The Last Thing

by Gaitan, Briana

  Ginger was outgoing and men loved her. She’d find the man who would change for her.

  “Chase has been nothing but great to me. He won’t hurt me and you need to stop putting him down. I mean it, Ginger.”

  “But it’s not fair!”

  “You’ll find someone who treats you the way you deserve, Ginger. I promise.”

  A Few Days Later

  Quinn

  We were supposed to find out the sex of the baby that afternoon. I waited on the steps of Ginger’s front porch for Chase to pick me up. We had found a new house in Bel Air, but we were still buying furniture and hadn’t quite moved in yet. Nervous energy filled my body. It wasn’t as if being pregnant was a dream, but finding out the sex would change everything. This ‘it’ in my body would become a he or she. When Chase pulled in with his new SUV, I stood up to jump inside.

  “Hey.”

  I buckled up and nervously tapped my fingers along my new maternity jeans. Ginger had insisted I buy some clothes, and I also started using the money that Chase had given me.

  “You excited?” Chase asked me. He wore a tracksuit with his signature ball cap and dark glasses.

  “I guess you could say that.”

  He took a sip of coffee and set the cup back down before taking off his glasses.

  “Seriously, Quinn. What’s wrong?”

  “I’m just nervous. What if the ultrasound shows that something is wrong?”

  “I’m sure everything will be fine. I for one can’t wait. My mom will be here next week. We can break the news and surprise her with the baby’s room. If we get all moved in by then…”

  It was sweet how close he and his mom were, but meeting his family while five months pregnant wasn’t my ideal situation. My phone started vibrating, and I picked it up to see who it was. My dad again. He kept calling, no doubt my mom had told him about my predicament.

  “Do you want a girl or boy?” I asked him.

  “A boy would be fun, but I don’t care as long as he is healthy. What about you?”

  I sat in silence for a few moments trying to decide.

  “I would like a girl so I could fix her hair and have cute dresses, but I doubt I’ll get my wish.”

  Chase grabbed my hand and pressed a kiss into the back of it.

  “Well, then I hope we have a girl.”

  We drove the rest of the way in silence; this would be the first doctor’s appointment Chase would be attending.

  “Are you sure no one will recognize you?”

  “I already called ahead and spoke with the office manager about your patient confidentiality. We will be in a private room. No one will even know we’re there.”

  When we arrived at the medical building, Chase led me to the top floor where an older lady with gray hair, dark rimmed glasses, and a professional dress suit greeted us.

  “Welcome back, Mrs. Bardot. I understand we have a private ultrasound scheduled for you today.”

  “Um… I suppose.” I peeked at Chase for confirmation.

  He gave me a reassuring nod and grabbed my hand to lead me back to the dark room. He’d arranged all of this, that snaky bastard. The lady smiled at us eagerly and pointed to a gown on a table.

  “Put the gown on, and I’ll be back in a moment.”

  When she left, I put on the gown and sat down. Chase stood beside me.

  “Are you ready?”

  “No. No I’m not.” I shook my head and took a deep breath. In and out to calm my nerves.

  “Are you having a flashback?” His hand came out to rest on my leg.

  “No, I just hate waiting.” As if on cue, the technician walked in shut the door behind her.

  “Good afternoon, I’m Ellen, you’re the ultrasound technician, and I’ll be conducting the ultrasound today. Now let’s see what we have here.”

  Without hesitation, she put a sheet across my lap and pulled the gown up to reveal my growing baby bump.

  She placed a bit of warm liquid on my stomach and placed a large remote looking thing on top. With a few clicks of her keyboard she cleared her throat and began.

  “What? Does everything look okay?” Chase grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly.

  “Oh everything is wonderful…” she kept clicking on her keyboard and using a mouse to make lines on the black and white blob on the screen.

  “I can’t see a thing. What is it?” I whispered to Chase. He shrugged. Not being able to tell what was on the ultrasound was a little disappointing, but after a few moments, Ellen flipped something on the screen and the picture turned 3D.

