9. Aspen Webb #2
“I don’t even know why I’m surprised or upset. He’s never cared or showed interest. You know when I asked that man if he was excited about their arrival, he blatantly ignored me and changed the subject? He’s shown me for months he doesn’t care, so I don’t know why I hold on to hope he’ll change.”
Lance Creed had shown Aspen who he was and how he felt numerous times.
Each time gave Aspen a clearer view of it all, but she forced the stain-colored glasses to make the picture look different.
The desire and need to see Lance differently were what kept her all those years.
She didn’t want to believe what she’d already known was true.
She’d chosen the wrong cousin.
Picking her hand up and kissing the back of it, Mahari tried to reason with Aspen. “Don’t lose total faith in him. Who knows? Maybe once the girls are born and he sees them, he will change.”
“I highly doubt that. Lance is too selfish for all that. He’ll probably do everything in his power to stay away so he won’t have to share any of the responsibility. It’s fine, though. We’ll be fine, won’t we, girls?”
If Aspen wasn’t sure about anything in life, her striving to be a great mother was one of them. Her mother had given her the best example growing up, and Aspen desired to live up to it.
Aspen’s appointment went by smoothly. Everything looked good, and she was on track.
Since it was a twin pregnancy, her weekly appointments would start sooner than others, and it made Aspen anxious.
The weekly appointments meant it was getting closer for their arrival, and she still had so much to do.
Once the appointment was over, Aspen gave Lavender love and promised to see her later. In the car, Mahari handed her a bag of white chocolate pretzels.
“I have a surprise for you, Bunny.”
Munching on her pretzels, Aspen tipped her head to the side and gave him a goofy grin. “I think a surprise is the perfect thing to lift my spirits. What is it?”
“Aspen.”
She giggled. “My bad. When do I get it?”
“Today, but I need to run to the studio to check on some things. You cool with riding with me?”
“Only if you get me another bag of pretzels.”
With a shake of his head, Mahari agreed and pulled off.
Whatever Mahari had to do took well over an hour, and Aspen was getting frustrated.
He knew how she didn’t care to be at the studio, but he didn’t have any pep in his step.
On top of that, she kept looking around to make sure Lance wouldn’t pop up.
She wasn’t sure how she’d react if he did, so she was happy when Mahari finally wrapped it up.
“Mahari.” Aspen gasped and moved her head back. “What are you doing?”
“Preparing you for your surprise. Be still, Bunny.”
Aspen gripped Mahari’s wrist when he tried putting the blindfold over her eyes again. She peered at him through slits. “Why do I need to be blindfolded?”
“Do you want the surprise or not?”
“I do, but—”
“But nothing. If you trust me, you’ll let me do it.”
“You know I trust you with my life, Mahari.”
“Alright then. I got you.”
Once the blindfold was on, Aspen rubbed her stomach to relax. She meant it when she said she trusted Mahari with her life, but the unknown made her anxious. Surprises were supposed to be good and exciting, so she took deep breaths to think positive and calm herself down.
The drive seemed to go on forever, but it was only twenty minutes.
When they stopped, Aspen asked Mahari if she could remove the blindfold.
He chuckled and ordered her to be patient.
She started pouting until Mahari helped her out the car.
They playfully bickered when Aspen asked again.
With her nerves getting the best of her, Aspen felt like her heart would beat out her chest at any moment.
Finally, Mahari inquired, “Are you ready?”
“You know I’m more than ready. Take it off, Mahari.” He did, and Aspen was confused. “Uh, where are we?”
“At your apartment.”
Aspen’s hands flew to her mouth. Her eyes immediately filled to the brim, burning as she attempted to blink the tears away. It was useless. They crashed onto her cheeks and continued to pour over like a dam that failed. She slowly turned her body, taking in everything around her.
It was an open floor plan. The living room was huge with two floor-to-ceiling windows that gave the perfect view of the city.
All stainless-steel appliances housed the kitchen, and an island was in the middle.
Next to the kitchen was the dining room.
On the opposite end was a total of three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. It was spacious.
The perfect apartment for Aspen and the girls.
“Are you serious about this, Mahari?”
“Now you know me better than that, Bunny. I couldn’t let you be homeless.
I mean, you technically weren’t, but you needed a place you could call your own.
A place you can start nesting for the girls and find comfort in.
” Mahari reached in his pocket and handed Aspen two keys.
“One is to the apartment, and the other is for your mailbox. I’ll show you where it’s at before we leave. ”
With her jaw hanging, Aspen’s eyes went from Mahari to the keys and back to Mahari. Her bottom lip quivered. She wobbled over to Mahari, crashed into him, and sobbed.
“Thank you so, so much. You don’t know what this means to me.”
“It’s all out of love. You’ve gone through a lot over the last two weeks. I don’t agree with the way Lance handled things, so I wanted to make sure you were straight all the way around. The apartment is in your name, and the rent has been paid for an entire year.”
Hearing that made Aspen cry harder. She wasn’t sure what she’d done in life to deserve someone like Mahari, but Lord knew how thankful she was for him.
“How did you pull this off?”
“Your parents, Denver, and Lavender helped me. We started plotting the day we came back from the island. Lavender was prepared to redo her entire apartment for y’all, but we thought this would be more beneficial to you. Welcome home, Bunny.”
“I love you, Mahari.”
“And I love you too. I only want what’s best for you and the girls, and I’ll always go out my way to make it happen.”