Cherished

  I kissed her gently on the lips and then whispered, “Yeah, sweetheart, I know how you feel because I feel the same way. I’ll never be able to tell you how happy you’ve made me, how much I’m in love with you, Ellie, and how that love grows more and more every day.”

  “Drew…” she whispered as she reached up and wiped away a tear from my cheek.

  “You’ve made me so happy by just loving me, Ells…and by…by giving me Alex and Colt…” My voice cracked as I tried to hold back the overwhelming love I was feeling for this woman. I smiled at her as I pushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear. “It’s…it’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of and wanted.”

  “Why. Does. It. Have. To. Be. So. Hot? I hate Texas in July,” I said as I kicked my feet in Jeff and Ari’s new pool.

  Ari was sitting on the edge with Grace, who was splashing and laughing.

  “I can’t believe that Grace, Will, and Libby are going to be one next month,” I said as I tried to lean over and splash water on my face.

  “I know. It goes by so fast. I still can’t believe Luke is two,” Ari said as she smiled a soft, sweet smile.

  I dropped my head back and felt the hot sun on my face. The baby had been moving all over the place today. I felt a funny pain and put my hand on my stomach.

  Luke and Alex both came running out of the house and started jumping around in the pool. Grace immediately began crying, and Ari picked her up and put her on her lap.

  “Luke, you know better than to run around the pool and splash Grace. She’s smaller than you. You have to protect her, not hurt her.”

  Luke tilted his head and peeked at Ari with his beautiful long lashes.

  Oh…he melts my heart in an instant.

  “Don’t fall for it, Jessie. They learn early how to work you,” Ari said. She turned back toward Luke and said, “Well?”

  Luke walked up to Grace, gave her a kiss on the head, and quickly said, “Sorry,” before turning and playing with Alex.

  I felt Scott come and sit behind me. He moved his body up against me and put his legs on the outside of mine, dipping his feet into the pool water.

  “Damn that feels good. What is it outside? A hundred degrees?” Scott asked as he lifted my ponytail. He began kissing my neck.

  “Oh, that feels good,” I whispered.

  “Knock it off, you horny bitch. My kids are right here,” Ari said as she winked at me.

  I let out a laugh as I watched Gunner pull up a chair for Ellie and Colt. Ellie looked exhausted but so happy. She glanced over and smiled at me. Then, she looked at my stomach and let out a giggle.

  “Jessie, you have to be having a boy. You are all belly,” Ellie said.

  Ari’s dog, Scarlet, came up to me and began nudging my arm. I picked up my arm and began petting her softly. I closed my eyes, and an image of Trey popped into my head. I hadn’t thought about him in months. I still felt like the accident was entirely my fault. If I had just waited for Scott, Trey wouldn’t have tried to force me to leave, and the accident would never have happened.

  When I’d met Trey’s mother and father, they’d told me that Trey had been having some emotional problems. That had been one of the reasons his fiancée had left him and he’d stayed in Belize for so long. He had been hiding from a life he didn’t want to go back to.

  Would things have been different for him if he hadn’t met me? Would he have gone home and led a different life? A happy life?

  I opened my eyes and looked over at Ari, who was staring at me.

  She has some kind of sixth sense, I swear.

  She always seemed to know when I was feeling guilty.

  She gave me a slight smile and shook her head. “Stop,” was all she had to say.

  I did just that. I quickly pushed all thoughts of Trey from my mind.

  I felt the pain in my stomach again, and I quickly looked around. Jeff was now leaning down, kissing Ari, as Grace was reaching out for him. Alex and Luke were pouring water over each other. Josh and Heather were in the water with Will and Libby. Ellie was talking to Heather while Scott was in a deep conversation with Josh about making a bench for the end of our bed. He wanted Josh to help him make it. Gunner walked around, holding a sleeping Colt. Matthew was sitting in one of the lounge chairs, playing a video game.

  I turned and looked at all of our parents. They were all sitting under the covered pavilion that Scott, Jeff, and Gunner had made. Sharon, Grace, Elizabeth, and Sue were all sitting together, laughing at something Emma was saying. Jack, Brian, Philip, Mark, Greg, and my father were all listening to a story Garrett was telling.

