Chapter 62: The Cheese Stands Alone

*ZOEY'S POV*

"Hey!  We're home!" I shout into the house after Terry and I finally make it home.  That sure is a long drive.  Nothing I want to be making over a long period of time.

I wait for a minute or so before I hear Amy yelling from the dining room, "In here, you're just in time for dinner!"

My stomach groans, and punches me in the spine in retaliation for waiting this long to eat.

"Hot damn!" I exclaim when I find grilled cheese sandwiches in the kitchen.

"Sorry it's nothing fancier," Amy tells me between chews.

I laugh out loud, "just cooking it at all makes it fancier than what I've been eating this weekend."

"Hey, you don't like Pops' cold cuts?" AJ ribs me.

"Yeah, sure, I love eating cold sandwiches eighteen times a day." I reply.

AJ smiles, "Pops always finds something that works and just does that."

With everyone sitting down, the chatter is replaced with sounds of chewing.  Yeah, this group has priorities.

I look for battle scars and signs that AJ and Amy successfully survived the weekend without permanent damage...maybe internal bleeding, cracks in the wall, chipped paint, but I don't see anything.

Terry walks in after putting the bags up with his own plate, "Wow, you two are both still alive and the house is standing, must be some miracle!" He is thinking the same thing I am.

We all laugh loudly.

"You guys got home just in time, I was about to chop him up and have him for dinner." Amy comments.

AJ gets a smirk on his face, "Sounds kinky...where do I sign up?"

Amy turns to Terry and looks at him with concern, "Please say you're taking him with you."

Terry laughs, "Sorry girl, BA won't let him back in for awhile...something about mooning the camera during last year's homecoming football game."

AJ shrugs and grins, "What can I say?  Leave it to me to inspire today's youth."

Terry almost chokes with that comment.

The boys casually jab at each other for awhile longer until Amy looks over to me and asks the question I have dreaded answering.

"So what did you think of the place?  Are you guys moving?" She asks.

Terry and I exchange a glance.  He looks a bit worried, but mostly it's a look of compassion.  We have been talking about the move the whole way home and we're both excited about it.  Even though Butterfly Acres is a little tiny place, I think I can deal with it as long as I get a new house built out of it...and it's more than that really.  I never thought I would be one of those women that would be willing to follow their husband wherever he wants to go, but here I am.

With all that in mind, I take a deep breath and tell her, "Yes, we're going to make the move."

She smiles, "That's great guys.  This will be a great new start for you all."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding in.

I'm sure she's not as okay with it as she lets on, but I think she's going to be okay.

****

The month goes by quickly and soon, we're all ready to go.  It surprises me how simple it has all been.  Of course, it makes it easy that we're going to be staying with Pops for a little bit while the house is being built and of course I don't have to sort anything out with my job.  I can send books anywhere.

After we load everything into the moving van, I meet Amy up in her bathroom.

"I think that's it," I tell her, a lump forming in my throat.  We've been living under the same roof for so long, saying goodbye is harder than I expected.

"Did you get your hampers?  And your bed?  And...?" Amy goes into big sister mode, which I know as her way of dealing with anything that is hard on her.

"Everything's good, promise," I tell her.

Suddenly the glassy, puppy dog eyes combined with a quivering lip start, "What am I going to do without you here?"

Damn it, this of course, gets me started, "There's room for you in the car, why don't you come with me?"

She sighs, "I would...but I need to deal with my sisters...I have a new niece or nephew on the way...my brothers are in town too...not to mention my parents...maybe eventually."

"Yeah, yeah, you know I'm not going to be able to survive in this little bitty town without you...Terry has already picked out where your house is going to be." I tell her.

She laughs, "Ha!  Where's that?"

"Right across the street where we can come over for dinner all the time!" I tell her.

She gives me a hug as we say our goodbyes.  At least we're laughing.

*AMY'S POV*

I hug Zoey like I'm grasping on for everything good in my life, and I realize that's about the truth.  She is my best friend, my sister, the person that has kept me sane through all these years.  Since we moved here and before.  She is the only person that can talk me off the ledge when need be.  I don't know what I'm going to do without her.

