by C. J. Welles
I don’t know what to say. I don’t have the answers to any of it.
“I wish I could go to sleep and then wake up and it will all just be a dream,” she whispers. “That tomorrow everything will be fine again.”
Krystal and I lay there holding each other tightly as we both let out the tears that keep coming. This is killing me, but I need to be strong for Krystal from now on. Everything I do is for her. It’s going to wreck me losing her, but everything is going to be about her. I will die trying to make her last days the best they can be.
Krystal eventually falls asleep and I lay holding her in my arms and remember the first time I met her.
“Who does she live with?” I ask Jace, as we drive to Callie’s apartment.
“Krystal. She’s nice but a bit quieter than Callie.”
“And Callie isn’t here?” I ask. She’d most likely jam my head in the door. Luckily, we only have to drop off a bag of clothes.
“No, you’re safe.”
I wish my stupid drunken asshole ways didn’t cause all the trouble that they did. I may be an asshole at times and run wild on the circuit, but I never put down a woman like I did. Plus, it has caused trouble for Jace.
When Jace pulls up, there’s a brown-haired woman standing near the entrance of the apartment block. I watch as she slowly walks to Jace’s side of the truck. I can’t see much of her apart from she’s tall and skinny with good sized breasts.
When Jace jumps out of his truck and talks, I wait inside. When I hear her smooth voice wash over me, I sit up a little and look out Jace’s door. She is fucking gorgeous. She has light green eyes and a small button nose with a tiny top lip and a fuller bottom lip.
Her sentence trails off when she sees me sitting there.
“This is Bryson,” Jace says to Krystal when he sees what she is looking at.
“Ah, hi,” she says quietly.
“Nice to meet you,” I reply. She nods and gives me a shy smile.
“Anyways,” Jace says. “We gotta go, will see you next time.”
When he jumps in the truck, he punches me in the arm.
“What the fuck was that for?” I ask.
“Stay away from her. She doesn’t need you and your whore ways.”
“Whatever,” I say, pissed off.
It's great to see my best mate sees so little in me.
It was the next night that I drove back up to Dallas and knocked on her door, that I got her to agree to go to dinner with me and to give me her number.
*
Callie
I GIVE BRYSON A hug when I walk into the living room at his parents’ house.
“How are you feeling?” I ask stupidly. As if he’s going to say he’s fine.
“Not good. I’m more worried for Krystal though,” he replies, when he walks towards his den and I follow. I know how he feels. “You and Jace going okay?” he asks.
“Yeah, we are. I’m moving back in next week.”
“Awesome, it’s great to hear somethin’ good around here.”
Yeah, it is. I stop just before we walk in the room. “Bry,” I say and touch his shoulder. “Let me know if you need anything at all. I know you have your parents, but Jace and I are here for you as well.”
He opens his mouth to say something but closes it and just nods his head. Yeah, I get it, sometimes words just don’t do it. Sometimes it’s too hard to talk. I’ve been there. I pat his shoulder lightly and walk past him. A few seconds later he walks in after me. “She’s in bed havin’ a rest but I know she’ll want to see you.”
“Okay,” I reply and walk to his bedroom.
“Callie,” he says as I get to the doorway. I turn and look at him. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
When I walk into the bedroom, Krystal is laying on the bed under the covers. I walk around the other side of the bed and pull the covers back and climb in next to her. I wrap my arm around her waist and cuddle up to her like she did to me when I came home from the hospital after I gave birth.
“Was Bryson out there?” she asks quietly.
“Yeah, I think he’s going to give us some time together.”
“I’m worried about him. I’m worried he’s going to go off the rails when I’m gone.”
“We’ll all be here for him. We’ll look after him.”
“He’s trying to be so strong. Apart from last night when he cried with me, he hasn’t said much. I don’t want him to keep everything locked up inside until he eventually crashes.”
“He will when he’s ready, hun. He has Jace and Ethan. They won’t let him get that bad.”
“I hope so,” she says quietly.
“Do you feel like getting up? I thought we could go sit on the outdoor patio and have coffee.”
“That sounds good. I’ve spent most of the past week in here.”
I head out to the kitchen and make coffees for us both and grab some of Caroline’s freshly made croissants before taking it all outside.
When Krystal joins me, we don’t talk much, but being able to sit here with her and having a quiet moment with just us is good. I want to remember these moments in years to come when she isn’t around anymore.
A little while later Caroline comes home and joins us. She is such a lovely lady and I am glad Krystal has her.
“Have you told your mom?” I ask. Krystal goes silent and I feel like a bitch for asking. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m just dreading having to do it. I called her this morning and said I wanted to come see her. Bry and I are going there over the weekend.”
“Can I ask, are you sure you don’t want to do the treatment?”
Krystal puts down her coffee mug and I can see her thinking. She pulls her legs up and looks down at the ground. “Yes,” she answers in a whisper. “The doctors have said there is only a five percent chance the treatments will work and if they do work, they will only add a few extra months because the cancer is too far along to stop.” She wipes away a tear. “In those months, I will be sick as a dog from the treatments. I want to be able to sit here like this and enjoy the last days of my life. I want to be able to spend time with my friends and family and I want you all to remember me like this. Not remember me as sick in a hospital bed with no hair and vomiting.”