  I tilted my head and looked around at four generations of friends.

  Gunner started humming, and Alex must have heard him because she got out of the pool and ran up to him. She started asking him to put the baby down and hold her. I giggled at how jealous she was of Colt getting attention from her daddy.

  Gunner smiled down at her. “You miss your daddy’s cuddle straps?”

  “What?” Josh, Jeff, and Scott all said at once.

  Gunner smiled as he handed Colt to Ellie. “Yeah, my cuddle straps,” he said as he flexed his arms.

  Ellie rolled her eyes.

  Ari said, “Oh, for the love of all things good, Gunner.”

  Jeff, Josh, and Scott all looked at each other and then back at Gunner as they started laughing.

  Jeff shook his head. “Pussy.”

  Ari smacked Jeff. “Jeff! The kids, for Christ’s sake.”

  Jeff turned and looked at Ari. “See! See, this is why your dad gets pissed at me when the kids swear. You get mad at me when I swear, but you swear at me for swearing. Why can you swear at me, but I can’t swear? How is that fair, Ari?”

  She took a sip of water and smiled as she shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t know, but in my father’s eyes, it’s fair.”

  Jeff just looked at Ari and smiled as Luke dumped water over Ari’s head. She screamed and jumped up. She grabbed Luke and gave him a tickle attack.

  “Are Brad and Amanda still planning on coming out?” Heather asked Josh.

  “Nope. I think the move into the new house is taking its toll on them all. Amanda wasn’t feeling good, and Maegan has strep throat,” Josh said.

  Everyone let out a gasp. We all looked at each other and laughed.

  “Jesus H. Christ, look at us,” Ari said as she glanced around.

  Everyone took a good look around and then turned back at Ari.

  “We’re old. I mean, we act old. It’s like we’re our…” Ari looked over at where Garrett was still telling his story to everyone. Then, she turned back to us and scrunched up her nose. “We’re consumed by the fear of sickness because, my god, if our kids get sick, then that’s it for our perfectly planned days. Germs and running snot noses for a week. We plan a Fourth of July get-together with our parents instead of going to some country bar where we can take a few spins around the dance floor while getting drunk. It’s like we’ve grown up and become…” She turned and looked over at the older group of friends all talking and laughing with each other. She slowly smiled. “Them. We’ve become our parents.”

  “Ari? Why do you say you are Mom and Dad?” Matt asked.

  Ari laughed. “It’s just that we act like them, Matt, ’cause we are all older now and have kids.”

  Matt nodded his head. “Will I ever have kids, Ari?”

  I saw the sadness instantly fill Ari’s eyes as her smile faded for just one brief second.

  “Would you like to have kids someday, Matt?” Ari asked.

  Matt looked around at each of us. He was really taking in the sight of everyone before he looked back at Ari. “Hell no, I want to be a motherfucking cowboy.”

  Jeff jumped up and down as he did a fist pump, and then he walked up to Matt. “Yes! Buddy, you said it right this time! Motherfucker!”

  “Jeff!” Ellie and Ari both called out.

  Matt stood up. “Jeff, I’m going to hug you!” He slammed into Jeff, clearly pleased that h
e had just made Jeff so happy.

  Ari shook her head. “Wait till my father hears this one.”

  I let out laugh, and then I felt the same pain, but this time, it was stronger, like the baby had kicked the shit out of me.

  Scott had his hands on my stomach. “Damn, that was a big kick, and your stomach is getting hard.”

  I had to take a deep breath. Wow, that really hurt.

  Ellie stood up and walked over to me. “Jess, how long have you been having pains?”

  Scott jumped up. “What? Pains? When did you start having pains? How long have you had them for? Why didn’t you tell me you were having pains? I’m supposed to time them!”

  Josh said, “Damn, our only job, and it seems like we all mess that part up.”

  “Right?” Jeff and Gunner both said at the same time.

