*Isaiah's POV*
Silence isn't always awkward; sometimes silence is meaningful. Sometimes it's your only option. Sometimes it's painful. The silence when driving your ex- girlfriend to go shopping for her baby? Fucking excruciating.
"What theme are you planning for his room?" I ask, trying to break the said silence in my truck. Meghan is sitting in the passenger seat while Cameron and Mia sit in the back.
"Um, I'm I think I'm gonna do Finding Nemo theme." She mutters, picking at her finger nail.
"Oh, cool." I don't know what else to say. Looking in the rear-view mirror I catch Cameron's eye. He looks as uncomfortable as I feel. I wordlessly try to get him to say something. Anything.
"So, Amelia how is your family doing?"
Mia, who's sitting a seat away from him, smiles. "They're doing good. My dad's therapy is going well and my mom's chemo treatment take a lot out of her but they seem to be working."
"That's great." He acts like he didn't already know that. I can't help but roll my eyes at his next statement. "Those treatments have to be expensive." That little shit is fishing.
"They are." Mia says. "But thanks to some Good Samaritan all the bills are covered."
"Oh, wow." He acts shocked. "That's amazing."
"Yeah, my family owes that donor everything."
"Clueless..." Meghan mumbles, making me snort.
She looks at me grinning and for a second everything freezes. Her green eyes are sparkling like emeralds and her nose is crinkled. She hasn't looked at me like this since high school.
Her smile fades slowly and her cheeks flush as she notices me staring.
"Sorry."
"So Isaiah," Mia leans her head between the seats. "You and Cameron really wanted to go baby shopping?"
Flicking on my signal to turn into the store's parking lot I glance at her through the rear-view mirror. "Yeah, why not?" I shrug.
"So like, you like babies and kids?" After pulling into a parking spot, I squint my eyes trying to figure out her question.
"I work as a pediatric nurse..."
"Right. So, you do like kids?"
"Yes, Amelia, he likes kids." Cameron looks confused too.
"So, do you think you want to have kids someday?" She questions.
Meghan whips her head around so fast I'm worried she's pulled a muscle.
"Yes..." I make sure to look at Meghan. "I want kids one day." She needs to know that if she's ever ready to be more than friends I'll be there.
"Great." Mia claps her hands together. "Let's go shopping for this baby!"
"Okay!" Mia grabs a cart and pushes it towards me, then grabs another one. "Cameron and I are going to get diapers, wipes, and pick out some clothes. You two," She points at Meghan and I. "Get everything else on your list." She grabs Cameron's hand and starts dragging him away. He looks back at me like an awestruck child.
"She's gonna be the death of him." I mutter.
"Why doesn't he just tell her?" Meghan asks me as we start walking towards the crib isle.
"He already did once," I reply, remembering how nervous he was thinking through that letter and picking out that cat. "He doesn't want to be rejected again."
She looks lost in thought for a minute. "She never told me about it."
"Does that upset you?"
"It makes me feel weird..." She stops and stares at a white crib similar to the one collecting dust at my house. "Like, I don't know why she doesn't trust me enough to tell me about it."
"It was the day we broke up. Maybe she didn't want to talk about Cameron in fear it would bring me up?" I question, trying to gage if Meghan was at all emotional about our break-up.
"Maybe." Is all she says before she starts to drag the crib box off the shelf.
Grabbing the box, I tell her, "I got it." And set it in the cart.
"So, where's the baby's room going to be?" I ask her, trying to change the subject.
"The apartment doesn't have an extra room but mine has a walk in closet so we're going to paint it navy and turn it into a little nook for him." I want to ask why they don't switch apartments but I'm worried I'll offend her, and I don't want her to shut down on me.
"That'll be nice." I choose to say instead.
"Yeah, I just hope he'll like it." She says bending down and grabbing some navy sheets for the baby bed.
It takes every bit of my self control to not steal a glance at her backside.
"I'm sure he will." I tell her, trying to force myself to find the crib box interesting.
Before I can help her she picks up a box for a smaller crib looking thing.
"Please, let me pick things up for you." I tell her taking the box from her before she hurts herself or the baby. My hands brush against hers and she jerks them away like I've burnt her. I try not to feel hurt. "Why are you getting another crib?"
"That's a bedside bassinet. He'll sleep in that for the first few months when he wakes up every couple hours, then he'll transition into the crib." She explains.
"Oh." I feel tightness in my chest. I didn't know she would need that. Maybe I'm not ready to be a father.
"Now, we need a dresser." She says looking around.
"That way." I point a few isles down. Grabbing the cart, I start dragging it toward the isle with dressers.
Meghan silently looks at the dressers before stopping in front of one.
"Can you grab that one?" She asks. "Please."
After getting the box onto the cart she suggests finding Cameron and Mia when they suddenly approach us.
"You get the bed, bassinet, and dresser?" Mia asks Meghan.
Meghan taps the cart. "Yup."
"Great!" She jumps on the end of the cart Cameron is pushing. I notice the faint smile on my best friends face. "Kai's at the apartment painting now." And the smiles gone.
Meghan chuckles a 'lets go' and jumps on the end of the cart I was pushing. She grins at me and mouths 'run'.
Her fingers tighten on the cart as I brace myself to start running.
"Race you to the check out." She grins at Mia as I take off with her laughter fueling me.
***
'After Five Years' almost has 1,000 reads and 100 votes! Three more chapters until things start to heat up and seven more before before crap hit the fan. I'm getting so excited I just want to skip to the crap hitting the fan chapter! 😂
This chapter was boring but hopefully it was a good one. :)
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YOU ARE READING
After Five Years
Romance***UNEDITED VERSION*** A changed/edited version will slowly be put up. Meghan Hume and Isaiah Hunt had the perfect love through high school, the type of love where you just knew they were going to get married and grow old together. But the last day...
