by Dawn Martens
After a few minutes, I pull myself from her and roll onto my back. I turn my head toward Julie to tell her that I love her, but she is already asleep.
I smile and close my eyes.
Chapter 25
Julie
Today is my six-month checkup. Jase and Jenny are at the doctor’s with me. This is the first time that I've brought either of them to the OB/GYN. I don't really like the idea of anyone being back there with me. The paper gown and all the feeling around, it just seems like something that should be done in private, but today's appointment is different. I'm having a 3-D ultrasound. It’s a little later than most people normally get an ultrasound, but the doctor gave me the option to wait. I decided to put it off where we could see more of the baby instead of just a blob.
The doctor says that we will be able to see everything. He says it is almost as good as an actual picture of the baby. I want to share this experience with the two most important people in my life. Jenny is so excited that she can hardly stand still, but Jase just looks nervous. I swear that there are tiny beads of sweat running down his forehead.
"Ms. Walker," a nurse calls me back. Jenny and I walk forward with smiles on our faces, but Jase looks like he's heading to his own execution.
After the nurse gets all my information, I change and sit on the table. I look over to where Jase is standing in the corner. The nurse explains everything, but he looks worse now than he did before.
"Jase, what in the world is wrong with you?"
"Nothing," he says and adds a shrug.
"Daddy's scared it’s gonna hurt. I heard him talking to Uncle Shane," Jenny adds with a silly smile.
"An ultrasound doesn't hurt." He looks at my face. I can see him studying me for any signs that I'm lying. "I promise. The worst part is that the jelly they put on my stomach is cold."
"Why don't they warm it up?" I almost laugh. He seems horrified by the idea of cold KY Jelly.
We all look toward the door as the technician walks in the room. "Hi there," the young man says with a smile. "Are you ready?"
I nod my head and lay back on the table. Within a minute or two, he's got me jellied up and the probe is running across my abdomen. He turns the screen to me, and I gasp at what I see.
It's my baby. I can see everything. Its little face is right there, and it is so beautiful. Jenny grabs my hand. I look down at her. She is wearing a huge smile and is moving her head from side to side. I look up to Jase. His mouth is hanging open and his eyes are sparkling with happiness.
"Do y’all want to know what you’re having?"
I nod my head towards Jase. "Yeah, we do," he says, his voice is full with emotion.
"Okay, let's see if we can get this little munchkin moving," He is moving the probe around my stomach, trying to find the right position. He presses here and there, then says, “Well, look at that. There's no question about this one. You are most definitely having a boy."
******
Jase
I look at Julie then back to the screen with my baby on it. We’re having a boy. My life couldn’t be any better right now. I have Julie back, a beautiful daughter, and now I’m going to have a son too. I’m so fucking happy that it scares me. If I lost them now, it would kill me. I have to do something to make sure that they are mine forever.
I make a decision. “We need to stop by the garage on the way home.”
Jenny squeals and starts to jump up and down. “I want to tell Poppa about the baby. Please!” she begs. Julie just laughs and nods her head in agreement.
“Well, it looks like we are all done here,” the technician says. He writes something on a yellow piece of paper and hands it with a disk to Julie. “Just give that paper to the receptionist. She will get you set up for your next appointment.”
Julie dresses as soon as the guy leaves the room. We walk up to the receptionist desk, and Julie talks to the lady for a moment. She pulls out her debit card and starts to hand it to her, but I grab her hand and shake my head. I pull out my wallet and hand the woman mine instead.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Julie says as we are walking out of the office.
“I know.”
“I can take care of myself,” she says. Her voice is different, bitchy almost. What the hell? I’m not having any of this crap.
I stop walking and grab her hand. I pull her to me and wrap my arms around her middle. “I know you can, baby, but I want to help. I wasn’t there for Jenny. You had to do it all on your own. Please, let me do this.”
At first, I think she is going to argue with me, but remarkably, she doesn’t. Instead, she smiles and kisses me softly. “Okay, Jase.”
