Renewed (Shattered #3)

by Heather D'Agostino

  Chapter 18

  Leah

  As the weeks passed by, spring slowly faded and summer roared in with a vengeance. Summers in the south were always hot, but this year seemed to be record breaking. I’d been walking on the beach each morning with Emma, and the heat was slowly killing us. Every day I'd vow to start earlier, and each day it seemed to get hotter. Nick had insisted that we purchase this thing called a jogging stroller. I didn't think we'd need it, but lately it had become my best friend. Emma loved the outdoors, and now that she was almost two months old, she was sleeping better and we were getting into a routine.

  Motherhood was slowly beginning to agree with me and my days and nights of crying were a thing of the past. My biggest problem now was losing the last five pounds of baby weight. Walking on the beach seemed to be helping, but I was sure I was melting the fat off rather than actually burning the calories.

  ooooooooo

  As I approached the house, I wiped at my forehead once again and peered down at Emma. She was smiling brightly as she sat there cradled in the canvas of the stroller. She looked so cute sitting there in her beach hat and sunglasses. I don't know how I managed to get her to wear the stuff. I knew the day would come in the future where she would refuse, but right now I was having fun dressing her in all the things they made for babies her size.

  I grabbed a water bottle out of the cup holder and took a big gulp. "Whew! It's hot today huh?" I smiled at Emma as I pushed down on the brakes to keep the stroller from rolling away. We had a nice covered area near the garage where Nick kept all the pool equipment, and that had also become a storage place for outdoor baby items. Emma yawned at me, and I knew it was nap time. "So baby girl…you ready for some sleepy time?" I reached over and began unbuckling the straps that were holding her in. "Mommy needs a shower," I mumbled as I lifted her, and cradled her to my chest. I felt gross, and the sweat that had been beading down my chest and back was now being soaked up by my cotton tank, but I was I was happy. I know I should have always been happy, I mean…I have everything I could want. A man who loves me, a beautiful daughter, and friends who are willing to do just about anything to help me. I hadn’t been happy though, and it showed in everything I did.

  When I reached the slider, I stepped into the air-conditioned living room and took a cleansing breath. I paused as the coolness of the room surrounded me. I had never been so thankful to Mr. Carrier for his invention in all my life. Emma wiggled in my arms reminding me that she needed to be changed and put down for a nap. "I hear ya baby girl," I cooed as I kicked off my sneakers and began making my way to her room.

  After changing her, I placed her in her crib and pressed a light kiss to her head. “Sleep tight sweetheart,” I murmured as I stepped back from the crib and quietly walked out of the room. I stood in the hallway outside her closed door and listened. I wanted to make sure she wasn't going to fuss. She'd gotten much better about going down for naps over the past several weeks. No longer did she need to be rocked or walked around. Now a simple, quiet routine seemed to settle her.

  When I didn’t hear any noise from her, I turned and headed to my room. I grabbed my tank, and ripped it over my head tossing it in the direction of the dirty clothes. The shorts came next, and by the time I was stepping into the bathroom, I was fighting with my hair tie against my sweaty hair.

  Once I turned the shower on to the coldest I could stand it, I stepped in under the spray. As the cool water began to chill my skin, I sagged against the shower bench. The heat had seemed to zap me of any energy I had, and at the moment all I wanted to do was get clean and take a nap right alongside my daughter.

  After finishing quickly, I dried off and made my way back into my room. I dressed in a pair of soft cotton shorts and a clean tank before flopping down on the soft bed. Nick was at work, and I knew I’d have a nice quiet house. Just as I was about to fall asleep, my phone buzzed. I reached out and pressed a few buttons trying to silence it. When it stopped, I sighed in relief and dropped my head back to my pillow only to have it start right back up again.

  "Oh my god! What!" I barked into it.

  "Hello to you too," Avery's annoyed voice came through.

  "I'm trying to sleep," I whined.

  "It's eleven o'clock in the morning," Avery grumbled.

  “I got up at five. Emma’s napping. I wanted to nap too,” I rolled to my back and tossed my free arm over my eyes.

