I tried to wait patiently off to the side with Nurse Victoria, who I suspected was there more for me than Thomas. She put an arm around my shoulders and squeezed me into a one-armed hug. “I told ya, nothing can keep that man down.”
“I suppose you did.” My eyes never left Thomas and he kept trying to catch my gaze between the flap of the doctor’s white coat. “It was real sweet of you to talk to him. Studies have shown coma patients can hear and feel the world around them.”
The jury was still out on whether or not I wanted that to be true. I had said a lot of stuff to him and some of it was driven by grief and anger. More than one time Sam found me screaming at him with tears in my eyes, trying to shake him awake as if that would work.
If he asked, I’d claim temporary insanity.
In my defense, I had just come back from the doctor’s appointment I had scheduled weeks before and learned I was pregnant. I didn’t have the heart to tell anybody else. As the father, Thomas deserved to know first and he wouldn’t until he was awake.
“Well, everything looks good,” said Doctor Mills. “No big surprise, even with a few weeks of atrophy you’re still in fine physical condition. You may notice a little shortness of breath but with your exercise regime it might only be a mild nuisance.” He patted Thomas’ shoulder. “I’ll get the discharge paperwork written up.”
Another squeeze from Nancy and I was alone with Thomas.
Wasting no time, I practically leaped into his bed and straddled him. I rained kisses down on his face. “Don’t. You. Ever. Leave. Me. Again!” I managed between one kiss and the next.
31
Thomas
I was still in shock on the drive home. Claire insisted that she drive. We talked on the ride down into Sunrise Valley. The day was beginning to get long and the sun was coasting towards the peaks to the west.
“So everything worked out better than we hoped,” I said, leaning my head back against the soft headrest. I was still so tired. And what the doctor had described as ‘shortness of breath’ felt more like my lungs were stuck together with Velcro.
“Now that you’re better, I guess you could say that. The council overwhelmingly voted down the bill. Several people are calling for the mayor to step down and for the only council member to vote for the bill to pass, Gina Jolstein. Sam said you knew her.”
I grimaced at the memory. “Yeah, she’s the one that got me to admit that I was the one who incited the protest outside, she called it unlawful.”
Claire was quiet. I looked over at her and she wouldn’t meet my eye.
“What is it?”
She rushed the words out, clearly not wanting to say it. “Well, it was technically illegal because you didn’t have the proper permit and didn’t submit the paperwork for having a gathering on public property with people in excess of a thousand.”
“Did you even take a breath somewhere in there?” I asked, holding back a laugh. She sounded like the old Claire I used to know. The stickler for rules.
Claire took a deep breath and eyed me. “No. But it was still wrong of her, regardless.”
“Where… are we going?” I just realized that the whole block had burned down in the fire I narrowly escaped from. Claire had filled me in on everything I missed. Gavin was okay. Beth was in custody, the law had been voted down, and it seemed the whole town was behind the idea of revitalization.
“You’ll see,” she said with a grin.
In Claire’s absence, our business partners had delivered our proposal to the city council. Despite the fact that we had ample insurance to cover the loss, there was already a sizeable donation page set up for the bakery.
We drove down Main Street and my jaw just about hit the seat. I expected a shattered, blackened husk of brickwork and debris. Instead, there was major construction going on. Crews were milling about, heavy machinery whirred and trundled about noisily.
Half of the street was cordoned off making it a one-lane road.
“How?”
Claire pulled up to the curb on the opposite side of the street. There was construction going on inside the building here too. It had once belonged to Mister Burgens. He sold the shop sometime this past June.
“From the unlikeliest of sources.” She sat on the hood of the Caprice, pulling up her knees to her chest. I sat next to her and looked at how much was changing. Already I could see the beams going up inside the shell of our former business.
“Mind elaborating?”
“Promise me you won’t get mad. A lot has… changed. I’m not asking you to forgive but do try to keep an open mind.”
A few less-than-deep breaths to clear my mind and I nodded.
“It was Beth.”
“What!”
“Thomas, you said you wouldn’t get mad!”
“I’m not mad, I’m surprised! And a little mad!”
Her arms curled around my bicep and she cuddled up to me in the chilly afternoon. Shadows stretched toward us from the street lamps. A few turned on fitfully.
“This is going to take some explaining. Why did Beth end up selling her properties?”
“That’s because she didn’t.”
My heart nearly stopped. This felt like a dream where everything is sunny and beautiful right before the nightmare rolls in on the chill wind and black skies. “Please tell me-“
“No. She gave them to us.”
That made no sense at all. Beth was the most vindictive, petty person I had ever had the misfortune of knowing. She nearly killed me.
And yet, the image of her sobbing and crying in the middle of the street came to me. Utterly inconsolable. That didn’t sound like the same woman I had known.
I heard the story third-hand from Claire, how Beth had been so mad at my speech where I blamed her family that she started throwing bricks and stones through the bakery’s windows.
According to Beth, she didn’t see Gavin in there. She had no idea it wasn’t empty and when Gavin came out she had already thrown the brick that clocked him in the head. Shortly after the fire had started from something she hit. Probably one of the many natural gas pipes.
