I'm All Yours Somehow

A loud noise woke me a few hours later. After remembering where I was, I shivered. Garrett hadn't been kidding when he'd said he'd turned te thermostat down to sixty-five.

I pulled the blankets up over me as I heard someone on the stairs. Praying it was Garrett, I sighed.

Instead of seeing Garrett at the top of the stairs, I saw Dree. I thought I was seeing things until she launched herself onto the bed, landing nearly on top of me.

"Surprise!" she said, sounding very chipper.

"Did you come here just to ruin my vacation?" I grumbled, a bit short of breath. When she'd landed on me, she'd managed to knock the wind out of me.

She stuck her bottom lip out. "You don't mean that."

"Not completely. Is Stephen down stairs?" I asked, yawning. Dree nodded and I laughed. "Garrett would plan this."

"It does sound like him, doesn't it. But hey, you're here with your man, your best friend, and your best friend's man, what more could you ask for?"

"Not a lot, really." I shrugged and smiled a bit.

"But, it's time for you to get up!"

"This is a fucking vacation, maybe I want to stay in bed all day."

After a bit of arguing though, Dree finally pulled me out of bed. I went down to the main floor, still in my t-shirt from the flight and the basketball shorts I'd stolen from Garrett's suitcase.

In the kitchen, Garrett was standing at the stove, making chocolate chip pancakes. Stephen was beside him, already holding a plate, eagerly awaiting his breakfast.

"There she is!" Stephen said excitedly. "Sleeping beauty has finally descended from her tower!"

I yawned, giving him the finger. Garrett smirked, flipping the pancakes quickly before motioning for me to come towards him. I walked to him and he put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me towards him.

"Good morning," he said, kissing the top of my head.

"Morning," I responded, taking a deep breath. He released me after giving me a tight squeeze and I walked over to the table and slumped down into one of the chairs at the table.

Ten minutes later, we were all at the table eating and talking. Upon asking what the plan was for the day, Garrett told me that we would probably just spend all day out on the beach. I grimmaced a bit in response.

"What's wrong?" he questioned, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

"The beach; there's too much sand," I said with strong distaste. I reached across the table for the syrup and dribbled some over my short stack of pancakes.

"That's what the beach is: sand and water," Stephen informed me, his words choppy.

"Oh, really? Hmm, I never would have guessed," I responded in mock surprise.

The rest of breakfast was filled with animated chatter and the metallic cling of our silverwear against the plates. Once we were done eating, Dree and I cleared the plates away.

I allowed Dree to go get ready for the day while I rinsed the plates before putting them in the dishwasher. Garrett joined me at the sink, putting an arm around my waist. I smiled as he kissed the back of my neck. I reached behind me, toying with the hair at the back of his neck.

"Do you feel better now that you've had some sleep and you've eaten?" he asked quietly, speaking into my hair.

"Much," I answered, turning to face him. I brushed my lips over his and remained close to him.

"Hello," he said, his lips touching mine as he spoke.

"Hey, stud," I teased, smiling at him. He raised his eyebrows at what I had said. "You know what you should do?" I bit down lightly on my bottom lip.

"What?" he questioned, sounding very interested.

"You should load the dishes into the dishwasher for me," I said, pressing a finger against his lips softly.

He sighed loudly, untangling himself from me. "All I ever do in life is do stuff to make you happy," He whined, opening the dishwasher and began putting the dishes in.

"Shut your mouth," I told him, flicking some water at him.

Once the dishes were loaded, Garrett and I retreated to our bedroom to get ready for our day at the beach. When I grabbed my shampoo and conditioner bottles, Garrett looked at je ad if I was crazy.

"Why the hell are you taking a shower?" he asked, looking skeptical.

"I slept on a plane, and I feel all nasty," I explained, grabbing one of my bikinis.

"Tallulah, we're swimming in th ocean. You'e going to have salt and sand all over you. We can shower when we get back later."

"What if I don't want to shower then?" I tested. He pursed his lips. "Don't you get sassy with me."

"You always manage to ruin my surprises," he said, his brows knitting together as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Surprise?" My eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Yes, I have a surprise planned for tonight, and no; I'm not telling you what it is. All you need to know is that you can shower after the beach and you and Dree are going shopping. Now just go put on your little bikini and put your hair up so we can leave."