  "Oh," Avery muttered. "I'm sorry. I'll let you go."

  "No," I puffed out a breath. "What is it?"

  "Well…" she paused "I…"

  "Stop," I knew right then what this call was about. My wedding was going to be next week, and Avery was mad that Nick and I had nixed her plans of something big. "I know where this is going, and the answer is still ‘yes, I'm sure'."

  "You suck the fun out of everything," she grumbled.

  "Well, when you and Cam get married you can do something big," I teased. I'd given up on sleep at this point, and was slowly pulling myself to a sitting position so I could make my way out to the living room.

  "Cam and I aren't getting married," she snapped. "He still loves Sarah."

  “I don’t think so,” I tried to assure her but she wasn't having it.

  "He's always on the phone with her, Leah. She calls all the time. He's always doing things to help her," she growled.

  "That's Aaron's mom, Avery," I rolled my eyes. "He doesn't want to be with her, trust me."

  "You coulda fooled me," she grumbled and I heard the door close in the background.

  "Where are you?" I had a sinking feeling that she was complaining about Sarah because she'd been a recent topic of conversation.

  "Where do you think?" she snapped.

  "Are you at his house right now?" I gasped. "Avery, you can't talk about Sarah like this with him there. What if he hears you?"

  “He won’t,” she groaned. “He’s not here. I spent the night last night, and he got a call super early from HER!” she was fired up and I knew there was no chance in calming her down right now. I needed to play the best friend card and let her vent. “I think he tells her when I’m here because she always calls and breaks up our dates. Last night was the first time she didn't bother us in the middle of it."

  "Are you serious?" I gasped. I'd known Sarah since we were kids, so had Avery. We all went to school together. We were never friends with Sarah like we are with each other, but she'd never been the vindictive bitch that she was now.

  "Yes!" Avery squealed. "It's like she has radar or something. We've even been in the middle of…"

  "I don't want to hear that! Lalalala," I called through the phone.

  "I don't know what to do Leah. He says she doesn't mean anything. He says he wants to be with me, but then he leaves me all the time to be with her," Avery began to sob. I could hear her fighting to keep her voice even.

  "She's manipulating him. It sounds like it's one-sided. I bet he feels like he has to help since she's Aaron's mom," I tried to comfort her, but I knew that a phone call was not going to do it. "Why don't you come stay with me until the wedding?"

  "That's for a week," she mumbled. "You really want to deal with my crazy ass for a week?"

  “Sure,” I shrugged. "I mean seriously…you need to get away for few days. I think time apart will bring some clarity for both of you. Besides," I giggled "Nick can kick his ass for you if he doesn't wake up and see what Sarah is doing."

  "Ok," she sighed. "I'll be there in a few hours. Maybe when he decides to come home and sees I'm gone, he'll wake up," she paused for a minute before muttering, "Who am I kidding? He's guy. He's never going to wake up. I'm going have to hit him in the head, or better yet…the balls."

  “Just pack your shit, and get your ass here,” I laughed as I disconnected the call. I had no idea if these two would ever amount to anything. After the way they were all over each other the last time they were both here, I thought we were past this middle school relationship drama. Guess not!

  Chapter 19
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  Leah

  “Would you hold still?” Avery barked as she grabbed my shoulders, and pushed me down onto the chair in front of her. “I’m almost finished.” She shoved a few more pins into my hair and leaned back to appraise her work. “Perfect!” she squealed as she did a little clap and then stepped back so I could see my reflection, "What do you think?"

  "Oh wow!" I gasped as I lifted my hand and lightly ran it over the curls that were cascading over my right shoulder.

  "You're welcome," she grinned back at me. "Now…let's get that dress on."

  I sighed as I let my eyes scan the room taking in my surroundings. It was my wedding day, and everyone that meant anything to me was here today except the one person I wanted the most…my mom. Avery and her mother had tried to keep my occupied so I wouldn’t dwell on it, but the fact that someone else’s mom was helping me into my dress caused my heart to squeeze. I knew they loved me. I knew that my mom was somewhere watching over me, but no matter what anyone said…it didn’t ease the ache I felt.

