"Yes, mother," I said in my teenager-ish way. "I am well aware that I need to be home soon and I will. We're cleaning up sleepover stuff and I'll be back." I glanced down at the sleeping baby resting in my left arm, praying she wouldn't wake up and start crying. That would ruin the whole plan.
"On your way home would you pick up some air freshener? It does not smell pretty in the bathroom," she said.
"Ella again?"
"Uh-huh."
"Okay. Love you," I said before hanging up. I shoved my phone in my back pocket and switched Melanie to the other arm.
"You can put her down, you know," Natalie said, closing the dishwasher and turning it on.
I pointed a newly-painted fingernail at her. "I'm making up for a year of not knowing I'm going-to-be-slash-am an aunt. There's no way I'm putting her down yet."
She threw her hands in the air. "In my defense, I thought you'd turn to chocolate a lot sooner than you did."
"But now I don't have to buy them any Christmas presents, so you're forgiven."
"Hey! I pooped the thing out!" she said loudly, the faintest glimmer of a smile creeping onto her face.
"And kept it from half her family," I teased.
"I thought I'd been forgiven for that?"
"You are. I'm just never going to let your hear the end of it."
Before we could continue our banter, my phone rang in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked at it. "
It's my little Irish friend!" I grinned.
Natalie's jaw dropped.
"FaceTime, too!"
"Well don't just stand there! Answer it!" she shouted at me.
I laughed and pressed the "accept call" button.
"Merry Christmas!" Niall shouted.
"Niall! Don't shout," a woman's voice said before the person appeared. "Who's this?" she asked, waving at me through the camera.
I grinned and waved back.
"Mum, this is Melody. Melody, this is me mum."
"Hi, Niall's mom!" I laughed, waving again.
"You didn't tell me she was a mum herself," she said.
Niall sputtered. "W-well, I didn't know either, s-so... um, Melody?"
"I'm not!" I laughed.
"She is!" I yanked Natalie over by her shirtsleeve. She wiggled her fingers at the camera. "This is my niece," I explained, looking down at Melanie. "And this is my sort-of sister, Natalie." I pointed at Nat, who wiggled her fingers at the camera again.
"You have a niece?" Niall asked incredulously. "How come you didn't tell me?"
"I didn't know either!" I said defensively.
"How did you not know your sister was pregnant?" Niall's mom asked.
"Oh! I didn't really explain this very well, did I?"
"No!" three voices shouted at me in unison.
"Natalie is, uh... was my brother's girlfriend. When she was only a few weeks pregnant, he, um..." Natalie bit her fist and walked away.
"Died," Niall finished quietly.
There was a moment of silence before Niall's mom spoke up. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked."
"No, it's fine. I'm used to it," I said. "It's human instinct to be curious. You weren't overstepping a boundary or anything."
"Oh, good. Well, it was nice meeting you, Melody. I have to get back to making dinner."
"Bye!" I shouted as she walked off the screen. Natalie reached over and I reluctantly handed Melanie over to her. She disappeared down the hallway.
"How are you today?" he asked.
"Meh. I got in a fight with a friend this morning. I don't think I'll be talking to her anytime soon." "Which friend?"
"Katrina."
"Thing One or Thing Two?"
I held up one finger.
"So tell me this Natalie story. What's that all about?" He asked leaning back in his chair.
"Will died on his way home from Natalie's. He was coming home to tell us she was pregnant." "Why didn't you tell us that when you told the story in the first place?"
Facepalm. "I didn't know then! I seriously just found out a few days ago."
"Well why didn't you call or send a text or anything?"
"Why would I tell you before Nat and I tell my family?"
"You haven't told them yet?" He sounded appalled.
"We were going to do that tonight."
"When were you planning on telling us?"
I nearly hung up the call. "Does it matter?" I said loudly. "Is it really any of your business?! This isn't about you! This isn't about your band! This is about my family! I don't have to tell you anything, but I do because you're my friend! Do you honestly think that I wouldn't have told you eventually? If you haven't noticed, I've been going through a lot of shit this past year and it's hard for me! My brother died, I've been away from my family for months, and I just found out my dead brother's girlfriend had his baby! Sorry for trying to deal with this shit by myself because I have to be strong for my family."
"Jeez. Sorry I asked."
I pinched the bridge of my nose, realizing that I was frustrated with myself and not him. "No, you shouldn't be. I'm just under a lot of stress right now. I had no reason to snap at you and I'm sorry."
Natalie broke the awkward silence after that. "Melody! I need your help!" she shouted.
I stood up with my phone in hand. I flipped the camera view to the external camera and started trotting to Melanie's nursery.
"Nana-nana-nana-nana-nana-nana-nana-nana-nana-nana-nana-nana BATMAN!" I shouted as I entered the small room. "Whoo-ee that is quite the smell." I held my breath. "What died in here?" "My sense of smell," Natalie coughed. "You wanna help me? We got an up-the-backer."
"Hang on! I'll call Mom!" I said, then froze and shook my head. "Nope! Not gonna call Mom! Gimme a second."
I grabbed a towel from the bathroom and laid it on the floor. Setting my phone down so I could see Niall, I switched the camera view back so he could see what was going on. I picked up Melanie and held her under her armpits above the towel. "Wipe," I instructed holding her away from my body. She kicked her shit-covered legs. "Yeah you think this is funny, don't you?" She smiled and strained her legs a bit. SPLAT, went more shit on the towel.
"That," Niall said, "was disgusting and yet oddly fascinating." I had forgotten he was watching. "Disgusting overrides the fascinating part of the digestive process when you smell it," I said, inhaling through my mouth. "Nat, hold the bomb." She took the baby and held her at arm's length over the towel. I grabbed a new wipe and started cleaning her legs.
"I think," Natalie started, "she's gonna need a bath."
"Oh, really?" I said sarcastically.
"Yeah," my phone responded. "She does. I can see it."

