Once In A Lifetime

Forgiveness

Melissa's POV

Rachael and I spent more time together. I really didn't hang with people outside of my group of friends. I had other friends in the biz but I only hung with them once in a while as my jokes were a little hard to stomach for them. So, I had to act like I would in an interview or at an appearance. I hated it. I hated pretending someone I wasn't. So it was hard for me to make friends in the biz cause of my humor. But Rachael had the same humor as Seth and we became fast friends. We had play dates as we planned but slowly we started to hang just the two of us once in a while in between play dates. One afternoon, we planned to meet for lunch. I went to the restaurant and quickly was brought to a table where Rachael was waiting. She saw me and smiled. We hugged when I got to her. I sat down and she asked, "So, how is it going?"

"Good." I smiled.

"Is my brother taking care of you and those boys?" She asked.

I laughed. "Of course. He is very good to all of us."

"Good. Cause I might have to kick his ass if he wasn't." She joked.

I again laughed. "He is a good man. I couldn't ask for anything better." I said, sweetly.

"So, I have to ask, is Seth ever home anymore?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Rarely. When he isn't working, he is at the house with me and the boys."

"Hmmm." She only said.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, if he is never home and you two seem to be going strong, maybe you should take the next step." She said.

"And what would that be?" I asked. I always felt like Seth was behind some of the stuff she said.

"Well, maybe moving in together." She suggested.

I sat back in my seat and exhaled. I have thought about it. But it worried me that he would give up his house or I give up mine and something might go wrong. I wanted a safety net. I only said, "I think it's still a little too soon for that."

"You two are basically already living together. Just make it official." She pointed out.

I looked down at my hands and back at her. "I'm not ready, Rachael."

"He's not your ex husband." She pointed out. By now, I had told her the whole story about Kevin and I. Seth only gave her the mild version of my ex and I. But I filled in the blanks as I got more comfortable with her.

"I know." I breathed. "But I need to make sure this will hold. I already freaked when he hit my ex and left him. I am afraid if I move too fast, I will freak and do something stupid again. I don't want to give myself a reason to run again."

Rachael looked at me sympathetically and nodded. "I understand."

"So, did Seth put you up to this?" I asked, annoyed.

She shook her head. "I actually asked him the same thing and he told me he wasn't going to push you into anything. That you are the one to let him know when you are ready. He has no clue I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Oh." I only could say. I smiled slightly as I loved how Seth was being so understanding. "So," I began to ask, "Where is the baby?"

"At home with the husband. I thought it be nice to have a kid free lunch." She told me.

"Oh." I was a little bummed.

I wasn't going to lie. I loved having the baby around. I loved my children at that age. Now they were older. So, enjoying the baby stage with someone else baby was fun. I think Rachael saw that. "Having baby fever?" She asked with a grin.