Memories of Us

by H. K. Carlton

  “Good. I thought you needed something to cuddle up to while I can’t be there.”

  “It’s so soft. It’s huge, too. Almost life size. You should have seen the delivery guy bringing it in.”

  “Flip on your web cam, I wanna see you.”

  “’Kay, give me a sec.” I heard her scuffling around. I turned my monitor more fully in my direction.

  Her room flashed onto the screen, I saw a lovely bare leg, before the big brown shaggy teddy bear’s enormous face filled the picture.

  I laughed.

  “Isn’t he the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”

  The image jiggled as I assumed she climbed back on the bed.

  “Yeah, he’s cute. That’s why I picked him. But you’re much cuter. Lay him down and let me see you.”

  More jostling rocked the image then she carefully lay down on top of it.

  “Lucky fuckin’ bear,” I said.

  “It’s nice, Call, but not as good as taking the top off you. Or lying on your chest.”

  “Good. Don’t you forget it.”

  She smiled.

  “How you feelin’? Any better?”

  “Yeah, I’m okay.”

  “Don’t lie to me. Have you eaten?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, let me rephrase. Have you kept anything down?”

  “No.”

  “Uh. The experts say, depending on the woman, this could last the entire first trimester, Kare. You’ll fade away to nothing and…”

  “The experts say? You’ve been reading up?” She smirked, but I could see it pleased her.

  “Yeah. We’re in this together, right?”

  “Great, then you take the morning sickness for the second month, since I’ve had it for the first.”

  I pouted. “I would if I could, Kare.”

  “Aw, I think you would, too.” Her bottom lip protruded. She stroked the damn bear and I was envious. “I can’t believe you were researching. You’re so sweet.”

  “Get naked.”

  “I take it back.”

  “Seriously, take your clothes off and lay on that bear.”

  “Aren’t you at work?”

  “Yeah, I won’t watch you get undressed. I couldn’t take it.”

  As soon as she got up, so did I, to close my office door.

  I sat on the edge of my seat until Karis came back into view. She placed her palm down, then the other. Her lovely tits swung into my view for a split second before she did almost a push up type move, settling onto the stuffed animal.

  She cuddled into the thing.

  “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea at work.”

  Her hand came into view as she grabbed her cell.

  “It’s five to five. Isn’t it almost quitin’ time? We could resume this when you get to your place.”

  “Ooorrr, you could stay exactly like that and I’ll see you in an hour.” I jumped up, excitement roiling in my belly. My cock was already fully involved with my great idea.

  “Call!” She giggled.

  “I mean it. Don’t you move an inch until I get there. I love you. See ya soon.”

  I barely caught her I love you, too, in return right before I shut my computer down. It sounded real good.

  ****

  Val let me in when I got there.

  “You’re back. You’re here almost as much as we are now.” She smiled. “I haven’t seen her in a couple of hours. She must be sleeping again.”

  “Can I just go in?”

  “Sure. Hey, Call?” she called, as I reached Karis’ door.

  “Yeah?” I paused.

  “You got a brother by any chance?”

  I chuckled at the compliment. “Nope sorry. I’m an only child.”

  “Figures.”

  I opened the door softly, in case Karis was asleep. She was on her stomach, on top of the gigantic bear. I shut us in, then walked to the end of the bed. I stood back and admired the plump swell of her sweet ass.

  I started at her ankles and skimmed my hands up each leg.

  “Mm,” she mumbled, and squirmed under my touch.

  “Put your bum up, baby.”

  She pulled her knees up and then more slowly, gained her elbows.

  “You okay?”

  “A little dizzy. I’ll be okay. Keep doin’ what you’re doin’. It’s the best distraction ever.” I detected a slight smile in her voice.

  “Spread your knees.” When she did, it gave me an excellent view of her rear hole and pussy. I smoothed my palms over the soft globes of her backside, using my fingers to create soft little circles.

