Page 27 of Choose Me

When Everett came in, I stood at the kitchen counter eating a bowl of frosted flakes. He carried in a big brown box and looked surprised to see me.

"Hey, baby girl. I thought you'd be asleep by now." His eyes widened with concern when he saw the worried look on my face. "What's wrong?"

"I haven't been able to get in touch with James, and he hasn't texted me since lunch."

"I talked to him this afternoon, and he mentioned that he was going out to dinner with the guys in the office for a promotion celebration or something. Is everything okay?"

I sighed and put my bowl in the sink. "Yeah, I guess."

"He didn't tell you?"

"No."

"Well, it's not like him to go radio silent. I can try reaching out to a couple of guys and see if I can't find something for you. I'm sure he's fine, though." He replied, trying to calm my nerves. He set the box down on the counter with a thud before leaning against the counter next to me.

"Oh, Amelia stopped by," I announced.

"Amelia?" His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Like his sister, Amelia?"

"Yep."

"Like the sister you haven't met yet?"

"Oh yeah."

"And how did that go?"

"Uhm...she's..."

"Intense?" he finished my sentence for me with a chuckle.

"God, yes." I sighed, shaking my head and pushing out a loud breath. "I'm not sure that the word intense even begins to cover it." I could still feel the weight of her gaze on me, as though she was silently judging my worthiness to be with her brother.

"Yeah, that's normal with her. She's great, but she can be really aggressive sometimes. Trust me, the first time I met her, I thought she was bat-shit crazy, but once you get to know her, she means well. She's probably just trying to come to terms with her brother going from being single to not single and now a soon-to-be father," he explained.

I nodded slowly. "You're probably right. She just caught me off guard, that's all."

"I get it. Next time, give her some of that stubbornness I know you have in you, and she will back down," he said, giving me his self-assured grin.

"She asked me to go with her to some banquet or something that the FBI is putting on for the big-wigs in the city next week." I sighed, unsure of what to make of the idea.

"Oh, yeah. I'll be there too. It's an annual thing toward the end of the fiscal year. A fucking dog and pony show, and we all have to play our parts if we want to continue to get the nice things. It will be good for you to get out of this apartment. By the way, I want to show you something that might cheer you up."

"What is it?"

"It's a surprise." He grinned mischievously. "Close your eyes." He directed and came up behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders and guiding me out of the kitchen and down the hallway. "Keep them closed."

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see me and let him guide me until he stopped me. I looked down at my toes, trying to peek, and could see the bottom of a closed door.

He opened the door, and I heard a sharp intake of breath, "Okay. You can open your eyes."

When I did, it took me a minute to comprehend what I was looking at. He had turned the guest room into a nursery, which was the most incredible thing I had ever seen. The room was painted a light grey, with dark grey and black pine trees stenciled onto the wall that looked just like the forests in Oregon. An armoire was painted with beautiful shades of dark grey and white with accents of deep mahogany wood. A large crib was situated across from a comfortable white armchair with a matching footstool and a small table next to it. There were shelves filled with books and plush toys, and a baby mobile with little white clouds hung from the ceiling.

"Oh my god, Everett," I said as my hand went to my mouth in awe, tears pricking at the corner of my eyes as I ran my hands over the soft blankets and plush toys. "You did all of this?"

"Do you like it?" he asked, rubbing his hand over his chin.

"I love it," I said, still shocked at how amazing it looked. "How? I mean--when?"

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