Page 10 of Never Really Mine
Jess turns her focus back to her sister. “I am serious though. It’s… been an issue lately. This,” she points to her round belly, “has been causing lots of bathroom misery.”
“I think we can attest to that,” my mom chuckles. “At the end of my pregnancy with Marley, if I had to go to the bathroom, I had to gonow. No waiting.”
“She’s right,” Lori replies with a chuckle. Nikki laughs in agreement.
Josie smiles. “If it comes to that, you can just sneak out the side and to the bathroom. I don’t care. A girl’s gotta do what a girls gotta do.”
“Oh thank goodness.” Jess heaves a sigh, her hand rubbing her belly fondly.
I eye her stomach with a hint of… jealousy? I definitely don’t envy this stage of pregnancy, but I’ve always wanted kids. I alsothought I’d already have them by my age, but life has had other plans.
Doing newborn sessions in my studio for the last year has been so fun, and has definitely given me a hint of baby fever.
Okay, a lot of baby fever.
Maybe Josie and Andrew will have kids someday, then at least I can love on them, since who knows when I’ll have one of my own. Or maybe Megan will have one soon.
The sadness creeps in, the same kind that I always have when I think about this. I want to find someone, to have a family of my own. Watching my friends slowly get that for themselves hurts, despite how much I love it for them.
Soon enough, I’m sure I will have plenty of babies to love up, and they say the best part of being an aunt is you can give the baby back at the end of the day, and get your full eight hours of sleep. So, hey, that’s a perk. Right?
6
BEAU
It takes remarkable effort not to rip my hair from my scalp as I watch Marley close the door to the bridal suite behind her. I just fucked up so hard. It’s like I took all my plans for our future and threw them out the car window while driving eighty down the freeway.
Crash and burn.
I curse under my breath, spinning on my heel to head toward my room. On second thought, I should check in on the guys, make sure Isaac, Andrew’s best friend, is doing his job and not letting Andrew get too drunk.
I head down to the opposite end of the hall, hearing the rambunctious laughter of my brothers and friend. I knock on the door, and like a group of teens, they shush each other, before one of them stumbles to the door, loudly.
The door flies open, and Thomas is the one to greet me. His eyes are glazed. “Little bro!” he nearly shouts, smiling like a lunatic, showing me the gap in his teeth. I shush him, glancing behind me, worried someone is in the hall.
“Dude, we’re in a hotel, you gotta be quiet.”
“Pffft,” he scoffs. “We aren’t that loud. It’s just ‘cause you’re standing right next to me.”
“Right,” I murmur, sidestepping him into the suite. The three men—Andrew, our brother Jason, and Andrew’s friend Isaac—sit on the floor cross-legged in a small circle, a pile of poker chips and cash in the middle of them.
“Shhhhh,” Thomas hisses. He pushes around me, nearly throwing himself onto the floor as the heavy door falls closed with aslam.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, thankful they aren’t completely shitfaced, just happy drunk. Isaac seems to be the only sober one.
Well, besides me.
I sit down next to him, offering him a chin tip. I spot Jason across the circle, catching him laughing at Thomas as he flops back down onto the floor.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Jason let loose like this, probably since before the birth of his daughter, Lennie. Being a single dad has been hard on him, but he’s done it amazingly, all while starting up his own brewery.
My heart rate is finally starting to slow after the near kiss with Marley. I use the bed behind me as a back rest, sitting diagonally and crossing my legs in front of me. All the other guys are in t-shirts and sweats, or basketball shorts, while I’m still in my suit from the rehearsal dinner.
“Beau, my man, where have you been?” Andrew asks, his words slurring ever so slightly.
“Just helping Marley with a few things downstairs,” I answer, taking the beer Isaac offers me. It doesn’t really look like they’re actively playing poker, more so getting distracted with every turn of hand.
Andrew’s brows twist in displeasure. “You know, I really don’t get you two,” he mutters.