  “You have such a nice bum, Kare.” I wet my thumb and ran it down the middle, and stopped only to round the tight orifice.

  “Uh, Call.”

  “You like that, baby?” I bent my head and trailed my tongue down the same path. As I licked her hole, I waggled my fingers through her pussy folds. She was already wet. I penetrated her cunt with my thumb. She rocked back against my hand. She was so tight, closing in around me. I wanted in.

  I undid my pants.

  “Sorry, buddy.” I apologized to the plush bear. “I’m here now. You have been relegated to the floor.” I pushed him off the bed, then slid into her, thinking I wouldn’t have to use a lousy condom for eight more months, if ever again, if I had my way. Heaven.

  Chapter Ten

  One week later

  Janie ducked into my office. “Call, line two.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Call Barstow,” I said upon answering.

  “Call? It’s Val.” My heart dropped into my stomach at the sound of her voice and the sniffle that followed.

  “Val?” I stood.

  “It’s Karis. I had to bring her into the hospital.”

  The baby! “What’s wrong?” Then I heard what I thought was Karis’ voice. “Is she right there?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Can she talk…to me?”

  Scuffling ensued.

  I knew by the sound of her shallow breathing that she was now listening.

  “Kare?”

  “It’s the baby, Call,” she said with a sob. “Can you come?”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  I rounded my desk with the cell still to my ear.

  “Call?” It was Val again.

  “Val. Where are you?”

  “The General. Third Floor.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  I slammed my office door as I sprinted past Janie’s desk.

  I left her standing there gaping and ran down the hall to my dad’s office. I didn’t even knock but burst in.

  He looked up, startled.

  “I gotta go.”

  “What’s goin’ on, June-bug?” He frowned.

  “It’s Karis.”

  Concern marred his features. “Go. Go!” He stood and gestured toward the door.

  I was almost out of the exit when I heard his raised voice. “Your mother and I will be along shortly, Son.”

  As panicked as I felt, that did make me feel infinitesimally better.

  ****

  I drove to the hospital in a fog, my stomach in knots by the time I arrived.

  On the third floor I stopped at the desk. “I’m looking for Karis Hirt?”

  The nurse typed on the keyboard. “Room 302, but she may have already been taken down to surgery. Gimme a sec.”

  “Surgery?”

  I didn’t wait. I looked across the hall at the number of the room closest and found Karis’ accordingly.

  She and Val were still in there. Val stood over her, stroking her hair.

  She looked so small under the white sheet. She was close to one edge, her body coiled in a strange way, knees drawn up.

  As I entered, Val looked up, the relief on her face obvious.

  “I’ll give you two a few minutes.”

  “Thanks, Val.” As she passed by, she grabbed my hand and gave it a quick squeeze before exiting.

  I neared Karis. She was in te
ars.

  “Hey,” I said stupidly, at a loss as to what to say.

  “I’m sorry, Call. I’m so sorry.”

  “No. Don’t. This isn’t your fault, sweetheart. What happened?”

  “I woke up this morning and I had some spotting. I called the doctor but of course, no one was in the office yet. Then I started to have pain along with it, so Val brought me here to Emergency.” She began to cry harder. “There is nothing they can do. I lost our baby, Call.”

  I’d already determined that, but hearing it hurt. I shut my eyes against the pricking sensation behind them. I didn’t want to add to her pain, but I was disappointed. I’d already begun to look forward to the little being.

  She groaned and pulled her knees up.

  “Fuck! Jesus, should I get the nurse?”

  “No. They’re supposed to take me downstairs soon. And it will all be over.” She didn’t even open her eyes.

  Two orderlies and the nurse from the desk came in. “The procedure will only take about twenty minutes. She’ll then spend about an hour or so in recovery. We’ll bring her back here after that.”

  I felt helpless. I didn’t want them to take her.