---

"Her dog rolled in poop. So we have to give it a bath," I said into my phone.
"Well why doesn't she just leave it outside?"
Yep. That's my dad. He's nothing if not practical.
"It's an indoor dog. And it's freezing out. And she lives in an apartment. And, uh, I don't know if you've noticed, but we're in a winter storm warning. Ever heard of it? Blowing snow, high winds, temperatures plummeting. Where have you lived all your life?"
"Why can't she just wash the dog by herself?"
"It's a puppy. It moves. A lot. And if we just lock it in the bathroom or something, it'll probably drown."
"It's a DOG. Not a baby."
If only he knew.
"I just called to tell you I'll be later than I hoped, not to start an argument."
"Fine. But you get your scrawny ass back here as soon as you're done washing that dog." "Yes, sir! Love you, Dad," I said.
"Love you too."
"Was that Dale?" Natalie asked when I walked back into the bathroom.
"Yeah. He's pissed that I'm not home yet. Apparently Christmas is being held in my bedroom, so I have to clean it."
She laughed. "I'm glad I don't have anybody coming over. This apartment is a mess!"
I stared at her blankly. "We just spent the morning cleaning. This place is nearly spotless."
"And I still have to wash that towel."
"Throw it out. It's much easier than staining a whole load of laundry with baby diarrhea," I said. "Now hurry up! I'd rather not get grounded."
"I'm trying! Go get clothes for Melanie. It'll go much faster then."

---

"So just go up to my room and stay there, 'kay?" I said. "Don't stop until you get there. We can't let anybody see Melanie."
"Okay. Then I'll just come back down?"
"Yep."
As soon as I opened the door, she split for their stairs and I went for the kitchen.
"I'm home! What's the issue?" "Nothing anymore, no thanks to you," Heather said grouchily, standing up from the barstool she was sitting on.
I threw my hands up in the air. "In my defense, I was putting the finishing touches on your Christmas present."
The sound of feet coming down the stairs startled everybody. "Nobody's here yet, and we're all in here...." my mom said, trailing off, confused.
"Chill, guys. It's part of your present. I finally tracked down the girl who fell of the face of the earth."
"Amelia Earheart?" my dad offered.
Facepalm.
I heard Ella gasp. She ran behind me and hugged Natalie. She was closely followed by everybody but my dad.
As my family caught up with Natalie, I slipped upstairs to my bedroom to check on Melanie, who was wide awake but not making a sound.
"Yeah this place is pretty different, isn't it?" I said softly, unbuckling her from her carseat restraints. "This is my room. You'll get to see the rest of the house later, but we have to open presents first."
I lifted her up and cradled her against my body. "Should we go see Daddy's room?"

