Page 21 of Together

If I can pick up groceries and other essentials and help out a little around here with little things to take the burden off both of them, I’ll do it. They deserve it.

“You gonna leave any of those doughnuts for Dean?”

“Verdict is still out on that one,” she mumbles around a mouthful of food.

“Such an asshole.”

“He knows the deal. You snooze you lose around here.”

I raise my eyebrows at her as I put some ground beef in the freezer. “You mean, since he’s working his ass off to clear the roads he doesn’t get to eat doughnuts?”

“Right.” She grins, licking the glaze off her fingers. “Did you get the maxi pads?”

“Yeah. But why do you need them, anyway?”

“For after the birth.”

“Enough said.”

“So… this girl might be pregnant?”

Even though it’s scary as hell and inconvenient as fuck, I smile. “Yeah. I think so. I saw her at the store while I was buying your pads and I’m pretty sure she thought they were for a girlfriend or something. She started acting a little shifty about it. I should be hearing from her tonight whether or not your little guy will be having a younger cousin by about eight months.”

“You’re smiling,” she says, standing up to help me put the rest of the meat away in the freezer then squeals when she sees I picked up not one, but two Party Size bags of Cool Ranch Doritos. Something she’s been craving the entire pregnancy. Seeing the snacks makes me wonder what kinds of food Ashley will crave, if any. It also makes me wonder if she’ll allow me to be there for her.

“Not the worst thing that could happen,” I admit.

“You don’t know her,” she reminds me gently, putting away a box of pasta.

“Don’t I?”

She gives me a look that I’m sure will one day remind her children who’s boss but it does nothing to me. “All I know is that I felt comfortable around her and when I saw her at the store today, I was… I don’t know, happy. It wasgoodto see her.”

“Even though she told you that she could potentially be pregnant with your child?”

I flinch. “I know. I know. That was definitely unexpected and actually pretty scary. My gut instinct, though, tells me it’s a good thing.”

“You’ve always been one to follow your gut,” she says.

“But it hasn’t always led me in the right direction,” I remind her.

I pull the pizza box out of the oven where we had it keeping warm and we take it with us to the living room, Josie carrying a can of Coke for me and one of Sprite for her. She’s held off on drinking even an ounce of caffeine since they started trying to get pregnant but she says sometimes she needs something fizzy, especially when she’s eating pizza.

“Want to watch a movie or a show?”

“Movie.”

“Good. I was hoping you’d say that.”

With a slice of pizza raised in my hand, I pause, noticing her grin and tone of voice. “Josie. No.”

“It’s Christmas.”

“It is not.”

She huffs. “It is in two days. Please? Come on, Dean never lets me watch it and I feel weird watching it alone. I need someone to banter with! You know you love it.”

“I do not.”

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