Love Me Always (I Hate You...I Think) (22 page)

Fire was still blazing behind me down what
used to be the hallway. The doors to the office
were charred black and warped. The walls were
still standing on either side of us but only just. I
feared they would collapse any moment. The roof
was in pieces around me the beam just above our
heads keeping it from crushing us.

I don't know how long I sat just rocking
him hoping that he would wake up soon.
“Oliver! Ever!”
I turned to the sound. A wall crumbled
somewhere in the house and I heard Jake curse.
“OLIVER! EVER!”

“Jake! I’m over here!” I yelled back. The
beam above me shook with my voice. I cringed.
It’s going to come down any second.

I could hear someone climbing through the
debris.
“Ever?” Jake called. Looking up he was on
top of part of the roof that had collapsed to my left.

“Jake, the ceiling is about to come down
and Oliver is unconscious. He won’t wake up,” I
choked out.

“I’m coming down, sweetie,” he said
slowly climbing down at kneeling next to me.
“Are you hurt?” He asked me lifting my
chin.
“I don’t know. My adrenaline is still going
and I’m just kind of numb.”
“Ok,” he looked down at Oliver, “I’m going
to have to carry him out of here can you stand.

I tried to pull myself up but sank back to
the floor cringing and holding my stomach as it
ached.

A sob escaped my lips.
"Ever," Oliver breathed. I looked down at
him. His eyes were open slightly.

"I'm here," I reassured touching his face
gently. I didn't know if it was burnt. I wiped away
some of the soot from his cheeks.

"You’re hurt. The babies?" he muttered
turning his face into my chest.
“I don’t know. We need to get out of here.”

“Hey love birds, I’m really glad you’re both
alive but the three of us won’t be if this ceiling
collapses.”

Oliver tried to sit up but couldn’t.
“Alright, I’m going to carry him out first
and put him up on the roof then I’ll carry you up ok
Ever?”
“No, take her first.”
“Shut up Oliver,” I told him and nodded to
Jake.
Jake hauled Oliver up on his shoulder like a
sack of potatoes and carried him up to the roof.
“You’re fat as hell.”
“Hurry up and get her.”
Jake sat Oliver down and the beam above
me creaked. In one swift move it fell.

I screamed flattening myself against the
ground, but it stopped. It caught the doorframe. It
was creaking and whining in protest. It was about
to give any second.

“Ever,” Jake dropped back to the ground
lifting me up quickly and hauling me up next to
Oliver.

Jake hauled himself up kicking a loose
board and the rest of the roof collapsed on top of
where Oliver and I had been. The three of us sat for
a moment looking around the ruined house. Oliver
buried his face in my hair.

"Will you marry me?" Oliver’s question
was muffled but I heard it.
"Yes, Oliver I will," I told turning my face
to him and pressing my lips to his.
~Somebody to Love Me~
~
Two months later~

“Can we eat first?” I asked grumpily as I sat
on Oliver’s bed. Stretching, I cringed as I was
kicked in the ribs.

“Of course you can eat first,” Oliver
chuckled. “You’ll probably eat my car if I don’t
feed you beforehand.”

Oliver turned around
from our closet to
look at me. I was glaring angrily at the bedspread.
It was seven in the morning and I was tired.

“Why couldn’t you have made the
appointment later?”

“I’m sorry baby girl
, if we are going to
catch the flight we have to go early. Is he awake
and kicking?”

“Yes, SHE is,” I corrected.
Oliver and I had been arguing over the sex
of the baby but we would find out for sure today.

“So when we find out HE is in fact a boy
,
can I still name him?” Oliver asked sitting in front
of me. I lifted my arms up like a child as he pulled
my shirt off. He touched my swollen belly placing
his hand firm against it.

“She’s over her,” I told him moving his
hand to my right side. His hand pressed gently and
she kicked his hand.

“I told you, she’s a serious kicker. She
really likes my ribs.”
“Kicking is usually a sign of a boy,” he
grinned.
“You’re just not going to give up huh?”

“Nope,” he told me pulling my dress over
my head and helping me off the bed. I felt like a
whale. My stomach wasn’t sticking way out but it
was noticeable.

I groaned, “I need to pee!”
Moving Oliver out of the way, I headed for
the bathroom.
“I’ll meet you down stairs,” he called out.

