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Number of reviews: 42
Print:  Chapter or Story
March 2014
“Sissy?” Cora asked.
“Yeah sweetie,” Sierra responded. She walked over to where Cora was sitting at the kitchen table.
“I need help.”
“All right, what are you working on?”
“These sentences,” the girl pointed to the paper in front of her.
“Okay. I can help you with that,” Sierra smiled. She pulled out the chair next to Cora and sat down. “What are you having trouble with?”
Cora explained quickly and Sierra helped her for the next fifteen minutes. Sierra had been helping her more and more lately and was starting to wonder if she really needed the help or was just asking for attention. She’d have to talk to Cora’s teacher to see what was really going on.
“Would you like to go see a movie this weekend?” Sierra asked. Cora was putting her book and notepad away in her backpack.
“Just me and you?” Cora asked and looked up at her as she zipped up the bag.
“Yep, just the two of us,” Sierra nodded. “You’re choice too.”
“Cool,” Cora grinned and leaned over to wrap her arms around Sierra. “Can we go out to eat after?”
“We can do that,” Sierra nodded.
“Hey ladies,” Justin came into the kitchen from the garage.
“Hi,” Sierra smiled when Justin kissed her cheek.
“Hi Justin,” Cora said.
“What are you guys up to?”
“English,” Cora answered.
“Cora and I are going to see a movie this Saturday.”
“Neat. What are you going to see?” Justin asked.
“We’re not sure yet,” Sierra stood up from the table and walked back over to the counter. Cora disappeared from the kitchen leaving Sierra and Justin alone. “I’m worried about her.”
“You are?” Justin asked as he wrapped his arms around her.
“I’ve been helping her with her homework for the past few weeks now and I don’t know if she really needs the help, or if it’s just for attention,” Sierra explained. “I’m going to talk to Mrs. Hastings about it tomorrow.”
“It’s probably just attention,” Justin kissed the side of her hand and then patted her stomach as he pulled away.
“I think so too,” Sierra sighed and rubbed her hand over her growing stomach. “My doctor’s appointment is tomorrow at nine. Are you going to come?”
“I was planning on it,” he answered and watched her bend over to get a pot out of the cabinet.
“We can find out whether it’s a boy or girl.” Sierra filled the pot with water and put it on the stove.
“Did you want to know?” Justin asked her as she walked across the kitchen to the pantry.
“I think it would be nice,” she came out of the pantry with a package of noodles. Justin grabbed it from her hands and she scowled.
“Go sit down,” he nodded his head towards the table. “I’ll cook dinner.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Sierra reached for the bag and he pulled it away before she could get. “You had a busy day.”
“Well so did you and I want to cook dinner,” Justin turned her around and lightly pushed her in the direction of the table. Sierra huffed out loud, but secretly she was happy to sit down since she didn’t feel like cooking.
“So what do you think about knowing the sex?” Sierra sat down on the chair and moved the one next to it so she could put her feet up.
“If you want to know that’s fine with me,” Justin stated and dumped the jar of sauce into another pot. Sierra shook her head at how he always seemed to never have a straight answer.
“We’ll find out than,” Sierra made the decision.
“Look Justin!” Cameron came running into the kitchen with a piece of paper in one hand.
“What’s this?” Justin took the piece of paper from Cameron and looked at it. “Very nice, buddy. Should we put it on the fridge?”
“Yes,” Cameron nodded and grabbed the paper from Justin. He walked over to the fridge and found a magnet to hang the picture with. Cameron went over to where Sierra was sitting and pulled himself onto her lap.
“Hey silly,” Sierra put her feet back on the floor so she was more comfortable. “Aren’t you going to show me your picture?”
“Oh yeah,” Cameron got down and went back over to the fridge. Sierra looked over at Justin and smiled when she saw him watching the two of them.
“How are you doing today?” The doctor asked after she closed the door behind her.
“I’m doing good,” Sierra sat back on the exam table. “This is my husband, Justin.” She pointed to him.
“I was starting to wonder if there was a husband,” she held out her hand for Justin to shake with a smile. “I’m Dr. Stevens.” She introduced herself and the opened the chart to read it over. “A checkup today and you do want to know the sex of your baby?”
“Yes’m,” Sierra nodded.
“Okay,” she flipped a couple of switches on the ultrasound machine. “Go ahead and lay down and we will get started.”
Sierra did as she was told and smiled up at Justin as he reached for her hand and squeezed it. They went through the standard exam and Justin grinned through the whole thing which made Sierra smile too.
“All right mom and dad,” she paused. “It looks like you are going to have a baby girl.”
“That’s great,” Sierra smiled. “Everything looks okay?”
“Everything looks perfect.” The doctor wiped Sierra’s stomach off and then pulled her shirt down. “I want to see you back here in a month. Just keep doing what you are doing and you’ll stay in good shape.”
“Thanks,” Sierra sat up and adjusted her top.
“It was nice to meet you Justin.”
“Nice to meet you to, Dr. Stevens. Take care,” Justin said. The doctor nodded and closed the door behind her.
“Shall we?” Justin asked Sierra and reached for her hand.
“Are you happy?” Sierra asked him as she hopped down off the table.
“Of course I am,” Justin leaned down and kissed her on the lips. “We are having a baby girl. That’s so sweet.” He placed his hand on her stomach and smiled before kissing her again.
