“Yes.” Elisha took a seat at the kitchen island. “What do I do?”
“About what?”
“Andrew’s right, it’s not me at all.”
“Honey, Andrew is a guy who can just about handle getting his wife pregnant. Speaking of pregnant, you’re being safe, right? No mistakes.”
“I’m not going to get pregnant. Watching you, it taught me.” She saw the flash of hurt cross Beth’s face, and she tried to repair the damage. “I’m sorry.”
Beth held her hand up. “You do know that Andrew and I, we didn’t want to get pregnant?”
“What? I thought you both did.”
“I’m grateful for all of our kids, and I know we’ve got a lot of them. Four is a lot.” Beth shook her head. “Andrew and I, we had a lot of plans, and by a lot of plans, I mean travel the world, enjoy each other, finish college.”
“You got pregnant out of high school.”
“We were together since we were both eleven, Elisha. He’s the only boy I’ve been with. The only man I want as my husband, and he’s a wonderful father. We talk about what our lives would be like, and sometimes, there’s a little yearning that we’d not made that mistake. Don’t get me wrong, we wouldn’t change what happened. We love our kids, but we do take time to think about what our life could be like.”
“Andrew does love you.”
“I know. I never doubt his love for me, and he never doubts mine.” Beth sighed. “Sometimes, Elisha, you’ve just got to take what life throws at you. If it throws you a ball, you kick it a little. If it doesn’t, you just keep on running.”
“I don’t think that makes any sense.”
Beth reached across the island and took her hands. “Don’t think about what you should do with Brant. Let your own feelings rule this one. If you want to have sex with him, and nothing else, then have sex with him. Have some fun because one day, you’re going to be old, and looking back. Don’t ever look back with regrets, as that is the hardest thing to do.”
“Do you have regrets?”
“No regrets at all. I always wanted children, and there’s always time for Andrew and me to get what we always wanted when we’re a little older.” Beth stood up. “I better go, and start taking out some food.”
Elisha helped her sister and stood with Andrew at the grill, preparing buns and helping serve up.
“I didn’t mean to offend you in there,” Andrew said.
“It’s okay. You won’t be the first guy to do it.”
“Believe it or not, Elisha, I consider you a sister, so my first instinct is to go and kill this guy. It’s either kill him, or make him take you down the aisle.”
She burst out laughing. “You’re lying?”
“I’m not. It’s the way they make me feel.”
“Wow, okay, I’m officially in shock.”
“Don’t be. You’re my little sister in all the ways that matter. I love Beth, and she loves and worries about you.”
“She worries about me?”
“All the time. She’s proud of your business, but she worries that it takes up too much of your time. She wants you to be happy.”
“I am happy.”
“Does Brant make you happy?”
“Yes, he does. It’s just, erm, it’s just…” She couldn’t think of the right thing to say in case he got a little overprotective.
“I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. From the first moment I saw Beth at school, I loved her. I was her best friend, and slowly, I showed her that no other guy would love her like I do. I hope one day, some guy will look and feel about you the same way I do about Beth.”
“Thank you.” Andrew was the joker, rarely allowing himself to be brought into something serious. She hadn’t always got along with him, and right now, she was seeing a side to him, she doubted many people got to see. Her family was opening her eyes to everything that was around her, and in that moment, she truly hoped she’d find what Beth and Andrew shared.
****
“Where’s lover girl?” Sean asked.
“At her sister’s.”
“Missing her?”
“I’m shopping because some little brat keeps eating my food, and pissing me off. Why did you even bother to come?” Brant asked, turning toward his brother. They were in the local supermarket buying groceries for the following week. Sean had an appetite that rivaled his own, and with him being home, he was eating him out of everything. There wasn’t even bread to make toast, and he always had bread.
“What else was there to do? I was bored, and besides, you always buy boring shit.”