Expect Caleb's story soon folks.

Bonus [2] : "Have You Ever Heard of Stapling Your Lips Together?"

"Elena." I groaned, feeling discomfort in my back. I pressed a hand to that area when Elena decided yet again that running and screaming was the right thing to do in the house. For the seventh time.

She's only been here for an hour.

Andrew tapped my shoulder, already moving after her. "I got her, I got her." He caught up to the almost seven-year-old and picked her up. She shrieked, and he laughed in response. "Come on, let's go swimming."

She squirmed her way out of his hold, almost flailing her hands that had black nail polish on her nails. "Yes!" She bolted upstairs with energy and excitement.

Way too much energy and excitement. I was getting drained just from the vibe of the child.

Andrew and I exchanged looks that showed similar exhaustion. I loved Elena as if she were my own child but how Ivan and Natasha handled her was beyond my belief. Her constant screaming and yelling blew my mind every time I saw her but the smile she gave anyone makes up for it all.

"Why don't you go rest?" Andrew asked.

"I can't just leave you with her." I exhaled, twisting my cell phone in my hands and adjusting my camera strap hanging around my neck and resting on the top of my stomach.

"Yes, you can. Natasha literally said that I'm the one that should be looking after her for today, not you. I'm off-season. And you're a whale-"

I hit him on his shoulder. "You're actually so rude."

"Okay," My best friend looked down at my stomach. "Maybe you're just a blowfish."

"Maybe you shouldn't call me anything that lives in the damn sea." I'm not SpongeBob. What I was was nine months pregnant, I thought, looking down at my very loose shirt that managed to cover over my stomach. If there was something I wasn't going to miss when the baby came out of me was maternity clothing. It wasn't just me who wasn't going to miss it. My husband couldn't care less but my mother-in-law hated them as much as I did.

"Whatever you say, whale." He pressed a hand to my stomach. My whale of a stomach.

When I had discovered I was pregnant, there was a whirl of thoughts going through my head.

One was that Maddy was beside me when I had a feeling at that time. That and I was late.

Maddy and I had lived together for a few years before Sam and I moved in together. Because of how much we were around each other while we were living together and after, our days usually linked up.

So, when Maddy had asked me that day about eight months ago if I had a tampon or pad, I froze.

I was late, and I didn't even think much of it.

Maddy and I proceeded to buy five pregnancy tests, ignoring the slightly judgmental look on the cashier's face and ran back to the apartment. Four of the five results read positive, thus making me mentally choked. I wanted to throw my birth control pills I had been on for five months in the trash.

We went to the doctor and the morning sickness I had been having was confirmed by the baby growing inside me, I called Sam right after. He had been at a game that day in another city on the other side of the country. I couldn't tell him that we're going to have a kid over the phone, so I waited three days.

Three days.

When he came home, I didn't even give him the chance to drop his bag. I let him take his hat off, take his headphone off his ears but that was it when I told him.

His reaction?

His phone fell out of his hands. It had landed face first on the hard floor, the screen breaking in a horrid way that made me flinch. My thoughts replicated his own; shock, slight fear but overall happiness. That complete happiness at the thought of someone that was of both me and him.

"Shut up," I told Andrew as he laid a hand against my stomach. Andrew was here for this week and the next, not wanting to miss me giving birth.

"Is your dad heading back?" He asked.

"I think he went sightseeing with Ivy. I have no idea. He said they'll be back soon."

Ivy, a woman I may never address as my mother because she really wasn't, was my father fiancée. As my father had started dating, we liked every single person he had brought along. But those women he had brought along were very different from him. Maybe that's what he wanted but it wasn't who he needed.

For instance, when he had dated Danielle, the mother of Sydney who had been dating Lucas, Sam's brother, at that time was a woman who was nice, but she contrasted my father so much it didn't work out. My dad was lenient when it came to how he treated Justin and me, however, Danielle was stricter with how she had dealt with Sydney.

From there, my father had tried other relationships and Ivy was the only other person who had stuck out. She complimented my father's personality so well. Plus, she was a football fan and that made her more appealing to me and she loved the environment which made appealing to Justin. In a way, she fits into our family and I loved it.