“We’ve had a really mild winter this year so we’ve been able to get ahead of schedule.” Mr. Richardson explained as they walked onto the property. They made their way through several work trucks that were parked around the dirt covered area.
“That’s good,” Justin said and reached for Sierra’s hand.
“It’s looking like a house,” Sierra stated. The framing was up for every floor and some of the sheathing was beginning to go up.
“Are you able to walk through?” He asked Sierra.
“Yeah. As long as no one drops anything on me,” Sierra answered with a smile. She ran a hand over her stomach quickly.
“We’ll find you guys some hard hats before we go in,” Mr. Richardson said.
“Let me introduce you to the contractor and we’ll walk through with him.” Justin and Sierra followed him over to a small group of guys were standing and looking over the plans.
“Carter,” Mr. Richardson pulled one of them away.
“Hey Dave,” Carter responded.
“This is Justin and Sierra,” Mr. Richardson introduced. “Guys, this is Carter McIntyre, the contactor.”
“Nice to meet you,” Justin said as he shook the man’s hand. Sierra nodded hello and wrapped her arm around Justin’s.
“Are you guys here to walk through?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Mr. Richardson answered.
“Great. There are extra hardhats in the office,” Carter said. “I’ll meet you guys in a minute.”
“Okay. Let’s go get those hard hats and we’ll head on up.” Mr. Richardson when into the small trailer and came back out with two hardhats. He handed one to each of them.
“How do I look?” Sierra smiled up at Justin after she adjusted her hair underneath the hat.
“Cute.” Justin grinned and kissed her lips quickly before putting the one on his head.
They followed the older man into what was to become the open parking area and were currently being used for plywood and the saws. They walked into the foyer area and headed up the stairs into the main living space.
“This is a lot bigger then I thought it was going to be,” Sierra smiled. “This is nice. Are those stairs going to stay open like that?” She pointed to the staircase that was in between where the dining and family rooms were going to be.
“That was the plan. It’s not too late to close it off if you want,” Mr. Richardson explained.
“I like that. I’ll be able to watch the kids from here,” She stepped back a little bit and reached for Justin’s hand. “What do you think?”
“It’s great. I’m getting excited about this,” Justin responded and squeezed her hand.
“Justin!” Sierra yelled as soon as she felt the squish underneath her shoes. Justin appeared in the kitchen doorway. “What did I just step in?”
Justin looked down at her shoe. “Oh yeah, about that … we have a puppy?”
“We do huh?” Sierra raised an eyebrow as she reached down to pull her shoes off. She left them by the mess on the floor and walked over to where Justin was leaning against the doorframe. “That was nice of you to let me in on the decision.”
“Are you mad?”
“No. You just get to clean up after it.” Sierra walked past Justin and towards their bedroom. “So where is this new puppy of ours?” Justin followed her.
“The kids have her outside. They named her Lady.” Justin sat down on the bed. “So how was work?”
“Damn mood swings. I yelled at the kids today and I feel really bad,” Sierra said as she disappeared into the bathroom.
“Why’d you yell?” Justin asked.
“They wouldn’t stop talking,” Sierra answered. She came out of the bathroom in a different outfit and stood in front of him.
“And how are you doing now?” Justin asked and brought his hands up to her stomach.
“Sad.” She stepped a little closer and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I’m sorry you had a bad day,” Justin stood so he could kiss her.
“Can I go see the puppy now?” Sierra grinned against his lips.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Justin kissed her again before he followed her out to the backyard.
“Mommy is a puppy,” Cameron squealed when he saw her come out the backdoor. He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to where Cora and Olivia were playing with her.
“I see that. She’s cute,” Sierra bent over to pet the curly-haired puppy. “What kind of dog is she?”
“She is a labradoodle,” Justin answered seriously.
“Serious?” Sierra chuckled at the name.
“It’s a lab poodle mix.”
“That’s great,” she smiled. “Did you girls pick her out?”
“When Dad picked us up from school, she was in the car,” Olivia answered.
“I bet that was a neat surprise,” Sierra leaned into Justin when he moved behind her.
“Uh-huh,” Cora nodded.
They stood outside for a few minutes while the kids played with Lady. Sierra went inside to cook dinner and Justin followed to clean up the mess in the kitchen. And the family went through their nightly routine with their newest member.
“Not in the bed, Justin,” Sierra stopped him before he could rest the puppy on their bed.
“Ah … come on. Just for tonight,” Justin pouted and held the puppy up near his face. Sierra smiled at the picture they made together, but wouldn’t let herself give in.
“No,” Sierra said. “She stays in our bed once and she’s going to think it’s okay.”
“Fine,” Justin scowled and petted the puppy’s head as he leaned over to put her on the floor. “Mommy’s being a sourpuss, Lady.”
“Good night Justin,” Sierra adjusted her pillow and lay down.
“Good night Sierra,” Justin mocked her annoyed tone before turning out the light and lying down as well. “I love you.” Justin put his arm over her and closed his eyes. He felt Sierra sigh and relax under the weight of his arm which put a smile on his face.
That was a long one! But I hope you all enjoyed it. Please don't forget to let me know what you thought. And if you want to see what this puppy looks like go to http://www.n-outsync.net/images/lab.jpg.
Lots of Love,
Christine
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