She had even burned herself trying to open the door and get to him. That explained the marks I had seen on her wrists and hands.
“In her remorse,” Claire explained. “She offered herself up to the Sherriff, turned herself in and from her jail cell relinquished all ownership of every property she bought over to us. I don’t know if she has truly turned over a new leaf but she did ask to see you in the hospital and left flowers and…Pop-Tarts?”
Her words hit me in the gut with the force of a mule kick. Pop-Tarts?
Once, a very long time ago, I had found Beth alone and crying in between recess and lunch. It had something to with her family, she wasn’t exactly an open book, even back then.
I stayed with her throughout recess and kept her company. All I had to eat from lunch was a pack of brown sugar and cinnamon Pop-Tarts. I shared them with her.
Had that simple act really meant that much to her?
“Do you know what that’s about?” Claire asked.
“Yeah.” A smirk ghosted on my lips. “How long is she going to be in jail?”
Claire frowned. “She’s already out, something about community service for time served. Gavin decided not to press charges for the assault so, there wasn’t much to pin on her beyond the vandalism.”
“Which resulted in a fire that burned down a fucking block, Claire.”
“And the insurance will deal with Beth for that. But.” She cuddled up closer as a brisk wind knifed down Main Street and drew a shiver from her. “In the meantime, we’re okay.
“I guess I could be okay with that.”
“So, how much did you hear while you were… asleep?” she asked without meeting my gaze.
“It was weird,” I said leaning into her. “I heard a lot of music.”
“That was me, I got your playlist from the phone you dropped at Town Hall and played your songs on shuffle.”
“I liked that. And I heard you talking to me. Sam threatened me a few times…” And then it hit me. I froze with the faint memory. Claire noticed and peeked a sheepish glance at me. Her face was radiant. Glowing. “You’re pregnant.”
She let out a squeal of delight. “I am! I mean, we are!”
I got up off the hood and picked her up into my arms twirling her around on the street. “I’m going to be a dad!”
There was no describing this feeling. It was like winning the lottery. I know it was sooner than either of may have wanted but I was so unbelievably happy.
“How? When?” I asked, setting her down on her feet, then abruptly kissing her. Tasting her soft, sweet lips and stealing her words away.
She pressed close to me, nuzzling my bearded chin. “I think it was when I was sick. There’s a good chance I had forgotten to take my birth control… for several days. But we may never know. “You’re not… mad are you?”
“How could I be mad? I’m ecstatic!”
Claire let out a relieved giggle and squeezed herself tightly against me again. I wrapped my arms around her. “Does anybody else know?”
Her head shook against me. “You deserved to be the first to know. I’ve been sitting on this… for a while.”
My hands flew to her belly but it was just as flat as usual. Maybe a slight bump. She swatted at my hands and laughed at my touch as I slid them up under her sweater and against her silky smooth bare skin.
Something stirred in me and I realized how long it had been since we made love. The thought was eclipsed by the knowledge of her carrying our child.
“I’m not going to be showing for a few weeks yet.” A finger wagged in front of my nose. “You better not make fun of me when I’m as big as a beach ball!”
Taking her hand in mine, I placed them both over my heart. “I promise you will always be the sexiest woman to me even when you’re as big as a whale.”
“Hey!” She slapped my ass. “Only I get to sexually objectify you.”
I let go of her and pulled her towards the car door. “Come on, we gotta go tell everybody!”
I was not going to miss the joy of telling all our family and friends the good news.
Epilogue
Claire
“I’m not going to fit!” I screamed, my voice ratcheting up into shrill tones.
Fucking hormones.
Sam, Jemma, and Mom were all there trying to get the wedding dress fit around my massive stomach. The reconstruction of A Game of Scones and much of the block had taken nearly a year, all told. Now I stood in a room upstairs away from Thomas and his groomsmen.
“We’ve adjusted the dress like twenty times!” said Sam exasperatedly. “Can’t you just like…” She mimed a sucking motion and pulled in her stomach.
“No, Samantha,” I snapped, “I cannot just make my babies smaller. That is precisely the opposite of what’s been going on for the last several months!”
Jemma snorted a laugh. “Pretty rotten luck to get twins on the first try.”
“Less talking, more helping, girls,” said Mom. “This is Claire’s big day.” She placed a hand on my shoulder, the wedding dress rumpled and folded around my ready-to-pop belly. “And we’ll do everything we can to make sure it’s perfect.”
“I can’t go down there like this.” I flopped my arms uselessly. Tears stung my eyes for the fifteenth time today. My hormones were all over the place. One moment I was in an irrational fury the next I was so horny I wanted to go across the hall to where Thomas was and jump on him. I cried at every little thing.
It fucking sucked.
Sam was there with a tissue. “Here you go,” she said chipperly, though it was a little forced. “Jo is right, we’ll fix this. If it’s been let out twenty times it can be let out again.”
“I’ll be right back,” said Mom and she was out of the door in a flash.
My reflection in the mirror looked like I was trying to smuggle a satellite under a gown of lacy white. At least my face still looked pretty. And my breasts had grown a full cup size but they did nothing to detract from the twins, one boy and one girl, who made kicking my bladder their favorite pastime.