  The attendants pulled up the sides of the bed. I leaned over and kissed Karis’ forehead. “I love you. I’ll be right here when you come back.”

  She didn’t say it back. But before they pushed her through the door, she whispered again, “I’m sorry, Call.”

  ****

  Val and I sat in the waiting room. I alternated between sitting and pacing.

  “I don’t know how Karis is going to do with this,” Val said as I sat back down for the tenth time.

  “When she first confided in me that she thought she might be pregnant, she was afraid to tell you. Afraid that you’d think that she was trying to trap you, you know…” She paused.

  “But then once you guys had talked, it was like, she was excited. I think she’d already fallen in love with the idea of having this baby.”

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  “I’m sorry, Call.”

  “Yeah, me, too.”

  I don’t even remember what we talked about after that.

  I stood again. “How long has it been?”

  “It shouldn’t be much longer…”

  I looked up to find Trey, Karis’ brother standing there. “Call?”

  “Trey.” Fuck. Karis wouldn’t like that he was here. She hadn’t told any of her family yet. About the baby. About us.

  “What are you doing here?” Trey asked, extending his hand.

  We shook.

  “I called him,” Val volunteered, looking at me, answering my unasked question and not his. “Well, actually, I called Karis’ mom.”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to ask why the fuck she would do that.

  “But she said Trey was closer and could get here faster than they could. So she called Trey and…”

  “I didn’t even know she was pregnant,” Trey said. “I presume mom didn’t either but…well, I guess none of us are shocked though. She finally went and got herself knocked-up,” Trey said, callously. He had no idea what he was talking about. “I’m actually surprised it took this long.”

  I fisted my hands at my sides.

  Just then, they wheeled Karis back into her room.

  We all stopped and watched.

  “Call. What are you doing here?” Trey asked again.

  “It’s my baby,” I said, and followed Karis into the suite, not waiting to hear what his opinion was on that.

  ****

  Karis was pretty groggy. She wasn’t talking much, but I thought it had more to do with the situation than the sedatives. She wasn’t ready to deal with it yet. Neither was I. I wanted to find a quiet place and just fuckin’ cry. But being the man, I couldn’t. I’d choke it down for now and break down at home when I was alone. I’d never let Karis see how devastated I was.

  I saw my parents out in the corridor. Karis was dozing so I made my way out.

  My dad took one look at me and embraced me in his strong hold.

  “It’s okay, Son.”

  My throat hurt from trying not to cry.

  I nodded. It was the best I could do. My mom ran her hand up and down my arm as I continued to bury my face in my father’s sturdy shoulder.

  “I’ve gotta get outta here, for a minute,” I told him.

  “You want me to come?”

  “No, I just need…a few.”

  Dad gripped my shoulder real tight, and released me, like he used to when I was younger, when I needed that last little bit of encouragement. It hurt, but was most comforting at the same time.

  I looked up to find that Karis’ mom and dad had also arrived. They both looked totally bewildered, but I couldn’t even begin to explain things. I gave them a quick nod and began to stride down the corridor when Trey caught my arm.

  “How in the fuck did you get yourself caught up in this?” Trey asked. Angrily, he searched my face as if he’d never seen me before.

  I shook my head and held up my hand. I couldn’t deal with him right now. My stomach churned. My head pounded. I was going to fucking explode from all the things that were running through my head and my chest.

  “Dodged a bullet there, old buddy,” he said, off-handed. It reminded me how his father had used almost the same words once. I hadn’t stuck up for Karis then, but I wasn’t about the let it go now.

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about!” I bellowed.

  The next thing I knew, my dad was holding me back. Trey was on the floor, holding his bloody mouth. His mother was at his side, looking up at me like I’d lost my fucking mind.

  I shrugged my dad off and stormed down the hall.

  Outside, I found a bench. I sat down heavily and cried my fucking eyes out. I don’t know how long I was out there before my dad sat down beside me. He gripped my knee then gave it a pat.

