CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE EMBER
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
EMBER
Charlee follows me into the kitchen. “Look who’s here!” I tell Atlas, who’s unpacking my dishes into the cabinets.
“Charlee!” she yells, rushing over and hauling her into her arms. “It’s so good to see you!”
“Hey beautiful, how are you?” Charlee asks her, still hugging her, but leaning back to look at Atlas’s face. Atlas pulls away and heads back to where she was unpacking dishes. Just then I watch Charlee pull out two bottles of wine from her purse. “Have you unpacked the wine glasses yet?”
I look over at Atlas and a laugh rips through my chest, she’s my kind of girl for sure.
“You guys can go for it.” Atlas opens up the cabinet next to the sink. “But I can’t,” she says with a small grin before going back to unpack plates in the other cabinet.
“We can take you home, so you don’t have to worry about drinking and driving!” she assures her safety. “We’ve got three rows, so plenty of room.”
“It’s not that, Charlee.” Atlas looks at her, eyes finally meeting hers, and it takes Charlee no time to understand.
I love women, they’re so quick.
“Oh my fucking god,” Charlee says, her mouth dropping open. “Congratulations!!”
She rushes over and mauls Atlas with another hug, before she lets her go and smiles at me. “More for us.”
I throw my head back and laugh. Harley, Chase, Theo, and Rawley all come in.
“Theo!” Atlas hollers. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in awhile.”
Theo smiles at Atlas. “Hey girl! We’re doing all right. How’re you holding up since Asher left?” he asks her lightly.
If I hadn’t been watching her, I would have missed the grimace she makes quickly before recovering.
“We’re doing good! Just focused on having the best time with Peanut,” she says sweetly.
Charlee stays quiet, pouring the wine into four glasses. “Can we tell him?” She looks at Atlas, like she’s about to burst at the seams.
Atlas laughs. “Go for it.”
“Atlas is pregnant!” Charlee claps her hands, and passes a glass to me, Harley, Theo, and Chase.
Chase takes the glass and looks at Atlas. “Does Asher know?” he asks, taking us all by surprise. “I mean, did he know before he left?”
Atlas’s face goes pale, and she nods her head. “Yeah he knows, he can’t wait,” she says quickly, before excusing herself from the room.
I take a long drink from my glass and set it down, Harley’s eyes catching my attention as he watches Chase over the rim of his glass. The other guys come in, grabbing beer and water.
“That’s the last of it, man. All the boxes that were labeled are in their places, but the putting shit away is not in my job description.” He laughs and pats Harley on the back.
“Man, I owe you guys a big one,” Harley tells him, and I walk over to stand beside him.
“Thank you so much! Once we get everything settled in, we’ll have you guys over for dinner,” I tell them all.
“As long as Black isn’t the one cooking.” One of the guys laughs and punches Harley in the arm.
“Hey, if we’re being honest, I think he’s better than me,” I tell them with a serious tone. They all laugh as if they don’t believe me. I roll my eyes. They’ll have to figure it out themselves one day.
“Well we’re gonna head out, man. Holler at me when the Man Cave is done!” They turn and walk out, just as Atlas comes back into the room, Aria in her arms.
“My baby!” I hold my arms out with grabby hands to take her from Atlas. She passes her over, and Aria rests her head on my shoulder, not ready to be awake and lively yet. I give her a squeeze and turn to the fridge. “You want a snack baby?” I ask her, and she perks her little head up.
Atlas lets out a laugh and reaches to grab the box labeled “Coffee.” Harley hustles around the island before she can grab it. “Where do you want the coffee station, babe?”
I look around, trying to decide the best place for it.
“Let’s put it here for now, and we can move it later if we want to,” I tell him, setting Aria on the island and peeling a string cheese apart for her.
He puts the box on the counter, carefully removing all of his accessories to his coffee maker, which is still in my trunk on a flat surface because he insisted it was of the utmost importance and should be separated from the rest of the house stuff.
It came from his house, and he was totally right, the one at my house was a wee one compared to his.
We spend the next few hours drinking, laughing, and enjoying our first night in our new home surrounded by some of our favorite people.
New and old. Rawley talked Harley into starting to set up the man cave.
