Them (Him #3)

by Carey Heywood

  THEM

  Copyright © 2015 by Carey Heywood

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via other means without the permission of the publisher are illegal and the punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Them is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Other Books by Carey Heywood

  Excerpt: The Other Side of Someday

  To Seth, my Him.

  Thank you for always being there for me,

  and for giving me my happily ever after.

  Sarah

  “Are you sure?”

  I glance over at Will, who is napping on the couch, as I walk out of the living room.

  He can sleep through anything, so my action is technically unneeded. In my opinion, it’s rude to have a telephone conversation in the same room where someone is sleeping.

  “I am. Will’s asleep, though, so don’t ring the bell. I’ll leave the side door unlocked.”

  “It sounds like you’re busy.”

  “I’m never too busy for my favorite nephew. Seriously, I can watch him all afternoon.”

  Christine relents, which is funny since she called me in the first place to ask if I could babysit. Then, after I said I could, started to worry over monopolizing my time.

  I’m neck-deep in babysitting competition, considering both sets of grandparents and Christine’s best friend also live nearby. Calvin is getting so big. Once Will wakes up, he’s going to steal him, so I need to get my baby fix in now.

  “Okay. Thank you, Sarah.”

  Christine and Brian don’t live far from us, so I pull on my sneakers and a hoodie. Christine should have his stroller with her, so we can head down to the park and play until Will wakes up.

  For as much energy as Will has, the first marking period of a new school year always drains him. He loves teaching, loves kids.

  I scribble a quick note to him on a dry erase board that lives in our kitchen.

  Our kitchen.

  Crazy to think, we’ve lived here for almost three years together. Almost three years, watching the people closest to us have babies.

  And, none for us.

  The first year it was to be expected. We were newlyweds, crazy busy with making our house a home and I still had my birth control implant in. Sawyer and I both had them removed at about the same time. Stupidly, I thought we’d both get pregnant right away. At least one of us did.

  Sawyer and Jared’s daughter, Pascal is already three months old. When she was born, we rented a truck and brought Sawyer’s family dining set back up to her as a surprise. Then we stayed the rest of Will’s summer break to help her and Jared with the baby.

  I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing as I watched Will holding her. All I want is to give that to him. Even when we were still in school, I always knew Will would make a good father. He loves kids. It’s part of the reason he’s such a good teacher.

  “Knock, knock.”

  I turn and smile as Christine peeks her head around the door.

  Arms open, I walk over to quickly hug her before relieving her of my adorable nephew.

  “How are you feeling?”

  Both of her hands slide down to rest on her ever-expanding midsection. “I don’t think I was showing this early with Cal.”

  My brother has been busy; baby Miller number two is already on the way.

  “Is that normal?”

  She shrugs. “I guess. I’m not happy about having to break out the elastic waistbands this early. Luckily, I saved all my maternity stuff, so I had Brian pull it out of storage.”

  I grimace. They had a storage unit because they were rapidly running out of space in their condo. They have two bedrooms, so unless they sell the place the new baby will have to share Calvin’s room. This has been a point of contention between Brian and Christine. He wants to move, spread out, and maybe even find something in our neighborhood. Christine loves the location of their condo and the fact that they don’t have to worry about yard work or the outside of the building.

  And here Will and I are, four-bedroom house, just the two of us.

  Doesn’t seem fair.

  Either way, Brian and Christine only have about five more months before baby two is here. Christine is trying to talk him into upgrading to a three-bedroom unit while he’s trying to convince her to move into a house. My bets are on Christine; my brother would do anything for her.

  “Thank you so much for agreeing to watch Cal.”

  I give her a look. “You know how much we love having him. Do you have his stroller in your car? I was thinking about taking him to the park since it’s nice out.”

  After spending the summer in New England, fall finally making an appearance in Atlanta was great. September had been mainly dry and unseasonably hot, and the rain we did get managed to ruin every weekend. The temperature cooled off once October came, so I’m trying to spend as much time as I can outside before it gets too cold.

  Sawyer would laugh at what I consider cold at this point. It’s already snowed once where they live.

  “It is.”

  I grab my house key and cell. “Cal and I will walk out with you.”

  She always brings a book bag of his stuff when he comes over. I slip it into the basket of Calvin’s stroller. Christine packs for every possible scenario, so I know we’ll be set.

  “Be good for Aunt Sarah,” Christine coos as she fastens his lap belt.

  He pouts as we watch her leave, his plump toddler lip trembling as he murmurs, “Mama.”

  This is normal for him, though. He’s over it once he recognizes the direction we’re headed. We’ve babysat Cal enough for him to know the stroller usually means we’re headed to the park. It isn’t a large park, not like Piedmont Park, which is closer to Christine’s mom’s house. I’d have to drive if I wanted to take him there. The little park in our neighborhood is nice, though, with a separate section of smaller equipment for the littler ones like Calvin.

