by M. Piper
“Figures the fuckin’ nerds would get first place,” Eric snickers from behind us and my hand tightens on Mackenzie’s. Her face pales when I look at her and I spin, pinning him to his spot.
“I bet your ass is jealous of the shit that comes out of your mouth, Eric,” I growl. We’re not in the basement anymore, and I have no problem kicking this guy’s ass in a parking lot. It’s not the church.
Lincoln appears next to us and Wren takes Mackenzie a few steps back as Eric stands there, fists at his side.
“Maybe you should go home and sleep it off, Eric,” Lincoln says, trying to diffuse the situation.
“Maybe you should go home and sleep with your whore of Springfield. How about that? Fuckin’ running away from responsibilities and shit.” He spits at Lincoln and Lincoln jumps back so it doesn’t land on him.
“Go the fuck home!” Lincoln bellows, arm outstretched away from us, and my heart rate’s spiked so high I’m sure it’s unhealthy. Eric grins then turns to me.
“And you, killing girls a hobby? Zie better watch out, she’ll be the next dead one,” he says then snickers.
He never sees the punch coming. My fist lands against his cheekbone and the pain of the hit doesn’t even register. He staggers back but doesn’t fall. An evil laugh comes out of him right before he charges me. We go down hard to the rock parking lot and he swings back, his fist flying at my face and he hits me hard enough for pain to radiate and rage to burn. He pulls back and tries for it again, but I’m able to turn away the last second so all he gets is a knuckle-load of gravel. He wails again and in his recovery, I spin over, slamming him to the ground and land enough punches until he’s not retaliating anymore. Everything around me blacks out and I go royally fucking mad on this asshole. He’s lying there, still conscious but laughing his ass off, blood rolling out of his nose and eyebrow and his lip split.
“Let’s get out of here,” Lincoln says, pulling me off him. I shove him away when he tries helping me up and land one more kick to Eric’s gut before spitting on him.
“Don’t fucking come near anyone I love. Ever.” One more kick to the groin helps take away all the stress he put on me tonight and I glance up at Mackenzie who’s watching me through glistening eyes. “Let’s go home.”
She takes the keys from my pocket without talking to me and I rip my shirt off, tying it around my bloodied knuckles. She doesn’t even grin or anything when she revs the engine of the Mustang and I don’t care she’s driving it. I trust her, and I’m fucking sore as shit.
The drive home is silent. I don’t know if she’s pissed or turned on or happy or what, but I didn’t do that for her. I did it for me. Because I hate fuckers like him, and he taunted us all evening. He fucking deserved it.
When we walk into the house, Yellow comes running for us and Mack immediately gets him a treat so he leaves us alone. I head to the freezer and grab an ice pack before falling to the couch.
“You need anything else?” she asks, standing next to me.
“A shot of something,” I grumble, pissed again for no reason. I glance at her and she’s standing there frowning, arms crossed in front of her. “Hell, I’m sorry,” I mutter.
“I don’t know what to do for you, Ford. You just lost your shit.” She shakes her head so I pat the couch next to me.
“Just be with me,” I whisper, and when she sits on the couch carefully, I pull her to me and wrap an arm around her. “I’m sorry if I scared you. But I’m not sorry for doing it.”
She nods. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wanted to do that to him for months now.” She shrugs and laughs lightly. “You didn’t have to do it, though.”
“I did. And I’d do it again if it meant him not being such a dick next time we run into him. We’re not going anywhere and neither is he. We should both be able to live in this city without him treating us like that.”
She nods, picking at her nail polish. She’s been weird tonight, even before the parking lot.
“Everything okay?” I ask, shifting the ice to my head where he landed his one hit.
Her head bobs slowly and she tucks her legs under her. She softly touches my knuckles, sighing heavy then looking up at me.
“I’m late,” she whispers, her eyes widening and worry striking her beautiful features.
“Late…to? I thought we had all night together?”
She lets out a small laugh then shakes her head.
“No, Ford. Late. I’m late. As in, my period’s late.”
