For Worse or For Better- Book #6 in the WF Series

Chapter 26: Packing

♡ Alaiya's POV: ♡

"Let me guess, Roman didn't wake his ass up this morning," Ivy takes a hunch in her workout clothes when we walk down the steps.

"Yeah." I elbow-punch Roman's side so he doesn't say what was on the tip of his tongue.

I look up at him and he smirks down at me, testing to see if I'll break my glare which I won't.

"Luckily, the car just got here so you guys are on time," Eldon says, not making direct eye contact with Roman since there's still a bit of tension. I would assume there would be considering the mark that Roman left on his lip.

We need to talk about that.

"Yeah, works out since you apparently needed to slide in a quickie before leaving," Ivy has to add.

"We're leaving," I quickly say, trying my best to avoid the blush that's probably already arrived.

We take Aubrey, Dayton, and Autumn into the car and the driver takes us to our house after we stop for breakfast.

I don't know what it is about today, but Aubrey will not stop crying. I have tried everything. Feeding her, changing her diaper, playing games that only she would find interest in, and rocking her. And the cries don't get any softer which you would expect when a baby has been crying for a while. No, they get louder by the hour. She's hungry which is probably the reason she's crying, but how am I supposed to make her feel better if she won't drink her milk? And I can't give her to Roman since I'm kind of the only milk supply.

"Roman," I beg as he's getting out of the car and I've given up.

He opens the door wider, taking Aubrey from my arms which are practically noodles because of how long I had to hold her and how much she was kicking and screaming.

The second she lands in Roman's arms and is resting against his chest, her cries have suddenly stopped and she's breathing normally again.

"I quit," I say with my head pounding since that was almost three hours of that cry and all it took was for her dad to hold her.

I should've said yes when he offered multiple times to come to the back.

Roman kisses her cheek and her forehead repeatedly while lightly bouncing her so she'll stay this way before we walk into the house with Dayton and Autumn. I give Autumn a bag in which she can put the things she wants to take with her. She rushes up the stairs, probably about to come down with her entire doll collection.

While she's doing that, Roman and I are packing our, along with the kid's things that we didn't bring the first time which takes us a few hours. We've been away from home for little vacations with the kids or work trips, but it's definitely going to be weird being away from home for weeks. Although, I can't deny how excited I am to live with our friends. It's like having siblings.

Of course, my parents never wanted another baby after me since they made it abundantly clear how big of a screw-up even one child was. Plus, growing up, I wasn't allowed to have many friends come over or go out with, so I was kind of stuck with Carson. I didn't get the whole 'friends who are like brothers and sisters' until I met Ivy and Rider, and then later on, everyone else.

"Alaiya," Roman sighs at me as I try to carry my book collection which is taller than him.

"What if I decide to read one of them and I don't have it with me?" I ask, putting the stack down next to the bag I've dedicated to my books.

"You've never touched half of these," he points out which is so not true. How would I have bought or put them on my shelf without touching them?

"You don't see me complaining about the protein shakes that you're packing." I put my hands on my hips.