When Krystal lets out a small sob, I get up and walk around and sit next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.
Caroline gets up and walks over to us and gives Krystal a quick hug before walking inside. I am thankful that she is giving us some time together.
“Sorry to ask,” I whisper.
“It’s fine,” she whispers back. “I know you’re only looking out for me. I’m grateful that you even care to ask.”
“Honey, you are my best friend. I only want what is going to be best for you. I want what is going to make you the happiest in this shitty situation.”
“I know,” she whispers again, and we sit there silently holding each other. I will cherish every memory of Krystal, even the ones like this.
A while later, we’re sitting in the kitchen eating some of Caroline’s cookies and talking when Krystal shocks the hell out of me.
“I think you’re pregnant,” she says.
“What?”
“I think you’re pregnant. When you cuddled up to me I thought you’d put on weight. But looking at you now, I think it’s ‘cause you’re pregnant.”
“I don’t think so. Jace and I haven’t exactly had sex in the past month or so apart from last night.”
“Doesn’t mean anything. You could be further along.”
“I doubt it. I would have realized by now.”
“Not everyone does,” Caroline says. “With Bryson, I didn’t find out until I was eight weeks. The twins were different. I knew what to look for and there was two of them in there.”
I think about it for a while, but I don’t see that it’s possible. It’s been nearly five weeks since we had sex and I’m fairly sure it can’t
be possible. But we have never used protection, it’s nothing we have ever talked about or worried about. Maybe I am. But I would know by now. I’ve been pregnant before.
“I don’t think so. I would be able to tell, I’ve been pregnant before. I know what to look for.”
“Yeah, but hun, you’ve been stressed lately and have been concentrating on other things in your life and haven’t picked up on it.”
“I don’t know.”
What if I am? Jace said he wants children but not this early. And I don’t know if I want children at all. Well, I do, but I am scared I won’t be enough for them. Oh God, what if I am pregnant?
The rest of the afternoon I keep quiet as I think of the fact that maybe I am pregnant. I have noticed my trousers have been a little tighter, but I just thought it was because I am eating again. I’d lost weight since Christmas, but the past few weeks Jane has been feeding me food like crazy. She said I was too skinny and she was worried I’d snap.
I guess the only thing I can do is tell Jace, then find out if I am or not.
∞∞∞
Chapter 49
Jace
“THANK YOU FOR joining us today, Jace,” Anna says to me as we walk out of her office.
“Anytime. Anything for Callie.” She smiles at me then says goodbye to Callie.
Callie and I walk to the front door and out to my truck. Before she tries to climb inside, I pull her into my arms and hug her.
“Thank you for lettin’ me come today,” I say into her hair. “It’s been good to see things from a different point of view and for Anna to explain things to me. I feel bad that I didn’t support you like you needed.”
“Babe, you didn’t do anything wrong,” she says, as she leans back and looks into my eyes.
“I know, but I wish I had of realized that I needed to find someone to help us instead of trying to fix it all myself.”
“Jace, you’re only human, you’re not perfect. I’m the one who should have realized that I needed help. But do you know what? I’ve realized that we learn from our mistakes.”
“I know baby. You’ve become very wise lately. Now let’s get you home so you can start packin’.”
“Sure, but can you stop at the drug store on the way?” she asks.
“Sure.”
After helping Callie into my truck, I drive towards the store and park out front. “Want me to go in?” I ask.
“Ah, no.” she turns and looks at me and she seems worried.
“What do you need?”
“Well, when I was visiting Krystal yesterday she may or may not have said she thinks I pregnant,” she says quietly.
I blink a few times and let her words sink in. Pregnant? Callie might be pregnant. She could be carrying my baby.
I look at Callie and I can imagine her with a big belly that has my baby inside. Her short little body with my baby inside.
“You could be pregnant?” I ask, and she nods. I can’t help it, I let out a yelp and pull her into my arms. “Fuck, I hope you are,” I say, as I kiss her hard.
She links her arms around my neck and opens her mouth and I slip my tongue inside. I can taste her minty breath as our tongues twine together. I break the kiss and pull away before I get too carried away and strip her clothes off in the front seat of my truck.
“You do know it’s only what Krystal thinks. I may not be.”
“I know. If you are, it’ll be amazing and if you aren’t that’s okay, it will happen another time. One thing though,” I say.
I look at her body again. After studying every inch of her, I gaze into her eyes.
“Angel, how is a tiny body like you have, goin’ to fit a baby of mine inside? You are tiny, and I am huge.”
She looks at me for a moment before bursting out laughing. “Babe, it’ll fit. Don’t worry.”
I patiently wait in my truck as Callie goes inside to buy a test that’ll give us the news of our future.
*
Callie
JACE SITS ON the bed while we wait for the results. “Babe, you will be a fantastic mom to our children,” he says.
“I hope so.”
