Page 33 of Mink Hijinks
Aaron gasps into his bag of gross as I do the same.
“Sympathy barfs. I’m so sorry,” Aaron says. He takes my bag and leaves the moving truck to empty them. Barfing a few more times over the guardrail, all the while Buckle laughs from the van behind us.
“You okay in there?” He hollers from the window.
I wave back. “The joys of pregnancy.” I hand Aaron a few bottles of water to rinse out the bags and he continues getting sick. It’s a little comical and I can’t stop laughing.
Once I get a bottle of antacid in me, I’m better and offer to drive so Aaron can recover from throwing up so much.
“Really, I can still drive.”
“Babe, you need to rest after that. And thank you for taking care of the grossness.”
Aaron presses a hand to his mouth. “Don’t remind me.”
I pass him a fresh water bottle. “Drink. And relax. I’m fine driving a few hours.”
We drive through the night and end up driving halfway before Buckle calls and asks if we want to hit up a hotel. We all need the sleep and agree.
When we’re on the road again, I’m anxious to get to Aaron’s. Anxious to feel at home. Anxious to rebuild my nest.
AARON
“Oh! My! Gosh! They are so so so so so so so sosoooocute!” I rock one of my baby nieces in my arms while Pax holds another.
“Heather, they are so beautiful.” I rub the little one’s chubby cheek.
“Hey! I helped, too,” Misty says as she rocks a third baby.
Buckle has the fourth, and Heather has the fifth.
“Adorable,” Buckle whispers. I’m glad he chose to haul his trailer to my property. He’s enjoyed not having to hide his chipmunk so much. He hasn’t found his mate yet, but he seems more optimistic than he had when I met him. He works at a garage that said if Pax ever wants a spot, they’re happy to hire him too. But my Pax and I are happy working together.
“Quints just like us.” I softly hip check Misty. She looks at me with love in her eyes.
“I’m so happy.” She kisses Heather gently on the cheek.
“You’re having a single, right?” Heather asks.
“Yes, thankfully,” Pax says. “I don’t have enough nipples for more.” He grins. We already talked about it. We’ll be having more kids, but it might take us longer to have the brood we want. He revealed he’d always wanted a big family, but his motheralways seemed resentful of having three. “But I’m happy to have more in the future.”
“You say that, but wait until you have that little bean. Might rip you a new asshole,” Heather says.
Pax goes red. “I don’t wanna think about what’s going to happen during childbirth. I’m putting good vibes only out into the universe.”
I place my niece into the plastic crib next to Heather’s bed. “All the good vibes.”
“I’m glad our kid has cousins to grow up with,” Pax says. “I never had that.”
I pull him close. “I’ll help you navigate the big family. But I don’t think you need the help. You’re already doing so perfectly.”
He squeezes my side and whispers, “Don’t forget the presents.”
“Presents? I heard the word presents,” Misty’s eyes light up as if they aren’t practically glow sticks already.
I leave the room to grab the bag of gifts I left at the nursing station.
“Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s Christmas in July!” I say when I re-enter, with Santa hat and fake beard.
