Read Online Live-In Position by V.S. Tice - Free Book Online Page A

going to throw my bag into my old room, okay?” I started for the stairs.
    “Um…Sophia?” Carla stood next to my father. He was holding her hand with a look of trepidation on his face.
    “Yeah?” I stopped at the bottom step.
    “Umm…just throw your stuff up there and then we’ll talk.” He waved me on nervously.
    My eyes flashed to Carla’s face. She seemed a little upset. I quickly threw my bag on my old bed and went back downstairs.
    “So...?” I stood behind the couch leaning on the back of it. My father looked up at me, still obviously nervous. “What’d you want to talk about?”
    “Sophia, I, uh…” He rubbed his face and then took a deep breath. “Carla is living with me now. I asked her a couple of months back, and she just moved in a few weeks ago. I was going to tell –”
    “That’s great, Dad.” I smiled and walked over, wrapping him up in a hug. “I’m so happy for you.”
    “Really?” The nervous lines melted from his face.
    “Absolutely!” Pulling him tighter into a hug, I patted his back.
    Carla entered the room with a tray of snacks and drinks. Once she set the tray down, I walked over and hugged her too. Moving back, I asked her, “So, think you can get him to marry you too?” I winked and she blushed.
    “Rick, I told you she wouldn’t be mad at you.”
    Thanksgiving dinner brought about a house full of guests. Carla’s nieces and nephews, sister and brother-in-law, and an older woman everyone considered a grandmother, all gathered at my father’s house for dinner. It was a great time listening to Carla’s brother-in-law and my father’s old high school buddy tell stories about when he was a young man in Tacoma. It had been a long time since my father’s house had felt so full and warm.
    For a quick moment, my mind wandered to my mother and our last Thanksgiving with her. It had only been the three of us. We’d eaten around her bed in the living room. She didn’t eat much, but she had smiled most of that day.
    “Soph?” My father’s voice pulled me from my memories.
    “Yeah?” I gave him a small smile.
    He wrapped one arm around my shoulders. “I miss her too.” I allowed one tear to escape but refused to be sad today. Mother would never have wanted that.
    “Am I that obvious?” While wiping away the lone tear, he squeezed me tighter.
    “I just know how to read that face of yours.” He kissed the side of my head. “You are so much like your mother.”
    I placed a quick kiss on his cheek.
    It was ridiculously early the next morning when my cell phone pulled me from some much-needed rest. Thanksgiving had gone on into the late hours of the night, and I had dreamt of my mother.
    “Hello?” I croaked.
    “Sophia, it’s Amber, I’m so sorry to call you, but Larissa went into labor this morning and we are all at the hospital. Mrs. Bedford asked me to call you and ask if you could come back earlier today.” I groaned. “I’m so sorry Sophia.”
    “No, no, it’s fine. I’ll leave soon. Give me about two hours, okay? I’ll call you if I’m running behind.”
    Victoria came skipping down the hospital hallway and jumped into my arms once I finally made it back to Seattle.
    “Sophia!”
    “Hey you!” I squeezed her. “I hear you are getting another cousin.”
    She nodded excitedly. A tug on my jeans and I looked down into the sweet baby face of Ryan. He had Larissa’s blonde hair and Max’s hazel eyes.
    “Hey there, little man.” I ruffled his curly blonde locks.
    “Up too.” He held out his arms out to me.
    Moving Victoria to my left hip, I scooped Ryan up onto my right. Both of them yawned at the same time.
    “Hey, Sophia, you got your hands full.” Amber appeared out of a room with exhaustion evident around her eyes.
    “Just a little,” I smiled. “I’m gonna take Victoria back to the house so she can take a nap. You want me to take Ryan?”
    “Oh, you don’t have to do that. I’m going to take him home right after the baby gets here.