Let's Be Crazy (Oh Captain, My Captain Book 4) (16 page)

Ashton

The meeting with Kinley Wright from LSMP lasted longer than I thought it would. She even brought Carson Lee along. I still didn’t give her a definite answer, either. As soon as I follow her out my door, with Carson following behind me, I lock up the house and head to Lexie’s house.

I knock on the door, waiting until a man answers. “Hi, I’m Ashton, Reed’s dad.”

He steps aside for me to come inside as he replies, “Nice to meet you. I’m Sadie’s grandfather.” He leads me to the dining room where everyone is sitting around the table, eating, talking, and laughing over something Sadie just said. “Sadie, someone else came to see you,” he says, getting everyone’s attention.

“Mr. Ashton! I thought you weren’t coming.”

“I told you he would,” Reed reminds her with a shake of his head.

“Sorry I’m late, Sadie.”

“It’s okay,” she shrugs.

I finally look around at everyone, seeing Lexie’s parents, Tony’s parents, Tiff, Brooke, and Lexie. She doesn’t glance my way as I fill the empty seat next to Brooke.

She leans in and whispers, “Mind telling me what the hell just happened?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Lexie left here and I think she was heading to you. At least, Tiff and I think so. What happened? Because when she came back, she didn’t say a word to anyone.”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her until now because I was in a meeting at the house with the girl from LSMP and Carson Lee. Are you sure she was going to go see me?”

“We thought so. She was talking to her father-in-law and then took off in Tiff’s car. We all thought she came to her senses and was going to you.”

“Maybe she changed her mind halfway there? She never came.”

Reed catches my attention and ends our side conversation. “Dad there is glitter all over me. I look like a girl.”

“You don’t really mind, do you? I mean, it’s for Sadie and her birthday.”

He glances at Sadie. “I guess it’s okay then. But no glitter next year, Sadie.”

She frowns. “I want glitter for all my birthdays!”

They start to fuss over glitter when Lexie abruptly stands and leaves for the kitchen. Brooke and Tiffany, and everyone else it seems, turn to look at me. What did I do? I just got here. Ignoring them, I stand and follow her. She’s much like I was that one day, with her forehead resting against the fridge, her eyes closed, and her hand tightly grasping the door handle.

“Hey,” I say softly.

She stands upright, glances at me, and then opens the fridge for a pitcher of tea. “Hey.” Lexie turns away to pour herself a glass.

“Sadie seems to be having fun.” I’m not quite sure what to say to her. Lexie doesn’t say anything. “I’m sorry I’m late,” I try. “I had a meeting.”

“Is that what you call it these days?”

“Is there another name for it?” I question with confusion.

“Well, back in
my day
it was called getting laid,” she sneers at me.

She’s completely lost me. “What are you talking about, Lex? I had a business meeting, and it ran late. Why would you even think I was having sex instead?”

“You know what, it doesn’t matter to me. If you want to bang every blonde girl in Salt Lake City, go ahead. You and I are not an item. And I need to stop being jealous.”

Ah. Maybe she was on the way to my house. This blonde must be Kinley. I grin, remembering that last part. “You’re jealous of someone?”

“No,” she quickly replies, obviously lying.

“Brooke said that she thought you were going to see me. Were you? Why would you do that, Lexie?”

“I may have taken a drive in your general direction, but you obviously had company.”

“Yes, I did. The blonde is Carson Lee’s girlfriend, for one. I’m assuming that’s who you are talking about?”

“There are a lot of blondes in the area. So, I
could
be referring to her.” Lexie suddenly stops and looks at me. “Wait, Carson Lee? As in
the
Carson Lee?”

“Is there another person named Carson Lee that we would both know of?”

“Let me see if I understand this: you had a meeting at your house with Carson Lee’s girlfriend. Why?”

“She’s my contact with that clothing line. She was trying to get me to sign the deal one last time and even brought him with her. They met me at the house, so when it was over, I could get here faster for the party.”

“Oh, crap.” Lexie looks down, anywhere to avoid facing me.

