The Player's Twins (Book Two of The Great Age Plague series)

Chapter Sixteen

Once Josh was finished with his sandwich, I felt butterflies start to flutter up in my stomach. It was enough that I worried that the twins could feel my anxiety bustling around in there. I laid on hand on my belly gently. 

"So..." I started slowly "Since when do you want me to go to school?"

Silence. Before rehab, Josh had told me school was useless. It hurt me, a lot. I mean, we both had career dreams, neither of us wanted the twins to hold us back. We wanted to make the world a better place-- me, with words probably, and him, with bringing back appreciation for the stars. We wanted to help build the post-plague world, but somewhere along the way, that was lost. The reality was we just couldn't do that anymore. We were on survival mode. Maybe one day... 

"That was the drugs talking. Or the stress. I don't know," said Josh. He leaned back in his chair, eyes piercing mine, and I had to look away to blush. Josh had the kind of outlandish handsomeness that hurt to stare at too long. I was nothing compared to him. 

There was another long silence and to my shock, I started crying. 

"Oh Josh... what have we gotten ourselves into? Everything's a mess. I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready to be a mother, hell I don't even know how to be a good wife or girlfriend, I--"

"Adira, that's simply not true," husked Josh as he stood up. The chair slid back with a squeak and he rushed to my side. Getting down on one knee, he wrapped his arms around me as a cried. "Adira, you're an amazing wife. You took me to rehab when I needed it, hell you fished me out of that drug den when I was tripping on acid. I'm the one who got us into this mess not you. And as for being a good girlfriend, I can't speak for Keon but I think you're amazing. You run this whole household Adira, and you're so brave."

"I don't know Josh, I just don't know. I'm not even over my mother dying yet. I still think about her everyday, and my dad too. How can I be good at giving love when I don't feel like I'm meant to receive it?" I cried. With this, Josh took me under my armpits and made me stand up. Unable to carry me due to my big stomach, he led me over to the couch in the living room and lowered me to the bed gently. Wrapping a blanket around my shoulder, he gently wiped the tears from my eyes. After that, he muttered something about hot cocoa and shuffled off into the other room. It reminded me so much of the time following my mother's death when he took care of me. 

When he returned, he'd somehow found Keon. They both took a seat at my side as tears continued to stream down my face. Both shared a worried look, but it was Keon who wrapped his arms around me this time. 

"Adira, you are loved," he muttered softly. Keon planted a kiss on my temple and I could feel the coolness of his lip ring. 

"So loved," agreed Josh. In his hand was a mug of hot coca-- it was my favorite mug with Minny Mouse printed on it-- and he was blowing away the steam gently. 

"Josh and I think you need to carefully consider dropping out of school," continued Keon. I looked up, tear filled eyes meeting Josh's, and he nodded in agreement. 

"I know I said certain things in the past, but I don't want to see you give up your dreams, Adira. If I have to, I'll be the one to stay home and take care of stuff. I'm still not fully better, but I can try if you show me how. I'm sure between the four of us we can figure out our finances and prepping for the baby. You just need to focus on staying healthy for the twins, we can't have you stressing like this," he said firmly. I felt the tension melt from my shoulders upon hearing his voice. Josh, my Josh. He sounded so much like his old self even though I knew he was suffering inside. 

"But--" I started, but Josh cut me off with a kiss as Keon squeezed my shoulders. 

"No buts, Adira. We're serious. We just want you to be happy," said Keon. I nodded, leaning back into his embrace, and Josh laid his head on my lap. We all sat cuddled like that for a while as the sun set in the bay windows of the living room, filling the den with an orange glow. I felt at peace, even when I felt something strange brush my arm. Looking down, I saw Keon's wrists, which were bandaged up but red with fresh blood. When I looked to meet his eyes, he had fallen asleep. I decided it was a problem I'd have to talk about with him later. 

Unfortunately, when Cally came home and we set to making dinner, we turned on the news. After watching the news cycle, there was only one thing we could talk about, one thing that'd we'd all been fearing. 

Everything was about to get much, much more complicated. 

A/N-- Hey guys, so I'm working on some vlogs for my Youtube channel that should be up soon. Those will be my new A/N's after that. Additionally, please make sure to comment how you think the story is so far and remind your friends that I'm updating again. Hopefully, updates will be daily, at least as often as possible. Thank you penguins, love you lots!