Page 132 of Always Us

“Yeah, I hate bugs,” Sara says. “Where did you see it?”

“Right over there.” I point to the corner by Caleb’s crib. “Your landlord will have to get an exterminator. But for now, you shouldn’t stay here.”

“That’s okay. I don’t want to inconvenience you guys. I’ll just stay awake all night and keep them away from Caleb.”

“You need your sleep,” I tell her. “You’ve gotta work tomorrow. You’re staying with us.”

She hesitates, so I say, “Pack up what you need. I’ll hold Caleb.” I use the take-charge tone I use with Jade and it works on Sara, too. She hands Caleb to me and goes to a box in the corner where she keeps her clothes.

Sara and Jade are both so stubborn about taking help from people that you can’t give them a choice. You just have to tell them you’re helping them, not ask if they want it.

“This is just for one night,” Sara says, holding her box of stuff as we go down the stairs. “I’ll meet you guys at your place.”

“We need to stop at the store first and get some stuff,” Jade says to Sara as we walk to Sara’s car. “We need to get a portable crib for Caleb to sleep in. Are you okay sleeping on the couch? If not, we could get a blow-up mattress, although our couch is probably more comfortable.”

“The couch is fine. And Caleb can just sleep with me.”

“He’s a big boy,” I say, handing him to her. “He can’t sleep with his mom. He needs room to stretch out. We’re getting him a crib.”

“Really, you don’t have to do that.” Sara puts Caleb in the car seat.

“Too late. We’re doing it. Just follow us.” I head to my car, which surprisingly hasn’t been vandalized or stolen by the guys who were checking it out when we pulled in.

“Do you think she’s mad at us?” Jade asks as we get in the car.

“She didn’t seem mad. She seemed relieved.”

“Yeah, she did.” Jade reaches over and holds my hand as I drive off. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I glance over and see her smiling at me.

“I think I’m going to have to add another kid to the one I already promised you.”

“Oh, yeah?” I give her hand a squeeze. “You sure you don’t want to think about that some more? You just doubled the number of kids we’re having.”

“I know, but one just doesn’t seem like enough.”

“Well, if we’re having two, we might as well have three. It’s just one more.”

She laughs. “Don’t push it.”

I don’t think Jade’s serious about having two kids. She’s just saying that because she saw me with Caleb. By tomorrow she’ll be back to wanting just one kid, which is fine. Like I said, one is better than none.

We stop at the store and I grab a cart and start tossing stuff in. Baby wipes, baby powder, baby shampoo.

“Garret, what are you doing?” Sara’s freaking out, as I knew she would. “I can’t afford all that.”

“You’re not paying for it. So load up.”

She grabs my arm. “No. I don’t want you guys buying me stuff. I have a job. I just don’t make enough to afford all this.” She picks up the baby shampoo. “And I never buy name brand. It costs way more than generic.”

I feel like I’m reliving scenes from when I met Jade last year. Jade’s standing there, not saying anything, but she’s smiling at me because this money argument is so familiar. It reminds me of the first day I spent with her. She got mad at me for buying her groceries and she insisted on only buying generic brands, just like Sara’s doing.

I take the baby shampoo from her and toss it back in the cart. “We’re getting this one. What else do you want? Some shampoo for yourself?” I grab a bottle. “This is what Jade uses. Do you want this one or a different one?”

Jade takes it from me and opens the cap, holding it up to Sara. “Smell it. It’s flowery but not too strong. And it makes your hair really soft.”

She smells it. “Yeah, it smells nice, but I don’t need it.”

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