I'm All Yours Somehow

"I know I'm late, I know!" I said as I approached the table where Mila, Dree, and Sarah were all seated. Mila and Dree each had a glass of white wine sitting in front of them, while Sarah was sipping on a water.

"Jesus, Lu, we thought you'd died or something," Dree, my eternally loud and obnoxious cousin, yelled, as I slid into the empty chair at the table.

"We didn't think you'd died, she did," Sarah pointed out, earning a dirty look from Dree.

"Regardless, where were you? In bed with Garrett, perhaps?" Dree questioned. Her favorite topic of discussion was sex and she made it obvious.

"No, actually, I wasn't," I told her matter of factly. "Have you guys ordered yet?"

"No, just the wine," my sister, Mila told me, nodding towards the bottle on the table as she scanned over her menu.

"Don't mind if I do," I said, rising out of my seat to grab the bottle which was across the table. I poured myself a glass of it and took a sip.

Since Sarah had moved out to Arizona to live with Brian a year ago, our lunch dates had been a weekly thing, just to have time to catch up with each other. It was a nice time to get away from our men and just drink and eat.

" Lu, do you want to keep Abigail tonight?" Mila asked, looking at me over the top of her menu.

"I can, yeah. I'll swing by and pick her up on my way home," I responded with a nod, licking my lips.

Six months after their wedding, right before my mother passed away, Mila and John had announced that they were expecting. It was a bit...shocking. They were now the proud parents of a nine month old little girl, who they'd named Abigail, after our mother.

Abigail was a very spoiled child, but sweet as could be. If she so much as frowned, John would do anything to make her smile again. Mila wasn't much better. Then she'd come stay with Garrett and I, and while I didn't spoil her as much, Garrett simply adored her, so he'd do just about anything to make her happy.

"Are you ladies ready to order?" our waiter asked, appearing at the table, his little book already in his hand.

"I suppose so," Mila said, looking around the table at the rest of us. We all nodded.

"Alright," he responded with a smile.

We all ordered and he collected our menus, leaving us to sit in silence with our wine.

"How has everybody's day been so far?" I asked, making small talk. Sarah shrugged, sighing.

"Uhm, I have a bit of news," Dree said with a wink. She propped her elbow on the table, resting her chin in the palm of her left hand, giving us all a nice view of the rock on her ring finger. Mila screamed, jumping out of her seat, throwing her arms around our cousin. My jaw dropped and Sarah smiled widely, looking pleased.

"When did he pop the question?" I asked, once Mila had returned to her seat.

"Last night. He took me out to a nice dinner, to where we had our first date. It was cute, he got all flustered," she explained with a quiet laugh, looking at the ring on her finger.

"About damn time too," Mila joked. It was true. Stephen and Dree had been dating for four years. Dree only smile.

I took a long drink of my wine and sighed. While I was extremely happy for Dree and Stephen, I could help but wonder when Garrett was going to propose, if he ever planned on doing so, anyway. He'd told me several times before that he, without a doubt, wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, but as of yet, there was no ring on my finger.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked, pulling me back to reality. I blinked and look up at her.

"What was that?" I hadn't even heard her, I was zoning out.

"Are you okay?" she repeated herself.

"Yeah, just spacing out," I responded with a nervous laugh and a smile.

"So, do you just want to swing by and pick Abigail up?" Mila asked, signing the credit card receipt at the end of the meal.

"Yeah, that'll work. I have to stop and put gas in my car though, so it'll take me a little bit," I told her, searching through my bag for my wallet and my keys. Upon locating my wallet, I dropped a five dollar bill on the table as a tip. Mila nodded, rising from her seat.

"Dree, congrats," she said again, running a hand through her hair. "I'll see you guys later." She walked to the gate and walked out of sight.

Ten minutes after Mila left, I did as well, waving goodbye to Dree and Sarah. After stopping at the gas station to fill up my tank, I drove to Mila and John's house, across town from mine and Garrett's.

I parked in their driveway and popped the trunk of my SUV, grabbing the baby carrier dock out of the trunk. I quickly fastened it into the back seat before walking to the back door. I knocked quickly, turning the knob, walking into their kitchen.

"Hello?" I called out, looking around the empty kitchen.

