“You are my everything,” I groaned. Her eyes snapped open locking with mine. She leaned down slowly until her lips lightly brushed over mine.
“You hold my heart,” she whispered as her mouth skimmed over mine. That was the last we spoke for a long time that night.
It was past midnight when we finally pulled into the small garage attached to our new condo back in San Diego. Although we were both tired from flying all night, we were energized to be home. Quietly gathering what bags had to come inside, we made our way up the narrow staircase to the main floor. The curtains were open and we could see a small portion of the moon reflected in the Pacific Ocean. Ali set down the bags and took a step toward the window. Before she could, I scooped her into my arms and lifted her off the ground.
She squealed in surprise. “Cooper! What are you doing?”
I kissed her quickly and walked to the front door, shifted her so I could open it. “Carrying you over the threshold,” I proclaimed. And I did just that while she shook her head and laughed.
“Carry me to the kitchen babe, I’m starving,” she joked, but I obeyed.
I stepped around the few boxes we were unable to unpack before the big day and noticed a horde of presents piled into one corner from the wedding. Ali flipped on the lights before I set her on the counter near the stove. Both Sean and Christina had keys to our new place, along with Robert and my mom, so I had no idea what we would find in our once empty fridge. I was very happy to discover it filled. Mom had brought food from the restaurant, probably tacos or enchiladas. There was a pizza box, all the fixings to make sandwiches, and chocolate covered strawberries with a bottle of champagne.
“What would you like?” I asked my wife, who was leaning to get a better look.
“Oh definitely the champagne and strawberries,” she put a finger to her lip thinking, “But first, cold pizza.”
I swung the refrigerator door close and pulled Ali’s mouth to mine, my hunger for food forgotten. I could feel her smile against my lips as she wrapped her legs around my waist pulling me closer. Half an hour later we were sitting on the kitchen floor eating cold pizza from the box and drinking champagne from coffee mugs. Ali was wearing only my shirt and looked content and relaxed, which made me very happy.
“I need sleep,” she yawned.
The effects of the last couple weeks were catching up with us, but this week wasn’t going to be any less busy. Tomorrow, Sean and Christina and our parents were coming over to help us open presents and finish unpacking. Then, I was going to start back at San Diego State University where I would be teaching English for the fall semester. Allison would be going back to Woodbury University to continue pursuing her degree in creative writing.
We both trudged up the flight of stairs, which was thankfully short. I absolutely loved that Ali didn’t change out of my shirt; instead she climbed into bed and pulled the covers up over herself. She was almost asleep before I even had a chance to get in.
“Cooper,” she mumbled as I wrapped my arms around her pulling her back tight against my front.
“Yeah, sweetheart?” I kissed Ali’s hair and inhaled her coconut scent.
She rolled to face me in bed, burying her face in my neck. “I love you so much.”
I held her tighter, never wanting to let her go. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the life I would have had to endure without her in it. My mind wandered back to the hours I spent waiting to hear how Allison’s surgery had gone. I recalled how I thought she had died when the doctor was explaining her procedure.
Allison’s heart.... well... her heart... stopped beating for over two minutes when we took her off bypass.” He had to pause at our sounds of despair. “We tried everything that we medically could, but we just couldn’t...”
I had stormed into the recovery area surprising the nurse, Laura, who had been so kind to both of us. Expecting the worst, preparing myself to find the lifeless body of the girl I loved covered in a white sheet like something in the movies. I fainted when I found her not only alive, but smiling groggily when she saw me. Her road to recovery had been fairly smooth, but she fought everyday to keep taking steps forward. I counted my blessings to have her not only alive, but with me every single day.
“I love you.” I whispered back, but Allison’s only response was her sleepy breathing.
Chapter Five
Allison
My cell phone started ringing way too early in the morning, it was still dark out. I ignored it and rolled to snuggle into Cooper’s back. The landline, which we hardly ever used, picked up where my cell left off. I was relieved when it quickly went to voicemail. But when my cell blared its ring yet again, both Cooper and I sighed.
“I will happily end the life of whoever is calling this early,” he mumbled sleepily from his pillow.
I groaned as I rolled over and answered it; after all, it could be my dad or an emergency. I looked at the caller ID.
“It’s three in the morning,” I told Christina as grumpily as I could manage. It wasn’t hard. She’d been so great at balancing our friendship with my new marital status. Cooper and I have been married for more than two months now, but Christina and I have been together our entire lives. We talked on the phone three times a week and texted and emailed constantly. She was up in San Francisco for school, so the distance was hard on both of us. But holy cow, it wasn’t as if we were in separate time zones.
“I’m outside,” her voice sounded strange.
I rubbed my hand over my face forcing my brain to wake up. “Outside where?”
“Your place,” she answered. “I drove all night.”
My feet were on the floor, flying down the stairs in record time. It only took me a second to wrench the door open, phone still pressed to my face. Sure enough, Christina was standing on our doorstep. Her usually perfect blonde hair was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head and she was dressed in sweats. Her features were taut and I could tell she had been crying. I didn’t say anything as I pulled her into my arms and led her into our place. Cooper was pulling on a shirt while walking down the stairs. Guiding my distraught friend to the sofa, I caught Coop’s eyes. He shut the door and then looked at me, raising his eyebrows. I shook my head and shrugged.
