Maybe Forever (Missing Pieces Book 1) (12 page)

“You two have been like dogs in heat these past few weeks. Now I didn’t want to say anything and ruin your groove, but it’s getting a little ridiculous, guys. Come on,” Jamie says, coming in the living room and plopping down on the smaller chair next to the sofa. He drops his book bag on the floor and pulls out his cell phone.

“Hey, Jam,” Harper says, getting comfortable next to Dakota.

“Hm,” Jamie says, his thumbs moving at a rapid pace as he answers Bianca’s text.

“We have to tell you something,” Harper says.

Jamie looks at his mom and then looks at Dakota. He senses it’s important by the look on their faces. He sits up in the chair and puts his phone away.

“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“Yes. I mean, well, we think so, but we don’t know how you’re going to feel about it.” Dakota and Harper look at each other and then back at Jamie.

“Band-Aid, Mom. Just…come on. Lay it on me,” he says nervously.

“Okay.” Harper takes a deep breath. “Today I found out that…I’m pregnant.” Jamie looks at Dakota. He looks back at his mom.

“You’re having a baby?” Jamie says.

Harper nods. “Yes, we’re having a baby.”

“I’m going to have a little brother or a little sister?”

“Yes, that’s usually how it goes,” Harper says, smiling. Jamie puts his face in his hands and then jumps up from his seat.

“This is so cool! I’m going to be a big brother!” Jamie yells and pulls them both in for a hug. Harper and Dakota start to laugh.

“So you’re okay with this?” Harper says, smiling big when they pull apart. Jamie sits on the floor in front of them on his knees.

“Yes, Mom. I can’t believe this. This is so awesome. I’m so happy for you. I’m so happy for us. It’s really like we’re becoming this permanent family unit. This baby is going to be so cool. I mean, come on, the gene pool is crazy awesome.” He puts his hand on his mom’s stomach. “Dude or dudette, you don’t know how lucky you are. You have the best parents in the world,” he says, talking to her stomach. Harper feels tears burn her eyes for what seems like the millionth time today. Suddenly Jamie jumps up.

“Are you hungry? What time is it? It’s dinnertime. We should feed you.”

“Feed me? I’m not a pet, Jam.”

Jamie laughs. “Come on, Dakota, let’s go get food. What do you want, Mom?” he asks.

“Me and Dakota were thinking burgers.”

“You got it! Let’s go,” Jamie says. He goes to walk out of the living but stops to hug Harper again.

“This is great,” he says one more time and then leaves. Dakota looks at Harper. He shakes his head, unable to speak. He takes a deep breath. Harper rubs his arm, knowing exactly how he is feeling right now. Dakota kisses her and then gets up to go get dinner. Harper covers her eyes with her hands, laughing to herself. She doesn’t know how she got so lucky.

Chapter Eighteen

Dakota

Dakota is looking into the full-length mirror hanging on the inside of the closet door. They’re getting ready to leave for Rick and Jennifer’s wedding. Predicting that a possibly drunk Aiden, Casey, and Dakota would be safer in one contained area as opposed to traveling, they decided to get a hotel near the venue and stay over. Dakota has been trying to fix his tie for the past twenty minutes with no luck. It seems his mind is on other things. Harper comes from the bathroom dressed in a pale pink, full length, spaghetti-strapped dress. Her hair is in soft curls, half pulled up and the rest hanging down her back, and her makeup—not that she needs it—is perfect, emphasizing her eyes and mouth. Dakota is so proud to call her all his own.

“You are a sight for sore eyes, Harper Montgomery.”

“You clean up nicely yourself, Dakota Daughtry,” she replies, winking at him. Jamie knocks lightly on the door. He comes in after hearing his mom say it’s okay. He leans against the door frame.

“You all look nice. Are we all ready?” Harper narrows her eyes suspiciously at her son.

“Are you rushing us so you and Bianca can have the house to yourself?” she says, teasing him.

“Umm…yes,” Jamie says. Dakota chuckles, shaking his head. Harper kisses him on the cheek.

“Have fun tonight, Mom,” Jamie says.

“You don’t have too much fun,” Harper says, pointing at him threateningly. Jamie shakes his head, blushing. He and Bianca plan on having a
Fast and Furious
marathon and see how many slices of pizza they can eat in one sitting.

“I’ll meet you downstairs, Dakota,” Harper says and walks out of the room. Jamie walks over to Dakota.

“Need some help?” he asks. Dakota nods. Jamie starts to work on his tie.

“Soooo, any chance you’d, uh…give me the keys to the wine cooler?”

Dakota laughs. “Not going to happen, kid,” Dakota says. Jamie shrugs.

“It was worth a try.”

Dakota chuckles, shaking his head. He stares at Jamie for a few seconds.

“Do I have something on my face?” Jamie asks.

Dakota chuckles. “No…”

“Done,” Jamie announces.

