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)
“She’ll want to be awake when we get there,” Bas argued.
“We’re still a few minutes away.”
“Like…three.”
“Don’t do it—”
“I’m awake,” I muttered groggily, lifting my head up from where I’d slumped over Ariel’s car seat.
“Jackass,” Titus muttered.
The sight of familiar streets passing by had me sitting up straighter and smoothing my hair out of my face.
“I gotta go potty,” Ariel whispered, her eyes bright.
“We’re almost there, baby,” I murmured, smoothing down her hair, too. “When did you wake up?”
“A long time ago.”
“It’s been about thirty minutes,” Titus clarified, his eyes meeting mine briefly in the rearview mirror.
“And you let me sleep?” I asked Ariel.
“You were sleepy.”
“I up,” Diana announced. “I up, too.”
“You’re awake, too?” I asked, smiling huge at my baby’s grin. “Did you have a good nap?”
“No.”
Bas laughed.
“Of course you didn’t,” I replied.
“We’re here,” Titus announced as he turned into the long driveway.
Otto and Esther’s house was as beautiful as the last time I’d seen it, but I could barely look at it as Esther walked out onto the front porch, a little girl that had to be my niece standing at her side. My sister was glowing.
I’d seen her in every mood, sad, angry, happy, frustrated, but I’d never seen her as excited as she was when Titus pulled up to the bottom of the steps and parked.
And I was stuck in between the car seats. I must have made some kind of noise because Titus’s head snapped up so he could look at me in the mirror.
“Give me just a sec,” Titus ordered.
I worked on unbuckling the girls as he moved back toward Diana’s door and threw it open.
“Come here, princess,” he murmured, pulling her out of her seat like he’d done it a million times. “Hey, Bas, can you give me a hand?”
I sat with my heart in my throat and within moments, Bas had helped me unbuckle Diana’s seat and pulled it out of the way so Ariel and I could climb out of the car. The moment my feet touched the gravel, Titus was handing Diana to me.
“Go,” he ordered softly, jerking his head toward the porch. “She’s been waitin’ a long time.”
My steps were slow at first. Nervous. But it only took a few seconds before I was pulling Ariel with me as I hurried toward my big sister. We were both crying as she met me at the bottom of the steps, her arms around me and Diana, squishing Ariel between us.
“You have babies,” she cried.
“So do you. She’s so big! I can’t believe how big she is!”
“You’re so grown up.”
“I missed you so much.”
“I’m so glad you’re here.”
“I’m sorry it took me so long.”
“Oh my god, you’re pregnant!”
“So are you!”
The words mattered less than the feeling. We were babbling by that point, and for the first time in so long I felt pure unfiltered joy fill me. We’d made it. It had taken years longer than I’d thought it would, but I was finally there, with my sister again.
Esther let me go and carefully dropped down to her knees. “Hi,” she said, her eyes bright with tears as she looked at Ariel. “I’m Auntie Esther.”
“I’m Ariel,” my outgoing girl replied. “Do you have zebras?”
“We don’t,” Esther replied, laughing a little as tears rolled down her face. “But we have a cat named Mr. Sir. He’s big and orange and he likes to cuddle.”
“You do?” Ariel asked excitedly.
“Sugar, you’re gonna get stuck down there,” Otto said in exasperation as he stomped toward us and reached for Esther.
“I was not,” she argued, letting him help her to her feet. “Why would you even say that?”
“I put your socks on for you yesterday,” Otto replied flatly.
“I wanted to talk to Ariel,” Esther muttered.
“Oh.” He smiled down at my daughter. “Yeah, I can understand that. She seems pretty cool.”
“I am,” Ariel replied, nodding. “I’m really cool.”
“And who is this?” Esther asked, reaching out to gently rub the baby’s back.
“This is Diana,” I replied, pulling the pacifier out of her mouth with a pop. “Can you say hi?”
“Hi,” Diana murmured, reaching for the binkie in my hand.
“You don’t need it right now,” I whispered in her ear. She stopped, grabbing for it with a grunt of annoyance.
“Hi Diana,” Esther said, her eyes crinkling in amusement.
“And this is Flora,” Otto said, lifting their daughter—who’d been standing at the top of the steps watching everything unfold—into his arms.
“Flora Noel,” Esther added, reaching out to smooth my hair back from my face.
“Hi, Flora,” I breathed, trying not to blubber as I looked at the niece I’d never met.
She and Ariel could’ve been sisters, they looked so much alike.
“We have the same name,” Flora said, smiling. “And the same hair.”
“I know. Pretty cool, right?”
“Very cool,” Otto answered, putting Flora down next to Ariel.
“I still can’t believe you’re here,” Esther said, grabbing my hand to tow me toward the house. “Come inside. How was the drive? Titus usually drives like a maniac, but I’m guessing he behaved himself with you guys in the car.”