Almost Broken by Portia Moore

room.
    “Good,” she nods, and her wide smiles changes. She quickly looks over her shoulder and closes the door behind her.
    “I know your mom said you thought this was a fantastic idea, but I just wanted to make sure that this is really okay with you?” she asks hesitantly, her hand gripping her wrist. She looks nervous and even though she just met my mother, she clearly sees that this was a desperate grandmother’s scheme.
    Still the moment she walked into the room while I was holding Caylen, my feelings changed.
    “I can’t think of any other place I’d rather you guys be than here,” I tell her, and her eyes widen a little and she lets out a breath. Maybe I shouldn’t have used those exact, words but that’s what I was thinking, and it just came out.
    “How do you like the room?” I say quickly, wanting to change the topic.
    “I love it. It was really sweet of you all,” she says a shyly. I can’t believe I make her shy but I do. I wonder if I make her feel as nervous as she makes me.
    “My mom picked everything out. My dad and I put it all together and everything.” I chuckle.
    “Your dad’s okay with me staying here?” she asks quietly as if someone is going to walk into the closed room.
    “No one asks him about anything around here,” I joke, and she laughs tilting her head back showcasing her big dimples. I try to command my heartbeat to stop speeding up. There’s a knock on the door that startles her. I guess she’s forgotten she closed it. She opens it, and my mom is standing there with a nervous smile.
    “What’s up mom?” I ask. the expression on her face worrying me.
    “Chris, can I steal you for a moment?” she asks. Lauren looks at me worriedly.
    “Okay,” I say calmly and give Lauren a reassuring smile. I release Caylen to the teddy bear she’s beating up. When I’m out the room, she closes the door behind me.
    “Jenna’s just pulled up outside,” she informs me nervously. Oh crap.
    “Did you tell her to come today?” she asks timidly. I nod. I did tell her to come today but I didn’t think she’d come right now.
    “Did you tell Lauren Jenna was coming today?” she asks tightly
    Nope.
    My mom lets out a nervous sigh.
    “Chris, with this many women in your life, you’re going to have to learn to communicate a little better.” She sighs. It’s not a communication problem, more like a procrastination problem.
    “I think you should let Lauren know that Jenna’s about to arrive,” she says, pointing me back to the room. I’ll go and let Jenna in the house. She shakes her head before leaving me standing next to the door looking like an idiot.
    I am an idiot.
    I should have talked to Lauren about this a while ago, but it can’t be that big a deal. She knows about Jenna and that eventually she’ll have to meet Caylen.
    It’ll be fine.
    I let out a deep sigh before going in. When I enter, she’s unpacking her suitcase. She glances up at me curiously.
    “What’s up?” she asks knowingly. I must look how I feel.
    “I wanted to have a chance to talk to you about this first but…well, Jenna’s here to meet Caylen,” I say and swallow the lump in my throat. She drops the shirt she was folding, and I can tell her breathing has changed. She doesn’t look at me. She keeps her eyes on the shirt she was folding. If I didn’t feel like an ass before, I definitely do now. Her face is flushed, and I know it’s not from embarrassment or maybe it is. The first time I saw her face flushed that color, Cal was the cause. This time I can’t blame on him. This is strictly because of me.
    “She’s here now?” Her sentence is quick but choppy.
    “Yeah,” I nod. The next few seconds are more than awkward. I have a feeling Lauren’s burning holes in the shirt she’s staring at to keep from burning holes in my face. There’s an eerie silence until Caylen starts hitting one of her books on the floor. This seems to snap Lauren from her trance.
    “Just give me a few minutes