Jess Mariano's Daughter

Baby Sister

Lory and I nap until we have to get ready for dinner. I switched my t-shirt for a simple button up.

I put Lory in a long sleeve, maroon skater dress, and a pair of black leggings. I asked Lory if she wanted to wear her black boots, or her converse.

She picked her black and white converse, so I put them on her. I then pulled on my matching pair of converse, grabbed her bag, and we were off to see Mom.

We take both my car and Luke truck because I don't want to deal with taking the carseat out and Luke refuses to ride in my car.

His exact words included deathtrap. We walked up to the house. Luke knocks and TJ opens that door.

"Luke, Jess, come on in."

Once we get inside he gives us both hugs. Lory tries to hide behind my legs. She's not the biggest fan of new people. She hasn't seen TJ or Mom since their wedding.

"Well, look at you. You were just a tiny thing last time I was you. You're so big now. You can call me Grandpa TJ, or just TJ. It's cool either way," he says.

Mom walks in and spots Luke first.

"Big brother!" she says, pulling him into a hug.

I'm next.

"And my baby. Look how handsome you are," she says, hugging me.

She pulls back and holds my face in her hands.

"Look at you. God I missed you. Where is she?"

She looks around only for a second before she spots Lory.

"There she is!"

She squats down to talk to Lory.

"Hi, sweetheart. I'm your grandma Liz. I'm your dad's mom."

Lory looks up at me.

"You Mom?"

I nod. She looks back at mom and waves. Mom scratches her arms out to Lory.

"Can I have a hug?"

Lory immediately walks up to her and hugs her tight. Mom stands up with her.

"I haven't seen you since you were a baby."

We all walked into the living room.

"Why don't you two meet little Doula," Mom says, sitting Lory on the couch.

"I'll just go get her," Mom says before leaving the room.

I take a seat next to Lory. TJ and Luke sit on the couch across from us. They make conversation and Mom is quick to return with a bundle of white and pink.

"Here you go Jess. Meet your baby sister," Mom says, setting her in my arms.

I hold her and just stare at her a bit.

"Isn't she precious?" Mom asks, sitting next to me.

"Yeah, Ma. She's adorable."

I look at Lory. She has gotten up on her knees to get a better look at Doula.

"Lory, do you want to hold baby Doula?" I ask.

She smiles and nods. I tell her to sit. I lay Doula so her head is in Lory's lap, and she's resting in between Lory's legs.

Lory just sits there for a few minutes, smiling and stroking Doula's head. She bends down to give her forehead a kiss.

Doula squirms and makes a happy noise. Dinner ends up going really well. Lory tries to play with Doula, even though she doesn't do much yet.

Mom pulls out baby pictures of me. Three year old Jess looks almost exactly like three year old Lory.

TJ and Lory color while I talk to mom. I tell her everything about our lives. I talk about Truncheon Books, and my plan to move out.

She talks about the renaissance circuit and her jewelry. She also talks about their plan now that they have Doula.

She seems to have her lift pretty well put together, and so do I. Finally it starts to get late and the three of us head back to the diner.

I get Lory changed into her pajamas and into bed before I drop down next to Luke on the couch. I let out a sigh.

"So that wasn't awful," I say.

"No. I'd say it went pretty well," he replies.

"Yeah."

He gets us and grabs up both a beer. We just sit on the couch together, sipping from our bottles.

"It looks like you've fixed things between the two of you," Luke says.

"Yeah. I think we are going to be okay," I reply.

"That's good. I'm glad. I know she is too," he adds.