Chapter 30
Graham: How are you feeling?
Me: I’m feeling fine, I promise.
Graham: Is my sister there yet? She’s not answering my texts.
Chuckling, I glance up from my phone. “Uh-oh, you’re in trouble with your brother.”
Gemma’s brows furrow. “Uh, why?”
“He says you haven’t responded to any of his messages.”
“What? I haven’t gotten anything,” she says, leaning forward to grab the phone off the coffee table. Unlocking the screen, she laughs. “Oh, it’s on airplane mode for some reason. Oops.”
Me: Yes, Dad, she’s here.
“Oh, my word,” Gemma says, pulling my attention from my phone.
“What’s wrong?”
“Five messages in ten minutes.” She snorts.
“What do they say?”
Gemma counts on her fingers as she reads them off.
“Make sure Charley isn’t doing anything around the house.
She doesn’t need to unload the dishwasher, doesn’t need to wash the bedding, doesn’t need to clean the bathrooms. Please make sure she eats every few hours.
This next one is in all caps,” she adds before continuing.
“And staying hydrated. Then the fifth one, also in all caps, just says hello with half a dozen question marks.”
I chuckle, knowing he means well. “Graham’s a little on edge these days.”
“Couldn’t tell,” Gemma teases. “But I get it. Speaking of eating, want a snack or something?”
Scrunching my nose, I think about it and say, “Not really that hungry, but there’s about half of my smoothie from this morning in the fridge.”
“On it.” She stands and walks to the kitchen while I stay seated on the couch, Biggie Smalls napping at my feet, feeling ridiculous for having my friend fetch everything for me.
It’s been about a week and a half since I went on early maternity leave.
I was nervous about bringing it up with my boss, but he was really supportive and wouldn’t even let me work the rest of my shift.
I felt guilty that first week, like I’m letting my team down, but I know it was the right choice for me and little peanut’s health.
A few days ago, I went to my prenatal appointment and, yet again, my blood pressure was high.
Dr. Mitchell put me on what she calls “light bedrest,” which basically means I can’t do any prolonged standing or exercising, any work I do around the house needs to be non-strenuous, and I have to get lots of rest.
Graham took it to heart; you’d think I was on full bedrest with the way he’s been.
Per his request, his mom has been watching Ellie Mae at her house when he’s at work because he knows I’d be tempted to play with her and be more active than I should be—literally, his exact words—and he’s also worked out a babysitting schedule for me on the days he works.
He doesn’t call it that, but that’s what it feels like.
Any time he’s had a shift this week, someone has come over to hang out with me all day, making sure I’m not doing anything I shouldn’t be.
Babysitting. So far, it’s only been his sisters, but I wouldn’t be surprised if next week his dad shows up.
Or mine.
Coming back into the living room, Gemma hands me the half-drank smoothie. “That smells amazing,” she offers, sitting beside me again. “What’s in it?”
“It’s pineapple mango,” I say before taking a sip, then offering it to her. “Wanna try it?”
“Yes.” Gemma breathes out a small chuckle as she takes the cup from me. “Oh wow, that’s delicious.”
“Graham made it,” I offer. “My fruit is pineapple this week.”
“You have a fruit of the week?” Her brows wrinkle in confusion. “Wait, do you mean like a size comparison for the baby?”
I nod. “Yup. Graham’s been making food—or drinks,” I say, holding up the cup, “each week that includes the fruit or vegetable of that week.”
“Oh my gosh, that’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.” Gemma’s gaze softens. “Why the hell did neither of my baby daddies do something like that for me?”
Laughing, I shrug. “I don’t know, but I didn’t even realize he was doing it until a few weeks ago when he had me order a drink at a restaurant we were at. For some reason, it clicked.”
“I’m not even a little bit surprised that my brother would do something like that for you,” she murmurs. “That man has been in love with you since he was, like, ten. You know that, right?”
My cheeks heat. “I don’t know if it’s been quite that long.”
Gemma arches a brow, the corner of her mouth twitching. “So, you’re saying you know he’s in love with you, then?”
Graham and I have purposely kept us under wraps since deciding to give it a try, at my request. Mostly because I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up if we didn’t end up working out.
And if I’m being honest, I also didn’t want to jinx it; like if I talked about it, it would ruin everything.