“I…” My stomach plummets and something soars inside me. Joy? Fear? Hope? “Are you?” My eyes flick to her stomach and I drop the ice pack, bringing my hands to cup her cheeks. She’s biting her lip and shrugs.
“I haven’t taken a test yet, so I don’t know. But I know it’s been a couple months since my last period and everything else fits…” She pushes her lips together and I press mine to hers immediately.
“We gotta get you a test, babe,” I whisper on her lips, then pull back and stand, pulling her with me. “Come on,” I blurt.
“We can’t go with you this bloody,” she laughs, then pauses and shakes her head. “Is it crazy I kind of hope I am?”
“If it is, then I’ll go crazy with you, Mack.” I sweep her up, ignoring the pain in my hand, and slam my lips to hers, spinning her and when her feet land on the ground, she looks like my Mack, not the worried, ball of nerves she was all night tonight. It all makes sense now.
I hop in the shower, making quick work of cleaning everything off me and when I’m dressed and finally ready to go, I find her sitting on the couch staring at the floor.
“You ready?” I walk over to her and her eyes hit mine as she brings her fingers up to brush the bruising on my face.
“Are we insane?”
“Yes. Absolutely. But I wouldn’t change it for the world, Mack.” I grab her hand and pull her up, wrapping my arms around her. “So we’re doing things backwards. Maybe. It’s all relative. Anyway, it’s the twenty-first century. The whole order of operations is long gone.” I push my lips to her forehead and she sighs.
“I’m nervous. Look at my hands.” She holds her hands up and I notice the tremble in them. Taking them and pressing my lips to hers softly, I smile.
“There’s nothing to be worried about, Mackenzie. If it’s negative, we keep going on with our lives. If it’s positive…” I shrug. “Well, then we’re in this together. Parenthood sounds terrifying, but there’s no one else in this world I’d rather do this with.”
“Okay.” She pauses. “Can I drive your car again?” Her lips lift into a grin and I bark out a laugh.
“That’s a hard no,” I say, walking out the front door with her right behind me.
“Think we got enough?” I ask, wired. The counter’s lined with about twelve different types of pregnancy tests. Mackenzie thought I was joking when I said I was buying them all, but I wasn’t. I’m not about to have uncertainty in my life when it comes to this.
“I think you went overboard,” she says laughing, then chugs the bottle of tea I bought. The final of the four large ones I got her.
“Almost time to pee! You drank those in no time flat. I’m impressed.” I nod at the jug in her hand and the rest on the table in the living room.
“I’m full,” she groans.
“Drink!” I blurt, smiling at her. She touches my dimple and sighs then finishes the last bottle.
“Okay, you ready for the first one?” Her eyes widen when I toss her the package.
She tears it open and the anticipation is killing me. When she sits on the toilet and pees on the stick, I can’t stop grinning.
“You’re pissing in front of me for the first time ever. And it’s on a stick…”
“Trust me, I know,” she says, unamused. “You could wait out in the living room while I do this, you know?”
“Nah. I want to be involved in the whole experience.” I shrug. “Plus, it’s strangely hot as hell watching you do this.”
“Pervert,�
�� she says, laughing. She brings the stick up and caps it, wrapping it in a long piece of toilet paper and setting it on the counter.
“You gonna have enough pee for all these?” I hold up another test for her and she groans.
“Maybe some cups? Those mugs of yours?” She smirks and I bark out a laugh.
“No fucking way you’re pissing in my coffee mugs. I got some plastic things I’ll bring in. We’re doing this right.”
She laughs as I leave the room but I’m not joking, again. I think she thinks I’m not serious, but I’m serious as hell when it comes to potentially being a father. I didn’t ever want to be a dad, but the minute Mackenzie hinted that she may be pregnant my heart soared and suddenly I had my…our…entire lives planned out.
By the time I walk back in the bathroom she’s sitting on the floor, the test she just took in her hands.
“Is it done? Did you read it?” I blurt, dropping the cups in the sink.
