Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
GEORGIA
Grant
Have fun today
Georgia
Thanks, we will
Are you going to come over here after?
Why?
Do you miss me?
You know I do
It’s been two days since I saw you
And we’ve talked both of those days
Sue me
I like having you around
Good
And for what it’s worth, I miss you too
Good
I’ll have dinner ready for you
You’re my hero
See you later, Cowgirl
Stuffing my phone into my purse, I walk up the path to Presley’s house.
It’s been a long time since the four of us have hung out together.
Between kids and jobs, we don’t always have the time.
When Presley suggested this, I jumped at the chance.
Even if it means spending one of my rare days off away from Grant.
The three of us have been reveling in the news of having a boy together. Luke is getting more and more excited, talking about the things he wants to do with his brother. I love it.
And Grant? Well, if I’m not with him, I’m thinking about him. I finally get why the girls spend so much time with their significant others. Grant and I haven’t been together long, but the more time we spend together, the more I want to be with him.
Knocking on the front door, I peek my head inside.
“Anyone home?”
The door pulls open from behind and I’m greeted by a shock of noise and color.
“Surprise!”
I smile at them, knowing full well this was their plan for today.
A “Congratulations” banner hangs on one wall with food and flowers taking up the whole of the kitchen counter. A pile of presents overwhelms the coffee table.
“It’s a baby shower!” Presley exclaims. “We knew you weren’t going to do anything to celebrate, so we wanted to do something for you.”
“Oh my God. You didn’t have to do this,” I say, playing into the surprise.
Joey eyes me up and down. “You knew, didn’t you?”
I smile, nodding my head. “You did say you wanted to throw a shower, so I figured it might be today since we were all getting together.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Rylee says, wrapping me up in a hug. “You deserve it. You do so much for others that we wanted to do something for you.”
“I love you guys.”
Emotions swarm through me because this is more than I expected. No one has ever done anything like this for me before. Maybe if I had sisters, we would have been this close. But these three are the sisters I never had but always wanted. It means the world to me that they’re doing this for me.
“Now, grab a plate and get some food because we want you to open your presents,” Rylee says.
Presley pours a glass of orange juice and passes it over to me.
“Everything looks delicious,” I say.
I help myself to a little bit of everything. Well, more than a little bit of everything.
Fruit skewers. Mini quiches. Cake pops. Sugar cookies decorated in the shape of onesies and rattles.
“You can take it all home later,” Presley says. “I ordered way too much.”
I pop a mini quiche into my mouth. Damn, it’s delicious. “I won’t say no to that.”
I settle onto the couch, and can’t help but eye the stack of presents in front of me. Every size box imaginable is impeccably wrapped, with the exception of a few.
“Who are these from?” I ask, pointing to a misshapen package.
Joey plops down next to me. “That one is from Max. He wanted to help wrap it.”
“I love it.” I smile at her. “You know, if you and Sam want a night out, Grant and I could always watch—”
“Yes,” Joey answers, cutting me off.
“In need of a night out?” I laugh.
“As you will soon learn,” Joey says, patting my hand, “you will take any offer of a babysitter you can get.”
“Does that mean you’ll be offering to watch this one?” I rub my hand over my stomach.
“Joey is going to have to fight us off to watch him,” Presley says, coming into the living room and sitting in a chair next to me.
“I’m glad I have you girls to help me. I don’t know the first thing about having a baby,” I confess.
“Just know everyone is going to try and tell you what to do, but do what feels good for you,” Joey says.
“I won’t be giving any advice,” Rylee says. “I don’t have the first clue about having a baby. But know I will be there to cuddle that sweet baby as much as I can.”
I reach over and squeeze her hand. “I know you will.”
“And from one mother to another, try not to burn the grilled cheese,” Presley states. “You will never hear the end of it. I promise.”
I snort a laugh, trying not to choke on the orange juice I just took a sip of. “I’m pretty sure I have OJ coming out of my nose, so thanks for that.”
Presley laughs as Joey passes me a napkin. “Kids will be your harshest critics.”
“Good to know.”
“Max isn’t at that stage yet,” Joey says. “But right now he is so infatuated with everything Sam does, that I don’t really have to worry.”
“They are really sweet together,” I say. “I hope my kid is like that with Grant.”
“You’re really falling for him, aren’t you?” Rylee asks.
“Am I that obvious?”
“Yes,” they all answer at the same time.
“You’re happy,” Joey states.
“I’ve been happy,” I clarify.
“Right, but it’s different when you’re in love.”
Am I in love with Grant? Is that what this is? So many emotions are swimming inside of me at any given moment—thanks to this baby—that I don’t know what I’m feeling half the time.
The biggest emotion I’m feeling is happy. I chalked it up to the baby and being around Grant, but maybe it is more.
“It…it’s early still. I don’t want to put any big feelings to what we have,” I answer.
Joey scoots closer and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “Grant isn’t going to leave you. Not everyone is your parents.”
Rylee moves into my other side, and Presley pushes the stack of presents aside and drops down in front of me, taking my hands.
“It’s hard not to worry,” I confess.
“Have you talked to him about this?” Presley asks.
