Saving Beth

by Kaylee, Katy

  After a few moments, I dried my eyes and knew that even though I would always miss my sister, she was finally at peace.

  “Let’s go home.” I whispered softly and Aiden kissed my tear stained cheeks before taking my hands and leading me across the small hill towards where the car was parked.

  As we walked though, a strange feeling settled between my shoulder blades, like I was being watched. It made my neck prickle and the hair on my arms stand on end. I scanned the cemetery and it only took me a moment to pick him out.

  He was standing off to the side, too far to be part of the group but still close enough to watch, hiding in the shade of a large tree.

  His eyes met mine, medium brown, nothing out of the ordinary, but a shudder ran through me. He lifted his hands and I noticed the paper he held. After a moment, he nodded, just a single nod of his head, before turning and disappearing back into the shadows.

  With Will’s help, I had been able to recover the story Leah had been working on from her laptop and the paper she’d worked for had run it. They had published the piece, exposing Aiden’s uncle and cousin for their part in the murders of all those people, and exonerating Redman. He was free at last.

  I glanced up at Aiden, drawing in a deep breath and letting out, letting the weight I had carried with me all those months go with it.

  We were all finally free.

  Epilogue

  Aiden

  I stood at the edge of the garden, watching Beth carefully prune a small but beautiful little rose bush, a small smile curving up either side of her all too kissable lips. Her belly was rounded with child, with our child, and she was even more beautiful to me now than she was when I’d first laid eyes on her eleven years before.

  She had captivated me then, enchanting me with her quick wit and challenging spirit and laughing gray eyes. But now, the emotion that rose up and threatened to choke me was something so much deeper, so much more powerful, than anything I could have imagined.

  “You’re going to get a sunburn out here.” I called to her and Matteo snorted, shuffling the newspaper he was reading from his seat on the side of the garden.

  “That’s what I keep telling her but does she listen to me? No. Of course not. No one listens to Matteo.”

  I shook my head at the other man. He had taken it personally when she had been abducted by rivals nearly a year ago, and with everything that had happened afterward, with Redman and my uncle and cousin, he had only grown even more overprotective of her. Clucking over her like a nervous hen with a baby chick.

  Beth took it all with a good nature, saying that Matteo just needed to settle down but ever since Beth had started to show, he had only grown worse, hovering over her and checking on her and the baby to make sure they were okay.

  When their baby finally was ready to join the world, they were going to have a whole slew of overprotective uncles. God help her if it’s a girl, I thought with a shake of my head, just picturing them all watching over her throughout babyhood, going through middle school and junior high. Her first dance.

  I shook my head again, hoping for a boy. But I knew, secretly, I would love a girl. I glanced up at Beth, who was still busy tending to the plant and pretending we weren’t here and smiled. A little girl with pale blond hair and big gray eyes and a green thumb. Just like her mommy.

  I couldn’t hold back the smile as I walked closer, looking around in awe at what Beth had done to the garden in just a few short months. No longer was it choked with weeds and overgrown with ivy. Now, it was lush and green and bursting with life and colorful blooms everywhere I looked.

  She had taken something that had been all but given up on and she’d nursed it back to life with love and caring and her particular brand of patience until it was thriving once more.

  Just like me. I thought in wonder.

  I had all but given up hope that I would ever find love, that I would ever find that person who could understand me totally. Not just the lights parts, but all the dark parts too. All the shadows that resided in me. I didn’t live an easy life, but Beth had gone through the worst with me and we had survived. No, we had more than just survived. We had come out the other side stronger than ever.

  Our love had been forged by the hottest fires and quenched in a potent mix of hope and pain, happiness and fear, but underneath it all was the absolute trust that we had in each other. Because we knew we could make it through anything, as long as we did it together.

  I watched her for a long moment, losing myself in the pure joy of having her in my life, caressing her with my gaze. Her pale blonde hair had grown out and she’d taken to wearing it up in a knot on the top of her head. Tendrils flew loose in the warm breeze, teasing along the line of her neck and I was struck as always by her beauty. It took my breath away, just watching her.

  A few more moments passed, and I noticed the grimace of pain that crossed her face but it was gone a second later.

  “Was it a thorn?” I asked softly, coming up beside her. She smiled up at me, her expression utterly serene.

  “No, honey. It was just a contraction.”

  “Oh, okay.” I said, so lost in the warmth of her smile that it took a few extra seconds for her words to penetrate. “Wait, what? A contraction?”

  “Contraction? Did you say contraction?” Matteo said, startling up from his seat on the stone bench with a panicked look on his face.

  “Relax, both of you. They aren’t anywhere near close enough yet. It’s not quite baby time yet, boys. Aiden, will you hand me that pair of garden sheers over there?”

  Beth pointed behind me but I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I was still trying to process what she was saying. Matteo was having an equally hard time.

  “What a minute. Wait a god dammed minute. You’re…you are in labor right now, and you’re…you’re gardening?!” Matteo said as he lurched to his feet. His arms were waving wildly and he looked like he might pass out at any moment.

