Chapter 45:

"This is going to be long day." I sighed, putting on my clothes before walking downstairs.

I jumped startled to feel my phone buzzing in my back pocket. Reaching behind me to grab it, I already knew who was trying to reach out to me.

Landon and I were trying to bask in our next step in our relationship but my family and his were not accepting the part that we went M.I.A.

Deciding to put one out of their misery- because I haven't spoken to her in a long time. "Hello?"

"AND WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU." Adaline yelled into the phone making me pull it away from my ear.

I put her on speaker. "Chill out, I'm fine." I grabbed a orange and started peeling it.

"Did she just say chill out? I'm freaking out over here! You could have been abducted or something."

"No I'm perfectly fine, everything is fine."

"Well that's good to hear, but seriously why haven't you been at work, you know Miss Jones is getting tired of doing your job." Adaline tried to play it off as if Miss Jones was having a difficult time, the job was only meant for the people that weren't lazy.

"Yeah I know, it's just things are crazy right now. I'm trying to figure out how-" I stopped myself before telling too much. Landon did say it was going to be me to spill beforehand.

"Figure out what?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it." I changed the conversation. "How are you?"

"Ew, you're going to get fat." She said at the same time with my question.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "I'm only going to gain a few pounds."

"A few? When my mom had me she gained thirty five pounds." She laughed into the phone. "She said I had a big head when I was little."

"Thirty five pounds?" I looked to the basket of fruit. "I have to start working out."

"Have you been doing that before?"

"No, that's probably why if a serial killers chased after me, I would just tell them to kill me. How are you?" I asked again.

She ignored me. "Can you believe it! It's like little toes and arms growing inside of you."

"Extremely." Feeling like the conversation was all about me I switch it to her again. "Enough about me. How are you and Josh?" There's a slight pause and I straightened up from resting on the counter with my orange. "Adaline." I pressed.

"We're on a break."

"Why? What happened." I asked, urgently. "Are you okay?"

"He got mad, I said a few... things and he ended up walking out and he hasn't been back for like three days, he better not be doing anything, or I swear to god.." She trails off. "When are you coming back?"

"You're acting like I'm out of the state."

"Well it feels like it! And I need someone until..." I heard her cut herself off before hearing a clutter, she had dropped her phone.

"And where were you?!" I heard her asking persistently on the other hand and I was wondering if I should hang up.

"Adaline?" I asked but it was to no avail.

"Calm down I was out." I heard Josh, I silently started praying he made it out alive.

"For three days! You had my worried sick in here for no reason, it wasn't even that bad." If she was on the phone, I would tell her that him leaving for three days, it must have been bad. But that was none of my business until she would be comfortable enough to tell me. "You don't get the right to do that to me.. you made it seem like we were over." She sounded like she's going to cry. "You could have at least let me have known if you were okay."

"I'm back right?" He started, sounding like he's bored with the conversation already ."I needed to breathe, I will always come back to you but you don't see yourself, you're hard to deal with."

I'll preach to that.

"You're unbelievable, did you-" she trails off and I'm pressing my ear against the phone trying to hear as if I didn't have it on speaker.

"That's a joke right?" I heard him chuckle sarcastically.

"That's not funny!" And I stop laughing as well, not even realizing it.

"No I didn't." He confirmed, good for you Josh, you won't die tonight.

"Good." She cussed before hearing rustling in the background. "Hello Embre, I'm sorry, but I'll call you back later, someone finally decided to show up."

"Alright." Hopefully they turn out okay, but then again it's Adaline. 'He better make that four' I joke to myself.

Regina probably isn't really concerned that much, despite the emails, I mean she's dating Liam and with Liam... I think it's going to be interesting.

"Baby." I turned to see the intruder.

"Which one?"

"Both." He wrapped his arms around me. "Mrs. Hale."

"I think you like the sound of that. Orange?" I placed a peel in his mouth. "My phone has been going off all day." I showed him the missed calls. "You want to do it today?"

"Introducing you as my soon to be wife? Yeah any day of the week."

"We can, besides I miss everyone being together even though it's been a couple of days."

"Whatever makes you happy."

"I wonder how everyone's going to react." Throwing away the orange peel. "But I do have one question." I turned to his skeptical face. "What about Anthea?"

"I don't know." Was his only reply. "What about her should I be telling her, I'm not open to that just yet."

"Well we have a long time to think about it, but I'm not going to force you into anything, I already know how that turned out last time."

