The Truth About Fairy Tales

by Annie Walker

  “Nothing, I just forgot to get these little things refilled and now I’m out. I’ll have to do it on my way back from court this morning.”

  Jackson came and took the dryer from my hand, clicked it off, and pulling me back against him.

  “Tell me again why are you still taking those things?”

  Our gaze met in the mirror. A thousand different standard excuses flew through my mind, none of which made sense to me any longer.

  “I don’t know.”

  “So stop taking them, and let’s just see what happens. If you’re worried, call Doctor Raymond. We’re three months away from getting married. We both want children if possible, so why keep taking them?”

  I could only nod before turning around in his arms to kiss him warmly. I loved this man. I wanted to have his children. I prayed that would be possible.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jackson didn’t know it, but one night every week when I told him I was out with the girls I was secretly taking a cooking class. I was positively becoming an old fashioned woman. I wanted it all—the house, the family, the husband. I wanted to learn to cook for my man.

  I planned surprising him one night with a beautifully prepared gourmet meal. Tonight, as we worked together on dinner, I had to settle for Jackson doing most of the difficult stuff while I still pretended I couldn’t boil water. He trusted me to toss the salad.

  We were just cleaning up when his cell phone rang.

  “Go, I’ve got this. It’s the least I can do, considering you’ve done everything else.”

  “You made the salad.” He tried to make me feel better before leaving me with the dishes.

  A few minutes later, Jackson was back and looking so solemn that I almost dropped the glass, I was holding. My first thought was something’s wrong. Someone was hurt.

  “What is it?”

  “No, Maggie. No, it’s not bad news. That was Layne. Genna’s at the hospital. She’s gone into labor. Genna asked him to call me.”

  “Why didn’t he call the house?” I didn’t even finish the thought when it hit me and I understood. Of course, my precious friend was worried how hard it was going to be for me seeing the birth of her baby. “Oh…” I murmured, the ache in my heart reminding me of our loss. As hard as it was to deny at times, it was always right there with me. “We should go to the hospital. I want to be with her.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay with this? I mean no one would blame you.”

  “No, I want to be there with Genna. What about you, Jackson? You know you don’t have to come, if you don’t feel like it?”

  Always when I remembered the loss, I was reminded of this strong man next to me. He was hurting just as much as I was, in his own quiet way.

  “Let’s both go see Genna and Layne's baby.” He smiled tenderly and took the glass I’d all but forgotten from my hand.

  Serena and Jeff were there already when we arrived. “Any word yet?” I asked my friend who was busy pacing the waiting area.

  “No, nothing, but it shouldn’t be too much longer. She’s fully dilated. How are you two?” Serena finally stopped prowling the waiting area long enough to land in front of Jackson and I.

  “We’re okay, Serena.” Jackson glanced at me and we both knew this was going to be one of the hardest moments we’d have to face together. No matter how much happiness we felt at the birth of Genna’s child, there was always that reminder of what we’d lost.

  “I’m glad you came,” she said just before Layne came running down the hall toward us.

  “It’s a girl!” He was all but yelling, and Serena and I exchanged looks as if to say, men. We already knew that. We wanted details.

  “How is she? How’s Gen?” We both asked him at the same time which only seemed to confuse dear old Layne that much more. The poor guy was at a loss for words for a second.

  “Gen’s fine…exhausted, but good and the baby…well, the baby is beautiful. Come see.” He walked away without really telling us anything at all and the four of us looked at each other before rushing after him.

  Gen's nurse probably thought it was some kind of invasion when we stormed into the room. It was clear she wasn’t happy, but I think she was just glad to get away from Layne for a bit.

  Genna lay in bed, her makeup perfect, not a hair out of place in her most respectful gown. For a moment, I couldn’t even think about looking for the baby I was so overwhelmed by her appearance. There was no way this woman had just had a baby.

  “Okay, who’d you hire to have the kid for you because there’s no way you just gave birth?”

