Page 130 of The Forever After Bet

“Nope.”

“Fine.” Hannah huffs. “Why should I keep trying when I feel like Beth doesn’t care t anymore? Since our colossal blow-up at Christmas, I feel invisible to her. She does the usual mom things. But the only times she does something extra for me is when she has to. If she packs food for Jack for away games, she’ll pack me one. But I think its only because if she didn’t, it would make her look bad. Last week, when we played Freeman, she made us both sandwiches, but she put a note, two brownies, and a twenty-dollar bill in Jack’s. She put a sandwich and four baby carrots in mine.” Hannah shrugs and reaches down to the floor, grabbing my history book.

“Will you do something for me?”

“Yes, what?”

“No matter what happens this weekend, even if Beth never once attempts to be nice and loving, that you will. Don’t let someone else’s actions dictate your own.”

“I’ll try.”

“Promise?”

Hannah smiles. “I knew you were going to ask me to promise. Yes, I promise.”

“Thank you. Now let’s study Civil War battles.” Hannah tries to crawl off my lap, but I tighten my hold around her. “Let’s play a game?”

Hannah arches her eyebrow. “What kind of game?”

“A trivia game. You get a kiss if you get the battle, the date, and the location right.”

“A kiss?”

“Yep.”

“Can I pick the location of the kiss?” Hannah asks, an eyebrow arched.

I tip my head back, laughing. “Yes, but when it’s my turn to guess, the same rules apply.”

“Let’s play.” Hannah rubs her hands together with a devious smile.

Jack is just getting home as I’m leaving. “Yo, how was your date?” I ask, holding my fist out for him to bump.

“It was great.” Jack smiles, scratching his head.

“Oh yeah? Anything you want to share?”

“I told Leah I loved her.”

I’ve rarely seen this big of a smile on his face before.

“That’s awesome. Has she said it to you?” I ask.

“She told me she loved me that Sunday after the whole pregnancy mess. We were sitting downstairs, talking, and I was still trying to process everything, and she told me she loved me. She was okay with me not saying it back. It made me evaluate how I feel about her. She’s tough, no-nonsense, and she knows what she wants. She’s amazing.”

“I’m thrilled for you,” I say, patting his back.

“How was your night?”

“A little rough, but good.”

Jack sucks in a breath. “Jim talked to my mom and Hannah about the Portland trip, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, he did. You knew?”

“Yes. Jim asked me my opinion. I told him it was a good idea. Things aren’t worse, but they’re not better either. If nothing changes, things will get worse, especially after number five shows up.”

“You mean the baby?”

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