{Chapter 22}

{Tiara}

A few days before school starts, I decide to tag along with James while he takes Ollie back to school shopping.

Of course Ollie complains the whole time.

"Who needs school when I have muscles like Quincy?"

He starts flexing his little muscles.

James rolls his eyes.

"The kid won't shut up about Quincy. What about me, I have muscles."

He complains.

"Maybe he likes Quincy because he's cool."

I tease.

He doesn't find that funny.

"Why are we shopping anyway? Mama has to go have that stupid baby."

Ollie continues.

James sighs.

"We talked about this, buddy. Your little sister is not stupid. You just wait, you'll love her when you see her."

He soothes.

"That's right buddy. Just wait until tomorrow."

I ruffle his hair.

His eyes get all big.

"I'll love her right now if we can leave and forget about school."

He bats his eyelashes.

James glares.

"Tiara, I'm nervous about leaving Liv alone. She's very fragile, her water can break any moment."

He expresses his concern.

I roll my eyes.

"If there's one thing I know about that girl, it's that she can handle almost anything. She's fine."

I assure him.

He doesn't seem convinced.

"Maybe I should give her a call."

He's already taking out his phone.

Ollie tugs on my hand.

"Hey. You quit being a little crybaby and go pick out a binder?"

I hiss as soon as James walks ahead a little bit.

He glares up at me.

"I don't want to. School sucks. Plus there's no Puck there."

He reminds me.

I sigh, grabbing one for him.

"I understand how scary it can be but there's no escaping this. Everyone has to go to school."

I try to reason.

"I could always run away."

He mutters.

There's too much of James in this kid.

If I had to name all the times he used to say that when things didn't go his way, we'd be here forever.

"You wouldn't. You love your mama and papa too much to do something insensitive like that. Where would you even go?"

He folds his arms.

"I could go to your house."

"That would be the first place they would look. Besides, I'd make you go to school too. Quincy too."

I add just as he's about to open his mouth.

He closes it.

"Alright, what do we have here? Look, junior. A cool Spider Man pencil case. Oh boy, I used to love these things when I was little. You want it?"

James comes walking back up with a little pencil case.

Ollie sighs.

"Sure papa."

He grumbles.

"Hey, cheer up. How about I teach you how to make a ninja star when we get home? That's fun, huh? All the kids will think it's cool when you show up to school and make one."

He ruffles his hair.

The little boy's eyes light up almost immediately.

"A ninja star!? I don't even know what that is but it sounds cool. Yes yes yes!"

I just sigh.

I love kids so much.

I fold my arms behind my back when we get back to James' place.

Quincy is pacing back and forth in front of the couch while Liv is absentmindedly rubbing her stomach, watching tv.

Well trying to anyway.

"Hi, baby."

I greet, setting down a few bags.

"Hi, lovie."

He grunts.

I frown.

He's all sweaty and flustered.

"Um. Sweetie?"

"The baby is coming! Oh, I'm so nervous."

He starts muttering to himself.

James throws his hands up.

"Finally! Someone else agrees that this is nerve racking."

Everyone ignores him.

Liv rolls her eyes.

"He's been walking back and forth like that ever since you left. Won't listen to a thing I say."

She mutters.

Ollie drops his bags and comes running up.

"Oh, mama. What did that thing do to you? You're all big and fat now, take it out already."

He cries, throwing his arms around her.

"Your little sister is not a thing, junior. Here, would you like to feel?"

She soothes, grabbing his hand.

He is silent as she presses his hand against her stomach.

Then he jerks back.

"The baby really likes you. She only kicks when she likes a person."

James says softly, squatting down next to him.

I gush a little as I watch them both feel the baby.

"Oh, I'm going to cry. Look at how perfect this little family is."

I sniffle, holding a hand to my heart.

"Don't go getting any ideas, you hear? Baby, tell her how painful giving birth is."

James grumbles.

Liv gives him a look.

"It's a very life changing experience."

Is what she says.

"Oh, I'm so nervous."

Quincy is still muttering.

"You should get the boy some water, love. He looks like he's about to pass out."

Liv says.

"Right. Come here, sweetie."

I soothe, reaching for his hand.

"I am very excited."

He mutters as I help him sit down at the table.

"I know, baby. It's very cute."

I assure him with a little smile.

"I never got to hold a baby before."

He whispers as I hand him a glass of water.

"It's going to be great."

I agree, patting his back.

He is silent for a moment.

"Guess what else tomorrow marks?"