Cooper disappeared into the kitchen and a few minutes later I could smell fresh coffee. Bless that saint of a man! Christina rubbed her fists over her eyes clearing them of tears. Cooper didn’t say anything as he set two steaming mugs of coffee in front of us. Christina’s clear green eyes flashed as she forced a smile.
“I feel awful just showing up like this,” her voice was strained and raw. “I just reacted and found myself here. I didn’t know where else to go.”
Cooper sat on the edge of the coffee table and rested his hand on her shoulder. “You never have to apologize for coming here,” he said gently. “You are part of our family.”
Could I possibly love anyone more I loved Cooper Ryan Perez? No, I didn’t think I could. As I watched my husband comfort my best friend, my heart doubled in size. Christina looked down at her hands then between both of us.
“I’ve been sick,” she whispered.
My heart stopped for a second. “No.” I squeaked thinking the worst as I squeezed her hand tighter.
She shook her head. “I thought I was just worn down from all my classes, but I couldn’t shake it. I went to the campus clinic to get checked out.”
Her face drained and she had a horrible look of desperation in her eyes. Her shaking hands covered her face and the tears started to flow again. For a long minute Coop and I just let her cry. Once she gained composure she cleared her throat and closed her eyes, nodding her head once. She rummaged through the purse she had discarded on the floor and pulled out a square of paper. Without a word she handed it to me.
I studied the paper not understanding at first what I was seeing. Sure, I had seen pictures like this before, just hadn’t expected one from Christina. I looked from the paper to her, her eyes wide and fearful. Cooper w
as doing his best not to strain to see what I was looking at, but he was definitely curious. A myriad of emotions flooded my body simultaneously; anxiety, joy, fear, happiness and jealously. I looked back down to the paper before I let my emotions play across my face.
“How long?” I managed, tears filling my eyes
“Eight weeks,” her tone matching mine.
A long stretch of silence followed until Cooper couldn’t take it anymore. “Eight weeks what?”
We both snapped our eyes to him. “Pregnant,” we answered in unison.
He blinked a few times, his face going blank. I could almost see the questions running through his head, but he was a gentleman and didn’t say anything. He blinked a few times, then looked at Christina, with a mixture of understand and sadness in his summer blue eyes.
“Sean is the father, isn’t he?” he asked, his voice sounding grave and almost mournful.
Christina just stared at him for a long moment. How had Cooper come to that conclusion so quickly? Sean was his best friend, his version of Christina. Why did he sound so upset that he might be the father? He was a good friend to Coop, to both of us. He hadn’t always been the best boyfriend when he and Christina were together, but he’d step up, right? Right?
“Yes.” She finally answered, her throat thick with unshed tears.
Cooper squeezed his hand, which still rested on her shoulder. A sad smile pulled at his mouth. “Ali and I will be here for anything you need.”
“Thank you,” she managed without crying.
“Sean,” I blurted. “When? Because if you’re eight weeks pregnant, then that means…” my voice trailed off as I mentally started counting the weeks backwards.
For the first time since I opened the door, Christina smiled and a light blush touched her cheeks. “Yeah, about that.”
“At the wedding?” My voice rose a little too high. “At my wedding!”
“It was a good party,” she shrugged and smiled bashfully.
For a moment we all burst into laughter, which was much needed. It bordered on the almost hysterical side, but it released some of the nervous energy that had been building up. Cooper collected our now cold coffee to reheat and Christina excused herself to the bathroom. I sat holding the picture of the little person growing inside Christina right now. I lightly traced the contrasting image, lost in thought. Cooper sat next to me silently as he leaned to look at the picture. He didn’t say anything. I was just about to ask him what he was thinking when Christina came back into the room.
“Will you guys help me tell Sean? I can’t imagine he’s going to take the news very well.” I could hear the sadness in her voice. She had once loved Sean very much, but maybe not enough to raise a child with him.
“Of course,” we answered automatically.
She smiled again. “Well, the moral of the story is always use a condom,” she laughed but it didn’t touch her eyes. “It looks like you are going to be an Auntie and Uncle.”
I jumped off the couch and hugged my best friend. We’ve been through so much together during our twenty-one years as friends, I was pretty sure we could get through anything life threw at us. She returned my embrace and I felt her muscles relax.
“Thank you,” she said, and then looked at Cooper. “Both of you.”
Christina was fast asleep in the guestroom, but I could only toss and turn. Her unexpected news brought up feelings I had buried long ago. A baby. Cooper and I had talked about it numerous times over the years and the conversation always came to the same conclusion. We both wanted children, but risking my heart and our future was a non-issue.
“You can’t sleep?” Cooper asked in the darkness.
“No,” was all I could manage. Tears clung to my lashes.
Cooper’s fingers touched my face lightly. “When the time is right, it’ll happen for us.”
