The Life We Made

Chapter 18

The next morning I woke up and momentarily forgot where I was. But then I remembered I was in Ty's bed as the smell of him hit my nose. I was in here because my mom and sister were here.

I rolled over, placing my face in the pillow. His room was a lot brighter than mine in the morning because he didn't have curtains on the windows. The smell of him was everywhere in here, and I suddenly thought about how nice it'd be if he were here next to me, cuddling. Then I shot up. Where did that thought come from?

As I made my way out of the room to go get something to drink, I heard a noise coming from down the hall. Nala barked and followed me down the hall and into the nursery. Mom was standing in the middle of the floor, rummaging through bags and putting things in piles.

"Good morning," Mom said cheerfully.

"Morning. What are you doing up this early?"

"Couldn't sleep," she informed me. And that was concerning because she never had a problem sleeping. She was never up before 8:30 when we were younger, even if we were.

"How come?"

"I think kept thinking about the nursery and wanted to get it organized for you and Ty."

"That's sweet, Mom, but it really isn't a big deal."

"I know, but I want to help." She continued pulling things out of bags and folding them.

"Then I'll help you," I insisted. I couldn't allow her to do it all while I sat back and did nothing.

We worked in silence for a bit. After we had sorted through all of the clothes, the piles of stuff we were going to hang up was moved by the closet. Then I realized we hadn't bought any hangers yet.

"We'll go out and get some later," Mom said.

So we went back to work putting things in their new homes. Diapering stuff was placed in the baskets under the changing table. Blankets were folded and put in a basket next to the crib. Toys were put in a small toy bin under the window. The clothes that weren't being hung up (plain bodysuits, some of the sleepers, socks) were put in the dresser drawers. Bibs and burp cloths also found a home in the dresser for now. The feeding stuff we had received stayed in the packages and were placed on the shelves of the bookcase.

"Woah," Cara said, coming into the room. "The room looks so much bigger than it did last night."

"Doesn't it look great?" Mom beamed.

"Yeah. How long have you been up?"

"I've only been up since 7:15," I said.

"I woke up at 5," Mom said.

Cara's eyes bugged. "What?!"

"It's all just so exciting!" Mom said.

I just laughed. Only her. Sure, I was becoming more and more excited every day and every time we got something new for the baby. But I wasn't going to wake up at 5 am to organize and clean the nursery. I didn't particularly enjoy cleaning so that could also be a factor in that.

"How much is still on your registry?" Cara asked, observing the room.

"I don't know for sure. We registered for a lot."

"Your father and I talked about it and we want to get you the highchair and swing. We just wanted to wait and see what else you needed."

"Mom, you've done enough," I said guiltily. I felt bad after all they'd done and are doing for me and the baby.

"Nonsense, Darling. We want to help. I know Ty has money, but he can help you out in other ways."

I didn't argue, because what could I say? I couldn't make her change her mind. When she and Dad decided on something, it may as well have already been done.

"Alright," I said finally. She smiled brightly.

"Do you have cinnamon rolls?" Cara asked out of left field.

"Uh..." I started. "I don't think so." She huffed. "There's a bakery around the corner that has delicious pastries, though."

"Yay!" she jumped up and down. "I'm going to get ready!"

She left the room and went to get ready. She came back in and took our orders before leaving us to what we were doing.

I went and put on a pair of black shorts and a black and white striped top with a thin cardigan over it. I left my hair as it was and put just a little bit of makeup on.

When I was ready, I went to the kitchen to make some lemonade and noticed that Cara still wasn't back. It didn't take long to go to the bakery and get back, so I sent her a text.

[K: Where are you?]

[C: bakery. be back in a bit]

I sighed and went over to the couch and sat down beside my mom, who was watching the news.

"They saying anything good?" I asked.

She sighed. "Same old stuff."

"That's why I don't like watching the news."

"It's good to stay informed, Kaylee."

"I do."

She shook her head at me. I grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels, stopping when I saw a reporter standing outside of Nationals Park. He was busy listing statistics for both teams when he handed it over to the reporters in the box. It was an early game so they were talking about the players and enlightening fans of recent events and things going on in their lives.

The guy on the left mentioned Olivia Street and my ears perked up. They were talking about pictures that had been posted from the baby shower and started inquiring about me.

Up until this point, the media had pretty much left me alone. Ty and I didn't get much press and I liked it that way. But I also knew this point would come where I was noticed with him and it was kind of hard to miss my pregnant belly anymore. I was 23 weeks pregnant and clearly showing in anything I wore.

"It seems to me that Tyler Gallagher's mysterious girl is here to stay and it makes me question how long she was kept a secret."

"I know, Ray. It was a shock to us all. But he was never out partying with his teammates, so maybe it makes sense."

"Either way, in these pictures that have surfaced, they sure look happy."

I turned to look at my mom, totally embarrassed.

"You do look like a pretty happy couple," she said, eyebrows raised.

"We're not a couple," I stated. "But we are happy. I am, at least. He seems to be."

"Well, I for one think you'd be silly to pass him up."

"I'm not going to 'pass him up', Mom. He's always going to be in my life. Hopefully."

"I hope so, too," she said with a smile, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"I'm back!" Cara yelled into the apartment.

"It's about time!" I called back. She came in and joined Mom and I on the couch. "What took you so long?"

She looked shocked that I'd even ask that. "Oh, uh... It, it was really busy."

"You were gone almost an hour, Cara. I go to that bakery quite a bit and it didn't even take me that long from my old apartment."

Her cheeks reddened. "I, uh... Well, I met someone."

My eyes went wide. "What!"

"Yeah..."

"Tell me!"

"Well, he was sitting at a table when I walked in. We locked eyes immediately and I felt him staring at me the whole time I was in line to order. When I got our order, I turned to see him standing there. He introduced himself; his name is Dixon, and he invited me to join him for a coffee. So I sat down and oh my god, Kay, he's perfect." Her expression was all dreamy and she was gone.

"I haven't seen you like this in a while," I said, amused.

"I think I'm in love."