A Sister's Love, Varissa Darke [books recommended by bts txt] 📗

and help out too." She said. So it was settled. We were going to fight. That bakery was more important to our family than anything, and we were going to do whatever it took to get it back.

Chapter 8:

"You guys better be careful at those jobs of yours!" The doctor smiled and chuckled. "It's insane for girls your ages, especially if you're pregnant, to be working so hard. You guys must really want this."

I looked over at Alex, then back at the doctor. "Yes. We do. This place means so much to us." The doctor's smile was warm and friendly as she listened to me.

"I know what you mean. My sister and I had a favorite tree we would always sit by during the afternoon and just talk, play, or read. It was a beautiful, gigantic oak. But then, one day, it was cut down. I would have done anything to keep that tree up there. So many memories were with that tree and it hurt to see it gone."

The doctor looked out the window thoughtfully. Then she turned her attention back to Ana and me. "Well, let's check these babies out! You guys want to know the sex, right?" I smiled and nodded eagerly. "Okie dokie. Well, then Ana, why don't you come up here first?"

I quickly stood up, along with Josh and sat down. As the doctor was checking the baby's heart rate, I looked back at everyone else in the room. I couldn't help but giggle. There was Mom, Dad, Alex, Jason, and Josh. Suddenly, the warm jelly stuff was being spread around my belly, which kind of shocked me and made me yelp.

"Sorry. That just kind of came out." The doctor chuckled and all of us in the room turned our attention to the ultrasound machine.

"Wow. Check it out Ana. There's your baby." I felt Josh's hand tighten around my arm as the doctor said that. I looked back at him. He was biting his lip, but he was smiling. "Wow. I would bet you anything that this is going to be a girl."

I looked up at the screen and saw what she meant. The baby had her legs crossed and was being stubborn, refusing to let the nosy doctor see their.

Suddenly, the air conditioner kicked on, actually startling the baby, making it throw it's hands over her ears and uncross it's legs. "Aww! It's a girl!!" Many of us shouted at ounce.

"Wow. It's like deja vu, though this time it isn't me in the chair." My mom laughed. "Ana did the exact same thing! Don't you remember honey?" She looked at my dad, then suddenly her hands were clasped over her mouth, realizing she'd just called him honey.

Dad didn't seem to notice though. He just kept looking at the screen. "Yeah. I remember. Ana was always such a stubborn little girl. But she was also so scared of loud noises." Dad stood up, and walked over to me. Josh moved out of his seat and let my dad sit there for a second.

"You've got a little you in there." He grinned. "She's going to be just like you. So strong, independent, and she'll fight for waht she thinks is right. She'll carry the blames and burdens thrown upon her, but she'll make it through, and come out stronger than ever."

My eyes got teary. I looked over at everyone else, especially at Mom, who was already grabbing tissues. I put an arm around Dad's shoulder, pullling him in tight, whispering thank you into his ear.

Next came Alex's turn. It didn't take any time at all to find out it was a boy. He seemed to be very proud of himself. "There's our little Corey." Mom said laughing.

Alex looked back at Mom, then grinned. She looked to Jason. "Corey." Jason nodded, grinning, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Sounds perfect." He kissed her forehead. "Our little Corey."

And so we left there that day, feeling better than we ever had in two years. We were a family again, with a few new additions to the tree.

Chapter 9:

I rested a hand across my sixth-month-pregnant belly. "You know what I just realized, Alex?" I turned to face her, our bellies almost colliding.

"What? That our parents are probably the two stupidest people in the world?" We both laughed, then took a peek out the window, seeing Dad's car already gone.

"My thoughts exactly."

Now you see, as you know, our parent's have been seperated for, like, two years. But, for the last two weeks, they have been actually going out! On, like, actual dates and stuff! But at least now they've finally realized they're mistakes, and hopefully won't do anything stupid like that again.

Alex and I slowly sat down together on the couch, comparing bellies, though they were the exact same size. "Haha. Mine's bigger!" Alex joked.

"Now way! Check it out, mine's like almost an inch taller." I joked back.

"Oh come on, maybe a quarter of an inch, but-"

"Ha! So you admit mine's bigger!"

Alex laughed. "Okay. Fine. You got me. But now, let's get serious for a bit. How much farther do we have until we can get the bakery back? We seriously don't have much time at all. The deadline is at the end of the month!"

I paused for a moment. "Well, between all the help we've been getting from everyone, we seriously are only about one hundred dollars off!! Don't worry. We can do this!"

I went to the window and looked out at the winding dirt road that lead to town. I smiled warmly, knowing that someday, we'd be going down that road to Alex and I's bakery, to be named Corey's Bakery, if we're able to get it back.

"Ready for school to start back tomorrow?" Alex asked.

I smiled. "Are you? Senior year. That's a pretty big deal."

Alex grinned. "I'll be fine. I've been doing this long enough. It's no big deal."

It felt good, knowing I'd be back in the South for a while. With Mom and Dad kind of back together, and they constantly going on dates, being so far apart would just complicate things, so Dad has decided to sell our house and move in back South with Alex and Mom. Yeah, this means I won't get to see Josh often, but I'm still happy.

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Two weeks later, Corey's bakery was bought and prepared to be put back in business, with promising results already. People were excited about the Darke family coming together again, and it turns out they'd really missed our deserts. Everything would be back to normal again.

Okay, strike that. Corey's gone and Alex and I are both knocked up. But hey, at least we can smile and laugh again. Together.

Chapter 10:

"Yeah. Only about two more months, I think." I overheard Alex saying to one of our customers. I smiled, resting one hand on my stomach as I pulled a batch of muffins out of the oven.

Corey's Bakery has only been open for a little while, but it's already done very well. The world is at peace, it seems to me. I feel like nothing in the world could ever go wrong! The Sun is shining, my entire family is glowing with happiness, and life is flowing at a beautiful pace, smooth as a summer's breeze. Like a beautiful puzzle, my life has been pieced back together.

"Ooh. Wow. Now those look very good! Well done girls!" Alex and I both said thanks in unison as customers continually complimented the deserts and decor. "Your parents don't even help you two out, do they? They just let you girls so all the work. But it's probably better this way. The place looks better than it did when your parents were running it."

I moved closer to Alex, wrapping a hand around her waist and resting my head on her shoulder. Together, we gazed out into our success, a color mix of oranges and pinks splattered along the wall and floor, dotted with display stands covered with colorful cakes and cookies, and tables and chairs. Along the walls were pictures and paintings. The pictures of all our family. My grandparents standing in front of the bakery when it was first opened, my parents standing in front of it when it was passed onto them, the a picture of Alex and I standing in front of it when we re-opened it.

But in the center of them all, the largest picture, was of Corey, the third current owner. He was smiling seemingly proudly at us. And the happy, rejoicing breeze told me he was. He was proud of us all.

Alex and I sat down together at one of the tables when business started to slow down a little. We discussed the old times, when she, Corey, and I would all run around the bakery showing off the deserts we decorated to the customers. Those were always the first deserts bought. The customers appreciated the hard work we kids put into making our sloppy, but beautiful cakes and cookies.

Never did we worry about what the future would hold for us. We knew that as long as there were people in the South, there would be a need for a bakery. One of our goals for the future was openeing up a