Chapter 20

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"I've thought about it. The answer is no." Tori says on the phone. "No to what?" I ask. "I'm not ready to forgive Gem. I feel bad for her but what she did was wrong. The answer is no."  It's been five weeks since I asked her if she wanted to forgive Gem. I thought she forgot. I did. 

"Oh. Okay." I burp Luna. "You can forgive her if you want. I won't be mad if you choose to be her friend. I'm just not ready." she says. I nod. "Okay." I say. A awkward silence fills the line. "Well I've got to go. Luna needs a bath." I say. 

"Okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Tori hangs up. It's December and Luna is six months old. She's already sitting up on her own and crawling a little. Now I get what our parents meant when they said kids grow up too fast. "You wanna go take a bath? Let's take a bath." I kiss Luna's cheek and go into the bathroom. 

I run some bath water and put bubbles in it. "Bath time!" I gasp and put Luna in the tub. Luna giggles and splashes her hands in the water. I yelp when water gets splashes me in the face. "What's wrong?" Ben comes into the bathroom. He bursts out laughing when he sees me.

I glare at him. "Shut up. Bathe your daughter." I grab a towel and wipe my face. Ben smirks. "Your mom wants you downstairs." he says walking over to the tub. I grumble under my breath pushing my wet hair out of my face. 

I jog down the stairs. "Ben said you wanted me?" I go into the living room. Mom looks up from her book and nods. She pats the space on the couch beside her. Emmett comes downstairs with dad . "What's going on?" I ask sitting down. Dad looks at mom and clears his throat. "Oh gosh, you're not getting a divorce are you?" my eyes widen.

Mom snorts. "No." she frowns at me. "Are you separating? Mom did you cheat?" I turn to her. Mom chokes out a laugh. "Why do you automatically assume I'd cheat?" she asks. "That's beside the point. What's going on?" Emmett asks. "No one's getting a divorce or separating. No one cheated." dad rolls his eyes. 

"Then what is it?" I ask. "Dad was laid off." Mom says. I frown. "Okay, so what does this mean? Are we moving?" I ask. Mom shakes her head. "No we're not moving. I'm going to pick up some extra shifts at the hospital and your dad..." she trails off. "I'm going to San Antonio." dad says. 

"Wait what? Why?" Emmett frowns. "I found a better job there."  dad says. "So you're going to make us move to San Antonio?" I ask. "No no no. We're still going to live here. I'll be gone for a few days most of the week but I'll be here every weekend." he says. 

"But I don't want you to go." I frown. "I know baby girl but it'll be fine. You'll barely notice that I'm not here. I'll call everyday." he says. "Are you going to drive back and forth?" Emmett asks. Dad shakes his head. "No. The company has their own airline. They fly their employees wherever they need to go." he says.

"How long will this...arrangement last?" I ask. "Until I'm old enough to retire. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, go get dressed. We're going out." dad stands. I stand and walk upstairs slowly. "We're going out to dinner." I tell Ben. He looks up from sliding Luna's socks on. "Okay. I'll get her ready."

This is so weird. I hope my dad doesn't turn into one of those guys who become obsessed with work and hardly ever go home. We need him around here. Dad is the glue of our family. I sigh and brush my teeth. "Where are we going out to eat?" Ben asks. I shrug. "I dunno." "Well go ask." he says. 

"You ask. You're the one that wants to know." I brush my hair. "You're the one that wants to know." he mocks in a high pitched voice. I smirk. "I do not talk that like." I say. Ben places his hand on his hip and waves his hand. "I do not talk like that." he mocks. "Stop it" I say. "Stop it." he mocks. 

I throw my brush at him. Ben screams girlishly and ducks. I laugh. "You're an idiot." I shake my head. Ben laughs and walks out of the room. I pull on a red sweater dress, tights, and boots. Ben comes back in a few minutes later. "We're going to Olive Garden." he says. I nod and put on a black scarf.  I pick up Luna and dress her in the same thing. 

"Why don't I get to match?" Ben pouts. I roll my eyes. "You wanna wear a dress?" I smirk. Ben wrinkles his nose. "No." he shakes his head. "Then wear the same colors." I put my hair up in a bun and grab Luna's car seat and diaper bag. 

After Ben gets dressed we go downstairs. Emmett rolls his eyes when he sees us. "You guys look like those people in the pictures in frames." he says. I narrow my eyes at him. "And you look like the idiot-" Mom cuts me off. "Enough. We don't call our siblings idiots. Meet us at Olive Garden. Come on Starla." she grabs her hand. 

Starla skips outside and jumps into the car. I turn off the lights and lock the door behind me when we step outside. "Oh, I forgot the jackets." I unlock the door and grab my jacket and Ben's. "Luna's is in the car." Ben calls out putting her in the back seat. I nod and lock the door again. I walk over to the car and get inside. "Cold." I shiver turning up the heat. 

Ben reverses out of the driveway and starts heading to the restaurant. "Have you guys decided if you're going to continue to be friends with Gem?" Ben glances at me. I sigh. "Tori says she's not ready to forgive her." I say. "That doesn't mean you can't. I know you feel like you owe your loyalty to Tori but you can be friends with the both of them." he says. 

I nod. "Yeah I know. And I do want to continue being friends with Gem. I'm just scared that it'll hurt Tori. She says she'd be fine with it but I don't know." Ben nods. "It's your decision. Just remember what I told you." he parks next to the family car and gets out. 

I do want to continue being friends with Gem. I feel bad for her. She's in a tough spot with a cheating boyfriend, and parents who don't want her to live with them anymore because she got pregnant. I get out of the car and follow my family into the restaurant.

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