They carry the TV through the entry way to the right, and I hold the door for them to enter the garage.
Across the way, I run over once they’re through the house door and flip on the light to the Man Cave room.
They bring the TV and set it down right where Harley has the bracket set up to hang.
I watch the two of them go back and forth, joking and teasing, and my heart swells. “I’ll bring some drinks to put in the little fridge for you guys,” I tell them and turn to walk out.
“Hey, Ember,” I hear Rawley say behind me, stopping me in my tracks. I turn and look at him, nervous suddenly. I always find myself feeling nervous, because I never want to say the wrong thing.
”Hey, what’s going on?” I ask, shoving my hands in my pockets and rocking back on my heels.
“I just wanted to say thanks,” Rawley says, looking just as nervous, not meeting my eye.
“My mom has been different since you guys met, and I overheard her telling my dad that she’s so thankful for all you’ve done for them and she’s glad you feel like a friend.
” He twists his hands together, looking down at his feet.
“I don’t really know what you’ve done for them, but thank you for whatever it was, and for being friends with my mom. ”
I don’t know what to say, so I shake my head, words not coming out, and tears filling my eyes.
Finally, I force the words out. “She’s done more than you know for me too.
She’s an amazing woman, you’re dad too. An amazing man I mean.
” I let out a laugh. He comes closer and I freeze, and he gives me a quick hug before retreating back to the Man Cave.
Harley’s eyes catch mine, and the tears flow down my face.
He mouths to me quietly, “Are you okay?”
I nod my head quickly and wipe my face with my sleeves, then head back into the main house.
I was supposed to talk to Theo and Charlee about the money, but walking in and seeing everyone interacting and happily entertained, I decide to wait for another time. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of them.
Walking over to the island, I lean against it and join in on Charlee and Atlas’s conversation about their summer plans.
Harley walks into the room, leaning against the door frame, just watching. Finally, he walks over to Chase and Theo and speaks in a low tone, and I can’t make out what he’s saying. Before I can dissect that, they all turn and walk out of the room.
We migrate into the living room, where all the boxes sit.
“Charlee, you wanna help me unwrap the couch so you guys can sit while I unpack my books and things?” I ask, excited to put all my things in my home.
“Hell yeah, girl. Let’s do it!” Charlee shouts, grabbing Aria and heading into the living room. Atlas comes over and grabs my hand and squeezes.
I look down at our hands and then back up to meet her eyes.
“Thank you for needing me, Atlas. If you’d have never asked me to move this way, I would have never had the possibility of any of this,” I tell her before wrapping her up in a hug.
“And when you’re ready to talk about whatever it is you need to talk about, I’ll be here.
” She gives me a tight hug back and we walk into the living room.
Aria is in a makeshift box playpen Charlee made so she can’t escape, she’s happy as a clam playing with newspaper.
Charlee and I are pretty toasted, and we take turns taking hold of the Saran Wrap, running it the opposite direction to unwrap the couch.
We laugh so hard, I almost pee my pants.
I never get to unpack the books, because we all squish onto the couch and bullshit.
For the next hour we chat and laugh, until the guys walk into the room from the entryway.
“You about ready to head home, Charlee?” Theo asks. “I’ll go grab the boy.”
“Party pooper!” she yells at him as he walks through the door into the garage. She gets up and heads into the kitchen to gather her things.
“Do you need help making it home?” Chase asks Atlas from the door.
“I’ll be okay, thank you though,” Atlas responds, passing Aria to me. “Can I leave the pack and play?” she asks as she stands from the couch.
“Of course, that room is yours and Aria’s when you come. Harley said we could decorate it any way you want,” I tell her, my head leaned back as I watch her walk into the kitchen.
“I’m gonna drive the U-Haul home, and then meet Harley tomorrow afternoon to get the last bit of his house,” Chase says, coming around and sitting on the couch. Harley walks in through the front door, and I didn’t even realize he’d walked out.
“Chase, can you help me carry in the espresso machine? It’s on the wood slab so if you grab one end, I can get the other,” he asks, leaning his head into the room, hanging onto the door frame.
“Yeah, no prob. I told Ember I was taking the U-Haul tonight, and we’d meet tomorrow afternoon.” Chase relays what we talked about before heading out the door with Harley.