One Night ✔

45. The Return of the Babineauxs

"Zay's flight lands at 4:15. Will you be able to pick him up or do I need to?" Lucas asks, moving around me to grab an apple from the basket in front of me. He takes a large, crunchy bite and leans his back against the counter beside me.

"I don't see why not. Hayden would probably love to give Av a ride" I add, not realizing my innuendo error until Lucas' mouth pauses halfway to his next bite. "Home" I finish. "He'd love to give her a ride home" I emphasize. "Luke you really need to relax" I chuckle. He had been on edge since we decided to allow them to have a sleepover tomorrow night while we hosted a party at the house.

"Easier said than done. You see, I was once a fourteen year old boy and I know what he is thinking everytime he's alone with our daughter and therefore, I reserve the right to be as anxious as I want." He takes another dramatic bite of his apple and I roll my eyes as our daughter bounces into the room.

"Morning."

"Hi sweetie. Sleep well?"

"Mhm" she hums, reaching into the pantry to grab a Pop-Tart. She unwraps it and plops it into the toaster. I motion to the pastry and bump my shoulder against Lucas'.

"See, that is how you properly eat a Pop-Tart. Toasted." Avery laughs at our dramatics as the pastry pops up and she places the pieces onto a paper towel. "Honey, do you think Hayden would mind giving you a ride home tonight?" I ask her. She shrugs her shoulders, taking a large bite of her breakfast.

"I don't see why not. Where are you going though? Trying to ditch me?" she teases. I shake my head, taking a long sip of my decaf coffee. I was hoping that it would act as a caffeine placebo.

"No, no. Zay and Vanessa's flight lands around four and I have been enlisted to pick them up."

"Ah" she replies, taking another bite of her breakfast. "Are we still riding to school together?"

I nod my head, finishing off my coffee. "We are. In fact, we should go. See you tonight?" I turn to face Lucas and he nods, taking my face between his hands.

"I'll meet you here" he assures me with a smile. I close the rest of the distance between us and press my lips to his, tasting the apple juice on his lips, swirled with the taste of his minty toothpaste. "I love you" he breathes as we pull apart.

"I love you too" I hum, pecking his lips again before leading my daughter out the front door.

~ 🌌 ~

"I still don't understand why you had to have this party while I'm still pregnant" Maya complains, rubbing her extremely swollen belly while we sit in the teacher's lounge during lunch.

I roll my eyes, taking a bite of my Ranch covered carrot. She seemingly forgot that I too, had a couple reasons I couldn't drink; Baby A and Baby B. "I needed someone to suffer in sobriety with me" I tease.

She tosses a chip at me and I pick it up and eat it. She flips me off and I laugh.

We continue to eat in a comfortable silence after that until she's digging the crumbs out of her chip bag. "Do you think Vanessa and Zay will have kids?" she asks. It was obviously not a random thought but rather something she had been thinking about in the midst of our silence.

Zay and Vanessa were married unlike most of us but unlike most of us, they hadn't had any kids or plans to have any in the near...or distant future.

"I don't know. I think Zay likes having Vanessa to himself and besides, Vanessa just moved up at the hospital" I trail off. It was the reason she had missed the reunion back in June. She had just become an attending, finally passing her boards. It was her dream come true and kids didn't exactly fit into that dream.