*One Year Later*

                It was the spring of senior year, and senior fever was trickling in. As I sat in my government class, staring out the window, I felt my body getting antsy. The sun shined bright outside, illuminating our classroom.

                I drummed my fingers on the desk top, barely paying attention to what my teacher was saying. Only one more month before the end of my high school years.

                I couldn’t wait.

                My eyes moved away from the window to the other source of beauty across the room. Rose sat hunched over her desk as she scribbled notes furiously away on her notebook. I watched as she brushed the hair back again and again as it failed to stay tucked behind her ear.

                My eyes drifted away from the blonde to the clock, watching the second hand tick away the last seconds of the school day.

                After what felt like forever, the bell rang.

                I stood up quickly, throwing my books into my bag in an unorganized mess. All around me, kids did the same in an urgency to get out of the room. I walked down my row to the desk near the door where Rose calmly collected her things.

                She smiled when her eyes landed on me, standing up and grabbing my hand.

                “Hey,”

                “Hey,” I returned as we walked out of the classroom.

                “Do you need anything before we leave?” She started to direct us toward my locker, but I tugged on her hand, pulling her in the opposite way.

                “You already know the answer,” I smirked, tugging her to me.

                She grinned, rolling her eyes.

                Rose led the way out of the school, talking about her day. We didn’t have as many classes this year as we did last, and considering we only at two, it was sad. But I managed to see her after almost every period.

                It was a miracle she’d stayed with me for so long.

                “Can we see your niece?” She asked as my car came into view.

                I groaned, tilting my head back, “I swear, she’s the only reason you’re still with me after this long.”

                “Guilty.”

                I rolled my eyes, climbing into the car. Rose got into the passenger seat, pulling down the mirror to fix her appearance.

                “You look beautiful, dear.”

                “Yeah, well, I don’t want your sister thinking I’m a tramp.” She pulled out her lipstick, fixing the lips I had abused today.

                I watched her without turning the car on in interest. She rubbed her lips together to spread the lipstick around properly, her eyes focused intently on her work. A nasty idea creeped into my mind slowly.

                “Hey Rose?” I asked, wrapped an arm around the back of her chair.

                She turned her head to face me, “Yeah?”

                With my free hand, I grabbed her chin and pulled her lips to mine forcefully. My lips moved roughly against hers.

                Rose pushed her hands against my chest, pulling away. “You ass, Mason!”

                I grinned, my eyes landing on her lips. The red was smeared where it shouldn’t have been, giving her a very lustful look.

                I slipped my hand around her waist, leaning in again, when she moved a hand over my mouth. My eyes opened, moving up to meet hers.

                Evidently, she was annoyed with me.

                “I can’t believe you.”

                I grinned against the palm of her hand, kissing it softly.

                She gave me a dirty look, “Just drive.”

                I shrugged, pulling back, “I think you look kind of hot like that.”

                “Clean the lipstick off your mouth. You look weird.”

                Those were the last words she said to me the entire ride to my house.

                We arrived at my apartment a few minutes later. Rose had walked up begrudgingly, and made her way to the door. I followed quickly after her.

                She moved her body to let me open the door, but I had other plans. My arms slipped around her waist as I pulled her body against mine.

                “You’re so warm.” I mumbled, my lips pressed against her neck.

                “Stop, Mason, that tickles.”

                “Oh really?” I smirked, my arms tightened around her as I intentionally blew gently across the skin of her neck, “Does this tickle, Rose?”

                She giggled, jerking in my arms, “Yes, now stop!”

                “Should I?” I grinned, “You weren’t very nice to me on the way home.”

                “I’m sorry, whatever, Mason!” She let out a squeal as I lifted her off of the ground sharply. “Put me down!”

                “Magic word?”

                “Please!”

                I sighed, resting her on her feet, “That wasn’t what I was looking for exactly, but I guess it will do.”

                “You’re a jerk!” She straightened her shirt, trying to calm herself down.

                I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her small body against mine, “But you love this jerk, right?”

                She gave me a long look before finally nodding, “I guess.”

                “Score.”

                I slipped the key into the lock, opening the door.

                Joey turned her heard back to us, motioning with a finger to her lips for us to enter silently. I held the door for Rose, closing it as quietly as I could.

                She sat on her usual chair with her back to us. Rose and I dumped our bags by the door, making our way to the couch.

                My sister sat cradling my niece in her arms.

                Her name was Charlotte, and she was three months old. With the softest blonde hair atop her head, the chubby monster curled her small body against her mother. She was a little on the heavy side for a girl her age, but doctor’s said it was still within normal.

                Charlotte slept a lot. And when she wasn’t sleeping, she was crying. And when she wasn’t crying, she was eating.

                Her life was so simple.

                I collapsed onto the couch, pulling Rose next to me. She curled her body around mine, her eyes on my niece.

                Rose had taken an unnatural liking to her. While Joey was ultimately Charlotte’s favorite in the family, Rose came in a close second. Ever since Rose and I had officially started dating, most of our time was spent at my house.

                The two women got along fairly well, and the newborn added to the bonding. I was surprised at how motherly my girlfriend was toward the child.