"You're so bossy." I stuck my tongue out at him, tossing my shampoo bottles onto the bed.

In the bathroom, I brushes my teeth thoroughly, and managed to drag the brush through my hair before tying it up. I changed into my bikini and scrutinized my appearance in the mirror. Shrugging, I headed back into the bedroom where Garrett was aldready changed into his swim trunks and a t-shirt.

I kneeled down, and sorted through my suitcase to find a pair of cut-off jean shorts to pull on over my bikini.

"Have you packed towels and sunscreen or anything?" I asked him, buttoning my shorts.

"Was I supposed to?" he asked rather cautiously.

I rolled my eyes. "It would have been very helpful, but I can do it."

Twenty minutes later, we were packed into the rental car, off to a public beach for the next few hours.

The white sand on the beaches was hot on my bare feet and I basically had to jump around. Garrett thought it was funny, but that all ended when I jumped on his back and made him carry me the rest of the way. We set up out umbrella and our beach chairs a way back from the water and Dree and I took our seats, making ourselves comfortable. Garrett and Stephen took off running for the water and both tripped, one after another, on a piece of washed up seaweed. As Dree and I laughed endlessly, they both walked back to us, their chests covered in sand.

"You need sunscreen, Gare; your cheeks are already pink," I told him as I pushed his hair off of his forehead as I still snickered at his appearance. He scrunched up his face as I reached for the tube of sunscreen.

"I feel like a little kid," he commented as I rubbed it into the skin of his cheeks.

"I'm not trying to act like your mother, I just don't want to hear you bitching about being sunburned later," I told him sternly, massaging it into his shoulders.

"Let's go swim!" he said excitedly, grabbing my hand. I rolled my eyes and dropped the sunscreen into the bag before letting him drag me towards the water.

Hand in hand, we tried to jump over a rather high wave. I didn't get my leg up high enough and the force pulled me under. Garrett tried to pull me back to my feet, but we were laughing so hard that the next wave came and landed him on top of me. We were all the way up to the shore and still laughing uncontrolably, my ass full of sand.

The rest of the day was exactly like that. Dree and I both took naps on our towels under the umbrella and woke up to find ourselves covered in sand and Stephen and Garrett giggling like school girls.

Whenever Garrett kissed me (which was very frequent) I could taste salt on his lips from the ocean and I smiled. My body was itchy from the salt and the sand, but I loved it.

While I loved the environment, the weather was hot. I had finally grown used to the Arizona heat, but this was something else. Garrett and I walked along a nearby boardwalk in search of lunch and I was miserable.

Garrett put his arm around my waist to hug me and I pushed him away.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking concerned.

"I'm effing hot and I'm covered in sand and salt and my shoulders a burning, just don't touch me," I said, irritated by my discomfort.

Garrett pouted and took a step to the right, putting distance between us.

"I didn't mean I wanted you to not walk beside me," I said, rolling my eyes as I took the step toward him and slid my hand into his. I popped up on my tip-toes and kissed his cheek once. "Your cheeks are all sunburned."

"Ugh, I know! I can feel it," he groaned, scrunching up his nose. I smiled and squeezed his hand.

The day continued on wonderfully. After a few more hours at the beach, we loaded up and drove back to the house.

When I shook out my bikini before showering, it looked like I'd brought the beach with me. The shower felt wonderful, but the my slightly burned shoulders stung when the water hit them. I washed the salt from my skin and out of my hair, not wanting to leave the shower.

I rung my hair out before wrapping my towel around my body when Garrett pounded on the door.

"Are you done yet?" he yelled through the door.

"Yeah, you can come in," I yelled back, stepping into my panties.

He twisted the knob and opened the door, pulling his shirt off as he did. "Showerrr!" he roared, turning in the water as I hooked my bra.

"G, you are so sunburned," I laughed, pressing two fingers against the bright red skin of his shoulder.

"Ouch!" he yelped, jumping away. "I've realized that I am."

I smirked and reached to poke him again, but he grabbed my wrist and held it away from me. He swooped down to kiss me quickly, before peeling off his clothes and stepping into his shower.

