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“No,” she says, not at all convincingly.
“Well, I hesitate to say you’re not making it any easier.” I sit on the bed again and run a hand down her back. “This isn’t easy for Allie either. She thinks you hate her. She’s about to share a household with a teenager who she’s terrified will stop at nothing to break up our relationship. How do you think that makes her feel?”
“Maybe she shouldn’t have gotten herself in this situation then.”
“Darla, that’s it. You need to stop blaming Allie.I’mthe one who got us in this situation.”
“She’sthe one who got pregnant.”
I laugh disingenuously. “It takes two, and I know you know that.” I sigh, taking a beat to breathe in and out so I don’t say things I’ll regret because I’m mad. “Listen, getting used to this is going to take time, but I’m telling you right now, I’m not going to stand for you disrespecting her in front of me. That shit ends right now. I don’t want to ground you or take away your phone, but I will if I have to, is that understood?”
She rolls her eyes.
“Darla?”
“Yeah. Fine. Whatever.”
I stand and hold out a hand. “Now let’s go look at some houses, okay?”
“Do I have to?”
“Yes, you have to. Otherwise we’ll end up with a two-bedroom house without a pool or a theater room where you have to share a room with the babies.”
Her eyes practically roll out of her head. But she stands and follows.
Allie meets us at the front door. “Ready?”
Bug pastes on the fakest smile I’ve ever seen. “All set.” She turns and heads out the door. “My bedroom better be gigantic.”
Allie and I share an amused look, then I take her hand and we trail after Bug.
Chapter Twenty-five
Allie
“This one really does check off all your boxes,” Julie, our realtor, says, standing in the kitchen and twirling around as if to showcase it.
“Nope.” Bug shakes her head. “I don’t want to sleep in a room that shares a wall with babies who will be crying all night.”
Julie is getting frustrated with Bug. We’ve seen three houses, and in each one, Bug comes up with a reason why we shouldn’t buy it. I can tell Asher is regretting his promise to let her help choose where we live. If she keeps this up, it’ll be next winter before the perfect house comes around. Then again, maybe that’s the game she’s playing.
“Maybe we should reconsider the first one,” Asher says. “That upstairs bonus room could easily be converted into a game room or home theater, and there’s plenty of room for a pool.” He turns to Bug. “And no common wall with the babies’ rooms.”
She crosses her arms. “But Ineedmy own bathroom, Dad. We agreed.”
“Maybe we should expand our search outside town limits,” I say.
“And give up the running trails you love?” Asher says. “No. We’ll just have to make one of these work.”
“Butnoneof them will work,” Bug says. “And you said I could help pick out the house.”
Asher stares down his daughter. “Helpbeing the operative word. Maybe when you’re the one footing the bill you’ll get more say.”
She stomps out of the house.
“I’m sorry she’s being so difficult, Julie. All three of these houses are beautiful. Maybe if we let her sleep on it she’ll get on board.”
I can just tell Julie is trying to keep her eyes from rolling. She thinks Asher is letting his thirteen-year-old drive this train, and she’d be right. Asher is trying to include Bug to make it easier on her. But all it’s really doing is making it harder on everyone else.