Dakota inspects his tie in the mirror and nods approvingly. “Who taught you that?” he says.

Jamie puts his hands in the pockets of his loose-fitting sweat pants. “You did,” he says, smirking.

Dakota smiles. “You’re right. I did,” he says. Dakota clears his throat. “I need to ask you something.”

“Okay…”

“All of this…you know…me and your mom getting together, me moving in, us becoming this unconventional family, and now your mom being pregnant: It’s been all happening pretty fast, huh?”

Jamie shrugs. “It all seems pretty natural to me.”

Dakota nods. “You’d be honest with me and tell me if at any point in time you were uncomfortable with what was going on, right?”

Jamie nods. “Of course.”

Dakota nods. “Okay, I want to show you something.” Dakota walks over to the bedroom door and closes it. Jamie folds his arms casually and watches Dakota as he then goes into the back of the closet. He turns back to Jamie and stands in front of him. He opens his palm, and in his hand is a tiny black box.

Jamie looks at the box for a few seconds, and then his head shoots up to look at Dakota. “Dakota…is this what I think it is?” he finally says.

“It’s a ring. I want to ask your mom to marry me,” Dakota says softly. Jamie backs up a bit from Dakota and holds his hand over his mouth, his eyes wide. There’s silence for a few seconds. It feels like hours to Dakota. But then Jamie throws himself into Dakota, hugging him tightly. Dakota laughs and closes the box, slipping it into his pocket. He hugs Jamie back.

“If you’re looking for permission, you’ve absolutely got it, Dakota,” he says. They pull apart, but Dakota keeps his hands on Jamie shoulders, looking at his tear-streaked face.

“Yeah?” Dakota says, clearing the emotion from his throat.

“Yeah. Do it. She’s going to say yes. I know it,” Jamie says. He wipes his tears with the back of his hand.

“All right,” Dakota says, smiling big.

“Okay,” Jamie says, sniffling slightly.

Dakota nods, and they hug again. They hear Harper calling for Dakota downstairs and realize they’ve been upstairs entirely too long.

“Okay, I got to go. You all right?” Dakota asks. Jamie nods. “Okay.” Dakota heads out of the room. He turns back and looks at Jamie.

“I love you, kid,” Dakota says and races out of the room. Jamie is left standing in the middle of the bedroom, smiling.

***

Jamie

“I can’t believe you found the key to where Dakota keeps the wine,” Bianca says as she takes another sip.

“Drink up. Hopefully they don’t count the bottles; otherwise they’ll kill me,” he says, shaking his head.

“Probably,” Bianca says, smiling. They’re comfortable on the living room couch. The room is dimly lit with some candles spread throughout the room to add a bit of atmosphere. They have just popped in
The Fast and the Furious Two
and are enjoying their wine and pizza like it’s a five course meal at the Ritz.

“Want to hear something intense?” Jamie says, a huge grin on his face. Bianca sets her glass down on the table beside her and nods enthusiastically.

“Dakota’s going to ask my mom to marry him this weekend,” he says, trying really hard to keep himself from jumping up and down like a five year old.

“Oh my
God
! Are you serious?” Bianca yells. “That’s amazing! Oh my God!” Jamie nods and picks up another slice of pizza from the coffee table in front of them.

“It’s extremely exciting. When they come home from the wedding, they’re going to be engaged. My mom loves Dakota, she’s having a baby…I mean, it’s all absolutely perfect timing.” Bianca shakes her head in awe.

“I can’t believe how cool you are about all of this. If it were me, my head would be absolutely spinning by now.” She picks her glass back up and sips.

“Mason says that too, but I just…I don’t know. Everything about what’s happening just feels right. Dakota and my mom are meant to be. They really are. I just want them to finally be happy.”

“You’re so sweet. Are you single?” Bianca asks, smirking.

Jamie chuckles into his pizza. “Mm…unfortunately not. I’m taken by a beautiful girl who always smells like sunshine,” he says, winking at her. Bianca laughs, blushing. Jamie puts his pizza down back in the box and scoots closer to her, kissing her sweetly. After a few seconds, the kiss deepens and they pull apart, knowing that if they continue things will get really heavy really fast. They’ve been there before. Jamie slides back to his spot on the sofa, swallowing thickly, and then returns to his pizza.

“Hey, Jam, this is probably the wine talking but, um, I think we should probably talk about the elephant in the room,” Bianca says, smiling warmly at him. Jamie looks at her.

“What elephant is that?” he asks.

“Sex,” Bianca says directly. Jamie chokes on the piece of crust he just swallowed down. He grabs his glass of wine and drinks it, clearing his throat.

“Um, okay…what about it?” he asks, hoping his cheeks are inflamed from fighting for his right to breathe and not the topic at hand.

“Are you feeling like…maybe you want to take things further?” Bianca asks, looking at him shyly. Jamie pauses for a second, taking in her question.