“Did you think I would miss any of
Sadie’s
party for a woman after I told her I would do my best to be here? Did you think I could have moved on from you so soon?” I finish quietly.

“Ashton, I don’t know anything anymore. I feel like I’ve gone crazy. I just…I want to feel normal again. That’s all I want.”

I grab her by the hips and tug her towards me. “Then tell me what you would have told me had you stopped at the house.”

Sadie suddenly enters the room and pulls on Lexie’s shirt. “Mommy, Mommy, it’s picture time. Come on, Grammy wants pictures.”

Sadie drags her away for pictures. Brooke turns into a “professional” photographer for them, having entirely too much fun with it. Afterwards, the kids start playing, Reed complaining about playing with such girly toys and glitter, and Sadie tells him to stop whining so much.

Tony’s parents are first to leave. I pretty much stay near Brooke for the most part until I need a break. Waiting for a chance to talk to Lexie again is starting to wear on my nerves, so I go play with the kids. Sadie keeps getting called from the room to say goodbyes as people start to leave.

“Can we watch
Frozen
, Mr. Ashton?” Sadie holds up the DVD.

“It’s your birthday. Of course we can.”

While I’m putting it in the player, I hear them moving around behind me. When I turn around, Reed and Sadie have made a campout in the floor. I sit between them as the movie starts. Within thirty minutes, they are both leaning on me, sleeping. I guess they partied too hard today. Brooke eventually makes her way into the room, mouthing an ‘aww’ when she sees us.

“Want me to carry him out for you?” I whisper.

“Don’t you dare. Lexie’s going to melt when she comes in here and sees what I just saw. I got him.”

“You sure?”

She nods and picks Reed up. Lexie peeks into the room, stopping short at the sight of all of us. Brooke stops next to her on the way out and whispers something to her too low for me to hear. Lex gives me a smile before walking Brooke out, I assume. I carefully reach for the remote to turn off the movie and switch back to whatever cartoons they were already watching.

My heartbeats pick up when Lexie appears in the doorway again. “I turned
Frozen
off for you,” I whisper, just loud enough for her to hear.

“Thank you for that. I need to figure a way to ground her from that movie again.”

I smile. “Maybe she loses it somehow?”

“No way. I tried that already. Do you want me to take her? You can’t be comfortable like that.”

I glance at sweet little sleeping Sadie. “I’m fine. Come watch cartoons with me.”

She nods and sits next to me.

“We have to finish our conversation at some point, you know.”

“Do you really want to have it with a seven-year-old asleep next to you?”

“No. I can’t whisper for that long. Does she wake up easily?”

“No she doesn’t,” she answers in a soft tone but louder.

“Let’s get her in bed then. I need to stand up.”

We put Sadie in bed and tuck her in before going to the living room. We sit next to each other on the couch. I don’t immediately want to start things and I’m kind of nervous, so I blurt, “Her grandparents seem really nice.”

"The Allens? They are. They've treated me like their own since the day I met them. Since they live in Arizona, they don't see Sadie as often, but they try to come back for special occasions."

I nod. “How does it feel to have a seven-year-old now?”

Lex giggles. "It feels like I'm thirty. What about you?"

“It’s worse for me. Reed’s birthday is on the same day as mine. I actually get older when he does.”

“I didn’t know that. You have to admit that’s the best gift you could have ever gotten?”

I smile. “You’re right. Though Brooke could have been nicer to me that day.”

“She was giving birth. What did you want her to do? Bake a cake?”

I laugh. “No, but I did something to piss her off, so she was pissed at me and giving birth. Not a good combo.”

“What did you do?”

“It’s a long story that involves a joke that went seriously wrong that may have had something to do with baking a cake for my birthday.”

“Oh, okay.” She sighs, and I know it’s time to face the music. “So, what now? I don’t think I’ve never been in this situation before. You know, the one where I’m the crazy person.”

“You’re not crazy, Lex. Just...talk to me.”

