Perfect Pairings

by JA Armstrong

  PERFECT PAIRINGS

  JA Armstrong

  Text © Copyright 2018 Bumbling Bard Creations

  All Rights Reserved.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced without permission.

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER ONE

  JUNE 6rth

  It wasn’t supposed to be hot in June. At least, it wasn’t supposed to be this hot. Carrie Maynard wiped her brow and groaned. She’d thought that she would avoid the dead heat of summer during her final trimester of pregnancy—no such luck. A wild winter had given way to a wicked summer. “Welcome to New England,” she muttered. She looked down at her swollen middle and laughed. “And, you; how can you have so much energy in this heat?” She asked her unborn child.

  “Mom!”

  Carrie chuckled. “Good thing it never gets old, because it certainly never ends.”

  CJ ran into the kitchen and looked at Carrie expectantly.

  “Uh-oh,” Carrie said. “Did I forget something again?”

  “When do we go see Devon?”

  Carrie glanced at the clock on the microwave. “In about an hour.”

  CJ huffed.

  “What’s the matter? Bored?” Carrie asked.

  CJ’s eyes roamed over the kitchen table where Carrie had placed some bowls and pans. She looked up at the open cabinets, put her hands on her hips, and frowned.

  Carrie forced herself not to laugh. She was about to get scolded.

  “Mom,” CJ began seriously.

  Carrie lifted an eyebrow at the youngster.

  “Devon said you’s s’posed to rest.”

  Devon says a lot of things. “I’m all right, sweetie.”

  A skeptical five-year-old took a step closer and grabbed Carrie’s hand.

  “CJ,” Carrie began softly. “I’m okay.”

  CJ shook her head. “Devon says I’s s’posed to watch you.”

  That was it; Carrie erupted in laughter. She could imagine the conversation her wife had conducted with CJ.

  “I’m five,” CJ explained. “Five’s big.”

  Carrie smiled. She took a seat in one of the kitchen chairs and kissed CJ’s forehead. “How about if you help me until it’s time to go?”

  CJ considered the offer for a moment, tapping a finger to her cheek. She sighed and nodded. “You sit first,” CJ said firmly. She’d heard Devon instruct Carrie to get off her feet many times in recent weeks, and what Devon said was law.

  Carrie rolled her eyes.

  “Mom,” CJ warned just as Carrie sometimes cautioned her.

  Carrie chuckled. God help me get through these last few weeks.

  ***

  “Hey, Princess.”

  Devon offered her best friend a wave.

  “Busy?” Bruce asked.

  “Not really.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Just wondering if I should head home and check on Carrie.”

  Bruce grinned. “She’s not dying, you know?”

  “Did she call you?”

  “No, why? I thought she was bringing CJ here to have dinner with you.”

  “She is.”

  “Okay, I am missing something.”

  “You’re missing a lot of things, Solo.”

  “Very funny, Princess. What gives? Carrie seemed fine this weekend.”

  Devon threw a pot in the sink. Why did everyone seem hell-bent on convincing her that Carrie was fine? Okay, maybe Carrie was fine. No, Carrie wasn’t fine, she was tired, her feet were swollen, she wasn’t sleeping, and she refused to slow down. Devon was worried.

  “Devon,” Bruce softened his tone. “If you’re really that worried about her, go home. We can handle things here without you.”

  Devon shook her head. “She’ll kill me.”

  Bruce smiled. “Devon,” he called for her attention. “You know, if Carrie thought there was anything to worry about, she’d tell you.”

  “If she thought something was wrong, she’d tell me. I don’t think she’d tell me that she’s struggling to handle everything.” Devon sighed. “She hasn’t slept in three nights. I don’t know how to help her.”

  “Go home.”

  “That might make it worse.”

  “Just go,” Bruce said. “If she kicks you out; you can stay with me.”

  Devon’s face drained of color.

