© Copyright 2017 Micalea Smeltzer
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Edited and Formatted by Wendi Temporado of Ready, Set, Edit
Cover design and photography by Regina Wamba at Mae I Design
Models Anthony Kemper and Hannah Peltier
First came marriage…
Then came love…
Now comes baby in a baby carriage.
So, at least we did one thing in order, right?
It’s been three years since Xander and Thea’s impromptu Vegas wedding. Since then, they’ve dealt with family drama, his grueling NFL schedule, and her college classes. Now that Thea’s graduated from college, it’s finally time for them to move out and start their life together.
Things couldn’t be any more perfect.
And then a curveball is thrown their way.
Midnight feedings and a screaming infant wasn’t a part of Thea’s five-year plan, but, suddenly, it’s very much her soon-to-be reality. Xander is thrilled at the prospect of parenthood while Thea can’t wrap her head around it.
But, ready or not, here comes baby.
Thea
“I’m going to kill my husband.”
My best friend, Rae, looks up from the box she’s packing as I flop onto her bed with a groan.
“Why? What’d he do?” she asks, folding a shirt neatly before putting it in the box.
The four of us—Rae, her fiancé and my brother, Cade, and my husband, Xander, have lived together in this house since the summer before Rae and I started our sophomore year of college. That was three years ago, and in that time, so much has changed. Rae and Cade got engaged, my mom lived with us for a while, Xander surprised me with a car of my own … So many more memories, but the four of us decided that with Rae and me graduating this year, there was no need to keep living here. Rae and Cade are getting married later in the year, and Xander and I are already married. In other words, it’s time for all of us to move on.
“He just kicked me out of our room, because he needs to pack.” I roll onto my stomach and lean over the bed to watch her.
“What’s so bad about that?”
“Oh, no.” I wave my hand. “Not pack our stuff to move—no, he needs to pack our stuff for the honeymoon we’re going on.”
“You’re going on a honeymoon?” Her nose crinkles in confusion, and she sets down the shirt she was folding.
“Exactly.” I snap my fingers. “Apparently, he planned a honeymoon, since we never had one, and now he has to pack my bag since this is a surprise and he doesn’t want me to know where we’re going. But you know how I feel about my clothes. He better pack the right things.”
“I’m sure he’ll do fine.” She shrugs and resumes her packing, like my meltdown isn’t important to her.
“He’ll probably only pack lingerie,” I grumble.
She laughs. “Like you’d complain about that.”
I crack a smile. “True. I hate surprises, though. I wish he’d given me more warning, but we leave tomorrow after graduation.”
“That’s probably exactly why he didn’t tell you—he knows you’d try to find a way out of it.”
“But now I have to worry about all the things he might have forgotten to do. Like, what if we get to this mysterious destination and he’s like, ‘Oh shit I forgot to book the hotel’?”
Rae snickers and tapes up the box she’s done packing. “This is Xander we’re talking about. He’s not like that.”
“Ugh,” I groan.
“You’re being dramatic,” she tells me. Which is true, I know.
“I just hate it when he springs things on me. I figured we’d spend the next two weeks before he goes off to training camp hanging around our house and getting everything unpacked. Oh, my God.” I sit straight up. “Seriously, what the hell is he thinking? The movers are coming tomorrow after graduation and now he’s telling me we’re leaving then. Oh, no. Boy’s about to give me a heart attack,” I ramble.
I shoot up off her bed and scurry out the door then down the hall.
“Xander!” I burst into our room.
“Jesus Christ, you scared me.” He jumps a foot away from the closed suitcase on the bed.
Prue, our dog, jumps up from her bed in the corner and growls. When she realizes I’m the cause of the intrusion, she sits back down.
“We can’t leave tomorrow—the movers are coming to pick up our stuff and take it to the new house. They’re not going to know what’s ours and where to put everything.” I can feel my anxiety building.
“Relax.” He closes the distance between us and takes my hands in his. “I have it covered.”
“What? How?”
“Jace and Nova are going to make sure everything is put where it’s supposed to. It’ll be fine. You trust me, right?”
I frown. “I do, but you’re pushing your luck at the moment.”
He chuckles and cups my cheeks. “I’ve got this. I’ve thought of everything, believe me.”
I wrinkle my nose, not believing him, but I choose not to say that. “It just feels like bad timing,” I argue.
He smiles, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “It’s the perfect time. We need a break, Thea. We’ve been going non-stop since we got married. This is our last chance, since you’re graduating and don’t have class, I don’t have training yet, and you haven’t started a job.”
“Don’t remind me,” I grumble. I’m not looking forward to job searching.
“If we don’t do this now, then your five-year plan will kick in and we won’t ever be able to do it.” He eyes me, waiting for my response.
“I’m sure I could pencil it in somewhere,” I mumble.
He raises a brow. “That’s cute.”
I fight a smile. “Okay, so maybe it’d be a tight squeeze.”
