Perfect by Design

32: Luca James

I struggle to roll over, slowly opening one eye. There's an arm draped over me, which probably explains the difficulty in trying to move. Groaning, I stretch my arms out and pry the arm off of me. I reach around for my phone and finally find it under a pillow.

12:30, oh shit! Grayson's game is at 1. My mom is going to kill me.

"Alright, Michelle." I nudge her, and she swats me away, pulling the blanket over her head. "Time to go." I jump out of the bed. Mich, on the other hand, is a wee bit less enthusiastic.

I see Michelle whenever I'm in Miami. I could like her. She definitely likes me. Now, however, isn't the time to explore our love story or lack thereof. I needed to be gone like an hour ago, meaning she should've gone two hours ago.

She crawls out of bed, slips on one of my shirts (I actually really like that shirt), grabs her things off the floor, and walks out barefoot. I'd call it a walk of shame, but I don't think Mich feels a drop of shame right now.

"Call me when you're back, Lukes. It was fun." She yells out as she continues down the hall.

It always is.

I quickly hop in the shower and silently hope that the lines at the stadium are moving ridiculously slow, and I can use that as an excuse. My entire family (except for me) is staying at Grayson's and Tatyana's. It makes sense. All the kids can be together in one place with their grandparents.

Me on the other hand, there's really no reason for me to be present at the daycare. I stayed last night until Sydney, the oldest, fell asleep. Then, I went out for a bit of fun. And, well, you saw how that turned out. Cheers.

My phone vibrates on the counter, and I notice it's Leah. I choose to ignore it. She's just going to ask where I am, and I feel like it's fairly obvious at this point that I'm not at the game.

By the time I make it into the stadium, it is halfway through the first quarter. I excuse myself as I scoot past people in the stands. If it were up to me, we'd be watching the game from one of the incredible private boxes in this stadium. My mom, however, insists on watching the game in the stands. She swears it's a totally different experience. It's been this way since my dad was playing.

"Nice of you to join us, Luca." Leah rolls her eyes at me.

"Sorry. I ran into a little traffic." I smile condescendingly at her.

"The condo is literally walking distance from the stadium, Luca." Kiara shakes her head at me as she rubs her belly. I'd give her a harder time if she wasn't currently very pregnant with my niece or nephew.

"You didn't let me finish, Ki. The traffic was in my bedroom." I pat her growing belly as she scoffs at me.

My dad palms his forehead, and my mom bites back a laugh. It isn't a lie. I would've gotten out of bed a lot quicker if Michelle's arm wasn't restraining me.

"Gosh, I wish you'd visit more, Oliver!"

So I lied. Grayson, Hayes, and Tatyana can use Oliver. That's truly the end of the list, though.

"You get me, Tat." She's holding my nephew, Caleb, on her hip. He reaches for me, and Tatyana doesn't seem to have any reservations about handing him over. Much like Kiara, she's sporting a growing belly.

I glance toward my mom and dad, who are intensely focused on the game, hands intertwined. They're cute. I'm sure they don't even realize they're holding hands. It's just natural at this point.

Auntie K is next to Mom. It's a wonder she isn't also growing a child. For a moment there, it looked like we would have to save her from my uncle.

Carter and the rest of the Baker children are smart, and they're in a sky box. I would be up there too, but I received something close to a threat from my father, so here I am.