  Bruce laughed. Devon’s nervousness had been growing over the last few days. He wondered how Devon would survive the next four weeks, and how Carrie would manage to endure Devon’s pacing. It surprised him to see Devon feeling worried. By all accounts, Carrie was feeling healthy. Devon had watched her sister and her sisters-in-law wade through pregnancy and birth plenty of times. “Devon, you’ve been through this before.”

  “What?”

  “Babies. I mean, seriously; your family could start a small colony.”

  “It’s not the same.”

  “I guess not, but all I’m saying is that you have lots of people around you who have experience with this. Why don’t you talk to Madison or your mom?”

  Devon shook her head. Her sister, Madison was due to deliver her second child a few weeks after Carrie. Madison had scolded Devon. “I can’t talk to Madison. She said, and I quote, ‘stop your annoying, obsessive hovering.’ And then she told me that I reminded her of a gnat.”

  Bruce laughed.

  “I’m not kidding. She said that if Carrie’s half as tired as she is, she’s surprised Carrie hasn’t swatted me like the gnat I am.”

  Bruce laughed harder.

  Devon sighed. Her discussion with her older sister had led Devon to start working overtime. At least, if she wasn’t at home, she might avoid divorce or worse, death. Carrie had laughed off most of Devon’s antics, but Devon could tell that her anxiety was adding to Carrie’s stress. That’s the last thing that she wanted to do. The problem was that nothing seemed to be able to distract her thoughts from her wife. She rubbed her eyes. “I can’t help that I’m worried. I tried talking to Madison,” she told Bruce. “After she called me a gnat, she suggested I get some Valium.”

  “Just Valium?” A voice asked. Carrie smiled warmly at Devon when Devon met her gaze.

  Devon’s face drained of all color. “How much of that did you hear?”

  Carrie winked at her. “Hi, Bruce.”

  “Hi, Carrie. Where’s the wee one?” Bruce asked.

  “CJ got cornered by Stephen. I think he’s making her a Shirley Temple.”

  “I’ll go make sure there are extra cherries,” Bruce said. He leaned into Carrie’s ear on his way through the door. “Take her home or something.”

  Carrie chuckled. She took a deep breath and looked at Devon.

  “Shit. I’m sorry, Carrie.”

  “Sorry?”

  “For being an annoying gnat.”

  Carrie made her way to Devon. “Dev…”

  “I can’t help it.”

  “I know,” Carrie said. “What I don’t know is why you are so nervous all of a sudden.”

  “I can’t do anything.”

  Carrie was confused.

  “To help,” Devon clarified. “You’re barely sleeping, and you still get up before me every morning. And, I…”

  “Devon.” Carrie took hold of Devon’s hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what? You’re doing everything, and you’re miserable. I know you are.”

  “I’m not miserable,” Carrie promised. “A little uncomfortable sometimes. I’m not miserable. Maybe a little frustrated.”

  “By me…
”

  “No.” Carrie laughed. “I wanted to reorganize the bottom cupboards this morning. I had to settle for the ones over the counter… Well, what I could reach. I couldn’t manage the bottom. I feel like an elephant, only with less mobility.”

  “I would have done that.”

  Carrie was about to protest. She stopped herself. She had always taken pride in her ability to be self-sufficient. Her frustration with her current physical limitations had only made her more determined. Devon needed to help. She stepped into Devon’s arms. “I should have asked you.”

  “No,” Devon said. “But you can ask me. I wish you would let me help. I worry about you.”

  “Dev, I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize our baby’s health.”

  “I know that. I also know that you’ll push yourself harder than you need to. Let me and CJ help.”

  “Mmm.”

  “What?” Devon asked.

  “Conspiring with our daughter?”

  Devon’s eyes sparkled. “What if I am?”

  “Mom…”

  Carrie laughed. “Speak of the Jedi.”

  CJ tugged on Carrie’s shirt.

  “I thought you were having a Shirley Temple with Uncle Bruce?” Carrie asked.