When I was done, I headed down stairs. All
our luggage was packed and sitting by the door.
For just the two of us, well three, we sure had a lot
of stuff.

“Good morning Rabbit,” Jake greeted as I
entered the kitchen.
“Bite me,” I grumbled.

“It’s kind of amusing having two pregnant
women in the house,” Angie laughed, “Kimmy was
cranky during the first semester and Ever is during
her second.”

“Ever pregnancy is
different,” Kimmy told
her with a mouth full of food. Oliver handed me a
huge overflowing plate of food. I plopped down
next to Tyler and began eating.

“At least her appetite hasn’t changed,”
Oliver laughed sitting next to me.

“When is your flight?” Ta
ylor questioned
reaching over to grab a muffin from a plate in the
center of the table.

I swallowed a mouth full of food, “Eleven.”
“We’ll be six hours behind when we get to
Hawaii,” Oliver added.
“You have to call and let us know if it’s a
boy or girl,” Kimmy reminded.
I nodded.
“I’ll help you put your luggage in the
trunk,” Jet said standing up slowly.

I grinned at him. I still couldn’t believe he
had been working on his walking behind our backs.
He was still slow and walking with leg braces and
a cane but he was determined. I think we owe a lot
to Angie for helping him with his therapy.

“Bye,” Kimmy cried hugging me tight.
“We’ll be back in a week Kimmy,” I
laughed.
“I don’t care. I’m going to miss you.”

“Hey, you guys didn’t think you could
leave me out?” Harper questioned coming out of
the house.

He was still on crutches from the house
collapsing on him. His father had been killed in the
explosion and a support beam had pinned him but
he was found by the police that got to the home
shortly after we left the scene.

Sadly, he had been burned in the fire. The
scars stretched across his back, chest and neck.
After hugging everyone, we got in the car
heading for the doctor.
“You ready to be proved wrong?” Oliver
smirked looking over at me.
I smiled softly just looking over at him.
“What?” he asked confused.
“Nothing…just looking at the father of my
baby,” I grinned.
His face softened.

He pulled into the parking lot then came
around and opened my door ushering me out. The
waiting room was much like any other waiting
room.

"Appointment for Everlyn Fox," Oliver told
the woman at the counter.
"You can head straight back," the woman
behind the counter smiled standing up.

Oliver followed me as I went into one of
the rooms we didn’t have to wait long for the Dr. to
show up.

"Miss Fox, I am Dr. Freeman, what can I do
for you today?"

The whole process went quickly, she ran
tests and asked millions of questions before finally
coming to the ultra sound. Placing my hands over
my eyes, I squeezed them shut.

"So miss Fox, you have been having severe
nausea and vomiting?"
"No," I muttered cringing as she put the
cold jelly on my stomach.
"You are very thin for 18 months have you
had any weight loss?"
"Yes," I told her. "I have been eating a lot
but not gaining any fat only the belly."
"Have you had and headaches, confusion,
or fainting?"
"Headaches."
I cringed again as the cold plastic touched
my stomach.
"How about anxiety or depression?"

I lifted my arm to look at her. "Why?"
"Well, your blood pressure was low as well.
It sounds to me like you might have Hyperemesis
gravid arum. It's nothing severe or dangerous for
the baby. It will just make your pregnancy
uncomfortable. In mild cases women have had
severe dehydration but you seem to be fine on
that."

"O-"

I gasp as the gentle thumps of a heartbeat
filled the room. My eyes burned with tears. Oliver
squeezed my hand staring intently at the screen.

"And, you say that the hospital you were in
said you had lost the babies?"
"Yes, umm...like I said I got shot. They said
I had lost it."

"I can see how they would say that. You
have a bit of scar tissue that is the blackened part
here," she said pointing at the screen around the
small baby.

"Is the baby supposed to be that small?" I
whispered touching the screen gently.
"He's a little small yes. When is it that you
believe you conceived?"
I blushed.
Oliver answered her, "About October 20th."

"Then I'd calculate your due date to be July
6th," Dr. Freeman smiled then she turned her
attention back to the monitor as we both heard
something that made my eyes widen.

"Is that...a second heart beat?” Oliver
questioned.

"Well, you were hiding weren't you," Dr.
Freeman spoke quietly moving the camera over my
stomach. And there it was. Two small little faces.
The second little baby was a bit smaller and hidden
behind the other.