It has been what?  Months?  Weeks?  Days?  No, only hours since Zoey has been gone.  Already I feel an emptiness...like someone pulled my sould out of my body and cut off a big chunk thinking I wouldn't notice.  I haven't spent much time doing anything since she left but sit right here on the couch.  It's way too early to call.  Of course I can't complain to her because things really are as they should be...at least for her.  I have never been one to feel like I need a man, but sitting in this empty house with everyone else married off is difficult.  Maybe I should get a dog...I've never really been an animal person, but maybe...

The next day, I muster up the energy to visit Kelsey.  She's due any day and I have been slowly becoming okay with the fact that both of my little sisters have succeeded in having families where I have miserably failed.  

Yes, I am well aware that is a very unhealthy way to look at things, but I can't help it.

Here they both are, married and with children, and I'm still at home alone, unmarried, no kids.  It's depressing.

Of course, when anyone asks, I always lie.

"So what have you been up to, Sis?"

Truth: Sitting on the couch, eating potato chips in my pajamas.

"Oh, working on a new book.  Going out, that sort of thing." I tell her.

"Ugh, lucky bitch," Kelsey tells me, "I would love to be able to go clubbing right now."

"Are you insane?  You're like 80 months pregnant," I tell her.

"Yeah, and I'm thinking if this kid is going to survive our family, it needs to be able to handle some vodka..." she says.

"Kels..." I warn.

"Don't worry, the kid agrees with you apparently," she says, "I had one sip in my first trimester and puked all over me and Eddie."

"Shoot...maybe this kid has more sense than we do..." I say.

"Hmph, don't count on it." she says.

After my afternoon with Kelsey, I do need a drink, so I head to Island Jack's.

When I get there, AJ is in the DJ booth, where he works to pick up tips every now and then.  He really does just do odd jobs to make it.  He helps out with the bills a little, but he spends the majority of his time broke.

I have yet to see any sense of direction in him.

Of course I can't complain.  Having Andrew here has been a blessing in disguise...or just a blessing.  I didn't realize how much I would miss having a full house.  Even the smell of his cologne - a light scent with a touch of musk of man - is a comfort.

****

After a long night of drinking and partying, I wake up around noon with my phone almost literally blowing up.

"Hello?" I mutter when I answer.

"Where the hell have you been?  Why didn't you answer your phone?" an angry voice answers.

"Mom?" in my grogginess, the voice does sound a lot like my mother.

"No!" the voice squeals, "It's Bec!  Ew...what the hell...I've been trying to call you all morning!"

"What is it?" I shoot up and pray no one needs to be bailed out of jail.

"Kelsey had the baby!  It's a little girl and she's so cute...and I would stay with her, but I have to work..." Rebecca rambles.

I jump out of bed, "I'm on my way!"

We hang up and I get dressed before heading over to my sister's townhouse.

When I get there, she's up in the nursery with a little bundle wrapped in a turquoise blanket.

"Hey!" she greets me with a whisper.

I give her a hug, "A girl!"

"I'm going to kill Rebecca...she wasn't supposed to tell you..." she says.

"Eh, you know how she is...so...what's her name?"

"Ivy Kendall." 

Kendall is our grandfather's name and Kelsey has always wanted to name a child after him.

As if she already knows her name, a little coo escapes from the crib right before a little cry.

"Oh Lordy, here she goes again," Kelsey says.

"Oh, let me get her," I say.

"Okay..." she says cautiously.

I give her a look, "Hey, I carried your ass around when your were a baby."

"Yeah, and I still have that flat spot from where you dropped me," she jokes.

I jab her in the side as I head toward my niece's crib.

I have to say, Ivy is the prettiest baby I've ever seen.  She has her mother's dark skin and beautiful brown eyes.

"Hi, sweet girl," I coo, "You want Sissy to get you a bottle?"

Holding this little girl makes me realize just how much I want a baby of my own.  I don't know how much longer I can wait.

After feeding Ivy and getting her back to sleep for Kelsey, I come downstairs and witness a frightening sight - her trying to cook.

"Hey, you hungry?" she asks me.

"You're cooking?" I ask.

"Save the jokes.  It was either that or starve." She tells me.

So I sit down with her and we eat Mac and cheese...not a delicacy, but it's the first step.

Something has been off since I've been here and sitting down to dinner, I finally realize what it is.  

Kelsey's husband, Eddie, is nowhere to be seen.  What kind of man wouldn't be at home the day his daughter is born?