by Callie Stone
“How are you doing?”
“Okay, are you alright? Do you have the flu?” he asks genuinely concerned.
I wave his concerns off with my left hand and watch as his eyes catch the engagement ring on my finger. He’s a little hard to read at the moment but I feel like his face is showing he’s mad yet upset at the same time. How can someone display both emotions at once?
“I see you are engaged,” he says with a bit of edge to his voice.
“Oh,” I say and look down at my finger, my shoulders slump a little. “Yes, I am.”
“And I’m going to assume you don’t have the flu and are pregnant. That’s why you were in a rush to get out of there.”
My shoulders slump the rest of the way. “Yes, I am.” I chew on the inside of my lip waiting to see what he says next.
“I see.” Jimmy looks out at the parking lot across from us. He stays that way for a few minutes.
When I can’t take it anymore I ask, “You see what? Are you angry with me? Because honestly, you have no right to be.” I get defensive.
“I’ll be honest, I am a little angry at all this. I was hoping to come back and convince you to come back to Florida with me. I’m miserable without you but I can see that I’m too late. You’re right, I don’t have a right to be but it’s hard not to be mad when I see the woman I still love engaged and pregnant with someone else’s baby.” He turns his head and stares at the cars passing by.
“Jimmy, our relationship was great, and I still love you, but what we had was over a long time ago. I would have figured you moved on by now. And let’s face it, it’s unfair for you to have thought I would have held off for you. Don’t you think?”
“Yes, I know it’s unfair. Addy, I can’t help my feelings at the moment. It’s going to take some time to get over this heartbreak again. I probably got my hopes up and shouldn’t have but my heart is still broken.” Jimmy glances at me briefly.
“I’m sorry that you came all this way with certain expectations Jimmy, but I’m not sorry about how my life has turned out. I loved you fiercely which is a big deal after all the shit I had been through, but our relationship wasn’t at a good time in my life. I couldn’t follow you to Florida then and I can’t now.”
“Did you find a good one? Does he treat you right? Are you happy?”
“Wow slow your firing down,” I say with a little laugh and Jimmy finally gives me a small smile. “Yes, to all three questions. He treats me like a princess all the time. The only other time I was this happy is when I was with you. It took me a long time to date after you Jimmy, you still to this day have a part of my heart, but the rest belongs to him now,” I tell him softly.
“I understand, don’t like that he got my girl, but I do understand. I’m glad that you have someone that treats you special. That’s what you always deserved.” Jimmy grabs my hand and holds it. “I guess I’ll let you get home, so you can put your feet up and relax. You have my number if you need anything just call.”
“Thank you, my number is still the same too, don’t be a stranger anymore.” I smile at him and get a small one in return.
“Are you sure your fiancé is going to be okay with another man calling you? And not just any man, but your ex-boyfriend who proposed to you too?”
Jimmy catches me off guard with those questions. “Jimmy, I honestly don’t think he will have a problem with it. He trusts me as I trust him. If you want to talk just call.”
Standing up Jimmy pulls me up and wraps his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. Kissing the top of my head he says, “I love you, Addy, I always will. I hope you have a good life.” He lets go and walks away from me, his posture defeated.
It sounded more like a goodbye forever then a talk to you later.
I start to cry, damn pregnancy hormones. The tears roll down my face with no hope of stopping them. I walk to my car and slowly make my way home.
Pulling into the driveway I finally pull myself together and get the tears to stop. Getting out of the car I wipe my face as I walk up to the house. Before I reach the door, Ryan is opening it, his face instantly falls.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
I walk in the house sniffling a few times as I make my way to the couch. Ryan is right behind me with concern etched all over his face. I plop down and take a deep breath. “Jimmy showed up at work today.” Of course, I don’t have to explain who Jimmy is since Ryan read my journal. I watch as a little anger starts to show on his face.
“Did he do or say something?”
“No not at all Ryan, nothing like that. It’s just these pregnancy hormones enhancing all my emotions. Jimmy was upset when he found out I was engaged and pregnant. I guess he came back hoping for a second chance and finding out there wouldn’t be one hurt him.”
Ryan’s face instantly relaxes. “Can you blame him for being upset? Hell, I’d be devastated if it was me.” Ryan sits on the coffee table across from me, resting his hands on my knees.
“No, I don’t blame him, but I guess I just wasn’t expecting it to affect him so much. It’s been so long, hell I thought he had done forgot about me. And then he just shows up out of the blue hoping for something more. It just took me off guard and I felt bad for him. These damn hormones make me cry at the drop of a dime.” I huff.
“It will be okay Addy,” Ryan says as he moves to sit next to me. “I can’t believe that you would think he forgot about you. Y’all were in love, he proposed for heaven's sake. There is no way that man would ever forget about you. Hell, no way any man can forget about you. You’re an amazing woman.” He leans over and kisses my forehead.
“Wait, shouldn’t you be mad that I’m sitting here crying over another man?” I look up into his face to see his reaction.