  Heather started to push Libby on the float as she made her way to the edge of the pool. “Jessie, oh my god, is it time?” She picked up Libby and walked out of the pool.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I, um…I don’t know. I mean, they feel like Braxton Hicks contractions…but harder.”

  “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…Jess, those are contractions. How long have you been feeling them?” Ari asked.

  “Uh…”

  “The suitcase! I don’t think I packed it in the truck! Shit!” Scott said as he took off running toward the truck.

  “Jessie, did they just start, sweets?” Ellie asked me.

  “Well, I felt the first one right about when Scott came out with y’all.”

  “How many have you felt since then?” Heather asked as she dried off Libby.

  “I think that was the third one?” I said as I watched Scott running like an idiot over to his truck.

  The next thing I knew, my father was walking up. “Is it time?”

  I honestly didn’t know what to say. Am I in labor? Is this it? “I don’t—”

  “I’ve got it!” Scott yelled.

  I looked past my father and saw Scott running back up. He had a huge smile on his face. The next thing I saw was Scott tripping over Scarlet, who had run in front of him and cut him off, while he was trying to hurdle the lounge chair, and then he landed in an awkward position.

  The moment I heard him cry out in pain, my heart dropped to my stomach…and then I had a contraction.

  “Oh my god!” I screamed out.

  Ari and Heather were running toward Scott, but then they stopped and ran back to me.

  “What?” Ari skidded to a stop in front of me.

  I started shaking my head frantically. “I-I don’t know! Oh my god! Is he hurt? Ah…motherfucker!”

  “Motherfucker, I want to be a motherfucking cowboy!” Matthew called out.

  Sue and Mark walked up to him and started to tell him not to say that.

  “But Jeff and Jessie said it,” Matt said.

  Mark smiled. “At least we moved on from mudderfucker.”

  Sue just looked at Mark, and I glanced back over toward Scott. Jeff and Gunner both ran into each other, trying to turn and go into the house, each saying something about getting ice. Jeff yelled out in pain, and Gunner tripped. He lost his balance, and he started to fall backward.

  Oh no…this is not going to be good.

  “Gunner! Watch out!” Ellie called.

  Gunner reached for Jack, who reached for Greg, who reached for Mark…who saw what was about to happen and took a step back before Greg could grab a hold of him.

  The next thing I knew, Gunner, Jack, and Greg were in the pool. Mark walked up behind Jeff and gave him a good push. Jeff ended up going into the water as well.

  “Daddy!” Ari called out.

  “What? He has a swimsuit on,” Mark said.

  I couldn’t help but giggle at Jeff’s expression when he was getting out of the pool. I glanced up at my father, who was standing there, shaking his head along with Garrett.

  “What in the hell is wrong with you group of people? My daughter is in labor, and you’re playing around!” Drake said.

  I turned my head to see Scott sitting on the ground while Josh had ice on Scott’s ankle. I made my way to Scott and tried to get down, but I was so damn big that I could hardly move.

  “Scott, are you okay?” I asked as I attempted to sit down on the lounge chair.

  “Don’t sit. We’re going right now. We have to get you to the hospital.” Scott said in a panicked voice.

  Josh helped Scott up as Matt came walking over.

  “Scott, you assmole, you made me laugh with how you danced in the air,” Matt said with a laugh.

  That caused everyone else to start laughing, including me.

  Then, another contraction hit, and I started to panic. Shit, they’re not that far apart.

  “Come on, I’ll drive,” Josh said. He turned back to Heather and said, “Babe, can you get the twins on your own?”

  Elizabeth was standing next to Heather. “I’ll help her with Libby and Will. Just get Scott and Jessie to the hospital,” Elizabeth said as she picked up Will before giving him a big kiss.

  I turned and looked at Scott. Panic had taken over in his eyes. My heart was breaking because I knew how he’d wanted everything to go so smoothly.

  I smiled and walked up to him. I put my hands on his face and reached up to kiss him. “You ready, baby?” I asked in a whispered voice.

  He smiled, and his eyes lit up, causing me to smile bigger.

  “Never been more ready, but, um…Jessie?”

  “Yeah, Scott?”

  “I think I might have broken my ankle.”