  “Oh, Maggie.” She managed to both laugh and cry at the same time, which didn’t seem to smudge her perfect makeup. “Come see.”

  Little Michaela Marie, yep that was the name Gen here had picked out for the daughter she was so sure she would be having, ever since eighth grade, looked like a little old wrinkled man, but she was beautiful nonetheless with Gen’s hair and rosy skin. Her little face scrunched up into a frown that told us all she wasn’t too happy being in her new world just yet.

  “Oh Gen, she’s beautiful.” I felt like crying from sheer happiness at this beautiful child.

  Gen mistook the tears in my eyes for more. “Are you okay? I mean, I know how hard this must be for you and Jackson. Are you sure you’re okay with being here?”

  I took her hand and squeezed it tight, glancing at the man at my side. “We wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “Want to hold her?” she asked smiling. I took the tiny bundle from her arms to be amazed as her little fingers that clutched at Jackson’s thumb. He seemed at a loss for words himself.

  “Gen, you did good,” he told her in a voice that was just a little too strong. I handed little Michaela to Serena and took his hand. He knew I’d guess it. He understood that I felt the same pain. We both tried to be strong for each other. It didn’t matter, though, we’d get through this because we had each other and we were so happy for our friends.

  When we got home that night, neither of us was able to say the words, but we held each other. We both shed a few tears for our loss, but we were stronger because of it.

  Genna threw herself into her role of perfect mom while Serena got the wedding day jitters, as her day grew closer. Every single time I spoke to her on the phone, Serena sounded like she was ready to run away. I had to laugh at my carefree friend who was as scared as I was of commitment.

  For a couple of weeks, we skipped our weekly lunches to let Gen get accustomed to being a mom. A few weeks before Serena’s happy day, we finally got ourselves together at our favorite restaurant for lunch.

  What an odd group we made. Genna, fussing over Michaela and worrying about every little hiccup; Serena, so nervous that she could barely sit still and me—Miss Busy Attorney who still felt the weight of that impending doom hanging over her.

  For a while, none of us said a word. Here we sat, three small town girls living life in the big city with all of our fears and insecurities, unable to speak them out loud.

  Gen, for the first time in longer than I could remember, was the one to take charge of her two cowardly single friends.

  “Okay, you two, what’s going on? Serena, you start first.”

  Serena and I looked at each other, so surprised by this new take charge Gen in front of us that it was hard to remember what our problems were.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh, don’t give me that, Serena. You’re about as antsy as a cat and so is your friend there, so tell me what’s up with you two?”

  Over a two-hour lunch, we were able to pretty much air all of our dirty laundry. Serena fessed up just how frightened she was about the wedding. She told us that she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to make it down the aisle without hyperventilating, which had sent us all into a laughing spell. What was wrong with us? We were always so in control of our emotions, but lately we were acting like scared children.

  “You’ll be fine.” I tried to console her althou
gh I was secretly glad I wasn’t going to be walking down any aisle.

  “You can say that because you’re having your wedding at your house. I don’t know what I was thinking, letting Jeff talk me into such a big thing. I mean, it’s not my style at all. I’m more of the low-key kind of gal. No muss no fuss. I must have been on something when I agreed to all that frilly stuff.”

  “Or in love…” I whispered, only to be rewarded with that drop-dead look of hers that always shut me up.

  “Serena, you’re going to be fine because Maggie and I will be there with you. So stop worrying, will you? And you…” She looked me straight in the eye before starting my dressing down. “Stop looking for trouble when there isn’t any.”

  I silenced Serena’s laughter with a look of my own before addressing Miss Super Mom here. “I don’t look for trouble…”

  She didn’t let me finish that little lie. “Oh, yes, you do. You’ve been hunting for something bad since you met Jackson. Hoping for some reason to push him away before he got too close; well, I’m telling you, Maggie, you won’t find it. That guy is good and if you’re stupid enough to drive him away then…”

  “Hey!” This was both Serena and I because frankly, Gen had just slipped over the edge.