“Well, any other man and I might have been. But this is Jimmy and he did you right and I have no beef with him. It’s understandable with your past that you two would still have feelings for each other.” Ryan tucks a few strands of hair behind my ear. “Now if you came home crying about Adam, we would have some issues.” He gave me a pointed stare.
I start to laugh. “If I come home crying over Adam,” I look up at him seriously, “You better admit me into the psych ward.”
Ryan starts laughing with me. “Good idea.”
Feeling much better than I did a few minutes ago I release a sigh and say, “Well, today was my last day. Guess I get to come work with you now.”
“Take a few days off baby, there is no rush.”
I raise an eyebrow at him ready to explain again why I need to work when he holds up his hand to stop me.
“Don’t even start that bull shit.” He gives me a stern look.
I scrunch my eyebrows. “I’ll think about it.”
“Well, that’s a damn start. You’re going to have to get over this whole you gotta work thing. We are about to be married which means everything becomes yours too and I don’t want no damn arguments about it.”
I grumble and then sigh. “Fine.” I stick my tongue out at him knowing I never had a chance of winning that argument.
“Now I’m going to go cook dinner and then we can watch a movie or read. Whatever you want.” He rubs my belly. “Is there anything that you’re particularly in the mood for right now?”
“Fries,” I say without hesitation. “And mayonnaise mixed with ketchup. Mmm, yeah, that sounds so good.”
Laughing Ryan gets up and heads to the kitchen. “As you wish, baby.” He smiles as he walks away.
I slouch down on the couch and rest my head on the back. Absently I begin to rub my belly. Damn, am I not the luckiest girl in the world?
Epilogue
It’s been a long 9 months. After finding out I was pregnant and dealing with exes, I decided to have the wedding sooner rather than later. I didn’t want a wedding while having a pregnant belly and I didn’t want to wait until after the baby was born. I had a small intimate ceremony planned within a month and we got married with very few people there. It was a magi
cal day for me, way better than when I married Troy, and I will forever cherish that day. One of the happiest days of my life.
The second happiest day was when the Dr. announced that we were not only having one baby but two. Twins. I was shocked, scared and freaked out, because how was I going to take care of two babies at once. Thankfully, Ryan was able to calm me down and reassure me that everything would be fine. I swear I don’t know what I would do without that man sometimes.
I got put on bedrest at six months, so my life became pretty damn dull and boring. I ate a bunch of food, watched tv, read and slept. That was all my day consisted of. I hated it with a passion.
Ryan loved it because he could fully take care of me. He would go to work for a couple hours and then come home to check on me. I told him to knock it off that was a waste of time and gas, but he wouldn’t listen. Every two to three hours he was home for an hour then back to work. He drove me nuts. But at least he brought me food, guess that makes him good for something.
I know Ryan was worried when I got put on bedrest considering what happened to his first daughter. He hid it well, but I made him open up to me about his concerns. Even though I couldn’t promise the future, I did promise I would do everything in my power to keep these babies in even if I had to hang upside down. That helped him a little, but I knew it was still a daily worry for him.
Now we sit in the hospital after the birth of our babies. Sarah Ann and Serena Ava. Ann after my mother who has been a big help in my life and my relationship with Ryan and Ava named after Ryan’s first baby girl.
I’m holding one baby girl and Ryan is holding the other. Identical twins. We are going to have our damn hands full with these two. I smile down at Sarah Ann and kiss the tip of her nose. They are so precious. The third happiest day of my life.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe my life turned out so perfect. Don’t get me wrong, Ryan and I do have our disagreements, but nothing that has ever caused a screaming match. Well, not since that day he read my journal. But to me, life is still better than I could ever have imagined. I believe you should never give up because eventually, life will give you what you deserve.
Ryan comes over and sits down next to me holding baby Serena. He smiles at the both of us and touches Sarah’s hand. Leaning over he gives me a kiss on the forehead. “You did an amazing job, baby. I am so proud of you. Look at our sweet angels.”
I smile up at him. “They are perfect. You better enjoy them because after what I just went through, I’m not sure you will ever get another baby out of me.”
Ryan laughs, and I give him a death stare. “Not funny.”
“It wasn’t that bad was it?” he asks with a serious look.
“You have no idea.” I glare at him. If he thought that was easy he needs his head examined.
“We’ll see.” He chuckles. “I love you so much, baby,” he says smiling.
“I love you, too.”
About the Author
Callie Stone lives in North Carolina with her husband and four kids. She is a stay-at-home mom who hopes one day her kids will learn the magic of reading and grow to love it just as much as she does.
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Acknowledgements
I want to thank my family for dealing with my craziness as I attempted to get this book finished. To Jessica Landram for always being that push I needed and helping me work through things when I got stuck. Thank you to Lisa Markson for reading over the final copy and telling me it didn’t completely suck. Without you two I wouldn’t have made it to this point. Thank you!