Chapter 15
Carter
“Do you have plans for Halloween?” my mom asked on one of our weekly book club calls.
I thought about it for a long time, but I couldn’t come up with anything. “You know what? I don’t think we have any plans. I guess that’ll change next year, huh?”
My mom chuckled. “Yes. You have many years of trick or treating ahead of you. Want to get some practice? We’d love to have you here to go trick or treating with Jada.”
While that sounded like so much fun, I was hesitant. “I don’t know if we should be traveling that close to Eliza’s due date. What if something happens?”
“Halloween is still a few weeks out from her due date and most of the time the first baby comes late, but it’s completely up to the three of you. I don’t want Eliza to do anything that makes her uncomfortable.”
“I’ll talk to her and Jax and get back to you. Is that okay?”
“Of course it’s okay! I’m just being selfish and want to see you before your life gets crazy, but you also need to do what’s best for your family.”
“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
“Love you too, sweetie. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“What are you talking to me about?”
I jumped at the sound of Jax’s voice behind me. I had no idea she was standing there. I turned around with my hand on my chest. “You almost gave me a heart attack. I didn’t even hear you come into the room.”
Jax smirked at me. “I know. I’m like a ninja. But anyway, what are you talking to me about?”
“My mom invited us to come visit over Halloween so we can go trick or treating with Jada.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“Yeah. I just need to see if Eliza would feel comfortable traveling less than a month from her due date. Or if she doesn’t want to go, we’d have to see if she was okay staying here by herself.”
“I want to go.”
I jumped again, this time from Eliza. “Why do you two insist on sneaking up on me?”
Eliza giggled. “Maybe you just need to pay closer attention to your surroundings.”
Was the sixteen-year-old in the house really lecturing me right now?
“Are you sure you're comfortable traveling to my moms’ house?” I asked Eliza.
“Of course. It’s not like they don’t have doctors around them. If something happened, I’m sure we could find help.”
She wasn’t wrong about that. “You’re right. If you two want to, I think we should do it.”
“Yes!” Jax and Eliza said in unison before high fiving.
A week later, we headed to my parents’ house as soon as Eliza got home from school. It was late when we arrived, so we said a quick hello before going right to bed.
The next day, I was woken up to the smell of a mixed array of breakfast items. Jax was still asleep beside me and I didn’t want to wake her up, so I carefully and quietly got out of bed and left the room.
I expected to find one or both of my moms in the kitchen, but instead I found my mama and Eliza.
They were talking and laughing together while my mama flipped bacon on the stove.
Instead of walking into the room and saying hello, I stood and watched the scene in front of me.
Eliza looked so comfortable with my mama.
This was such a far cry from the girl I had met at the beginning of the summer.
She was confident and happy, and most important of all, looked like she was exactly where she belonged.
I tried to lean against the wall, but lost my footing and ended up making a loud thud when I tried to steady myself. Both my mama and Eliza looked over at me, ending their sweet moment.
Eliza’s eyes went wide. “Carter?”
My mama stared at the spot where I had caught myself on the wall. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
“Totally fine.” I walked into the kitchen. “Just a complete klutz.”
My mama kissed the top of my head. “Some things never change.”
“So, what’s the plan for today?” I asked as I stole a piece of bacon that was sitting on a plate by the stove.
“First—breakfast.” My mama looked at the piece of bacon in my hand. “Which it looks like you already got started on.”
I moved the bacon away from my face. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” My mama let out an overly dramatic sigh. “Eliza and I have just been up since the crack of dawn preparing this meal, but don’t worry. You just enjoy your bacon.”
“My apologies. What’s the rest of the plan?”
“Trick or treating starts at five. We’re doing it in this neighborhood because both Jada and Olivia claim that they give out better treats in our neighborhood than theirs.”
Of course they did. “Well, that’s good to know.”
“I know.” My mama bent down to talk to Eliza’s baby bump. “You hear that? MawMaw and MomMom’s house is the place to be for trick or treating.”
Eliza put a hand on her stomach. “The baby must have liked that idea. They just kicked.”
My mama’s eyes went wide. “Can I feel?”
Eliza nodded and brought my mama’s hand to the correct spot.
“I feel the kicks,” my mama said excitedly. “I swear no matter how old you get, there are few feelings better than a baby kicking. Especially one that is going to be my grandbaby.”
When my mama looked over at me there were tears in her eyes, which made me tear up as well.
Apparently, my mom and Jax could sense the baby was kicking because they both showed up a minute later and took turns feeling it kick.
I joined them, and once everyone was done, I put my hand on Eliza’s stomach.
Even though I had felt the baby kick multiple times at this point, there was something special about this time.
Maybe it was the moment my mama and I had just shared or the fact that I was surrounded by family or maybe how close we were to the due date.
Whatever it was, I wasn’t able to hold back my emotions and tears streamed down my face.
When Eliza’s eyes met mine, she started to cry as well. I wrapped my arms around her and held her and the baby up against me. As we hugged, the baby kicked against me. It was such a simple moment, but I was pretty sure it was one of the happiest moments of my life.
The rest of the day was filled with much needed relaxation until Olivia’s family came barreling in at 4 p.m. Even though there was still another hour until trick or treating, Jada was already wearing her costume.
“A cheetah,” I said as I took in her facepaint and outfit. “Why did you choose that?”
Jada put her hands on her hips as if she couldn’t believe I was asking that question. “Because they’re the fastest animal and I’m the fastest kid.”
She took off through the house and started running in circles.
I looked over at Quinton, who was laughing at his daughter’s antics. “I’m so sorry you got another Olivia. I really do feel for you.”
“Hey!” Olivia kicked her foot against mine. “This world could use more Olivias.”
Once my mom got home with pizza, our main mission was to make sure Jada didn’t get any on her costume, which was almost impossible with how much she moved around.
