Farm Girl Has Bad Boy (#3)

Chapter Twenty

“Emery,” I murmur, leaning towards him as we stand against the back wall of the living room. “Can we go upstairs for a minute?”

Right now my family is gathered in the living room, watching old home movies that we’ve all seen a thousand times. Dinner had actually gone by pretty much uneventful except for some pestering of whose last name the baby is taking; Emery’s or mine, which only turned out to give my family the same answer about how we’re figuring things out.

“Sure,” Emery shrugs, quietly walking towards the stairs. I follow a few steps behind; happy when no one notices we’re leaving. On my way I step over gift wrapping and briefly look at what my family had gotten us. Luckily, mostly baby clothes and other necessities. However I still got one strange gift which was a duck outfit for the baby from Aunt Carol. No one could stop laughing about how ridiculous it was once I had opened it; however before I could politely give my aunt thanks, Emery seemed truly grateful.

“What’s up?” Emery asks as I turn to shut my bedroom behind us.

“I wanted to talk,” I mumble quietly, heading towards where Emery sits on the edge of my bed. “About baby stuff.”

Emery groans and falls back onto my bed, crossing his arms behind his head. “Can’t this wait until another time? I’m exhausted and I can’t tell whether it’s from your mom’s huge dinner or your Aunt Carols story about her new plant.”

I roll my eyes, knowing exactly what story Emery is talking about. “First, that plant hasn’t been new in three years. Second,” I explain, falling onto my side to face Emery. “You’ve been saying we will talk about it for months, and so far nothing has happened.”

Emery sighs noisily and removes his arms he was using as a pillow. “And we will, River,” he replies tiredly, gesturing to the room around us. “Stop being impatient.”

My mouth falls open and I jerk up into a sitting position. When Emery sees the glare I’m giving him, he slowly rises to sit beside me. “Emery,” I snap, trying not to get more annoyed. “I’m not being impatient. In case you haven’t noticed,” I laugh darkly, holding my budging stomach. “Our baby is on its own schedule and it’s not going to wait for us. We need to be prepared!”

For a few moments Emery stares at his lap where his hands fidget nervously. Then, after a few more aggravated sighs, he turns to me, his eyes serious.

“Look, I’m trying, okay?” His dark hair falls into his eyes however he ignores it. “Just give me time.”

I clench my teeth together and rise to my tired feet. “I have been and so far nothing has happened. We need to make important decisions before the baby is born, Emery.”

I watch as his head falls down and his hair creates a wall over the top half of his face, hiding his expression. Folding my arms across my chest, I stare out the dark window. The stars are twinkling against the night sky, making me wish I could lie on the roof and stare up at them like I always would. I start to wonder how much trouble I would get in if I went out there when I hear my family’s laughter from downstairs, ripping me from the thought.

“Do you have any ideas?” I ask after the few minutes of silence between us. When Emery stares up at me blankly I shrug. “Job, where we’re going to live, names for the baby?”

Emery instantly shoots me an angry look and I take a small step up, seeing parts of the old, angry, jerk Emery resurfacing.

“I said give me time,” he snaps, pushing himself up off the bed. “Now just leave me alone.” He turns towards my window and starts to walk towards it. Before I can say anything, he opens it and climbs onto my roof. As I reach the window and stick my head out, Emery’s already smoking, doing the same bull-like thing when he blows the smoke out of his nose.