“Yeah.”
“You ready to head out?”
“Are you sure? If you want to stay longer we can.”
Tony laughed. “I heard that you saw the three streakers in the front yard. I think it’s time to go home.”
“I told those idiots to put their clothes back on,” Keith said. “Have you seen Carl Tony?”
“Last I knew he was with Aunt Lori. Why?”
“I have a feeling he’s been locked up in his bedroom with Andi for a while now. I’m going to go find out.”
“I’ll do it Uncle Keith.”
“No you won’t Tony. You’ll just warn him and then walk away like you think a good big brother is supposed to.”
Tony hid a smile. Suddenly Carl entered the kitchen with Andi. Tory could see that both Carl and Andi’s hair was wet. They certainly looked like they’d just gotten out of the shower.
“Hi Dad.”
Keith gave his son a dirty look. “Don’t you hi Dad me. I know what you’ve been doing while I’ve been busy trying to keep everyone from getting into too much trouble and your mama’s been locked up in our bedroom with a headache. You’re lucky that Brent and Michelle are too busy trying to keep Riley and Sophie from sneaking off to notice that you two did.”
“Is Mom still sick? Tell everyone to get the hell out Dad. I’m sure all the loud music and noise isn’t helping her headache.”
Keith sighed. “You know your mother would never let me do that. She knows how important this one night of the year is to me.”
“Yeah. I’m going to go talk to her.”
“Will you bring her another lighter out of the drawer in the living room? I forgot to take it to her.”
“Sure Dad. I’ll see you later Tony, Tory.”
“We’re headin’ out kid.”
“Seriously? It’s early.”
“I think I’d rather spend the rest of the night at home with my favorite girl.”
Carl smirked. Keith looked at him. “He’s an adult. And so is she, well almost. Go keep your mother company son.”
“Yes Dad. I’m sorry Dad.”
Keith chuckled as he watched Carl follow Andi out of the room. “Young love. I don’t know if I ever felt that young.”
“Of course you did Uncle Keith.”
“It sure feels like it was a long time ago. Your aunt is busy helping Michelle plan for her grandbaby. I think she’s got it into her head that she’s ready for one of her own. It had better be you that gives us one first and not Carl.”
Tony chuckled. “I’ll have to talk Tory into having one, but I’ll keep that in mind Uncle Keith.”
“You’d better. And you’d best make sure that Carl does too.”
“Yes sir.”
“Don’t sir me. Well, I’ll let you take Tory home. It was good seeing you young lady. Don’t let this crazy party keep you from coming by again.”
“Okay. Thanks for having me.”
“Like it or not you’re family now kiddo.”
She smiled. Tony took her hand and led her out of the crowded house. She didn’t see the naked trio when they passed through the front yard and briefly wondered if they’d retired to the backyard.
She let Tony keep his jacket on the walk back to the car. They walked briskly and were soon inside the car.
“Are we going home to bed? I’m really tired for some reason.”
“You getting sick?”
“I don’t think so.”
“I had planned on seeing the New Year in making love to you, but if you’re too tired we can go to bed.”
“I think maybe I can manage to stay up.”
She smiled.
They went in through the back door and spent many blissful hours making love. They were only interrupted once, when Frankie came by to buy meth.
Chapter 21
Tory woke up the next morning in Tony’s arms. She had a feeling that he wasn’t asleep and that he already gotten out of bed and gotten back in because there was a mug sitting on the night table, but she appreciated the effort. They met Carl and Andi for lunch. Andi was close to tears since she was leaving with her family that evening. Tory thought that Carl looked like he wanted to cry too. She was almost glad that she didn’t get to witness what she thought must have been their tearful goodbye later that day.
