Taking the stairs so she wouldn't hear the ding of the elevator, I said, "Yep, on my way. I have a surprise for you."
She inhaled a breath. Gabs always loved surprises, even if it was the smallest things. One more thing you could add to the list of why I love her so damn much.
"I'll be there soon. Be ready to go."
"Okay, I love you."
"I love you, too, Gabs."
I hung up the phone and skipped down the six flights of stairs. I hailed a cab and told him the address of the little studio Gabs ran with Jade. It was Jade's idea to start up the Little Ballerinas. Jade would handle the bookkeeping and Gabs would teach.
Jade and Jett were the awesome couple of the group – always smacking some sense into us when Gabs and I would fight. They were happy together and they were perfect. Jade still had problems with her dad and step mom from what Jett told me. And they didn't like Jett too much, either, but that didn't stop them from getting engaged. Jade started planning a rock and roll wedding – something Gabs wasn't happy about. She said she wasn't going to wear black to her wedding. While Jett and I were busy tattooing all day, Jade and Gabs were together, going to meet some doctor. Gabs didn't really go into any detail about why Jade went, but Gabs said it was helping with her throwing up thing. It was fine while she was pregnant; she only threw up when something didn't agree with her and the baby, but whenever Carol was around, that changed. Gabs told me that she felt she had control over it now and felt better about herself.
When I arrived at the studio, parents were there picking up their little children. Checking my watch to notice that I still had five minutes before Gabs class got over, I entered the building and walked down the little hallway to the five year old ballet class. I leaned on the doorway to watch as my beautiful wife helped the little girls bend their knees and keep their arms out in front of them, then back up without them falling.
My eyes scanned the room as I looked for a particular little girl somewhere. I found her standing behind her mom, holding her purple blanket in one hand and twirling her finger around in her blonde hair with the other. I whistled quietly to get her attention and when she heard me, she screamed out, "Daddy!" causing some of the girls to fall from being startled so badly. Gabs looked over at me with that same look I fell in love with four years ago. I winked at her, and just that easy, she blushed.
My legs were tackled as my little girl hugged them so tightly, "Daddy, up, up, up."
Reaching down, I picked up our gorgeous daughter. "And how is little miss Mia doing today?" I asked while giving her a kiss on her forehead.
"I'm mkay, Daddy. Mamma say she tired."
"Oh she is, huh? Well we better get her home then." I set Mia down and she grabbed my hand to watch Gabs close her class for the day. After Gabs found out she was pregnant, she quit her one year at Juilliard and went to the local college to get her teaching degree in dance.
Even though she had given up on her dream to have our daughter, she wanted to at least teach ballet. We did fine as a couple. David was livid when he looked at the books to see a ten thousand dollar check written out to me. He announced that he was done and Carol divorced him a little while later. About a year after their divorce, Gabs had lunch with Trish, Rachel's mom. Gabs came home with a plan to set them up and they had been together ever since. Trish was still having a hard time dealing with Rachel's death, and Brad, too. I think it was hard on all of us. But David and Trish were good together. Skinner was sentenced to eight years in Ricker's for the murder of Rachel. Trish was happy he was put behind bars. My mom, on the other hand, wasn't.
After Skinner was sent away, she didn't have drugs right in the living room like before and I wouldn't go get any for her. I thought maybe she would stop and get clean, but going a couple of weeks being clean, then finally getting that amount you used to shoot up, will shut your eyes forever. And that was my mom; she never got a chance to meet our little Mia. Brad on the other hand went off grid after Rachel died. He got extremely drunk the night of Rachel's funeral and professed his love for the only redheaded girl who would only have his heart. We haven't heard anything from him since then. David even tried to a search to see if he was hauled off to jail or prison, but no such luck. Brad was gone.