His hands find my waist, and he pulls me into his body. “We’re going on vacation, and that’s final.” He grins. “You know, you might be the only girl that’d complain about a spontaneous trip.”
I wrap my arms around his neck. “I gotta keep you on your toes,” I joke, and stand on my tiptoes to kiss him. He smiles against my lips and pushes away.
“Now go. Let me finish.”
I sigh. “Okay, okay.” I raise my hands in surrender and leave the room.
I head back down the hall to Rae and Cade’s room.
Rae now stands, pulling the last of their clothes out of the closet to pack.
Tonight is both of our last nights in this house before we move on.
Cade and Rae got an apartment in the city, close to where Jace and Nova live, while Xander and I bought a house in the suburbs. We looked at apartments in the city but they were all so cold and not homey. The house we bought has too much room for us now, but I know we’ll grow into it one day.
“You weren’t gone long,” Rae comments, laying a bunch of Cade’s dress shirts on the bed.
I shrug. “He says he has it covered, so I’m letting it go and trusting him.”
Rae looks at me in disbelief. “Good for you.”
“Am I really that much of a control freak?”
She laughs. “No, you just hate surprises, which is understandable after everything you went through.”
I sigh. “Yeah, that.”
<
br /> Having your dad break into your house, which subsequently resulted in your mom shooting him, would make anyone a little crazy.
“I can’t believe we’re graduating tomorrow.” Rae changes the subject. She folds one of Cade’s shirts and clutches it to her chest. “Four years of classes, and tests, and grades, and it’s finally over.”
“It’s surreal,” I agree, picking up one of the shirts and folding it for her. “It feels like we’re finally grown-ups.”
Rae places the shirt in a box. “I’m going to miss living with you and Xander. It’s been nice having you guys around.”
I begin to tear up. “Not as much as I’ll miss you guys. With all the time Xander’s gone it’s been great to not be alone. Now …”
“Aw, Thea.” Rae hugs me. “We’ll always be around if you need us. You know that.”
“I know.” I nod into her shoulder, my fingers clutching her shirt.
I’m so lucky to have a best friend like Rae—and better yet, she’ll soon be my sister-in-law, so she can never get rid of me. We’re bonded for life.
I let her go and wipe my eyes. “Ugh,” I groan. “This move is making me so emotional, I swear. I cried yesterday when Xander packed my shark slippers—like I know I’m going to see them again. I’m a basket case.”
Rae cracks a smile. “I’ve cried a few times too. It feels like the end of an era.”
“Exactly,” I agree, placing the shirt I folded in the box.
“You’ll have fun on vacation, though. You and Xander deserve some alone time. You haven’t had hardly any since you got married.”
I grab another shirt to fold it. “Sometimes I can’t believe I’m married. Like, I married my dream guy—what kind of fantasy world am I living in?”
She laughs. “You guys are perfect together, so don’t be so shocked.”
“Speaking of married … you’re going to let me help plan the wedding, right? Now that we don’t have school, it’s time to crack down on the planning.”
“Sure.” She smiles. “You’re better at that kind of thing than I am.”
I clap my hands together excitedly. “This is going to be fun. Have you set a date yet? I know you guys were talking about something before the end of the year.”
“I’m not really sure yet. Maybe a December wedding.”
“Ooh, that’d be fun.” My mind wanders off, thinking of colors (pink!), cake, and décor.
“Hey, dinner’s ready.” Cade pokes his head into the room.
“You need a haircut,” I tell him.
I’ve been telling him that every day for the last month, and so far, he hasn’t gotten his hair cut. Brothers are jerks.
His light brown hair has grown out to nearly his shoulders, and with his heavy beard, he looks like a fucking lumberjack.
Cade runs his fingers through his hair and then flips it over his shoulder dramatically. “You don’t like it?” He knows I don’t. “I think it makes me look like Fabio.”
I gag. “Who wants to aspire to look like that?”
“Do you want me to cut it?” he asks Rae.
She raises her hands in defense. “I’m happy if you’re happy.”
“See, she hates it,” I butt in.
“What do you really think?” he asks her.
She shrugs. “I like it a little shaggy, but not like this.”
Cade nods. “Consider it gone then. I was going to get it cut tomorrow morning anyway.”
“And trim the beard,” I tell him. “Who knows what’s growing in that.”
He laughs and rubs his beard. “True. There’s probably some crumbs living in it.”
I shake my head and look at Rae. “Are you sure you want to marry that? I mean, he’s my brother so I have to love him, but you have a choice.”
Rae grins. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”
I sigh. “Well, I tried.”
“Tried to get my fiancée to leave me?” Cade interrupts.
“Tried to help my friend,” I correct, wagging a finger. “She can’t be saved, though.” I shrug in a whatcha-gonna-do-about-it way.
Cade laughs. “Come eat.”
I salute him and hop off the bed. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
Rae reluctantly leaves behind the last of the clothes she has to pack and follows me out of the room with Cade trailing behind.
The door to my room opens, and Xander pokes his head out. “Did I hear something about dinner?”