  “He said to take Dev home.”

  Devon rolled her eyes.

  “Can we get pizza?” CJ asked.

  “Pizza?” Carrie inquired.

  “Before home,” CJ explained.

  Carrie looked at Devon. “Can you leave?”

  Devon nodded.

  “Well, what do you say we go have a pizza?” Carrie suggested. “Then we can go home, and I will let you rub my feet.”

  Devon laughed. “Your feet, huh?”

  “Yep.”

  “Mom made brownies,” CJ said.

  “You baked too?” Devon asked.

  “Actually, CJ did most of the work.”

  CJ beamed with pride. “Yep.”

  “I had to do something to keep her from hovering,” Carrie offered. “The result of all your conspiring is an empty Tupperware cabinet and brownies.”

  “You threw out Tupperware?” Devon was shocked.

  “Don’t get too excited. I’m sure that it will be filled with baby bottles soon enough.”

  Devon grinned. There were moments when everything felt surreal to her, and then, there were moments when suddenly, the reality that she and Carrie were having a baby took her breath away. Simple things like the notion of baby bottles in the kitchen reminded Devon that it was all real.

  “What are you grinning about? Did my Tupperware offend you that much?” Carrie joked.

  “No,” Devon replied. “Sometimes, it just feels so real.”

  “Oh, it’s real all right,” Carrie said. “Ask my feet.”

  Devon nodded and kissed Carrie on the cheek. “How about if we bring a pizza home?”

  “You don’t want to go out to dinner?”

  “Why don’t you and CJ go have another Shirley Temple?” Devon suggested.

  “I get two?” CJ asked excitedly.

  Devon winked. “Take Mom to see Stephen. I’ll call and order the pizza. It’ll give me a few minutes to finish what I was doing. Then we can spend the evening with a movie and our pizza.”

  CJ tugged on Carrie’s hand.

  “You go ahead,” Carrie said. “Tell Stephen you can have one more. I’ll be right there.” CJ scurried off, and Carrie turned back to Devon. “Thank you.”

  “For what? Driving you crazy?”

  “Yes, actually.”

  Devon sighed. “I swear; I’ll try and chill.”

  “Don’t.”

  Devon blinked with surprise.

  “I just want you to be Dev,” Carrie said. She placed a gentle kiss on Devon’s lips. “Order the pizza. I have a date with Shirley Temple.”

  “You do like younger women.”

  Carrie laughed. “Guilty as charged.”

  Devon watched Carrie stroll out of the kitchen. Not for the first time, she found herself wondering how she’d managed to hit the jackpot. She and Carrie had hit a few bumps along the way. Somehow, they always seemed to find their way through whatever life handed them. Carrie was genuinely good-natured; a quality that had drawn Devon to her wife like a moth to a flame. Few people that Devon had met possessed the ability to roll with life’s punches the way Carrie Maynard could. Life affected Carrie; that was a fact. She felt things deeply, but she chose to focus on the glass being half full in life. She poured her energy into the people she loved, sometimes to her detriment. Devon also knew that. Carrie was a master at disguising her fear and her worry for the benefit of the people that meant the most to her. And, that is what drove Devon’s concerns. Carrie was anything but aloof. Devon sensed that Carrie was struggling both physically and emotionally in the last week. Carrie maintained a smile through everything. Devon wondered when the anxiety that lurked beneath the surface of Carrie’s calm exterior would finally break through. “Maybe when I rub her feet.”

  ***

  “I know, Mom. I know uprooting your life and coming back to Connecticut is hard for you.” Tom sighed deeply.

  “Tommy, as much as I would love to be closer, your father…”

  “Please, just think about it, Mom,” Tom said

  “Why is this so important to you right now?”

  Tom Willis shook his head.

  “Tommy…”

  “Sometimes, Mom, I wonder what I’m doing.”

  Betty Willis smiled at her son. “Do you mean with CJ or do you mean with Carrie?”