We pull into Pop’s garage twenty minutes later. I’ve barely stopped, before Jenny is jumping out of the truck. She heads straight to the garage. As I get out of the truck, I hear her yell. “I’m getting a little brother!”
By the time I get inside, everyone is all smiles. I hear a few congratulations, but I ignore them all and head straight to the office.
Pop is behind his desk and Shane is sitting on the counter. I look over at him. “Keep Julie and Jenny busy for a minute. I need to talk to Pop.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything is perfect,” I say with a smile.
Shane nods his head, jumps down, and heads for the door. As soon as it closes, I walk over to Pop’s desk. “It’s time.” I know I’m wearing a ridiculous smile, but I can’t help it. “I want Mom’s ring.”
He smiles and opens the top drawer of his desk. He pulls out a small velvet-covered box and hands it to me.
“You got nothing to say?” I ask, expecting to get a lecture on treating Julie right, but he just shakes his head.
“There’s nothing I can say. You’re a good man, son. You learned your lesson. There’s no need in me telling you shit that you already know,” he says with an even bigger smile than mine. He stands up and walks out of the room.
I open the box and look at my mom’s ring. It’s not all that big, but I wouldn’t give Julie anything else. It was my gram’s ring before it was my mom’s. My grandpa got it in Germany when he was fighting in WWII. He proposed the day he got home. Grams gave it to Pop when he wanted to marry Mom. Now, it’s my turn to give it to Julie.
I stuff it in my pocket and walk back into the garage. Shane has his laptop out, and everyone is looking at something on it. I walk over and see my son’s image on the screen. I look over at Julie, and she’s staring at me. She slides up to my side and grabs my hand, and then looks back at the laptop. I can’t take my eyes off of her. I touch the jewelry box in my pocket and try to think of a way to convince her to marry me. I need to do it right.
Chapter 26
Julie
We arrive home after stopping at the garage, and Jenny’s still talking about the baby. It’s impossible to not get caught up with her excitement. She’s gushing to Bethany that she can’t believe she’s going to have a little brother, but she also keeps saying that it would have been better to have a little sister. I wonder whether or not she’ll be as enthusiastic when our boy is keeping her awake at night. Maybe then she won’t be telling me that I need to have a little girl next time. I laugh at her mile-a-minute chatter.
Jase has been quiet since the appointment. He seems distant. I’m not sure what’s wrong. I thought for sure he wanted a boy, but maybe not.
“You okay?” I ask him as soon as Jenny and Bethany leave the room.
Jase looks at me. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I’m not convinced, but maybe I should let it go. I don’t want to burst my happy moment.
Today actually calls for celebration. Pizza will help nicely, but I have a better idea. I send Bethany and Jenny to pick up some movies while I call and order the pizza. As soon as they walk out the door, I grab Jase’s hand and pull him to my room.
I pull my shirt off as we are walking through the door. I turn to look at Jase, and he shoots me one of his panty-dropping smiles. He jerks his own shirt over his head a
nd starts to unbutton his pants. I rush over to him and stop his hand. I shake my head at him and drop to my knees.
He’s far too tempting to look at, to touch. I look up at him and slowly pull down his zipper. “I’m going to make you a very happy man.”
He places his hands on my face. “You have already made me happy. Happier than I ever thought I could be.” He gives me another sexy smile. “But, if you still want to suck my cock, have at it.”
I reach for him and take him deep in my throat. I love having him in my mouth, but it doesn’t last long. He pulls back and picks me up. I kick off my shoes as he walks us across the room. He places me on the bed, pulls down my pants and panties, and barely pauses before he brings his mouth to my core. Within minutes, I can feel that I’m on the verge of an orgasm. He must feel it coming on, because he backs off, stands up, pulls my ass to the edge of the bed, and slams into me.