Cade chuckles. “Yeah, it’s ready. Time to eat.” He smacks his stomach dramatically.
Prue pokes her head out between Xander’s legs, sniffs the air, and then takes off down the stairs.
I follow her down and into the kitchen. The dinner smells amazing, but I feel sad knowing that this is our last dinner together in this house. The kitchen is bare, save for the essentials since we knew we’d be eating dinner here tonight. But after tonight, everything will be packed away since we won’t be eating breakfast here in the morning.
“This smells delicious,” I tell Cade, inhaling the smell of a roast.
The four of us have always taken turns cooking so that it never fell on just one person to make the meals, and tonight happened to be Cade’s turn. Luckily, all of us can cook, so there’s never a night when the food sucks.
Xander heads for the garage door, towing my suitcase behind him.
“What are you doing?” I call after him.
He pauses and looks over his shoulder. “I’m scared if I leave the suitcase in our room you’ll be tempted to peek. You’re too lazy to trek out to the car to take a look.”
“Smart man,” I agree. “But what about yours? Can’t I peek at that one?” I challenge.
He grins. “It’s already in the car.”
I sigh. “Of course it is.”
And he’s right, I’m too lazy to bother going out to the car to check it. Besides, tonight the only thing on my mind is the move and graduation.
I grab a plate of roast, potatoes, and vegetables, and sit down. The light above the table is on which only serves to illuminate how bare the house really is. There are no longer any photos on the walls, nothing taped to the refrigerator, and no knick knacks on the counters. This place has always felt like home, and all of a sudden it’s not.
Xander comes back into the house and grabs a plate of food before sitting down beside me.
Rae sits across from me, conversing quietly with Cade.
“What if I fall?” I whisper to Xander.
“Huh?” He looks up from his plate of food with a forkful of food halfway to his mouth.
“Tomorrow. What if I fall when I get on stage to get my diploma?”
He lowers his fork. “You’re not going to fall.”
“It’s possible.”
He shakes his head. “Thea, you wear six-inch heels on an almost daily basis and you don’t fall. I think you’ll be fine.”
“But this would be the one time I would fall, and it’d be in front of my whole graduating class. Talk about mortifying.” I hang my head, my cheeks already flaming like I did fall.
Xander touches his fingers to my cheek then trails them down my neck. “Don’t worry so much about stuff like that. So what if you do fall? You’ll get back up and move on.”
“You’re right.” I nod in agreement as his fingers fall away.
“How long are you guys going to be on vacation?” Rae asks.
Xander clears his throat. “A week.”
“I still can’t believe you planned a vacation by yourself,” I mumble. “You did remember to book a hotel, right?” I can’t help but ask—I mean, he is a guy, so it’s a very real possibility that he forgot.
“Yes.” He laughs, looking at me like I’m so cute. I’m dead serious, though.
“How about plane tickets? Did you get those?”
“We could be driving,” he argues.
I narrow my eyes. “I swear to God, if you take me to the mountains on this ‘vacation’ I’m going to push you off a cliff.”
He
laughs. “I’m not saying.”
I glare across the table at Rae. “It’s the fucking mountains. I know it.”
Xander snickers. “You can think whatever you want, but you’re never going to guess.”
I groan, my fork clanging against my plate. “Just tell me.”
He smirks. “No, that ruins the fun.”
“You know what else ruins the fun? When your dick gets bit during a blowjob.” I level him with a glare.
He pales. “That’s not funny.”
I raise my hands innocently. “I’m just saying.”
“Ew, can we change the subject. I don’t need to hear this,” my brother interrupts.
I sigh and smack my hands against the table in exasperation. “Oh, grow up, Cade. People have sex. It’s a fact of life. Xander and I are married, so I assure you he quite enjoys putting his penis in my vagina.”
“Oh, my God,” Xander mutters beside me, covering his face with his hands.
“Oh, not you too,” I groan. “You boys are ridiculous.”
“He’s your brother,” Xander argues, keeping his face covered. “He doesn’t need to hear about our sex life.”
“I’m his sister and Rae tells me about theirs,” I argue.
Rae’s eyes widen like a deer caught in headlights when both boys look at her. “I … I …” she stutters. “Only sometimes.”
“I can’t believe this,” Cade mutters.
“I feel ganged up on,” Xander says to Cade.
“These girls are going to be the death of me,” Cade agrees.
I roll my eyes. “You boys are far too sensitive. Honestly.” I sigh.
I’ve always been open about my body and sex, and I wish more people were too. You shouldn’t feel ashamed to speak freely. It’s a natural part of life.
I finish eating my dinner, and after we’ve all eaten, Xander and I clean the dishes and pack them away.
When we’re done Xander lifts me onto the counter. I look around at the empty room and frown.
“I’m sad to leave,” I admit.
“Me too,” Xander agrees, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “We have a lot of good memories here, but we’ll make more at our new home.”
“I know.” I nod, but I still feel like I might cry.
When Constellations Form (Light in the Dark Book 4) Page 1
