Page 190 of Always Us

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Two Years Later

JADE

I love summer, because every summer we have both sides of the family come and stay for an entire week. We eat and swim and hang out on the beach. It’s one of those big family gatherings I always wanted as a kid, and now I have them every year.

Everyone left last week, except for Lilly. She’s living with us this summer. She used to come for just a couple weeks, but last year she stayed with us for most of the summer, so we invited her to stay with us again this summer. She’s 13 now, almost 14. I think Garret secretly wants her here so he can keep an eye on her. Keep her away from boys. She’s growing up and she’s really pretty and boys are noticing. She’s tall for her age and thin, but developing on top to the point that Garret keeps buying her baggy t-shirts and sweatshirts to hide her growing breasts. It’s too funny.

This week, Sean and Harper are visiting. They only live an hour away but they come stay with us for a week or two every summer. They just had baby number three. Another boy. I’m starting to think Harper’s going to keep having babies until she finally has a girl. Not that she doesn’t love her boys. She totally loves them, but she’d still like a girl. Probably because she loves my girls so much.

Garret and I had another baby girl. We hadn’t planned on having another baby so soon, but we felt like Abigail needed a little brother or sister and we didn’t want to wait. It’s funny, because for years I was so afraid to have just one child, but then I had Abigail and couldn’t wait to have another.

It took me some time to get the hang of taking care of a baby. There’s so much to learn. But Garret helped and Grace did, too, and eventually I figured it out. Now I feel like an expert taking care of Hannah. That’s her name. Hannah Julia Kensington. Her middle name is in honor of my mom. She wasn’t a good mom, but that wasn’t her fault, and I know from that letter she wrote me that she never wanted to treat me the way she did. And now that I’m a mom, I feel even more sorry for my own mom and what happened to her. Royce took away her chance to be the mom she wanted to be. He drugged her to the point that she didn’t even know I was her daughter. She missed out on all those moments that I now cherish with my own daughters.

“Jade, can you grab my bag?” Harper’s sitting next to me on one of the lounge chairs on the back patio. We’re in a shaded area near the pool, watching the guys play with her two boys out on the lawn. Harper’s holding her new baby, who just spit up a little.

I hand her the bag. “You need some help?”

“Nope, I got it.” She reaches in the bag and takes out a towel.

Hannah’s next to me in her baby sleeper. It’s like her own little lounge chair. She’s sound asleep, the breeze blowing her wispy brown hair. Abigail’s coloring at the patio table, still in her swimsuit from swimming with Garret earlier. She’s only two and she’s already a really good swimmer. Garret had her in the water when she was just a baby. And she loves it. She could live in the water.

Lilly’s beside her at the table, working on a charcoal sketch. She draws and paints all the time and she’s getting really good at it.

“Aunt Lilly!” Abigail shows off her picture. “Look!”

“Wow! That’s really good,” Lilly says. “I’m thirsty. You want to go with me to get a drink?”

Abigail nods and climbs off her chair, then takes Lilly’s hand and they go inside.

“Lilly is so pretty,” Harper says. “And so tall. She could easily be a model.”

“I know. She gets prettier every time I see her. She already has boys asking her out, but don’t tell Garret that. He doesn’t even want to think about her dating.”

“Does Pearce have an approved dating age for her?”

“Yeah, she has to be 16, but Garret’s trying to get him to up it to 30.”

Harper laughs. “What is he going to do when Abigail and Hannah start dating?”

“If he has his way, they never will. They’d live as old maids in our house for the rest of their lives.”

We both laugh.

“So you think you’re going to try for a girl?” I ask.

“Yeah. Probably in a year or so.”

“Are you serious? I was kidding! You really want four kids?”

She shrugs. “Sure. Why not? I’ve already got three. What’s one more?”

“Four kids? That’s a lot. And they’re all so close in age.”

“So are yours. And I think it’s good. My sisters and I are close in age. When we were little, my mom said we never got bored because we always played together and kept ourselves entertained.”

“But what if you have another boy?”

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