  Beth turned a censorious gaze towards me.

  “See what you did? And I was doing such a good job at keeping him calm.” She clucked her tongue, going back to tending the plant but I was still frozen in shock. It took every pounce of will power not to follow after Matteo and make a fool out of myself but one look at the man who was muttering to himself and staring bug eyed at me and Beth like a raving lunatic and I changed my mind.

  Even still, it was hard for me to keep my voice even and calm as I leaned towards Beth, speaking under my breath so Matteo wouldn’t over hear.

  “Maybe, for Matteo’s sake, we should go ahead and get you to the hospital.”

  “Really, Aiden, it’s going to be hours yet, maybe days, what am I going to do, just lie there and do nothing?”

  “Hours! DAYS!” Matteo echoed Beth’s words, sounding even more frantic and Beth shot him a worried look over her shoulder. He was starting to sweat profusely, swiping his fingers through his hair so that it stood on end.

  “On second thought, maybe you’re right,” She said and I let out a sigh of relief, “A hospital is definitely the safest place for him. If he collapses out here there’s no way we could carry him inside.”

  I shared a look with Matteo as she calmly, slowly, packed and put away all of her gardening tools, stopping to take one last infuriating look around before finally agreeing to take my hand and let me help her walk towards the house.

  Every step, every minute that passed was agony for me and when another contraction hit and she had to stop to ride out the pain I was sure that Matteo really was going to pass out there in the back yard.

  “If you drop, I’m leaving you here.” I told him seriously and he nodded, drawing in a deep breath to steady himself before getting to the back door and holding it open for Beth.

  “Really, I’m perfectly capable of opening a door for myself, Matteo.”

  “YOU’RE HAVING A BABY! RIGHT NOW!” He shouted and Beth flinched, covering her ears. I don’t think Matteo meant to shout, he’d just momentarily lost his mind, and
the ability to speak at normal volumes. I completely understood. I was about a second away from just tossing Beth over my shoulder and carrying her to the hospital myself but I knew she would protest and it would take us even longer to get there.

  Finally, we were all in the car and I was driving. Matteo offered but he was shaking so badly that I wouldn’t have trusted him behind the wheel of a bicycle.

  I tried to stay calm as we drove towards the front, Beth insisting on parking and walking to the front door instead of going in through the emergency entrance.

  “It’s not an emergency,” She’d said with a wave of her hand, “Woman have been having babies for hundreds of thousands years.”

  I’d had to bite my tongue to keep from saying anything. It was like the calmer she acted, the crazier I felt and by the time we walked up the front desk I felt about as crazy as Matteo. He trailed after us, carrying two large duffel bags and sweating bullets.

  “Hi, how can I–.”

  “She’s having a baby.”

  “SHE’S HAVING A BABY!”

  I glanced over my shoulder at Matteo and he just shrugged. Honestly I couldn’t really blame him.

  Beth shook her head. “You’ll have to forgive them. They’re just…overwrought.”

  “Don’t worry,” The nurse said with a wave of the hand, “We see it all the time. If you’ll just come with me…”

  I drew in a deep breath as the nurse led Beth to a chair to fill out paperwork before letting her know a room would be ready for her soon.

  “Overwrought?” I said, sharing a glance with Matteo. “I’m not overwrought.”

  “I am.” The other man gulped, “I don’t think I’m going to survive this.”

  “You’ll be just fine.” I said, patting him on the hand as a nurse came and helped Beth to a room, Matteo and I trailing behind. Matteo sat in the waiting room, his nerves already looking shot as I followed Beth into the delivery room.

  Minutes passed into hours as the contractions grew closer together and through it all Beth was calm, a rock in a storm while I felt more like a leaf being blown around. After a hard contraction she smiled up at me and I shook my head.

  “I don’t understand. How can you be so calm?” I asked, and she grasped her hand in mine, still smiling as another wave of pain crashed into her body.

  “Because I already know.”

  “Know what?”

  “That no matter what happens, I have you. That I’ll always have you. With your love, I can get through anything.”

  I blinked away tears at her words and soon after a doctor came in. It wasn’t too much later that they were telling Beth to push. Her hand squeezed so tightly on mine I swore I could feel the bones grinding together and then just as suddenly she let go.

  There was a moment of tense silence, and then a cough, and then a loud, insistent cry filled the room.

  All I could look at was Beth, her face, slicked with sweat, but she was still smiling and that smile caught at my heart and caught it.

  “Here you are, mommy and daddy. Meet your perfectly healthy baby girl.” The nurse laid the baby in Beth’s arms and I gasped at how tiny she was.

  “A girl!” I whispered. “A baby girl.”

  Beth held their baby tight in her arms and when she looked up she had tears in her eyes.

  “I want to name her after your mother. Charlotte.”

  I had to swallow several times before I could speak.

  “Charlotte Leah. Charlotte Leah Diorno.”

  “It’s perfect.” Beth whispered, blinking back more tears. “She’s perfect.”