                At one point, I had confronted her after school on whether she wanted a kid or not.

                “No,” She shook her head, “I couldn’t deal with being a mother. It’s nice to go over to your house and see Charlotte, but I like having the ability to leave and return back to my normal life. I couldn’t do it all the time.”

                “Really?” I smirked, “Because you seem to always be at my house. I do believe that it’s your father calling you home that makes you leave.”

                She simply rolled her eyes, shaking her head, “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to destroy my… assets too early with a child.”

                My heartbeat sped up at the word ‘assets’. “Oh no, Doll, definitely don’t want to do that too early.”

                She giggled.

                And that was the end of our conversation.

                Rose never tried to bring up the topic of children between us if she could help it. I wasn’t sure whether or not that was a good thing.

                I looked down at the blonde in my arm, kissing the top of her head softly.

                Joey stood up with her daughter, carrying her to the backroom.

                “Charlotte’s adorable.” Rose whispered.

                “Yeah,” I chuckled, “Except at two in the morning.”

                “Awh,” She kissed my jaw, running her hand across my chest. “Does someone need a little bit of sleep?”

                “You wouldn’t believe.”

                Rose planted kisses on my cheek softly, sending tingles down my spine. I wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her over and across my lap.

                “You know,” She said, pausing her shower of kisses, “You could always spend the night at my place for a little… if you need some sleep…”

                “Doll, trust me,” I gripped her hips, kissing her once, “We wouldn’t be getting any sleep if that happened.”

                She giggled, running a hand through my hair.

                “Please, keep it PG.” Joey said as she returned, falling back into her original spot.

                Rose giggled, sliding off my lap and back into her original position on the couch. Joey rubbing her eyes, yawning.

                “Have you heard from Caden today?” I asked, playing with the ends of my girlfriend’s hair.

                Joey shook her head in mid-yawn, “No.

                “Are you supposed to?” Rose asked.

                She didn’t know the entire story about Caden, but she knew enough to participate in a conversation.

                Joey shrugged, “It’s the twelfth of the month. I’m supposed to get child support according to the papers. And he emailed me earlier this week asking if he could see Charlotte.”

                I frowned, “That’s weird.”

                “I don’t mind. I’m not a huge fan of having him in my house any more than necessary.”

                “Then why let him?” Rose asked.

                “Caden still has rights to see Charlotte since she’s his kid.” I answered for my sister, “But he doesn’t have visiting rights since Joey’s still on maternity leave. At the end of this month, she goes back and he gets custody every Wednesday and Saturday.”

                Rose raised an eyebrow, “Why only two days?”

                “She’s my child. He wasn’t with me for any of the pregnancy. And I don’t trust him with her.”

                Rose opened her mouth to argue.

                As much as Joey enjoyed Rose, it was times like these when she would change her mind. Rose had a strong opinion that Caden deserved the opportunity to see his child just as much as Joey did. It may have been Joey’s decision to keep him away during pregnancy, but in Rose’s eyes, Caden had every right to be there.

                I sided with my sister on the issue. Caden was an unfit parent. She had a right to keep him away during those nine months.

                But regardless of our personal opinions, the government mandated that Caden sees his daughter two out of the seven days a week. And for the first nine months, it was under Joey’s supervision. Once she turned a year, he could be with her alone.

                I had tuned out the argument between my girls, my attention returning once the phone started to ring.

                Joey stopped midway through her rant to pull her cell out and answer it.

                “Oh, Mister high and mighty finally calling?” She said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

                I could hear Caden’s voice through the phone, but I was unable to make out any coherent words as far away as I was.

                “She’s sleeping now.” Joey paused, “I don’t care. She only fell asleep an hour ago; you’re not waking her up!”

                Rose and I exchanged looks during the pause as Caden spoke.

                “Whatever. I don’t care. This counts as your time.” She snapped, “It does too! Don’t come over then!”

                She groaned quietly, tilting her head back, “Fine. Whatever. Cheese.”

                I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

                “Yeah, see you soon, bye.”

                She snapped her phone shut.

                “Is he coming over?” I asked.

                She nodded, annoyed. “Yeah. He’s bringing pizza for us, though.”

                Rose giggled, shaking her head. She stood up from the couch, mumbling something about going to the bathroom. Joey watched her figure retreat before her eyes turned on me.

                “What was she laughing about?”

                I shrugged, “She thinks it’s funny that you hate Caden so much, but if he brings something over for you, then he’s suddenly acceptable.”

                Joey rolled her eyes, “Sometimes, your girlfriend’s a bitch.”

                “Most of the time you are too.”

                She gave me the finger.

                ~*~

                The doorbell rang around five, which caused my niece to wake up. Joey cussed, getting up from her spot in her chair to attend to her child. She nodded her head toward the door for me to let Caden inside.

                He stood outside carrying two pizzas and a few bottles of soda.

                “Hey, Mason!”

                I didn’t acknowledge him, moving aside. Caden walked in and headed toward the kitchen, saying hello to my girlfriend.

                Rose returned the hello, oblivious to the tension in the room.