I try to wrap my legs around him, but he grabs me by my knees and hold my legs open wide. “I want to watch,” he says as he stares at the spot where we’re connected. “I love watching you take me. Your pussy is fucking beautiful.”
His words send me over the edge. He continues to thrust, but he is getting faster. He releases my legs, reaches down, and starts to rub his thumb over my clit. “Come on, baby, one more time.”
“I can’t,” I say, shaking my head. My heart feels as though it will explode. Even as I say the words, I feel tension building deep inside me.
“Yes, you can!” he says between thrusts. His thumb is rubbing harder and he bends at his knees, making his cock go even deeper. Within minutes, I’m coming again. I’m still reeling from my second orgasm when his breath starts to quicken and he slams into me once more.
A minute or two pass by before he slowly pulls away from me and lies down in the bed. He pulls me into him and wraps his arms around me. “I love you, Julie.”
“I love you too,” I say and place a kiss on his neck.
We are quiet for a few minutes and I’m about to fall asleep when I hear Bethany and Jenny come in. I start to get up, but Jase pulls me back. “I want to take you somewhere special, so be ready when I get home tomorrow.”
*****
Jase
I may be at work, but I’m not really here. My mind is on tonight. What if she says no? I shake my head at my own thoughts. That’s not going to happen. She is going to say yes, even if I have to beg. I want to be a real family. Fuck this temporary living with her shit! I want it to be permanent. I want to make a home for our two children. I want to have a real fucking family.
I am going over the words that I plan to use to propose when Shane walks up. “What’s wrong with you today? Most of the time, you would have had this shit done in an hour or two, but you’ve been at it for damn near three hours. I don’t even think you’re half way done yet.”
I look towards the 68’ Fairlane that I have been working on and shake my head. “My minds on something else.”
Shane chuckles. “I figured that out myself. What I want to know is what the fuck you’re thinking so hard about?”
“I’m going to ask Julie to marry me tonight.”
Shane whistles. “Shit, man. Big move, but I’ve got to say, it’s about damn time.”
I nod. “Should have asked her a long fucking time ago.”
“Yeah, you should have, but you got a second chance. Make sure you do it right this time,” Shane says with a smile. “Don’t even think about asking Matty to be your best man. I call that shit right now.”
“That is fine with me. I want you both by my side that day.”
“What day?” Matty asks as he walks up.
“I’m asking Julie to marry me tonight,” I explain for the second time. Might as well get this out there now. I’m impressed that I’ve been able to keep it to myself all day.
Matty smiles. “About fucking time.”
“That’s what I said,” Shane says.
“Don’t fuck up this time,” Matty continues in a serious tone.
“Said that too,” Shane says with a chuckle.
I am just about to respond, when Pop sticks his head out of the office. “I don’t pay you boys to stand around talking. Get your asses to work.”
We all go our separate ways. As I slide under the Fairlane, I make myself a promise. I won’t fuck up this time.
Chapter 27
Julie
I’m just getting off work, and I’m really tired, but I want to get a new dress for tonight. Jase won’t tell me where we’re going, but I know he has something big planned. I want to look nice, so I’ll make the effort. There’s not really many places to shop in our little town, but I don’t want to drive all the way to Nashville. I’ll settle for Tessa’s dress shop. I hope that they will have a few maternity dresses.
As soon as I walk in, I spot Brittany. She hasn’t come up to me in weeks. In fact, when she sees me, she walks the other way. Jase said she’s been doing that with him too, even if he’s alone. I’m not complaining, but it’s a total 180 from what she was doing. Am I nervous? Hell, yeah I am.
I walk to the counter and ask the clerk if they have anything that I could wear. She points me to the back. I just reach the maternity clothes when Brittany walks up. “I heard Jase is living with you now,” she says, making it sound like a question.
“Yes,” I answer not looking at her. I continue to look through the dresses, waiting for her to walk away. Of course, it’s not that easy. She’s just standing there staring at me. I can’t take it anymore. “Is there something you want?”
