31

948 36 43
                                    

chapter thirty-one; real life

December 1st, 2020

Reece skips through the rows of pine trees, a smile never once leaving his face.

"Reece, stop."

"But why?"

He stops in front of a tree, staring at it.

"What about this one?"

"Will it fit in the lift?"

"I'll carry it up the stairs if it doesn't."

"You're going to carry it up four flights of stairs?"

"I'll call my dad to help."

"Fine."

We have the tree cut down, and shortly after we start the walk back to our building.

We had decided to walk because we didn't have any supplies to hold the tree on the car, and it was only a few blocks away.

Although it was a mistake because it was freezing cold and the sidewalks had frozen over from the rain the night before.

Reece and I both kept slipping, but Reece was the one who actually fell because of all the extra weight from the tree.

The first couple of times I had gotten worried he'd hurt something, but after the third I just started laughing at him.

"It's not funny." Reece says, sitting on the sidewalk with the tree next to him.

"Well it kind of is because you were so excited about this dang tree and here you are killing it because you keep falling on top of it."

"I'm not killing it! Am I?"

"Well the last time you fell there was a branch on the ground."

"Dang it."

"Don't worry about it. We'll just make sure you can't see that side of the tree."

He nods and slowly stands up, making sure his feet don't come out from under him.

"So let's talk about names."

"Names? For the tree? I didn't know you took it that seriously."

"I meant for the baby, Leanna."

"Oh, right. That makes more sense." I chuckle. "So what all do you have in mind? Besides the ones that you came up with on our honeymoon. Those were... weird."

"Grayson, Zach, Hunter-"

"You're still bringing up the name Hunter? It just came to the top of my mind, and-"

"Hunter is still at the top of my list."

"Hunter Jamie Bibby?"

He smiles, turning around and pressing a kiss to my lips.

"Hunter it is."

I laugh as he falls again, but I quickly stop when my feet come out from under me and I land on the ground butt first.

"Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"

I don't respond, I just keep laughing.

"Well clearly you two are."

I suddenly stop laughing, staring at the person in front of us in shock.

"Leanna? Is that who I think-"

"Hello sis."

I stand up. "What the hell do you want?"

Reece looks over, his eyes widening. He stands up quickly and stands in front of me protectively.

"We could have you arrested."

"Why? Nobody knows what happened." My mother says, a smile on her face. "There wasn't even a witness."

"That's where you're wrong."

"Of all people, you decided to keep the woman who tried to kill me less than two feet away from you all this time?" I scoff, walking past them, but Sebastian grabs my wrist.

"Let go of me."

He smirks, tightening his grip.

"She said let go!" Reece grabs his arm and pushes him away, grabbing the tree and my hand before pulling us away.

"Are you alright?"

I nod, not believing myself.

"You're shaking."

"Oh."

I look over my shoulder as we walk into our building and see them staring at us.

"How do they know where we live?"

"They're crazy. That's how."

"Why do I have to be related to them?"

"Unfortunately we don't get to choose our family."

"I wish I could."

"I wish you could too. I hate seeing all this happen." He stops, adjusting his grip in the tree. "Remind me why I decided to carry this up alone."

"Well your wife is pregnant and pregnant women aren't supposed to lift things more than like 30 pounds. That and the tree doesn't fit in the lift."

"Right"

------

leannabibby: it's christmas in the bibby house

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

leannabibby: it's christmas in the bibby house

tagged: newhopereece

------

newhopereece: you know it
leannabibby: newhopereece you woke me up extra early just to go get a tree

username: all the good trees would've been gone otherwise
newhopereece: HAH username understands

sebastianwood: I'm surprised you decorated this early

*leannabibby has blocked Sebastianwood*

username2: what

username3: that's your older brother?

username4: what's going on?

username5: i'm confused. now that i've looked i've noticed all the pictures that she posted of them are gone

username6: weren't they close?

username7: oh my god just let leah breathe. if she blocked him it was for good reasons

*liked by newhopereece, emilysanders, newhopeblake, and 57,378 others*

Bliss || Reece BibbyWhere stories live. Discover now