Page 97 of Lose to Win: Lost Trilogy: Part 3
“Uh, at their new house?” I’m so confused.
Devereaux and Arlene decided that they wanted to start over with a clean slate. That included moving into a new house, one where the ghost of Jon Stewart’s first wife didn’t loom over. Perfectly understandable. Or so I thought.
“And then Becca,” she points toward the backyard where everyone is laughing and having a good ol’ time. Everyone but us that is.
“What about Becca?” I glance out there, but I don’t see her right now.
“She was my best friend. My only friend really.”
Tears are running down her face, breaking my heart all over again.
“Are you not friends anymore?”
“I don’t know,” she wails. “I don’t know how to tell her how sorry I am for keeping things from her. For not going to her when Dylan got hurt. For completely ignoring her when she tried to reach out to me over and over…”
“Babe,” I sigh, but another voice interrupts us from the large French doors that lead to the backyard.
“Emily.”
Becca rushes to the couch, dropping on it on the other side from Emily. She opens her arms for a hug, and my woman just falls into it, crying harder and confusing me even more.
“I’m so sorry,” she mumbles.
“I’m always here for you, Em,” Becca assures her, meeting my worried eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t try harder to reach you.”
“I didn’t know how to tell you,” Emily wails again.
In the meantime, I’m just sitting here unsure if I should stay or leave. I decide to give them some privacy, but when I attempt to stand up from the couch, Emily reaches back and clutches onto my dress shirt. I guess I’m staying.
“Honey,” Arlene rushes to the couch now as well. She drops to her hunches in front of Emily, taking in her sad face and the tears that are flowing freely now. “I can’t believe you’d think I’m pushing you out. You’re my girl now. Both you, and Becca, and Alison. I only had boys before, so this is quite refreshing,” she chuckles.
Apparently, that’s reason enough for Emily to cry some more, this time clutching at Arlene’s shoulders, then pulling Becca into it as well.
I force my way up from my spot on the couch. Now that both her hands are occupied, I can remove myself without getting pinched to death.
“What the fuck is going on?” Dylan booms from the side of the couch. When I look, I see that everyone who was outside before is now inside, all of them staring at the scene in front of us.
“I don’t know,” I shrug. “I guess they’re working shit out?”
“Everybody’s crying,” Dylan barks at me.
“Well, it’s not because of anything I said or did,” I make sure to say right before I take a couple of steps away from him. He seems to want to punch me in the face every time something is off with Becca.
“We’re all fine,” Arlene calls from the floor in front of the couch. “I was just having a moment with my girls. “That’s you too, honey,” she opens her arms wide for Alison when she sees her standing in the doorway. The baby in her arms squirms in distress when she is pressed against the two adults sandwiching her from front and back.
“Women, right?” I try to make light of the situation, but I’m just as confused.
All that is followed by a lot of chatter and seemingly happy tears. I can pick Emily’s up from the bunch, and that’s why I about drop of a heart attack when I hear her saying, “I think my water just broke.”
“What the fuck!”
I jump into action and push everyone out of the way.
“What is happening?” I eye her up and down, but I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“I think dad and Arlene can just toss this couch,” she gives me a nervous smile.
“But that’s way too early,” I yell at the room at large, then point a finger at Dylan. “I’m gonna break your motherfucking nose for this one, dude.”
