ANDREW'S POV"You are not listening!" Elena barked with her gaze narrowing my way. I blew out my cheeks, slammed my computer shut, and snapped my head right at her. "What's this about?" I tried as hard as I could to maintain the perceptible mildness. I couldn't show Elena her constant nags were telling on my mental health. It was just a few days and I was already going nuts. "What if Gwen's child is yours what are you going to do about it?""Only a DNA test can confirm that." I shrugged. She stepped closer to my home office desk and leaned into it, leaning closer as though to smack her words straight into my brain. "That baby isn't yours. There's no need for a paternity test. Forget about her." Her lips contorted grotesquely, "Let's get married."My eyes snapped at her and my jaws sagged. Elena was high on something because how the heck was anyone ever going to describe this attitude?"I just got out of a marriage." I scanned my brain for what to add to that when there was noth
GWEN'S POV"All fixed."Ricky announced with his footsteps heavy on the stairs as he descended the stairs with the rucksack he had on earlier. My attention was rooted in the country-style home decor magazine Granny picked regularly. I heard him. I chose to ignore him. "Where's Nonna?" He glanced around the entire living area. "You have a phone for a reason." I snickered without looking away from the magazine. "I don't have any." He sighed.His reply made me tear my gaze from the papers darting it his way. He had moved to where he had abandoned his guitar. He slung it across his shoulder. "Do you carry that around all the time?" I scrunch my nose and fixed my eyes on his guitar. He chose to let my question hang. He delved right into his rucksack and retrieved a pen and a notepad. Ripping out a sheet he scribbled on it and handed it to me. "That's what I charge. Be a good one and give this to Nonna."I barely gave the paper in my hand a glance before I gazed back at him. "I don
GWEN'S POV"I can't drive and you know it!" I called out from the kitchen from where I was chunking on the glob of burger on my plate."Yes, you can." Granny set a glass of water before me, "It's about time you get over this fear of yours.""I can't okay? And I'm not going to let my anxiety kick in, not minutes to my first appointment with my obstetrician.""You are going to be alright darling. Or would you rather Uber there?"I rolled my eyes at her suggestion. It wasn't even helping. "Feels like the whole world is turning on me." I huffed shoving aside my now-empty plate of breakfast. "No darling, don't say such terrible things.""But it's true. Look I can't go for my doctor's appointment with my husband, not even a friend or anyone. Do you know just how scarring that is?""I am coming with you. You're not alone.""Most girls go with their husbands." I snorted feeling the weight of Andrew's divorce on my shoulder. "You're growing bitter. Stop. Life is going to sort things out. Ju
GWEN'S POV "Am I not supposed to be given a couple of days notice at least?" I snorted, "I have other plans!""If your other plan is staying in bed all day, shoving some Häagen Dazs down your throat with the Kleenex piled up in the trash basket, then I'm happy to break that plan." Granny sounded from the hallway. I huffed and puffed as I refuted. There was no way I was going to volunteer to take a bunch of kids around on a trip. It just wasn't my thing especially now I was pregnant. "I'm pregnant and can't be making reckless decisions," I added just so Granny could change her mind on this. It didn't seem to work because she cocked her head into my room and offered a smile."All set. Aren't you packed yet?" Her eyes narrowed at me. "I already told you I don't want to go on this trip." My lips curled to a pout. She moved further into the room and sat closer to me in bed. Her eyes fell on the Kleenex box I did a terrible job concealing. "I can't leave you behind knowing you might
GWEN'S POV"Pleasure to have you on this trip."Someone settled beside me on the bus. It was the only vacant seat left and I didn't need to glance around to know exactly who it was. The amusement at the edge of his tone was just enough to give away who it was. Ricky. It wasn't until I glanced at him did I noticed the smirk on his face. "The seat is taken," I tried to shoo him off. The least I wanted was to have him stick this close enough to throw humorous remarks. "Carly's in the back seat. I don't see who else deserves this seat better than I do." He mumbled with a nervous chuckle. "Could you try not to be so loud?" I let out an exasperated breath. He smacked his lips shut with his eyes searching the bus as though to confirm the boys were in their seats before they wandered my way and then outside as the bus began to move. The girls hummed in excitement to some song on the radio. This wasn't the best experience for me but I had to make it work. I prayed their off-key voices
GWEN'S POVThe sun was retiring as the kids gathered around the table on the vast patio delightfully munching on their food. None of the food splayed on the table appealed to me. I was unsure if it was because my stomach was building up or because of the anxiety of looking after these girls for the weekend."Are you alright?" Carly whispered when she had the chance. I paused from serving the girls to nod with a faint smile. "I'm good."It wasn't totally a lie, I was beginning to relax. Seeing just how much these little girls were depending on made me relax a bit. From assisting them to unpack to having their baths and tho dressing for dinner was a lot and it kept my mind away from my disdaining thoughts. "You look pale." She added searching my face. "I'm fine."I really was fine, I offered her a smile and put some fries on my plate, took a glass of soda, and returned to my seat. I didn't bother to glance over to the boys' table, they were managing just perfectly with Mandy and of
Gwen's POVMy phone buzzed. The annoying sound didn't go off, my eyes flickered open as my fingers went to snooze the alarm. Then it instantly grazed my mind where I was and why I was here. Why we were here. My sleepy eyes darted to the three bunk beds with two kids each on it.I snoozed the alarm, stretched, and noticed it was six a.m. time for the morning run. I glanced at the sleeping girls again and decided they looked so comfortable sleeping and not going for the morning run wasn't going to affect them in any way. I rolled over to my side and tried to catch up on some extra sleep. But my mind reminded me these girls were here on this trip to get the full experience. If they missed out on what the rest of the kids were greatly involved in then they were never going to get the full experience. I yawned and got out of bed. How hard could this be? I was pushing through just one more night and this would be all over. I moved over to each of them, gently shaking them to wake up.
ANDREW'S POV"I don't drop in on you whenever you work, so please don't," Elena called out from the bathroom as she took out a few makeup supplies to the vanity counter. She had a makeup brand that was thriving. She worked hard in advertising her products since she was the face of her brand, but bringing work on vacation was a no for me. "You said no work on vacay, are we going to break that rule just yet?" I called out from the room."No work for you, but me." She popped out of the bathroom in a gray bathrobe and a red lipstick on her lips. "Babe, what do you think about the shade?" She asked.I didn't know a thing about makeup but if she wanted to know if it looked good on her then yeah, after all, she was the girl that looked good in anything, everything and nothing. "Looks perfect," I replied with my eyes not leaving her lips. "Great." She smiled broadly, "So now I'm going to get started relax I'm not doing full face makeup since we're sunbathing.""Why do you need makeup jus