sound."
...
Tom was dedicated to two things and two things only: he found a couple of places so we could move, he had told me not to worry about anything and in the end I didn't have to worry at all; the second thing was getting Lena to pronounce a complete sentence.
The only problem with the house deal? Tom decided to take us to see his amazing findings on Allison and Georg's wedding day.
That was right, on the actual wedding day. I needed to get my hair done, my makeup, put Lily in a dress she absolutely hated and try to convince Tom of wearing a tie at the same time I convinced Günther of tucking his shirt inside his pants. It wasn't a good day to do that, but there I was, holding Günther's hand and walking next to Tom, who held Lena.
"This is the perfect home for a family of five!" The saleswoman said and I fought the urge of rolling my eyes.
"Seriously?" I muttered and Tom gave me one of those 'give it a chance' kind of looks.
There was enough space in the garage for Tom's Range Rover and another car. There were some plants around the entryway, once we walked into the house, we saw the high ceilings and the big dining room on the left, every room was marked with a sort of arch and as much as I wanted to keep Günther from running around he just let go of my hand and went on.
"Günther!" I called after him, he ran off to the living room on the right.
"Oh, let him look around!" The incredibly tanned and blonde woman said.
I shook my head and looked at Tom.
"Just show us the place, we have a wedding to attend to." I said, normally I wouldn't be rude like that, but right now I was mad at Tom and not feeling my best.
Tom grabbed my hand and we looked around together, the whole time I ignored the lady's recommendations and simply thought about the place. The kitchen had a door to the garden, I looked out and saw the pool, there was a lot of space but I wasn't entirely sure a place so big was right for us.
I could see why he wanted a place like that, there was a huge gate outside and enough rooms downstairs for the two of us to have our own workspace.
"So?" Tom asked me once we walked through the rooms upstairs. "What do you think? Should we get it?"
"Do you honestly think this is the best one?" I asked Tom and he nodded. "Do you think we can make a home out of such a big house?" I put my hands on my belly.
"Yes." Tom sounded sure. "And I think it's perfect for three kids to run around in here." He said.
"Okay then." I pulled my phone out of my purse and looked at the time. "But some other time, we need to get home!"
We went back home in a hurry and while Tom assured me he could get Günther ready in no time I had to get myself and Lena ready. The dress I had to put on as maid of honor was a long orange dress that was supposed to accentuate my waist.
"Oh, God!" I cried out and covered my face with my hands.
"Are you okay?" Tom walked in and asked me, I felt the bed sink in beside me when he sat down next to me.
"I look huge..." I cried quietly.
"No, no, you don't!" He said and put an arm around me. "I mean... your stomach does, but you? Nah!" He tried to cheer me up.
I leaned on his shoulder with watery eyes.
"I am huge." I declared.
"Oh, Jo... come on!" Tom complained and put his hand on my belly. "Even if you were – and you're not – you look amazing." He tried again. "I...think you're gorgeous." He said slowly, like a kid who pronounces a word for the first time.
I looked up and stared at him, putting my hand on his cheek to keep his head in place while I stared.
"...you do?"
"Always." He muttered looking me straight in the eyes.
I bit my lip and smiled at him, he smiled back at me, his eyes squinting and looking smaller and smaller as the smile spread and widened.
"I need help with the zipper." I whispered sheepishly and Tom nodded, telling me to stand up.
He zipped up the dress and I turned around, looking down at him sitting on the bed. He grabbed my hands and looked straight ahead at my belly on his level. He let go of my hands and pulled me by the hips, placing his ear right next to my stomach.
"He can't speak yet." I joked.
"Shhh..." He sounded annoyed. "Man, we're going to a wedding tonight, okay?" I put one of my hands on Tom's head and the other one over his on the side of my belly. "I am thinking of a nice name for you, but you gotta go to bed early tonight, can you do that?"
"I am not having sex with you tonight." I warned him.
"Don't make any rushed decisions, Jo; we're going to a wedding, it's only natural that we come home and do it." He explained to me very calmly.
"Tom, is Günni ready?" I changed the subject and he looked up with both brows raised. "Go." I smiled at him and turned to put on a pair of flat shoes.
I finished getting my hair straight and then changed Lena into a small light orange dress. She liked it. I saw her pull the skirt and drop it, I cheered for her and she started doing it over and over while I tried to get her short curls into a pair of pony tails at the top of her head; after a minute it was obvious that those curls were not going to cooperate, so I changed plans and looked for a headband and put it on her head to keep her hair away from her face.
I looked for Tom and had him pick up Lena's shoes from the floor and put them on the girl's feet while I fixed Günther's small bowtie.