David tried every Sunday during dinner to get me to go to college and work at his firm, even offering to pay for it, but I couldn't see myself being a lawyer. Trish would always smack his arm and tell him to mind his own business. Trish hated me at the beginning, but she softened pretty fast. Trish was very thoughtful when it was with Gabs or David. Trish even surprised the two of them by taking them to the cemetery to see Shannon's grave. I kept my distance, holding Mia with Trish at my side as David and Gabs held hands, saying some peaceful words with Shannon's headstone. Gabs and I visited her every Mother's Day.
"You okay?"
I looked up to see Gabs walking over to Mia and me.
"Yeah, just thinking." I smiled.
Gabs leaned down to put on Mia's jacket, but before she could, I cupped her cheeks and kissed her lips tenderly. Her eyes slowly opened as she sighed when our lips parted.
"I love you, Abigail Tucker, for always,"
She beamed the biggest smile. "I love you too, Kyle Tucker. For always."
"What bout me?" little Mia wined at us, pulling on the edge of my leather jacket. I loved our daughter – she was our best mistake. She was just the perfect mix between us; she had Gabs' blonde hair with my blue eyes. She was the most gorgeous little girl; she was going to kill the hearts of boys – if I let any boys come that close to her.
We closed down the studio and took another cab back to the new apartment building. My knee started to bounce with excitement; I couldn't help it, and I loved surprising her with just about anything.
Mia sat in the middle of us coloring and I watched my beautiful wife help her and hold the crayons for her. She looked up at me with a smile as I winked at her .Cupping her cheeks as she nuzzled my hand, she then gave my palm a quick kiss. Gabs reaching in her pink shirt to pull out the snowflake necklace that I had given her on our first Christmas still made me smile when I would catch her sliding it back and forth on the chain, kiss it and go back doing to whatever she was doing. She loved that necklace, and would never take it off.
After Mia was born, Gabs decided that she wanted another tattoo, but told me I could do whatever I wanted, as long as it was "pretty", she said. I drew out a beautiful little Mia face when she was about two sucking on a blue sucker. Blue drool was all over her face, but Mia was in heaven. I decided to place it on the top of her foot. At first she wasn't happy about it being on her foot; Gabs didn't like her feet, but I did. The things that she could do with those feet while dancing turned me on. Giving Gabs that tat took a good five hours; I wanted it to be perfect. When I was done and she looked at what I picked out, she cried for a good three days just staring at it. I also scripted out Mia Shannon Tucker underneath it. Now every time Gabs put on her ballet slippers, Mia can watch her dance. I loved tattooing; it was my passion and it paid our bills. We were just happy and with the money I saved, we now had our own place.
When we finally pulled up to the building, Gabs asked, "Where are we?" I shoved money at the driver before he could say anything. Picking Mia up and grabbing Gabs hand, we entered out new building. I was silent the entire way up to the sixth floor to our new place.
"Kyle, what's going on?" I looked over at her to see that her arms were folded across her chest and she was tapping her foot. That's the dancer part in her.
"You'll see," I said, as I tickled Mia.
She shook her head and rested up against me, wrapping her arms around Mia and I. When we made it to the apartment door, I stopped to let Mia down and held up a little copper key in front of Gabs face.
"This is for you, baby girl. Welcome home."
Her eyes widened and started to shimmer over with tears, unlocking the door to make our way inside our new home.
She stopped in the large living r
oom. "We can't afford this, Kyle," she said, shaking her head and placed her hands on her hips.
"Yes, we can; I just put a large down payment on it."
She faced me quickly. "You what?"
"It's ours." And before she could protest, I took her hand to show her around the apartment. I showed her the two bathrooms, the spacious living room, and it even had a little balcony off our bedroom. Of course I mentioned to her that's where we would be having sex, too, and Gabs' face flamed up.
"Or you could plant flowers or something girly like that with Mia," I smiled, and she hit me in the shoulder.
We ended up in Mia's room when I was finished; I knew she loved the place, but was maybe just a little shell shocked that I actually went this far. She walked up to the one window in the room; she looked beautiful with the sun setting in front of her, with her blonde hair glowing. She picked up Mia to whisper something in her ear.
