Authors: Casey Elliot
*****
Meaghan knew that she might be breaking all sorts of rules in the best friend’s code, but this was a unique situation that mitigated her choice to meet up with this person today. Unlike her very pregnant best friend, she at least, had the state of mind to grab the number of the guy she slept with that night, and he just so happened to be a friend of Carter’s. She texted him if he was up for a cup of coffee, and he immediately replied, saying there was something he wanted to ask her about as well.
She sat in one of the tables by the glass and smiled, as she spotted him. Jay saw her through the glass and he waved before he entered the café. He walked up to her and gave her a sweet kiss on her mouth before he sat down, his action making Meaghan lose her breath a bit. He waited for her to settle down before getting down to business.
“So, I was hoping-,” Jay started.
“I need you to get Carter to see Hailee again,” Meaghan said, beating him to the punch and making Jay’s eyes widen in surprise.
“That’s exactly what I was hoping to ask you about,” Jay admitted, and she grinned at him.
“I knew I slept with you for a reason,” she teased, and he chuckled before taking on a more serious expression.
“What brought this on anyway? I mean, the reason I’m all for this is because my buddy cannot get over your best girl, and it’s been ruining everybody’s mojo,” Jay said. Meaghan grimaced before biting her lip guiltily.
“It’s not really something I could tell you…at least, without asking Hailee’s permission,” she said apologetically, and he frowned. “But, I can tell you that it is extremely important and life-changing for all those involved!”
Hailee woke up bleary-eyed from the living room couch, as the incessant knocking on the door woke her up. She pulled herself up, scratching her belly absent-mindedly, as she conditioned herself to wake up completely.
The knocking turned to full-on banging, and it instantly annoyed her. She got up, not bothering to fix herself up before opening the door wide, and ready to yell at the person who interrupted her nap, but she froze when she realized who it was.
Carter took his shades off, as he looked at Hailee, his mouth falling open, as he took in her messed up hair, wrinkled pajamas, and her small but round belly poking out from her sleepwear. Hailee realized what he was looking at and placed both of her hands over her belly protectively, which served as even more of a confirmation of Carter’s assumption.
They stood facing each other in total silence, the both of them thinking of a lot of things they want to say to each other, but not knowing how to say them. Hailee bit her lip, switching her weight from one foot to the other before moving to the side, silently asking Carter to come in. He stared at her for a long moment before walking past her and into her apartment, standing at the center of the living room and turning back to Hailee.
“How long?” Carter asked, and Hailee didn’t need to ask him to clarify his question.
“Almost twelve weeks,” Hailee answered softly.
Carter mentally counted backward and blew a sigh of relief, as the date hit the time they met. He was so shocked when he saw her, but he almost felt his brain explode when he noticed she was pregnant. He had been worried she had slept with someone else and she was currently carrying someone else’s baby. He would’ve been so devastated…
He held his breath, as he realized what he just thought about Hailee being pregnant. He was actually relieved it was his baby! Sure, he was scared, absolutely petrified even at the thought of becoming a father and the responsibilities that came with it. But, he wasn’t like other men who would feign ignorance and not claim responsibility.
“How are you feeling?” Carter asked, turning his attention back to her who was watching his reactions worriedly. Hailee shrugged.
“Bloated and really hungry,” she replied, and Carter quickly looked around, looking for food.
“Do you need me to get you anything or…?” he asked, but she shook her head. He nodded and put his hands on her shoulder and hip, helping her sit on the couch, much to her annoyance.
“Carter, I’m sorry, but I’m having a hard time believing you’re just… okay with this right after you found out that I’m pregnant with your baby,” Hailee said, and Carter tilted his head.
“What do you mean? I wasn’t even expecting that it was you that I was delivering the package to,” he replied. “And, how else am I going to react, Hailee?” he asked.
“Well, certainly not as accepting as this,” she admitted. Carter scratched the back of his head, looking away from her as he pondered over her statement.