  “I’m sorry, kid. I know you were looking forward to this baby.”

  “You’ve no idea.” I ran my hands down my face, trying to dry it up.

  “Yes, I do. I’m not sure if we ever told you this, but your mother suffered three miscarriages before we had you.”

  I jerked to look at him. “She did?”

  Staring off, he continued. “I do know what you’re going through. The first one was devastating. We had such hopes and dreams. The minute we found out she was pregnant, we bought furniture to deck out an entire nursery. I started painting. I guess we jumped the gun a little. The day I brought her home after we lost the first baby, we had to walk past that partially completed room. It was awful. But we waited until the doc said we could try again. We had no problem conceiving but then inexplicably, it happened once more. We lost him. And again. They never could give us a definitive answer as to why it kept happening.” He took a deep breath and smoothed his palms over his thighs.

  “Your mother couldn’t take it anymore and I couldn’t stand to see her go through it again. We decided we’d adopt. About six months into the preliminary process, we found out she was carrying you. We let nature take its course and that time…” He paused, let out a harsh breath, and turned to look at me. All the pride and love he had for me shone in his tear-filled gaze. “We were blessed.” A tear breached his lashes. “With the best son ever born.”

  “I didn’t know.” I cried now, for them and for us, as I watched a tear run down my dad’s ruddy cheek.

  “No. But I hope you do know how much you are loved.”

  “That, I have always known.”

  “This will pass, Call. The pain will fade. And when the time is right you are going to make the best father.”

  “I know I will, because I learned from the best.”

  We must have made a picture. Two grown men sobbing on a park bench.

  “What if I’ve lost more than a baby today?” I confessed my fears.

  “Why do you say that? Karis loves you, kid. That’s a certainty. She always has.”

  “I know.
But now I love her too and everything has changed. I’m overwhelmed by all I feel for her. She’s not what everyone thought, Dad.”

  “What do you think everyone thinks, Call?”

  “You know her reputation.”

  “And I also know that town. I’ve lived there all my life, Call, and everything tends to be exaggerated in a small town. Yes, she was wild and half the reason why was because she was trying to get you to pay attention. If you’d simply given in, I’m sure she would have settled right down.”

  I grimaced. “Thanks, Dad.” In all honesty, I couldn’t have handled Karis back then. Maybe that’s why I’d fought so hard to stay away. Even now, it was all I could do to keep a lid on it. Overwhelming didn’t begin to cover it.

  “So what has that got to do with you losing Karis?”

  “Well, I thought with the baby and all, she’d move home. She’d move in with me and we’d be a family. But she had no intention of ever coming back to town. She likes it here where no one knows about her past. What if now, without the baby, what if she won’t come home? You saw what happened at the DBA thing.”

  “Why does she have to come home?” He shifted to look at me.

  “Because that’s where I am. Everything I have and love is there. You and mom. The business. My house.”

  “So, don’t make her come home.”

  “I’m not doing this hour drive back and forth forever. At some point, I’d like us to be under the same roof. And soon. I can’t stand being away from her.”

  “Then buy a roof here.”

  “And my job?” Was the old man being unusually thick? I wasn’t in the mood.

  “I’ve long been thinking of branching out, kid. I may have also taken the liberty of doing some preliminary marketing studies in this area.” The corner of his upper lip lifted. “It looks real promising.”

  One bright thing in this whole fucking disastrous day.

  ****

  The hospital staff practically kicked me out, long after visiting hours were over. They’d decided to keep Karis over night for observation, just as a precaution. I didn’t want to leave her. I ended up going back to her place to crash. Val had left the door open for me. I let myself in quietly, then locked up.

  The first thing I saw when I entered Karis’ bedroom was the gigantic stuffed bear. Irrationally, I threw if across the room. Then I kicked it repeatedly until it fit into the closet. I slammed the door on it. Then I fell on Karis’ bed and let out my sorrow into her pillow.