  The park itself is on the newer side. Instead of the mulch-covered parks I grew up with, it has a solid gym mat-like covering beneath everything. It’s kind of like walking on a giant sponge. After parking his stroller, he toddles straight for the swings. I lift him up, kissing his chubby cheeks before setting him into one then coax his legs through the holes.

  I stand in front of him and, once he’s holding on to the chains, start to push him. My nephew is a charmer, and a generally happy fellow. He favors Christine in coloring, with his blond hair and blue eyes, but his nose and mouth are all Brian.

  “Your little boy is so cut
e.”

  Another mother, I guess, is placing a little boy in the swing next to us.

  I fake a smile. “He’s my nephew, but thank you. He’s a sweetheart.”

  Her child squawks, trying to pull himself out of the swing. “It looks like you have a handful.”

  She nods, trying to settle him. “He refused to nap today, so now he’s cranky. I was hoping the fresh air would cheer him up.”

  Cal’s watching the other little boy fuss, rapt, and I do my best not to laugh. He’s a funny little guy, on the quiet side. He’s our little observer.

  The other boy notices Cal’s attention and settles into a staring contest. “This is Calvin, and I’m Sarah.”

  She reaches out her hand to shake mine. “I’m Jessica, and this is my son Marcus.”

  I internally roll my eyes at her name. For some reason, I’ve never been able to like the name Jessica after everything that went down. I’m an adult, though, so I’ll try not to judge her by someone else’s bad behavior.

  “Nice to meet you both. Can you say hi, Calvin?”

  We continue to make small talk until Calvin asks to get down. I follow him over to a small slide. He’s good at going up the stairs but still needs my help getting situated at the top of the slide. He’s just starting to climb up the stairs for another go when I feel two strong arms wrap around my waist and soft lips kiss my neck.

  “Hey, honey,” I whisper, leaning back against him.

  It’s amazing, the power he has to make everything better with only his presence. He’s my true north, my home.

  “Why didn’t you wake me?”

  I laugh. “You know once Cal sees you I’m going to be chopped liver.”

  My comment is proven seconds later when Cal’s eyes find Will. His entire face lights up as he reaches for him. He’s no longer interested in the slide now that his uncle is here. Will tucks me to his side and, with his free arm, scoops Cal up and sets him on his hip. As perfect as this moment is, it reminds me how much sweeter it would be once we have our own child.

  “Hey, buddy.” Will grins down at him as Cal reaches up to touch his face.

  Cal seems fascinated by Will’s scruffy face. Since it’s the weekend, he didn’t shave this morning and might have more stubble than he’s ever seen him. I love his scruff. I’ve toyed with asking him to grow a beard but am scared I won’t like anything covering his handsome face.

  We head toward a seesaw. Will holds Cal in his lap on one side and I go to sit on the other.

  “How long do we have Cal for?”

  “Christine is going to call me when she’s on her way, but I think she said it’d be around five.”

  “It was almost three when I started walking down here. Think we should head back?”

  I’m on to him. “You want to play blocks before he has to leave, don’t you?”

  He tries to look innocent. “Maybe.”

  After the first couple of times we watched Cal at our house, Will went out and bought some toys for him to play with when he came over. One thing he got was this old-fashioned wooden block set. My man loves building things, and Cal loves knocking them down.

  “Sure.”

  I say goodbye to Jessica and Marcus as we pass them. Will buckles Cal in and pushes the stroller as I fall into step with him. I can’t help but wonder if the people we pass on the way home think Cal is ours.

  Once we’re back at the house, I change Cal and make him a snack while Will starts setting up the blocks. Calvin is working on knocking down a line of towers when Christine calls.

  “They’re on the way,” I tell Will once I set my phone down.

  I quickly pick it back up to snap a picture of them both pouting at the news. Cal cheers up once Will starts building another tower for him to knock down. No more than ten minutes later, there’s a knock at our front door.

  Will gets up to answer it while I scoop Cal in my arms to get in some last-minute snuggles.

  “Was he good?” Christine asks, already reaching for him.

  I give him an extra squeeze before passing him to her. “He was an angel.”

  “I see you broke out the blocks,” Brian remarks, bumping Will’s ribs with his elbow.

  “What?” Will asks innocently. “Cal loves them.”

  I cross the room, stepping over piles of blocks to slide my arms around Will’s waist. “What movie did you end up seeing?”

  “Um . . .” Christine looks away.

  “No movie. We ended up touring a three-bedroom unit in our complex.” Brian laughs.

  “But I thought—” I start.

  Brian kisses the side of Christine’s head. “She’s a sneaky little thing. I was dead-set against staying in a condo, but after seeing this place I might be changing my mind.”