Dr. Larson visited Monica on the day before Tory went back to school. He called Tony afterwards and said that he was going to recommend taking her completely off of her medicine, though he cautioned Tony that it might still take a few weeks at the very least. It turned out that Ryan had been weaning her off of it since he’d started working at the hospital. Since the improvement was so remarkable, Dr. Larson wasn’t going to mention it to anyone. He also told Tony that he thought a lot of medications were over prescribed, especially psychiatric drugs. He said that if things kept going as well as they had been there shouldn’t be any reason that Monica wouldn’t be ready to be released by summertime. He also remarked that Monica was lucky that someone like Ryan had taken such an interest in her. Since Tony had his phone on speaker, Tory got to hear and had to stop herself from busting out with laughter. Tony didn’t look amused, but he admitted that he was glad that Ryan had started working at the hospital too.
When Tory returned to school the first rumor she heard circulating the halls was that Marcune had quit out of the blue.
Then she heard a rumor that Marcune had taken off with some twenty-five year old bartender and was headed to Los Angeles.
She soon found that rumors were spreading wildfire about Molli too, who wasn’t around to hear them. There was talk that Jude had dumped her because he’d heard that she was pregnant with someone else’s child before she’d had a chance to tell him she was pregnant.
The mood turned somber three days later when the man that had taken Marcune’s place; a gorgeous thirty something Italian that half the girls were already drooling over, came over the loud speaker and told everyone that Molli had been reported as missing by her parents.
Eduardo and his crack head girlfriend Peggy were soon arrested for burning his house to the ground.
Tory never confronted Langston about her Lindsey’s accusations, because Lindsey admitted that she had outright lied about most of them. The twenty year old daughter of one of his clients had a crush on him and had offered to give him a blow job in front of a room full of people when she was drunk at a party, but of course Langston had declined.
Lindsey had walked on him with the granddaughter of their maid. They had only been kissing, though, and she admitted that Langston had claimed that the girl was doing all the kissing. The girl was twenty-eight and not eighteen. Lindsey also said that she’d used it as an excuse to step up her affair with the twenty-five year old, since it hadn’t been sexual before then. Tory didn’t know whether to be thrilled with her mother’s sudden honesty or disgusted that she’d offered so much information.
Tory spent a wonderful Valentine’s Day with Tony. He convinced her to stay with him overnight since it was a Friday night. It didn’t take much convincing because she’d very much missed the feeling of waking up in his bed. But she had to fight herself to not let Carl’s sullen mood since he was without Andi, spoil her good mood.
By March, Tony’s mom was off of medication completely and there was hope that she’d make it out of the hospital in time to see Tory graduate. Tony went into a frenzy then, because he didn’t want to be dealing when his mom got out of the hospital since she’d be living with them, at least in the beginning. Tory secretly thought that her future mother in law would be just as happy moving in with Ryan when she was released, but chose not to mention it to Tony. She also didn’t mention to him the fact that his mom already knew he was dealing.
He sold more drugs in one weekend than Tory thought she’d seen him sell in the whole time she’d been with him. Tory thought that he probably would have continued until days before Monica’s release, but Keith stepped in and told him to cool it, though he knew the reasonin
g behind his nephew’s sudden drug dealing frenzy.
Since she’d convinced her father to let them visit over Spring Break, they headed out when she got out of school, settling in for a long drive. They had decided to take Tory’s car. Tony’s was a little better on gas, but she didn’t say anything because she thought that Tony got off on driving her car and he was paying for gas.
Her father met them in a small Montana town having chosen to have them follow him to his house instead of them trying to find it themselves. When they got to the rustic cabin they were met by a huge fluffy dog, three cats, and a beautiful woman named Anne who had been living with him for the last six months, and he was planning on marrying.
Tory was upset that he hadn’t told her about Anne, but she found herself liking the woman very much. She was very down to Earth, nothing like Lindsey. She thought that it would be easier to call the pretty woman Mom than it was her own mother; whom she still had a strained relationship with.