  “I’m sorry…I’m sorry, Maggie. You know I didn’t mean it that way. Just blame it on the lack of sleep. I’m only getting a few minutes here and there. It does strange things to your system. Not to mention my hormones are raging.”

  Serena and I both smiled at that. “It’s okay.” I patted her hand. “It’s worth it all, isn’t it?”

  “Of course. I love Michaela so much. I never thought I could love a baby this much. I’d do anything in the world for her. That still doesn’t stop the sleepless nights, does it? Layne’s been great, but the poor man is working so hard that I can’t let him get up in the middle of the night to feed when he has to be up so early. I think we’re starting to get used to the schedule, though. Having a baby takes a lot of adjustments, ladies, but it’s worth every single one of them. Would you listen to me? Gees, I sound just like one of those women that all they can talk about is their baby. I don’t want to become one of those women.” Serena and I looked at each other…too late we both were thinking.

  “So we’re still set for Friday night’s girls’ night slumber party, aren’t we, ladies?”

  The three of us planned to spend the night before Serena’s wedding at her apartment. We were going to do all those girl things like gossip about our guys and watch sappy old romance movies over homemade margaritas. Jeff was going to his favorite sports bar that night to hang with his friends. He was so in love with Serena. He’d turned down all offers from his buddies to throw him a bachelor’s party.

  “Of course—I can’t wait. It’s going to be so much fun—just us girls.” Serena added.

  “Well, I doubt that I’ll be much fun. Since my recent lack of sleep, I’ll probably take that opportunity to catch up on it.” We’d laughed at Genna because we all knew that wasn’t going to happen. This was going to be one of the last carefree times for us. We’d take advantage of it, because for three little girls from Santa Anna, Texas, life was changing. The things that defined our happiness for so long were disappearing. Now there were men, babies, jobs, and responsibilities.

  This rare chance for three old friends to turn back time to when we were younger days was something none of us was going to miss a minute of. Not even for sleep.

  ****

  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay here by yourself?” I asked Jackson when he told me his big plans for the night.

  He was going to stop by the sports bar, spend a little time with Jeff and then he was coming back home and watch some old war movie that he’d recently become addicted to. Just him and Sidney, he told me.

  Jackson's attachment to my little dog had long ago gone from trying to make me happy. They were best friends now. I'd find them doing all sorts of things together, but mostly sitting in front of the TV watching old war movies.

  “Sid and I will be fine on our own. But if I get scared, I’ll call you, okay?” He was making fun of my recent protectiveness, but I didn’t mind. These were my guys. I didn’t want them to be lonely or bored.

  “Fine, Mr. Sarcastic, I’ll just leave you to your own amusement, however strange it may be.”

  “You guys have fun.” He smiled before kissing me. “But no crank calls, okay?” I’d almost forgotten that I’d told him how the three of us used to spend our Friday nights back home. Making crank calls to boys, we sort of liked.

  I arrived at Serena’s a little before Gen did and just as Jeff was leaving.

  I could tell that the whole sports bar thing, even if it was his favorite spot, was the last place he wanted to be. The poor man had it bad.

  “I’m going to miss you,” he whispered against her hair before kissing her again, and over his shoulder Serena was busy rolling her eyes at me. She loved the guy, but it was hard for her to admit that.

  “Jeff, go. You’ll have loads of fun, you’ll see.” She shooed him out the door and he left with that sad sap look on his face and a little wave for me.

  “Poor thing. He’s eaten up with it, isn’t he?”

  Serena threw up her hands and wanted to scream. “I love him, but he’s been driving me crazy for days! I’m thinking about going on the honeymoon alone.”

  “You wouldn’t?” I exclaimed as Gen knocked on the door.

  “You guys haven’t already started drinking without me, have you?” She walked into the room, arms loaded down with stuff.

  “No, we’ve been waiting patiently.”

  “I’m not late, am I? I just saw Jeff downstairs. Poor guy, he’s going to be so lost without you tonight, Serena. He loves you so much.”

