Jeff laughed. “Dude, he said ‘dada’ the other night. I about came out of my skin. It was one of the best moments of my life. ”
I watched Jeff as he stared at his son sleeping. Shit. The four of us have come so far. Then, it hit me. We are all going to have kids. “Holy shit. ”
Jeff looked at me, confused.
“Jeff, by next fall, we’re all going to have kids!”
He threw his head back and laughed. “I know, right? Hey, have you seen Brad?”
“Not yet. He was supposed to be meeting with his counselor and Amanda today, right?”
“Yeah, he was. Has Heather heard from Amanda?”
I shook my head. “Not that I know of. ”
I could hear Heather and Ari laughing outside. The sound of Heather’s laugh did things to my body that drove me insane.
Jeff put his hand on my shoulder. “Moves right through your body, doesn’t it?”
I looked at him, confused. “What?”
“The sound of her voice or laughter. Sometimes, I find myself catching my breath when Ari walks into a room, talking or laughing. I still can’t believe she’s mine. ”
I turned and watched the girls walking into the barn. Ari was holding Heather’s hand, and Heather had the most beautiful color on her cheeks.
I whispered, “She’s glowing. ”
Jeff let out a small laugh. “Yeah, she is, dude. They both look breathtaking. ” Then, he smiled and gave me a wink. “If Heather’s anything like Ari is when she’s pregnant, you are gonna be fucking exhausted all the time, dude!”
We both started laughing as Ari walked up and peeked in on Luke. When Luke made a noise, everyone got quiet.
Ari turned and glared at Jeff. “If you wake him up, you’re playing with him until bedtime. ”
After picking up Heather’s dad’s car from the park, I pulled up to my parents’ house and watched as Heather parked. I jumped out of the truck and jogged over to her. My mom and dad still didn’t know I had my memory back. I opened her door, and the second she got out, I pushed her against the car and started to kiss her. She pulled back some and started laughing.
“I want you, princess,” I whispered. I kissed her neck and blew in her ear before I kissed her earlobe.
“Oh god, Josh…don’t do that to me. You know how much I love that. ”
I smiled and started to laugh. “Let’s just tell them another time. Come on, let’s sneak away before they—”
“Josh?”
Oh holy shit. I snapped my head up and saw Lynda standing on the steps next to my mother…my very angry mother.
“Joshua Michael Hayes, where in the hell have you been? Your father and I have been worried sick! The last we knew you were at your apartment, and then you just disappeared. ”
Heather started to giggle.
I looked back at her and winked. “Do I take care of my mom first or the bitch?”
Heather brought her hand up to her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing. Then, her face turned pale. “Oh my god! Oh shit!”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“I think I’m gonna get sick!”
Suddenly, she pushed me out of the way, ran over to the grass, and started throwing up.