  “I love you, Beth.” I kissed her cheek, and then the baby’s, “I love you, Charlotte.”

  Beth looked up with a sudden gasp, and then a watery laugh. “Matteo’s going to have a heart attack.”

  I laughed with her, filled with so much love and light that I thought I might burst with it.

  “I’m so happy I met you again.” I smiled down at her, “It really was fate.”

  “Maybe. Maybe it was.”

  I knew she was still skeptical, but I was certain all the way to my soul. It was destiny. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  ***The End***

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  Best Friend’s Li’l Sis (Excerpt)

  Description

  Amber

  How would I describe myself?

  Single mom.

  Strong as steel.

  Stupid – because I listen to my heart and not my head.

  Logan

  This job interview was supposed to get Amber in front of me so I could apologize for hurting her. So I could figure out how to get a second chance to make her mine.

  I don’t care if she’s had kids since us – I’ve always wanted to be a dad.

  She’s my best friend’s li’l sis – we’ll figure that out.

  I’ve got money – but I can’t buy her.

  I was her first – she was mine.

  I want her to be my last.

  Wait…is that even possible?

  Chapter One: Logan

  Logan ran his hand through his medium length brown hair, staring down at the fourth shot he had taken that night. It was good being home from the dorms, at least as home as he was ever going to get, what with him living with the Stark family since he was in high school. He looked up as Jordan, his best friend, walked up and sat down on the stool next to him, shaking his head.

  Logan leaned back, looking over at the gaggle of girls Jordan had just been talking to. “No dice?”

  Jordan took his shot and put up two fingers, signaling the bartender for another round. His dark hair and blue eyes made him a magnet to girls, but his laissez faire attitude put up red flags for most of them. “They are all celebrating graduating from college. They have that ‘we can tackle the world’ kind of attitude right now. I’m sure they’ll come off of it eventually. I didn’t really want to spend my night listening to a girl talk about her future aspirations, anyway.”

  Logan lifted an eyebrow. “You sure are a lady’s man.”

  Jordan snorted. “My wallet is a lady’s man. I just have nice hair and good eyes, or so I’ve been told.”

  Logan took a sip of his drink, chuckling. “Your mom tell you that?”

  Jordan nudged him. “Very funny. I like how you are a junior in college, yet you have the mindset of a high school kid.”

  Logan tilted his head back and forth with a smile. “You know me, gotta stay young at heart.”

  Jordan took his other shot. “You know how you keep yourself young? You fucking get laid every once in a while. Seriously, girls fall all over themselves for you, and you brush it off like it’s nothing. I’ve never seen you take a girl home.”

  Logan shrugged. “That’s because I’ve never taken a girl home. I mean, I don’t know why you would have thought that would have changed at this point. It’s not like I’ve never had a blow job or messed around, just not the full length of the field yet. By choice, obviously.”

  Jordan shook his head as if he were disappointed. “Hey, it’s your life, bro. You’re the one missing out.”

  “Oh yeah, between your stories of clingy ass chicks and the hell you go through to get away from them, I really feel I’m losing out,” Logan replied.

  Jordan slapped him on the back. “All worth it in the moment. So, how did last semester go? You come up with any genius ideas for your company?”

  Logan rolled his eyes. “I know I want a tech company, hands down. It’s so hard to get into that shit, though. There is an internship
across the country I have my eye on. I don’t want to leave L.A., but if it gets me rolling, I’ll do it. I don’t want to be a slave to the man for the rest of my days. How about you?”

  Jordan scoffed. “You know that college shit was for show. I’ve got the production company to inherit in a few years. Until then, I’ll try to get through the bullshit with my father, and just enjoy myself. I plan on doing a little work this summer, since they’re producing a Helena Alvarez flick, and she is smoking hot.”

  Logan lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah, because you have a chance at that.”

  Jordan laughed. “Hey, man, you never know unless you try. Besides, Dad wants me to get the ropes down early. You know there’s a place there for you, in a heartbeat. Dad thinks of you like a son.”

  Logan nodded. “I know. I just really don’t want to do the whole movie thing; it’s not me. I’ve got real ideas and plans, and I want to see those through.”

  Jordan looked over his shoulder. “That’s great, man, but uh, right now I am about to see Alexa through. She just came in with a cute friend. Why don’t you come over with me? They are sure things.”

  Logan glanced over at the girls. “Nah, thanks though. I’m seeing double. I think I’m actually gonna grab a cab and head home. It’s almost two, anyway.”

  Jordan sighed. “Alright man, your loss. I’ve got the tab, just don’t be too loud when you go in. Don’t want to wake up Amber. She just got done with all the graduation celebrations and I’m sure she crashed already.”

  Logan finished his drink and patted his friend on the shoulder. “You got it, buddy. Don’t knock anyone up and don’t piss anyone off too bad.”

  Jordan smirked. “I’ll do my best on the pissing people off thing, and there will be no babies for this guy. Got the ultra-heavy duty made of reinforced steel condoms.”