Race Against Time

I walked back to Levi's, ready to change out of my work clothes and into something comfortable. Sarah opened the door, dragging me in.
"I have the perfect outfit for you for tonight!" she said. I raised my eyebrow in confusion, then remembered. The get-together my brother insisted on hosting for my farewell. I gave my longtime best friend and sister-in-law my best protest look.
"C'mon!" she said, tugging my arm.
"Don't stress yourself or my nephew", I warned. She gave me a bright smile. She was six months pregnant, due in December.
"Then give in. C'mon, you'll look awesome", she said. I rolled my eyes and let her take me into the guest room where I was staying. A pretty dusky purple top was laying on the bed, paired with a pair of jeans. She pulled my hair out of the ponytail, running her fingers through my usually unruly curls.
"Keep your hair down, you always look gorgeous with your hair down", Sarah said, letting my hair fall over my shoulders.
"I don't think the first thing on people's minds tonight is going to be how my hair looks", I replied.
"They're gonna be like: 'Dear God, that woman is hot'", Sarah teased, poking my stomach.
"I suck at being a hostess though", I complained.
"Not like you'll be alone. It's only a few people that you and Levi know. It'll be easy, just don't spend any longer than five minutes on any individual or ten minutes on any couple", Sarah said. I groaned. I pulled on the clothes and slid on my Converses again. I let Sarah touch up my makeup for me.

"Don's coming, you know", she said. I rolled my eyes.
"You're still pushing that?" I asked. She smiled.
"I have to live out my bachelorette days through someone. Mackenzie's got a boyfriend and Mariah's only seven", Sarah replied, smiling.
"I might get back with Jasper. He's been pining for me", I said. Jasper was my on-off musician English boyfriend. He had brown hair and boyish blue eyes. Sarah gasped, thumping my forehead.
"You'd better not. Once a cheater, always a cheater", she chided me. I chuckled. My phone rang and I looked down. Speak of the devil. I answered it.
"Hey, Jazz", I greeted him.
"Hey, love. When are you coming home?" he asked in his adorable accent. It always made my insides melt and bubble.
"I'll be home tomorrow evening", I replied.
"Want to get dinner? I'll take you to Montoya's", he said. I frowned.
"No, Jasper", I replied, hanging up. Sarah smiled.
"Good for you, Izzy!" she cheered. The doorbell rang and I walked downstairs, peeping through the window. It was Flack, Danny, and Lindsay. I opened the door.

"We don't want your cookies", I teased with a smile. I chuckled and opened the door wider, inviting them in. It was fortunate we had a similar sense of humor.
"Hold on, Izzy, can you help me?" Sarah called. I walked over to my sister and helped her down the stairs. Lindsay smiled.
"I know how that is", she said. Sarah sat down on the couch.
"This baby is kicking my butt", she said. I sat down on Sarah's knee.
"Don't hurt her", Flack said. I threw a pillow at him.
"She's fine. If I can handle my husband sitting on me, I can handle her. Hell, if I was hyper enough, I could pick her up. She don't weigh much", Sarah said. I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Whatever happened to 'act your age, not your shoe size'?" Flack teased.
"That is dead. I can act as immaturely as I want", I replied, crossing my arms.
"Yeah, but you're almost thirty. Grow up", Sarah said, slapping my thigh to get me up.
"Your oldest daughter is seven", I replied. She glared at me.

"That was a low blow", she said. I stuck my tongue out at her.
"And I'm thirty in four months", I said haughtily and skipped into the kitchen. I got out the sodas and set them out onto the counter.
"So when are you due?" Lindsay asked. Sarah gave her a wide-eyed stare.
"I'm not pregnant" she said, looking at me. I gave her a look.
"Don't mess with her", I chided, handing her a root beer. Lindsay laughed.
"I'm due in December", Sarah replied, rubbing her belly. Danny and Flack, who had been talking about something grabbed a soda.
"Levi should be gettin' home soon...Mariah's staying at her friend's house", Sarah said absent-mindedly.
"Movie night, right?" Lindsay said. Sarah nodded.
"The Other Guys for the guys and Pure Country for us. We're all country girls here and who doesn't love George Strait?" Sarah said. I high-fived her.
"Amen. King of Country Music", I agreed. The front door opened.
"That title belongs to Alan Jackson and you know it", Levi called.