“No. It never feels like the right time.” I wipe a stray tear away. “And what if it scares him off? That he thinks I won’t be a good mother because I didn’t have any good parental figures in my life.”
“Georgia Halliwell.” Joey cups my cheeks and turns my attention to her. “I saw the way that man looked at you when he picked you up for your date. He is so far gone for you, it’s not even funny.”
“And he’s seen you at the barn with Luke. He knows you,” Presley says.
“Your past doesn’t make you any less lovable. You’re one of the best people we know,” Rylee says.
I’m full-on crying now. I wipe my eyes, mascara smearing across my cheeks. “Ugh, I love you guys, but I probably look like a raccoon.”
“A very cute raccoon.” Joey gives me one more squeeze before passing over a napkin. “Now, dry those tears so we can start opening presents.”
I dab at my eyes and do my best to get my emotions in check. But as I unwrap the gifts, each more thoughtful than the last, it’s hard to keep the tears from gathering in my eyes.
A framed picture of his first sonogram. A quilted blanket to bring him home from the hospital in. Little hats. Hand-decorated onesies from each of them.
All of which say “My favorite aunt bought me this onesie.”
When I pull out the second “favorite aunt” one, I can’t help but laugh.
“Seriously? You got a favorite aunt onesie from you?” Rylee asks, looking at Presley. “I’m supposed to be the favorite aunt.”
I burst out laughing. “Did you all really get ‘My favorite aunt bought me this onesie’ without talking to one another?”
They all glare at each other and it only makes me laugh harder. This sweet boy of mine is going to be so loved.
“I guess we’ll have to get y’all ‘This is my favorite nephew’ T-shirts to wear,” I say. “You can wear it whenever you watch him.”
“Max is going to give him a run for his money,” Rylee says.
“Oh, he knows how cute he is. He doesn’t need the reminder.” Joey laughs.
“That one is from Poppy. She wanted to come, but Kade took her out to the ranch for riding lessons so we could have some adult time,” Presley says, pushing the package closer to me.
I open the package, haphazardly wrapped in paper with pink and white polka dots. A bright white stuffed goose falls out with a blue bow wrapped around his neck.
“He’s precious.”
“Poppy loves Strawberry, so she wanted your baby to have one too,” Presley says. “He doesn’t have a name, but Poppy said you should name him Milkshake.”
“Milkshake?” I laugh. “Why’s that?”
“Kade always takes her to get milkshakes after riding, so it’s their thing. I’m sure she’ll name some new stuffed animal she gets Milkshake too.”
“I’ll make sure to write her a thank you card and let her know I’m going with Milkshake,” I say. “Even if it might be weird for a goose.”
“Hey, Max has a stuffed tomato he now calls Walter,” Joey interjects.
“Walter? Really?” I laugh.
“Sam read Max a book with a cow named Walter and he loves it, so his tomato is Walter.”
Joey shrugs like it’s no big deal.
Just something I’m going to learn about being a mom. Kids do weird things that don’t always make sense, but you love them anyway.
“These are post baby presents for you,” Rylee says. “You don’t have to open these today. It’ll give you something to look forward to.”
“You guys did too much,” I say, fingering my cowboy boot necklace they’ve already given me.
“Nonsense,” Presley says.
“You know we’ll be at your house when this baby comes, dropping off anything you need. You won’t know what to do with yourself,” Joey agrees.
“Us and the entire town,” Rylee says. “Betty was talking about it at the diner the other day. There’s a pool going on names.”
“Already? Sheesh,” I say.
“You don’t want to give us any insider hints?” Joey asks.
I shake my head. “We’re waiting until he gets here.”
“I mean, what if it turns out to be a girl?” Rylee points out.
“That’s what I told Grant when we were deciding if we wanted to find out.”
“Are you glad you did?” Presley asks.
“Yes. It’s helping us plan things. We’ll be working on the nursery soon.”
“Are you buying two of everything?” Rylee asks.
“We haven’t really figured out all of the details on that yet.” Glancing at the time, I see it’s getting late. “I think it’s time we got out of your hair, Presley.”
They all pop up, starting to gather the presents and food to take out to my car so I can get everything home. I can’t lift a finger to help.
“It’s your day. You shouldn’t be helping,” Joey says.
Before I leave, I pull them all in for a hug.
“I don’t know what I would do without you girls,” I whisper.
“We love you, G,” Joey says. “We’re always here for you.”
“And we’re not going anywhere,” Rylee agrees.
“You’ll get sick of us coming over with casseroles when the baby comes,” Presley says.
“And don’t worry,” Joey promises, “we won’t let Presley make them.”
“Hey. I’ve gotten better,” Presley defends.
“Have you?” Joey asks, drawing it out. “No one would blame you if you just eat at the ranch every night. Rex is amazing.”
“So rude.” Presley laughs.
“Well, I’ll take whatever you bring.” I wipe my eyes. “At least Grant knows how to cook, so between all of you, I’ll be taken care of.”
I wave goodbye, driving down the road to Grant’s.
I never had a family before. But now, the girls, Grant, Luke, and this baby?
They’re my family. As long as I have all of them, I’ll have everything I need.