Two hours later, I was attempting to zip up the back of a dress that Dree had forced me to try on. I sighed, looking in the mirror as I concentrated on working the zipper up. It was a very tight fit once I finally got the zipper up all the way.

"How's it look?" Dree asked from outside the dressing room.

I looked myself over in the mirror, making a face. "I don't know if I like it or not," I called back.

"Well, come out here and let me see!" she demanded. I rolled my eyes, adjusted the top of the dress, and unlocked the door.

"Damn," Dree said with a bit of a laugh.

"What?" I asked, self-consiously tugging at the top of the dress again.

"Garrett is probably just going to want to rip that off of you."

Her comment made my cheeks flare red. "I think I'll try something else on then," I said, stumbling over my words a bit.

"No, no, it's a good thing, trust me. You look amazing, Lu," she reassured me.

"It's too short though." I tugged at the hem of the dress, trying to make it longer.

"Lu, just look at yourself! You look so great in that! You look the size of my pinkie and your legs look fucking amazing. Just buy the fucking dress."

I sighed. "Why not? I mean, it only costs half of my paycheck."

Twenty minutes later as the cashier was ringing up my dress, Dree groaned.

"What is it?" I asked, sliding the twenty-something on the other side of the counter my debit card.

"Stephen just texted me and he said we need milk," she explained, rolling her eyes.

"Didnt Garrett just buy some this morning?" I glanced up at her as I signed the screen and waited for my reciept to print.

"All I know is that if we come back without milk, he'll probably throw a bitch fit, so we may as well stop at Walmart. There are a few things I need to pick up too."

I nodded and we walked out to the rental car in silence. We got to Walmart soon after and when I went in search of milk, Dree excused herself to go in search of her personal items.

We got to the house later and I sighed as I put the milk in the refrigerator. The kitchen was empty and the house was quiet, which was rather shocking. I have expected to come home and find the place on fire. I walked into the living room where Stephen and Dree were sitting on the sofa watching, her head on his shoulder.

"Where's Garrett?" I asked, yawning quietly.

"Upstairs," Stephen answered without even looking back at me. I nodded, mostly to myself before starting up the stairs quietly.

I walked into the upstairs bedroom and it was roasting up there. Garrett was sprawled out on the bed, all of the sheets kicked off the edge. He was shirtless and I dropped the bag containing my dress on the arm chair before sliding out of my jeans. I gently joined him on the bed, laying beside him. I leaned on one elbow, looking down at him. His hair was damp with sweat and he looked very serene. I pushed the wet hair off of hid forehead and he stirred.

"Hey beautiful," he said, yawned as he opened his eyes. "How was shopping?"

"Alright, I guess. I got a dress and whatnot," I said softly, shrugging a bit. I scooted closer to him, resting my head against his chest. I'd rather have actually just stayed there rather than go out.

"Good, because we need to get ready."

"For what?"

"You don't understandthe concept of a surprise much, do you?" he joked, sitting up and ruffling my hair.

"I do, I just thank you can go ahead and tell me where we're going," I teased, pursing my lips.

He smiled, kissing my forehead. "We're going to eat. That's all you get."

"Fine," I said, dragging out the word as a sigh.

Garrett nodded and opened his suitcase and pulling out clothes for himself. I grabbed my bag and returned downstairs to the other bathroom.

The door was closed and locked and I frowned as I knocked.

"Lu?" Dree asked from the other side of the door, her voice sounding panicky.

"Yeah?"

As soon as I spoke, the door opened and she grabbed my shirt, pulling me into the bathroom. Before I could ask what was going on, she thrust something into my hand.

"Look at them," she said, her expression unreadable.

I looked down at what she's given me. Pregnancy tests: three of them, all with little red plus signs on them.

My jaw dropped. "No!" I said loudly, sitting down on the edge of the tub, shocked.

"Yes!" she said excitedly, smiling very wide. She did a little excited jump and I forced myself to stand up and hug her, still in shock. My stomach had dropped, but I couldn't stop smiling.

"This is unbelievable!" I exclaimed. Dree could only nod, her eyes filled with tears. "Does Stephen have any idea?"

"Not at all. It obviously wasn't planned, and I'm not completely sure how it happened, but I can't believe this!"

I hugged her again excitedly and tightly, feeling sharp pangs of jealousy.