My Perfect Soulmate

Chapter 26 (Part 1)

Chapter 26

*Victoria*

After dinner with Aaron and Sophie, I reluctantly say goodbye and head home. It feels like ages since I've been home. Spending the last couple days with Aaron has seemed like another life. Our future life.

I arrive home and head inside. I find Nadine sitting on her bed with her laptop in her lap. She greets me with a large smile as she closes her laptop and sets it off to the side. I smile immediately when I see her. Though it's only been three days it feels like forever since the last time I saw her. Usually we text each other every day, but I guess we were both so caught up in our boyfriends during the holiday, we forgot.

"Vicky!" She exclaims, hopping off her bed and rushing over to me. She takes me into a tight hug. "It feels like I haven't seen you in ages." She says, squeezing me tighter. "How was Christmas at your moms?" She releases me and takes a seat on her bed.

My nerves start up a little as I think about telling her about Aaron and me. How will she react? She and Aaron get along well enough; however I know she and Colton were close. I wonder if a part of her hopes Colton and I will fix things. Will she be disappointed about Aaron and me?

"Tell me about your Christmas first." I say, taking a seat on my bed. "What did you and Donovan do? Was he here the entire time?"

"What didn't we do." She smirks. "He was here Christmas Eve and Christmas. He decided to pass me up for the gym today, but that's okay because he got me the cutest Christmas gift." She reaches over and grabs a teddy bear I hadn't noticed from beside her pillow. A brown build-a-bear wearing a football outfit. With a large smile on her face, she presses the bear's stomach and the message, "I love you to the moon and back, Nads. Merry Christmas babe." comes out in Donovan's voice.

"He said even when he can't come over, I'll always have a piece of him here." She says as she hugs the bear to her chest. "He's the absolute sweetest."

"That's adorable." I reply. "You guys are so cute."

"Yes, we are." She agrees. "Anyway, your turn. How was your Christmas with your mom? This is the longest amount of time you guys have been able to spend together."

"It was great." I reply. "I'm grateful for any time I get to spend with my mom. Even though I only got to spend Christmas day with her this year, it was time well spent."

Nadine tilts her head to the side for a moment and I can almost see the wheels turning in her head as she pieces my words together. "If you only spend Christmas day with her, where were you the day before and all day today?"

I bite my lip nervously. "I was with Aaron." I reply hesitantly. "We're kind of together now."

Nadine's brows shoot up as her jaw nearly drops. I watch as multiple emotions play across her face. "I'm sorry, what?" She asks. "Aaron? My boyfriend's best friend Aaron? The ex that broke your heart two years ago Aaron? The 'I told you he has a huge crush on you, but you said I was crazy' Aaron? Are we talking about the same one?"

"Yeah, that's the one." I nod.

"Um, explain. How the hell did this happen? How long have you two been together? You're already sleeping over at his place? I assume Donovan knows nothing, otherwise he definitely would have told me."

"You didn't miss anything." I reassure her, knowing how much she hates being out of the loop. "We've only been together for a week, though it feels like a lot longer. I think that's because of our history though. I didn't tell you right away because I was really on the fence about how things would work out for us. If it didn't work out, then you wouldn't know, and I could act like it never happened. I was afraid of the past repeating itself, but I eventually realized that Aaron and I have become different people. We've learned from our mistakes and I have nothing to worry about. I honestly believe he's my forever." I can't help the smile that comes to my face. "And I know it sounds crazy since we've only been together for a week, but I can't imagine being with someone else."

"Huh." Nadine huffs. "I can honestly say I never saw this coming. I mean it was obvious he had a thing for you, but after everything with...Colton I thought for sure you'd need more time. Are you one hundred percent over him now?"

"I love Colton." I reply honestly. "I think it would be impossible not to after the relationship we had. He was one of my best friends. However I'm not in love with him anymore. Perhaps we could go back to being friends someday. I hope we can go back to being friends."

"Wow." She says, shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't say I saw this coming, but... you seem happy. You have this glow around you, as if you've changed somehow. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters to me." She smiles.

"Thanks." I reply.

"So, did Aaron get you anything for Christmas?"

"Yeah he did. We agreed to no gifts, but he still ended up getting me this beautiful charm bracelet." I hold out wrist for her to see.

"Oh wow. It's gorgeous. And there's already three charms. The scales of justice are obviously for you. The football is for Aaron of course, but what's the teddy bear for?" She looks at me with a raised brow.

"That's for Sophie." I reply.

"Who?"

It occurs to me that I've never told Nadine about Sophie. I haven't mentioned her once. Based on Nadine's rection, I don't think Donovan has mentioned Sophie in conversation either.

"Sophie is Aaron's daughter." I say. Nadine's eyes grow wide as her jaw drops.

"He has a daughter?! Why the hell didn't I know about this before? How old is Aaron? Is he actually much older than us? He looks good for his age. Since when are you into older guys, Vic?"

"It's not like that." I explain. "Aaron is the same age as us. He just started his family a little early. Sophie is five-years-old. She's the sweetest, funniest, most hyperactive angel I've ever met." I smile. "I met her when she was around three, but she didn't like me too much. She was very protective of Aaron back then. I ended up giving her a teddy bear to help break the ice. We've been close ever since. Even after not seeing each other for two years it's like no time has passed."

Nadine sits in silence as she absorbs what I've said. Confusion and surprise plays across her face. "This is... wild." She finally says. "He acts like a normal college guy. He manages to go out most nights with us, he plays varsity college football which we all know is super time consuming. And on top of that he goes to class and manages to get good enough grades to keep him on the team."

"He also works two jobs." I add.

"All while raising a five-year-old." She shakes her head in disbelief. "Is he secretly superman?"

I laugh. "Seems like it, doesn't it?"

"What about Sophie's mom? What happened to her?"

"She's still very involved in Sophie's life. They're great co-parents."

"So, you've met her?"

"I met her shortly after meeting Aaron. We had a rocky start, but things are getting better. A lot better."

"So, you're not worried about when they're together? I mean, they made a baby together. What if there are some lingering feelings? I don't want to see you get hurt again."

"I was worried about that too at first. But I've been reassured by both of them that there's nothing to worry about. I trust Aaron one hundred percent."

"Hm, okay." She gives me a small smile. " Like I said before, as long as you're happy that's all that matters to me. So, I'm sure Aaron mentioned the New Year's Eve party at The Horizon Bar. You're coming right?"

"Yes."

"Great! I think Donovan is also inviting his roommate, Cal. However, I got them both to promise me not to invite Colton this time. You deserve to enjoy yourself without the help of booze."

"That was definitely not my finest moment." I wince at the memory of getting wasted. "But there's no need to worry. I'll back to my boring sober ways and won't touch a drop of alcohol. I definitely learned my lesson from last time."