“Something smells good!” Zac called as he stepped into the apartment and tossed his cell phone down onto the nearest table.
“Cookies,” I answered, looking up from the newspaper I was reading. He looked refreshed. The past few weeks had taken a toll on him, but I think getting away and being by himself for a day did him some good.
“You’re baking?” He asked, plopping down on the couch and extending his feet onto the coffee table.
“Casey and Chris are,” I answered absently, picking up my reading where I left off.
“I didn’t know we had the stuff to make cookies.” I looked up from my newspaper, once again. Zac was picking at one of the calluses on his hand.
“Mom bought some stuff this morning,” I told him. He was quiet for a while, so I picked up the newspaper and began reading.
“Where is mom?” Zac asked, looking up at me. I sighed and folded the newspaper, setting it on the end table beside the chair. I’m not sure if he was doing it on purpose, but I could tell that I wasn’t going to get any reading done.
“She went to see Taylor and Natalie.”
Zac nodded in response to my answer.
“Jessica called,” I also decided to mention, while I had my newspaper abandoned and his attention for a while.
“Yea?” He perked up.
“Yea. She heard Casey was here and she decided to call and talk to her for a little bit.” Zac’s eyes grew so large they looked like they were going to pop out from his face. “Don’t worry,” I tried to calm him. “She only knows because she called home and dad told her mom was here to see Casey.”
“That information can’t spread,” he said quietly, barely above a whisper.
“You worry too much,” I noted. “It’s just our immediate family that knows.”
“I sure hope so,” he snapped at me.
“Zac, chill out.” I sat up straight in the chair, preparing some sort of speech to reassure him that Casey’s safety was still in tact. It didn’t appear that I needed to come up with a speech however, because he nodded in response and started picking at his callus again.
“I miss her,” he said after a few minutes.
“You can call her tomorrow,” I shrugged.
“Not Jess,” he said, moving his eyes to meet mine. I was confused. “Casey.”
“She’s right in there,” I said, motioning toward the kitchen.
Zac shook his head. “She's here, but she's different. And we're different.” I thought for a moment that I knew what he was talking about.
“Different how?” I asked just to verify my notion.
“I mean, she's been through so much and over the years we've just all changed,” he said, keeping his voice low on purpose. “I miss the way it used to be. The way she and I used to be, even when we weren't together. When we were just friends. Everything just feels awkward now.”
I was right in thinking that's what he meant. “You said it yourself, she's been through a lot.”
“I know. Do you ever wish things would just go back to the way they were? When things were easy.”
“I don't think things were ever easy for her, Zac.”
He seemed to ponder this for quite some time. “I wish she never would have left,” he admitted.
“She had to Zac,” I insisted. “With everything that was going on…” I trailed off, knowing that he would catch on.
“I know,” he said sadly. “She needed to get away from me.” I started feeling bad for him. I knew how long it took him to finally move on and I couldn't even begin to comprehend how much this situation was affecting him. “Things just got so crazy after she left. I don't think I ever fully recovered.”
I nodded, knowing what he meant but not knowing what to say. All I could do was agree. I don't think any of us really got over her. Things were never the same without her presence. The house seemed lifeless and empty. Even the younger kids seemed to be down. Zac went through an especially rough time. And Mom and Dad, especially Mom...they were beside themselves. I don't think any of us knew that whenever Casey came into our lives, she would leave us all with a huge hole in our hearts.
I heard Casey in the kitchen saying something to Chris in a stern voice. It was only a matter of seconds before Chris was standing in front of Zac and me.
“Do you want cookies?” He asked, with a large, unsure grin. He had his hands clasped tightly in front of him.
“Maybe later,” I told him seriously.
“Now,” Chris said, nearly demanding that we eat cookies. He caught himself and then smiled. “They’re done and they’re really good.”
“How do you know they’re good? Have you had some?” I asked him, good naturedly.
He shook his head. “Mom won’t let me…” He stopped abruptly.
“Until we have some?” Zac asked, finishing for him. Chris didn't say anything, he just nodded shyly. “Well, let's go steal us some grub,” Zac grinned at him.
I watched as Zac lead the way into the kitchen. “Chris!” I heard Casey's exasperated voice.
“Zac told me to!”
“Zac!”
I laughed as I stood up and made my way into the kitchen. Casey was fighting an entire plate of cookies away from Zac.
