Last Love | Book 3

Chapter 9

(Jennifer)

I finish getting ready, brushing my hair, brushing my teeth, and putting my hair up, like I usually do, and slip a pair of shorts on just in time to answer the door. I open the door and Meredith is standing outside. "Hey! Come on in. I was just about to take a walk." I let her inside and shut the door. I called her a few hours ago and asked her to come over so we could talk since I get bored and lonely in the house all day. "We can all go on a walk together. I can take the kids and you take the dogs or the other way around. Whatever you want." She offers. "Oh, sure. Just a second. I've gotta get the kids' shoes on." I say looking around for their shoes. "I'll help." She helps me get the kids ready and the dogs on their leashes. Then we walk outside and I shut and lock the door behind us.

We walk around the block a few times, her holding Ava's hand on one side and Coles on the other, and me with both the dogs. I don't talk much while we're walking since I'm too busy focusing on walking at a pace the dogs can keep up with. When we do talk it's mostly just small talk, about the kids or our family, nothing too personal. When we've been walking for about an hour I decide it's a good time to go inside.

When we get home from our walk, I let the kids take a nap since they're both exhausted from our walk, while Meredith and I sit down on the couch. "So, I didn't really get a chance to ask you earlier but how are things going with Josh?" She asks. "They're better." I say. "Yeah?" She looks at me. "Yeah. I mean it's still hard and there's still some tension over some things but we talked about it and were not getting a divorce." I pause for a second. "I think Liam's wedding was really when we realized how stupid it would be for us to not be together. Or at least I did." I explain. "Mhmm..." She nods, waiting to see if there's more. "It just hit me seeing Liam getting married how much Josh and I love each other. And then that night was one of the best nights we've had together in a long time." I smile at the thought of it. Liam's wedding was one of the happiest days of my life. Not just because Liam got married, although I am happy for him, but because of what it meant for Josh and I. We spent that day doing all the things we used to do, getting drunk and high and stumbling over each other trying to dance, things I never thought we would do again. I thought married life was always going to be hard and that was just part of it, but with Josh it doesn't have to be. Even though we have problems just like any other couple I'm still happy I married him. I just wasn't sure until that day that all this hard work would be worth it, but it is. "I'm just so happy I married my best friend." I say. "Good, I'm happy for you. Does that mean everything's going to be okay now? Ben and mom have been really worried about you." I nod. "I think so. I mean, I hope so." She stops asking about Josh after that and we talk about her instead.

As soon as she's out the door, I start walking upstairs. I get Ava and Cole up and carry them downstairs. They rest their heads on my shoulders while I carry them. They're both still sleepy. I take them into the kitchen and get them each some juice to drink. They're usually hungry after a nap, but I didn't want to give them a snack since we're about to have dinner. I sit them down and let them walk into the hallway and towards the living room. I hear keys jingle in the door and I know immediately who it is. Josh is home. It's been awhile since I've been this excited to see him, but I've missed him so much today. I run into the living room just as the door's opening. He barely has time to get inside before I jump on him. He quickly drops everything he's holding and catches me. He holds me up and kisses me like it's the easiest thing in the world. After a while he puts me down and makes me stand up. I grab his stuff from off the floor and hand him his keys. "You got candy?" I ask, looking through the bag in my hands. There's m&ms, Reese's, skittles, and sour patch kids. "Yeah. I wanted to do something nice for you." He says. "Awe! Josh, that's so sweet." I start to open the sour patch kids but he takes it out of my hand. "You know the rules. Not until after dinner." I pout at him. You can't just show me candy and not give it to me. That's so unfair. He laughs at my pouty face and kisses me. When he pulls away I'm smiling. "So, who's turn is it to make dinner?" I ask. "I think I'll do it tonight. Is pizza okay?" He smirks at me. "I think you already knew that answer. Of course. Pizza is always okay." I say. "Okay. Just checking. We'll make the pizza. You go relax." He grabs Cole and picks him up. "Okay." He takes Ava's hand and they go into the kitchen to make dinner. I sit down on the couch and turn on the tv.

After dinner, Josh and I sit on the couch watching tv while the kids play on the floor. I watch them play with blocks and trucks, building little towers and knocking them down. I'm so tired. I could fall asleep right now. I curl up closer to Josh and pick up the sour patch kids from off the table. We eat the rest of the candy while we watch tv. Then Josh gets up and takes Ava and Cole upstairs to go to bed. I listen to his footsteps on the stairs and close my eyes, starting to fall asleep. I lick my lips, my mouth still tastes like sugar. Josh taps my shoulder and says my name. I didn't even hear him walk downstairs. He taps my shoulder again and I try to move but I'm too tired. I feel him pick me up just as I'm falling asleep.

A/N: some of this is probably bad but I'm trying my best to update and I'm really lazy and struggle to pay attention when I'm writing but I hope you like it anyway