Maybe Forever (Missing Pieces Book 1)

by Keyanna Butler

  “How many bridesmaids does she have?” Dakota asks.

  “She has two. Jessica and Willow. Willow is her best friend from childhood, and Jessica is her best friend from college and coworker.” Dakota nods.

  “That’s cool of her to invite you to go with her. I’m glad you’re becoming friends.”

  “Me too. I can’t wait to see her dress. I’m sure it’s beautiful. You know what’s weird? I’ve never actually been in a bridal shop. Like ever.”

  “Yeah? Why not?” he asks.

  Harper shrugs. “I guess I never had any desire to. I never really thought I’d ever get married.”

  Dakota looks down at her. “Do you still feel like that?” he says seriously.

  Harper opens her mouth to speak then closes it again. She looks up at him. “Um, I don’t know. Do you feel like that?” she asks.

  Dakota smirks. “Like I could get married one day?” he asks.

  Harper nods, biting her lip shyly. “Yes. I could get married one day,” he says. “Definitely.”

  Harper blushes and turns back to the TV, smiling. “Me too,” she says.

  Dakota smiles down at her as she hides her blush under the blanket.

  “Glad we’re on the same page,” he says and snuggles her closer. This had been the best Valentine’s Day ever.

  ***

  “Hey, boss, Jordan just called and said she can’t come in for her shift. Her kid’s sick…again.” Beth, one of Harper’s favorite nurses, comes up to her in the hall. Harper sighs. This is the fourth time this month that Jordan has called out. No one understands the constant responsibilities of having a child and being a working parent like her, but this is completely unacceptable.

  “Okay. She has unit four, right?” Harper says. Beth nods.

  “Okay, I’ll go make some calls and see who can come in. Can you cover yours and hers for a couple of hours?”

  “Yep,” Beth says. Beth was simply amazing.

  “You are the best. I’ll organize a weekend off for you next month. Deal?” Harper says, stretching out her hand to her. Beth takes it.

  “Deal, boss.” She heads off to her unit. Harper walks toward her office. When she gets there, Casey is sitting in her small sofa chair flipping through Nurse Weekly. Casey had made a point of using her office as a nurse’s lounge since she got her promotion. It annoyed Harper to no end because she didn’t want the nurses to think she was playing favorites.

  “Casey, how many times do I have to tell you not to hang out in my office?” she says as she sits behind her desk.

  “You might as well stop asking, because I’m not going to stop. There has to be some perks to being your best friend, and I’d like the couch to be one of them,” she says, flipping the page. Harper rolls her eyes and pulls out her cellphone. She goes through the numbers in her phone, looking for a suitable replacement to cover Jordan’s shift.

  “Ugh, do you have Willow’s number? I thought I had it in my phone, but I think I might have deleted it by accident or something,” she says, running her fingers through her hair.

  “Yeah, I have it. Why? What’s up?”

  “Oh, um, Jordan called out…again. I need someone to cover her shift. I texted a few people but everyone’s busy. Willow’s the last one on the list.”

  “Oh, I can do it. I’m not doing anything tonight,” Casey says nonchalantly. Harper looks at her.

  “Are you serious? You’re a life saver. Thank you.” She puts her phone down on the desk and rubs between her eyes. Casey sits up and looks at Harper.

  “Are you okay, boss lady?” Casey asks. Harper takes a deep breath and looks at Casey.

  “I have a secret,” she says. Casey gets up from her seat and goes around to sit on the edge of Harper’s desk.

  “Spill,” she says.

  Harper takes another deep breath. “Last week I realized that I’m late…” She looks at Casey. Casey looks at her.

  “Late for what?” she says.

  Harper shakes her head. “You know…late,” Harper says again, emphasizing the words this time. Casey’s small smile fades, and her mouth opens wide.

  “You’re late! You’re late! Oh my God, Harper. You are late?” Harper can’t help but laugh at Casey’s hysterics.

  “Calm down,” Harper says, grabbing her arm before she falls off the desk.

  “You might be pregnant? Oh my God. Have you told Dakota? Have you told Jamie? Oh my God, Jamie! Do you think he’ll be okay with it? Do you think Dakota’s going to freak out? You think he’ll be happy? Oh my God, what if he freaks out? But oh my God, he loves you, he wouldn’t freak out. He’s probably going to cry. He’s emotional like that.” Harper grabs Casey’s shoulders and turns her around so she’s looking at her.

