It's You: Book Two

Chapter Six

Aiden

When I walk into the living room, everyone is waiting.

"Hey buddy, is Alex okay?" Anthony asks. "She's not acting like herself."

"Yeah, she's fine," I say. "She's just tired."

"No, it's not that." Mary shakes her head. "Is she on her period?"

"Yes." I lie.

Honestly, I don't see a reason to hide the pregnancy. I think it's incredible. I know Lex does too. On the drive over here, I caught her with her hand on her belly at least a dozen times. Sometimes she'll look down at it, but there's no bump yet.

We're both thrilled, but she said she wants to wait. I'll talk to her about it tonight.

"I don't believe you." Anthony says.

"Just give it a rest." Ali speaks up. "When we stopped at the rest stop and I went into the bathroom stall with her, I saw her pull the damn tampon out. She's on her period and she wanted to take a nap. Is that a crime?"

"Enough, Allison," my Mom snaps. "As a matter of fact, you haven't touched anything today. How about you help?"

"No." Ali's tone is flat and emotionless. I can tell she doesn't care what anybody says right now.

"I understand Alex is on her period, but that doesn't excuse her from doing work." Mary says, turning to me.

Steve looks at Ali, and then he looks at me. I see his eyes widen slightly and he runs his fingers through his hair.

"I mean, we have plenty of people..." he trails off. "Let's just go back to work."

All of us go back out through the garage door, but Steve lingers back.

When they're all outside, he walks over to me.

"Congratulations," he smiles.

"Thanks dude," I bro hug him. "You too."

________

By the time everything is out of the truck, it's completely dark outside. Our neighborhood doesn't have any streetlights, and the back yard has a lot of trees, so when I say it's dark, I mean it's so dark that in the back yard, you can't see your hand in front of your face. The front is better because the moon gives off enough light.

I glance at the clock on the stove and see it's well after eight. Lex hasn't eaten since noon.

"What are we doing for dinner?" I ask. Declan is running around the living room in his diaper. He's very excited about being here.

"I don't know." Danny sits down on the couch. "But I'm exhausted. Can we order something?"

"Yeah, let's order." My Dad nods in agreement.

"Okay. Let me go check on Lex."

I head through the kitchen, down a small hallway to our bedroom and push open the door, walking into the room.

She's awake, lying on her side. She's using the blanket I gave her as a pillow, her shirt rode up to her ribs, scrolling through Facebook while eating the chips I brought her.

She turns her head to look at me, and then goes back to what she was doing.

"How are you?" I ask her, standing next to the mattress.

"I'm okay." She sits up, rubbing her hands on her face. She licks her fingers clean and stands up, wrapping me in a hug.

I hug her back, and then I'm smiling.