“Not yet,” she whispers. “It’s been long enough, though.”
I sit on the floor next to her and take the test out of her hands, slowly unwrapping the toilet paper.
“Wait,” she blurts, her hand grabbing mine. She turns and looks in to my eyes. “Ford, promise me this doesn’t change anything. Either way, whatever this says… I still love you. I’ll always love you. Please promise me this won’t change anything.”
Her hand’s trembling and as nervous as she is, she’s still the cutest damn thing this side of the Mississippi.
“You’re a part of me, Mack. Always. Nothing will take that away from us.”
She pulls her hand away and I unwrap the test. The line that immediately showed up is still there, bright as day, but the second line’s that supposed to be there isn’t.
“Negative,” she whispers quietly as she slowly blinks at the test.
My heart sinks and a frown comes across my face.
“Hey, we have a ton more to try. Maybe a digital one next? These old style lines are pretty old fashioned…” I stand, tossing the negative test in the trash and grabbing her arm to help her up. My heart’s beating out of my chest because for once I was excited about the possibility of becoming a father, and with one negative test in the books I’m realizing what I want isn’t what I’m going to get. Fuck me, Mack would be a sexy pregnant woman.
“Maybe I’m not though. Maybe I’m just super late or skipped a period or something,” she mutters, walking over to the cups. I wash my hands and when I look at her, I smile.
“Take the cups. Pee in them. Let’s get these tests going.” I clap my hands, then lean in and press my lips to hers. “Just to be sure.”
She sighs and pushes her pants down again, squatting on the toilet. I give her space, mainly because I need time to process the fact that she may not be pregnant. I’ve spent the last few hours completely ecstatic that I was going to be a dad. I guess I counted my chickens before they were hatched. Now I have to be strong for her because from the looks of it, that negative test devastated her.
Once she’s got them all set she walks out of the bathroom and shrugs.
“Now we see. If all those are negative I refuse to do this again.”
I walk over to her and wrap my arms tightly around her.
“And if they’re all positive?”
“You’re going to have to get a new shower curtain,” she says into my chest.
I laugh hard and hug her tighter, pressing my lips to the top of her head. “I have at least six years until tiny Ford figures out how to read it. I’m fine.”
She laughs and we stand there until the timer goes off from her phone.
“You ready for this?” She takes a step back, eyes filled with raging emotions, and I nod.
“More ready than you are.” I grin and push the bathroom door open, letting her step in first.
“I can’t look,” she squeaks, holding her hands over her face. I laugh and roll my eyes.
“I’ll look and then I’ll tell you, ok?” She nods her head and I reach for the first cup.
“Well,” I say, unable to stop the smile from my face. I set it down and reach for the second, then the third. Each cup reading the same.
“What do they say!?” She shrieks, unblocking her eyes and bending to look at all the tests. “Holy shit,” she whispers, her eyes wide. She stands and looks at me. “Holy shit, Ford!”
“I guess that first guy was a Carl.” I shrug, then smile brightly.
“Fucking useless Carl,” she mutters, looking at the tests again. “We’re having a baby!” She yells, jumping into my arms.
I’m going to be a fucking father.
“This is the best fucking news, Mack. Holy hell,” I say, beaming. “We gotta get you a doctor’s appointment! We gotta get you all set up. You need to move in. Like, yesterday. I gotta take care of you guys,” I ramble, my eyes wide with excitement.
“Whoa there, Ford. One thing at a time.” She pats my chest. “Doctor’s appointment. Then telling my parents.”
My mouth falls open. “Oh my God they just met me. They’re going to hate me.”
“Maybe not. They’re not getting any younger. And I know they want grandkids.” She pushes her lips to mine and I can’t help but swoop her into my arms and carry her straight to the bedroom.
“You’ve made me the happiest man alive, Mackenzie Mueller.”
As I lie here watching Mackenzie sleep, I can’t wipe the smile from my face. This girl’s given me everything. She’s taught me how to handle the pain that comes with Caroline’s death in a way I never thought possible. She’s made me want things I never thought I’d be in reach of having. She’s making me a father. That right there’s enough to smile.
