34. Wyla

Chapter 34

Decision made. We're moving to Seattle. I can't say I'm not terrified but it would also be a lie to say I'm not excited. Plus, it doesn't mean we'll never move back to Aster Creek… I had that line ready for my family when I told them.

After our morning quickie we did actually sit down and talk about how the move would actually work. All of my stuff is in South Carolina, and Jett's going to be gone for away games for the next two weeks. So, even though we all hate it, Stevie and I still got on our flight back to Aster Creek later that day.

It's now been a full week and I've officially turned in my notice, packed up about eighty percent of our stuff, and… told my family. To say the least, my sisters were not happy. But surprisingly, Dad was very supportive and he was the one who I thought would flip out the most .

Since this will be my last Sunday here for a while, I asked Wav and Winry to meet me for a sisters' brunch at Crossroads. As much as I know my sisters love me no matter what, this week it feels like there's been this rift. There's no way I can leave without talking it out with them.

With a deep breath, I walk into Crossroads. Winry sits at our normal table by the window.

"Hey," I say, pulling out my chair.

"Hey. I'm good for now, but Ivy couldn't make it this morning. The rush is gone so Abigail should be able to handle it for a bit, but I may have to go help her if we start getting a line."

"That's okay. What's going on with Ivy? She's been MIA for weeks now."

Winry sighs and rests her head on her hand. She looks exhausted. "Her and Jasmine are officially calling it quits I think. She refuses to give me any details, but the weirdest thing happened yesterday too."

"What weird thing?" Waverley asks, sitting across from me. "Hi, sorry I'm late. I totally overslept."

"It's okay. You're gonna have a baby, welcome to being tired for the foreseeable future," Winry laughs. "How are you feeling otherwise?"

Waverley smiles because she can't not while talking about it. Not that I blame her, I want to smile when I talk about it for her. "I feel good. Tired and a little queasy if I don't eat when I get up."

"Oh man, I can't even imagine how much Owen's cooking for you now." I swear, in a different life, Owen West was one hundred percent a chef.

"He may have made enough food this morning for a tiny army, yes, but Belley and I were so not about to complain." Waverley turns back to Winry. "What was the weird thing that happened?"

"Oh, right!" Win scrunches her eyebrows. "Eddie Wilson rode in on his motorcycle yesterday asking if he could talk to Ivy."

"Eddie, like y'alls tattoo guy?" I ask Waverley. I don't really know much about him other than he's friends with Wav and Owen.

"Was he covered in tattoos?" Waverley looks at Win, and she nods. "I guess so. What did he want to talk to her about?"

She shrugs. "Didn't say, just told me to have her call him. I've never known her to even talk to him, let alone have his number."

"Hmm, odd." Waverley reaches for her cinnamon roll and takes a big bite. "I can't stop eating."

I remember that stage. Granted, mine was a bit delayed with morning sickness but towards the end of my first trimester I was eating everything in sight. "Maybe you're having a girl. I ate everything with Stevie."

Winry chuckles. "You really did."

"Well, you don't get to find out because you're leaving," Waverly snarks, taking another bite.

I know she doesn't truly mean that she won't tell me, but I'm bummed enough already. "Wav, come on. You know I'm doing what's best for my family, and we'll come visit all the time."

"It's not the same, Wyla, my baby needs their auntie."

"And my baby needs her dad, Wav!" Doesn't she realize how hard this is for me already?

"Alright, let's calm down for a second." Winry's pulling out her sister-mom mode, it's different from her normal mom mode. She's not afraid to tell us how she really feels. "Wav didn't mean for it to come off as bitchy as it did. We're glad you found Jett and are happy with him. We know you're doing what's right for you and Stevie, but you can't blame us for being a little sad at the same time."

I sigh. "I know, but you're my older sisters, I need y'alls support in this."

Winry reaches across the table to squeeze my hand. "Wyla, we'll always support you."

Wav lays her hand on top of ours and sighs. "We're just going to fucking miss you. "

"I'm going to miss you guys too. I'll probably cry and call you both so much that Jett will send me back here within the month."

My sisters laugh, and Wav says, "No, he won't."

Winry gives me a soft smile. "Wyla, you're going to be fine. Jett loves you, so I won't object to the phone calls but I don't think you're going to be crying."

"Just promise you'll call with clothes on," Waverley jokes.

"You got it." With a little bit of that weight off my shoulders, I reach for my muffin. "So, Win, have you and Graham picked a name yet?"

It took Winry and Graham nearly her entire pregnancy to decide on Georgia's name. If you've ever wondered why we all have W names, it's because our mom's dad's name was Wesley and she swore if she had a boy she would name him after her dad. That clearly never happened and now we all have W names in his honor.