  “Casey, calm down. We both can’t freak out about this. I need someone to be my rock. Now get it together.” Casey licks her dry lips and nods.

  “Okay, okay,” she says, her breathing slowing down.

  “Now, which question do you want me to answer first?” Harper says, chuckling.

  “Do you know for sure that you are totally completely pregnant?”

  Harper runs her fingers through her hair. “I took a blood test when I came in this morning. Leo got me the results right away. I’m pregnant.” Casey sits in Harper’s lap and hugs her, putting her arms around her neck.

  “Harper, this is amazing. I’m so happy for you.”

  “You think this is amazing…really?” Harper asks, feeling her emotions starting to get the best of her.

  “Yes, I think Dakota and Jamie are going to be so excited,” she says, smiling. Harper feels her eyes quickly well up with tears.

  “But what if they aren’t? What if Dakota isn’t ready for a kid right now? What if Jamie is threatened by another kid being in the house?” She wipes a tear from her eye.

  Casey strokes her best friend’s hair softly. “Harper, Dakota has helped you raise Jamie for years. Do you really think he isn’t ready to be a father—especially with your child?” She wipes Harper’s tears.

  “I know. I know. I don’t know why I’m being so weird,” she says, exasperated.

  “Jamie is going to be thrilled to have a new brother or sister. Thrilled!” Casey says.

  Harper laughs and shakes her head. “You’re right. You’re so right.” She sniffles. “Casey, I’m pregnant.”

  Casey squeals and hugs her to her chest. “This is going to be fantastic!” Casey shouts, and they start laughing while hugging each other.

  Harper feels a little better, and she’s hopeful that Casey is right.

  ***

  “Honey, I’m home,” Dakota shouts later that evening. Harper is sitting on the sofa in the living room. Dakota comes over to her and gives her a kiss.

  “Hey,” Harper says. Dakota plops down on the sofa next to her.

  “Where’s Jam? I want to show him the shoots I did today. One was this really cool perfume ad with a women wearing a dress made of only rose petals. Gave me some ideas,” he says, smirking at her.

  “He’s at the diner with Mason. Mason’s trying to get him a job there, actually.” Dakota starts to slide out of his shoes.

  “Really? That’s awesome. I really like that Mason. He’s such a good kid.”

  Harper nods. “Yeah, I think so too.”

  “What’s for dinner? I could eat a cow right now with grilled onions and mushrooms.”

  Harper laughs. “Dakota, why can’t you just say you want a cheeseburger? And yeah, that sounds good, actually,” she says, sidetracked by food once again while Dakota laughs. She shakes her head and then clears her throat.

  “Dakota, I have to tell you something.” Dakota puts his shoes on the side of the sofa and then sits back.

  “What’s up, buttercup?” he says.

  Harper shakes her head. He’s so silly. “So this is going to sound really weird, but I want to just get it all out, and then when I’m done you are allowed to respond.” Dakota’s eyes narrow. He takes a deep breath.

>   “Okay.”

  Harper sits up and folds her legs like a pretzel. “You know that I’m on the pill, right?” she says.

  Dakota nods. “Mmhm.”

  “Well, when New Year’s was coming, I decided to skip my pill so we could have a special New Year’s Eve,” she says, blushing slightly. Dakota sits up a little on the sofa. Harper takes a breath and runs her fingers through her hair. She looks down at her hands.

  “I was supposed to…continue taking them so that my period would be regulated again, but I forgot to do that. I forgot to take my pills for the past month.” She licks her dry lips.

  “I realized a few days ago that my period was late, and then I remembered that I’m late because I never took my pills. So.” She licks her lips again. “At work today, I took a blood test to find out if I’m pregnant, and the test came back positive.” She takes another deep breath.

  “I’m pregnant, Dakota. I’m sorry that I was so irresponsible with my pills. I don’t know how I forgot to take them. I’ve been taking them since Jamie was born. I don’t know what I was thinking. I know we just started this—us, you know—and the last thing we need is to rock the boat this way. I completely understand if you’re angry or hurt or confused or whatever, because I am all those things too at myself. This is my bad. This is all me. I’m sorry.” There is silence for several seconds as Harper continues to stare at her hands in her lap. Finally, she musters up the courage to look at Dakota. He’s staring at her with wide eyes.