One hand flew to my belly, feeling the utterly strange sensation of the twins getting restless. “I know, I know, sweeties. I’m nervous too.” I cooed to them.
Sam and Jemma were still fussing around with the dress when the metallic click drew my attention away from my precious cargo to Sam’s hand. She held a switchblade upright, the sharp edge glittered maliciously.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you or anything.” She dropped to her knees in the frilly dress of dark violet I had picked for the bridesmaids. Despite her protestations, she looked gorgeous in it. And was only slightly ruining it by holding a knife in her hand. I didn’t want to know where she kept it. “Right here, pull that strap for me, Jemma.”
There was a bit of pressure on top of my baby bulge and then the dress fell down my belly in smooth silky white sheets. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Told ya,” said Sam with a grin.
My mom came back at that time with a small sewing kit in her hand. “Had to borrow this from Aunt Mable- How did you do that?”
To Sam’s credit, the twirling trick she did with the switchblade was quite impressive. As was the vanishing she act she performed with it. I still had no idea where she put it and I had been watching her.
She gave us all a little curtsy and grinned up at me. “And that’s the last time today I upstage our blushing bride.”
I swatted at her and then pulled her into a strangling hug, knowing how much she hated them and not caring. “Thank you so much, Sam. Does it look okay still?”
“Ugh.” She grunted and strained to get away. “God damn this pregnant strength of yours! Yes, it looks fine, now let me go.”
Jemma caught Sam as she staggered back and rubbed her neck with a glare for my benefit. “Do a little twirl,” said Jemma.
Careful not to knock my belly into something - which, they never tell you is a very serious concern - I did a slow turnabout in place.
“Looks good,” said Mom. “I guess I won’t be needing this anymore after all.” She slipped the sewing kit into her purse on the table. I stood back in front of the mirror and looked at the opalescent beading on the dress.
The way it fell in sheets looked like a frozen waterfall sparkling in the sun.
“Here come the tears again,” I warned them as the familiar warmth spread to my face and the water began to leak from my eyes. Taking the tissue from Sam I managed to dab my eyes again without smudging any makeup.
I was particularly glad that Mom had insisted on this brand of mascara. It was so waterproof I could have probably jumped into the lake and still would have looked stunning.
There was a knock at the door. Jemma and Sam jumped into place blocking me from view while Mom went to answer it. She cracked it a little and then let in the young, bubbly Alice.
“Oh, you look positively stunning, Claire!” She rushed forward and gave me a big hug. Alice had moved her ice cream business, Scoopy-Doo and the Mystery Cream to the newly renovated commercial space across the street from A Game of Scones. They had just opened last week.
“The new bakery looks fantastic. I think it’s really cool you’re having your wedding on the same day as the grand opening for A Game of Scones!”
“If we don’t hurry this along,” I said, feeling another tiny foot stomping on my bladder. “I’m going to have my babies here too.”
“Well, everything’s all set. Whenever you’re ready.” Alice pecked me on the cheek and hurried back out. She had volunteered to help organize and set things up. As far as I was concerned, that girl was an angel.
If I hadn’t already picked Jemma as my maid of honor, Alice would have been a close second. Sam was already spoken for.
Right on cue, Sam gave me a brief hug and then danced out of reach before I could give her a proper one back. “Sorry ladies,” s
he said with a smug grin. “I’ve got best man duties to take care of!”
The door shut behind her, leaving me alone with my family. My heart stuttered in my chest, nerves tingling, though that could have been the swelling in my feet.
“Deep breath, Claire. Everything’s going great.” My mom placed two comforting hands on my bare shoulders while Jemma affixed the veil. “You look splendid.” Tears sparkled in her forest-green eyes. “I’m so proud of you.”
My own tears started up in sympathetic response. “Oh, Mom. I’m so happy to have you back.”
“Hey, hey!” Jemma hopped in between us and wrapped one arm around each of us. “No heart-touching family moments without me!”
I still had the tissue Sam had given, I pulled it out from my cleavage,dabbed my eyes, then blew my nose like a foghorn.
“Ready,” I announced shakily.
It felt like I was a house of cards and any moment an errant breeze was going to come and knock me down. My hormones turned me into a boiling cauldron of emotions. I barely held it together on the best of days and today, of all days, I was an absolute wreck.
All I knew was that I wanted this more than anything. As much as I wanted the babies karate kicking my bladder. Which reminded me. “One sec, bathroom break.”
It wouldn’t do if the bride wet herself halfway through the ceremony after all. Unfortunately, going to the bathroom required a whole host of support that should not have been necessary with a normal bride but it was for my pregnant ass.
Once I was finished up and everything was back in its proper place, I looked to Mom. “Okay. Now, I’m ready.”
Without Dad around, Mom was the next best thing to walk me down the aisle. She had cried for half an hour when I asked her to do the honor. I never thought we would get to a point of such closeness.
“All right,” said Jemma, flatting her dress down to smooth out the wrinkles. “Let’s roll this bride down the aisle!”
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