“Okay, gross. Save your bedroom eyes for the next time you want to get her pregnant. I hope you’re both aware of how those lullabies are the best thing I hear on the road. Even better than the pit lane on a race day.”
Johanna has the voice of an angel and the singing to match. I can’t help how lonely my drunk ass gets at night while spending most of my year on the road with my F1 team.
“You really need a girlfriend. I can’t be your only best friend forever.” Johanna laughs before she winces, rubbing her stomach.
“All right. You two need to go.” I grab Elyse from Lukas’s arms.
“Did you buy the car seat I told you about?” My brother eyes Elyse as I rock her body gently.
“Yes, Mother. I even made sure to drive my SUV because you hate my convertible.”
Johanna smiles at my brother. “I wish you had a convertible sometimes.”
“They’re not safe,” Lukas grumbles as he helps Johanna into his Land Rover. Somehow, in a few years, he went from a carefree guy to a new member of the safety patrol. It all began after he married Johanna, bought a house, and got her pregnant. Who knew picking the hot, quiet girl for a lab partner would lead to this? Lukas should thank me for thinking with my hormones and my need to pass biology.
I walk to my SUV, opening the door with one arm before placing Elyse in her car seat. The pink contraption looks out of place against the black leather interior. I fumble with the straps before getting her settled in, her pudgy face and blonde hair looking fucking adorable.
I place a soft kiss on Elyse’s forehead before closing the door.
I turn toward the two beaming parents. “I’ll meet you at the hospital once the sitter gets set up at Mama and Papa’s.”
“You fucking better. See ya.” Lukas waves before pulling out of his driveway. Johanna smiles at me from the passenger seat, a vision of calm despite the potential hours of pain she will go through.
I drop Elyse off with the sitter before rushing to the hospital with my parents. My dad relaxes in a waiting room chair while my mom paces the ten-by-eight space. Her boots click against the floor as she alternates between staring at the clock and grimacing at the door.
My parents look like a Barbie and Ken duo set, all blonde hair and light tan skin. My mother gazes at me with stormy gray eyes, panic evident in her rigid posture. Her blonde hair bobs as she walks back and forth in a motion that does nothing to calm her while my dad does the exact opposite, leaning his head against the wall.
“Why don’t you have a seat?” I point at the empty chair next to me.
“I don’t want to. I hate this waiting part because I want to hold Kaia and breathe in that fresh baby smell already.” She closes her eyes and smiles.
“You sound like a serial killer.” My comment makes her eyes snap open. Pa laughs to the point of coughing.
My mom glares at my dad. “Don’t encourage his jokes. You’re the one to blame for how he talks to me.”
“Someone had to teach him how to have a sense of humor.” My dad grins at me, his blue eyes shining under the fluorescent lights.
My mom fights a smile. After a few more minutes of pacing, she sits by my side, pulling my hand onto her lap like I’m a toddler instead of a recently turned twenty-six-year-old. “Remember when we tried to set Johanna and you up for prom?”
“How can I forget. Lukas nearly kicked my ass into tomorrow.”
My parents’ front lawn has some fond memories, including Lukas proposing in the same spot where he decked me in the face years prior.
“That was the moment I knew they would fall in love. They were like a movie, with the smart jock and the shy girl. He was only biding his time.”
“You watch too many romance movies.” I shake my head.
My mom looks for fairy-tale endings in everything because she’s a hopeless romantic who found the love of her life at twenty-two. Lukas followed her love advice to the letter while I float around, not exactly pursuing anything more at the moment.
Johanna’s words from earlier hang around me. Am I clingy because I don’t have someone to share my moments with? I don’t want to be seen as a needy guy. What are a few drunk calls in the grand scheme of things? Some people text exes while I call my friends, which isn’t exactly a character flaw.
The skin around her gray eyes wrinkles as she smiles at me. “If it weren’t for those movies, I may have never given your dad a chance.”
This time I really do gag. “You guys should pay for my therapy because a psychologist would have a field day with this shit.”