  “Oh my goodness…” I could see everything. There was an entire baby on the screen who moved and kicked against my stomach. This thing inside of me suddenly had a face. It was an actual baby.

  “That’s our baby,” Chase said, kissing me on the forehead.

  “Alright look here…” Ellen said, moving the object all around my stomach. She pointed out the arms, legs, and head.

  “Do you want to know the sex?”

  Chase and I both looked at each other in excitement. His eyes were wide, and he had a huge goofy grin on his face.

  “We are ready,” he told Ellen.

  “It is a…..” she held out for dramatic pause. “It is a boy.”

  “Yes!” Chase pumped his arms up in the air a few times.

  Ellen held back a delightful smile. Chase tried to gauge my reaction. Happiness displayed proudly on my face. A boy? The sex didn’t matter to me anymore.

  “Congrats. Everything looks normal and progressing at a normal rate. Have you thought about a birthing plan?”

  I shook my head.

  “That’s okay, you have plenty of time. You’ll want to start thinking about where you want to have the baby, a lot of our exclusive clients prefer private quarters. We have a birthing center here as well if you prefer a water birth. Here is a pamphlet of information about your choices. Oh, and these are a few pictures of your baby.” She pulled out a sheet of baby pictures and handed them to me followed by a stack of pamphlets. I had a lot of baby reading to do now. I gawked at the ultrasound photo. Even from the side, the baby had Chase’s exact profile. There was no way he could deny his paternity, not that he had even mentioned it lately. As if on cue, the nurse cleared her throat.

  “We do need to discuss birthing classes. They are preferred in first pregnancies. I understand your need for privacy, so we may be able to schedule some in home classes.”

  Chase and I shared a glance. “Yes, that would be wonderful.” I told her.

  She beamed and shook our hands.

  “Thanks for coming, enjoy your day.” We walked from the office back toward Chase’s car.

  “A boy!” Chase said, taking the photos from my hand.

  “Yup a boy.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No, I’m excited. This just feels… surreal.”

  “What do you wanna do now?”

  My stomach grumbled in response.

  “I’m hungry. Can we get some food to celebrate?”

  He laughed at my response. Did he really expect anything else?

  “Let’s go get my babies some food.”

  We left the medical center hand in hand, both donning a hat and sunglasses. As we walked toward the parking garage, Chase stopped in his tracks.

  “Shit.”

  “What? What is it?” I followed his gaze to a man in the distance with his camera clearly pointed at someone walking down the street. He was a few dozen yards in front of us, and we had to pass him to enter the garage.

  “Is that—” I started.

  “Yes, just keep walking and don’t look at him. He may not recognize me.”

  “They are going to know. Chase, what if they see us together.”

  “Just act normal and it will be okay. My face is covered.”

  I didn’t know who they were taking pictures of, but I didn’t care. Chase held my hand steady as we walked closer to the man with the camera. He was young with blonde hair
and designer jeans. As we walked past, I swear I could see his head turn to look at us.

  My stomach wrenched when I heard the guy call out Chase’s name.

  “Chase Crowley?”

  Chase didn’t waver, but kept walking. I was too afraid to turn around and see if the man had taken our picture, but by the time we made it to Chase’s car, I felt like I was going to throw up.

  “Are you okay?” Chase asked, bending down to wrap his arms around my stomach.

  “I just wrapped my mind around people finding out about us, but I won’t ever get used to the cameras, the lack of privacy. I don’t know how you deal with it.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure they don’t bother you. I promise.”

  He stood up and opened the passenger side door for me, and I climbed in.

  Chase was supposed to take me back to Ginger’s house. I would be staying there only a few more days, so I was surprised when he pulled up to our new home.

  “I have a surprise,” he said before jumping out and running around to open my door.

  “I’m hungry,” I complained as he helped me out of the car.

