Nothing Feels Better (Better Love 3)

EPILOGUE

Christmas is in a few weeks and Jesse is still living next door.

I thought him and Mom would come to their senses by now.

He’s here every night for dinner, and back every morning for breakfast. Some mornings, I’m pretty sure he never left. They think they hide it, but I still notice.

It’s my superpower, anyway.

We even had Thanksgiving with Jesse’s mom and dad, and his mom said that me and Jude could call her abuela if we want to. Abuela means grandma in Spanish.

Mom’s been happier. Smiling more. Laughing all the time. Me and Jude are happier, too. Mom watched us like crazy after Dad decided he didn’t want us anymore. She thought we would be sad, but we weren’t. We didn’t want him anymore, either.

Especially not now that we have Jesse.

Well, we almost have Jesse.

I thought of telling Jude my idea and letting him tell the grown-ups, but that didn’t work out well last time.

No. I need to do it myself.

Tonight is pizza and movie night, and it’s Jude’s turn to pick the movie. He’s still upstairs with Steve the cat, but he’ll probably pick The Grinch again.

When Jesse knocks on the front door, I run to let him in. I fling it open, and he’s standing on the porch with two pizza boxes in his hands.

“Hey, Monsoon June,” he says with a grin, and I roll my eyes.

“Hi, Jesse.”

I smile with my mouth closed because I lost another tooth last week, one of the side top ones, and now I have a hole in my smile. I don’t like how it feels or looks. I’m tired of this baby teeth junk. I’m ready to have all my grown-up teeth so they all match.

Jesse follows me to the kitchen and puts the pizzas on the table just as Mom finishes setting paper plates out on the counter.

Now or never.

“We need to talk,” I say in my best mom voice. They both look surprised.

“Sure, June Bug,” Mom says. “What’s up?”

I take a deep breath.

“It’s almost Christmas,” I begin, “and I want us to be a family for Christmas.”

“We are a family,” Mom says with a little laugh. Her eyebrows are trying not to scrunch, though, and Jesse has his head cocked to the side. Silly grown-ups.

“Yeah, I know, but I want us to all be a family here together.”

“What do you mean?” Jesse asks, but I can tell from the way his mouth is twitching that he finally gets it. When he winks at me, I know for sure.

“I think it’s time Jesse and Steve just moved in here with us.”

Mom’s mouth drops open, her eyes are wide, and Jesse is smiling like a dork.

“I know that he sleeps over all the time anyway,” I say, and Jesse laughs out loud. I shrug and look at him. “When you don’t sleep over, at breakfast, your hair is wet from showering at your own house. When you do sleep over, at breakfast, your hair is all crazy curly and dry.”

Jesse laughs again, so I shrug again.

“Just move in and then you can shower here in the mornings too.”

Also, when Jesse sleeps over, Steve stays sleepin’ in Jude’s room. I don’t say that though. Steve basically lives here already anyway.

“June, honey...” Mom starts, but then she doesn’t finish. She just kind of looks at Jesse, and then they do that thing they do when they talk with their eyes.

It makes me nervous. I haven’t figured out how to read that yet.

“Jesse, if you move in now, this weekend, then you can be here before my school is out for winter break, and we can all wake up together Christmas morning. Like a family.”

I suck in a breath before I drop the big one.

“Mom, you said when you find people with the right superpowers then you find your family. Jesse’s superpower is loving us, just like yours. Don’t you guys want to be a family together?”

Jesse clears his throat, him and Mom do the eye thing again, and when she nods, my shoulders relax.

“I’d like to be part of your family, June Bug,” Jesse says finally.

This time when I smile, I don’t even care that my tooth hole is showing.

“Can we move you in this weekend?” I ask.

“I’m okay with it,” Mom says. Her smile is big, too, just like mine, only she’s not missing a tooth.

“Good,” I say happily, and reach for a paper plate. I load it up with pizza and grab a cup of milk. Just before I walk out of the kitchen, I have another thought. I might as well say this one, too.

“Oh yeah,” I say to Jesse over my shoulder, “I think me and Jude should call you Dad pretty soon. You know, once you’re moved in and stuff. Okay?”

Jesse has to swallow a few times before he answers me. My plate is hot, and I want to set it down.

“Okay,” he says, and his voice is super scratchy. He must be thirsty.

“Cool. Get some milk and then come watch the movie,” I tell him, then I go claim one of the tray tables Mom already set up for us in the living room.

I’ve never been this excited for Christmas before. Mom was always pretend-happy, and Dad was always grouchy, and some years, they got into big fights.

This Christmas will be different.

I know this year will be the best one yet. Mom will be happy, and we will be happy, and Jesse will be here. Our first Christmas as a family.

And every Christmas after, too.

The End