As Long As I Can

Chapter 18

It was a Monday, when we had to go back home. It was time for all of us to go back to work and face reality again. Jake loaded all our things in the car, while I stayed behind. He was going to take his mother to the airport, while I drove back with Sophie.
"I hope to see you soon," Mrs Sparks told me, after she said goodbye to everyone.
"Me too, Mom."
She smiled at that and gave me a swift hug, "Goodbye, Allison. Take care of that son of mine." She walked towards the car and got in. After Jake said goodbye to me with a kiss and a tight hug, they drove off and then, it was my turn to go.
This last person I said goodbye to was my dad. I felt sad in doing this, after I haven't seen him in so long, so I hugged him tight. "Bye Dad."
"Bye, Sweetheart. Come back soon, you hear?"
"I will." His eyes looked sad, as if he didn't believe what I told him. But, he still nodded as if he did infact believe me.

The music blasted from Sophie's car's speakers, while we drove. "Shout out to my ex, you're really quite the man. You made my heart break and that made me who I am," we sang with the music.
Sophie turned down the music and shook her head. "We should really stop singing," she said while laughing, "no offence, but we kinda suck."
"Yeah," I agreed with her, "we do."
"Anyway, how was it to see Scott again?"
"Okay, actually. He just walked away pretty quickly. It wasn't much of a chat, you know?"
"Yeah, well. He just found out you were married while he thought he would flirt with you. The man-whore."
"Yeah, I guess so. It felt good to be home though, didn't it?"
"It did. I missed Ma's cooking a lot."
When I left, Sophie came with me. We grew up not really loving where we lived, with a full house all the time and not always having much money. But, she still loves my parents. So, I felt guilty for taking her with me, but soon enough she convinced me she wanted to and just "couldn't let her baby sis do all this on her own". So, later on I was fine with having her with me.
"Me too, we should do this again. Maybe when we get our next break at work. Anyway, you should tell me when I should take over driving for you."
She nodded and looked straight forward. "Brian and I had a fall out." Not a big suprise there.
"About what?"
"Alot of things, it's just so hard. We used to fight all the time and now all of a sudden, we must be happy."
"No, Sophie. These things takes time. But, in the end you'll both be alright."
"I guess you would know better than me. You've dated a lot more than me, anyway." This was true, Sophie never really dated. Even in high school, for whatever reason she didn't have much confidence in herself. So, she stayed away from boys.
"It'll be okay, I promise. Just don't give up on him."
"I won't, if he won't."

I took over for Sophie, when she got tired and later, when I felt like I needed a nap, she did the same for me. Soon, I drifted off to sleep and dreamt about a little boy, laughing while I tickled him. I found him so cute, even though I never met him... Suddenly, the car stopped and I woke up. I looked over to Sophie in annoyance, for waking me while I had such a wonderful dream.
"Sorry," she said, "didn't mean to wake you. But, it had to happen soon. Anyway, surprise." She looked to her right and raised her arms in the direction I should look. It was a beautiful white house with a wooden iswing on a tree, just like I always wanted. And then, Jake came walking out the front door. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming. And then, I got out of my sister's car and ran up to him. I jumped into his arms and threw my legs around him. "Thank you, so much. You're amazing," I told him.
"Anything for you, my Babygirl."
I then jumped off him and walked inside, not willing to wait another second to see more of this house. The house was fully furnished and looked like my scrap book with photos of how my house should look one day. I've kept this book since I was in high school, when I started having ridiculous dreams about my future. I just couldnt believe he made all my dreams come true. Everything was just as I wanted it, with chandeliers in all the right places and fluffy carpets. And, in the living room, right in front of a large couch, there was a puppy to finish it all off. I turned to Jake. "You did all of this?" I asked him.
"Yes, but I had some help from Brian and Sophie. I just followed your book and here you have it. It's all ours."
"I love you so much. Have I told you that lately?"
He chuckled, "I love you too, my baby."
Wow, what have I done to deserve this amazing man?
"You wanna name our puppy?" he asked.
I nodded and thought for a bit. And then, I snapped my fingers. "Tiquela," I told him, "I want to name the puppy, Tiquela."
He laughed and shook his head, "seriously? You're naming him after alcohol?"
"Yeah, it's cute."
"Okay. But, because of this, I'll be choosing our children's names."
"No, you're not. I already chose their names: Austen, Theo and Anabelle."
"Well, nevermind then. I just don't like Anabelle. I don't want a freaky doll as a daughter." We both laughed at that, so I gave in.
"You can name our daughter then," I told him and his smile grew bigger.
"I can't wait to have kids with you." And neither can I...