Stronger Than Ever (My Best Friend)

by Ancelli

  “Have you been to see your personal physician lately?” the doctor asked.

  “No.”

  He walked closer. “Well, I have some news for the two of you.”

  “What’s wrong?” Jason asked, concerned.

  “Other than the concussion, bruises, and the pain…you’re just pregnant.”

  “What? I’m pregnant?” Her face showed the shock for a moment before she broke into a wide grin. She hugged Jason. “We’re having a baby.”

  He hugged her back but didn’t say anything. She turned to the doctor. “Is the baby okay? He hit me hard in the stomach a couple of times.”

  “Your baby is fine. You protected him or her without even knowing.”

  “I was on birth control…will that hurt the baby?”

  “No, it won’t hurt your baby. But you need to make an appointment with your OB/GYN, to really make sure everything is okay. You will be able to go home soon.” He smiled and shook Jason’s hand before leaving the room.

  Jason turned to Kay and sandwiched her palm between his.

  “What’s wrong? You’re not happy about this?” She gently rubbed her stomach. “Earlier today you were talking about having a baby.”

  “Of course I’m happy were having a baby. I just wish we would’ve found out at a different time.”

  “Baby, it’s the best time. I needed something good so I can forget the bad things. This is a blessing for me to find out like this. God does things in his own time. Who are we to question him?”

  He hugged her. “Baby you’re everything to me.”

  She whispered. “We’re having a baby.”

  ***

  As they made their way home, Jason never once let go of Kay’s hand, hoping she could feel safe, knowing he was there. “Kay, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.” A tear escaped his eye.

  She wiped it away. “Jason, don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault that he attacked me. I was just at the wrong place. God was looking out for me, and our baby.” She gasped. “He’s a coward.” She turned and looked out the window.

  He grabbed the steering wheel with force. “Yes, he’s a fucking coward.” I’m going to make sure he pays, he thought.

  “I want to forget this day ever happened.”

  ***

  Jason helped Kay over the threshold. He could tell it hurt her to walk.

  “I need to take a shower.” She slowly walked to their bedroom.

  He watched her as she walked to the bedroom, he knew she was emotionally and physically hurt, but he also knew she needed some time alone. He went into the kitchen to grab some water. He stopped, and punched the wall. “Fuck, fuck, why Kay? I’m going to kill him.” He picked up the phone and called Patrick Barnett, a private investigator the firm used from time to time, to get information for a case. Mr. Barnett answered and he filled him in on what had happened to Kay. He repeated everything Kay had told him, from the two men’s descriptions to the color and make of the car. “If you find out anything, I want you to call me day or night.” He hung up and finished drinking his water.

  He entered their bedroom. The bathroom door was open, and he could hear the shower. He stepped closer to the door and heard her crying. She’s hurt and there’s nothing I could do, he thought. He went into the bathroom, opened the door to the shower. “Let me help you wash away the bad memories.” He grabbed the washcloth and stroked it over her body. “I’m here now. You’re safe with me.”

  He stepped out, grabbed the towel off the rack, and turned off the shower. He wrapped her in the towel and grabbed her in his arms, and sat on the toilet with her, rocking her back and forth.

  “I love you. I’m here now.” He said the words over and over again, willing her to hear them, to believe them. He carried her over to their bed.

  He laid her down, got her nightshirt, and dressed her. She cupped his face caressing his chin with her thumb.

  “My rock,” she sighed.

  He lay behind her and held her until she fell asleep.

  ***

  They both stared at her. How can I help her get through this? Jason wondered. Kay struggled in her sleep, swinging her hands, and screaming. “No! Why are you doing this to me? Stop, stop….”

  She was having a bad dream, bad enough to scare Angel. “Mommy, Mommy” she yelled.

  Jason tried to wake her, pulling her up into his arms. “Sweetie, it’s just a dream.” She began to open her eyes and realized where she was, seeing her baby.