Corey gave her a gift on the day they left. It was the deed to his parents’ house and a check for $25,000. He and Anne were starting a business together. Since Anne had been a successful travel agent for many years, she was setting up her own agency. She was already handling all of Corey’s tours and hunting trips. They were also setting up to board animals at their house. The cabin itself was relatively small. But the tract of land it sat on was large enough that they planned on boarding anything from cats and dogs to horses.
Tory was very proud of her father’s persistence in following his dreams. She could see that Anne made him very happy. She didn’t want to take his gifts, but she thought that they would both help Tony get out of the drug dealing business before his mother got out of the hospital. So she took them both, though she cried a little and hid her head in Tony’s shoulder so that Corey wouldn’t see.
Lindsey was pregnant; though she had kept it hidden so long that there was a chance that it could be Langston’s baby and not the old man’s that she planned on marrying once their divorce was final. Tory was scared that her mother would keep drinking and smoking throughout the pregnancy, but Lindsey complained to her that Loomis had made her quit everything cold turkey as soon as she’d admitted to him that she was pregnant.
Tory applauded the old man and thought it was pretty sad that her mother would complain about such a thing. Langston was thrilled when they stopped in to visit him, and said that Lindsey had talked about reconciliation. Tory wasn’t buying it, because the old man who she still felt strange about calling her stepfather had much more money than Langston.
She felt strange about being a big sister. She felt a little sorry for the kid too, thinking of him or her being raised by Lindsey. Tony tried to convince her that her mother would do better this time around, but she didn’t believe him.
Her mother couldn’t attend her graduation because she went into an early labor. Both Loomis and Langston were by her side, since the child’s paternity was in question. The baby was small but healthy. It surprised Tory that Lindsey was the one that sent her pictures of her little sister Natasha.
The three women that felt like her surrogate mothers were all in attendance though; Monica, Lorelei and Anne.
Ryan was at the house quite a bit after Monica moved in. Tory had caught him sneaking out of the house early on two mornings, but she chose not to share that fact with Tony who was still wary of his mother’s young boyfriend.
She officially moved into Tony’s house the day after graduation and didn’t think she’d ever been happier. Andi did manage to convince her parents to let her stay with her grandmother over the summer since she had been accepted to Crestview in the fall. Though she said they had cautioned her endlessly about safe sex.
Corey and Anne were married at what Tory thought was a beautiful ceremony in their back yard and she found out that she was going to be a big sister again.
Shortly after, Tony and Monica had a huge fight because Monica had made a sudden decision to stay in town. She didn’t want to leave Ryan. After a blowout that had everyone in tears; Tory included, Tony relented and asked Tory if it was okay if Ryan lived with them, too. It was fine with Tory and Ryan already had a job offer in the area since he and Monica had talked about getting a place in a nearby town so that Monica could be near Tony and Tory.
They spent the day that they were supposed to leave town helping Ryan pack up his house. Tony still didn’t seem to like Ryan much, but Tory knew that Ryan made Monica very happy. And she thought that one of the three women she sometimes called ‘Mom’ deserved it.
Two days after they moved into her grandparent’s house, Tory found out she was pregnant. When she told Tony she thought he was going to start crying. They were married two weeks later. Lindsey attended, though Langston and his new girlfriend were the ones that had the baby since a DNA test had proved the child to be his. Tory managed to be nice to Loomis, because in some strange way; he seemed to make her mother happy.
Tory thought that everyone cried when she lost the baby two months later, though.
Chapter 22
Three years later.
Tory sat up in bed, trying to stifle the cry that had risen in her throat. She laid a hand protectively on her swollen belly. She’d sat up so suddenly that the baby had let out a fierce kick.
Tony stirred beside her. She heard the dog bark from the living room then heard Ryan tell her to be quiet.
“What’s wrong baby?”
“I hope I didn’t wake everybody up.”
“You know Ryan’s always up early, even on his days off. Mom could sleep through a tornado. You’re my personal alarm clock. Of course I guess you’ll have to share that honor with someone in a few months though, huh?’ He leaned down and kissed her belly, then looked up at her, concern in his hazel eyes. “Did you have a bad dream again?”