Ever since we shared that we love each other, I’ve been slowly warming up to the idea of telling everyone, and I guess Gemma’s going to be the first.
Biting back a grin, I say, “I may have heard that.”
Her eyes brighten. “Oh, from whom?”
“Your brother,” I chirp. “Right before I told him I love him too.”
“Stop!” Her grin is beaming. “Are you serious?”
I nod. “We’ve kind of been…dating.” Gemma slaps a hand over her mouth, and my cheeks flush. “Although, I don’t know if that’s the right word since we live together and don’t go on that many actual dates, but you know what I mean.”
Her hand drops to her lap while she gapes at me. “I have no words,” she murmurs. “This is the best news ever. When did this happen? Tell me everything!”
A nervous chuckle slips past my lips. “It hasn’t been that long,” I say. “Maybe, like, two months.”
“Excuse me, ma’am, two months?” Gemma scoffs, feigning offense. “And I’m only hearing about it now?”
My whole face heats, realizing it’s probably time to come clean about all of mine and Graham’s history. “Can I admit something to you?”
“Um, yeah, you better.” She snorts. “Wait, do Grace and Georgia know already?”
Shaking my head, I say, “No, I’ve kept it completely to myself.”
“Well, I love that I’m the first to know,” she quips, shimmying in her seat, a wide grin stretched across her face. “Okay, admit away, please.”
I chew on the inside of my cheek, nerves swimming low in my belly. “Actually, let’s FaceTime them, because I don’t really want to admit all of this three different times.”
“Oh, this has gotta be juicy, then,” she drawls as I pull up their contacts and make a group call.
Grace is the first to answer. “Hi, everything okay?” she asks, concern etched across her face. Wearing an apron around her neck and flour on her chin, she’s at work, and from the looks of it, walking toward her office.
Before I can answer, Georgia joins the call. “What’s wrong?” she blurts out, clearly at work too.
“I’m fine, guys, I promise,” I assure them before Gemma cuts me off.
“Charley has something to tell y’all,” she says sweetly. “However, I’d like it to be known that I knew first. But then she has something else to tell all of us.”
“Thanks, not awkward at all, Gem,” I grumble teasingly before jumping in headfirst, telling them exactly what I told Gemma.
I don’t know why I’m so nervous; they’re all very on board with this, given how they reacted to the pregnancy, and yet, my palms are practically a slip and slide, and my heart is trying to beat right out of my chest.
When I’m finished, Grace claps, an enthusiastic smile brightening her face. “I knew this would happen,” she blurts out. “Ahhh, I love everything about this. I’d still like to be the maid of honor at your wedding, thank you very much.”
“Okay, slow down.” I hold up my hands and breathe out a chuckle. “Nobody said anything about a wedding.”
“Oh, it’ll happen,” she chirps. “I’ve got a sense for these things.”
“And yet, you were so clueless when it came to your own relationship,” Georgia drawls.
Grace rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you’re one to talk.”
“Y’all need to hush,” Gemma chimes in before glancing at me. “Okay, now tell us.”
This is the part I’m the most nervous about, because there’s a good chance at least one of them might be upset that I’ve kept this from them for so long, and I can’t stand the idea of that. But it’s too late to back out now.
“I had feelings for Graham when we were teenagers,” I admit, my voice rough.
“Well, okay… I was in love with him, actually.” Three sets of jaws drop before they correct their faces.
“And there was a short time before I went off to college when we were kind of…fooling around. But it felt like more than that, at least to me.”
I don’t give any of them a chance to respond before continuing.
“I’m sorry for never telling y’all about this when we were younger, but I was so worried you guys would hate me if you found out, and the idea of losing even one of you made me sick.
And well…yeah, that’s that. I was in love with your brother when I was a teenager, and if I’m being honest with myself, over the years, I don’t think I ever really stopped; I just got better at ignoring it.
So, I guess what I’m saying is, I’ve been in love with Graham for most of my life.
” Getting it all out, I throw up jazz hands and awkwardly say, “Surprise!”
The line is silent for a beat, all three sets of eyes on me and, of course, it’s Grace who speaks up first.
“Okay, so when you say, ‘fooling around,’ what do you mean by that?”
“Oh, come on, Grace. They were totally banging,” Georgia blurts out before asking me, “Did this start before or after the roofie incident?”
“After,” I say. “But my feelings for him started way before.”