"Go lie down on the couch or something. Just relax. Martha said she's going to come over and make dinner for tonight. I called her earlier so we're good." Martha was our housekeeper and one of the best people Sam and I have trusted with the place whenever we were away.

"Thank you," I told Andrew as he started to walk up the stairs.

"Anytime," He flashed me a smile before yelling, "Elena, you better hurry up or I'll throw you in the pool myself."

I could hear Elena scream and Andrew laugh. He had been here for only a day. Three years ago, we had decided to have one week in the year dedicated to seeing each other. Last year, I had visited him in Los Angeles, meeting his interesting girlfriend Cathy who had been one of the two girls he had been in a polygamous relationship a while ago.

Andrew's life was interesting. I was glad to have him here with me. I rarely saw him after the wedding.

A smile came to my face at the thought of the wedding. I think Sam and I's wedding was a very interesting one. I knew it would be interesting the second I realized I couldn't have a maid of honour. Thinking back, I probably would not have had a maid of honour anyway. The closest girl friend I had till this day was my roommate Maddy and she was the one who had suggested for what I had done.

Instead of a maid of honour, I had a man of honour. And that was Andrew Prescott.

When I had told Sam about it about two months after we had gotten engaged, he laughed. When I told my dad about it, he laughed. When I told my Liz about it, she thought I was joking.

Throughout the whole wedding planning, I've never joked about a single thing. From the centerpieces to the food Sam and I had barely gotten to touch, to the damn cake I was happy to end up smashing on my husband's face, there was nothing I was joking about.

Especially not my best friend in the entire world being by my side while I got married to my favourite person in the entire world.

Phillip walked into the house, headphones around his neck and in workout clothes. The seventeen-year-old looked at me lying down on the couch and took a seat on the floor in front of me. "Hey, Mace."

"You went to the gym?"

"Yeah," He looked around. "It's oddly quiet."

"Caleb took Soccer for a walk. Ivan is at a meeting and Natasha tagged along so we took Elena off their hands. Andrew is with Elena in the back right now."

"Is dinner still happening tonight?" He asked, flicking his hair away from his face.

"Probably. Sam may not make it back in time though."

"Mum said she and dad are on their way." He said, still looking at his phone, not giving a care in the world about his brother. "Is your neighbour home?"

"Neighbor?"

"You know which one I'm talking about. Down the street?" The girl around his age. Made sense.

"What happened to your girlfriend?" I questioned. I've been wanting to ask for weeks but never found the time.

"Wasn't working out so we broke up. I have the Olympics soon, I thought we knew this. Sexual fever is up in that time." Jesus Christ.

"As long as you don't get a someone pregnant," I mumbled.

Phillip hefted himself up onto the couch next to me, turning the TV on. He laid his head on my lap, stretching his legs out on the rest of the couch. I looked down at my youngest brother-in-law, remembering how he had looked like when he was so much younger. From his pretty eyes to his wavy hair to the dimples etched onto his cheeks, he used to be the most adorable child in the world. Now, he understood what he looked like and used it to his damn advantage. Such a Cahill.

He looked up at me, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"You're getting old, PJ," I said, poking him in the cheek.

"I'm not even eighteen yet." He shifted on my lap, staring at my stomach.

"You're getting old, Phillip." I restated, hearing the door open once again.

But he didn't bother responding to my statement again. His eyes were still on my stomach, staring at it weirdly before looking up at me. "You're like a whale."

"Why is it that you and Andrew both compare me to an animal that lives in the sea?"

"Maybe because you similarly look like an animal that lives in the fricking sea."

In relation to that statement, I smacked Phillip on the back of his head and he groaned. "It's not my fault you're pregnant, I'm just telling you how it is!"

"You're literally the worst person ever, this is why you're single."

"You're literally not supposed to say that."

"I literally don't care."

Phillip stared right at my stomach. "Maybe when you come out your mother won't be the crankiest and rudest person alive. Maybe after you're born, she'll take a lesson on how to be a nicer person. Maybe after-"

"Maybe after you're born, Phillip here will learn to shut up."