She bit her bottom lip. "I love it, Kyle, but where's the new baby going to sleep?"
My own eyes widened and my body froze as I took in her words,
Whispering, she said, "Tell Daddy, Mia."
My gazed focused on our daughter, "Mamma have baybay in tummy," Mia giggled then wiggled to be let down. She tried to escape the room, but I caught her and hauled her up and went to my wife. I embraced her in a hug and kissed her so deeply with Mia giggling the entire time. I had my gorgeous wife, my beautiful daughter, and now another little unexpected baby on the way. The world finally let us be together and life couldn't get much better than this.
If you or have any friends suffering from Cutting or Bulimia,
or any problems with drugs, please contact:
http://teenlineonline.org/
Remember, you're not alone.
Nichele Reese loves nothing more than to be snuggling up with her husband and little boy. Occasionally the two furry animals running around her house get some attention too. When she's not doing that, you can find her on her laptop, phone or reading on her kindle. On the side, she loves to study chemistry for fun….Can you believe it? For fun! Crazy girl. She also puts that into good use working in a Microbiology Lab where stinky bacteria grows. She currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with the freezing cold weather and the beautiful autumn leaves. This is her first Novel and she hopes you enjoyed it as much as she wrote it.
You can Email Nichele at: [email protected]
Nichele is currently working on:
'Dearest Gemma'
*New Adult Novel*
Coming Winter 2013
Some may call it fate, some call it a mistake. But I call it, my Dearest Gemma.
Emma Watsen wanted nothing but her college degree in Chemistry Science. Not caring about finding that one true love or being in the most popular sorority house. But James Murdock was the most popular boy, lead Quarter Back, he always got what he wanted and he wanted Emma.
No matter what the cost was. Even when Emma said, no.
One night can change everything in a blink of an eye. That one night will leave nightmares for Emma and everything around her will change.
That pregnancy test really couldn't be positive.
When Emma is faced with a courageous decision, that deals a lot with her future, she has to grow up faster than a regular nineteen year old. Decisions have to be made, but will they be the right ones? Her whole future is in her hands with that important decision.
Also to come in 2014:
Running From Fear- Brad Evan's Story
Hard Love- Alex Blair's Story
I've had so much help from so many great new friends that I have made along this journey. I can't thank them enough for all their kind words and inspirations to help me to keep going, to make my dream come true and finish my story of Tucker and Abigail. No matter how many times I changed my epilogue.
Janessa Osborne. Girl, I would be lost without your words of encouragement every day. No matter how bad of day I am having, I can always count on you to be there for me to make me laugh. I'm so happy to have met you and have you as my friend.
JL Brooks. Thank you so much for helping me with new ideas and always willing to brainstorm with me. I'll swap stories with you any day. Thank you so much for letting me use a quote from Distractions in here. That means so much to me. I love ya girl and I can't forget about Shepard ;)
Megan Hoscholer. What can I say that you don't already know? We pretty much have the same mind in all things. I'm happy to have met you. Thank you so much for reading Juilliard and all your advice. You are truly my sister from another state.
Jaimi Mac, Nacole Stayton, Jenn Cole Bester, and Melanie Dawn. I love you sweet girls as my own sisters. Trusty worthy people are hard to find, I'm lucky to have found you. (((Hugs)))
Erika Taylor. Who always told me to never give up and to keep going.
Other BIG thanks go to, Kim Karr for taking me under her wing and helping me with re-wording, brainstorming and being able to handle my rambunctious phone calls. Also for putting me in the back of her book, Connected, to give me a great start to the writing world. You're amazing!
Nikki Sparks and Amanda Stone. Thank you for reading some of my lines when I was also stuck. You both have helped me improve on my writing and helped me understand a different way to express them. Even if it was just one word that helped me.
Holly Malgieri. What would I do without a Travis in a box? Hehe…You're so amazing, your blog is amazing and I don't know what I would do without you helping me with a blog tour! Thank you for always being there.
