5 years after the birth of Allie and Oliver's daughters, they discover she is pregnant again. Money is tight for them, and they must make the difficult decision to move across the country for a new job, putting Oliver's dreams of starting a business...
"Ok, last bump picture in this apartment," Oliver said as he held my phone up to take a picture of me. I stood in front of the wall, hands on top of and below my small bump.
"And... perfect," he said.
"Alright, ready to grab these last two boxes?" I asked.
My dad and Ollie's dad each picked up a box and headed down to the parking garage where our rental U-Haul was parked.
"I'm so proud of us," Oliver said.
I smiled and leaned down to kiss him on top of his head.
"Ready to go?" I asked.
He nodded.
"Girls! It's time to go!" he called.
The girls came scampering out of our room.
"Where are your backpacks?" I asked.
"In your room," Maddie responded.
"Go pack them up. We have to bring everything to the new apartment."
They went to pack their toys into their bags and I sighed. I was exhausted. It had been a busy month full of apartment-hunting, paperwork, packing, and doctor's appointments. Luckily, my morning sickness was starting to go away as I was nearing the end of my first trimester. Oliver's parents had had their ups and downs and we weren't quite sure what would happen between them.
The girls came out with all their things and I double checked the whole apartment. It made me sad, leaving Ollie and I's first home together. We had moved here a year after we graduated high school, when we had finally saved up enough.
I held the girls' hands and we left our apartment building. We got into the U-Haul, waved goodbye to our parents, and we were off.
The drive would take 3 days, so after 8 hours in the car, we finally stopped in South Dakota.
"I can drive tomorrow," Ollie offered as we pulled into the hotel. He had gained back some movement in his legs, which was how he was able to walk with his braces and crutches.
"No, it's fine," I said. I didn't really trust him to drive as the car was way bigger than what he was used to and he never drove with foot controls.
"Are you sure? I promise it'll be fine."
"I got it, don't worry."
I looked back and saw that both girls were asleep.
"Can I put one of the girls on your lap?" I asked him. "I don't want to wake them up."
"Yeah, come over here and get Maddie."
I carefully unstrapped Maddie and put her on Oliver's lap so that her head lied on his shoulder. I picked up Olivia with one arm and grabbed my purse with the other.
After checking in, the girls woke up and we went to dinner. The same routine happened the next evening in Iowa and then finally, we arrived . The girls had lots of energy this time as we met with the landlord and were shown to our apartment. It had two bedrooms, which the girls were quite excited about.
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Layout of the New Apartment
We got settled in and I slowly started unpacking the truck. It was hard for Ollie to get the boxes, so I had to do most of it. However, he unpacked pretty much every one. Luckily, the apartment was furnished, so we only needed the smaller things. We also needed to buy beds for the girls since it came with two queen sized beds.
"You two get your own big bed tonight!" Ollie told them. They ran into their room and I was finally able to sit down on the couch. Ollie sat down next to me.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help that much," he said.
"You were super helpful," I said, telling the truth.
He shrugged. "I just feel bad. You're pregnant and you shouldn't have to carry all those boxes."
"I'm fine. They weren't even heavy."
I lied my head on his shoulder and he kissed my head.
"I love you," I said.
"I love-"
"Mommy! Olivia pushed me!" Maddie screamed, running out of their room.
"No you touched me first!" Olivia yelled back.
"Shhh. Be quiet girls, people are sleeping," I said.
"Come here," Ollie said, motioning to the girls. "No more touching each other for the rest of the night, ok?"
They nodded, still looking furious.
I checked the time. "Time for bed! Let's go pick out some jammies," I said.
When I came out of their room, I saw that Oliver had my phone in his hand.
"Who's this?" he asked, showing me my screen.
I had a Facebook message from someone named Victoria Jackson.
"That's my mom's maiden name," I said, opening the message. When I saw her profile picture I realized who it was.
"Oh my god, it's her sister."
"Do you know her?" Ollie asked.
I shook my head. "They had a really bad relationship."
"What does it say?" He asked.
"Hi Allison, I'm your aunt, Victoria. I don't know how much you've heard about me but your dad told me you were moving to Bloomington, which is where I live. If you're interested, I'd love to meet up sometime!"
I responded immediately. "So glad to hear from you! I'd love to meet up. Let me know when you are free."
Ollie put his arm around me and leaned his head against mine.
"I'm so excited," I said, smiling.
"So you guys are meeting?"
I nodded.
"Have you ever met her?"
"No. All I know is that she and my mom had some big fallout when she met my dad. I don't even think she was at the funeral. It's weird that my dad reached out her. He didn't even tell me."
I looked down and saw that she had responded.
"Can you do Friday? There's a great lunch place we could go to."
"Sounds great," I said.
"Do you want me to go?" Ollie asked.
"I don't know. I'll just go by myself this first time I think."