"King George not King Alan", I called back. Levi thumped my back.
"Be lucky that I'm not making you play tonight", he said. Sarah smiled wickedly.
"Do it, Iz. Doooo iiiiit", she said, bouncing up and down.
"Now you've excited her. Well done, Levi", I said, rolling my eyes.
"Y'all don't mind if she plays her guitar, right?" Levi called. Danny and Flack shook their heads. I glared at my older brother.
"You're truly evil", I said. I crossed my arms like a four-year old.
"I know where you stash it and I can just as easily make Sarah go get it", Levi replied. Sarah gave her husband an indignant look.
"Now I'm on her side", she said, linking arms with me. He kissed her head. He slid me off the couch so I landed on my butt. I glared at my brother as I walked upstairs, grabbing my guitar case from under my bed and walked back downstairs. I shoved my case to my brother.

"You're so interested, you play first", I said, smiling smugly. He rolled his eyes and opened the case, pulling out my guitar. After playing one Keith Urban song, he handed it to me. I rolled my eyes and started the beginning notes for 'It Happens' by Sugarland. After being forced to play 'Truly Madly Deeply' and 'I Knew I Loved You' by Savage Garden, I put my guitar away.
"No more music. Let's just watch the movies", I said, leaning against the back of the couch. Sarah tried getting up on her own, without much success. I grabbed her hands and pulled her up.
"All that horse-wrangling finally comes in handy, huh?" she said, walking into the kitchen. I followed her. The lasagna I had carefully made earlier was finally done.
"Ahhh, it came out beautifully!" I said, watching in satisfaction as the mozzarella cheese bubbled on the surface.
"Authentic Italian cooking, nothing like it", Levi said, everyone soon going into the kitchen.
"Me not cooking dinner, nothing like it", Sarah added. I made her go sit down and made Levi go put on the movie, whichever one was first. I brought her plate to her, her eyes appreciative. She kissed the top of my head.
"You spoil me", she said. I grinned. I took a bite of my food and smiled as my grandmother's recipe greeted my taste buds. I heard appreciative 'mm's come from everyone.

"The woman can cook", I heard Flack mutter. I rolled my eyes.
"Thank my Nonna. She's an amazing cook", I said. 'Pure Country' came on and soon, everyone was quiet. I knew it was Levi's way of trying to relax Sarah before the baby came. I looked up at Sarah, realizing now everyone had someone except me and Flack. I frowned at her. It was odd how well she knew me because she gave me a wry smile and turned her attention back to the movie. She played with my hair with one hand while holding Levi's hand with the other. I could feel my eyelids getting heavy towards the end of 'The Other Guys'. My fatigue wore off as my favorite line came on. Will Ferrell charged into the room and yelled at his captain: "Gator needs his gat, punkass bitch!" I erupted into a fit of giggles, falling over.

"Dude, my captain would kick my ass if I said that to him", Flack said, shaking his head.
"I've said that to my boss before", I spoke up, trying to cough to cover up my snickers. I heard my phone ring and I bolted out of the room to answer it. It was my dad.
"Hey, Daddy, I can't talk, I'm watching a movie", I stage-whispered.
"Isabella, Ian's in the hospital", Daddy said. He sounded like he'd been crying. I leaned against the wall, sliding down. My eyes filled with tears.
"What happened?" I asked.
"He was driving and he got hit from the side and it flipped the car, landing on another car. He's in critical condition in ICU", Daddy replied. I froze, realizing I had left him with my car because his was in the shop, not getting out for another two weeks.
"Will he be okay?" I asked, tears spilling down my face.
"We don't know yet, but we'll keep you posted", Daddy replied. Levi had come in and saw me. I hung up the phone and ran to my big brother. I clung to his chest, crying my eyes out.

"What happened, Izzy?" he asked, rubbing my back.
"Ian's in the hospital, he was in a horrible accident, they don't know if he's going to make it", I sobbed. He froze.
"No way", he whispered in disbelief. I couldn't stop the tears from falling as I cried like a little girl in the arms of my big brother. Sarah had rolled off the couch and came to check on us.
She saw my tear-stained face and ran over to me.
"What happened?" she asked, touching my arm.
"Ian's in the hospital. I'm going with Isabella back home tomorrow, I'll keep you posted", Levi replied. Sarah gasped.
"What happened?" she asked.
"He got in a car accident and he got hit in the side and he flipped and landed on another car", I replied, wiping my eyes. Ian was my twin brother, there was no way I would be able to function without my twin brother. Sarah hugged me tightly as I coughed.

"Come on, let's get you something to drink so you don't freak out", she said, leading me into the kitchen. I coughed as I downed a glass of water.
"Is everything okay?" Lindsay asked gently. I nodded, glad for the dim atmosphere. I didn't want people to see I was crying.