"Our one month anniversary."

He adds before I can even say anything.

"Oh, that is right."

I mutter, sitting down across from him.

"Great, yes? This month has gone by very fast."

He beams at me.

I bite my lip, smiling to myself.

"It really has. Oh, baby."

I sigh, grasping his hand.

"We should do something special for our 3rd month. I don't know, we could go to a fancy restaurant or something."

He is saying,

I play with his fingers, thinking about it.

I love being in a relationship.

I sigh quietly as his lips trail down my neck, my fingers tangling in his hair.

"Quincy?"

I whisper.

"Mhm?"

He hums against my neck, his cold hands sliding under my shirt.

I shudder, pressing him against me.

"This has been the best month of my life."

I say awkwardly.

He pauses.

"The past 5 months have been the best month of my life."

He smiles.

I hesitate.

His smile wavers.

"What is it, lovie?"

I busy myself slowly unbuttoning his shirt.

"I um. How come you never talk about your family?"

He freezes immediately.

I cringe.

"I don't want to make you upset or anything, I just noticed that you always get edgy whenever they come up."

"I um. Not on good terms. Stuff happened."

It comes out all choppy and uneven.

I frown, sliding his shirt off of his shoulders.

His slumped shoulders.

"We don't have to talk about it, just please don't be sad."

I urge, wrapping my arms back around him.

He melts a little, letting out a long breath.

"Okay. Just...Maybe some other time, yes?"

He says seriously.

I don't know how to respond.

He's never been so serious.

"Yes, whatever you want."

I agree wholeheartedly.

It takes a moment but the smile returns to his face.

"Can we keep kissing?"

I admire the twinkle in his eyes.

"Nah, we should get some sleep."

He sighs, much to my disappointment.

"Baby, it's 3 in the afternoon."

I say amusedly.

His cheeks turn a little red.

"Must be very dark outside."

"Yeah, the sky's pretty grey  and dreary. I think it's going to rain."

I mutter, looking up the weather on my phone.

"How do you know when it's daytime or nighttime?"

I ask absentmindedly.

He takes a moment to respond.

"It's kind of hard to explain. When I'm outside, I feel the sun and if it's not out I usually just assume it's nighttime. Plus the cicadas come out at night, the little buzzes are a very soothing sound."

He gets this distant look in his eyes.

I fold my arms around my legs, staring at him.

"Well what about when you're inside?"

He furrows his eyebrows.

"Much like when someone turns on the light, I can sort of see...brightness? It's very difficult to explain it, I tried talking to Jenny about it. She helped me understand that it's sort of like when you close your eyes and someone flickers the light on."

He explains.

I bite my lip.

"Why are you always staring at me?"

He shyly hides his face behind his hands.

My heart thumps.

He's so adorable sometimes.

Downright sexy other times.

"How do you know when I'm looking at you?"

I whisper.

He leans back.

"It took you longer than I expected to ask that question, sugar. I thought you'd ask that day I saw you at the park. Feels like forever ago."

He starts playing with his fingers.

It does feel like forever ago.

"My heart always does weird things when your eyes settle on me, that's how I know. Even before I started liking you it did that. It's one of the reasons why I knew you were so special. I've never been so bothered by people staring at me like I used to be with you."

"I made you feel bothered?"

I can't help but smirk.

He folds his arms.

"So what? I made you feel all flustered, lets not forget about that."

He says smugly.

I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, it's cause you're so sexy."

I poke his nose.

"Oh stop it."

He rubs his neck shyly.

"If it makes you feel any better, my heart started doing weird things whenever you came around too."

I assure him.

He gets comfortable.

"You're taking a nap?"

I rub my eyes, watching him whistle for Puck.

"Yeah, I barely got any sleep last night. Had a nightmare."

He yawns.

"Oh no. You should have told me, I would have came over."

I scoot closer.

"No. The next time I ask you to stay the night, it'll be too hard to hear you leave again."

He grumbles.

I roll my eyes as I think back to Friday when I overslept and didn't have enough time to tell him bye before I left.

He's been holding it over my head ever since.

"Well you can call me. I don't mind falling asleep on the phone with you. If anything, not hearing your snoring makes it harder for me to sleep."

I tell him.

"Yes ma'am."

He sighs contently.

"Baby?"

He adds in a whisper.

"Yes?"

I whisper back.

"May you please hold me until I fall asleep?"

He continues to take my breath away by reading my mind.

"Of course, baby."