Somehow, we made it through the whole meal with only one spot of sauce landing on the cheetah’s fur, which my mama was luckily able to get off.
When it was finally time to go trick or treating, Jada held her hand out, but when Olivia tried to take it, she pulled it away and shook her head. “I want Lize.”
Eliza pointed to herself. “Me?”
“Yeah.” Jada shook her hand at Eliza. “You’re funner than my mom and dad.”
Eliza took Jada’s hand. “I don’t know about that. If you ask me, your parents are a lot of fun.”
“But they’re old.” Like a stab to the heart, Jada emphasized the word old. “You’re old too, but not as old.” Jada tilted her head as she stared up at Eliza. “Are you my family?”
“Oh, um, well…” Eliza stumbled over her words as if she didn’t know the right answer to give.
“She’s your cousin,” Olivia said, causing the world’s biggest smile to come onto Eliza’s face.
“Oh.” Jada looked even more confused now. “You’re older than my other cousins.” She shrugged. “You’re funner though. And I like your big belly,” she said with a giggle.
Eliza put a hand on her stomach and twirled around. “This old thing?”
Jada giggled in response and pulled her out the door.
As I watched them walk together, Olivia came up beside me and put her arm around my waist. “It looks like my daughter has a new bestie.”
I leaned into my sister. “Thanks for what you said about Eliza being Jada’s cousin.”
“Well, that’s what she is, right?”
“Yeah. I’m just really thankful how everyone is embracing it.” My voice cracked as I tried to keep myself from crying again. I was worried that if it started back up, it might not stop this time.
“Let’s not get all emotional, okay? Eliza is your family. You're my family. Therefore, she’s my family. Simple as that.”
It really was that simple to Olivia, but she didn’t understand how special that was. From the time we were little, she had been one of my biggest supporters. For the longest time, she saw more in me than I saw in myself. I couldn’t put into words just how much that meant to me.
Luckily, I didn’t have to try, because Olivia skipped away from me before I could.
A hand grabbed on to mine and I looked beside me to find Jax standing there. “That was fucking adorable, wasn’t it?”
“It really was. I love how simple it is for kids to understand things. It’s the adults that make it complicated.”
“The world could definitely use more kids.” Jax pointed to herself. “Like me. I’m practically a kid.”
I squeezed her hand. “This world, without a doubt, needs more people like you. There’s no question in my mind that it would be a much better place if everyone was a little bit more like Jax Miller-Cooper.”
“Impulsiveness and all?”
“One hundred percent.” I stared out at where Eliza and Jada were making their way to the edge of the driveway. My heart squeezed in my chest, reminding me just how happy I was. “Your impulsiveness is what got us our daughter.”
“I think that might be the first time you straight up referred to Eliza as our daughter.”
Jax was right. It made me anxious to jump into things the same way Jax so easily did.
Plus, I knew Eliza was thankful to have us, but I wasn’t quite sure how she saw us.
“I don’t want to scare Eliza away or make her feel like we’re forcing her to see us a certain way.
She knows we’re there for her. She knows we consider her family. That’s all that matters to me.”
“But you see her as your daughter?”
I nodded. “I’m pretty sure I have since the moment she walked through our door. Everything just clicked as if-”
“It was all meant to be,” Jax said along with me.
I kissed the back of her hand. “Exactly.”
“Auntie Carter! Auntie Jax!” Jada yelled. “Let’s go.”
“It looks like we’re being summoned,” Jax said with a laugh.
“It would seem that way.” I pointed toward Jada. “We better hurry. Don’t want to get on the bad side of Olivia’s mini-me.”
“I’m sure Eliza could help us get back on her good side.”
As true as I thought that was, I wasn’t going to risk it. I held Jax’s hand tighter and pulled her down the sidewalk and through the grass.
When we reached the group, Jada huffed and rolled her eyes. “Took long enough.”
Jax bowed to her. “So sorry, my queen.”
Jada stared back at her with a straight face and didn’t flinch. “I’m a cheetah.”
I laughed at my niece. This girl is going to give Olivia exactly what she deserves.
The whole time we were trick or treating, Jada wouldn’t allow Eliza to leave her side. She even made Eliza walk up to every house with her.
Eliza was normally nervous when she had to be around a bunch of new people, due to worrying about being judged, but with Jada by her side, she didn’t seem nervous at all.
When we got back to the house, Jada went through her candy and gave everything she didn’t like to Eliza. No one else was even allowed to touch the candy.
An hour later, Jada was passed out on my parents’ couch, so they offered for Quinton and Olivia to leave her at their house for the night.
When Jada woke up a little while later and realized her parents were gone, I expected her to have a meltdown, but instead, she asked Eliza to put her to bed.
“Is that okay with you?” I asked Eliza.
“Of course.” Eliza reached her hand out to Jada. “Do you want to have a sleepover with me?”
Jada jumped up and down in excitement. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” After a few seconds, she suddenly stopped jumping, and her face became serious. “Is there room for me with your big belly?”
Eliza threw her head back in laughter. “I think we can figure it out, don’t worry.”
The two of them headed upstairs together, holding hands and giggling as they whispered back and forth. The giggles continued for a few minutes, but eventually, they completely faded away.
When Jax and I walked upstairs to go to bed, we realized the door to the bedroom Eliza was in was propped open slightly.
I looked in to see how the two of them were doing and the sight melted my heart.
Jada was snuggled close to Eliza, her body wrapped around Eliza’s baby bump.
Eliza’s arm was around Jada and her head was resting right above Jada’s.
Both of them looked completely content and happy.
It was like a scene from a movie that was happening right before our eyes.
Jax put her arm around me and leaned into me. “That’s our girl.”
“It sure is,” I said softly.