I heard Phillip grumble under his breath, turning again to face the television. Then I heard the idiot say, "Maybe when you come out Macy will stop acting ugly."

I hit Phillip upside the head one more time and he flinched, pushing my head back with two fingers and I hit him on the stomach. "You're such a rat."

A loud bark cut through the air, interrupting the middle of our argument. Phillip and I turned our heads to Caleb as Soccer made his way into the living room, climbing onto Phillip and laying on his stomach.

"How was he?" I asked Caleb.

Caleb leaned against the threshold. "Better but he was walking a lot slower than I've seen him ever before."

I sighed, looking down at Soccer, both him and Phillip eyes on the gigantic television screen propped up on the wall. We've had Soccer for almost eight years now so as he was getting older so was his physical stature. I ran my hand through his fur and another hand through Phillip's own to annoy him but he merely chuckled.

Caleb made his way over, "What's for dinner?"

"You'll find out."

"Did you buy the ice cream, though?"

"You were flying in Caleb, I had to buy the ice cream."

Caleb cupped my face with one hand before patting my cheek. "You're a loyal one, Cahill." He got up patting Soccer. "C'mon buddy, let's go get you some food to eat."

Soccer leapt off Phillip's body, following Caleb into the kitchen just when the door opened once again. "Mace!" My dad yelled.

"Living room!" I yelled back.

Ivy appeared in the threshold first. Her bright smile on her face made me return it with ease. She was in the process of removing her purse and pushing her dark hair over her shoulders. "How are you? Any troubles?"

"Not now. Besides this rat." I said, glancing down at Phillip who only scowled but kept his eyes on the tv screen. "How was the journey?"

"We went on a little hike. It would've been a regular hike, but your father isn't exactly-"

My dad dragged himself into the room, wiping the sweat off his face. "I was perfectly capable of taking the hike. My mind was ready, my body was ready, everything was ready to take that hike."

"But?" Phillip and I asked at the same time.

"But the sun came out. I thought the weather here wasn't that hot during the summer. The second the sun came out, it was as if I was shoved inside an oven. You lied."

"Exaggeration runs in this family." I heard Phillip mutter and I lightly hit his cheek.

"I didn't lie. You've been here multiple times, I have no idea what you're complaining about."

"Maybe because every time he came here, he never went for a walk or a hike," Ivy muttered.

My dad shot his fiancée a look, making me laugh. "You insisted."

"Nick, you offered, liar."

My dad made a face, already leaving the room. "Macy, have you ever heard of me actually wanting to go on a hike? Does that even make sense?"

His voice faded away and Ivy pressed her lips together. "Hey, you're the one marrying him." I reminded her.

She laughed. "Justin said he's coming in soon. He's just fixing something up."

My immediate family (including Ivy) had managed to come over to stay the same week Andrew was. My father had heard Andrew was coming and claimed that Andrew's father, Jackson had sent him to check on their 26-year-old son. Because that made sense.

However, I knew they wanted to be around since the time for me to give birth was so soon. I understood why Ivy and my father were here, but Justin was a strange case.

When he had announced he was coming along so we should prepare a room for him, I was highly confused.

Maybe I was confused because my 23-year-old brother dropped everything to go catch a flight to see his pregnant sister. By everything I mean his job that he was loving every day by the second, his girlfriend who he has somehow stuck with off and on for so long I was shocked Emma herself wasn't here with him, and his friends. All for me.

That didn't add up.

I loved Justin and he loved me the same but that still did not make any sense.

"Thanks," I told her just as Phillip got off me and stretched.

"I'm going to go nap. Wake me up when it's dinner?" Phillip asked.

"Yeah, sure. Wait, can you send Justin in now?"

Phillip nodded, and Ivy left at the call of her name. About a minute later after scrolling through my phone, I heard Justin's giant feet make their way into my living room. "You called?"

"Sit."

"How bossy." He wiped his hands on his pants, taking a seat next to me. He was sweaty and shirtless, making me mentally barf when I realized he was sitting on my couch. My favourite couch. Letting the dirt on his skin go into the material of my said couch. Oh my, God.

