Page 130 of This Life and All the Rest
“I love you,” she says, and I smirk.
“I know.”
She rolls her eyes and turns the radio up, and I lay my head against the seat and look at her for the rest of the drive.
“Hey, it’s the birthday girl,” Trent calls from his spot on the couch, when we walk into the living room.
“Hey, Daddy,” Lennon says, bending down to give him a hug.
He’s already looking ten times better than he did last week. One hundred times better than the week before that. Nic’s in charge of his PT, and I know she’s taking good care of him.
“Macon.” Trent sticks out his hand so I can shake it.
“Sir.”
Lennon snorts out a laugh at our formalities, and I wave her off, just as my mom comes in with Evie on her hip.
“Noh nah, noh nah, noh nah,” Evie starts to chant, reaching out her grabby hands for Lennon and bouncing in my mom’s arms.
“Oh, my goodness,” Mom says with a laugh. “Here’s your Nona.”
“SayMacon,” I tell Evie as Mom hands her to Lennon. “May-con. Maaaaay-conn. You can do it.”
Evie laughs, but she doesn’t even try to say my name. Instead, she just slobbers up Lennon’s cheek with one of her baby kisses, and I scowl.
“I’m with her nearly every day for months, and nothing. Then you come in and she says your name after just a few weeks.”
“Aw, are you jealous?” Lennon pats my cheek, and I narrow my eyes at her.
“Nona doesn’t even sound like Lennon.”
“Stop pouting.” She reaches up and tugs on my lower lip. “You’re cuter when you’re cocky.”
At that, I grin, and she laughs. She opens her mouth to say something, but another voice calls through the house from the front door. We all turn to find Sam and Casper, arms filled with balloons and gift bags.
“I said I didn’t want gifts,” Lennon says, and Sam rolls her eyes.
“Open ‘em, and if you don’t want ‘em, I’ll keep them for myself.”
“You’re not keepin’ mine,” Casper says, and Sam gives him a side-eyed glance that sayswatch me.
I’m not sure what’s been going on with those two lately, but they’ve been showing up everywhere together. Casper has been tight-lipped, but we’ve never had the kind of relationship where we talk about girls or hookups or whatever it is they might be doing. If Sam’s said anything to Lennon, Lennon’s kept her secret.
I bounce my attention between the two of them.
They’d certainly be an odd pair. Poor boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Rich daughter of a senator. Hell, they even look wrong for each other, what with Casper’s tattered jeans and plain black tee next to Sam’s pressed designer everything. The only designer Casper’s ever owned is the WeatherTech floor mats he bought for his truck.
“You can put those over here,” Mom tells Casper, and I watch as he takes the gifts he’s carrying and the package from Sam’s arms and sets them all on the table.
Sam gives Lennon a hug and boops Evie on the nose.
“SaySam,” Sam says, annunciating her name. “Ssss. Aaaa. Mmm.”
“Sssssssss,” Evie says, hissing like a snake and then giggling, making everyone else laugh, too.
“I’ll take it,” Sam chirps, sending me a smug grin.
I flip her off and hear Trent huff out a laugh. I don’t look at him to confirm he caught me, though. I just grab Lennon’s hand and lead her to the couch, then I sit down on it and pull her and Evie onto my lap.