"Up here," Mila yelled from the second story. Sighing, I went up the stairs and popped into Abigail's room. Mila was sitting on the floor, Abigail sitting in front of her, playing with a rattle. The baby smiled when I entered.

"Hi, pretty girl," I said, smiling widely at the infant as I sat down beside my sister. The baby blabbered something, drooling a lot. As I opened my mouth to say something to Mila, Abigail brought her hand down, slamming the rattle onto my knee. "Ouch!" I yelped.

"Abigail, no! You don't do that!" Mila said to the infant, pulling the rattle from her hand. "Ever since John's mom gave her this thing, all she does is hit people with it. She hit John in the mouth with it the other day, busted his lip right open. I've never seen him so mad."

"You weren't with him when Travis Bailey hit his car in the school parking lot our senior year," I said with an awkward laugh.

Long before John O'Callaghan was my sister's husband, he was my high school boyfriend for three years. We were voted "Most likely couple to grow old together" our senior year, but things changed. When things got rough, I packed up and moved to New York without saying goodbye to anyone. Now though, he was my sister's husband, my niece's father, and my boyfriend's band mate.

"Yeah," Mila said, pressing her lips together, looking down at the carpet.

"Mila, have you seen my - Oh, hey Lu," John said, popping his head into Abigail's room suddenly.

"Hello, John." I smiled quickly, looking over at him.

"What are you looking for, babe?" Mila asked. She stood up and dusted off her pants before turning to face him.

"My phone charger. Have you seen it?" he responded, seeming all of a sudden flustered.

"No, I haven't," my sister told him, shaking her head once. She bent down and picked Abigail up off of the floor and I stood up as well.

"Okay...I'll keep looking then," John stated with a shrug, closing the door as he left the room.

I stood there awkwardly, looking around. Mila laughed quietly. She found the awkwardness between John and I to be very amusing. I gave her a dirty look and she set Abigail down in her crib, grabbing her diaper bag from the rocking chair.

"Mila, I have stuff at my house for her," I reminded her as she put diapers and neatly folded clothes in the bag. She shrugged, handing me the bag before picking Abigail up out of the crib. We made our way down the stairs, to the kitchen, where John was sitting at the kitchen island.

"Are you taking her tonight?" John asked, frowning when he saw me with the diaper bag.

"Yeah," I said with a nod as Mila strapped the baby into her carrier.

"I figured Lu might as well keep her tonight since we're going out to dinner anyway," Mila explained with a shrug.

"We're going out to dinner?" John blinked at her.

She smiled. "I told you this last night. I made reservations for six o'clock."

He nodded, standing up from the stool and turning the baby carrier towards him. "Bye, kiddo," he told Abigail who cooed. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Be careful with her," he said, looking up at me.

"I always am," I said, smiling.

Half an hour later, I opened the front door of my own house, lugging Abigail's carrier on my elbow. With a sigh, I put the carrier down on the floor in front of the sofa and I unhooked her, lifting her out. She'd fallen asleep in the car and was still asleep now, breathing deeply. Holding her against my chest, I stood up, bouncing her gently as I walked through the house.

"Gare?" I called out, being careful not to wake Abigail.

"We're down here!" He yelled from the basement.

I rolled my eyes and started down the stairs to the basement, knowing which room they'd be in. I pushed open the door to the theater room to find Kennedy and Garrett sitting on the edge of their chairs, Xbox controllers in their hands.

"Hey, baby," Garrett said when I entered the room.

"Hey, Lu," Kennedy said at the same time.

"Hi, guys," I responded, smiling as I leaned down and kissed the top of Garrett's head. "I brought you a visitor," I told them.

"Huh?" Garrett mumbled, glancing over his shoulder quickly. His face lit up when he saw Abigail asleep against my chest. He paused the game and jumped out of the seat. Smiling to myself, I handed the sleeping baby over to him.

I started to walk away, planning on taking his abandoned seat, but he pulled me too him, kissing me quickly and softly.

"I love you," he told me, smiling widely.

"I love you too," I laughed, slipping away from him. Going back to the main floor, I quickly made my way to my bedroom and changed into a more comfy outfit before returning to the basement.

Hours later, Abigail was sitting in her high chair while Garrett, Kennedy, and I all sat at the kitchen table, eating dinner. I'd made chicken Alfredo and pulled out a bottle of wine and we'd made an evening out of it. I alternated between feeding Abigail and eating my own food.