  “It will only take a moment.”

  I walked behind him through the house, past our living room and upstairs where the bedrooms were. He led me into one of the smaller bedrooms where the entire floor was covered with plastic.

  “What is this?” I asked taking in the cans of paint that lined the side of the room.

  “It’s our nursery. I want you to paint our son’s mural.”

  I wasn’t sure what to say, I was speechless.

  “Before you say no, just please think about it. This is your chance to do something you love in a way to preserve a memory for our child.”

  “But…my inspiration left me when Bash died.” I’d tried so hard after his death. I’d tried to paint, draw, and sculpt. I’d even signed up as the lead makeup artist in a play, but nothing had come out like I’d envisioned in my mind. I was talentless now.

  “Then you find some new inspiration. You can do this, Quinn.”

  “Maybe.” I gave him a tight smile so I didn’t disappoint him. He proceeded to wrap his arms around my waist and pull me against him securely.

  “You take your time. I’ve seen your artistic work and I’d be honored to look at it every night when I put our child to bed.”

  I walked over and ran my hands along the paint cans and then across the dozens of brushes and glass jars. My fingers itched to create, but after such a long hiatuses, I was afraid I would mess it up. Still, Chase believed in me.

  “And don’t worry, the paint is free of harmful fumes, and if you need anything else—”

  “Okay. I’ll try,” I interrupted.

  “Hell yeah.” He grinned and leaned in to kiss my nose.

  “But not today. Right now, I wanna go home, eat then take a nap.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chase

  “Are you nervous?”

  “Uh, yes!” Quinn said. She kept fiddling with her hair, a nervous habit that I found adorable. She blew a strand off her face and wiggled nervously. Harlow would be here any minute, but she was late as usual. Randall sat outside of the private lounge guarding us from peeking intruders. We normally stayed at home, but Harlow liked to be wined and dined. The quaint Malibu restaurant sat right on the shore, but our VIP table was the only one on the outside deck. We had a clear view of the ocean. The sound of cawing birds and the waves crashing surrounded us. I squeezed Quinn’s hand.

  “She will love you.”

  “I hope so. I’ve never met any of your friends, so this is exciting.”

  “You know Barrett,” I reminded her. She made a sour face.

  “Don’t remind me.”

  “Baby steps remember?” I told her. “Friends and family first. We’ll deal with everyone else as it comes.”

  Harlow’s brown head appeared next to Randall.

  “Hey big boy, you protecting my favorite man?” she teased.

  “She’s so pretty,” Quinn whispered in my ear.

  Harlow played the part of a model well, but she was laidback and I trusted her with all my secrets. She was the only person I wanted to share Quinn with right now. Quinn would love her. Harlow didn’t have much of a reputation, besides the ones people created about me. She was a good girl, a virginal masterpiece.

  “She’s gonna love you, relax.” I normally didn’t need Randall except for when I went to events, but I wasn’t about to take a chance with Quinn’s safety. I wanted her privacy to feel well protected when we went out.

  “What a quaint little restaurant!” Harlow called out, her hands opened for a hug. She glanced around at the view. I gave her a hug, followed by a kiss on the cheek and turned to Quinn.

  “Quinn, this is my good friend Harlow. Harlow, meet Quinn, the love of my life.” Harlow grabbed Quinn by the shoulders and hugged her tightly.

  “I’m so excited to meet the girl who finally tamed my Chasey.”

  Quinn let out a gasp of surprise at Harlow’s embrace, but awkwardly patted her on the back.

  “Uh, nice to meet you too.”

  Harlow’s hands went straight to Quinn’s stomach where she began rubbing and prodding, making Quinn look uncomfortable.

  “Well look at that, you really are pregnant aren’t you? Now aren’t you just a cutie. Do you know what you’re having yet?”

  Quinn peered at me, and I could tell that she wasn’t sure if she could trust Harlow with that personal detail. I could see that Quinn was out of her comfort zone and a bit intimidated by Harlow’s large personality.