  Nick and Cam had both spent the morning setting up the ceremony site on the beach. We were doing something simple. Several rows of white chairs were set up for the small amount of guests we’d invited. I hadn’t wanted to invite anyone, but Nick talked me into a small number of friends. He’d claimed that years down the road I’d regret not having them here. A center aisle ran down the middle and was covered in white rose petals. Two small white columns stood at the front with beautiful tropical flower arrangements on top of them. Avery’s mom had gone all out, and special ordered the flowers. Against my better judgment, I'd let Cam invite Sarah, and she was currently watching Aaron and Emma. I had told Nick it was a very bad idea, but he'd said he had a plan. After talking with him, he'd assured me that he was trying to help Avery and Cam, not make things worse. I don't know how he thought he was helping, but I was trying to trust him.

  My dad had come into town yesterday, and had spent most of the morning helping the guys, but was now pacing the hallway as he waited for me to dress. We had a photographer that was capturing every minute of the day, and I was sure I'd end up with one of my dad walking the hall.

  “Ready?” Avery touched my shoulder bringing me out of my thoughts. She held the dress I’d been dieting to get into in front of me.

  I offered a sad smile as I grabbed onto her shoulders and lifted a leg to step into the frothy material. “Do I have a choice?" I forced a smile.

  “It’s gonna be fine,” she held the dress with one hand while her mom tugged the extra material out of the way. "You are going to look beautiful walking down the aisle. Nick isn't going to know what hit him."

  “I hope you’re right. He wasn’t too happy when I bought a second dress,” I laughed as I placed my other foot into the dress.

  Mrs. Southerland helped Avery tug the dress up my body. As I held the bust in place, Avery began lacing up the back. “I think he'll be happy once he sees this," she giggled.

  “I just couldn’t wear the other one. It was for a winter wedding, and its summer now," I rolled my eyes as I thought about all the arguments Nick, and I had been having over this topic.

  When I'd pulled my first dress out, the dark red accents glared at me. I didn't want to tell Nick, but the dress reminded me too much of what had happened the last time we were trying to get married. I wanted a fresh start, and a new dress seemed to be a way to do it. He'd grumbled about the money, but I assured him that since we weren't really going on a honeymoon we could afford it. He'd finally given into me after three days of listening to my reasoning.

  Now, as I turned to admire my reflection, I couldn’t have been happier with my choice. The dress was a cream colored satin mermaid style gown. It had a sweetheart neckline that was encrusted in small pearls. The bodice skimmed over my ribs hugging me in the most delicious way all the way down to my thighs where the skirt flared out. A small arrangement of pearls adorned the hip where it gathered the skirt. Since we were getting married on the beach, I'd decided to forgo shoes. I wanted to feel the sand between toes. The veil I'd chosen was shorter than what Avery thought the dress deserved, but again we were going to be on the beach. I didn't want a long veil blowing in the breeze and tangling around me.

  As Avery helped me put the final touches of my ensemble together, a strand of my mother’s pearls and a pair of borrowed blue sapphire earring from her mother, I began to tear up.

  "No, you don't!" she shoved a tissue into my hands. "You're going to ruin the makeup I spent all morning fixing."

  I gave her a teary smile as I dabbed at my eyes, "I love you. You know that right?"

  “Of course," Avery shrugged and went back to fixing every last piece of my attire. "I love you too."

  Before our crying fest could amp up another notch, there was a soft knock at the door. "Come in," I called as it creaked open. Whatever semblance I had on reality left me the moment I saw my dad standing there in his suit.

  “You look beautiful baby girl,” his lip trembled as he stepped into the room.

  “Thanks Daddy,” I smiled back at him as I felt the tears I’d been holding back begin to leak from the corners of my eyes. Seeing my dad cry always did me in, and aside from the day we buried my mom I hadn’t seen him shed any.

  He wiped at his eyes and looked away. I could tell he was embarrassed that he was losing it in front of Avery and her mom. He pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and blotted at his eyes before handing it over to me. "Your old man is having a hard time today."