She sighed. She’d been plagued with nightmares of Molli’s death since shortly after she’d learned she was pregnant. No one knew that Molli was dead, but there had been talk that the cops had searched the woods for days after she was reported missing, looking for her body because everyone thought that Eduardo and Peggy had killed her.
“I dreamed about Molli again.”
“Nobody even knows she’s dead babe. You are going to stop worrying and take care of yourself and our baby so that he can be born healthy.” He grinned. “Besides, I can give Ryan endless shit for being a Grandpa at thirty.”
She smiled. She was glad that Tony had finally accepted Ryan, though she thought that it had taken him and Monica’s Vegas elopement a year before to finally cement to him that Ryan really wasn’t going away.
Corey and Anne were very happy parents, though she didn’t get to see her little brother Haven as often as she’d like. Lindsey had given full custody of Natasha to Langston and seemed perfectly happy to see her daughter on weekends. What surprised Tory the most about Lindsey was that she seemed to enjoy taking care of the son that she shared with Loomis, who was named Christophe.
Tony kissed her. “Do you want to get out of bed? I don’t think either of us are going back to sleep.”
She gave him a wicked grin. “I think I can think of something that I’d like to do before we get out of bed.”
Tony laughed. “The joys of having a horny pregnant wife. Hey, did I tell you that you’re going to be an Aunt?”
“No. Carl and Andi?”
“Yep. They’re getting married two weeks after our baby’s due.”
“That’s great.”
“Andi’s dad threatened to shoot Carl if he didn’t marry her. He bought her an engagement ring over a year ago.”
“How come you never told me? I always thought that they’d get married, but I figured they’d have done it by now. Everybody was betting on how long it would take for them to get married after they got out of high school.”
“Well, they’re doin’ it now. Back to what you mentioned doing. Mom will be up soon and she says she’s got a surprise for us.”
Tory gasped. “Are
you kidding? Mom is pregnant?”
He smiled. “Yep. Ryan let it slip last night when ya’ll were in the kitchen doing women stuff.”
“That is so great. Are you excited to be a big brother?”
“I’ve already got Carl, but yeah, I think I am.”
She kissed him. “I love you Anthony Wilson.”
“And I love you Mrs. Anthony Wilson. Now, let me make love to my beautiful wife.”
They made love and then took a leisurely shower together. When they went out to the kitchen, Monica was pacing, looking nervous. She fed everyone breakfast, including Ryan and the dog Chortle, since they had returned from their walk.
When she told them the news, Tony jumped up and told her how happy he was. Monica looked relieved. Tory thought that Ryan already looked like a proud Papa.
Tory and Tony’s son was born right on time three months later. He was named after his father and his deceased Grandfather. He had a very proud natural grandfather in Corey. He also had three very proud stand in grandfathers in Ryan, Keith and Langston. Tory couldn’t quite get used to the fact that Loomis would technically be Grandpa too.
While it was normal for Monica, Anne and Lori to visit, she was surprised when Lindsey visited too. She brought Loomis, who spent most of his time in the waiting room with Christophe and didn’t want to hold baby Anthony because he had a cold. Tory knew that Lindsey cried a little, because she saw the mascara smears before her mother wiped them away. Minutes later she got to hear Lindsey call a nurse a stupid bitch from the hallway because she’d assumed that Loomis was Lindsey’s father and Christophe’s grandfather and knew that Lindsey would never be anything but Lindsey. But she realized she was okay with it.
Carl and Andi had a huge wedding two weeks later. Tory thought it was second in beauty only to her wedding with Tony which had been a small affair that took place at Corey’s cabin. Tory felt very proud to be called sister-in-law by an emotional Andi.
A few years later, Tory thought that she saw Molli in town. She was blonde and beautiful and holding the hands of an auburn haired little boy and a dark haired little girl. She shook her head at herself for thinking of the girl who hadn’t even been her friend after so long.
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 142