Grace Alive (A Christian Romance)

Part 14

Chapter 14

I felt like an idiot. Why the heck was I meeting his ex! I already felt really confused about going out with him, and all the signs were pointing toward that he was a player; it was evident in his past. But what about this grace stuff he was talking about? Had God simply just forgiven him, and that was that? Or was He still punishing him for his sins in the past? I mean he’d had multiple girlfriends and kids by two separate women. Was I going to be another one on his list? I was hyperventilating again as I followed Branson’s car. It’s going to be okay, Zoe, trust Me. Trust Me. There was God talking to me again about this. I was going to have to just stop worrying about everything.

We arrived at the twins’ mom’s house, and I climbed out of my car nervously. What if Julie threw a shoe at me or something? Didn’t Branson say she was mad at him for their breakup? This was going to be interesting.

Branson climbed out of the car and jogged up to the front of the house, motioning for me to follow behind him. He was so cute—I couldn’t help but notice the way his muscles moved under his shirt. Branson knocked a couple times and then opened the door, letting himself in.

“Julie? I’m here! I brought a friend with me!” he called. He flipped off his shoes and tugged me inside. I looked around and almost gasped, the place was a pit. It looked like someone had vomited toys, dishes, and laundry all over the place. I heard some squealing, and two little girls came running toward their dad full tilt.

“Hey monkeys!” he said with a laugh and scooped them both up. They hugged him tight and started jabbering super fast. I had no idea what they were saying, but Branson sure seemed to get it.

“Really! That’s so cool. Can you show Daddy?” he asked as he set them both down. They ran toward the kitchen, their blonde pigtails swinging back and forth. “Come on in, Zoe, they want to show me the cookies they made with their mom.” He jogged toward his kids, with me walking behind him. I stepped into the kitchen and held my breath; there were mounds of papers, craft supplies, and dishes all over. This girl was messy.

“Branson! I’m in here!” I heard a girl call from the bathroom. “If you want a cookie we just made some!”

I looked at Branson as he bent over his two daughters heads.

“Would you look at that, CC, that looks beautiful. Evie, good job!” He kissed their heads and they giggled. The twins had decorated cookies, and there was more frosting on their clothes, faces, and table then the cookies, but they were proud. I smiled in my hand. They were too cute. A girl walked out of the bathroom, she had dark choppy hair that framed her narrow jaw, her eyes were heavily made up with makeup, and she was sporting a low cut shirt that showed off her cleavage, and shorty shorts that were almost underwear. I really tried not to react, but it was impossible, and my mouth hung open just a little. She was pretty, but more in a worldly way, like she was trying extremely hard to be beautiful.

“They have been wanting to show you those cookies all day today,” Julie said. She gave me a weird look—a jealous look. I guess I’m pretty. At least people have told me that before. I look a lot like my mom with her thick blonde hair and big blue eyes. I’m trim, but not super skinny, and I try not to eat too many cookies and stuff.

“This is Zoe, Julie, she’s a friend of mine,” Branson introduced with a wave of his hand.

“Zoe!” the twins said together and ran at my legs. They stared up at me with their round little faces.

“Hi, girls,” I said with a smile, bending down to them. “Your cookies look super yummy!” I stood back up to see that Julie was staring at me like she wanted to bite my head off. Youch.