After dinner, Kennedy apologized for eating and running, but had to leave after we ate. When Kennedy had left, Garrett and I played with Abigail a bit before putting her in her PJs and sitting down on the sofa with her while Garrett and I watched a movie, letting her drift off to sleep.

The movie finished near eleven and I took her to the bedroom down the hall from mine and Garrett's, where we'd set up a crib for when she stayed over. Laying her down in the crib, I sighed, stretching my back out as I turned on the night light beside the crib.

I closed the door halfway before walking down the hall to my bedroom. When I entered the bedroom, Garrett grabbed me around the middle, picking me up and taking me to the bed.

"Gare, stop," I protested, trying to wiggle out of his hold.

"Not a chance," he said, kissing the back of my head as he carried me across the room. He set me on the edge of the bed, sitting beside me and pulling me into his lap. "I barely got to see you today."

"I know, babe." I frowned, turning my face towards him. I kissed the tip of his nose, followed by his lips. "I missed you today."

"I missed you too," he said with a smile, kissing me again. His lips against mine softly, his hand sliding up the back of my top.

My lips curved upward and I pulled away just enough to raise my arms. He raised my shirt up over my head, pulling it away from my body before tugging off his own shirt. He smiled at me, running a hand through my hair. Dragging a finger up my spine just to make me shiver, he fiddled with the clasp of my bra.

He pulled the fabric away from my body and leaned back onto the bed, pulling me down with him. Our chests pressed together, he looped his fingers through the belt loops on my shorts, holding me against him. Kissing me again a bit roughly, he flipped us over.

Leaning over me, he kissed down my neck, whispering, "I love you," into my skin. Smiling softly, I dragged my nails down his back softly and he groaned against my neck. My hands shaking slightly, I fumbled over the button of his jeans.

Finally managing to undo the button I pressed my lips together, pushing the tight fabric down his hips. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, my skin tingling as he ran his fingers down the bare skin of my abdomen before unbuttoning my shorts.

The feeling of his skin against mine would never get old.

Several hours later, I rolled over to discover that Garrett was gone. I frowned, my eyes still closed. I scooted towards the middle of the bed more.

"Gary?" I said outloud, missing his warmth. I frowned again, sitting up and looking around in the dark. I flipped on the lamp on my side of the bed and sighed.

I left the bed, pulling on the boxers and t-shirt he'd discarded earlier. Crossing my arms over my chest, trying to keep warm as I ventured into the hallway.

Passing Abigail's room, I pushed the door open to check on her. Instead of seeing her in the crib, I saw Garrett in the glider chair, one foot on the foot rest, the other on the floor, with the baby asleep against his chest. The chair was rocking slowly, Garrett's foot pushing against the floor to make it move. He was dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt with a hole in the sleeve. His eyes were closed but he opened them when I took a few steps into the room.

"Hey," I said very quietly with a smile.

"Hey, sweetie," he whispered back, looking very sleepy.

"What brought you in here?" I asked, picking his foot up off of the foot rest so I could sit down. I placed his foot in my lap, sighing.

"Half an hour ago, she started crying. You were out so I came to get her. I changed her diaper and she was still fussy so I sat down with her," he explained quietly, rubbing his hand over her back.

"You're good with her," I told him with a soft smile.

"Yeah." He nodded, sighing and leaning forward.

"Here, I'll take her," I whispered, gently taking Abigail. I held her against my chest before settling her back in the crib.  Garrett put an arm around my waist, guiding me back to our bedroom.

"I want one," he said after we'd settled back into bed.

"Want one of what?" I rolled over to face him in the dark of the bedroom.

"One of her, a baby," he said with an honest shrug.

"I'd want one too if I was the one who was gone nine months out of the year," I teased with a quiet laugh.

"I'm being serious, Tallulah," Garrett told me with a straight face.

"Gare." I sighed, rubbing my forehead. We'd had this kind of conversation before and it had only ended in us arguing.

"Forget I brought it up," he said, sounding irritated.

"Stephen proposed to Dree," I told him after we'd both remained silent for a while.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah," I said with a sigh, trying not to sound disappointed.

Garrett's arms went around my waist, taking me by surprise. He pressed his face against my neck. "You know I love you, right?" he asked quietly, letting out a long breath.

"I know, G," I said, cuddling against him. "I love you too."