“Now what was it you were saying?” He smiled.
I tilted my head back as he slid his tongue across my throat. “We better get ready. Peyton and Henry will be here soon.” Connor pulled out of me, kissed me on the lips, and walked to the bathroom. I pulled a pair of jeans from the drawer and got dressed. As I sat on the edge of the bed, I started to cry. Connor came out of the bathroom and kneeled down in front of me. He took my hands in his.
“Baby, what’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” he asked in a panic.
I shook my head. “I miss Julia, and I want her home,” I cried.
“Aw, Ellery. Come here, baby,” he said as he wrapped his arms around me. “She’ll be home soon.”
Suddenly, I heard voices coming from downstairs. I jumped up from the bed and flew down the stairs. When I saw Peyton and Henry by the door, I grabbed the car seat from Henry’s hand.
“Julia, Mommy missed you so much,” I cried as I took her out of her car seat and held her tight.
“God, Elle. Are you okay?” Peyton asked.
“She’s fine,” Connor said as he came walking down the stairs. “She just missed Julia.”
Connor walked over and kissed Peyton on the cheek. “Thank you for looking after her,” he said, and then walked over and shook Henry’s hand. Connor kissed Julia on the head and told her how much he missed her.
“What’s going on with you?” Peyton asked as she sat down next to me.
“I missed her, Peyton. It was the first time we’d been apart since I found out I was pregnant, and it was hard.”
“Aw, sweetie,” she said as she put her arm around me. “I’m sorry; I should have just brought her home sooner.”
“No, it’s fine, and thank you again for taking care of her.”
“How did it go at court today?” she asked.
I looked at her with a sullen look, but I didn’t have to say a word. The single tear that fell from my eye said enough.
“What the fuck, Elle? What did she do, or didn’t, or whatever? What the fuck happened?” she whispered.
“We’ll talk about it over dinner. I don’t want to talk about it now and then again.”
As Julia started to cry, Connor walked over and took her from me so I could get a bottle ready. I got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen. Peyton followed behind.
“We need to get you fitted for your maid of honor dress,” she said.
“Ugh, I know. I just have a few more pounds to lose.”
“I think you look great, but if you insist, then I suggest you hit the gym and hit it fast. You have one month and then you’re going for your fitting,” she announced.
I took out the pizza menu from the drawer and looked it over. I grabbed my cell phone and called an order for delivery. I warmed up a bottle and Peyton and I walked back into the living room where Henry and Connor were.
“I’ll feed her, babe,” Connor said.
“I can feed her, Connor.”
“Aw, Henry, look at them. They’re fighting over who feeds Julia. That’s so sweet!” Peyton squealed.
I smiled at Connor and gave him the bottle. I walked over to the bar and Peyton sat down on the stool.
“Pour me some hard liquor, bartender,” she said with an accent.
“Let’s do some shots.” I smiled.
I took down two shot glasses and grabbed the bottle of Jack Daniels. I poured a shot into each glass.
“Here’s to a fucked up day!” I smiled as I held up my glass.
Peyton smiled as we both downed our whiskey and slammed our glasses on the granite top of the bar. The burn made its way down my throat. Peyton looked at me.
“Remind me again why you drink this shit,” she said.
I laughed as I poured another shot and Connor came walking over to me with Julia in his arms.
“Keep that up and you’ll be drunk before you know it,” he said.
“Last shot. I promise.” I smiled.
Julia fell asleep, so Connor took her upstairs and put her in her crib. The pizza had arrived and we all went into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
“Are you going to tell us what happened today?” Peyton asked as she grabbed a slice of pizza.
“Ashlyn changed her plea to not guilty by reason of temporary insanity due to the distress I apparently caused her,” Connor explained.
“What?! That stupid bitch!” Peyton yelled.
“Connor, that’s crazy,” Henry said as he shook his head.
“She’s crazy,” I said.
“Well, we all know that bitch is crazy. So now what?” Peyton asked.
“Now, we get to rehash the past and all the shit that went on between her and Connor.”
“Ellery, don’t,” Connor said as he looked at me.
I looked away because I didn’t want to go through this again. Not now; not ever.
Chapter 10
Connor