  She pulled away slowly from Jason’s embrace. “Good morning baby, Mommy just had a bad dream, it’s over now.” She leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  She touched the bruise on her mom’s neck. “I here mommy, I love you.”

  She grabbed Kay’s hands, “I pray, God please let my mommy not have any more bad dreams, amen.”

  Jason and Kay just looked at her with amazement. Kay had a tear ran down her cheek.

  “Don’t cry Mommy.” She wiped her tears with her tiny hands and kissed her.

  Jason kissed their little girl. “Thank you. Mommy needed that.”

  Jason lay next to the two most important people in his life.

  They talked and giggled for a while, trying to cheer Kay up, but he could see the sadness in her eyes.

  Angel kissed them both and went to her room to play.

  “Kay, tell me what you’re feeling, I want to help you.” he said caressing her hands

  She pulled her hands away. “It was just a bad dream.”

  “Are you sure? Is there something else I can do for you? You know you could tell me anything.”

  “I’m fine,” she lied, obviously getting annoyed.

  “I’m driving you to work from now on.” He strode to the bathroom.

  “No, you aren’t. I can drive myself. I’m not going to let him win.”

  He walked back out from the bathroom. “Kay, I know you can drive, but I’ll feel much better.”

  Kay looked at him. “Are you going to take me everywhere I need to go? Jason, you can’t always be with me. I’m okay, I survived and I want to continue with my life.”

  She got out of the bed and headed to the bathroom. Jason followed her, she began taking of her clothes, getting ready to jump into the shower. Her beautiful brown neck, arms, and chest were covered in bruises. He walked over to her and started kissing every bruise she had. She pulled away. “Jason, please stop.”

  He stopped kissing her, “Baby, I wasn’t….” He slowly walked over and opened the shower door and turned on the water.

  “This is the last time we’re going to talk about what happened yesterday. I want to forget that it ever happened.” She walked in the shower.

  He went into the kitchen to get Kay some breakfast. Why us again? He sighed and picked up the phone again and dialed.

  “Son.”

  “Dad.” He started crying on the phone.

  “Jason, it’s going to be okay. She’s strong and you are strong, too. We wanted to come over, but I don’t think she’s ready.”

  “How can I help her?”

  “Just be there for her. She just needs to feel safe and protected. Tell her you love her. If she needs to talk, just listen. She’s been through something traumatic.”

  “She won’t talk to me. She said from this day on, she doesn’t want to talk or even mention what happened to her. I can see the hurt in her eyes, and I can’t bear it. I’m falling apart because I can’t help her. Dad, she’s everything to me. When she hurts, I hurt. I’m so angry at myself for not being there for her. She was dressed that way because of me. God, she came to my office to surprise me.” He took a deep breath.

  “Jason, it’s not your fault. I understand she doesn’t want to talk to you now, but eventually she will open up and tell you how she’s feeling. She has to go through the phases. Just be there for her. We’ll be there for her whenever she needs us. We’ll come by when she’s ready.”

  “I feel like hunting him down and taking care of him myse
lf, to show him how it feels to feel helpless.”

  “What will that do, son? You’ll end up in jail, leaving your wife alone, and she’ll only blame herself. Let the authorities handle that coward. Don’t be the cause of more hurt and disappointment.”

  “Dad, thank you for always being there for me, and helping me see the light. I love you.” He wiped the tears from his face.

  “I love you, son.”

  When he entered their bedroom with a tray in his hands she was already in bed. He put the tray down on the nightstand and joined her in bed, putting his hand on her stomach. “This wasn’t planned, but I’m so happy.” He leaned down and kissed her stomach.

  She placed her hands on his. “This is you and me.”

  Chapter Five

  The OB/GYN’s screen brought back memories of four years ago, when Jason sat with her looking at Angel on the monitor. Back then, Kay really thought that Tommy would accept being a father, but that never happened. Last time she saw Tommy was at the mall three years ago, when he tried to kiss her, but since then she’d heard he was doing well for himself.

