South-Side Renascent || c.g.

Familiar Faces

Cailee

23 Days Until Basic

Who finished her first year of college? This girl! I was finally free to take care of Cody fully, and work too. However, as the days went by, I felt myself getting more anxious about Carl's departure.

_

I was out at the store with Cody, getting a few things. Carl had accidentally stepped on and crushed one of Cody's bottles, so I was looking for a new one in the baby aisle. I grabbed one that I thought was nice and put it in the basket.

I turned the cart around, bumping it into someone else's. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," I said to the person before looking up at them.

"Cailee, is that you?" the person asked. My eyes shot up to the mysterious person with a familiar voice.

"Riley?" He looked the same, except for the fact that he'd removed his piercings. I noticed the curly-haired toddler in his shopping cart.

"It's been ages. How have you been?" Riley asked me, glancing down at Cody, who was in a baby carrier against my chest.

I gently rubbed her back, "Um, I've been really good actually. And you?"

"Good," He looked down at the little boy in his cart and ruffled his hair a bit. "Hey, I want to apologize. For all the shit I put you through. I was a dick."

"It's in the past now," I said with a small smile. "So, who's this little guy?"

"This is Ross, my son. He's almost two and a half," he smiled.

"He's adorable. This is Cody, my little girl. She's two and a half months."

"Cute name," he replied. Another familiar face approached us. It was Dominique. What's up with me running into everyone today?

"Hey, babe, I found the stuff you want- Holy shit, Cailee?" Dom said shocked. Wait, babe?

"Yep," I replied a little awkwardly.

The ends of her lips curled up into a small smile, "It's almost been 3 years. You look good."

"Thanks," I said politely. "So, you two huh?" The two blushed and smiled at one another. Well, I'll be damned.

_

After the weird ass encounter at the store, I went to pick Carl up from work.

Carl

I tapped at my phone screen to progress on BitLife. I groaned, "I have AIDS? What the fuck."

The horn of a car got my attention and I looked up. I put my phone away and smiled at my beautiful girlfriend as I went to hop in the car.

"Hey, baby," I pecked her on the lips and buckled my seat belt. I turned to look at my daughter in the backseat, "Hi, princess."

As soon as we were home, I plopped onto the couch and kicked my shoes off. Cailee took Cody out of her car seat and went into the kitchen to feed her.

"I ran into somebody today," Cailee said from the kitchen.

"Who was it?" I called back.

"Riley and Dom," she said sounding surprised. I sat up immediately, slightly upset.

"They try anything?" I asked. They better not have...

Cailee carried the baby into the living room while feeding her. "They apologized for being assholes. And they have a two-year-old son."

"Jesus," I said, gobsmacked. Our exes not only fucked but had a baby. Right after everything happened at that. I was grateful though. If they weren't assholes, Cailee and I may not have gotten back together.

Oh, who am I kidding? We totally would've gotten back together.

_

The Next Day

"A double date?" I asked Debbie. I had stopped by to study with Lip and we were all finished.

"Yes, Carl. Aubrey and Lip agreed to watch the kids, so you're going."

I rolled my eyes, "Where are we going anyway?"

"To see Endgame. You know you want to go see it, so go home and change. I already let Cailee know."

"Can't argue with Endgame."

"I'm gonna drop Franny off when Hunter and I pick you two up, so take Lip with you."

"Come on, Lip!" I called out.

_

"You look so nice, baby," I said eying Cailee up and down. She always looked nice. She'd taken time out to straighten her naturally curly hair and I ran my fingers through it.

"Thanks, baby. You look good too," She pressed her lips to mine and I kissed her back harder. We were making out in the living room until we heard someone clear their throat.

"That's enough, lovers," Aubrey laughed. There were a few knocks on the door and Lip went to go answer it. Debbie, Hunter, and Franny came in.

"Hey guys, you ready to go?" Hunter asked. Cailee, Debbie, Hunter, and I kissed our kids goodbye and piled into Hunter's car.

Cailee

"Be good, kids!" Lip yelled from the door and I swear I saw him wrap his arms around Aubrey as we were pulling off. So damn cute.

It didn't take look to get to the theater. We bought our tickets and Carl got me what I wanted from the concession stand: nachos, a large Icee, and popcorn for us to share.

We chose seats all the way in the back row of the theater. Carl held onto my back while we went up the stairs, making sure my clumsy ass didn't fall.

"Here we are," Hunter said, stopping in front of seat number 7. Debbie sat next to him and I sat next to her so Carl could be on the outside.

"You guys ready to cry?" Debbie asked. We laughed, shook our heads, and got comfortable before the previews started.

About 30 minutes into the movie, Carl grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. I rested my head on his shoulder and sighed.

I was going to miss the little things like that when he was gone. He was the only person that made me feel better when things were really shit. He motivated me more than anyone else could when school was kicking my ass, and always had my back. He was my rock.

Ugh, how was I going to get by without him?

♡