Page 22 of A Breeze Over Rosewood Beach
She filled the mugs with steaming hot water, set them on a tray, and carried it into the living room.
“Here we are!” she sang out. “Some nice hot tea for this chilly day.”
“Yummy, thank you,” Alexis said, picking up her mug gratefully and gingerly, since it was clearly very hot. “The peanut butter cookies are on the coffee table.”
“Yay!” Hazel took one of the thick, soft cookies from the cute pink container that Alexis had brought them in. “These look amazing, Alexis.”
“They are,” Julia said through a mouthful of cookie, and then laughed. It didn’t sound like her usual carefree laugh, however. It sounded somewhat higher pitched and slightly strained, as if Julia was experiencing unusual amounts of tension.
“How’s married life been, Julia?” Alexis asked, taking a careful sip of her tea. “Ooh, that’s good.”
“It’s been great,” Julia said, but she looked off to the side as she said it, and her tone seemed a little insincere.
Hazel could tell that something was wrong with her sister. She placed a hand on Julia’s arm.
“Julia, are you sure everything’s all right? You can tell us if it isn’t, you know. We’re your sisters.”
Tears filled Julia’s eyes, and she covered her mouth with her hand as she started to shake with sobs.
“Oh, honey!” Alexis set her mug down hurriedly and wrapped her arms around Julia. Hazel scooted closer to both of them and put a reassuring hand on Julia’s shoulder.
“I know I should be so happy,” Julia said, her voice shaking as she cried. “And I am, I’m so happy—being married is wonderful and now we have the baby on the way. But it’s just all so much at once. I feel completely overwhelmed.”
“I understand,” Alexis said, giving Julia a squeeze. “Marriage is wonderful, but any big life adjustment takes getting used to. Anything that feels overwhelming is hard, even if it’s a good thing in its essence.”
“So true.” Hazel nodded. “And your hormones definitely aren’t doing you any favors right now.”
“Definitely not.” Alexis grimaced.
Julia laughed and wiped away a couple of stray tears. “Oh, you’re right, I know you are, but I feel so bad about reacting thisway. I don’t want to tell Cooper that I feel overwhelmed because I don’t want him to think that he’s doing anything wrong or anything like that. He’s been so great—so caring and thoughtful. And being Macey’s mother is incredible, but it’s different when you never get a break, you know? She’s always my responsibility now, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but it does feel like so much. Like, I’m scared I’ll mess up. And my and Cooper’s relationship feels a little different now too. Like, I can feel things shifting with us and none of it is bad, but it’s different. Like, we’re more settled, you know? I get less butterflies and more of this steady, warm feeling when I’m around him.”
“It’s okay, sweetie.” Hazel kissed Julia on the head. “You’re experiencing a lot of adjustment in a short time span. People don’t usually talk about it, but that’s totally normal when you first get married. It’s hard to merge lives with someone else, no matter how much you love them.”
“You felt this way too?” Julia asked. “Both of you?”
“I definitely did,” Alexis said. “But that was so long ago—I was doing so much modeling then that Grayson and I didn’t even see each other all that much. I think maybe I worked so much and he did too because we were trying to distract ourselves from how weird our home life felt. I wish we’d just leaned into the discomfort and made our relationship as strong as it is now all the way back then.”
Hazel nodded as she listened to her sister. “Yeah, that’s a great way of putting it, Alexis. I mean, my marriage had a lot of issues, so that was a tough adjustment period that never got better. But we all know that Cooper treats you well, so things are going to get easier and easier, even with this baby on the way. Just take things one day at a time. When Jacob and I started dating, it took a lot of adjustments, especially since Samantha is part of the picture. I was worried she would feel neglected by me, since we’ve always been like best friends but now I have apartner. But we talked about it and we figured it out. Change is a lot to deal with, and sometimes you might miss the way things were before and that’s okay. You’ll see soon that adding more loved ones to your life always makes it better.”
“That’s so true,” Alexis said. “It’s definitely not easy being a mother, but having Cash has been the most rewarding experience of my life. He’s stressful at times, and it’s hard to have a little person around all the time who needs your care constantly, but you get used to it after a while. And along with that responsibility comes so much joy. I love this little man so much, and I know you’re going to feel that way about your baby.”
“I do already,” Julia said, still crying but nodding in agreement. “It feels like such an honor to be expecting. And I already love Macey like that. I think you’re both right—I just need to give it some time, and soon, I’ll get used to all this.” She smiled through her tears. “And Macey will be so cute with a baby sibling. She’s so excited about being a big sister.”
“I can’t wait to see that,” Alexis said with a chuckle. “It’s going to be adorable.”
“Me either.” Hazel smiled at Julia. “And don’t forget, you’re going to have our support. You’ve got both of us and Mom on your team, and we’re always going to be around to help you if you need anything.”
“Thanks, guys.” Julia wiped away her final tears and laughed breathlessly. “I’m just feeling emotional. Thank you for helping me talk it out.”
All three women kept talking for a while as they sipped their tea and munched on the delicious peanut butter cookies. Hazel felt peaceful and content, and extremely excited about all of the fantastic things that were happening in her own life and also in the lives of her sisters.
Eventually, she reminded herself that she needed to get a move on with her day, so she said goodbye to her sisters andwent back out into the winter air. She felt warm and comfortable after the tea and the cookies, and she didn’t mind the way the wind nipped at her cheeks.
She drove to her and Jacob’s new home, and grinned when she saw that Jacob’s car was parked in the driveway. She knew Jacob had picked Samantha up from school since he’d been asked to visit her classroom and explain some basic information about how electric appliances worked as part of their science class. She guessed that both of her favorite people in the world were in her new house at the moment, and she couldn’t wait until that became the reality she came home to every day.
She parked her car behind Jacob’s and hurried into the house. She scampered through the downstairs looking for Jacob and Samantha, her footsteps echoing in the nearly-empty rooms. She smiled as she heard voices upstairs and she climbed the staircase. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she paused and watched the scene in front of her with a glow in her heart.
Jacob and Samantha were in the master bedroom, both of them dressed in painting clothes. Jacob was crouched down on the floor, showing Samantha how to apply the primer to the wall before painting.
