Our Favorite Days (My Favorite Mistake #3) (19 page)

“If I were you, I’d be freaking the fuck out, but you seem to be happy about it,” Dusty said, picking up a set of weights and starting to work his arms.

“I am freaking the fuck out, but I’m also really happy. I honestly am.” They both looked at me like I was insane.

“Well, I just tell you now that Dare and Ne are planning a ‘congratulations on your baby’ party,” Mase said with a grunt.

“Isn’t that called a baby shower?” Dusty said.

“No, this is like, for the parents. The baby shower is all about getting baby stuff,” Mase said.

“And when is this party happening?” I asked.

“Soon,” Mase said. “They’re already getting baking supplies now.” If there was one thing the ladies of Yellowfield House knew how to do, it was throw a party.

S
o even though Renee said the baby was only the size of a seed, it was causing me all kinds of problems. I was fucking exhausted all the time. And the sickness continued every morning when I woke up. To his credit, Hunter was right there and took care of me through everything. He also took on my share of the chores when I needed a nap.

I hated taking up so much of his time, so whenever I could, I told him to play videogames with Mase, or hang out with Paul or work on Dusty’s car with him. I didn’t want to be some sort of ball and chain and make him resent me someday.

Our friends proved that they were the literal best when they threw Hunter and I a party to celebrate the baby. There were baby carrots and baby corn and it was a blast and everyone got very silly with baby puns.

That weekend we drove up to see Hope, John and Harper to tell them about the baby in person. Hope burst into tears and Harper kept asking if she and the baby could be best friends. That made me cry, which made Hunter go into hyper-caretaker mode. I had handfuls of tissues shoved at me until I told him I was fine and that he had to stop.

“Oh, I remember when I was pregnant with JJ. I was the size of a house,” Hope said, referring to Mase. I knew that wasn’t true because I’d seen pictures and she was the most glamorous pregnant woman I’d ever seen.

“Oh, love, you know you were beautiful both times,” John said, kissing her cheek. She blushed and batted her hand at him to stop.

“Excuse me,” Harper said, raising her hand. She was just the most precious thing.

“Yes, Harper,” John said.

“When is the baby going to be here?” I looked at Hunter and then at Hope and John. I had the feeling there was going to be a birds and bees conversation in their not-so-distant future.

“Probably in July,” I said, and Harper stuck her bottom lip out.

“That’s
forever
,” she said. Well, to an eight-year-old it probably was.

“It seems that way,” Hunter said, squeezing my shoulder. “But the baby will be here before you know it.” Harper seemed skeptical and then asked why it took so long. John coughed and changed the subject. They were going to have a fun night after we left.

“I’m so happy for both of you,” Hope said, giving me a huge hug before we left.

“And if you need anything, even if you just have a question about whether something is normal, you call me, okay?” I promised that I would and she handed me a stack of books.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I started to say, but she cut me off.

“These were the books that I read and they’re not too scary. But I would suggest avoiding certain parts.” I saw the little flags sticking out and wondered what they were.

“Oh, good, thanks,” I said.

“Yeah, I made the mistake of looking things up online and I am still regretting it,” Hunter said with a shudder.

M
y mom also had books for us when we went down to Waterville the next day. Some were the same ones Hope had given me. I didn’t tell my mom that, though, and thanked her for them.

“My little sister, all knocked up,” Tawny said when she walked in and gave me a hug.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, but she was just teasing.

“And you, how dare you,” Tawny said, rounding on Hunter. I thought she was going to slap him, but she just laughed and gave him a hug.

“Congratulations. It couldn’t happen to a nicer asshole.”

“Tawny!” Mom said, admonishing her for the language.

“Oh, whatever,” she said, sitting down on the couch with us.

Most of the talk was about the baby and how the hell we were going to do this. Fortunately, Hunter and I had had a few more days to talk things over and start making a plan. He’d already contacted a builder do an add-on off of our room for a nursery and I’d started re-thinking my graduation schedule. I mean, it sucked, but it wasn’t the most important thing in the world. Going an extra semester wasn’t going to kill me. At least I hoped not. We’d have to see when our spawn made its appearance.

I’d been surprised that Hunter hadn’t brought up getting married. Not that he had any ideas about our baby being born “in sin” but I’d thought he would take the pregnancy as yet another reason to get married sooner. I would love to say that my mind had changed overnight because of the baby, but the whole marriage thing still scared the shit out of me.