"I'd say the larger baby is a boy and the
small is a little girl. We need to keep a good
monitor on you. The babies are a little small but
that is normal with twins however with you being
shot and the shock your body might have gone
through I'd like to keep a close eye on the little
ones."

“I told you we were having a boy,” Oliver
whispered.
I looked up at him; he was smiling down at
me with a look that brought tears to my eyes.
“And I told you we’re having a girl.”
Bending down he kissed me softly.
~Epilogue~
~Five years later~

"Addylina Rose, Kyelyn Ramsey, get down
here. You're going to be late for your first day of
school," I called flipping a pancake into a plate
next to me on the counter.

"Mommy are James and Auntie Taytay and
uncle Jake coming," Addy asked coming into the
kitchen.

Her red curls pulled back into a mess
ponytail. I smiled shaking my head. Oliver had
been so eager to get the kids ready for their first
day but he didn't know the first thing about fixing a
little girls hair.

"Yes, everyone is coming. They will be
here soon," I told her sitting a plate of food in front
of her. Pulling the hair tie out of her hair I ran my
fingers through it and fixed it.

"Daddy isn't very good," she muttered
taking a bite out of her chocolate chip pancakes.

"I know but he tried," I laughed kissing her
freckled little cheek. I heard laughing and looked
up to see my boys come in. Oliver had Kye
hanging half upside down.

"Daddy put me down," Kye giggled.

Oliver dropped him into a chair next to his
sister and turned to me kissing me gently on the
lips. He pulled away and I sat Kye's plate of food
down. He looked exactly like his dad with black
hair and dimples. Both the twins eyes were deep
blue like Oliver, but that's the only thing they really
had in common feature wise.

The doorbell rang and Addy sprang from
her seat running to the door. She pushed the door
open and all but tackled Jake’s leg.

"Jake!" she cried smiling up at him. He
scooped her up and held her to his hip.

"Hi there Addybear I heard your old man
was getting you ready for school this morning you
don't look too bad off. It seems he's not cross eyed
no more," Jake grinned stepping into the house.

Taylor and James entered. He was less than
year younger than the twins but already taller than
them by a foot.

I hugged Taylor while James ran to Kye.
Oliver was scolding Jake about the tease while
Addy giggled away.

"Alright let the munchkins eat. It's there
first day I don't want them to be late," I warned
Oliver.

Jake sat Addy down and we sat around the
table. I got them all a plate of pancakes.
"Is Kimmy coming over this morning?"
Jake asked.
"Yeah they were eating breakfast said
they'd be over soon."
By the time everyone was done eating the
house was full.
"Tyler," I smiled hugging him tight. It had
been awhile since I had seen him.
"How is the school going?"
"It's good," he smiled. He had recently
opened a martial arts school for troubled kids.
"I'm sorry to hear you and Tracy broke up."
He shrugged, "I'm not really the
relationship type anyways."

"Hey move over and let me in," Jet nudged
Tyler out of the way with a grin and stepped
forward giving me a big hug picking me up off the
floor. It had taken him almost a year but he was
back on his feet completely and kicking ass again.
After him and Angie got married they got into a
completive fighting league and were making good
money travelling around.

"Where is Ang?" I asked looking around.
"She headed upstairs to use the bathroom,"
Jet grinned.
I raised an eyebrow confused.
"She's pregnant."
"That's great!"

"Yeah, it's about time," Kimmy laughed
coming into the room holding Jazi's hand. Jazi
instantly ran to Addy and they ran off to play with
Kye and James in the living room.

"Coming from someone who's on their
second child," Jet rubbed Kimmy's swollen belly.
Kimmy swatted his hand.

"That would be my fault," Alex laughed
wrapping his arms around her.
"Well I can't make a baby on my own," she
shook her head.
"Are Leon, Lauren and the baby coming?"
Tyler asked.

"No, she's still in the hospital. Little Avery
was just born yesterday what do you expect?"
Taylor laughed.

Oliver had his arms wrapped around my
waist and kissed my cheek.
"What about Logan? How's the gang
doing?" Oliver asked.
"He's doing good. He's not messing
anything up," Jet laughed.

"Since he took over a few months ago he's
been all stressed and hasn't been eating as much.
I'm surprised."

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