"Well you did that, and I didn't know about it." He reminded me of my error.

"I did it out of love?" I shrugged innocently.

"Let's go out to eat and then we can tell them?" I ask him to make sure that's okay.

"That's fine, hopefully they won't make a big scene there."

"Yeah... I still think they are, I'm betting on Lilly.. is Lilly short for something or is that her name?" I ask him, I've always wondered, their names confuse me sometimes.

"No, that's her real name."

"All of your names are confusing." I state, knowing they all start with the same letter.

"You'll have a long time getting to know them, if you don't." He hinted.

"Alright." I tried to hide my grin. "Let's put these plan into motion. First you call and make a reservation. I'll call everyone. Lastly get ready."

"Alright, but why-" I covered his mouth.

"Just do it, like Nike." I joked before skipping out of the kitchen.

"You are something else!" He yelled out to me and it only made my smile grow wider.

•••

"And why did we have to meet up again?"

"I'm tired."

"Why haven't you returned my calls?"

"Right?! I was asking the same thing." Some of them start throwing questions right away and I didn't even sit down all the way.

"Calm down guys." Ruby calmed them down and I look over to her, silently mouthing thank you.

I hide my hands underneath the table so nobody could see. I was trying to take it off, but Landon disagreed with the idea, so I decided just to hide it until the right time comes.

"Thank you god, I don't have to eat broccoli." I heard my sister murmur once everybody settled.

"But it's healthy." I encouraged her, knowing she hated it.

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"You should eat it, it's good for you." My mom interjects and Marie looks over to her.

"Yeah mom and order salad for me too please." And my eyes widen at her bluntness.

"You're lucky I'm not ordering you something from a kids menu, since you're acting like one" My mom blurts back, just ten times worse and my sisters eyes widen.

"Okay fine." She slouched in her seat " I can't wait until I graduate." She mumbled.

"Oh trust me, you don't."

"Oh stop being a baby and sit up." Mom addressed her in front of company and she huffed before sitting back up.

"You have an interesting family." Landon commented. After everyone settles down, I look over to see Liam and Regina in their own little world and I'm quite happy from them. Mostly him that he's going to hopefully be tied down to one girl now.

"So are we going to have meetings every couple of days? Just so I can mark this or something in my calendar." Lilly questioned.

"Alright last meeting you were telling us you were pregnant and now we are here so what's the catch?" Lena interjected.

Ruby looks over to me and I look down fumbling with my hands, looking at the ring. Landon's hand reached over to take mine in his. He angles his body towards mine and he leans in to whisper in my ear. "Do you want me to say it?"

"Oh just spill it already what is it?"

"I asked Embre to be my wife." Landon tells them, raising my left hand to show them.

Everyone mouth parted slightly, my dad doesn't look shocked-did he talk to him?- it was very quiet until Adaline breaks it.

"Aha bitch, pay up." Adaline said to Regina. My eyes widen at the language, but I take a look around and no one seems bothered by it, there's already enough girls as it is and we are hard to deal with.

But I'm not surprised at that, I haven't talked to them so of course they might have started assuming, and correctly at that.

"I knew it, I told you she was special." Lilly said to Landon.

"I swear my love story better be coming soon." My sister said and that made me laugh. "On second thought boys are gross."

"Let me see." All the girls said, even when we are in public they still surrounded me.

"I almost went blind." Adaline rubbed at her eyes as if my ring did that to her.

"It's gorgeous." Ruby tells me. "I can't believe this is happening." She says, fanning her face trying not to cry.

"Finally." I heard Liam comment.

"Finally? It's about time you actually stopped whoring around town." Landon interjected his brother and that earned me a eye roll followed by everyone's laughter.

"I can't wait until we start planning." Lilly and Lena say, clapping their hands together excitedly like little girls in the store.

"Don't forget us." Regina, Adaline, Marie, and Ruby and my Mom added in and the two girls look at them before sighing.

"Fine."

"Can you guys just run it by me when your done?" I ask. They look at my like no shit Sherlock and my face heats up, we all sit back down, having little conversations here and there.

"Embre, can I talk to you for a minute." I heard my Mom direct order, watching her stand up and walk outside of the restaurant. And ignoring the puzzled looks I followed her.

"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned. She took a sit on the bench not too far away from the place.

"Come take a seat with me." She patted to where she wanted me to be. I'm so happy for you." She starts, but she pauses. "You're just growing up so fast, and I know I joke around but I want you to know I'm here for you, and I know I haven't seen you and it feels like forever-" And I stop her.

