independence; a. matthews

4

*june 30*

"Olivia! We all need to talk." Ema calls to me from down the hall just as I finish in the shower.

I walk down the hall in my sweats and hoodie with wet hair, surprised to see everyone sitting in the living room. "Everything alright?" My question is silently answered when I see the looks on everyone's faces. Everyone seems worried about something that I am not yet aware of.

"Well, not exactly. I know you haven't told Auston about Rosy yet, and we all respect your decision. I just thought I should let you know that since the playoffs ended for him a little bit ago, he is coming home for a few months. He will stay in the guest room of course but I just thought you should know because of the whole situation." Ema rubs my back after she finishes explaining, seeing how my face changes when I hear the news.

"Oh okay. I don't want it to be weird during your rare time with Auston, so I can grab a hotel room for a while, I'm sure it will be okay. Thank you for letting me know." I try to stand up, but Ema's hand on my arm stops me and sits me back down.

"Nonsense, this is your home too. None of us will say anything about it to Auston if you don't want us to and I am sure it will work out. You are not going anywhere." Brian speaks from the other side of the room, earning nods from everyone else in the room.

"Okay okay fine, I am not sure how it'll work but I'll try, as long as you guys don't act weird around him then I will be okay." I nod my head slowly and try to figure this all out, then another question pops into my head. "When is he getting here?"

Ema grabs my hand and takes a deep breath, as if she's trying to calm me before she tells me. "Later tonight." Her eyes search my face as if she's trying to tell if I am mad or not, instantly relaxing when I make it clear that I am not.

"Okay, that's good I know you guys miss him a lot." I smile sweetly at her and stand up to lift Rosy out of Breyana's lap.

"Don't worry Liv, we all know how dumb Auston can be, he probably won't even suspect anything." Bre laughs, trying to make the situation lighter, and it definitely works. She always makes everyone laugh.

"Actually, guys, I think I might see how he is with her and then maybe tell him, he deserves to know that he has a kid. Regardless of the outcome, both him and Rosy deserve the truth." I tell the Matthews family, in hopes they will understand.

"That's a good idea dear. No matter how it goes, good or bad, we are all here for you." Ema gives me her award winning warm smile, and her eyes tell me how sincere she is really being.

••

The rest of my day consists of hanging out with Rosy and absolutely jamming around my room, cleaning and trying to take my mind off of the night I am about to have.

"Hey sweetheart, Aus is here and I already told him he will need to stay in the guest room. I just thought you might want to come down, seeing as Rosy just fell asleep for a bit and everything." The soft voice of Ema startles me a little a first, but then I find myself nodding my head and following her down the stairs.

In just a few moments everyone is spread out around the living room, catching up with Auston and just hanging out. Not wanting to be around him a whole lot, I decide to sit in the kitchen and take a quick nap.

After only a few short moments of rest, I am woken up by Auston throwing a piece of candy at me and hitting my face. "Why are you so tired. It's like 8" His eyebrow is raised and small wrinkles are etched in his forehead.

"She hasn't slept much lately." Breyana sighs and before she can say anything else, tiny cries are heard from upstairs. "Speak of the devil." She mutters our loud, her eyes widening as soon as she says it.

We all have on edge facial expressions for what seems like eternity before Auston says "Are you baby sitting?" Which causes small sighs of relief from everyone around.

"Uh huh." I nod sharply and dash upstairs, trying to calm Rosy as quickly as possible. That was close.

Auston's pov
Hanging out around Olivia is different than I remember it being when we were growing up. Even if she spent most of the time in the kitchen sleeping, I can tell she's different than she used to be. She is no longer just my sisters best friend, she's the most beautiful girl I have ever met and I can't believe I left her the way I did.

She seemed on edge when the baby upstairs started crying, and she has seemed really tense from what I have seen of her today. Something has changed her and I want to know what it could be.

After she went upstairs a little while ago, she never came back down. It's been a few hours and everyone is going to bed, but before I enter the guest room I'm staying in I decide to check on Olivia.

I peep open the door as quietly as possible and look inside what used to be my room. Not much has changed really aside from the blankets and personal items, the walls are still light grey and my medals still hang in a row by the window.

When I finish scanning the room and my eyes land on the bed, I see the most beautiful sight I've seen in a long time. Olivia lays curled up in a huge blanket with a baby cuddled into her chest. Both of them are fast asleep.

Just as I am about to leave the room, the baby starts to stir and her small eyes open wide. Before she can make any noise, I gently lift her off of Olivia's chest and rock her in my arms. I sit down on the edge of the bed and do my best to sooth her back to sleep. Once she closes her eyes and snuggles into me, I take a few moments to just look at her. She is the sweetest baby i've ever seen and all I can think about is what it would be like to share these kinds of moments with someone and have my own family. I am only 22, but I have a feeling my days of being with random girls may be over. Something about seeing Olivia with a baby makes me realize this, even if she's just baby sitting.

Completely unaware of Olivia being awake and seeing the whole thing, I place her in the small crib in the corner of the room and make my way to the guest room. That night is filled with smiles and dreams of the girl I can only hope to have a life with.