“I know,” I swallowed hard, refusing to cry over this again. Cooper pulled me into his chest and kissed my hair.
“I love you Allison. I love you and our life, nothing will change that.”
At his words I finally drifted to sleep while being held by the man I loved.
Chapter Six
Cooper
I called Sean and invited him over for a barbeque, telling him Christina was in town and we planned on starting the weekend early. Now, the two of us were standing on the patio grilling the steaks he’d brought and drinking excellent beer. You could see a small portion of the Pacific Ocean almost dancing in the sun from where we were standing. I took a long pull from the bottle, feeling uncomfortable. I didn’t want to ambush my best friend.
“I started dating that hot new barista from Jumping Beans,” Sean said smiling as he took a drink.
I almost spit my beer across his face in surprise. Shit. I glanced into the kitchen through the open sliding glass doors to see if the girls had heard. They seemed engulfed in a conversation of their own and didn’t appear to have heard Sean.
“Oh yeah?” I responded, my voice a little to strained. “At the wedding, it seemed like things were moving forward again with you and Christina.” Remember, I mentally urged him. You guys slept together and obviously didn’t use protection. You like Christina a lot, so don’t ruin this.
A genuine smile crossed Sean’s features. “She is always a fun time,” he said then took a drink, “But that was just for old time’s sake. She understood that.” Then he looked to the kitchen and back to me. “She didn’t say anything about us getting back together, did she?”
Rock, hard spot, and me in between. I took another long pull of beer. “Nah,” I answered as calmly as I could muster. I didn’t exactly lie because she hadn’t said anything about getting back together. She just wanted Sean to know the truth.
“Oh good, because this thing with Cami could go somewhere. Maybe even get serious. There is something different about her.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “But you haven’t gone out with Cami yet? How do you know it could go that way?”
“Well I at least need to get laid, because it has been way too long for me.”
“How long is too long for Sean Grattan?”
A shadow crossed over his face and he took a step closer to me. “Honestly, since Christina a couple months ago.” He took a swig of beer to hide his chagrin.
Being the mastermind at cloak and dagger that I am, I answered, “That’s great!”
His eyebrows knitted together and he shook his head. “Newlywed,” he said as a curse.
“Keep an eye on these steaks and I’ll grab us two more cold ones,” I escaped quickly before I said anything else.
Although the girls hadn’t been in the kitchen when I opened the fridge, they suddenly appeared behind the door as I closed it, scaring me to death.
“Well,” Allison said with her hands on her hips.
I couldn’t help but kiss her pouty pink lips. “Well, what?”
Christina sighed. “What have you guys been talking about out there?” At the moment, she had run out of patience for mine and Ali’s lovey dovey affection.
I looked to my hands. “Surfing,” I offered. Christina rolled her eyes and Ali bit her lip. Her intuitive eyes studied my face. She could see right through me, but didn’t push it. She knew me well enough to know that if I hadn’t answered truthfully, it was for good reason.
“Well,” Christina said glancing to the patio. “Hurry, because I’m starving.”
I couldn’t help smiling. Gone was the normally calm and sensible Christina. Hormonal, irrational and pregnant Christina was here now. I twisted the tops of the fresh beer and made my way back to the barbeque, drinking mine as I went.
“Did she say anything about me,” Sean asked as soon as I was back. I sighed and handed him a bottle.
“I slipped a note in her locker for you,” I joked and his eyes narrowed. The irony of my statement made me smile. “Come on, let’s eat.”
We made a lot of small talk over dinner, but most of the conversation was carried by myself and
Ali. Christina could hardly look at Sean and mostly just pushed her food around her plate to look occupied. He, thankfully, had stopped drinking beer and had been trying to engage her in conversation. Ali was carrying dessert to the table, a chocolate cake that was Christina’s favorite, when the silence became too much for both of them.
“I think I’m going to get going,” Sean said at the exact moment Christina blurted, “I’m pregnant.”
Ali’s hands froze inches over the table holding the cake plate, my hand suspended mid-drink of coffee. No one even took a breath. Sean’s sandy green eyes blinked a few times and Christina’s remained tightly closed.
“Cake anyone?” My wife couldn’t help saying.
“You’re what?” Sean said, ignoring Ali, as a tremble of fear leaked into his question.
She opened her eyes and faced him straight on. “Pregnant.” This time, her voice sounded more like her confident self.
Sean placed both hands flat on the table sorting through this statement and his emotions. Again, silence plagued the small dinner table. He looked up to find my eyes on him, and I watched as he quickly reached the realization. His eyes widened franticly and the muscles in his neck tensed before he slumped in his chair.
“It’s mine.” His words were a statement not a question.
Christina took a breath and was slow to exhale it. “Yes.”
Sean let out a long breath as his hands ran over his face and through his hair. He looked at Christina and opened his mouth, but then snapped it shut. I felt for my friend and wished now that I could have prepared him for the emotional bomb that had just landed on him. Suddenly, the screech of his chair made us all jump as he hastily got to his feet.
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