---

Melanie and I laid on Will's bed, staring at the ceiling. I was nearly convinced that she was either dead or a doll, but then I'd feel her breathe and remember that she's alive and a baby.
"So this is Daddy's room," I said to the baby laying on my torso. "Your daddy's name was Will. He was nice and kind and would've loved you with his whole heart."
I started to tear up a bit. "And even though he's not here, he still loves you very, very much. Don't you ever forget that." After that she started moving more. She rolled off my stomach and onto the bed, landing belly down. I watched her lift her head and look at me. "Brighter colors are probably easier to see than boring old me, huh Mellie?" I said, scooping her up in my arms.
She smiled. "I love you," I said. "And Daddy does too."
"And so do I," Natalie said, walking in. "I finally got away. I told them I had to pee and Ella tried following me." I laughed.
Natalie stole Melanie from me and walked around the room. "It hasn't changed a bit," she said quietly. "Just like he's still here."
I nodded. "I try." She smiled and sat down on the bed, smoothing her hand over the duvet. "I remember Will and I would lay here for hours, staring at the ceiling and talking about nothing." She looked at her hand. "He was gonna marry me," she said quietly. "He promised he would. He said he was going to build us a life from the ground up." She paused and wiped a tear from her cheek. "And now he can't."
I walked behind her, opening a dresser drawer. "He was going to," I said, standing in front of her. "It's not going to make you feel better. It might even make you feel worse, but he was going to." I opened a small drawstring pouch and dumped the contents into my hand. I held the cold medal between my middle and index fingers, holding the ring out to her. The silver band was thin, the diamond was small, and the whole thing was very simple, but Will thought it was perfect. "He was going to wait a couple years until he was nineteen, but since he's not here to give you the ring, I figured I would."
Natalie reached out and gingerly took the engagement ring from my hand, staring at it intently as she brought it closer to her face. "It's absolutely perfect," she breathed.
A tear rolled down her cheek and off her chin, dropping onto Melanie's face. I wiped it off, knowing Nat wouldn't notice.
She put the ring on her left ring finger and looked up at me. "It would've been the best thing to be your sister-in-law."
I smiled sadly. "You've always been my sister. And we don't need a marriage certificate to prove it."
She stood up and I hugged her, careful not to squish the overgrown three-month-old potato between us.
"Let's go introduce a baby to the awesome side of her family, shall we?"

Notes

Alright, alright. It's been forever since I've updated, I know. I'm a horrible person, really. My only excuses are the ones that have been recent. School ended two weeks ago. I had to study for finals for two weeks before the actual tests and then I had to pack to go camping and I got sick over that weekend and I had zero energy to do anything at all and then I had a week before I started working and I took that time to be a lazy ass and watch "Supernatural" for a week and then I started work on June 2nd and I had like, two full days of work and I woke up on Wednesday with a HORRIBLE stomachache. I biked to work, got the kids their cereal, and laid down on the couch and curled up in a ball. I had to go home after an hour. I went to the ER in town that night because my stomach hadn't stopped hurting all day and they took x-rays of my stomach and came up with abdominal gas pain, which meant that I needed to shit but I couldn't. So long story short, I was constipated and in SERIOUS pain. My doctor just told me to drink 80 ounces of water every day and eat fiber-rich foods. Well, I couldn't eat or drink anything without making my stomach hurt even worse, so I gave up on that. My mom and little sister came home a day early from camp last night (really late at night, too) because I couldn't eat or drink anything and my dad was at work, so mom called a student of hers that my family knows well and told her to bring me to meet up with her in Fargo so I could go to the ER there. Keep in mind, this all went down at midnight. I got to Fargo at one this morning (June 6th) and waited for an hour before getting in to see a doctor, and he looked at my x-rays and was all like, "Yup. You're constipated."
I'll spare you the details of what happened in the ER, but I'm no longer constipated, but I'm tired (got home at SIX this morning. The freaking SUN was coming up when I left the ER) and today is my rest day. I go back to work on Monday.
But you guys don't really care about that.

I'll be updating soon (I hope).