Not Perfect, Laura Banister [book club suggestions .txt] 📗

went up to watch ‘What to Expect When You’re  Expecting’ (ironic right?) before starting on dinner.

 

I enjoyed having Christen around, we did everything together. We maintained Grandma’s garden, and eventually even cleaned out Grandma and Grandpa’s room, adding Grandma’s pictures to the wall down stairs. We attended our weekly baby class, and went to every doctors appointment together. We even organised a car for to drive.

 

A few weeks had passed when Christan suddenly locked herself in her room. She hadn’t been out in days. I tried to leave her be, knowing she would come out when she was ready, but she wasn’t eating, and so I got worried.

 

I knocked on her door, but she didn’t answer. Slowly I turned the door handle, surprise when it turned fully and begun to creak open. It wasn’t locked. I crept inside, shutting the door behind me. I looked about the room. Cans and bottles were scattered across the floor, each one labelled as either Jack Daniels or Jim Beam. Christan was curled up on her bed, a bottle of Jim Beam in her hand and tears streaming down her face. She looked a mess. Her eyes were blood shot and had dark bags underneath like she hadn’t slept in weeks, her skin was pale and her clothes and alcohol stains on them. I approached her slowly, easing myself on to the bed next to her.

“Christan?” I spoke softly. She looked up at me slowly as more tears ran down her face.

“I saw him” her slurred.

“Saw who?” I asked.

“Riley” Riley was Christan’s ex-boyfriend.

“He was with someone” She continued, crying even harder.

“I’m so sorry Christan” I said, moving up closer so she cuddle into me.

“You need to forget him, Christan. His not worth your tears. No boy is worth your tears. If can’t see what his walked out on then that’s his fault” I said, holding her close.

“I can’t do it anymore, Sienna” She cried.

“Yes you can, you’re a strong girl, and your not alone, I’m here for you, and soon you will have a little baby who will love you more then anyone else”.

Christan looked up at me through drooping eyes.

“But you need to stop this” I said gesturing to the bottle still in her hand. She looked down at the bottle.

“Not only for yourself but for your baby” I continued.

 

Christan eventually stopped crying and got up from the bed and walked over to a small bin beside her bathroom door before dropping the bottle into it. She turned around to face me as I smiled at her. I got up and hugged her.

“Now lets get you cleaned up” I said, talking her into the bathroom and running her bath. While she washed up, I wandered around cleaning her room, and changing her sheets, before getting her some food. Together we curled up in her bed and got some sleep.

 

I woke the next more the sound of running water. It was Christan in the shower. She was up early. I climbed out of her bed and made my way up the stairs to the kitchen, turning on the kettle and wandering around to get a couple of cups and the milk to make us a cuppa each. By the time I finished making our coffee’s, Christan was bounding up the stairs.  I handed her a cup as she walked in.

“Thanks” She said taking the cup and having a sip.

“How did you sleep?” I asked.

“Better then ever. I still feel a little groggy but, I will be ok. You?”

“I slept fine. Still asleep though” I giggled. Christan smiled back at me.

“Ok, so why don’t you go have a shower, and I will make us some breakfast before we go” It was baby class day, and we didn’t go last week so we had to go this week.

“Sounds good. I’ll be back” I said as I trudged back down stairs and off to my room.

 

After our baby class, Christan and I decided to go a little shopping for baby stuff. Since neither of us wanted to know the sex of our baby until they were born, we only got a couple of uni-sex outfits for the babies to come home in, and some baby essentials.

 

We decided to take apart my old learning room and turn that into the baby room. We spent the rest of the day moving out all the old furniture so we could move in some of the new stuff. When we had finished, neither of us could be bothered cooking, so Christan decided to go get some take out.

 

I was curled up on my rocking chair watching Dark Shadows when I heard Christan pull up. I continued watching the movie until I heard the front door slam open. I jumped up in surprise, and rushed towards the front door. Christan stumbled towards me, a drunk guy hanging off her.

Christan's Brother

I rushed to help Christan, grabbing the other side of the drunk guy.

“Take him to the lounge room” Christan said almost out of breath. We dragged him to the lounge room and dropped him on one of the chairs.

Christan ran back out of the room before I could say anything. I followed her out to the kitchen.

“Christan, who the hell is that?” I asked sternly.

“That’s Ethan” she answered.

“Who’s Ethan?” I asked.