  “Gen, shut up. Okay, look, I don’t want to talk about Jeff anymore. That’s all we ever talk about. Come on, you guys, we used to find plenty to talk about. Can’t we find something else other than Jeff?”

  Poor Gen—she looked thoroughly hurt by Serena’s outburst. I took some of the stuff from her overloaded arms and carried it to the spare bedroom.

  “Sorry. It’s the jitters talking. She’ll be fine. I think Jeff’s been driving her batty lately.”

  “He’s a good guy, Mags. Serena had better start appreciating him.”

  Two hours later, we hadn’t thought about Jeff or his sad little face for a while. We were into our second batch of margaritas when my good friends decided it was time to talk about our sex lives.

  “Okay, I haven’t had sex in months so I need someone to tell me how good it still is.”

  Serena and I just about dropped our drinks before we were looking at her as if she’d sprouted horns.

  “What do you mean?” I managed to ask because frankly, Serena couldn’t stop laughing. “Because of the baby?”

  “Well, yeah! That is mostly,” Gen answered. “But mostly I’m tired and I feel fat and ugly because of all the weight I gained during the pregnancy and I guess I just don’t have the energy. Poor Layne, bless his heart, he’s being so patient, but I miss it so much. So, please be a friend, Mags, and tell me, how is Jackson?”

  This was not something I was expecting from dear sweet sometimes-prudish Gen. “I’m not going to tell you about my sex life,” I announced totally astonished.

  “Please, Maggie, Serena has been too mad at Jeff to have sex and anyways she’s laughing too hard to say a thing. Please just tell me how good it is.”

  I thought about refusing flat out. After all, I doubted that my guy back home would be too pleased if he found out I’d been divulging things that were best kept between us. The look on her face changed my mind.

  “Okay, but you for one are going to have to slow down on those things. You’re going to be sick.” She nodded and sat down next to Serena at the kitchen table.

  I realized then that I had both of their undivided attention. This was something they’d both obviously been curious about for a long time.
r />   “What is up with you two? We’ve talked about our love life before.”

  “Oh, yeah, sure if you mean, ‘oh, I love him,’ or ‘oh, he’s so perfect’. I’ve told you all about Jeff, but you’ve always skirted around giving us any details with Jackson. So, spill it. Is he as good as he looks? He is, isn’t he?”

  I had their full attention all right. Two sets of eyes watched me in speculation and I couldn’t keep from smiling. I couldn’t disappoint my friends, could I? Jackson would just never have to know about this conversation.

  “Oh yeah, he’s that good alright. Better even and if you two ever tell him I said that about him, I’ll deny it.”

  They were shaking their heads so fast that I wondered which was going to get whiplash first.

  “The first time? Well, let me tell you, it was unexpected and nothing at all like I believed. The man is magical. I never told you guys this, but the first time was the night after we met.” I shook my head to the enraptured ‘no’. “He pretty much kidnapped me from work.” I stopped and looked at them, wondering how much of Jackson’s trust I was betraying by telling them that.

  “Oh, don’t stop now, Mags? Don’t worry, we won’t tell him. What happened? He kidnapped you from work and what?”

  “He told me later on that he’d been crazy about me even before we met and that he was only using Ben as an excuse to get to meet me. That night, he took me back to his house and we got into an argument. Me, being my usual stubborn self, and Jackson, being well, Jackson Riley. The next thing I know he was kissing me and taking my clothes off. I didn’t even think about stopping him. It was…unbelievable.”

  “Oh, dammit, Maggie, how do you get so lucky?” This was Serena. “The guy is not only the richest man around, but he’s probably the best looking as well. Now we find out he’s great in bed. Gees, some people have all the luck.”

  “Okay, shut up, Serena. I want to hear the rest of the story. There’s more isn’t there?”

  “Unfortunately. Ben came home and put two and two together and figured out what had happened. He was so hurt and I felt so bad because of it. But Jackson came back after they’d argued and Ben left, and made love to me all over again. Then, he told me to leave.”