"So Aunty Allison and Uncle Georg were not married?" He asked me and I nodded. "But you are?" I nodded again. "Am I married?"
I laughed and looked up from the black bowtie to look at my confused boy's expression.
"No," I shook my head, "you are not." I told him.
"Can I?" He squinted at me.
I pursed my lips together and looked around before answering.
"Not for another twelve or so years, okay?" He nodded.
"Okay, this one's ready!" Tom said and walked into Günther's room with Lena on his arms.
"This one too." I said and I put my arm around Günther's shoulders. "Let's go!"
I pulled Lena out of Tom's arms and he went to get my purse before running downstairs with Günther to get the car started while I slowly as ever walked behind them.
We arrived at the church just in time for Allison's mother to hand me a small bouquet of flowers. She gave Lena a basket full of baby pink rose petals and grabbed her's and Günther's hand to take them up front. Gün was going to be helping with Allison's large dress' tail while Lena walked behind him. I was just hoping she didn't trip.
"Oh, you almost didn't make it on time!" Linda said with her little Sarah in arms.
Her and Gustav were behind us in the line, while Linda held the baby girl I could see Gustav taking glances at the pair. The baby was almost six months old already!
"Yeah, well... someone thought today was a perfect day to go look at houses." I explained without looking at Tom.
"Oh, did you see the one with the fences?" Gustav turned to Tom and I stared in surprise.
"Wait, wait..." I chuckled when I interrupted them, "why do you know?"
"Oh, we've been here for a week, Tom told us!" Linda said. "By the way..." She pointed at the front and we all turned to the open doors of the big church.
Allison and Georg's wedding was long, maybe it was just that my feet hurt, but I really felt like the priest took his time with the speech. My friends' vows were beautiful and quick, though, so I wasn't surprised to see Allison let a couple of tears roll when Georg took the mic, I cried too and I wasn't getting married!
When they were finally declared husband and wife, they kissed and turned to their guests. They had a small group of guests like Tom and me, like Gustav and Linda had had.
Günther clapped and cheered, jumping on the bench and going full on seven-year-old crazy. Lena didn't know what was going on but stared at her brother and clapped when Tom told her to.
At the party I spent quite some time with Allison and some other friends from LA, Günther and Lena were having a ball dancing with one of Allison's cousins who had taken up the task of making a small circle with pretty much all of the kids in the party and kept them entertained.
Tom was standing with his own friends drinking and taking glances of the kids and me on opposites sides of the dancefloor.
"Hey, someone's looking for you!" A girl Allison and I met at the salon told me and pointed at my kids who were finding their own way through the crowd.
"Thanks!" I yelled over the sound of the music.
I went to Günther and Lena; he was holding his sister's hand and she was rubbing her eye, obviously tired.
"What is it, honey?" I leaned down as far as I could to speak to Günther.
He had turned seven in July and although we didn't throw him a big party as usual because we were so distracted with the baby and our issues, coming back to LA had seemed to be enough to make him happy. He had started to get more protective of Lena, who was not as clueless of things happening around her as she used to, after all, she was also about to turn two the next week.
"Lena wants to sleep." He said and clumsily brought her in front of him.
Günther smiled and went off to dance. I watched the little guy run away happily and then turned to Lena yawning in front of me. I picked her up carefully, it was very hard for me to bend over low enough to hold her.
I carried her back to our table and sat down with her on my arms. She quickly shuffled to a more comfortable position and fell asleep with her small arms around my neck and her head on my shoulder. I held her and checked my phone in the meantime.
"One down?"
I heard Tom's voice and turned to the side to see him sit down next to me, he was wearing the jacket of his suit open and had dropped the tie on the table as soon as he could, now his shirt was slightly open and when he sat down he also put a glass down on the table.
"Yeah, Günther's dancing, though." I smiled at him.
"Do you want me to go get the blanket?" He asked.
I shook my head and just then Gustav and Linda came up to us and said their goodbyes.
"Sarah's getting cranky, she can't sleep with all the noise." Linda explained with a smile on her face.
"She better get used to the noise!" I giggled with her.
"I know!" Gustav said and turned to his baby girl. "It's just that she's so small... I can't force it."
"Don't worry, one day she'll ask you for a drum set." Tom said before taking a sip of his drink.
"God, yes!" Gustav said.
"God, no!" Linda replied at the same time.
We watched them stare at each other in silence.
"Tom, a drum set is not a guitar..." I said with an apologetic smile. "Have a good night guys."
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I know it's late, but if you're reading this in the morning: there's going to be another one up tonight!:D
I'm still having breathing issues with Tom's pictures and Georg and Bill's hair and... GOOOOOOOD!
Thanks for reading, voting and leaving a comment!
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