“My brother” she answered, looking at me like I had forgotten something.

“I didn’t know you had a brother” I said.

“Yeah, his four years older then me”

“Ok so what’s he doing here?”

“I found him stumbling across the road, well rather I almost hit him, not found him”

I sighed and walked back into the lounge room. I looked and the brown haired guy passed out on the rocking chair. Him and Christan did look a like. The hair colour was the same, as well as the light tan skin tone. His hair was short, but still came down across his face. Ethan’s head was dropped to his left shoulder, his body slumped down. His grey v-neck shirt crumpled up enough I could see the hairs of his snail trail. His body looked toned with a nice 6-pack. He wore a pair of dark blue baggy jeans and a pair of black boots that looked brand new. Both his hands were cut up around the knuckles like he had punched something, or someone, really hard. I walked back out of the room and down the stairs to my bathroom, returning with a bowl of warm water, anti-septic wash, a bag of cotton balls, and a couple of bandages. I cleaned all the blood of his hands, being careful not to wake him up, before bandaging them up. I grabbed a blanket that I had curled around me earlier and draped it over him. Christan was still in the kitchen laying out the food she had bought for dinner. She bought us KFC. I grabbed my box of chips, pop corn chicken, mash potato and gravy, and a drink and returned to lounge room. Christan joined me and together we watched the rest of Dark Shadows before heading off to bed.

 

I woke up early the next day. I climbed out of bed, had my usual morning sickness into the toilet, hoped into the shower and getting dressed in a nice black and white floral dress that tied up around my neck and went all the way to the floor. My belly was showing and all my pants were starting to get too tight. I left my hair down in waves down my back. Slowly I made my way up across the hallway. Christan’s door was still closed, but I could hear the shower running. I made my way up the stairs to the kitchen. I moved straight to the kettle flicking it on and grabbing a couple of cups out before turning around and getting scared out of my skin.

“Oh My God!!” I yelled, as I jumped, my hand going straight over my heart. At the other end of the kitchen stood Ethan in just his jeans, no shirt. He held a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. His hair was damp around his face, and his brown eyes sparkled as he stared at me.

“Morning” He said with a smile on his face. His voice was sweet, but strong, that my knee’s felt like they’d go weak.

“Hi” My voice sounded so shaky to me that I begun to feel my cheeks getting hot. I quickly moved to the fridge to get out the milk. I moved back to the bench, the whole time feeling Ethan’s eyes on me. I quickly finished making mine and Christan’s cup of coffee. I picked mine up and lent my back up against the bench, looking at Ethan as he stared at me. His soft red lips curved up into a smile. His hands were cupped around his cup in front of him, sitting just above his belly button. I took in his body. He was nicely muscled. A firm 6-pack, nicely shaped chest muscles, and ripped biceps. I wanted to feel each muscle, run my hands of each one.

“You have a very nice house” His voice shocked me out of my thoughts. I looked up to his face to see him still looking at me. My cheeks boiled beneath my skin in embarrassment.

I looked down at my cup before answering.

“Thanks” My voice was sounding a little bit more normal this time. I suddenly heard Christan coming up the stairs, picking up her cup and holding it out for her to grab as she walked in.

“Ooh, thank you very much. I need some coffee” She walked straight over to Ethan giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Good Morning Ethan” Her voice had a light bouncy tone to it. She lent back against bench across from me and had a sip of her coffee. She was also dressed in a dress today. Her’s was a blue and black dress that flowed down to the floor and also tied up around her neck. Even though the dress was loose, it still pulled tight around her belly. Christan was only a few weeks more into her pregnancy, but her belly looked so much more bigger than mine.

“Oh” Christan suddenly called, her hand moving to her stomach.

“Do you like my coffee, baby?” She said talking down to her belly. I looked at her in confusion, which she noticed when she looked up at me with a large smile spread across her face.

“It’s kicking!” She exclaimed. I quickly moved over to her, place my hand over her stomach. I felt something pushing up into my hand. I giggled in response.

“Wow. That feels so weird” I said. Ethan moved his hand onto her stomach. A joyful laugh escaped Ethan’s lips.

“I can’t believe my little sister is going to be a mum” He said looking at his little sister. Christan smiled up at him. Quietly, I moved away, and made my into the lounge room. I needed to sit down. My back was already begin to ache. Christan and Ethan soon joined me, and Ethan begun to tell us how he ended up wandering across the street.