Brady was sick and stayed home from work on Monday. He becomes such a baby when he’s sick. When I woke up and saw that he was still in bed with me, I quickly shook him thinking he had overslept. Brady rolled over and whined, “Stop it, Reese. I don’t feel well!”

I felt bad for him and apologized. I got up and made him some tea and sat it on the nightstand next to him.

“I don’t want any,” Brady grumbled.

“I think it’ll help make you feel better,” I reasoned with him.

He ignored me and rolled over.

Stacey called into work sick on Monday also. She and Luke went out on Sunday night (I saw on Snapchat), but Luke actually showed up to work. He was hungover as fuck, but he still came at least.

“I should probably let Dale know that Stacey isn’t actually sick, shouldn’t I? Maybe show him your Snapchat story?” I said to Luke.

He gave me a look. “Don’t be like that, Reese. You’re being spiteful.”

I gave him a, “So what?” look and rolled my eyes. “She hasn’t been here long enough to pull this shit. Just saying.”

I wasn’t actually going to tell Dale, but still. Stacey has barely even been here for a month. She hasn’t even earned any sick days!

Brady felt a little better on Tuesday (luckily) and ended up going into work a little later. Stacey came back to work too and I gave her a knowing look. She shrugged and smiled coyly. Like, she knows she can get away with it. It just annoyed me.

After work, Luke, Stacey and I went out for drinks. She was being super annoyingly nice to me all day and asking questions about Brady and my life (“Omg, so you just moved all your stuff into his place? Does he make you pay rent? Did it change your relationship? Do you cook for him every night? Do you separate chores?”) so maybe Luke told her that I threatened to snitch on her. But since she was being kind of cool, we all decided to get drinks.

Stacey told us that she is looking for another job and has been interviewing elsewhere.

“I just need to get paid more. The job I interviewed for yesterday starts at $65k a year,” she explained.

“What job?” I asked.

“Basically I’d be investigating financial fraud. They found me on LinkedIn. And they’ve already emailed me requesting a second interview,” she said.

I nodded, wondering if I should tell anyone that she was looking for another job. Not even to be a petty bitch, but if she doesn’t plan on sticking around for long then her boss needs to know.

“How much do you make, Reese?” Stacey asked me.

“I’m not telling you,” I scoffed, shocked that she would even have the nerve to ask.

“I bet you make more than $65,000. See, I need your job. You make bank and you literally do not do anything.”

See how shady she is? We were having a good day, but she always manages to piss me off. I decided not to argue with her so I just shrugged and pulled out my phone. I had a new iMessage from a weird number I didn’t recognize.

Guess who it was?

Brady’s mom. I swear my jaw hit the floor. I’m shocked that that woman even knows how to use an iPhone. And how on earth did she get my number?

I responded, “Hey, how are you?” back.

She said, “There was a death in the family and I’d really like Brady to travel home for the services this upcoming weekend.”

Brady didn’t mention anything about a death in the family to me, but he doesn’t tell me anything so.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” was all I could think to say.

“He hasn’t made arrangements to come home, and I haven’t been able to reach him. If you get a chance to speak with him, will you please stress to him how important this is?” Brady’s mom said.

I can’t believe she was asking me for a favor. Brady hasn’t even told me about this death so how was I supposed to convince him to go home for the services? But I still said, “Sure.”

She said, “Thank you,” and that was the end of our texting conversation.

When I got home Brady wasn’t home yet so I started on dinner. He came and found me in the kitchen and he looked tired, but not as sickly as he did that morning.

“Your mom texted me,” I greeted him.

His brow furrowed. “What? Why?”

I shrugged like it was no big deal. “She hasn’t been able to get a hold of you. She wants you to come home for the funeral…”

Brady sighed, throwing his hands up dramatically. “I don’t want to fucking go, Reese!”

“Who died?” I asked.

“My great aunt. I haven’t seen her in probably fifteen years. I’m not going all the way back home for that,” he said.

“Oh, maybe you should. Your mom really wants you there and you don’t want to regret it.” I don’t even know why I was pushing it. Maybe I just thought I was doing the right thing. I guess it wasn’t really my place.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Brady mumbled and stormed out.

I decided to give him some space and not bring it up again. I didn’t want to fight with him about something I didn’t even care about. But when we sat down for dinner, he told me that his flight was leaving at 9:00 PM on Thursday night. I guess he felt guilty.

