Page 19 of Only in Our Dream (Moonflower Cove #15)

Cameron

B eing the good Southern woman her mama raised her to be, Cameron was born to be the host of any party.

Especially if the parties were holiday themed.

She loved decorating for Christmas more than anything, which was why she and the kids usually went all out for the holiday.

Although she didn’t have big parties with lots of her friends, she did have the kids invite their own friends over for a party before the Christmas break.

Cameron grew more concerned each year that her house wouldn’t survive the presence of two dozen teenagers. How they could eat so much food was beyond her. Bottomless pits. That’s what teenagers were.

Thankfully for Cameron, that party had been over a week ago and her house and her refrigerator had returned to normal. Or well, as normal as could be for Christmas Eve. Cameron felt beyond frazzled at the idea that Melanie was spending her first Christmas with them.

Ever.

Never in their friendship had they spent the holiday together.

Melanie was usually with Rob’s family while Cameron was with her kids.

Sure, they’d gone to their fair share of the hospital’s Christmas parties together.

But there was something different about Melanie coming over to her house for the holiday.

It would be their first holiday as an unofficial couple.

Very unofficial, since Melanie’s divorce still wasn’t finalized.

Cameron had selfishly hoped it would be before Christmas as her own little Christmas miracle.

After all, Cameron wanted nothing more than to kiss Melanie freely under some mistletoe as if they were a part of some cheesy holiday movie.

But out of her deep respect for Melanie, Cameron would wait until the divorce was final.

Even if the wait killed her.

At least she had other things to focus on today.

With Melanie set to arrive early the next morning, Cameron was desperately cleaning every inch of the house.

Not that Melanie would give a shit. She’d seen the house when the kids were young and Cameron was working over forty hours a week.

Although she knew Melanie wouldn’t care if there was dust on the mantle, it mattered to Cameron.

She wanted to have a perfect holiday experience for her, the kids, and, of course, Melanie.

“Mother?” Dylan pulled Cameron from her thoughts, but that didn’t stop her from continuing to scrub the baseboards.

“Yeah?”

“What are you doing?”

“Cleaning the baseboards.”

“Why?”

Pausing, Cameron thought for a second as she watched the water from the sponge in her hand drip slowly onto the hardwood. Why was she on her hands and knees cleaning the baseboards when they’d never once been cleaned in all the years they’d lived there? It was a valid question.

“Because they’re dirty?” Cameron looked up at her daughter, whose arms were crossed over her chest. “I’m just trying to get the house clean.”

“Our house is always clean.”

“These baseboards say otherwise.”

“Is this because Melanie is coming over tomorrow?”

Cameron dramatically sighed. “Stop saying her name like that.”

“Stop being weird about Aunt Mel coming over,” Dylan retorted.

Putting a hand on her knee, Cameron stood. Her creaking joints reminded her she wasn’t twenty anymore and cleaning baseboards was probably a bad idea on her knees. But she’d never let Dylan know that. She put her hand on hip and smiled at Dylan.

“I’m not being weird about Aunt Mel coming over. I just want the house clean. That’s all.”

“Those baseboards have never been cleaned.”

“All the more reason for them to be done today.”

“On Christmas Eve?”

“Mhmm.”

“You’re insane.”

“Like mother, like daughter,” Cameron joked, sticking her tongue out at Dylan as she rolled her eyes. “Where’s your brother?”

“I dunno.”

Teens , Cameron internally groaned.

Jonah had gone out for burgers at Cameron’s request because there was no way she was going to dirty the kitchen by cooking.

All activities involving getting the kitchen messy were ceased until breakfast the next morning.

When she would get to make pancakes with the kids and Melanie for the first time.

Okay, well, not entirely true.

Melanie had helped her make the kids breakfast before.

But it would be the first time on Christmas Day, and that was a memory Cameron wanted to treasure forever.

“Can you check his location and see where he’s at, please?” Cameron opened the refrigerator and pulled out two sodas as Dylan sat at the kitchen island. She slid one across the table to Dylan, who popped the top with one hand.

“It’s showing he’s here.” She turned her phone around so Cameron could see it. Indeed, his little blue dot was hovering over the other two blue dots, indicating he was indeed at home. Cameron sighed. “He’s probably talking to Eva .”

“I hope that’s all he’s doing with Eva.”

“Dylan Nicole.” Cameron held up a finger at her. “Don’t you dare put those images into my mind.”

“What?” Dylan chuckled. “It’s not like they’re doing anything in the car. Unless Jonah is doing a solo performance.”

“That’s it! Enough.” Cameron covered her ears with her hands. “I never want you to say that series of words again, understood?”

“Fine.” The smirk on Dylan’s face told her she would not be adhering to Cameron’s new rule.

Although Cameron liked Jonah’s girlfriend, Eva, she didn’t like the idea of her baby boy growing up.

Cameron couldn’t stop the memory of when her first baby was born from flooding her mind.

She had no idea what to expect during pregnancy, but thankfully Isla, Vera, and Melanie had been there to give her all the advice.

Even if two of the three had never given birth themselves.

And the one who had somehow convinced Cameron to do a home birth.

It had all been going well until Cameron hit the transition part of labor. She’d naively thought the contractions at the start of her labor were what they’d be like the whole time and she had been dead wrong.

“Okay, fuck it. I want an epidural,” she breathlessly groaned to Vera, who had been there for hours along with Isla and Melanie.

“Are you sure?”

“Did I stutter?”

Vera held up her hands. “Okay. Okay. Calm down.”

“I can’t calm down; I have a basketball coming out of my vagina.”

“Well,” Melanie sheepishly shrugged, “technically, he’s not in your vagina yet.”

