Chapter 2
Jax
When are you getting home from work?
I stared down at my phone trying to figure out what was going on with my wife. This had to have been the fifth text she sent today inquiring about my arrival time. If she was someone else, I might be worried she was trying to hide something from me, but that wasn’t Carter at all.
She probably had a birthday present she needed to wrap even though there were still two days until my actual birthday and I had insisted on no presents.
It wouldn’t surprise me if she broke that rule seeing as how I had broken it for her birthday last month, but I didn’t have a choice.
She was in desperate need of a new laptop that she could use solely for her writing.
Leaving in about ten, I texted back. I quickly followed it up with a second text. Want me to pick up dinner?
Carter’s response came so quickly, I figured she must have been staring at her phone waiting to see what I said. No thank you :) We will figure out dinner once you’re home.
Weird. It wasn’t very often that I offered to pick up dinner that Carter turned it down. She was definitely up to something, but I had no idea what it was.
I hurried to finish up my work so I could get home and figure out what was going on. I texted Carter when I was leaving because I figured she would want to know.
When I got to the house, it was strangely dark inside, which didn’t make sense since Carter’s car was in the driveway. What the hell is going on?
I opened the door and looked around the dark hallway. “Carter? Are you home?”
I was about to hit the light switch when someone hugged me from behind. “Babe? Why is it so dark-”
My words cut off when I turned around and saw whose arms were around me. “Olivia?” I screamed in excitement as I picked my best friend up and spun her around in a circle. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Surprise! Happy birthday!”
I put her down and looked all around us as I tried to figure out what was going on. “Where are Quinton and Jada? How long are you staying?” I reached out and touched her. “Are you actually standing in front of me right now?”
Olivia laughed. “Quinton and Jada are at home. This is a solo trip. You get to deal with me for the next week.” She pinched herself. “And yes, I’m really here.”
“This explains why your sister was acting so weird.”
Olivia put her hand on her head. “Oh my god, I know. She is terrible at keeping secrets.”
I smiled, because I knew just how true that was. “She really is. It’s one of the things I love most about her though.”
“Could you two stop talking about me?” Carter asked with a laugh as she walked into the hallway to join us.
“You!” I pointed at her. “Was this your idea?”
Carter reached out and gave me a hug that felt like home. “It was a joint effort.”
“A whole Miller-Cooper Clan effort,” Olivia added. “My moms are helping Quinton with Jada this week, and Ronan… well, he didn’t do much, but he sends his love.”
I looked between my two favorite people in the whole world. I couldn’t believe they were both standing in front of me right now. “So, what’s the plan? What are we doing this week?”
I wasn’t surprised when Olivia shrugged, but it did surprise me that Carter also didn’t seem to have a plan. Carter always had a plan. She pointed at me. “This week is all about you. Whatever you want to do, we are in.”
Unfortunately, most of the week, I had to work for at least a few hours a day. That would be a nice chance for Olivia and Carter to catch up though. I knew they both missed each other just as much or more than I missed Olivia. “I guess we’ll figure it out as we go. How does that sound?”
“Sounds great!” Olivia said excitedly.
“Yeah, great.” Carter clearly wasn’t nearly as excited for our impromptu week, but it was nice that she was a good sport about it.
Just as I was about to ask what we should do for dinner, my stomach growled. I put my hand over it and laughed. “Clearly I need food. What are we thinking?”
Carter pointed to me. “This week is all about you. You’re clearly hungry. Tell us what you want, and it’s all yours.”
Olivia nodded. “What she said. As long as I don’t have to cook it, I’m happy.”
“Pizza?” I figured that was something good that we could get fast, which I needed since I was starving.
“Pizza is perfect,” Olivia said, bouncing slightly with her words.
“Yeah, babe, pizza sounds great.” Carter squeezed my arm. “I can go pick it up.”
“Are you sure?” I felt bad making her go out when her sister was here.
“Of course. You two never get best friend time anymore. I want you to be able to take full advantage of Olivia’s kid-free time.”
I hadn’t thought of the fact that Olivia and I never really got time together anymore, just the two of us.
While it was amazing that we were family now and I wouldn’t trade it for the world for multiple reasons, it definitely changed our relationship a lot.