“I’ll be honest that if it were any other girl, I’d probably be running for the hills or laughing at their face for lying to me,” Carter started, his eyes sweeping down to her belly and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face. “But, you’re different, Hailee, and I’m not just saying that to get into your pants again,” he explained hastily, and she laughed.
“You’re the best kind of bad thing that’s ever happened to me,” Hailee said.
Carter smiled at her before taking her hands in his, holding them in his hands and caressing them softly before continuing.
“I am scared, Hailee. I’m scared as hell that I might not be the one you need or the person who deserves to be with you or be the father of our baby, but I’m not about to abandon you, or him either.” Hailee’s eyebrows rose up at her hairline.
“But, don’t you feel like I’m pinning you down? Holding you back from your dreams or whatever you want in life?” she asked. Carter shook his head and slowly inched his hand to her belly, looking at Hailee’s eyes for permission. She gave him the barest of nods before his warm hands touched the skin around her stomach, and Carter was in awe.
“You’re definitely not holding me back, Hailee. To be honest,” he looked at her again, this time his lips moving closer to hers slowly until they felt each other’s breaths on their cheek. “I think you’ve just set its course.”
Hailee closed her eyes and a solitary tear fell from the corner of her eye, as he closed the distance between them and kissed her.
*****
Epilogue
They kissed each other for what seemed to be the longest time, their tongues dancing together languidly until Carter was distracted by the vibrations coming from his pocket. He cursed, as he saw that it was another client of theirs, asking for the whereabouts of her package. He turned his phone off before looking at Hailee again, groaning a bit at the slightly dazed look in her eyes that he was sure he created. His groan snapped her out of it and she blushed, making Carter’s hand itch in feeling the warmth of her cheeks from her embarrassment.
“I think you should go back to your work,” Hailee said softly. Carter looked like he was about to argue, so she added, “I’m not sending you away. I just don’t want you to get into trouble.”
Carter shook his head. “The thing she wants me to deliver is back in the office, and I can tell my other guys to do it instead. I want to be clear on everything first, Hailee.” He placed both of his hands on her face, making her look up at him straight in his eyes. “Even if you weren’t pregnant, I’d probably still have tried to find you again, Hailee. I swear to God, I couldn’t stop thinking about you, your face, your voice, and everything. She blushed even more and he brushed his thumbs to her cheeks, smiling softly at her. “It’s been haunting me until I finally gave in. I want to be with you so bad, Hailee, and having a baby with you isn’t about to make me lose interest. Honestly, it pretty much multiplied once the idea of my baby growing in your belly finally sunk in,” he smirked, and Hailee slapped him lightly on his face.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if it really was inevitable that I was going to be knocked up that night, I’m glad it’s you and not someone else,” Hailee said, and Carter growled, as he imagined another guy dancing and taking her.
“If any other guy had tried to do that, kitten, they’d wish they’d never been born,” Carter said.
They talked more about the baby, what appointments Hailee had already attended, when her next ultrasound was, and about each other. Hailee joked that he never got to tell her his last name, and when he did, he teased her back that Hailee Maxwell had a nice ring to it, raising his eyebrows suggestively until she laughed at her. They also covered some other serious topics, and when Hailee asked him to meet with her parents to finally tell them the big news, he readily agreed, already feeling that despite Hailee’s efforts to give her parents the benefit of the doubt, he wasn’t about to let the mother of his child get hurt.
Telling Hailee’s parents that he knocked her up scared whatever bravado he stored within his entire body. He had let Hailee do most of the talking while he watched her parents’ reaction, as they slowly became on edge wanting her to move. Her father suddenly threw his glass of Scotch to the wall in the middle of their discussion, and Carter snapped out of his fright and yelled at Hailee’s father, defending her and taking all of the blame and derogatory terms they called her before pulling Hailee out of their home and going back to her dorm. He held her for the rest of the night, as she cried about what happened, and he vowed that they would treat their children with hope and encouragement, not pressuring them to excel the way Hailee had been pressured by her parents.
