by A. Aubry
“What do you mean?”
“Everything is so calm. For the last two years we have been fighting tooth and nail to stay together, to make this work.”
“Are you complainin’?” He teased.
I lifted my head to look him in the eye, “No, I’m actually very happy about it.”
Jackson smiled and placed a soft kiss against my lips, “So I’ll ask again, are you ready for a fresh start?”
“With you? I’m always ready.”
Epilogue
Five Years Later
“Come on, baby! You got this!” I cheered from the metal bleachers behind home plate.
It was a perfectly sunny day in Dallas, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and a slight breeze made the heat just bearable enough. The only thing that was unbearable about today was the fact that the metal bleachers were practically burning my ass. I watched as Lydia lined herself up on home plate, distancing herself from the t-ball post just enough. There was what felt like a long silence before she swung and hit the ball clear into the outfield. Shelby and I jumped up from our seats and cheered as Lydia’s little legs carried her to first base. Once there, she turned around and gave us both two thumbs-up. She had been practicing her swings with her daddy whenever he was home and she literally soaked up everything he taught her like a sponge.
Just as Shelby and I returned back onto the ass-burning seats, Jackson, Chase, and Janette returned from the concession stands. Jackson handed my bottle of water off to me before taking his place beside me, sitting our two-year-old son Jace on his lap. I adjusted Jace’s floppy sunhat on his head, making sure that he wasn’t getting too much sun already.
“Did I miss it?” Jackson asked as he scanned the small baseball field.
I nodded and pointed at first base, “Our girl did good.”
As though Lydia knew that her father was back, she turned back to look at us, giving Jackson his own thumbs-up. He returned it, a large smile on his face. We were lucky that Lydia’s t-ball game was scheduled early this morning so that Jackson could come and cheer her on. T-ball season coincided with baseball season, so every other week Jackson was forced to miss Lydia’s games. She was a trooper and completely understood that her daddy wasn’t like all the other dads. For five years old, she was one of the wisest children that I had ever met in my life.
“Momma?” Jace held out his little hand to me, “nack.”
“What do you say, sweet boy?” I asked as I dug around in the little cooler that we kept stocked for both Lydia and Jace.
“Pease.”
I handed him a little bowl of goldfish crackers, “Good job.”
“Jace, can I have a cracker?” Jackson asked before kissing Jace’s chubby cheek.
With a goldfish cracker between his small fingers, he held one up to Jackson’s mouth and fed it to him. Jace was all about the sharing which caught me off-guard because wasn’t this phase called the terrible twos? Jackson munched on his goldfish cracker while his free hand that wasn’t wrapped around our son, found mine. I smiled over at him and gave him a quick kiss. Our lives, as crazy as they were, were finally on a normal schedule. The scheduling got out of whack when we had Jace because we were a family of four and by the time that Jackson had to ship out for spring training, Jace was only a month and a half old and Lydia was in pre-K, so moving with him to Arizona was out of the question. It was difficult, but we survived, and came out even stronger at the end.
“Are you gonna be able to stay home with us for our celebratory lunch before you leave?” I asked Jackson as we watched Lydia run to second base after another girl hit the ball.
“I should be able to. The game isn’t until seven and since I leave tomorrow for the week, I don’t want to waste any time with you three.”
I brought Jackson’s hand up to my lips, “Jack, you never waste time when you’re with us. The kids adore you…I adore you…everything with our family is perfect.”
A small smile pulled at his lips, “I just never thought it’d be so rough to be away from anybody. I got used to bein’ away from dad and Shelby, and with Josie I never really cared, but havin’ to leave you three is one of the hardest things I have to do every week.”
“That’s because you love us just as much as we love you. It’s always been hard to not have you around, even when we were dating. But you know that as soon as summer hits, the kids and I will be on the road with you.”
A loud cry came from beside Shelby and I looked over at her as she struggled to get her daughter, Carlie, out of her car seat. Carlie was only born two weeks ago, she was the product of Shelby and Brian’s marriage. Brian now played for the Houston Astros, a surprise that we didn’t even see coming when he came up as a free agent. He was out of town on a string of away games, and I had been giving Shelby as much motherly advice as I could. I didn’t exactly have time to warn her that her and Brian should try to plan when to get pregnant so that she wasn’t alone in the newborn phase, but she got pregnant so quickly after they got married that it was a moot point to say.
“Maddie, I can’t get the straps to unclasp!” Shelby whined, exhaustion playing on her features.
I was sure that she wasn’t getting much sleep when Brian wasn’t home, another reason why having a baby around baseball season was a must.
“Here, let me help,” I offered as I stood up and walked around to her side.
I showed her the easiest way to unclasp the straps without pinching your fingers. As soon as Carlie was free, I picked her up and handed her over to her mother. Shelby, finally looking relieved, pulled a bottle out of her own little cooler, and began to feed Carlie. I couldn’t imagine trying to do the whole parenting thing without Jackson there for at least a month before he would have to get back to work. Now that Shelby knew how difficult it was to raise a child while the other parent was forced to travel every other week, I figured she would take when she would get pregnant again into careful consideration.