"Shut up," I leaned back into the couch. "Why are you here?"

"What?"

"Why the hell are you here?"

"Do you mean in this house, your house?" He proceeded to lean back on my couch and I flinched, quickly managing to grab his hand and pull his back off.

"Are you stupid? Do not put your sweaty disgusting back on my couch. What is wrong with you? And no. Why are you in this country? On this side of the world, why are you here?"

He pulled himself to the edge of the couch, giving me a wary look at my small outburst. "Because."

"Because?"

He tapped at my stomach. "Because you're going to pop this one anytime soon and I want to see my new niece or nephew."

"Dude."

He sighed. "Emma and I are just having a bit of issues,"

"And you needed to get away?"

Justin waved a hand. "She might move."

"To where?"

"Oregon."

"In America?"

"Yeah. It's this job she's always wanted but we didn't know she'd be transferred all the way down. And they're providing her everything while she's there."

"And you don't want to move down there with her?"

"We have everything back home. It's the job she's always wanted. I'm just conflicted. I told her I'll let her know what I think by the end of it."

I looked at my brother, the guy who loved Emma with his whole being. He may be having thoughts about all of this, but I knew he was going to go with her. "You're making that face." He said.

"What face?"

"The-I already know what you're going to say and everything, but you'll figure it out on your own-face. That face that annoys the shit out of me."

"Oops?"

"No not oops. That's just how it is. That's the face."

"Macy!" I heard Martha, our housekeeper yell.

"I'm coming," I told Martha, starting to get up. I looked down at Justin. "You'll figure it out."

"Figure it out? I'm not a detective." He muttered, his eyes caught on the show playing on the television screen.

"That's good because you'd suck at being a detective," I said, walking out of the room. "Now get the hell off my couch and go take a shower to get all the nasty oils you call sweat off your body so you don't contaminate anything else in my house," I demanded.

Justin shot me a look and I gave him a fake smile. "Please and thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You dumbass, just take the broccoli." Of course, the father with his seven-year-old child in the room would swear.

"Ivan, I'm not five," Andrew mumbled.

"Stop acting like it then," I muttered, impaling the broccoli with my fork and shoving it into Andrew's mouth when it was open. He grimaced in response.

"Alright," Vince clapped his hands, making Liz smile at his sudden change in energy. "Mace?"

"Yes?" I asked, knowing where this was going.

"Place your bets." He slid a paper over to me.

Every single year, Vince Cahill and I had started to place bets on which team would win the football league season. Occasionally other Cahill's would join but it was something him and I bonded over. Even though Sam was the football player in the family, I had found out one summer that Vincent was an avid football watcher.

I placed my finger next to the team I decided, and he raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Did you see who they traded for left-wing defence? And their formation. Dude, they're going to win. Watch."

Ivan looked over. "Not even your husband's team?"

I leaned back in my chair. "Look-"

"Here we go." My dad said, leaning forward. That's when literally everyone leaned forward at the table. These people.

"You can't rely on one person for each team. Remember World Cup 2018? Everyone's like Neymar! Ronaldo! Messi! None of their teams even made it to semi-finals that year. So, listen, Sam's good, very good-"

"Sounds like you're talking about your sex life." I heard Ivan mutter and Caleb let out a huge laugh as Phillip snickered.

I glared at him. "Idiot. Anyway, he's their type of good. We all know it. But a unified team is what makes football at its best. It's what helps you win. Not one player."

"So, you're saying they're not going to win."

"If they take out that problematic mid-fielder who thinks he's the best on the team then maybe."

"Is it that Scottish dude?" Ivan asked.

"No, the Welsh guy." I confirmed. "Hughes, I think."

"Ugh," Caleb made a face. "He's such a dick. And the biggest kiss ass."

"Wasn't that the guy that got into that huge fight last season?"

"That was so bad," Vince said, grabbing the wine bottle to pour some in Liz's glass. "He kept getting carded every single game, I'm surprised they haven't kicked him out for all the unnecessary