Her parents had kicked her out of their house and refused to have anything to do with her now. She was supposed to attend a job interview, but once they found out she was pregnant, they told her that it wasn’t possible to hire her this time. Carter assured her that he’ll take care of her as best as he could, and he made sure that Hailee was comfortable and well-taken care of, going full-on overprotective boyfriend and daddy, as Meaghan and the others teased him. He’d shrug it off and plant a kiss on Hailee’s cheeks, making the latter blush, as he continued with the rest of his chores or needing to fix up orders in their deliveries.
Carter was doing pretty well, all things considered, but he knew that once the baby was born, they’d need to prepare a lot of things, all of which would be expensive. Carter reassured Hailee that he’d figure something out, and she told him that he didn’t have to take the burden of everything, and they should start working more as partners now that they were going to have a baby. His friends from the gang gave him their utmost support, and even helped him move Hailee’s stuff into his apartment once he’d finally convinced her to move in with him.
When it was finally time for their son or daughter to come into the world, there had been a lot of screaming matches from all sides. Carter had freaked and lost it once Hailee announced her water broke, and proceeded to drive like a madman all the way to the hospital.
“You know, I’d like to be able to deliver this kid while I’m still breathing, honey,” Hailee said, moaning in pain, as another contraction hit her.
“How far apart are they?” Carter asked, ignoring his girlfriend’s quip about his driving.
“About 14 minutes from the last contraction,” Meaghan said, biting her lip to keep from laughing, as she noted down the time on the chart that Carter had prepared just for this moment. “Still a long way to go.”
“Oh my God, it hurts so much! If you come near me begging for sex, Carter, I swear to God I am keeping my legs shut right after this!” Hailee yelled. Carter’s face paled at her declaration, but kept on driving until they finally reached the hospital.
After about five hours of labor, a handsome boy who looked just like his father cried his lungs out, and the proud parents were overjoyed. The doctor gave the baby to Hailee after they cleaned him up and she cooed at him automatically, marveling at his beauty. She moved him a bit, so Carter could see him better, and he smiled at his son.
“I have to tell you kid, you have the worst possible timing,” Carter said, and Hailee frowned at him. “Do you know I was about to ask your mother to marry me when you decided to soak the carpet?”
Hailee gasped, as Carter dug into his pocket and produced a diamond ring, white gold and sparkling, and just the way she wanted. Carter took his son and gave it to the nurse before taking Hailee’s hand and putting the ring on the appropriate finger, and Hailee’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at it.
“I love you, Hailee. And, I am going to love you and our son for the rest of my life and then some,” he said, and Hailee nodded.
“I love you too, you big idiot. Now get me back my son so I can cuddle him,” Hailee demanded, and Carter raised an eyebrow at her, but did as she commanded.
“So…is that a ‘yes’?” Carter asked, moving their son closer to his mother. Hailee looked up and brushed her lips to Carter’s before bending her head down and nuzzling her son’s nose with hers.
“What do you think?”
*****
Jane Kershaw’s hair had turned a peculiar shade of purple, but she liked it.
“Not really what I was going for,” she tousled her wet hair with a towel and looked in the mirror.
“You look like a grape,” her boyfriend Lee commented from the doorway with a beer in his hand. “A fat grape.”
“You don’t have to be mean!” her face crumpled up in annoyance.
“Whatever,” he shrugged and walked away to resume sitting on the couch.
“I think I own it,” she told herself, as she looked at her reflection. “It’s a lot brighter than I intended, but I never do anything by halves,” and she faked a wide smile to cheer herself up.
Lee; however, was always so mean to her and, as she dried her hair and got ready for bed, she was still thinking about what he’d said. Yeah, she was bigger than some girls, but so what? That’s the way she liked to be and she wasn’t changing for anyone.
He was drunk already too, but that was no surprise. He loved beer more than her and she slumped onto the bed wishing he’d come join her and show her some appreciation or even just some polite conversation.
