"Why is she crying?" I hear Mayson hiss from behind me and turn to him.
"I’m not crying." I wipe my cheek with the palm of my hand. "I was just talking."
"She’s fine," Ethan says, and I make them both breakfast. Ethan places his plate in the sink at the same time Mayson finishes. "You ready?"
"Yeah," Mayson says, getting up now and coming over to the sink.
"Let’s go," Ethan says, and Mayson doesn’t move this time.
"I’ll be right out," he says to Ethan, and I just smile at him. "Come here, Chelsea."
I walk to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Will you be safe?" I ask, scared now that something is going to happen to him.
"I’ll be fine,” he says. "Give me a kiss." He doesn’t have to ask me twice before my lips are on his. I don’t stop kissing him until we hear the car horn blare, and we both laugh. "I have to go."
"You do," I say and then look down. "But I’m not sure if you want my brother to see you saluting." I wink at him and walk away. "I’ll text you later." I walk into the bedroom and fix the bed.
Grabbing my phone, I call my mother, who answers after half a ring. "Chelsea," she says almost with a fear. "Are you okay?"
"I’m fine,” I say, "but I was wondering if I could come over for dinner."
"Why the hell are you asking that?" my mother shrieks. "You don’t have to ask to come over to your own house for dinner."
I laugh. "Okay, well, then, I can come over soon, and we can spend the day cooking together."
"Or I pick you up in thirty, and we can go get our nails done," she says, and I laugh. "See you soon, baby girl."
I toss the phone on the bed and slip on the baby pink T-shirt dress and grab my gold flip-flops. I tie my hair in a ponytail, and when my mother comes to get me, I walk out of the house with a smile. But then I feel someone watching me, and I stop and look around. My mother gets out and comes over to me. "You okay?" she asks, and I just nod.
"I’m fine, just felt eyes on me." I shake my head. "It’s probably just in my head." I close the car door, and for the rest of the day, I forget about the feeling.
* * *
"Ethan said he’s going to be here in ten minutes," Emily says to us as she holds Aubrey in her arms. "Can you hold her? I need to go to the bathroom." She hands me my niece, who just smiles at me and lays her head down on my chest. "She didn’t nap today, and if she goes down now." She shakes her head. "There will be no mommy daddy time."
I laugh at Emily as she walks away from me. I sit on the couch, kissing her head as she watches her cartoon on the television. The screen door slams shut, and I hear footsteps coming into the room. My father is the first one to walk in smiling when he sees me and then Aubrey.
Ethan and Mayson are right behind him. Aubrey sees Ethan and calls his name. "Da da da da." Holding out her arms, he comes over and takes her from me. "There is my princess," he says, kissing her head. "Where is Momma?"
"Bathroom," I say, and Mayson stands there next to my father with a weird look on his face. "Hey," I say to him and then get up to hug my father. My mother comes into the room, and my father walks to her and hugs her, kissing her lips.
I walk to Mayson, and I smile at him. "Hey there," I say, and I don’t know if I should kiss him or not. I am not sure how we are going to do this. I’ve thought about it all day, and then I tried to tell my mother, no lie over a hundred times, but each time, I stopped talking.
"Hi," he says softly, and I just walk close to him and kiss his lips.
"Hi," I whisper, and we don’t notice the silence in the room. I turn and see that everyone is looking at us. "Well," I say under my breath. "Here we go."
"What the fuck is going on?" my father says, putting his hands on his hips. He looks at me and then Mayson. Then he looks at Ethan, who is hiding his smile with Aubrey’s head.
Emily walks back in the room, stopping when she senses something is wrong. "What happened?" she asks, looking around, and I slip my hand into Mayson’s and smile at him.
"We’re dating," I say to them.
"Called it," Emily says and stops talking when she looks over at my father, who is shaking his head.