  “You’re pregnant?” Dakota says.

  “Yes,” Harper says.

  “You’re pregnant with my kid?” Dakota says.

  “Yes, pretty sure. I mean, I know it’s not God’s baby, so you’re next on the list,” Harper says, smiling slightly.

  “Harper,” he says, pulling her by her waist into his lap. She straddles him, sitting comfortably. He puts her arms around his neck. Then he puts his hands on her stomach. “This is amazing.”

  “Yeah?” she says.

  “Yeah.” Dakota kisses her forehead.

  “You’re not mad?”

  “Why would I be mad? I love you. You are it for me.”

  “We’re having a baby, Dakota.” Tears fill her eyes.

  “We’re having a baby!” Dakota yells. Harper laughs as he hugs her tightly. She kisses him for several minutes, and they laugh in between like teenagers sneaking in a janitor’s closet at school. Just as things are getting past PG-13, they hear Jamie come into the living room, and they both look up at him.

  “You two have been like dogs in heat these past few weeks. Now I didn’t want to say anything and ruin your groove, but it’s getting a little ridiculous, guys. Come on,” Jamie says, coming in the living room and plopping down on the smaller chair next to the sofa. He drops his book bag on the floor and pulls out his cell phone.

  “Hey, Jam,” Harper says, getting comfortable next to Dakota.

  “Hm,” Jamie says, his thumbs moving at a rapid pace as he answers Bianca’s text.

  “We have to tell you something,” Harper says.

  Jamie looks at his mom and then looks at Dakota. He senses it’s important by the look on their faces. He sits up in the chair and puts his phone away.

  “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

  “Yes. I mean, well, we think so, but we don’t know how you’re going to feel about it.” Dakota and Harper look at each other and then back at Jamie.

  “Band-Aid, Mom. Just…come on. Lay it on me,” he says nervously.

  “Okay.” Harper takes a deep breath. “Today I found out that…I’m pregnant.” Jamie looks at Dakota. He looks back at his mom.

  “You’re having a baby?” Jamie says.

  Harper nods. “Yes, we’re having a baby.”

  “I’m going to have a little brother or a little sister?”

  “Yes, that’s usually how it goes,” Harper says, smiling. Jamie puts his face in his hands and then jumps up from his seat.

  “This is so cool! I’m going to be a big brother!” Jamie yells and pulls them both in for a hug. Harper and Dakota start to laugh.

  “So you’re okay with this?” Harper says, smiling big when they pull apart. Jamie sits on the floor in front of them on his knees.

  “Yes, Mom. I can’t believe this. This is so awesome. I’m so happy for you. I’m so happy for us. It’s really like we’re becoming this permanent family unit. This baby is going to be so cool. I mean, come on, the gene pool is crazy awesome.” He puts his hand on his mom’s stomach. “Dude or dudette, you don’t know how lucky you are. You have the best parents in the world,” he says, talking to her stomach. Harper feels tears burn her eyes for what seems like the millionth time today. Suddenly Jamie jumps up.

  “Are you hungry? What time is it? It’s dinnertime. We should feed you.”

  “Feed me? I’m not a pet, Jam.”

  Jamie laughs. “Come on, Dakota, let’s go get food. What do you want, Mom?” he asks.

  “Me and Dakota were thinking burgers.”

  “You got it! Let’s go,” Jamie says. He goes to walk out of the living but stops to hug Harper again.

  “This is great,” he says one more time and then leaves. Dakota looks at Harper. He shakes his head, unable to speak. He takes a deep breath. Harper rubs his arm, knowing exactly how he is feeling right now. Dakota kisses her and then gets up to go get dinner. Harper covers her eyes with her hands, laughing to herself. She doesn’t know how she got so lucky.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Dakota

  Dakota is looking into the full-length mirror hanging on the inside of the closet door. They’re getting ready to leave for Rick and Jennifer’s wedding. Predicting that a possibly drunk Aiden, Casey, and Dakota would be safer in one contained area as opposed to traveling, they decided to get a hotel near the venue and stay over. Dakota has been trying to fix his tie for the past twenty minutes with no luck. It seems his mind is on other things. Harper comes from the bathroom dressed in a pale pink, full length, spaghetti-strapped dress. Her hair is in soft curls, half pulled up and the rest hanging down her back, and her makeup—not that she needs it—is perfect, emphasizing her eyes and mouth. Dakota is so proud to call her all his own.