Since Brady was gone for the weekend I decided to have people over on Friday night. I dug into my margarita board on Pinterest, made margaritas and invited Preston, Joe, Lexi, her bae, her friend, Maci, and Luke over.

I got a little bit drunk and decided to invite Marco over. I got approval from Preston first – he told me that we needed more testosterone. Marco showed up with two guy friends and a bottle of Don Julio. I heard him ask someone, “Where’s my favorite tequila lover?” and I ran to greet him. I took him around to everyone and introduced him as my best friend.

Then we went to the kitchen and talked about life. Marco and I have a strictly platonic relationship, obviously, but sometimes he will sneak in comments about how I’m hot or have a nice body. I try to shut them down immediately and tell him he’s being ridiculous, but usually I don’t even acknowledge it. Is that bad? It’s not like I like or need the attention, but overall he’s a great guy friend to have. Plus, I always tell my girl friends how pretty they are and comment on their boobs so it’s fine right?

The next morning I woke up in bed with a bottle of water next to me. It kind of freaked me out because that’s something Brady always does. I called him and he couldn’t talk because he was with family. He texted me after we hung up and said, “I might come home with a surprise.”

I can’t handle surprises so I badgered him for the next two hours about what it was. He was busy and couldn’t respond so obviously I was dying of curiosity.

Later on in the day, I was at Nordstrom (returning things I purchased online) and Brady called me back.

“What’s this fucking surprise?” I greeted him.

He laughed. “My aunt had a dog and they aren’t sure what to do with it. No one can take on a pet right now.”

“So you’re going to keep it?” I gasped.

“I don’t know. I was thinking about it. Maybe we could just keep him for a little while until we find a permanent home for him. I don’t want him to have to go to a shelter.”

When Brady said that it melted my heart – how sweet he sounded wanting to make sure the dog was safe and happy. We hung up and Brady sent me a few pictures of the dog, a tan Pomeranian looking thing. I was instantly in love and couldn’t wait to meet my new child! Literally almost started crying is the middle of Nordstrom.

So my baby daddy and son came home on Saturday night. Brady told me that the dog (Tucker) was coming with some supplies, but after I left Nordstrom I went crazy at Petsmart and got him a new bed, collar, toys, treats and a Santa outfit (I just had to).

I was waiting in the living room when Brady walked in with all his stuff and what looked like a dog carrier.

“Where is he? Let him out!” I squealed.

Brady laughed and put the pet carrier down, letting Tucker out. He came bounding out and ran right over to me.

“He likes me!” I said, picking him up.

“He’s really friendly. He likes everyone,” Brady replied.

I glared at him.

Tucker and I bonded all night. Brady kind of yelled at me for buying him new things when he already had them, but I insisted that he was starting a new life and needed new things. I’d set up Tucker’s bed at the foot of our bed, but after we turned off the lights he started whining by the side of the bed.

I got up and put him back in his bed, thinking that was the solution.

“He wants to sleep with us,” Brady said.

I’ve never slept in a bed with a dog so I wasn’t sure how I felt. I put Tucker in his bed then I got back in our bed. Literally one minute later he was whining again.

“Tucker,” I warned in my best mommy voice. “It’s bedtime.”

In his little world bedtime must mean play time because he started dancing on two legs.

“Oh my gosh, he’s so needy,” I said.

“Just bring him in the bed and let’s go to sleep,” Brady said, yawning.

So I brought Tucker in bed and he curled up between Brady and me and was sleeping within five minutes. So cute!

We were rained in on Sunday so I made breakfast and Brady and I sat around drinking this red wine/chocolate drink I got at the grocery store. We ended up getting into a fight about the basement because I wanted all new furniture and Brady assured me that we don’t need it. I mean, it’s nice and all, but it’s way too bachelor and basement looking. I won and we ordered a glass entertainment center, a modern coffee table, and an armchair. I really wanted a new sectional, but Brady wouldn’t do it.

I felt bad leaving Tucker home by himself when I went to work yesterday. I seriously considered working from home, but if we are going to keep Tucker for any significant amount of time, then he needs to learn to be alone. I felt like I needed to keep him confined to one room so I moved his bed, food and water into the office and closed him in there. Apparently he didn’t like it because the people who live upstairs texted Brady asking if we got a dog because they heard him  whining and barking all day.

Can you believe I finally have a doggie? He’s so sweet and cute and wants to be near me all the time (he literally follows me into the bathroom and sits at my feet). I’m secretly afraid that Brady is going to find someone who wants him and we are going to have to give him away.