Cameron shot her a look that told her she wasn’t being helpful, which for some reason made Melanie laugh.

“I’m just saying.”

With Melanie and Vera helping her to Isla’s Jeep, the four of them headed for the hospital. At the time, Cameron lived about twenty minutes away from the hospital. They all thought she had plenty of time to get there.

They had all been wrong.

Jonah was ready to come out by mile four into the drive. Cameron squirmed and screamed in pain and she frantically tried to find a position that didn’t hurt like hell. Melanie had been in the backseat with her and helped her unbuckle her seatbelt and get her pants off.

“I’m going to check you.”

“Be careful. I have to poop.” She felt Melanie examine her and watched as her face went white.

“Vera,” was the only word that came out of her mouth, but it seemed to convey everything Vera needed to know and everything Cameron didn’t understand.

“Pull over up there,” Vera nervously instructed as Isla hurried down the road to a nearby gas station.

“I’m not going in there to poop.”

“No, you’re not.” Vera jumped out of the front seat, quickly opening the back door as she locked eyes with Cameron. “But you are having a baby in this parking lot.”

“What?” Cameron cried out in part pain, part shock.

Everything felt like a blur as Vera and Melanie helped her get into a position for the birth. Cameron leaned hard against Melanie, who was supporting her while she pushed and whispered the sweetest words into her ear.

“You got this, Cam. You are so strong. You’re doing amazing. The baby is right there. You can do this. I love you.”

Cameron had a tight grip on Melanie’s hand with the other gripping the headrest on the front seat.

Her legs were sprawled open, one on the back of the front seat and the other on the door, as Vera stood between them.

She tried not to think about the fact that anyone walking into the gas station could see her in a spread-eagle pose.

“He’s right there, Cam. One more push.”

And he was. Cameron watched in awe as Vera lifted her son up to her. She took hold of him with shaking hands, grateful that Melanie was still behind her.

“Hi, sweet boy.” Cameron kissed his head before turning slightly to look at Melanie. She had tears streaming down her face and the happiest smile Cameron had ever seen. “I had a baby in the car.”

“You did,” Melanie laughed, leaning down and kissing Cameron on the forehead.

“My Jeep will never recover from this,” Isla sighed in the front seat, bringing a sense of humor to the moment.

That night, Melanie stayed with Cameron and Jonah in the hospital. She didn’t have to; Cameron had told her that several times. But Melanie insisted.

“You’re not spending your first night as a new mom alone in a hospital with a baby. I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me. You and Jonah both are. I promise.”

Ever since then, Melanie had kept that promise.

She’d been there for Cameron, Jonah, and Dylan anytime they needed her.

Melanie never questioned why; she was just there at the perfect time.

Cameron knew how lucky she was to have such an amazing best friend like Melanie.

Not only was she so good to Cameron, she was equally as great to her kids.

And Cameron knew that love would continue after they started officially dating. There was such a peace that Cameron had when it came to the idea of dating Melanie that she knew it was meant to be. It had been in the cards for years for them and finally, their stars had aligned.

The back door opened and Jonah held the large bag of food. “Dinner is served.”

“My fries better not be cold because you were talking to Eva in the car.”

“Stop saying people’s names like that,” Cameron scolded yet again.

“Mom,” she whined, “stop taking all my fun away. If I can’t tease you and Jonah about your girlfriends then where is my fun going to come from?”

Cameron immediately held up a finger as she put her other hand on her hip.

“First off, I do not currently have a girlfriend.”

“Keyword on currently,” Jonah snickered, making Dylan laugh as well.

“And secondly,” Cameron narrowed her eyes at them, “it’s not nice to tease people.”

“Unless they’re family,” Jonah and Dylan said in unison before erupting into laughter.

Cameron tossed up her hands, knowing the conversation had divulged into mayhem. Not that she could blame the kids; Cameron was usually the one cracking the jokes. They got it honestly. There was no way to deny that.

Settling around the kitchen island, Cameron savored the way they all had their own places.

Dylan had her chair while Jonah had his and they never swapped.

Cameron had a chair beside Jonah she could use, but she preferred to eat standing up across from them to see them.

She felt it fostered a more open environment to talk, which she credited to her kids being so open with her.

“Mom was cleaning the baseboard earlier.”

“ What ?” Jonah dramatically gasped, and Cameron saw so much of herself in him it would have freaked her out if she didn’t love seeing it. “Not the baseboards. Is this because Melanie is coming over tomorrow?”

Cameron dramatically groaned. “Not you too.”

“I don’t know what the big deal is.” Jonah chewed and swallowed a bite of his burger. “It’s just Aunt Mel. She’s been over here like a million times before.”

“But never at Christmas.” Dylan’s singsong voice made Cameron want to roll her eyes. “And never as Mom’s girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Cameron repeated, adding more emphasis to her words as the kids exchanged sneaky looks.

“Not yet ,” Jonah replied with a smirk.

Picking up a fry, Cameron threw it at him as they laughed.

“Now, Mother,” Dylan sat up straighter, “is throwing fries going to help keep this house clean for Melanie ?”

She threw another fry at Dylan. “If you don’t stop saying her name that way, I’m going to have you outside cleaning the shutters.”

“It’s like twelve degrees and snowing.”

“Then you better be nice to your mommy.”

Cameron winked at her, letting her know she was teasing.

She adored her kids. Maybe it was because she had raised them all by herself, but Cameron felt a special bond with them she wasn’t sure all parents felt with their kids.

The Mackenzies probably did, that was all Cameron could think of off the top of her head.

They were her kids, yes, but they were also friends. Jonah and Dylan could tell her anything and vice versa. No judgement ever.

Or, well, only slight judgement when baseboards were involved.