  “You are a sight for sore eyes, Harper Montgomery.”

  “You clean up nicely yourself, Dakota Daughtry,” she replies, winking at him. Jamie knocks lightly on the door. He comes in after hearing his mom say it’s okay. He leans against the door frame.

  “You all look nice. Are we all ready?” Harper narrows her eyes suspiciously at her son.

  “Are you rushing us so you and Bianca can have the house to yourself?” she says, teasing him.

  “Umm…yes,” Jamie says. Dakota chuckles, shaking his head. Harper kisses him on the cheek.

  “Have fun tonight, Mom,” Jamie says.

  “You don’t have too much fun,” Harper says, pointing at him threateningly. Jamie shakes his head, blushing. He and Bianca plan on having a Fast and Furious marathon and see how many slices of pizza they can eat in one sitting.

  “I’ll meet you downstairs, Dakota,” Harper says and walks out of the room. Jamie walks over to Dakota.

  “Need some help?” he asks. Dakota nods. Jamie starts to work on his tie.

  “Soooo, any chance you’d, uh…give me the keys to the wine cooler?”

  Dakota laughs. “Not going to happen, kid,” Dakota says. Jamie shrugs.

  “It was worth a try.”

  Dakota chuckles, shaking his head. He stares at Jamie for a few seconds.

  “Do I have something on my face?” Jamie asks.

  Dakota chuckles. “No…”

  “Done,” Jamie announces.

  Dakota inspects his tie in the mirror and nods approvingly. “Who taught you that?” he says.

  Jamie puts his hands in the pockets of his loose-fitting sweat pants. “You did,” he says, smirking.

  Dakota smiles. “You’re right. I did,” he says. Dakota clears his throat. “I need to as
k you something.”

  “Okay…”

  “All of this…you know…me and your mom getting together, me moving in, us becoming this unconventional family, and now your mom being pregnant: It’s been all happening pretty fast, huh?”

  Jamie shrugs. “It all seems pretty natural to me.”

  Dakota nods. “You’d be honest with me and tell me if at any point in time you were uncomfortable with what was going on, right?”

  Jamie nods. “Of course.”

  Dakota nods. “Okay, I want to show you something.” Dakota walks over to the bedroom door and closes it. Jamie folds his arms casually and watches Dakota as he then goes into the back of the closet. He turns back to Jamie and stands in front of him. He opens his palm, and in his hand is a tiny black box.

  Jamie looks at the box for a few seconds, and then his head shoots up to look at Dakota. “Dakota…is this what I think it is?” he finally says.

  “It’s a ring. I want to ask your mom to marry me,” Dakota says softly. Jamie backs up a bit from Dakota and holds his hand over his mouth, his eyes wide. There’s silence for a few seconds. It feels like hours to Dakota. But then Jamie throws himself into Dakota, hugging him tightly. Dakota laughs and closes the box, slipping it into his pocket. He hugs Jamie back.

  “If you’re looking for permission, you’ve absolutely got it, Dakota,” he says. They pull apart, but Dakota keeps his hands on Jamie shoulders, looking at his tear-streaked face.

  “Yeah?” Dakota says, clearing the emotion from his throat.

  “Yeah. Do it. She’s going to say yes. I know it,” Jamie says. He wipes his tears with the back of his hand.

  “All right,” Dakota says, smiling big.

  “Okay,” Jamie says, sniffling slightly.

  Dakota nods, and they hug again. They hear Harper calling for Dakota downstairs and realize they’ve been upstairs entirely too long.

  “Okay, I got to go. You all right?” Dakota asks. Jamie nods. “Okay.” Dakota heads out of the room. He turns back and looks at Jamie.

  “I love you, kid,” Dakota says and races out of the room. Jamie is left standing in the middle of the bedroom, smiling.