Michelle Valentine. I thank you for the Falcon Boys. They're one of my favorite guy bands. Michelle, I value our friendship so much. Thank you for all your advice in this community. I can't express how grateful I am to have met you. Thank you so much for letting me use them in my story. I will always treasure that.
To; Kelli Maine, Emily Snow, Katie Ashley, K.A. Linde, Gail McHugh, Kimberly Knight for taking the time to read some of Juilliard or Else and all your wonderful advice. I'll never forget you ladies. You don't know how much I look up to you as authors.
Anne Leigh for becoming one of my new sweetest friends. You're just an amazing writer who expresses herself perfectly in your writing. Your writing inspires me.
To my ladies in The Indie Chixx, for becoming my new buddies. I love you all!
To Audrey Harte. I get all teary eyed when I begin to think of all the work you've helped me with. I don't know where to begin. You helped me when I needed it most and when I almost gave up. Your advice on true edits completed this task and making my story 100 times better. We worked so well together and I take everything you showed me into my heart always to remember. You're an amazing editor with all that you've done for me and Juilliard. I can't express it enough to how grateful I am for you. Thank you so much <3
Angela at Fictional Formats. Thank you so much for squeezing me into your very busy schedule. Thank you for your patience and kindness and answering all my questions. You're one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met in this writing journey, even though we have only known each other in a short time. Thank you so much! ☺
To my greatest friend of all, Vanessa Churchill. You are my complete book partner. Thank you for believing in me to finish this. For reading for me and all things. You are a fabulous person and I'm so happy you're in my life!
My sister Melanie, for being the best sister a little sister could ever ask for. Carrie, my wonderful Mother. She always told me I could do anything, now I believe her.
Save the best for last. To my wonderful husband Brett and son ((Mini Reese)) for being so patient with me through this process, but still making me laugh every day. For dealing with me playing on the computer during the day, then working graveyards at night. For dealing with dirty clothes, no clean dishes and for letting me escape into the writing world in my head. I love you both so very much.
Turn the Page to read the first chapter in
A novel by Megan Myers.
Due out sometime in 2014
&nb
sp; It sucks when you work into the wee hours of the night and have no life outside of it. Then come home to an empty house, only to remind you that no one is there waiting for you, with the exception of my very hyper chocolate lab.
Yup, Clyde is the only man that hasn't left me, but I secretly think it's because I keep him cooped up in the house all day and only take him out on a leash. He has no way of escaping me. Even then, he still tries to take off and chase after those darn squirrels… I swear those damn things just like to taunt him for fun. One of these days I'll let go of the leash to let him run free and then we'll see if the squirrels act just as tough as they do now, but that's for another day, another time.
Right now, all I want to do is get home, strip off these damn scrubs, take a nice hot shower to wash off the remaining germs that I came in contact with and slip into my nice comfy pajamas that will be waiting for me. All snuggly and warm.
Pulling into my townhome complex and parking in my spot, number eight. Which is pretty funny if you think about it, because that number isn't very lucky for me. It's a torcher number; or a damn curse. It sucks owning a townhouse without a garage, if I had one, then I wouldn't have to look at the damn number every day.
Dragging my tired ass out of my Tahoe, wondering why I even bought such a big vehicle in the first place. I'm single, with no kids. Unless you count Clyde, which I do, but a little sporty Camaro would had done just fine, but I've always wanted a Tahoe.
Of course, I didn't count on me still being single at the border line of my twenties. Okay, thirty. I'm thirty, but I like to round down the number. I always pictured myself being married to a hot Hollywood actor, living in the Hollywood Hills in a five million dollar mansion, with ten bedrooms and fourteen bathrooms, because I don't ever like to use the same bathroom twice in a week. Seriously, what are you supposed to do with fourteen bathrooms? Okay, who am I kidding? Those were my awesome dreams at night, but I certainly didn't picture myself still being single at this age.
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