Life With My Brothers Best Friend

Chapter 29.

This chapter consists of stories from the past that you haven't heard so you can skip this chapter if you don't care!! :)

"Oh my god, Nikki!" Brittni screams in my ear, her arms squeezing all the air from my body. "I can't believe you are freaking pregnant!"

I laugh lightly, patting her on the back until she lets go with a shit eating smile on her face. I can't help my own stretching across my face. The excitement when I first found out is now making its way back into me and making me want to jump up and down screaming.

"Oh honey!" Karen gushes, wrapping her arms around my body in a motherly hug. "This is so exciting!"

"We are super happy," I grin, going to hug James who seems to be more excited than anyone else. "James? You're shaking."

"I'm just..." He bounces on his feet. "I'm going to be an uncle!"

Everybody covers their ears at the sound of James yelling.

Colten laughs, patting his friend on the back.

"Yeah you are," he chuckles. I hug Angelique and Craig, when finally I come face to face with my brother. I don't know what I was about to see from him, but a happy yet sad expression was not it.

"Jackson-"

"I'm happy for you," he smiles, but it's sad.

"Then what's wrong?" I furrow my eyebrows. I have a feeling that I know what he's going to say, but I want to think differently.

"Times moving too fast." And there it is.

I get exactly what he's saying. It seems like just yesterday we were little kids playing dinosaurs and superheroes. It seems like a few hours ago we were meeting at his car after practice and heading home to an empty house. And it seems like only minutes ago he was giving Colten his blessing to marry me.

"I know," I smile sadly. He wraps his arms around me, and I hug him back. I think back to the beginning of time.

"Let's play tag," Colten suggested. I always hated that game, it wasn't fair. Me being only five years old and shorter than the boys, I could never run fast enough to catch them. I would get tagged first due to my slow pace, and never stop being the person who was 'it'.

"I don't like that game," I pouted, but Jackson and Colten were already in a heated discussion. Adding rules, taking away things we could do, only having to stay on the structure. They were always changing things.

"Then what would you like to play?" Jackson crossed his arms, looking down at me while I plucked the grass I sat upon. "Barbies?"

"No," I scoffed. I didn't like Barbies. I'd rather play with worms and rollie pollies than those stupid dolls mom always tried to occupy me with. They were plastic. They didn't move. I didn't like them.

"Than what?" Colten asked in that sympathetic voice he always used with me.

I've always liked Colten. He didn't mind including me in his and Jackson's games. My brothers other friends didn't like me tagging along. Those were the days I'd stay with misses Mathews and help bake. It was boring. The only cool part about sitting with misses Mathews was licking the spoons and getting first dibs on the desserts.

Sometimes, Brittni's parents would let her play with me, but that rarely happened. They were strict and didn't like Brittni hanging out with me. They said I was a bad influence. I didn't understand.

"Let's do that obstacle course thing," I said. Sometimes, when the boys were nicer, they would play this thing that had to do with a series of obstacles and we would time who finished faster. I never won, but I always had fun doing it. I noticed sometimes, Colten would go slower purposely so I at least got second place.