  After Josh pulled up to the emergency room doors, I hopped out of the backseat and attempted to help Jessie out of the truck. Her contractions were not getting any closer together, and I was thanking God because I was almost a hundred percent sure I’d broken my ankle. Josh ran inside, and the next thing I knew, there were two wheelchairs.

  The nurse walking up to us giggled. “Well, we haven’t seen this in a while.”

  “Seen what?” Jessie asked as I helped her sit down in the wheelchair.

  “The pregnant wife with the husband who broke something while frantically trying to get the wife to the hospital.” The nurse winked at me.

  She started to push Jessie in as Josh pushed me in while he was laughing. Just the nurse referring to Jessie as my wife caused my heart to beat faster.

  “I wasn’t frantic. I was jumping over a stupid lounge chair, and Ari’s damn dog ran in front of me,” I said, folding my arms. I was pretty sure if I could see myself, my face would be pouting.

  Josh stopped at the nurses’ station and slapped me on the back. “Dude, I’ve got to park your truck. Jessie, I’ll bring your suitcase in.” He looked at me and shook his head. Then, he turned and walked off, still laughing.

  Bastard. I’m sure he panicked even more when Heather went into labor.

  The nurse mentioned something to Jessie about how we had preregistered, so we had to sign only a few things. Then, she turned to me and asked for my insurance card.

  “What?” I asked, confused. “Don’t worry about me. My fiancée is in labor!”

  The nurse smiled sweetly. “Mr. Reynolds, we need to get you down to X-ray, so we can see if your ankle is broken. Then, we will take care of it from there.”

  I went to stand up and felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw my father standing there.

  “Scott, just let them do this, so you can get it done and get back to Jessie. Your mother and I are here.”

  “Who called you?” I asked, confused as hell.

  “Garrett. Now, go on. Just let them get you fixed up, son. I promise, you won’t miss anything.”

  I turned and looked at Jessie, who was holding my mother’s hand. I smiled when I looked at the two most important women in my life. They had both grown to love each other so much, and I loved that Jessie called her mom. She was the mother that Jessie had never had, and my mother adored Jessie so much. I felt tears building in my eyes as I looked up at my mother. S
he nodded her head, and I knew they were right.

  I reached out my hand for Jessie’s. “I’m so, so sorry I did this.”

  She let out a giggle. “I love you, Scott. I’ll hold the baby off for as long as I can.”

  As the nurse began taking me down to get an X-ray, I turned around and saw Jessie staring at me. She lifted her hand and waved, and I blew her a kiss. I watched as the smile spread across her beautiful face.

  I turned back around and cursed all lounge chairs and dogs.

  We are never getting a pool. Ever!

  I was impressed that the doctor in the emergency room had worked so fast to get me fixed up. The X-ray had shown a small fracture, so the doctor put a cast on and gave me crutches. He told me to follow-up in a few days with my doctor.

  I swore Jeff was having a grand ole time, pushing me in the wheelchair as fast as he could, as I held on to my crutches while telling him to hurry the hell up.

  By the time we got up to the labor and delivery area, my heart was pounding so hard that I was beginning to have a hard time breathing. I saw our family and friends in the waiting room and smiled. I have the best group of friends ever.

  “Where are all the kids?” I asked, looking at Heather, Ari, Ellie, Gunner, and Josh all sitting around, drinking coffee.

  Ari laughed. “That’s the best part of having the grandparents over for a party. If we all need to leave, we’ve got built-in babysitters!”

  “Ellie, you left Colt?” I asked, knowing Ellie had yet to leave Colt with anyone.

  She smiled and nodded her head. “Well, I figured five grandparents could take care of him and Alex.”

  “Mr. Reynolds? Your fiancée is getting closer,” the nurse said.

  I jumped up and out of the wheelchair with my crutches. “Shit! Shit, this it!”

  Everyone let out a laugh. Jeff, Josh, and Gunner walked me to the door.

  Before I went in, I turned and looked at them. “I don’t know what to say, but thank you. Thank you for being more than just a friend. Y’all are like my brothers, and I…I…”