Most friends saw each other a lot less than we did, but any time we saw each other, it was for family events and we were surrounded by other people.
I couldn’t remember the last time just the two of us had hung out and laughed about our college days.
I took Carter’s hand in mine and squeezed it tight. “Thanks, babe. That means so much to me.”
Carter shrugged. “When Annika comes to visit, you normally give us space to catch up. I’m just doing the same for you.”
I squeezed her hand again. “Still. Thank you. You’re the best.” I leaned in and gave her a kiss, but the kiss was interrupted by Olivia clearing her throat.
“Could you please go get our pizza so I don’t have to watch you two being disgustingly cute while I’m miles and miles away from my husband?”
Carter chuckled and shook her head. “You’re so dramatic, but yes, I will go get the pizza. And don’t worry—I’ll take my time.”
My stomach growled again as if it could hear what she was saying and wasn’t happy about it. “Please don’t.”
Before she turned around to leave, Carter smiled and winked at me, which had my stomach reacting for a completely different reason.
Sometimes it shocked me that she could still have that effect on me after all of this time.
I thought some of that was supposed to fade away, but it really hadn’t with us.
“Could you stop fantasizing about my sister so we can finally catch up?” Olivia teased.
“Of course.” I pointed down the hallway. “Family room?”
Olivia skipped in front of me. “I’ll lead the way.”
Fortunately for my stomach, but unfortunately for our catch-up time, Carter was back before we had a chance to get past Olivia’s updates on Jada.
We were all pretty quiet as we ate, but Carter was the first to finish. “I’m going to go upstairs and read so you two have more time together. Tomorrow morning and afternoon I’ll be working so you two can have some special time then as well.”
I stood from the table and walked up beside her. “Are you sure, babe?”
Carter nodded. “Of course. We’ll all be together on your birthday, and I’ll have time alone with Olivia while you’re at work. It’s only fair that you get your time as well.”
“Are you going to suggest we have a sleepover too?” Olivia joked.
The smile on Carter’s face said it all. “You should do that! When was the last time you got to stay up late laughing and gossiping?”
“God, it’s been so long since I’ve been able to do that with anyone. Quinton will listen to me talk for hours, but he’s not one for gossip, so he really doesn’t contribute much.” Olivia smiled at me. “What do you say? Should we do it? Can you give up sex for one night for your bestest friend?”
Carter’s face immediately turned red and she cleared her throat a few times as if she was uncomfortable. “Just for the record, we don’t have sex every night.”
“Of course not. Someone who goes as hard as your sister needs to take a break every once in a while,” I teased in order to make them both uncomfortable.
Olivia made a puking motion. “Gross. Are you going to join me in the guest room, aka the biggest room in the house, aka the master bedroom, that should be the one you two use?”
I laughed, because Olivia brought this up every time she came to visit.
She didn’t understand why Carter and I chose to make our room in any room other than the master bedroom which was connected to a large master bathroom.
We had talked about switching rooms now and then, but each time we discussed it we came to the same conclusion—we wanted to stay in the room that held so many memories for us.
That room was the one we had stayed in the first time we visited here as an unofficial couple.
The roof outside of the room was where I had proposed and where we had shared countless memories since then.
Call me nostalgic, but I would take all of those memories over extra space any day.
“Yes, I will join you in the guest room.”
“Is that going to become the nursery once you have a kid or are you keeping it open for me?” Olivia asked.
I watched the smile drop from Carter’s face in response to the question. Olivia obviously didn’t know so it wasn’t her fault, but this was the last thing we wanted to talk about right now. “We haven’t really decided.”
Olivia let it drop, but a little while later, when we were in our pajamas and sitting on the bed together in the guest room, she brought it up again.
“Did I say something wrong earlier when I asked about the nursery? It felt like everything became really tense after I asked the question. Carter wasn’t really the same after that. ”
“We’ve been having a hard time getting pregnant, and Carter is getting frustrated.”
“What about you?” Olivia studied my face as if she was searching to see if there was anything I wasn’t saying. “Are you frustrated?”
“I mean, I really want a baby, so it’s definitely not fun, but I’m also not taking it as hard as Carter. I know whatever’s meant to happen will happen when it’s meant to.”
“I almost forgot how much I hated your never-faltering optimistic outlook,” Olivia teased.