“Yes,” he replies, glancing over his shoulder.
“The house is yours. My assistant is bringing the paperwork up now. She’ll be here in an hour. Here are your keys.” She drops two sets of keys into his hand and disappears.
“Open your hand.” I do and he closes it as soon as the keys are set in my palm.
“Welcome home, Joey.”
I can’t help but smile as I look over my shoulder. The house is still open and I see right into our bedroom. The navy blue comforter is inviting and I know that tonight I’ll be in that bed with my husband.
As soon as the papers are signed, we head back to the hotel and pack our things. Now that we have a place, my mom will be able to ship the rest of my clothes to me and a few of my personal belongings that I left behind when we returned to Los Angeles.
Our next stop is Josh’s apartment. He’s not sure how Rob is going to take the news, but figures that he has to realize Josh and I can’t live there with him. I’m not going to lie, but moving to a house with twenty-four-hour security is very welcomed. I hate that anyone can have access to Josh whenever they want.
Rob’s watching television when we enter and Jules is sitting next to him. Or she was until the door opened and she put some space between them. Josh glances at me and shakes his head. I can see the anger in his eyes, but can’t tell if it’s because Jules is here, or if it’s because her and Rob were sitting so close to each other.
Either way, he doesn’t say anything and pulls me down the hall into his room where he starts emptying his dresser onto his bed.
“There are black bags under the sink … I think. Can you go get them?”
“You want me to go out there?” I point toward the living room wher
e my worst enemy is sitting.
“If I go, she’ll talk to me.”
“If I go, she’ll say nasty shit to me and I might hit her.”
A smile spreads across his face before he realizes that he’s laughing and shouldn’t.
“So what do I do?”
The only bag in his room large enough to hold his clothes is my wedding dress and I don’t want him to see it, so taking it out of the bag isn’t an option.
“Come back tomorrow and pack?”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” he says.
Before we leave, though, I snag my dress out of his closet and drape the garment bag over my arm. If Jules is here, I’m not leaving my dress.
“I’ll carry that for you.” Josh slings the bag over his shoulder and walks out of his room, letting me shut the door behind him.
“Joshie, we need to talk about the baby.”
He pauses near the door. I make sure to hold his hand so he knows that I’m there for him, and so she sees that we’re together.
“Not today, Jules.”
“When? Because every time I call you, you don’t answer.”
“That’s because I don’t want to talk to you.”
She points to her stomach and mine rolls. “This is happening whether you accept it or not.”
“I’m aware.”
“So talk to me then. We’re going to be a family, Josh.” She tries to touch him, but he steps back.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Jules. Joey is my family. You and I will co-parent, but when it comes to family photos, you’ll be nowhere near ours.”