                As I returned back to the living room, I saw Joey standing in the middle, bouncing Charlotte on her arms. She gave Caden a nasty look as the baby cried profusely.

                “Couldn’t you have just knocked?”

                “Sorry.”

                He moved forward to take his daughter, mimicking the motions Joey had been doing. It didn’t seem to sooth her at all.

                “Whatever.”

                Twenty minutes later, the five of us were sitting on the floor, watching as Charlotte played with her toys. She took the foam ring and threw it on the ground. It didn’t bounce, which enabled her to continuously play.

                “How was your day?” Joey asked, trying to break the awkward tension.

                Rose was lying with her head on my lap as I ran my fingers softly through her hair. She shifted her position to see Caden as he responded.

                “Could’ve been better.” He shrugged, “They’re starting to lay people off because of the new budget cuts.”

                “Do you think you’ll be hit?”

                “You never know.” Caden sighed, rubbing his eyes. He sat with his legs stretched out into a v shape with his daughter between them. “I don’t think so. I’m not a slacker, and they’re required to have someone occupying my job. If I do get cut, it’s because someone is going to have to work both my job and theirs.”

                Joey nodded.

                Caden leaned back against the couch, his eyes on his daughter. “It doesn’t matter. What happens, happens.”

                “That’s the spirit.” Rose smiled softly.

                I snorted, “Not quite, Doll.”

                She rolled her eyes at me.

                Joey sighed, sipping out of the cup in her hands, “Caden, if you do get laid off, what are you going to do?”

                “Honestly? I’ll probably have to sell most of my things and move in with Mark.”

                “Who’s Mark?” I asked, frowning slightly.

                Caden chuckled, shaking his head, “Mark was this guy I used to know when your sister and I first were dating. He was a total douche to her, but he always had my back.”

                Joey made a face, “Mark was the kind of kid that would make you vandalize the school, but he was also the kind of kid that wouldn’t bail you out if he got caught.”

                “He was a good friend.”

                “But a complete jerk.”

                Caden smirked, “That’s only because he was jealous.”

                “So he took it out on me?”

                Caden shrugged, “I don’t think he ever left the whole ‘if I like a girl, I bully her’ stage.”

                My sister nodded in agreement, “I don’t think he ever will.”

                “You’re such a bit—jerk.” Caden grinned, just catching himself. I watched as a small smile slipped onto my sister’s lips. It was a genuine smile; one that I hadn’t seen her make at Caden since she had Charlotte.

                Both of their eyes darted to me for a brief second before they reconnected.

                “What?” I asked, my hand freezing on Roses’ head.

                “When Caden would babysit,” Joey said, her smile still on her lips, “he would always slip up on cusses. It just… memories.”

                Rose turned her head to face mine, giving me a smile. “Caden was your babysitter?”

                “Yeah,” Caden grinned, “He was a cute kid too.”

                “Of course I was.” I smirked.

                “Still are.” Rose lifted her head up to press a small peck on my lips before falling back into my lap.

                “Thanks, Doll.”

                “As I was saying…” Caden winked, interrupting our moment. He froze for a moment, giving us a strange look, “I… do you smell that?”

                I sniffed the air, “Smell wha…oh damn!”

                “Mason!” Joey snapped, standing up and picking her kid up. She lifted Charlotte above her head, sniffing her bottom. Joey made a face, “Ugh, yup. It’s her.”

                Hooking the baby on her hip, Joey moved toward the bathroom to change her when Caden stood up.

                “Hey, Pumpkin?”

                Joey froze, turning back to face him, “Yeah?”

                “Can you show me how to do that?”

                Her eyes widened in surprise, as she asked “You want me to teach you how to change Charlotte’s diaper?”

                “Yeah,” He said, rubbing the back of his neck, “I might as well learn soon if I’m going to be taking care of her two nights a week.”

                “Y-Yeah, sure.”

                Caden followed her into the bathroom quickly.

                Rose turned to face me with a raised eyebrow. “Wow.”

                “Yeah,” My eyes moved to where the two of them had been standing just a few minutes ago. “That was surprising.”
                “Think it’s a sign?”

                “Of what?”

                “That he’s trying?”

                I shrugged, “Only time will tell, Doll.”

                She giggled, her hand capturing my own.

                I frowned, “What?”

                “Have you ever noticed how you always call me ‘doll’ and Caden always calls Joey ‘pumpkin’?” She asked.

                I hesitated, “What about it?”

                “Nothing, nothing.”

                I stared at her for a moment before, shaking my head.

                I had one strange girlfriend.

                But that’s what made her special.

                I leaned down, pressing my lips softly against hers.

                “I love you, Rose.”

                “Love you too.”

****

The End.

Thank you for reading, and sticking with me as I struggled to update this xD. You guys are amazing! 

I'm starting a new story (which is why this one had to end) on February 22nd called Forty Days. The prologue is up, but it's not much for what I have intended for this. That story will be updated every day until completion. I encourage you to check it out.

But most importantly.

You guys are amazing. Thank you for the support, the love, and the encouragement, and ESPECIALLY for putting up with me(: