Until Cece (Happily Ever Alpha World)

And while only hours ago I would’ve bet money I would die having never known what it’d be like to feel as if I was put on this planet to be with a woman…

I know one thing for certain.

“Girl, I’mma marry you,” I whisper, smiling to myself as I put the last mason jar of pickled onions up in the stainless-steel cabinet.

7

Cece

Three weeks later

“Bring them here, Mia. Have Mom put the dogs on a plane and bring them here, and they can just go home with you whenever you go back to Montana. You don’t fucking need him. Neither of us need a stupid man. Girl. Fucking. Power!” I yell drunkenly, and Mia shushes me through a giggle, even with tears streaming down her pretty face.

“You’re gonna wake the girls up,” she scolds, wiping away her tears.

“Well so be it. I’m sure they’d be thrilled to learn your two dogs are coming to stay with us for whatever length of time I can convince you to stay,” I tell her, refilling her wine glass and topping off mine.

She takes a big gulp. “I can’t believe the motherfucker broke up with me in a text. A text! All because I told him I wasn’t going to be back next week as I originally planned. I mean, and it wasn’t even a planned plan. It was just a… a guestimate. Like ‘I don’t know how long I’ll be staying in Tennessee with my sister. A month? Two?’ That kind of plan. Not like a real solid plan, ya know? And I don’t even know why I’m crying or upset about it. I didn’t even love him. Hell, I don’t even really like the guy. It’s just the principle of it.”

“Fuck him. If he doesn’t want to wait for you, then that means you weren’t meant to be together anyway. We’ve got each other.” I swallow a large mouthful of my bubbly wine, letting out a very unladylike burp. We’d started this bottle after we put the girls to bed when Mia could finally give me the details of what happened over texts a couple of hours ago. What started as a conversation with her boss at the assisted living facility she worked at—in which she told them she needed to go ahead and quit, because she’d be staying here longer than what their leave of absence policy allowed—then turned into her telling her now ex-boyfriend Shep that she wasn’t coming back yet. And then he broke up with her. In a text.

At least stupid Mike had the decency to end our marriage face-to-face.

“Get Mom and Chaz to put the rest of your stuff you didn’t bring here into storage at their place, and then put the doggies on a plane here. We’ll pick them up and surprise the girls,” I tell her, and she finally nods in agreement.

“Okay. If you’re sure you don’t mind. They’re about forty pounds a piece, and they snore. And fart. A lot,” she warns, and I giggle.

“So it’ll just be like having two miniature Mikes back in the house. Whatever. At least we won’t have to worry about Mercury and Retro putting their dicks in other bitches.” I snort.

“I mean… they’re girls, but yeah,” she reminds me.

“Oh yeah. Oh my God, there will be seven girls up in the hoooouse!” I whoop, and Mia cackles before shushing me again.

“I’m going to see how much it’s gonna cost for my dogs’ plane tickets. You…. I don’t know. You go take a bath or something, ya crazy girl. I love you, sis.”

I point at her with my now empty glass. “I…” Hiccup. “Love you too.”

One month later

“I just got the call! They said I got the job!” Mia tells me, and while there’s excitement in her voice and a smile on her face, I can’t help but feel completely guilty over the fact that she’s now getting a job here in Tennessee instead of moving back to Montana to continue with her work as a CNA.

It’s basically a game of freaking Jumanji in order to get her CNA license transferred from Montana to Tennessee, so she decided to just find another job in the meantime, and like me, pickings were slim. And tonight, she just found out she got the job at the same dealership I applied at two months ago. They had called me back then to offer me an interview, but by then I was already in love with Winston’s and the people I work with, so I turned the offer down.

“And the first thing we’re going to do is trade in your expensive-ass Tahoe and get you something with much lower monthly payments,” she tells me, and that actually makes me perk up.

“Mia, you’re a fucking genius,” I reply, sitting up straighter.

“And with me as an employee, I’m sure there’ll be some kind of discount we can get. My new boss, Ken, seems totally cool.”