  Memories started coming back to Kay, of the day she had told Tommy he was going to be a father and how he’d told her he didn’t want any more kids because he already had three, and that he never cared for her.

  Jason had loved Angel from the first time he heard her tiny heartbeat.

  Kay looked at Jason and grabbed his hand, smiling he had the same look he had when he first saw Angel on the monitor. “That’s our baby.”

  He leaned over and kissed her. “The heartbeat is so strong.” He looked at the doctor and asked her for a picture of the sonogram, she punched in some numbers on the computer. He still after all these years couldn’t figure out the picture, but he knew that was his baby in that screen.

  The doctor explained the baby’s size and pointed out the baby’s organs and answered all their questions. After the doctor pointed at the screen, he finally got the picture.

  “Your baby is healthy, the trauma your body went thru didn’t affect the baby. You’re about ten weeks. Everything is progressing on track. I’ll see you next month. You guys can stop by the reception desk to pick up your pictures.” She walked out.

  He kissed her stomach. “I can’t wait to see you little one, daddy love’s you.” He leaned up. “She said you’re about ten weeks. That means you got pregnant about the time my Grandfather died.”

  She got up and started getting dress. “Yes, I have a feeling the baby was conceived that same night.”

  He hugged her and whispered. “This is our gift. That night God took an angel and sent one back to us.”

  He waited for her to get dressed and then they walked out to the reception desk to pick up the pictures of the sonogram. Jason was still amazed by the picture in his hand. This tiny baby will be here in about six and a half months. He grabbed Kay’s hand and headed out.

  Kay turned. “I’ll see you later. I love you.”

  He kissed her gently on the lips. “I love you more, baby. See you after work.”

  Chapter Six

  Jason arrived to work with a smile on his face. It was his birthday. His day started off great, he was awakened by his beautiful, loving wife and his energetic bouncy beautiful daughter, they sang happy birthday and made him breakfast. My family, we’ve been through so much from the start, but we are still so blessed. Thank You God, he thought. He stepped of the elevator and made his way to his office. Susan stopped him.

  Susan had been his secretary for about six months. His firm had hired her from a temporary agency after his last secretary had retired. It hadn’t been obvious at first, but there was something different about the way she looked at him.

  “Mr. Anderson! Happy birthday,” she said. Susan was an attractive blonde, tall, about five eight, with hazel eyes. She was wearing a white jacket with a button up shirt that showed too much of her cleavage, but her black skirt and pumps were conservative enough.

  He looked at her face. “Thank you.” He kept walking to his office. When he opened his office door he was surprised. There were balloons on his desk. He smiled and thought Kay.

  Susan came up from behind him. “Do you like? I got them for you.”

  His smiled vanished. “Yes, it was sweet of you.” He walked toward his desk and sat down.

  He looked up to see her turn just a little upset and walked out his office.

  After a while there was a knock on his door. “Come in.”

  John stepped in looked at the balloons. “Nice, happy birthday man.” He laughed. “Your wife is something else.”

  Jason looked up at him. “It wasn’t Kay, it was Susan.”

  John gave him a strange stare. “That woman has a thing for you. You need to watch out. Crushes like that don’t end well. I think you should let her go. I see the way she watches and treats you. Man temptation is not a good thing.”

  Jason was getting annoyed. “John I would never cheat on Kay, Susan is my secretary. I know sometimes she goes overboard, but she’s harmless, not what you and Kay think.”

  John came closer to his desk. “Man even your wife sees it. Dude look at the balloons. They have hearts and kisses all over them.”

  Jason ignored him. “Whatever. You didn’t come here to talk about Susan. What was it?”

  “I came here to talk about the Morrison case. I left the files on your desk yesterday.”

  “I looked it over and I think you should talk to the insurance company. You should ask for a settlement, because you and I know your client is lying.” Jason said.