“What am I doing here? He doesn’t even love me,” the tears began to well up in her eyes, but she stifled them with a hand over her face.
Of course, she knew full well why she was still with Lee. She didn’t have the confidence to leave and she had no money and nowhere to go. There were times when she’d considered going home to Idaho where her parents would welcome her back in an instant, but she hated the countryside and had moved to New York, aged eighteen for a reason; to be accepted, to have fun, and to live on the wild side.
Yet, as she sat on the edge of the bed in her pajamas, listening to the late night revelers outside, she knew this was far from what she had imagined. There was a time; however, when things were fantastic and every night was an adventure, but she met Lee not long after arriving in the big city and he’d soon taken over her life. The day she got the keys to their apartment was the day the fun ended.
She listened for a long while to the sounds of the television, as he watched his favorite shows. No matter how mean he was to her or how much he ignored her, she couldn’t deny that, deep down, she loved him… although, she wasn’t sure what love was anymore. In her current situation, it seemed more like crippling dependency and endless tears.
Cradling herself with the duvet, she climbed into bed and hoped she’d have sweet dreams. Closing her eyes and feeling the warmth of the bed was a much needed moment of respite and she exhaled deeply, as her eyelids grew heavy. It was then she heard the television switch off, followed by Lee stumbling over empty beer bottles.
“Hey girl!” Lee shouted, as he staggered down the hall.
She said nothing.
“I said, hey!” he was angry now and burst through the bedroom door.
Jane could smell his breath from where she lay and she wrinkled up her nose hoping he wouldn’t come any closer.
“Whats a matter?” He ripped the bed sheets off her and tossed them to the floor.
Instinctively, she shrieked and huddled up in the fetal position, as the cold shocked her body and the fear held her in place.
“Why are you crying already?” Lee asked with not a hint of sensitivity to his voice.
Again, Jane was silent.
“You ready for me now?” He looked down on her and gave her
the
look.
It was one reserved for special occasions and it always meant one thing, he had sex on his mind. Usually, Jane wanted to feel the love of someone and would yearn for his touch, no matter how repulsive he could be, but tonight, something snapped in her mind and she found herself sitting up in bed and seeing him, as if for the first time.
“Leave me alone,” she grabbed the duvet and tried to drag it out of the bedroom. “I’m sleeping on the couch tonight and don’t you dare come near me,” she shouted at him with her new found confidence.
As her voice exploded from her body, she felt like a new woman and could scarcely believe she was capable of having that much confidence. Maybe it was time she finally had enough or maybe it was the new hair. Either way, she didn’t care. She was on a mission and she was eager to let Lee know that he couldn’t boss her around anymore or make her feel small.
“
Get back here bitch!
” He grabbed at the duvet and tried to pull her back into the room.
She was hell bent on having her way and his attempts to retrieve her only made her more determined. Little did she know that something had also snapped within Lee.
“I said get back here!” and he lashed out at her, pulling her from behind and punching her square in the ribs.
She fell to the floor in shock and agony with the pain rippling through her bones. Not believing what had just happened, she clutched at her body and tried to think straight. No matter how mean he was to her, he’d never hit her, so why now? What happened?
Looking up to him, she could see his fist begin to swell already… and the menace in his eyes. It was then, in that very second that she made up her mind.
“You will never touch me again,” she seethed through gritted teeth,” and you’ll never see me again either.”
“Hey babe,” Lee’s attitude changed quickly, as he realized the severity of what he’d done. “I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry!” He began to wine like a small child. “It won’t happen again, I promise!”
But, it was too late. Jane was already packing all her belongings into her backpack and pulling on her coat and boots.
“Please! Janey, won’t you listen to me for a minute?” His words were as slurred as they were desperate. “Janey!” he cried.
“I could never forgive myself if I stayed,” she looked him in the eye, her stare penetrating his. “Goodbye Lee.” She moved toward the front door. “It’s been absolutely horrible knowing you,” and she slammed the door behind her.