You’d been settled in almost a week and everything seemed to be going suspiciously smooth. Even your dad had gotten on board with the idea of having a baby around sometimes. You were throwing a housewarming party and had invited all of your best friends.
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Bryce: “This will be a great place to have parties, dude.”
Josh: “No way. We have neighbors. This is as rowdy as it gets here.”
Noah: “Plus, Josh is literally a dad now. His party days are over.”
Josh: “Well, I don’t know about that but definitely not drinking tonight. Charli is coming to talk early in the morning.”
You smiled at Josh and headed over to check on Amelie: “How are you doing with the whole baby thing?”
You: “I’m just nervous, I guess but Charli doesn’t really seem interested in rekindling things so that’s good.”
Amelie: “The past just has a way of haunting us all sometimes.”
You: “Are we talking about Jaden now?”
Amelie: *smiling at Blake across the room* “Ya know, I actually think I’m ready to let that one go.”
You: “The date last night went that well, huh?”
Amelie’s cheeks were flooded with a warm pinkness as you pushed her playfully and teased: “Amelie! You didn’t!!”
Amelie: “Shut up! He’s so cute. We actually came here together and he’s already making plans for us next weekend.”
Mads joined with Eva and Emma right behind her: “What are we talking about?”
You: “Oh just Amelie and her new boyfriend.”
Eva: “What? You didn’t tell me!”
Amelie: “Oh, stop. It’s not official or anything but it’s going really good.”
There was no point in any of you saying anything more because Amelie and Blake had already made eye contact across the room and she was deep in the conversation they were having without even saying a word. You walked back over to the Josh, taking Blake’s spot after he followed after Amelie.
Bryce: “How are we supposed to have fun without drinking?”
You: “You know, you all can drink here, just no ragers that end in someone jumping off the balcony into the pool like at the frat house.”
Bryce: “Fair enough.”
He grabbed a cooler he’d left in the kitchen and started offering drinks to everyone and you just laughed. It was so great to know that you could still hang with all of the people you loved but at the end of the night, they’d all be leaving and you’d have space alone with just your boy. All of you were enjoying the low-key night when suddenly there was a knock at the door.
You: “It’s okay, I’ll get it.”
Bryce made a joke about having ordered strippers and you turned back to warn him it better be a joke. You pulled the door open without checking the peep-hole first in your distraction. You turned and came face to face with Charli and blurted out in a panic: “It’s just a housewarming thing. We don’t normally have parties here.”
Charli: “Oh, relax. I might be a mom but I’m still only 19.”
You felt a breath of relief leave your body when you realized she was alone.
Charli: *seeming to read your mind* “I left the baby at the hotel with my parents and thought I’d come over tonight to get to know you better but we can come back tomorrow, it’s fine.”
Her sister followed her in and you offered: “Come in. You can meet our friends.”
Josh: *sitting his drink down, nervously* “Is Ben with you?”
Charli: “No, no. He’s with my parents at the hotel.”
Josh stuttered over his own words when Charli reassured him: “Let’s just relax tonight and have fun. We can get to know each other again and figure our stuff out before bringing him into it tomorrow.”
Something about the way she said the word us made your stomach churn. She’d been nothing but supportive of you being in the picture, but they obviously shared something that you didn’t understand and it hurt. Josh pushed his hand into yours and squeezed gently to let you know that you were included in that us but your heart still ached. Charli saw the gesture and looked up to smile at you. Was she too good to be true?
Mads: “It’s so wild that Josh of all people has a grown-up apartment, serious girlfriend, and a baby.”
Noah: “Speaking of, which one of you is the baby mama?"
Dixie pointed at Charli and laughed and pushed Charli forward: "That'd be this one."
Bryce walked back up with another round: "Hey, Charli. Long time no see! Have my drink and I'll go get a new one."
You were surprised when she seemed totally relaxed and took a sip before catching up. Noah smiled at Dixie and they both eased into casual small talk. You'd never seen him interested in a girl before but it was clear he was now.
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The next morning you woke up to someone knocking at your door again. Everyone had gone home a little after midnight but you and Josh hadn’t gotten to sleep for a few hours later. You were relieved to see it was just Charli and Ben and not her parents because you were just now cleaning up from the party.
You watched the three of them play in the living room as you emptied the trash and couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about. Luckily, Josh then called out to ask: “Hey baby, take a break and come talk. I will help you clean up after a bit.”
Charli: “I don’t know how I feel about having him stay here overnight without me, yet. But I’d be willing to drive every few weeks for a day-”
Josh: “We have a spare room. What if you came here 1-2 weekends a month and stayed here so you didn’t have to be away from him until you were ready?”
Before you could offer any other ideas you might be more comfortable with, they already seemed perfectly in sync with the plan he’d blurted out.