No, it didn’t make any sense, but I couldn’t help it. Plus, planning for a wedding and a baby plus going to school would be complete insanity. I’d just as soon go down to the courthouse and do it on a Tuesday afternoon and not tell anyone until later. If I could wrap my head around actually getting married, that is.

“You crazy kids,” Mom said, shaking her head at us, but she had a smile on her face. I could tell she was getting excited about being a grandmother. Tawny wasn’t anywhere close to getting married and having one of her own. Not that you had to be married to have a kid, but Tawny couldn’t seem to find a guy she could stand for more than a few weeks, so I didn’t think babies were really on her mind all that much.

“Yup. They say that life is what happens when you’re making other plans and I guess it’s true,” I said and Hunter smiled at me. I kept catching him watching me as if he was searching for something. Like any minute I was going to start looking really pregnant. He had been my constant shadow, waiting on me hand and foot. I told him he didn’t have to, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. I gave up because it was nice to be taken care of.

“That is definitely true,” Mom said. “Have you talked to your dad? I didn’t tell him anything yet, per your request.” I could tell she wasn’t happy about keeping something from him. Their relationship had changed a lot since the hearing and I knew they talked at least once a week. I wouldn’t call them friends exactly, but they were definitely friendly. At least more so than when they split up, that was for sure.

“I will, I will.” He was going to find out anyway.

“You’d better,” Mom said, narrowing her eyes. “If you don’t, then I will.”

“You can’t do that!” I said and she gave me a look.

“I can and I will, so call your father, Taylor.” I sighed. She wasn’t making this easy. Not that anything about this was easy.

“Fiiinnne,” I said, drawing the word out.

“Don’t give me attitude, Kid. You’re gonna be a mom now, so it’s time to grow up.” I didn’t feel any more grown up. Actually, I felt more and more like I had no idea what the hell I was doing and I didn’t think that was going to change in nine months. Thank God for Hunter, because I didn’t know how I would have done this by myself.

“Whatever,” I said, crossing my arms. Everyone laughed and then we talked about other things, for which I was grateful. Seemed like all anyone could do was talk about the baby lately and I was getting a little tired of it.

“You have caused a lot of trouble,” I said to it when I went to the bathroom at my mom’s house. “You’d better be worth it.”

I
was deep in the throes of sleep on Monday night when there was a commotion that woke me.

“What’s going on?” I mumbled. Hunter got out of bed, placing himself between me and the door. Protecting me.

Voices yelled below us and footsteps thundered on the stairs before the door flew open and Renee came in.

“Dusty’s apartment is on fire,” she said before rushing out again. Doors slammed and I didn’t know what to do.

“We should probably go down and see what’s going on,” Hunter said, holding his hand out to me and helping me out of bed. I pointed out that he should probably put some clothes on, so he grabbed his boxers from the floor and slid them on before we went downstairs.

It was chaos.

Everyone was half-dressed and running around looking for keys. Dusty had stayed with us, thank God, so he and Jos were the first ones out the door. The rest of us piled into Mase’s truck and Sassy.

Dusty lived a short drive away, but we could hear the sirens long before we got there.

“Oh, shit,” Hunter said when we parked on the street. The road was closed off and I counted at least three firetrucks and so many firemen they must have called in several stations.

The entire building was ablaze, as well as the one next door. All the houses on this street were crammed together, so the danger of all of them going up was high. Hunter had grabbed me a coat to put on over my pajamas, but it was still freezing and our breaths made clouds in the air that combined with the smoke. It wasn’t the clean smell of wood burning. It was dirty and greasy and made me wrinkle my nose as my stomach heaved. Spawn didn’t like that at all.

Hunter took my hand and we walked as close as we could before the firefighters yelled at us to get back. There was a news van on the scene with an anchor doing a report to a man with a camera. Several other people were waiting with looks of horror on their faces. Probably people from the other houses who had been evacuated.

“That’s definitely not good,” Mase said as we all stared up at the inferno. There was no way anything in the apartment could be saved. The building was going to be a total loss.

“Poor Dusty,” I said. It was a miracle that he had been staying with us. He’d also brought his cat over or else Napoleon would have been in there. I shuddered at the thought.

“I know,” Hunter said, holding me close. The wind shifted and pushed the smoke toward us. We all started coughing.

Dusty and Jos walked over to us, both looking grim. Dusty was leaning on Jos and she had one of his hands clutched in both of hers.

“So, uh, yeah. Can I move in?” Dusty said, looking at Renee. His voice choked and tears were streaking down his face.