“I’m thinking that kissing you feels good, and I’ve been thinking about what else would feel good with you.”

“Me too,” Bianca says, smiling.

Jamie nods. “Have you…have you ever done…it…the act before?”

“The act?” Bianca says, chuckling at his nervousness. “Yes, I’ve done the act before. Does that bother you?” Jamie shakes his head.

“No, it doesn’t bother me,” he says.

“Have you?” Bianca asks softly.

“No,” he says. “I haven’t. Does that bother you?”

Bianca shakes her head. “Why would that bother me?”

“I don’t know. I mean…how much experience do you have? I wouldn’t want to be, like, this dude you have to teach. Dakota told me that’s lame sometimes.”

Bianca laughs. “What don’t you two talk about?” she says. “No… no…it doesn’t bother me at all. I’ve been with one guy. He was…it was…it was a mistake. It was just something I decided…I wanted to do…because…I thought I was supposed to. Freshman year was not as good to me as it was to you.”

Jamie nods his head. He gathered from the references she made to her first year of school that it wasn’t happy-go-lucky.

“Okay,” Jamie says.

“Okay,” Bianca mirrors. They both pick up a slice of pizza from opposite boxes. They had gone through two already. Dakota had challenged them to six boxes, all with different toppings.

“So we are both thinking about what it would be like to…commit this act, and we’re both okay with our experience levels, so that means what?”

“From now on…sex is…a possibility?” Bianca says, not meaning for it to sound like a question. Jamie nods.

“Sex is a possibility,” Jamie says.

“When the time is right,” Bianca says.

“When the time is right,” Jamie says, still nodding. They smile at each other and then turn back to the movie. A few car races later, Bianca turns to Jamie.

“Hey, what do you think your daddy Aiden is going to think of the engagement? You think he’s going to be jealous?” she asks.

Jamie thinks for a second. “I think he’s going to be happy. He seemed genuinely happy for my mom when I told him about the pregnancy. I think that…my dad is finally happy with his own life so now he can be happy for everyone else.”

Bianca nods. “That’s good. It must have been so hard for you when everyone was at each other’s throats.”

Jamie nods. “Yes,” he says. “Especially because back then I felt like I was going to have to choose eventually. I didn’t want to have to do that.”

“I’m glad you didn’t have to,” Bianca says. Jamie nods.

“I used to feel so bad because I loved my dad, but I had such a different relationship with Dakota than with him. I felt like I was a bad son or something.”

Bianca shakes her head. “You weren’t a bad son; you were just a good son to the guy who allowed you to be. Dakota allowed you to play that role when he became a surrogate father for you. You weren’t a bad person for falling into that.”

Jamie nods. “You’re right,” he says. “It took me a long time to realize that.” He takes a deep breath. “But now…” He picks up the near-empty bottle of wine and splits the contents between them. “I can be a son to both of them.”

“You’re a lucky guy,” Bianca says. “Not everyone is lucky enough to have so many people who care about them and love them so much.” Her eyes sadden slightly. Jamie catches it, but it’s gone before he can comment on it.

“Thank you,” Jamie says. He smiles warmly at her. Bianca scoots closer to him on the sofa and snuggles up to his side.

***

Dakota

Dakota, Harper, Casey, and Aiden are all seated with glasses of wine in their hands—Harper’s actually being sparkling white grape juice. The reception is in full swing. The hall Rick and Jennifer chose is just the right size and decorated in beautiful silver and white with flowers everywhere. There is a long table at the front of the room where the wedding party is seated and surrounding it are smaller round tables where guests are seated. The dance floor is directly in the middle of the room for all to see. Music is blasting from the DJ on the stage in the back of the room near the entrance. It’s an amazing party for the two lovebirds, and everyone is happy for them. Dakota couldn’t help but stare at Harper during the ceremony, watching her reaction to everything that was going on and trying to predict if this is what their wedding might be like. She cried when they shared their original vows and squeezed his hand when they kissed, finally becoming husband and wife. He didn’t know if that was a sign, but he was taking it as one.

Casey and Aiden decided after numerous dates that they were “a couple” and since then have been out on a couple of dates with Dakota and Harper. To their surprise, they enjoyed each other’s company when Dakota wasn’t insulting Casey and Aiden wasn’t pining after Harper and Harper wasn’t ready to kill them all. Aiden even congratulated them on the pregnancy and sounded sincere. Things were falling into place like they never knew possible. For the first time, things were calm, and it felt like they were forming their own universe.

“I have to go to the bathroom again,” Harper says, pouting. “I forgot how annoying peeing like Seabiscuit was.” Casey, Aiden and Dakota laugh as she heads off toward the restrooms.

“I have to tell you guys something,” Dakota says. Aiden and Casey look at him suspiciously. “I’m going to ask Harper to marry me this weekend.” Casey squeals.