As soon as I sat back down, I was out of my seat just as quickly when Lydia made it back to home plate. Since she was only five, she was too young to play in little league and t-ball was her only option. But Lydia wanted to be like her daddy, and so we signed her up as soon as we could. She ran over to us, her cheeks red from running and the sun. As she sat between me and Jackson and drank her water, I lathered her up with some more sunscreen. She would have the opportunity to hit the ball one more time before the game was over, so she needed to be protected from getting sunburn.
The game finished quickly, our girl getting another chance to run to home plate. I carried Jace on my hip as Jackson carried Lydia, telling her how proud he was of her. Loading everything up into the back of Jackson’s truck, I turned to face Janette and Chase who were putting their belongings into the back of Chase’s truck.
“So, you guys are still fine with me dropping the kids off with you on Wednesday? I’ll only be in Los Angeles until Friday afternoon and will be back in town Friday night,” I asked, bouncing Jace on my hip.
“Of course, it’s still fine!” Janette cooed, “We love watchin’ them. You said filmin’ will start down here early next month?”
“Yep! I’m just going to meet with some people about the last-minute script entries and finalizing locations for shooting.”
“I still can’t believe that the book Jackson helped inspire is gettin’ turned into a movie!” Chase admitted.
I laughed, “You’re telling me. When I got the call, I nearly fainted. Luckily Jackson was there to keep me conscious!”
We all chuckled. It was true, as I was just finishing up my second book, my agent called me and said that Universal Studios had an interest in turning my first book into a movie. It wasn’t enough that the book had already been on the New York Bestseller’s list, they wanted to turn it into a movie. I think I screamed and cried so much that it startled Lydia. At the time, I was eight months pregnant with Jace and Jackson honestly thought I was going to go into early labor.
It took two years for
me to aid in writing the script—one of my conditions for the book to be turned into a movie—cast the film, and everything else that went along with making a movie. My last condition was for me to be on set during filming. I wanted to make sure that it stayed as close to the book as it could. There were so many movies out there that strayed so far from the book that you had no idea what the book was really about. I had dedicated fans with my books, I wanted to give them something that translated from the book onto the big screen.
Everybody said their goodbyes and got into their respective vehicles. Jackson and I didn’t have much more time together because of his game and I knew that the kids would want to spend as much time with him as they could. By the time he would get home tonight, they would have been asleep in bed for hours. A short while later, we were back home and Lydia and Jace dragged Jackson off to their playroom while I got lunch ready. While we were at the game, I had our lunch in the slow cooker so that the ribs that were Lydia’s favorite would be ready by the time we got home. All I had to do was make some sides, and we were set to go.
Finishing up the coleslaw, I opened up a bag of potato chips—one’s that I only let the kids eat on t-ball game days—and called up the stairs that lunch was ready. Usually it took several attempts for me to get my family downstairs and into the kitchen, mostly because the kids were so loud when they played in their playroom, but today was almost a complete one-eighty. Everyone was downstairs in a matter of minutes, ready to be fed. We ate at our informal kitchen table as a family, a requirement that we made whenever Jackson was home. Our time with him during baseball season was limited enough as it was, for each of us to eat in separate areas was not something that would aid in our family dynamic.
Before the kids were even finished eating, Jackson had to take off for the field. I tried not to pout, knowing that it never got us anywhere and it would never change the scenario, but I couldn’t help it. There had been something that I had wanted to tell Jackson since the previous night. I would have told him the night before if he wouldn’t have been practically passing out when he got home from his game. While the kids were sleeping last night, I took a pregnancy test because my period was late. We had been discussing having another child, but as I had mentioned before, it was all about the planning. When I took the test, it came back positive at about two weeks. Since we were two weeks into April, that would make our child born in January. At least Jackson would get a month with our newest baby before spring training would commence.
Jackson kissed each of the kids on the tops of their heads as they ate before finally giving me a long, drawn out kiss. A girl could never complain about getting those types of kisses.
“I’ll try to sneak out early tonight. I want to spend some time with you tonight before we go to bed,” he explained quietly.
“Sounds great, Jack. I’ll wait up for you,” I smiled, forcing myself not to lose any sense of self control and throw myself into his arms.
We shared one more kiss before he was out the door once again. Normally, the kids and I would go to his games to cheer him on. But, tonight was a school night for Lydia and I didn’t want her out late because she would be a beast to get up in the morning.
“Mommy? Can we watch daddy’s game on tv?” Lydia questioned from her seat before putting another potato chip into her mouth.
“We can watch a little bit, but you know that you have school tomorrow, so bedtime is earlier tonight,” I advised as I cleaned up mine and Jace’s plates.
Lydia solemnly nodded and went back to her lunch. I got a washcloth from the sink, quickly dampened it, and went over to Jace to wipe off his hands and face. As much as I was happy that he loved his lunch, the fact that he got the minimal barbecue sauce on his ribs all over his face and hands always concerned me. How much food was he actually eating when most of the sauces ended up on his face?