  “Sorry I fibbed about the movie,” Christine adds.

  “No worries. So, tell us about the place. Are you going to get it?”

  The new condo is in another building on the ground floor. Since it’s a garden-level unit, it has a decent sized patio where the kids could play. The rooms are about the same size as what they already have, and one giant perk is it comes with two assigned parking spots.

  “I think we’re going to make an offer on it.” Brian grins.

  They hang out for a couple minutes before taking off to have dinner over at Christine’s mom’s house.

  “What do you want to do for dinner?” I ask, sinking down onto our loveseat while Will picks up his blocks.

  “Why don’t we go out tonight?” he suggests.

  I reach for my phone. “Want to invite your mom?”

  If anyone said three years ago that I’d be saying that, I wouldn’t have believed it. Now that she likes me, we’ve grown closer than I could have imagined.

  Will reaches for my leg, sliding his hand under the cuff of my jeans and up my calf. “How about a romantic dinner, just the two of us?”

  I’ve been in love with Will Price since middle school, and with a simple caress he can still make me warm all over.

  “Okay,” I breathe.

  He stands, offering me his hand to help me up. Together, we walk up to our room. He showers as I decide what to wear in our shared, deep walk-in closet. I get distracted, trailing my fingers over his button-up shirts. Even though we wash our clothes together, there’s always a faint hint of his cologne left on his.

  Instead of picking out anything to wear, I’m standing in our closet sniffing Will’s shirts. I still haven’t made up my mind by the time he’s done. His damp chest presses against my back, small drops of water falling from his hair to hit my shoulder as he wraps his arms around me.

  “Maybe we should stay in.” One of his hands drifts up to cup me through my bra.

  I turn my face and kiss the underside of his jaw, licking stray drops clinging to his scruff.

  “I’m taking that as a yes,” he says.

  Even though I’m not wearing much to begin with, he slowly undresses me. Like a gift, I’m unwrapped. I want to rush, drag him to our bed and make love to him, but Will is in the mood to take his time. Softly, gently, he kisses my skin until I’m standing in our closet shaking with need. Only then does he lift me up and carry me to our bed.

  Afterward, as Will holds me tightly in his arms, I can’t help but hope that maybe we’ve just made a baby.

  We stay there, wrapped up in each other, until my stomach grumbles and he offers to go pick up sweet and sour chicken from my favorite Chinese place to make up for not taking me out to dinner. I watch as he pulls on a pair of faded jeans and a University of Georgia hoodie. It’s not fair he looks so impossibly handsome without even trying. I’m certain I look like a mess right now, particularly my hair.

  Will has a habit of pulling out whatever clip or band I’ve used to try and control my hair whenever we make love. If it didn’t feel like heaven when his hands were in my hair, I’d make him stop. Too bad I don’t look half as good with sex hair as he does.

  “Want a couple eggrolls?” he asks before wa
lking out the door.

  I nod, making him grin in return. He loves knowing what I want.

  Once he’s gone, I grab my calendar. I’ve been charting my periods to try and figure out when I’m ovulating. Month after month, I hope that this will be the time it doesn’t come. After Sawyer got pregnant, I talked to my doctor. He wanted me to relax and chart my ovulation schedule for nine months before we spoke again. Those nine months ended two months ago, and I’ve been avoiding calling him.

  Part of me was certain I wouldn’t need to, that since Will and I have a healthy sex life we’d get pregnant on our own. Based on my calendar, I’m due to start my next period in two weeks. If it comes, that will be my sign that I need to finally call him.

  I put my calendar away. Will should be back soon, so I need to tackle my hair and get dressed. I’m downstairs getting a drink when he walks in. I can almost taste my dinner it smells so good.

  “Where do you want to eat?”

  “Let’s eat in the living room and watch a movie,” I suggest.

  “My turn to pick.” Will grins, setting the bag down on our island.

  “Nothing too scary,” I plead.

  “But I like it when you try and hide behind me,” Will teases.

  I smirk at him until he rounds the island and kisses it off me. Once I relax in his arms he pulls back, smiling at me. I roll my eyes and turn to grab plates, handing one to him. This is a pretty standard night for us, Chinese food and a movie. I was excited when he mentioned going out, but there truly isn’t anything I’d rather do than hang out at home with my Will.

  Working from home has only perpetuated my homebody tendencies. When I still lived in Colorado, I had Sawyer to drag me out. She was, and still is, a social butterfly. I spent my time working on our new house and transitioning my business from having a physical office set-up to being one hundred percent remote.

  I was too busy to establish new friendships. My house is a haven, with light creamy walls to balance out the rich craftsman-style woodwork that made us fall in love with this house in the first place. It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of. Only now that I’m not busy with work or redecorating, the stillness which greets me each day after Will leaves for work doesn’t bring peace. It brings loneliness.