  “We are having a boy, but don’t tell anyone.”

  Harlow gasped and put her hands to her mouth.

  “ Let’s sit!” I announced. “Our food should be here any moment.”

  We all fell into a familiar conversation about all things baby, even Quinn seemed to get excited when talking about baby names.

  “I was thinking about the name Collin or James…” Quinn said slyly. It was the first time she’d mentioned names, but then again before we found out the sex, she had been hesitant to talk about those types of things.

  “Really? I like those.” I sat up, suddenly very interested in what she was saying.

  “No, No,” Harlow waved her hand, “You have to name the eldest son after a family member. After your father or brother perhaps?”

  “I’m an only child, and I’m not really close with my father. I really like Collin.”

  “Collin it is,” I interjected.

  Harlow didn’t shut up all the way through our meal, and I believe Quinn really enjoyed not having to speak. She sat there and politely nodded as Harlow jabbered on about a fashion show and funny little stories about her airplane trip. Finally, Harlow directed the conversation at me.

  “So when is your big movie coming out? My Chasey has finally hit the A-list! Welcome to the big leagues.”

  “They both come out after Christmas,” I said between bites of my pancakes. “And don’t act like you’re any better. You are so B-list.”

  “I am not! Are you two gonna walk the red carpet together?” Harlow pointed a finger expectantly back and forth between Quinn and me. It wasn’t something we had talked about, but I figured she’d come out with me eventually.

  “I’m not about to make my debut eight months pregnant.” Quinn said with a disgusted face.

  “They are going to find out eventually, and then it will be a race to see which photographer can get your baby’s photo first.”

  “Don’t scare her,” I growled at Harlow, a little sharper than I attended.

  All the color drained from Quinn’s face. “You really think they will try and do that?”

  “Of course, and what about the hospital stay. Have you reserved a private room?”

  Quinn shook her head, “No, I’m planning on having the baby at home.”

  The statement caused milk to fly from my nose and mouth. Where had that come from? S
he’d told the nurse the other day that she hadn’t come up with a birthing plan yet, but now she sounded quite certain.

  “No hospital? What if something goes wrong?”

  Quinn and Harlow laughed as I used my napkin to wipe up the milk. Just great.

  “I have been thinking about it a lot the past few days, and I hate hospitals. Home births are completely safe.”

  I decided to let it go, it was her choice, even though the thought of her delivering a baby so far away from the professionals terrified me.

  “Sounds great.”

  Randall appeared behind me before bending down and quietly whispering in my ear. “A few fans have become aware of your presence, sir.”

  “Keep them away.” I nodded at a few girls who stood behind the glass inside the restaurant trying not to stare.

  Quinn put her fork down and sat up straighter. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes, dear. Nothing to worry about, just a few fans.”

  The girls who stood near the beach beside the patio held their phones up and began to point.

  “A few?”

  “Okay, don’t freak out, but some fans are taking pictures with their phone.”

  “Shit.” Quinn quickly put her sunglasses back on.

  “Don’t worry.” Harlow put her hand out to reassure her. “They’re still pretty far away. They won’t be able to get a clear shot of us.”

  “Have you seen the new smart phones? They zoom like really far! What if someone sees my stomach?”

  “Just ignore them, and they’ll get bored soon,” Harlow told her.

  “Chase!” One of the girls waved her hands in the air like a crazy person.

  I looked back down at my plate and pretended not to notice. When would people realize that it was rude to bother people during breakfast?

  Harlow began waving her hands in the air mocking the fan like she had a big story to tell, but I knew it was only to make Quinn laugh.

  “So, did I ever tell you about the time Chasey here got drunk for the first time?” Quinn’s eyes lit up

  “Harlow shut- up.” I warned, putting my head in my hands in disbelief. She was going to spill my most embarrassing secrets. I wanted Quinn to think highly of me.