"Mom you're here now that's all that matters, I'll still be there for you even with your messed up arm." I joke.

"I have a question to ask you, and I'm asking this before you commit yourself to him." She took my hand in hers. "How much do you love this man?" She asked and I sat back on the bench, processing what she said but I already knew my answer.

"He's apart of my life, and I don't know it seems.. right."

"This isn't because your carrying his child is it? Wait do you know the gender yet?" She asks, she's still thinking about the bet.

"No to both questions."

"Your father had to choose you know." She filled me in on her story. "It was either me or Miss prissy Christine."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I was just like you in high school.. no offense, I was shy up until I decided who cared what people thought so I started to step out of my shell. It was the best thing I could have did because I gained your father has a friend, but he was well known around and everybody was trying to figure how someone like him could end up with something like me. Feelings developed but he was in a relationship with Christine and I didn't want to wreck them, because how you find them is how you lose em'."

She crossed her legs. "It was only a matter of time before we kissed and Christine found out and she told him to choose in front of the whole school and he chose me, you can imagine the look on everyone's faces." She laughed. "And now I have a daughter being married off to a millionaire, take that world!"

"We wouldn't have been here if he didn't make the right decision." That just dawned on me.

"And it was the best decision." She held my hands. "I just want to make sure you're making your own choices and that you'll be okay."

"Thank you mom." I reached to hug her and she embraced me back with just as much effort.

"Alright, let's go back in before we freeze to death." Walking back in together we took our seats again.

"Everything okay?" Landon asked.

"Yeah everything's perfect." I reassure him.

And everything was absolutely perfect, at least that's what I thought.

••

"Come on slow poke." Landon continued to walk forward without me and I glare at his back.

"Well excuse me if it's cold out here and I'm wearing death traps." I scolded. "Where are we going anyway?" Everyone left already and I thought we were going straight home but no, Landon and me are currently walking in a park.

"Just trust me."

"Well can you at least slow down." He was more giddy than usual. He stops and he walks back towards me and he takes ahold of my hand, much better.

"I want to show you a place I use to go to when I was a teenager." He leads me through the trail of the park and we come to a halt.

"Are you sure we won't get in trouble?" I ask him, looking around, we can't get into trouble for being in a park, but his destination I don't know.

"Maybe, it's worth the risk don't you think?"

We continue walking and then he makes a sharp turn, leading us off the path. He pushes a bush to the side and he lets me go first, him following right after.

It's nothing to major, but I can tell it means something to him. A mini waterfall lays we're we stand, I look down to the the water crashing together, in little waves and I let go of his hand to take off my heels, and I place my feet in the water.

Two big oak trees wave with the wind, as a garden surrounds it with a bunch of different flowers.

So you liked the view at night?" I asked him.

"I currently like what I'm looking at right now." He says and I blush under his gaze but I don't look away.

"I came here to think about everything, anyone, what life would be like if I had certain things in my life." He stepped on a rock, before walking along the path into the grass. "Mostly my mother." I followed after him, seeing him sit down.

"And what are you thinking about right now?" I plotted myself right next to him.

"How I'm going to be a Dad." He skipped a rock into the water. "And in a span of less than a year, I found the women I want to marry."

"Does it scare you?"

"Which part?" His smoldered eyes looked down at me and they twinkled with delight, he was happy.

"I don't know.." I kicked at the grass before meeting his eyes again. "All of it." He thought about it for a moment. And it made my heart jump waiting for his answer.

Looking away from me, he leant his head back closing his eyes. "No, I'm not."

"Nothing scares you?"

"Would you laugh if I told you I'm scared of bugs?" He opened his left eye to peek at my reaction. "Spiders mostly."

"I have a feeling you have a story about this."

"I do-" He stopped talking and he straightened up in alarm. "But that's for other time, let's go." He got up and ran in the opposite direction of where we came.

"Hey you two!" I heard from behind me and I turned startled to see a guard glaring at me with so much fury a bull could out-beat him. Without a second thought I grabbed my shoes and took off after Landon. "Wait!"

Running around the oak trees and back to where Landon had parked the car, I was starting to run out of breath just by trying to keep up with the track star. Looking back I could see the guard fading in the distance.

"Open the door!" I shrieked between laughter as we climbed into the car in a haste. "That was fun." I giggled, it was like we were teenagers all over again but this time I had the chance to experience it with him.

This was a long day, but I enjoyed every second.