“Hey, come here.” He taps his hand on his lap where he is still sitting on the bed. When I sit down, he wraps an arm around me and pulls me in tight. “We will both be amazing parents and our children are lucky to have us as their parents.”
“I know, I know. It’s just a little bit of a shock. We’ve only had the one conversation the other day, and I wasn’t expecting it. But I am excited. That’s if it’s positive.”
“I have a feeling it is and I’m excited.” He places me on my feet and stands next to me. “Are you going to get the test? Or am I?” he asks.
“You can. But don’t look until you get here.”
Jace walks into our ensuite and a few seconds later reappears with the white stick in his hand. When he stands in front of me, I get nervous. What if Krystal is wrong and I’ve got both our hopes up for nothing?
“Can you read it?” I ask.
“Okay,” he whispers. Two seconds later I have my answer when he hollers and scoops me up into his arms. “We’re havin’ a baby,” he yells. “We’re going to be parents.”
I am speechless.
Never in my lifetime did I think I would have an amazing fiancé like Jace and a baby on the way. Four years ago, I had been traumatized so badly that I thought my life should have ended. If you had have asked me back then, where I would be in four years, I would have never said this.
“Thank you,” I say to Jace, who has himself wrapped around me.
“What for?”
“For saving me. For showing me, dreams do come true. I know you don’t see it, but you have been my angel. I love you so much and will always love you. I know we have still got a few minor things to work through, but my life can’t get any better than it is here and now with you. The only way it can get better is when we see our son or daughter for the first time. My life was on hold for the past four years. I wasn’t going anywhere. But you helped to pull me out of my cruise mode and make me want to be better.”
“Babe,” is all he says before he kisses me tenderly. When he breaks the kiss, he lowers to the ground and pulls my top up. He places his hands on each side of my belly and leans forward, kissing my tummy.
“Hello baby, I’m your daddy. I can’t wait to meet you,” he says, so bloody sweetly. The last thing I do before he stands up and pulls me to the bed to makes love to me, is cry happy tears.
***
Epilogue
Callie
“THANK YOU FOR tonight,” I say to Claudia and Jane. It was my twenty-second birthday yesterday and they have organized a party for tonight. Everyone is here, including some of Jace’s family.
“Honey, anything for you. You are my soon-to-be daughter-in-law and you are family,” Jane replies back as she gives me a hug.
“You both have done an amazing job,” I say, when I look at the two-tier chocolate cake that is covered in white and dark chocolate swirls, all the deserts they have made and all the decorations that have been hung up everywhere. “I just can’t…” I say with a happy sob. No one has ever done anything like this for me before.
I look around the room at everyone that has turned up, and it warms me. I know that some are here because Jane invited them, but most of them are here for me.
“Thank you,” I whisper and smile when I see Jane with tears in her eyes.
I spend the next hour talking to guests who have turned up. When I see Krystal and Bry walking in, my steps falter. This is most likely my last birthday that I get to spend with her. This past week I have been so excited and busy with moving back to the ranch and yesterday we had our doctor’s appointment, I haven’t been thinking of Krystal much and now I feel bad.
When she walks up and gives me a hug I whisper into her ear, “I’m pregnant.” She steps away from me with her mouth wide open. “Shhhh no one knows,” I say, before she makes a scene. We haven’t had a chance to tell
anyone yet. I said to Jace about doing it tomorrow.
Krystal pulls me back into a tight hug. “Oh, my god, hun, congratulations. I just knew you were.”
“I don’t know how, but yes you were.”
“How far along are you?” she asks, as she stands next to Bry and he pulls her into his side.
“Well, you wouldn’t believe it, but I’m fifteen weeks.”
Her mouth drops open again. “How didn’t you know?”
I shrug “I don’t know.”
Bry steps away from Krystal and gives me a hug. “Congrats sweetie. You and Jace deserve it.”
“Thank you.”
“Can I have your attention everyone?” I hear Jace call out, and I turn to see him standing on the table. “As some of you know, Callie and I had been havin’ some struggles recently, which we have both overcome together. You all know that I recently proposed to Callie, but what no one knows is that Callie and I pushed each other so badly, that she returned her engagement ring to me. I don’t regret the problems that we had, because they have made us stronger. I love Callie with all of my heart and I know she loves me.”
He jumps down from the table and strides towards me. When he is standing in front of me, he wipes away the tears from my cheeks then lowers to one knee.
“We have become stronger together and as individuals. I know I am a better person and I know you are happier with yourself. I also know I have something that belongs to you.” He pulls out a black box from his pocket and I know what is in there. When he opens the box, my ring is sitting inside. “Callie, this belongs to you. Will you marry me again?” he asks, and I let out a small laugh.
“I drop to my knees in front of him. “Hell yeah,” I manage to get out.
“I love you so much, Angel,” he says as he kisses me. “This song is for you,” he says as Crazy Girl by Eli Young Band starts to play.
“I love you as well,” I choke out, as he picks me up and pulls me into his arms.
Looking into my eyes he smiles before yelling out. “We’re also having a baby.”