“Isaac,” Casey cheered when she saw me. “A little help here?”
I laughed as I helped her get the plate from Zac. She smiled at me gratefully right before I handed the plate over to Zac. “Hey!” She scolded me, looking offended.
Zac held the plate out to Chris, who took two cookies. He smiled smugly as Casey glared at him.
“You are dead meat, Zachary,” she warned. “And you,” she said pointing a finger at me. “You've got it coming too.”
I smiled sheepishly as she stole the plate back from Zac, after he had grabbed a cookie, and set it on the counter. She proceeded to turn the water on and run her hands under it. I saw her slowly stop moving her hands and I could already tell she was thinking something. I could see half a smile form on her face before she grabbed the sprayer and turned around grinning evilly.
“Eee!” Zac yelped as she sprayed him first, unexpectedly. I wanted to run, but there was nowhere to run without getting sprayed myself. “You ruined the cookie!” Zac said, mournfully looking at his half eaten soggy cookie. Chris quickly moved behind me, knowing what was in store for him.
She quickly turned to me, the sprayer aimed right at my chest.
“I didn’t even steal a cookie!” I pleaded, holding my empty hands in the air.
“You’re just as guilty,” she said, holding the sprayer with both hands. “Any final words?” I laughed. Zac was still picking at his soggy cookie and Chris was still hiding behind me. “What’s so funny?” She asked, a slight smile planted on her lips. She was fighting it.
“Nothing!” I said, innocently, my hands still in the air. “Please don’t spr…”
Her hands tightened around the black sprayer and, instinctively, I jumped to the side, out of the way of the water. Unfortunately, Chris was still behind me, eating his cookie, and ended up with my punishment. The baffled look on his face sent Casey into a fit of laughter. I thought quickly and ran from the kitchen.
“Hey!” Zac called from behind. “Wait for me.”
We sat down in the living room, waiting for Casey to come looking for us.
“We should go make peace,” I offered, after a while. Zac nodded. “Go do it,” I told him.
“Why me?!”
“Because you started this,” I reasoned smugly. “Just go do it,” I demanded when I saw that he wasn’t moving.
“Okay,” he agreed, a little too easily, standing up. He was only in the kitchen for a matter of seconds before his face reappeared in the living room with a cookie in his hand. “A truce was called. Do you want some cookies? They’re actually really good.”
I looked at the cookie in his hand and then nodded.
“Go get you some,” he said with half of the cookie rolling around in his mouth.
I got up and went to the kitchen, but as soon as I walked through the door, I saw Casey standing there with the sprayer aimed right at me.
“I thought you said you called a truce!” I called to Zac right as Casey sprayed me with the cold water.
“I did,” he called back innocently, probably with a smug grin on his face. “Between Casey and I.”
“Oh God,” Casey moaned, drawing my attention back to her. She sounded worried.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, quickly concerned at the drastic change in her mood. Zac was just as quickly by my side.
“My water just broke,” she said, dropping the sprayer. My eyes fell to the puddle beneath her feet.
“Right now?!” Zac asked. He sounded excited. I was freaking out. All of the times that mom had said those words…what did dad do? I couldn’t remember…I couldn’t remember.
“Right now,” she nodded in response to Zac’s question.
“Right now!” Zac exclaimed happily into my face. He did everything but jump up and down with excitement.
“Mommy?” Chris said meekly from his spot at the kitchen table. He was scared and confused.
Casey’s face softened instantly as she heard his voice.
“Mommy’s going to have a baby,” she explained.
“Right now?” He asked, just as Zac had only moments before. He even had the same excitement. I scoffed.
She just nodded in his direction. “I need to go change my clothes,” she said, slowly moving from her spot near the sink.
I turned to look at Zac. “What do I do?” I asked him, hoping he had the answer.
“Call mom. I’ll get this mess cleaned up.”
I grabbed the phone in the kitchen and dialed Taylor’s number as I watched Zac and Chris get out the mop to start cleaning up the kitchen. They were talking animatedly back and forth. I was just waiting for them to start jumping up and down with excitement. I knew they wanted to.
As I was trying to explain to mom what was going on, Zac was trying to explain to Chris that when Casey came back, she’d be bringing Chris’ new baby sister with her. All this waiting, and it was finally time.
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