It took me close to two weeks before I finally found the courage to tell them about the party and Graham saving me.
I was embarrassed that I let myself get into that kind of situation in the first place, but I also didn’t want them to find out from somebody else, because who knows how many people saw Graham leave with me that night.
Pondering that for a moment, Grace says, “Oh wow, this makes so much sense.”
“It does?” I ask, my brow furrowing.
“Yeah, Graham was so secretive around that time—mine and his sophomore year, right?” I nod. “Okay, yeah, I remember having a hunch he was seeing someone, but he’d never tell me who when I asked.”
“You always harassed Graham about his own personal business.” Gemma chuckles. “He would get so mad at you.”
“Well, he never told me anything.” Grace scoffs. Then, as if something clicks in her mind, she blurts out, “Holy shit, you were his first, weren’t you?”
“What?” I hiss, my face flaming. “Why do you say that?”
“Graham never had girlfriends in high school, until Megan,” she states.
“And I never really thought much of it until one night in the summer when we were both home from college. Fletcher was at the house visiting too. Somehow, Graham and I ended up getting drunk and hung out with him. Looking back now, that’s weird, because Graham couldn’t stand him, but anyway, Fletcher was giving him shit because he assumed Graham was a virgin when he met Megan and how he was probably going to marry”—using air quotes, Grace continues in a deep voice—“the only pussy he’s ever had. ”
“God, Fletcher was such a douchebag back then,” Georgia says, making all of us laugh.
“No, but he really was,” I say. “How that guy is the same man who is quite literally obsessed with you and would worship the ground you walk on is beyond me.”
“Girl, I don’t know,” she murmurs. “But he sure did shape up nicely, though, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but shut up and let me finish.” Grace huffs. “As I was saying, Fletcher kept giving him shit, and drunk Graham finally got sick of it and admitted that Megan wasn’t his first. But of course, when I asked who it was, he refused to tell me.”
“You’re so freaking nosy, Grace.” I chuckle. “God, I love you.”
“It was you, right?” she asks, proving my point.
I chew the inside of my cheek and shrug. “I never asked, but I always kind of had a feeling.”
“Okay, well, I think you’re not nosy enough.” She snorts. “How could you not ask? Weren’t you dying to know?”
“Well, yeah,” I reply with a laugh. “But communication wasn’t exactly my strong suit. Back then, our relationship, or whatever you’d call it, was a whole lotta miscommunication and tiptoeing around feelings.”
“Alright, well, I hate to cut this short, but I have to get back to work; otherwise, I’ll be here all night,” Georgia says. “But I’ll see y’all this weekend for the boys’ baseball game, right?”
“Yup, it’s the big game for Sutton and Beau,” Gemma replies beside me, referring to her and Grace’s sons. “If they win this one, they get to go to the playoffs.”
“We’ll be there with bells,” I say.
After they hang up, Gemma glances over at me as she stands. “I’m making us lunch,” she announces.”
“Gem, you don’t have to do that. I’m fully capable of making us food.”
“No way.” She snorts. “Graham will have my head if he knew I let you do that.”
Rolling my eyes, I grumble. I’m not even on bedrest. I hate feeling like everyone has to wait on me hand and foot. Although, admittedly, Gemma is a far better cook than I am, so whatever she throws together will, no doubt, hit the spot.
My phone vibrates in my hand, and when I flip it over, I notice it’s a text from Georgia.
Georgia: This makes me so excited. There’s nobody I could think of that’s better for my brother than you. Sorry I had to jump off the phone so quick, but I’ll call you tonight. Love you so big!!
A smile stretches across my face as warmth spreads in my chest. I don’t know what I’d do without her—without any of them.
Biggie Smalls gets up and stretches, then rests his head right on top of my belly while his big, dopey eyes peer up at me.
“You have a good nap?” I ask, scratching behind his ear.
He’s been extra cuddly lately, almost like he can tell something’s up with me.
When I first moved in, I was honestly a little worried about this massive dog being around a newborn baby, but that has long since passed.
Biggie Smalls is such a gentle giant and the biggest sweetheart, and I swear, the reason he always rests his head on me like this is because he knows there’s a baby in there.
I can already picture him getting attached to the baby in the same way he is with Ellie Mae. “Only seven more weeks to go, boy.”
Seven more weeks until I get to meet my little baby.