She just shakes her head and turns to walk away. After a few steps, she stops and turns back to me. “Enjoy it…while you can.”
Something in her voice sends a chill down my spine. It’s like she knows something that I don’t. I pull out my phone, but I stop just before I hit Jase’s name. I have to trust him.
I finally pick out a knee length black dress with a deep V in the back. It’s sexy but not too flashy and hangs loose over my stomach. My aim for tonight is not to look like a whale. I pay and then head home.
I spend the next hour getting ready. I’m just putting on my shoes when Jase walks in. I expected him to still be in his work clothes, but he’s not. His hair is wet, and he is freshly shaved. He has on faded blue jeans that fit snug on his ass and a black button up, with a grey tee underneath. He is sexy as hell!
It takes a few minutes for us to say goodbye to Bethany and Jenny. Jenny is crying. She wants to come, and she is doing her best to convince her daddy to let her. It would be easy for me to step in and solve the problem, but I want to see how he handles it. Plus, I know he wants to do this himself. I laugh as he does what every good parent is forced to do from time to time. He bribes her. He tells her that he will take her to Dairy Queen in the morning for biscuits and gravy if she quits crying. It works!
Jase leads me to his truck, helps me get in, and we head out. The ride is really quiet. I can tell he’s nervous and I have no idea why. It’s freaking me out a bit. Shit. He’s making me nervous too. He drives through town and pulls into the high school parking lot.
“What are we doing here?” Jase smiles at me but doesn’t answer. He gets out, walks around the truck, opens my door and helps me out. Holding my hand, we walk towards the football field.
There is a blanket and a cooler sitting beside the field. He leads me right to it and sits down. He pulls me onto his lap and kisses me.
“I’ve been wanting to do that since I saw you in that dress.” His voice is a whisper against my mouth.
“What took you so long?”
“I was too fucking nervous,” he says with a laugh.
I’ve never seen Jase like this. He is always so confident. He’s been all jumpy since the ultrasound. I can’t stand not knowing what’s going through his head “Baby, what’s wrong?”
He gives me a small smile and places me on the ground beside him. I can feel my heart quicken. He gets to one knee and pulls a small box from his pocket.
> Oh my God!
******
Jase
As soon as I pull out the ring, Julie starts to cry. “Julie, what’s wrong?” She doesn’t answer, just continues to sob. Shit, what the hell have I done? I sit down and pull her into my lap. “Why are you crying?”
“You’re going to ask me to marry you,” she says between sobs. “You’re going to ask me right here, where you first asked me out.”
Okay, this I can handle. “I didn’t ask. I told you that you were going out with me. I wasn’t taking the chance that you would say no,” I say with a smile.
Julie laughs and is wiping the tears from her face. “This time you have to ask.”
I open up the box and pull the ring out. I take a deep breath. “Do you remember this ring?”
She nods her head. “It was your mom’s,” she whispers.
“Yeah, it was. But it was my gram’s first. Grandpa gave it to her the day he came home from Germany. She wore it for twenty-nine years before she gave it to Pop. Then, my mom wore it until she died. I want you to wear it, until our son meets the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with.” I take another deep breath. “Julie Anne Walker, will you marry me?”
Julie wraps her arms around me and starts to cry again. She doesn’t answer. I hold her close and wait for her to say the word. It seems like it takes forever. Finally, she leans away and looks into my eyes. “Yes, Jason Andrew Gibson, I will marry you.”
I pull her back to me and kiss her. I’m so happy as I slide the ring on her finger. It fits perfectly, just like I knew it would. I remember seeing it on my mom’s hand a million times, but it has never looked as beautiful as it does now.
“We have to wait though.” I jerk my head and look at her. She’s smiling from ear to ear. She places her hand on her belly. “I don’t want to be fat on my wedding day. We’ll do it six weeks after the baby is born.”
I nod. I’ll agree to anything as long as she’ll marry me. “That’s fine, but why six weeks?”