“Okay.” She takes a deep breath. “I’ve only truly loved one man in my life and it was Tony. I still remember the first day we met, our first date, our first everything. When Tony did his first tour in Iraq, I was a mess the whole time he was gone. Then he came home, and it went back to normal for a little bit.” She pauses and sniffles. “When he got the news of his next tour, I wasn’t as worried. I thought since he went the first time, he wouldn’t be on the front lines this time. I don’t know where I got that idea, but it kept me calm.

“Then I found out I was pregnant. You never would have seen anyone happier in this world, but him. He wanted a girl from the moment I told him. He was able to get a two-week pass and came home. We did a quick wedding and he promised me that when we reached our twenty-year anniversary that we would have a huge party and vow renewal. I don’t know why I would have to wait that long, but that was his thing.”

The tears flow freely as she takes another deep breath and continues. “I was sitting at my kitchen table. I wasn’t doing anything. I hadn’t felt good that day, and I was alone in the quiet. Then the knock on the door came, and I knew that it was them. I knew before I even opened the door.

“I was twenty-three. I was six weeks away from having Sadie, and he was gone. My parents, Tony’s parents, and Tiff were there for me whenever I needed them, but I’m
sort of
stubborn, and I wanted to do it alone. Because if Tony wasn’t going to be by my side, then I was going to do it alone. And I did. Somewhere along the way, I lost myself, and never thought I could love again. Until you.” Her eyes finally meet mine.

I can’t help it as I lean over and give her a little kiss. “You already know that I love you, so if you’re telling me that you love me and want to be us again, then you know you’re never going to be able to walk away again, right? I won’t let you.”

“Ashton, please listen to me very carefully. I want us to be us again, and I can feel myself falling for you, but I can’t say the words yet. I know they’re there, but you have to realize that I haven’t said those words to another man in sixteen years.”

“All I want or need right now is you, Lex. Just you.”

“I want you too. I don’t want to walk away. I want to be crazy with you.”

I smile. “Then let’s be crazy.”

Lexie

“I’m not seeing a problem here, Lexie.” Brooke sips her tea. I had asked her to come over without Reed so I could talk to her.

“I know that Ashton and you are friends, but I thought I should talk to you first.” I want to tell her that Ashton and I want to talk to the kids about us dating.

“That’s kind of you. I mean it, I’m glad that you told me, but I already figured you two would tell the kids soon.”

Ashton and I have been back together for over a month now, and it’s been amazing. Every moment together seems to be better than the last. It’s almost too good to be true, but it is. I’m dating Ashton Campbell and we’re getting ready to tell Sadie and Reed.

“Is it strange that I’m nervous to tell the kids?”

“Yes, but I can understand. You’ll be fine.” Brooke squeezes my hand.

~ ~ ~

“No more chicken nuggets.” I tell Sadie and Reed as Ashton sits the food on the table. Thankfully we got pizza, but both kids groan because it isn’t their favorite food. However, I can’t handle anymore of those darn nuggets.

Ashton and I figure that it’s best to tell the kids at home and instead of public. Plus, this way, no one can overhear us. I get the kids their pieces of pizza and Ashton let’s them have small glasses of soda. Once we are all settled I figure that it’s time to tell them.

“Okay, kids, Mr. Ashton and I have something to tell you. It’s important that you listen, okay?”

Both kids nod and stare at us. I look over at Ashton. I figured he would tell them. 

“You know how Nate is Brooke’s boyfriend? Well, I’m going to be Lexie’s boyfriend.”

The kids stare at us for a moment before Reed pipes in. “So, you’re going to hold her hand and hang out with her?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Sadie, do you understand.” I look over at her and she seems to be confused.

“So, does that mean Mr. Ashton’s my dad?”

“No.” I quickly answer. “He’s my boyfriend and Reed’s dad. He’s still Mr. Ashton to you.”

Sadie still looks perplexed. “I can still play with Reed, right?”

“Yes, of course. You and Reed are best friends and can hang out as much as you want.” I tell her. I don’t want another episode like before when they were so sad from losing each other.

“Okay.” Sadie’s smiles and begins to eat her pizza.

Is that it?

Was that was I worried about?

I look over at Ashton and he smiles and digs into his food.

Well, looks like I’m officially Ashton’s girlfriend.