My phone starts ringing from the nightstand and I reach over, answering the unknown caller.
“Hello?” I say quietly so I don’t wake her. It’s probably a telemarketer, but just in case it’s family I need to answer it.
“Ford? It’s Mrs. Rayes.”
My entire world stops and the room goes blurry. Why the hell is Caroline’s mom calling me?
“Ford?”
“Ye—” I clear my throat, standing from the bed and leaving the room in a rush. “Mrs. Rayes. It’s me. Hi.”
“I was hoping it wasn’t too early. I didn’t wake you, did I?” Her voice sounds different from the last time we talked. Hell, her parents and I were almost as close as I am with my own parents back then, and I’m ashamed to say it’s been a couple years since I’ve talked to them. We each grieved in our own way. I retreated from them faster than lightening. Almost everything that reminded me of her, I let go of immediately. Including them.
“No. I was awake.” I rub my face and head for the coffee pot. It’s eight am and another day closer to December fourth. The day I dread every year. This year, however, I don’t dread it. I welcome it. Because that’s one day closer to meeting my baby.
“I know it’s been a while, Ford,” she starts as I scoop the coffee into the machine. “I just…this year’s six years.”
“Feels like yesterday,” I mumble, hitting start on the machine.
“It does, doesn’t it?” She falls silent and I sit on the chair, rubbing my face trying to wake up. We were up half the night last night making love and enjoying each other’s bodies until we both passed out from pure exhaustion. And now I have a day full of work to get done this morning.
“So um…” she starts then laughs, “a friend saw you and that Mueller girl at the store last night.”
The line falls silent and I’m suddenly very, very awake. She knows about the tests.
Fuck.
“Yeah?” I ask, standing and grabbing a cup for my coffee.
“Ford, I… I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that you’re finally living your life.” I hear her voice crack and my eyebrows pull together. I was sure as shit she was going to yell at me for moving on.
“Really?”
“Oh absolutely. I know we’ve lost touch, but you always were like a son
to us. Caroline was all we had, but we didn’t just lose her in the accident, Ford. We lost you, too.”
I take a sip of coffee, burning my tongue and groaning, resting my head on the counter.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“Why on earth are you sorry? You were grieving just like we were. Life happens and, unfortunately, we didn’t have that one thing that kept us all together anymore.”
I sigh. I’ve got nothing to say to her to make things better.
“Well… I just want you to know I’m happy for you. Whatever happened after the store last night…” she pauses and clears her throat. “Whether it’s the two of you, or more… Ford I’m thrilled for you.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, standing straight and turning when I hear Mackenzie walk into the room. She’s wearing nothing but the bed sheet and a grin on her face. Her hair’s mussed perfectly and she’s watching me carefully.
“I’ve got to get going to work. We’ll talk soon, okay?”
“Yeah. Bye.” I end the call and grin at Mackenzie. “Morning, sexy.” She walks over to me and just when I think she’s going in for a hug she reaches around me and steals my coffee cup.
“Perfect temp. Thank you.” She takes a sip and smiles at me.
“You probably shouldn’t be drinking that,” I say, leaning against the counter. Her eyebrow raises and I think for a second they’re going to start shooting daggers at me.
“Really?” She says. “You want to see what happens when I don’t get my coffee?”
I pause and consider my options. Then, I grab her hips and press my lips to hers.
“I love you, Mack. And I have to get to work before I’m late.” I smack her ass on the way to the bathroom.
God, I’m never going to get enough of this girl.
“How ya feeling today?” Lincoln’s standing in the doorway of my office watching me carefully. I know why he’s here, and I know what I did was idiotic but the guy had it coming.
“Fine. Why?” I clip, shoving another piece of paper through the shredder. I’m at the point in my day that I don’t really know what I’m shredding, but the sound of it being obliterated helps soothe me. God knows why I feel this way. I thought I woke up pretty snazzy this morning. Then something clicked on the way here and it’s been downhill ever since.