twenty two

After the previous night's events, Elianna wakes early with the baby, putting her in the wrap so she can be close before heading downstairs and cooking breakfast for the kids.

Pancakes, eggs, bacon, and one Abrielle feeding later, the plates are made for the kids just as Brayden's voice fills the house from his bedroom... squealing as usual.

Jogging up the stairs, Elianna's met with Justin who groggily exits the bedroom, stopping in his tracks once he sees her.

"There's breakfast downstairs," she tells him simply, opening the door to Brayden's room and taking him out of the crib before placing him on the floor and letting the two other kids out of their rooms as well.

The three kids run downstairs, Elianna following close behind as Justin stands at the top of the stairs in a confused state.

He was normally the one to get the kids up and breakfast ready.

Slowly, he makes his way downstairs and into the kitchen where the kids were eating their plates of food and Elianna was making one for him.

"Here," she says, handing it to him before beginning to make one for herself.

"Uh, thanks," he says, not knowing how else to react before sitting and eating.

Elianna, on the other hand, stands in the corner of the kitchen, eating her food and listening to the children giggle.

After breakfast, the children get up and run to the playroom to play while Elianna immediately starts cleaning up.

"I'm gonna get dressed and go get groceries. Can you write down any extra stuff that we need that's not on the list yet?" Justin asks, gently placing his plate next to the sink where she's washing the others.

"Yeah."

"Okay," he nods, jogging upstairs and into their bedroom.

Downstairs, Elianna sighs as she hears the shower start to run upstairs, finishing up the dishes and then writing a list of groceries... in detail.

"Here's the list," she tells him, giving him a piece of notebook paper instead of the small pad he had seen earlier.

"There's so much detail on here," he chuckles.

"Yes, because I normally do the grocery shopping and if you're going to do it you need to get the right stuff," she tells him calmly, wiping down the counters and table before Abrielle starts crying.

"Okay, honey," Elianna soothes, washing her hands and starting to feed Abrielle, holding her with one arm while continuing to do things with the other.

"Okay, um, I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay."

Justin leaves the house, feeling odd about how Elianna is acting.

Her anxiety must be high or something. He thinks to himself, shrugging and getting into the car.

Inside the house, Elianna leans against the counter, closing her eyes and letting out a big sigh before going to the playroom where the kids were yelling for her.

"What's up, guys? I'm feeding Abrielle."

"We want you to play with us," Kameron tells her.

"Okay honey, I'll play after Abrielle's done eating."

"Okay!" he exclaims.

Once Abrielle is done with her feeding, Elianna drags her swing into the playroom, plugging it in and putting her in it with a blanket tucked under her sides before getting on the ground and playing with the kids.

Meanwhile, Justin arrives at the grocery store, getting out of the car and grabbing a cart and heading inside.

"Mr. Bieber?" someone says fifteen minutes into his shopping.

Turning on his heel, Justin notices Tyler Matthews behind him, grinning.

"Mr. Matthews!" Justin says, faking a smile and shaking his hand. "How are you?"

"I'm well, I'm well. You?"

"Good," Justin nods. 

"I heard your wife had the baby, congratulations."

"Yes, thank you." Justin nods.

"Little girl, right?"

"Yes, Abrielle."

"Beautiful name, did you come up with that?"

"Uh, no. Elianna's loved the name since before Brayden came along," Justin replies. "I heard it and fell in love with it as well."

"Wow, that's great," Tyler says.

Justin nods. "Thank you. Listen, man, I'm kinda in a hurry. I need to get home to Elianna and the kids but it was good to see you."

"You too, you too," Tyler says, shaking Justin's hand firmly before letting him walk away.

After Justin gets the rest of the groceries, he checks out and loads them into the car before driving home.

Once arriving, Justin walks into what seems like a perfect home, setting the groceries on the counter and table before making his way to the playroom where Elianna sits playing with the kids and Abrielle is in her swing, awake yet calm.

He quietly turns away from the room, unloading the groceries.

Back in the playroom, Elianna hears the rattling of cans, making her get up and exit the room to enter the kitchen.

"You're back," she says.

"Yeah." he grins, taking the cans over to the pantry.

"Let me help," she says, starting to reach for a bag.

"No," he says, stopping her. "Let me do this."

She raises her eyebrows. "Okay. I'll let you do it."

After an awkward moment, Justin sighs, turning to her. "Look, I'm sorry. I just, I need to feel like I can do something."

"What are you talking about?" She asks, laughing lightly.

"I come home and everything's perfect. All four kids are happy, you seem fine and I just went out and got groceries," he says, shaking his head.

"And?"

He licks his lips. "You can do all of this without me."

She lets out a laugh. "Yeah, I can. That doesn't mean I want to."

He looks over, his brows furrowed.

"I'm completely capable of doing all of this by myself, Justin. But I don't want to. I've been a single mom, it sucks and you should know. You were a single dad."

"But you're not a single mom anymore-"

"Sometimes it feels like it," she says, finally letting out the statement.

His face falls.

"Look, I know work is struggling terribly and I know that things are not looking great right now so you need to focus on that stuff. I do. But, you have a family too. And believe it or not, we are important," she tells him. "Remember? You can do as much work as it takes but when you don't appreciate and spend time with those you do it for it's for nothing."

He stares at her, a million thoughts going through his head.

She frowns. "Please stay home longer."

He lets out a frustrated sigh, shaking his head. "I can't, Elianna."

"Why not?" she asks.

"Because you just said it! Everything at work is falling the hell apart. I have to put it back together. I have to come up with a solution." he tells her.

"But-"

"I'm sorry." he cuts her off. "But I'm returning to work whether you approve or not."

With that, Justin leaves the room, groceries and bags left all over the once clean kitchen.

Sighing, Elianna wipes a tear that had fallen down her cheek and begins to put the rest of the groceries away and place the bags in recycling.

She then goes back to the playroom, not knowing where Justin disappeared to... and not wanting to worry about it.

Instead, she makes the rest of the day great. Spending it with the children and finishing the night off with a movie and snacks, Abrielle asleep on her chest and the other kids cuddling with her and each other.

Maybe this is what my life will be like. She can't help but think. At this point, I think I'd survive.

***

hello my beautiful people!

i really hope you're enjoying the storyline!

question for you, would you want a FOURTH book?

let me know by commenting below!

much love,

shan:)

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