Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“I bet she’s back at the house cooking and pacing and decorating,” Otto said with a small chuckle.
“Decorating?” I asked as we reached Ariel.
“Don’t be alarmed if there’s a Welcome Home Noel banner or somethin’.”
I hoped he was joking.
“Me and Uncle Rumi are gettin’ the wiggles out,” Ariel informed me, still shaking her arms out at her sides. “It’s gonna be a long drive.”
“Uncle Rumi, huh?” I asked, looking up at Otto’s brother.
“Cool?” he asked, smiling gently at me.
“Cool,” I confirmed, smiling back.
What was it with their family? I’d woken them up in the middle of the night, with no warning, and they’d driven to a completely different state to pick me up—yet each of them seemed happy to be there. Happy to see me. I didn’t understand it.
“Car seats are all set,” Rumi said, opening up the back door. “This one’s yours, princess,” he said to Ariel. “I think.”
“Mine’s purple,” Ariel replied, looking around him. “Yep!”
“The other one isn’t buckled yet,” Rumi said apologetically as he lifted Ariel into her seat. “Figured we’d do it once you were inside. Doubt you could get in otherwise.”
“Thanks,” I breathed, glancing at Ariel before I rounded the back of the SUV.
My heart beat in my ears as I reached the other side and found Titus holding open the door, Diana’s car seat dangling from his hand.
“Hey,” he murmured quietly, his eyes roaming over my face before finally moving to where Diana had laid her head on my shoulder.
“Hi,” I rasped. I felt frozen in place. It was so hard to wrap my head around the fact that we were only three feet apart. If I wanted to, I could reach out and touch him. I wouldn’t, of course, that would be completely insane.
“If you climb in, I’ll help you get this seat buckled in,” he said after a moment.
“Right.” I hurried forward, the toe of my sneaker catching on the gravel. I stumbled a little but caught myself before he could. “I’m fine.” My voice was high and reedy.
Climbing into the back of the SUV while holding Diana and trying to look even slightly graceful was impossible. Between my belly, backpack, the lack of space, and Diana clinging like a monkey, it felt like a miracle when I finally dropped onto the center seat.
We were silent as I helped him buckle Diana’s seat in, the tension between us palpable, and I looked up almost guiltily when Otto leaned in the front seat just as Titus closed the back door.
“You just let us know if we need to stop,” he said as I buckled Diana in and pulled her blankie out of the diaper bag. “If not, we’ll drive straight through. We’ll be right behind you.”
“You’re not driving?” I asked in confusion as he moved out of the seat.
“I’m on my bike,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll see you in a while.”
Once Otto was gone, a mountain of a man climbed into the passenger seat and Titus settled into the driver’s seat. Our eyes met in the rearview mirror.
“I like when you sit with us,” Ariel said, reaching for me.
“Me, too.” I looked away from Titus and smiled as I held her hand.
I wrapped my other hand around Diana’s, running my thumb over the back of her chubby wrist as the car pulled out onto the pavement.
“You like this adventure so far?” I asked Ariel. “Pretty fun, right?”
“Are we going to see zebras?” she whispered seriously.
I couldn’t hold back a snort and I tipped my head down to hide my face from the men in the front seat. “I don’t think Uncle Otto has zebras,” I whispered back. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay,” she murmured glumly, looking out the window.
“We haven’t met yet,” the large man said, turning in his seat with a smile. I tried, and probably failed, not to stare at his piercings. “I’m Bas.”
“Noel,” I replied. His eyes were warm on mine.
“The famous Noel,” he said, his grin widening. “Nice to finally meet you.”
“Famous?”
Titus murmured something that I couldn’t hear. Bas ignored him.
“Your sister’s mentioned you quite a bit,” Bas replied cheerfully.
“Good things, I hope,” I replied nervously.
“All good things,” he agreed before turning back around.
The car was quiet as Diana and Ariel fell asleep and I stared out the windshield. As we got farther from the house, then out of our little town, and eventually across the state line, I felt the tension leaving my body bit by bit. I’d been up since three in the morning and by the time we passed through Portland, my eyes were growing heavier and heavier. The baby in my belly jerked and kicked and I fell asleep with the realization that the little person in there was going to join a completely different world than Ariel and Diana had.
“Let her sleep,” Titus ordered sometime later, waking me up himself.