As soon as Lydia was done with her own lunch and cleaned up, her and Jace went back up to their playroom. I tidied up as the dishwasher began its cycle before heading up to my office which was next to the playroom. Our children knew that they could always come and interrupt us in our offices if the doors were open. Ninety-nine percent of the time, my door was always open, except on the rare occasions that I was on a business call or having a Skype meeting.
The rest of the night went off without a hitch. Dinner was easy with grilled cheese and soup, Jackson’s recipe because that was the only way any of my children—and even myself—would eat a grilled cheese. After we were all fed, we were parked in front of the large projection screen that Jackson added to the finished basement for our own makeshift movie theater. It was perfect for date nights when you didn’t want to go anywhere, or to watch Jackson’s games on. Halfway through, it was time to tuck in the kids after bedtime routines were completed.
Most parents were thankful for the peace and quiet that came when all the children were in bed and you were alone. I, on the other hand, found the quiet unnerving. Whenever the kids went to bed, that was when I would do my own work. My third book was currently in the works, and I knew that as soon as Jackson would get home, there wouldn’t be any time to work. Time flew by as I heard the garage door open and I quickly saved my manuscript before shutting down my computer. Just as I was walking out of my office, Jackson was just getting to the top of the staircase.
“Fancy meeting you here,” I teased, meeting him at the top of the stairs.
“Is it wrong that I missed you?” Jackson asked, his arms coming around my waist easily.
I shook my head, “No, because I missed you. The kids missed you as well.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I missed them too. But I missed my wife the most.”
“You’re trying to get me into bed, aren’t you?”
“Damn, you are a mind reader like the kids said!”
I giggled and playfully tapped his shoulder, “No, I’m just good at reading the signs.”
Jackson smirked and leaned in close, “You talkin’ ‘bout the signs that I told you about for your first book?”
“Maybe,” I breathed as I watched his lips get closer.
“Because you are givin’ off major signs right about now.”
I couldn’t even think; my mind was so tuned in on his lips inching their way closer to mine. Jackson took the hint and quickly closed the gap, pressing his lips hungrily against mine. My arms wound around his neck as he lifted me up into his arms, easily carrying me into our bedroom. The door shut softly behind us, and I nearly groaned when our cool sheets touched my skin. In no time at all, Jackson and I undressed one another, the feverish need to be close taking over. I felt Jackson pull our blankets over our bodies before he coaxed my legs open for him. They did as they were instructed and the second that he sunk into me, a loud moan escaped.
It wasn’t like we weren’t having sex regularly. Our sex life was borderline unhealthy with how much we still had, even with two kids. My body was always begging for Jackson’s touch in any way, especially when we were alone. His lips left mine as they traveled down my neck, my legs wrapping around his waist as he plunged into me over and over. The delicious rate at which he was moving, the perfect balance between fast and slow, blew my mind. My mouth fell open as his teeth grazed along my neck and my hips instinctively tilted up.
“God, Madeline, you feel so fuckin’ good,” Jackson groaned against my skin.
“Oh yeah?” I asked, my fingers pulling at his hair.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he admitted softly.
He thrust hard and I had to bite back a scream. While both Lydia and Jace were heavy sleepers, they weren’t that heavy of sleepers.
“Shit, Jack, give it to me just like that,” I begged.
Jackson planted his hands on either side of my head, thrusting harder every time. It was a good thing that our headboard was already up against the wall, otherwise we would have been rearranging our bedroom. I watched as sweat began to bead on Jackson’s forehead, his mouth hanging open as he panted and groaned above
me. The man had just played nine innings of baseball and yet he still had the energy and stamina to come home and satisfy me. I never knew how he did it, but I was never going to complain about it.
“Stop holdin’ it back, baby,” Jackson demanded.
It took me a second to realize what he was talking about. I was unintentionally holding back my orgasm, not wanting this moment to end. It was as though my body knew that as soon as this was over, we’d be falling asleep in each other’s arms and in the morning, Jackson would be leaving. My body wanted to prolong this moment as long as it could.
He picked up the pace before reaching one hand in between us and making a beeline for my clit. My back arched up off the bed as my toes curled and a loud moan escaped as my orgasm took over. He knew exactly how to make me let go when he really wanted it.
“Oh my god!” I cried out.
“Fuck, yes!” Jackson yelled as he pumped his release into me over and over.
He stilled before collapsing beside me, pulling out of me what felt like too soon. I fought to catch my breath as my head buzzed. There was never a time in mine and Jackson’s relationship where we ever had bad sex. It was mind blowing time and time again. It made me wonder how the hell I still had a mind left after all of it.
“Shit, I wish I didn’t have to leave tomorrow,” Jackson panted from beside me.
“I know, it’s so difficult when you’re not around,” I sighed, hugging our blankets to my chest.
I felt Jackson turn onto his side, his lips pressing against my bare shoulder, “I’ll think of you nonstop. You and the kids.”
I turned my head to face him, “We always think about you nonstop. But there’s something that I want you to know before you leave.”
“What is it?” His eyebrows furrowed as he put an arm over my torso.
“I’m pregnant.”
Jackson chuckled, “Mad, even I know that it doesn’t happen that quickly.”
I rolled my eyes, “No, Jack, I didn’t just get pregnant right now. I took a test last night and I’m two weeks along.”