  "I love you Daddy," I whispered as I lifted up onto my toes and placed a kiss to his cheek. "I'll always be your little girl. I'm not leaving," I wasn't sure who I was trying to convince more, me or him.

  "I know," he nodded slowly, but it's still hard.

  I turned one last time to glance in the mirror just as Cam raced by the door, “They’re ready…oh wow! You look great!"

  "Thanks," I grinned. "We're coming."

  My dad turned and offered me his arm as the four of us followed Cam out into the living room. Nick was already standing at the altar with the minster waiting on us, and soft music was wafting through the air. Cam opened the slider and let Mrs. Southerland out so she could sneak into her seat. Next, he offered Avery his arm, and the two of them made their way out onto the deck, and down the aisle.

  "Ready?" my dad turned the look at me as we waited for our cue.

  “Yes,” I gave a quick jerk of my head as the photographer yanked open the door to the deck.

  After a few snaps of the camera, he moved quickly to catch my moment walking down the aisle. The music swelled, and my heart beat right along with the cadence. It was the most surreal feeling in the world. I knew the moment Nick saw me. His face went from smiling to beaming. His eyes sparkled with unshed tears as he clasped and unclasped his hands in front of him.

  When we reached the end of the aisle, my dad leaned over and kissed my cheek before taking a seat in the front row. I turned to hand Avery my flowers before reaching for Nick's hands. The minster smiled at both of us before beginning, "Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to join Leah Marie Carmichael and Nicolas Evan Sutter in holy matrimony." Even though, I know I should have been paying attention; I zoned out after that.

  Before long I felt a nudge from behind me bringing me out of my daydream. I looked up at the minster just as he said, “Leah and Nick have opted to say their own vows.” He nodded to me and smiled.

  I turned my gaze to Nick, and looked into those blue pools that I always got lost in and began, “I, Leah Marie Carmichael, take you, Nicolas Evan Sutter, to be my husband. I promise to love you, honor you, and cherish every minute I have with you. Over my lifetime, I've learned never to take anything for granted. You never know when your life could make a change for the worse, and you never know how much time you have with someone. I want forever with you. On this day, here in front of all the people we love I pledge to you that I will always be there. I will always fight for us, and stop running away.” I smiled up
at him as the tears continued to stream down my face.

  I thought what I said was hard, until I heard Nick. "I, Nicolas Evan Sutter, take you, Leah Marie Carmichael, to be my wife. I promise I will always be there for you no matter what. Nothing you could say or do would ever make me leave. I promise always to come after you when you try to run away. I will never take any of our time for granted, and always live every day to the fullest. I promise to be a loving husband and father to you and our daughter. This I vow in front of you and these witnesses."

  “I love you,” I mouthed as he sniffed before turning to take my ring from Cam.

  "Marriage is a bond that can't always be seen, so we wear rings as an outward symbol of our love and fidelity. Like love, rings have no beginning and no end," the minster's voice boomed over us.

  Nick slipped the ring, a simple platinum band, onto my left ring finger right next to my diamond, "Leah take this ring a symbol of my love for you. A love that will never end."

  I turned toward Avery and took Nick's ring, a platinum band with an etched design, and slipped it on Nick's left ring finger, "Nick take this ring as a symbol of my love for you. A love that will never end."

  "The power vested in me by the state of North Carolina, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride," the minster smiled at us as Nick smirked before wrapping his arms around me. One hand cupped the back of my head as the other went to my waist. Before I knew what was happening, he dipped my back and crashed his mouth down on mine. Applause rang out around us, as my world faded for a few moments. I wanted to bathe myself in the moment. We were finally married. Nick and I had come full circle, and nothing was going to come between us now. I had him, and he had me…for better or worse…til death do us part.

  Chapter 20

  Leah

  As the afternoon melted into evening, time seemed to stand still. The sun slowly faded into the horizon turning the sky into a watercolor mix of pinks, oranges, and purples. The universe was creating a beautiful backdrop for us, and I couldn’t help the happiness that was bubbling out of me.