We woke up early the next morning. Too early. The sun wasn't even up yet. That fact didn't seem to bother Julian. I always thought morning people were a myth, but there Julian was, with the energy of someone who had a full eight hours of sleep and cup of coffee.
When I had gotten my caffeine fix during our stop at Starbucks I was finally able to keep my eyes opened for more than a few seconds. My mind finally clear of it's sleepy haze and able to focus on other things. Like last night, for instance.
I felt nauseous thinking about how desperate I acted. There was just so much going on in my head. In a few weeks we wouldn't be able to have spontaneous road trips and overnights at hotels. We wouldn't be able to see each other every day. No kissing. No holding. No long talks about nothing while looking out over the sunflower field.
Thinking about all of that made me want to solidify. Now that his touch wasn't clouding my judgement, I realized sex wasn't going to do that. I was glad he stopped us from going that far.
"About last night," he started, eyes focused on the bumper to bumper traffic before us. I tried not to appear startled by him bringing up the topic I was just thinking about. "You know I didn't stop because of you, right?" He looked at me now. "It's not that I didn't want to. I just didn't want it to happen there. On a mattress where others have probably had sex."
I felt my entire body recoil at the thought. "Ew."
"Exactly." He laughed, turning back to the road as traffic started to move.
"You made the right call on that one," I agreed, let out a mix between a groan and a laugh. "But can you drive faster? Thinking about that makes me want to take an hour long shower."
Halfway through our drive we stopped for burgers, which we didn't have time for. My mom was already blowing up my phone with texts, asking me and Kells to come over to help with the cooking. I was running out of excuses and I was panicking. What if she got tired of waiting and went over to Kells?
I took over the driving from there, not trusting Julian to get there in time. We made it back to town in under three hours. I was proud of myself. Julian looked like he was just happy to get out of the car.
I followed suit and we met at the front of the car. I wrapped my arms around his neck, the stuffed toys he gave me clutched in my hands. His arms found their way around my waist. For a moment I just smiled at him. Reveling in the moment. Coffee breath and all.
"I had fun yesterday," I told him, meaning every word of it.
"I'm glad." The corners of his lips twitched up into a smile. "I thought I would've scared you away."
I leaned back to get a better look at him. "Why would you think that?"
He shrugged, glancing at the ground. "We haven't been together for very long and I'm making these future plans--"
"Hey," I cut him off and met his eyes. "When I agreed to be your girlfriend, I didn't mean just for the summer. I like that you think a head."
He nodded and I could tell he was holding back another smile. "I guess it's safe to tell you about the wedding venue I picked out."
I snorted. "Okay, calm down."
He laughed pulling me closer. "I should get going," he said, though he didn't sound like he wanted to.
"Me too," I agreed. "Before my mom files a missing person report."
He gave me a peck on the cheek before climbing into his car and driving off.
+ + +
The living room had been completely transformed since I last saw it. It looked like something straight off of Pinterest. Which, knowing my mom, it probably was. There was so much pink and blue--streamers hanging from the ceiling and wrapped around the banisters, balloons taped to the wall framing the backdrop for photos, jars of candies and chocolate--it was hard trying to picture what the house looked like before.
The backdrop for photos was along one wall and along the other was a candy bar with display of white frosted cupcakes. My dad told me that they were filled with frosting that would reveal the gender of the baby. It was tempting to go over and snatch one to find out ahead of time.
Unfortunately my path was blocked by my grandma. She was dressed in distressed jeans, a Mickey Mouse shirt, and one of her many lace front wigs, not looking a day over forty.
"Who was the boy you were hugged up with?"
I flinched at her questions. When I saw that our driveway already had a few cars in it, I told Julian to park at the corner. She must've been out in the yard or something. Just because he was no longer a secret didn't mean that I wanted him to meet the entire family. Especially not Grandma. She'd ask him every question under the sun. Nothing was off limits as far as she was concerned.
"He's just a friend," I said, cheeks burning.
"Mhm." Her tiny eyes narrowed at me, lips pressed together tight in a straight line. "Your granddaddy was 'just a friend' and I ended up fifteen and pregnant."
I had heard this story a million times, her age changed every time. But one thing was certain: she had my mom before she was eighteen. I couldn't even imagine how I'd handle something like that. God, what if Julian hadn't stop things last night. A condom was the last thing on my mind at the time.
"Who's pregnant?" My dad's booming voice made me jump. He appeared beside me, arms crossed over his wide chest, staring me down. "Elisa Michelle, if you--"
"I'm not!" I nearly shouted. "She was talking about herself."
"What?" His eyes popped out if his skull as he turned to his sixty year old mother in law. "Paula?"
"You fool!" My grandma whacked him on the arm with her purse. "Ain't nobody pregnant."
I took this moment to sneak up stairs to have a long overdue shower and prepare to find out the gender of my new sibling.
+ + +
An hour and a half later the house was full of family and friends. Kells had come over as soon as I called her after my shower. We were hiding out in the backyard, sitting on the porch, to avoid playing the baby shower games. There wasn't enough money in the world to get me to sniff a dirty diaper. Even if it was only a melt chocolate bar.
"I knew he was different," she said after I told her about last night. "Any other dude would've taken advantage of the moment."
Nova brought her toy back after running to edge of the yard to retrieve it. I tossed again and she was off to chase it down. I leaned back on my palms, squinting in the sun. "I was ready, though," I told her. She raised an eyebrow at me. "To have sex with him."
"Oh shit." She grinned, pushing me to side. "You said the 'S' word. This serious."
"Shut up," I said, pushing her back as a blush crept into my cheeks. "Seriously though, it scares me how much I like him. I feel like I shouldn't have fallen for him so quickly. I should've put up more a fight."
There was a long pause as she appeared to digest what I said.
"Nah," she said easily. "Life's too short to not go after what you want."
As always, she was right. After all, it's better to have loved than not at all.
+ + +
Everyone was crammed into the living room, a tiny white frosted cupcake in their hands as we waited for my dad to get through his long winded speech. He seemed to be enjoying the baby shower far more than my mom, who was sitting in a chair with her feet propped up.
"Alright, now--" he didn't get to finish his thought because Nana shouted, "It's a boy!"
I might've been impatient, but Nana had me beat. Everyone started mumbling, or laughing, or congratulating.
My dad's face fell, looking like a child who lost all their toys. "You couldn't have waited one more minute, Mama?"
Then I took a bit of my own cupcake, noticing that the filling was pink instead of blue.
"Mines is pink," an aunt announced before I had the chance.
The smile was back on my dad's face, but he didn't offer an explanation.
It took a minute but I finally understood. "Twins?"
He pointed at me, his grin growing wider. "Yes!"
My ears began ringing from the cheers and congratulations that erupted from the room. Being twice as loud as before for both babies. I guess now I knew why he was so set on doing a reveal, because twins were a rarity in our family.
"In November we will welcome Isaiah and Sariah to the family," my mom said, at dad's side now. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into him.
I'd always admired my parents relationship. They had the kind of love I craved. The way they looked at each other now, eyes filled with the same emotions I saw in their wedding photos, made me miss Julian. My stomach danced at the thought of him.
That's when I realized that, maybe "like" wasn't a strong enough word to describe what I felt for him.
//
Hi! Hello!
Can you feel the love tonight? Elisa might!
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