  Tom tried to smile, the ache in his chest made it hard to breathe.

  “Are you worried about Carrie?” Betty asked.

  “She has Devon to take care of her.”

  “Mmm. Are you in love with her?”

  “Carrie?”

  Betty nodded.

  “I do love her.”

  “Like a sister?”

  Tom chuckled uncomfortably. “I’m not sure I know how to explain it. I know what you’re thinking.”

  “I’m not thinking anything. That’s why I’m asking.”

  “CJ cries when she has to leave Carrie.”

  “That’s her mother,” Betty said. “You know, Darlene loved all of you; she did. I think Carrie was the glue that held you all together, though.”

  “She still is.” Tom took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I got an offer. The position is based in Boston.”

  “I see.”

  “I’d be overseeing a team of litigators.”

  “And, you are thinking about moving there with CJ?”

  “No.”

  Betty waited patiently for her son to continue.

  “You’ll think I’m horrible.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “I’m thinking of moving without CJ.”

  Betty nodded.

  “You do think that’s horrible.”

  “I think your daughter needs you.”

  “She’ll still have me, just in a different way. I’m not so sure that would be a bad thing.”

  “I thought you were committed to putting Carrie Jane first.”

  “I am,” Tom said. “That’s the thing, Mom. Even the therapist has suggested that CJ might be best served living with Carrie and Devon full-time.”

  “And, what about you?”

  “I love CJ. I love Carrie. Hell, I love Devon.”

  “And, this new baby?”

  Tom closed his eyes. “I’ll be there for all of them. I’m not sure that living across town is the best way to do that now—for any of us. Mom, I’m here in Florida every few weeks. I took this job to reduce my travel. I might not be in Brazil or Paris, but I’m constantly getting sent off for a review of some case—Los Angeles, Chicago, the city, Toronto—it’s almost impossible to keep a regular schedule. Maybe, I’m just not built for that. CJ wants to go home from school. She wants to be in her room. My house is like a hotel to her.”

  “You have to do what you think is be
st.”

  “You don’t approve.”

  “It’s not my place to approve or disapprove. You and Darlene were always nomads, on the road, running here and there. You’ve always been that way, Tommy. You’re right; that’s not what a five-year-old needs. How does Carrie feel about this?”

  “I haven’t talked to her.”

  “Well, I think that’s a conversation you need to have. You’re asking her to take something on that isn’t her responsibility.”

  “I know.”

  “She doesn’t see it that way. If you can’t tell her the truth, at least, admit it to yourself,” Betty suggested.

  Tom swallowed hard.

  “I… It doesn’t matter.”

  “It matters. It matters for you. Carrie is a remarkable woman. She also happens to be in love with someone else. You’ve also romanticized things a bit; I think. Some part of you hoped that when Dar left, Carrie stepping in would lead her to you.”

  “It would have been easier.”

  “For you,” Betty said. “Not for Carrie. Carrie made it possible for both you and Darlene to go your way. Just be sure that you are prepared for what walking another step away means. You can’t expect to walk back up to the door in a few months or a year and ask them to change their lives again—any of them.”

  “I know.”

  “Then maybe you have your answer.”

  “You don’t think I’m being selfish?”

  “I didn’t say that. It’s not my place to tell you how to handle your family. Heaven knows, your father and I weren’t perfect. No one is, Tommy. The most important thing is that CJ is cared for and that she feels secure. And, she will never feel that way if you are constantly stressed. She’ll pick up on that.”

  “It is selfish. I know it is.”

  “It is,” Betty agreed. “That doesn’t mean that it isn’t what’s best for all of you.”

  “Mom?”

  “Yes?”

  “I do love them.”

  “I have no doubt about that, sweetheart—none at all.”

  “Please, think about what I said.”

  Betty smiled. “Having me back in Connecticut would make it a little easier for you too.”

  “Not just me, Mom.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  ***