Winry thought she'd do the same and since both our dad and her husband's name start with G, that's all she wants to go with.

"Yes, actually." She places her hand on her belly. "Her name will be Gia, Gigi for a nickname."

"Georgie and Gigi, I love it. "

Waverley shakes her head. "You know, you don't have to use G names."

We've all given Win a hard time about the same initial naming, especially since she's been extremely picky about landing on one. Even Graham has half way tried to convince her but she won't budge.

Winry smacks at her. "Yes, I do! It's what I want."

They go back and forth for a bit, and all I can think about it how much I'm gonna fucking miss them.

After brunch, I swing by the house to pick up Poppy and surprise Stevie with a trip to the park. I've been running around like crazy, trying to get everything ready to go, so I believe a little quality time is due.

As we're about to pull into the parking lot, Jett calls. "Hey," I answer over the car speaker. "Stevie, say hi to Daddy."

"Hi, Daddy!" she yells from the backseat.

"Hey, Little Bee. What are my girls up to?"

"We're headed to the park," I say.

"Poppy's with us!" Stevie adds .

"Oh, that sounds fun. Our game is about to start, but I wanted to check in with my girls. How was breakfast, Wy?"

So relieving. "It was good, we talked for about two hours."

Adam's voice travels through the phone. "Tell Wyla and Stevie I say hi, then we've got to go."

There's a small pause then I hear Adam's voice again. "When they get back, I'm teaching Stevie how to flip the bird just like her dad."

"No, he's not," I say, and Jett laughs.

"Sorry, Wy, it's been a little crazy this morning. They're starting me in this game… It's a long story… But I'm glad breakfast went well. Alright, I've got to go. Stevie, be good for your mom. I'll call you after the game."

"Okay, babe. What do we tell Daddy, Stevie?"

"Love you!" we both say but Stevie shouts it. I don't know if my mom gave her a pack of candy because she is wired.

Jett chuckles over the phone. "I love you both, have fun."

"Play good, Daddy." Stevie waves bye as if Jett could see her.

"You got it, Stevie," he replies before hanging up.

It honestly feels a little odd that Jett's in Chicago right now. He feels so close but so far away at the same time. I guess it's the time difference, he's only an hour behind us which is nice. And realistically, I know he's not "close" but don't think I didn't check that a direct flight would be two hours max.

We start off at the dog park side, letting Poppy run out some energy with Stevie. Stevie throws a tennis ball then when Poppy runs after it, she follows right alongside her. Getting everything set for Poppy to be on the plane back to Seattle has been a major headache but there's no way I can separate these two.

After about half an hour, Poppy's exhausted, but Stevie's still a live wire. I leash Pops back up and we walk over to the kids' playground.

"Mommy, look! Kate's here," Stevie squeals.

I want to say Kate is in her tumbling class, possibly. I glance around the park and notice Stacy, one of the moms. Okay, tumbling was right.

As we reach their bench the girls scream and bounce up and down, begging to go play together.

"Mind if I join you?" I ask as the girls race to the playground.

"Please." Stacy gestures for me to sit.

Another thing I didn't realize when I got pregnant was all the parent politics that go along with doing any event or class. You thought making friends was hard in high school, try making friends with moms—I've never second guessed myself more.

"I think Meredith is coming with Amelia soon, but I'm sure we'll hear the girly screams when she does." She laughs. "Is Stevie coming back to tumbling tomorrow?"

"She is, but it will be our last week actually." This will be fun. Let's see what kind of reaction this one gets me. "Stevie and I are going to be moving to Seattle with Jett at the end of this week."

"Oh, wow…" Stacy doesn't continue because those girlish screams start as Amelia joins them on the playground.

"Well, look who's here, Wyla and…" Meredith looks down at Poppy like she's confused for some unknown reason. "Her dog."

Fake smile, Wyla, always remember to fake smile.

"Hi, Meredith, nice to see you."

I scoot to the side, letting her join us on the bench, but she holds out her hand. "Oh, that's okay. Daniel came with me and we both won't fit there. Is Jett not coming?"

"He's actually—" I really want to throw the fact that Jett's pitching in a major league game right now, but Meredith's husband comes up and interrupts me.

"Okay, all the girls got a popsicle, but if anyone else wants one…" He sets the box down next to me and I can't help but notice a certain flavor .

I pick it up slowly, reading the listed flavors five times. "Did Stevie get one?"

"Yeah." He furrows his eyebrows.

"Which flavor did she get? Did you give her a peach one?"

He shrugs. "I don't know, I just handed her one."

As I hear his words, my heart starts to beat out of my chest. Maybe she got literally any other flavor.

Poppy starts to bark, pulling at her leash so hard I let go and she races off… to Stevie… who's laying on the ground.