Tell Me No Lies

43

- V E N U S -

"No, Venus. I don't think you understand. Do you know how difficult it will be to take them to a meeting?" Griffin buckles in our children to their car seats.

"They have nowhere else to go! We can't just leave them at home." I give Ryder his pacifier, and River his blanket.

"I know." He groans, "But this is an important meeting for me. I don't know why they wanted to meet you." He sits down in the driver's seat, me in the passenger.

"I don't know either." Griffin's been gone. A lot. I know, he can't really help it. And I can't help it I got pregnant. With twins.

He helps a bunch when he's here, and when he's not, Allie comes by when Jason's gone. Serena moved out of state a few months ago. Griffin's mom passed away almost a year ago. It's been hard on him. On all of us. His grandma, Emily, helps out plenty. I'm thankful for the system we've built up.

I turn twenty-two tomorrow.

Griffin's hand rests on my thigh, and I can't stop thinking about how much I love him. It feels so right to be with him. I loved watching him mature and grow up.

He pulls into Jason and Allie's house. They both get in the backseat, gushing over the twins.

Allie and Jason have tried and tried to have kids. She's had a miscarriage and so many negatives, until about two months ago, she came over to my house, bawling her eyes out. It took me hours to convince her to tell me what's wrong. She told me she was pregnant.

She made it through the first trimester so perfectly. Her due date is in five months.

"Wait, which one's which?" Jason asks, looking at River and Ryder.

"Um. That one is River." I point to the smiling baby, with blue socks.

"That one is Ryder." Griffin says. He has green socks, and never smiles.

"Why does River have socks on his hands?" Jason touches the baby's head.

"He likes to scratch at his face, and we don't want him to." I sigh.

Allie touches Jason's arm, "Don't you just want one of these?" She smiles as Ryder's hand wraps around her fingers.

"One. For now." Jason jumps when Ryder starts crying.

"That's weird." I reach back, rubbing his stomach. "I just fed them. They shouldn't be- oh, no." I glance at Griffin.

"Shit." He mumbles, the corner of his mouth tilting up.

I laugh, "Jason, would you do me a favor and check his diaper?"

Jason looks at me like I just shot him.

"My god, Jason. I'll do it-"

"No, no. You're pregnant." He cuts Allie off, unbuckling his seat belt. "Oh, fuck. What- how. Venus, what the hell do I do?"

Allie flicks him, "Stop cussing. Look." She takes his hand, guiding him. "You have to unbuckle him, then you take off his diaper, you get a new one, and then he's clean, and he should stop crying."

"Thank god we only have one." He murmurs and Griffin laughs.

We have to unload all of the children, put them in their seats, and we all walk in. I'm carrying Ryder, while Griffin has River. Allie is carrying Jason.

"You guys are such a power couple." Jason tilts his head at us.

We walked into the meeting, and it seemed everyone brought their kids. It makes me feel a little better.