“We’ll have to go home first and pack his things, but I think we really need that. He may not sleep through the night though,” she responds.
“We’ll be alright, one night won’t kill us. Now, let’s get this thing over and done with so you can relax.” The overwhelming feeling of feeling like a shit best friend is definitely there. I’ll try and get this shindig over and done with that way they can have time alone.
“I love you guys,” Callie says, and we all return her reply while we hug it out before we make our way to the front yard.
I spot Colt and say, “Hey, you ready to get this started? We have a baby spending the night with us tonight.”
“Yeah, Bella or Noah?” he asks.
“Noah, they need a break desperately.”
“Shit, we get to spoil him rotten and send him back. That’s the best part. Love you, babe,” he kisses my lips softly before pulling away.
“Love you more.”
“Clairabella, you want to help me with this?” he asks.
“Oh yes, Uncle Colt.” The two of them go over to the Camaro that was sitting in his shop that we went and found the day our lives started to change. True to his word, he let Bella pick the color. I secretly think he’ll be holding onto that car for her one day.
Both of them hop in the car, leaving the whole family standing, anxiously awaiting to see if we’ll be welcoming a little boy or a little girl in the coming months.
“You ready for this?” My dad comes up beside me, his arm wrapped around my shoulder.
“More than ever,” I smile at Colt, he winks at me and then he starts the Camaro, revving the engine up while in park and out comes a plume of pink smoke from the exhaust telling us what to expect. I had no idea not long-ago Colt asked for a little girl that his dream would come true, I still secretly hope she looks a lot like her father.
I tear off towards Colt as soon as he shuts the car down and escorts Bella back towards Callie.
“Oh my gosh, we’re having a little girl!” He picks me up, twirling me around in his arms.
“Hell yeah, we are, and she’s going to have me wrapped around her finger, much like her Mom already does.” I lean into his lips, wanting to taste him, needing to feel him. He gives me what I’m after, just like he does every single time.
Epilogue Two
Colt
One Year Later
Callie walks through the front door without knocking, something her and Presley both do. I’m sitting on the couch, my little princess, Brentley, tucked into my chest. “Whelp, I hope you have room for Bella and me. After today, I’ll probably be jobless and homeless.” Her voice is full of hostility, something I can’t blame her for at all.
“What happened now?” Lyla asks,
“Bella has her dance recital coming up. It’s during the day, so I asked for the day off. Figuring I may as well make a production of it, make it a Mom and me day. Well that asshole denied my time off. Somehow there’s an important meeting that suddenly appeared, and I have to be there. So, I may have walked into his office and told him if being an asshole was a real job, he’d be even more successful than the attorney he is now and walked out. I’m waiting to hear if I have a job to come back to.”
“If you need a job you know you can come work for me,” I offer.
“I know that, and I love you for even offering that. I just hate that I’m going to lose so much. I’ve worked there ever since Bella was a baby and was ready to work while Mom and Dad watched her.” The weight of the world is on her shoulders. When you’re around Callie and Presley as much as I am, they’re basically your adopted sisters.
“The offer is always open, you know we have full benefits, too.”
“Maybe this is what’s meant to happen. He’s been running you ragged for a while now, Callie. If he does fire you, it’s an even better reason to start a different career path,” Lyla stands up and moves beside her.
I tune the two of them out as they volley questions back and forth about Clairabella’s recital, when it I’ll be, what she’ll be doing, and what she’ll be wearing.
She’s another girl that weaseled her way into my heart, and quickly. I even pick her up from school a day or two a week. Between Brentley, Noah, and Clairabella, we all have our hands full, but we try and do something together once a month. I even have my parents looking at buying a vacation home down here in Florida, not that Texas is that much more different than down here.