  “You’re right. I just thought you would find a loophole or something I didn’t.” He grabbed the file from Jason’s desk. “Did they find that bastard that attacked Kay?”

  “No, but I have Patrick working on it. He said he found a lead and will be checking it out. He better pray I don’t get my hands on him before the cops do, because I’m going to make him wish he were dead. Not a day goes by that I don’t call her every hour. She’s getting tired of me, but I have to make sure she’s okay.”

  “Count me in, if you need backup.”

  “Let’s change the subject,” Jason said.

  “Thank you for the gift. Amy is due any day now, I can’t wait to see him.” John leaned on the desk.

  “You’re welcome. Wait until you see your baby for the first time, man. It’s amazing.” Jason stared at the picture of the sonogram he had on his desk.

  “Hey, if I were you I would hide those,” John said before he turned to walk to the door. He turned around. “Watch your back, she wants you.” He walked out of the office laughing.

  Minutes later, there was a soft knock on his door, and he looked up. “Come in.” It was Susan.

  She walked closer to his desk. “Jason?”

  He stared at her. She’d never used his first name before.

  “I have a surprise for you,” she said. She began unbuttoning her shirt, stopping in front of his desk. “Jason, I know you want this as much as I do.” She stared down at him.

  Jason stood up. “Stop! What the hell are you doing, Susan?”

  “I’m giving us what we both want. I see the way you look at me. Your wife is not good enough for you. I can give you everything you need.” She played with the last of the shirt buttons.

  He got up, walked around his desk, and grabbed her hands. “I said stop. I don’t know what have gotten into you, but I don’t want you. I’m in love with my wife and she is more than enough for me.”

  She forced her hands away from him. “Kiss me and you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

  “Susan, get out of my office.” He tried to remain calm, to keep the anger from his voice.

  Before he knew it she had planted a kiss on his lips. He pulled away, but it was too late.

  Way too late.

  Kay stood in the doorway. She had balloons and a cupcake in her hands. She let the balloons go, dropped the cupcake in the trash by the door, and turned around.

  Jason pulled
away from Susan.

  Susan grabbed him. “Let her go. She doesn’t deserve you.”

  He removed her hands, ignored her, and ran after Kay, but she had already made it to the elevator. He ran down the stairs to the front of the building. He stopped, catching his breath. Kay was walking fast, catching up with her, grabbed her arm and turned her around. She had tears in her eyes. “Kay, it’s not what you think. I would never hurt you like that,” he said, out of breath.

  She wiped her tears. “Like what, Jason? You were kissing her. I saw you.” By the way she kept pacing, he could tell she was trying to control her anger. “I know we haven’t had sex in a while, but that doesn’t give you the right to cheat. I came to surprise you, but I guess I got the surprise.”

  “Kay, she kissed me. You were right—she has a thing for me, but I would never betray you like that. I love us too much to do something like that. I love you, Kay.” He tried to grab her wrist.

  Kay stared at him. “ Don’t touch me, Jason.”

  “Baby, please listen to me. I would never cheat on you.”

  “No, Jason, there’s nothing to talk about. You can go back to your dear Susan.”

  He got closer to her. “If you want, I’ll fire her right now, Kay.”

  “I can’t believe you have to ask.” She was now furious. She turned and stormed back into the building. He followed, trying to keep up. They both got into the elevator, and she stabbed the button for his floor.

  As they came off the elevator, John was speaking to Susan. Kay didn’t hesitate. She walked over to Susan and slapped her so hard her fingers were imprinted on the woman’s left cheek.

  “You bitch,” Kay yelled, to John’s obvious shock.

  Susan grabbed her face in pain and looked at Kay in amazement. “You hit me.”

  “You bet I fucking hit you.” Kay went to swing at her again, but Jason came around the desk, picked her up by the waist, and carried her into his office. He put her down and closed the door. Kay was angry. She still couldn’t look at him. She walked over to the couch and sat holding her face in her the palms of her hands.