Cherished

  Gunner put his hand on my shoulder and smiled. “We know what you’re saying, dude. Go welcome your baby into the world, and don’t forget to tell Jessie what a great job she did.”

  “And tell her she looks beautiful,” Jeff said with a wink.

  I looked at Josh, and he smiled. “Oh man, dude…take it all in because it will be one of the most amazing moments in your life. Just make sure she knows how happy you are, Scott.”

  I nodded as I looked at all three of them. I opened the door and heard Jessie cry out in pain. I quickly shut it and turned back around to them.

  “Holy fuck, I can’t do it.” I started to hobble away.

  Gunner grabbed me and opened the door. He turned me around and gently guided me into the room.

  The moment her eyes caught mine, I didn’t need any help. I needed to get to her. She looked down at my ankle in a cast, and she started crying.

  “No…no, baby, don’t cry.” I tried my best to make my way to her side.

  My mother was standing on the other side of Jessie, and she smiled at me when I finally made it to Jessie’s side.

  “Honey, I’m going to step outside now that Scott is here,” my mother said.

  Jessie reached for her. “No! Mom, please stay with us. Please,” she said as her voice cracked.

  My mother smiled and pushed Jessie’s sweat-dampened hair away from her eyes. I saw tears building in my mother’s eyes as she nodded her head.

  “Of course I will stay with y’all, baby girl,” my mother said.

  My heart felt like it was going to burst. I was so happy.

  My mother looked at me. “You have one very strong and brave young woman here. She is doing this with no drugs.”

  I instantly felt like shit, remembering how I had just begged the ER doctor to give me something strong to take away the pain. Some cowboy I am.

  “Looks like you made it right on time, Scott. I think a few more pushes, Jessie, and we will get to meet this baby of yours,” Pete said.

  The next few minutes felt like a lifetime, yet it all happened so fast. Jessie pushed about five more times, and she never once complained about the pain. She cried out in pain each time, but I could tell she was trying to be so strong. I leaned down after each push and told her how proud of her I was and how much I loved her.

  Then, it happened. Jessie let out a long and loud scream with the last push.

  Pete looked up at us and smiled. “You have a beautiful and healthy baby girl.”

  I busted out in tears and looked at our baby girl as Pete held her up.

  “Oh my god! She’s the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen,” Jessie said.

  Pete handed the baby to the nurse, who moved our girl to a table. I watched the nurse do all kinds of weird-ass shit to the poor little thing. She was crying away, and my heart had never felt like this before. I thought loving Jessie was amazing, but this…this was beyond amazing, just like Josh had said.

  I glanced down at Jessie as she cried and tried to see what the nurse was doing to the baby.

  I leaned down, placed my finger under her chin, and moved her face over to look at me. “I love you more than anything. I never in my life thought that I could feel so much love in my heart, and you just proved me wrong…again. You amaze me. I’m in awe of you right now, and you…you’ve made me the happiest man on Earth. Thank you for loving me.”

  I gently kissed her, and she moved her hand to the back of my neck, pulling me in for a deeper kiss.

  When we parted our lips, she smiled and looked me in the eyes as she said, “I love you to the moon and back.”

  She began crying again, and I wiped the tears from her cheeks.

  “And I just want you to know…I’m never doing that again,” she said.

  My mother busted out laughing. I smiled and nodded my head as I looked up at my mother, who winked at me.

  “Are you ready to meet baby girl Reynolds?” the nurse asked.

  She walked up to me and gently put my daughter in my arms. The moment I held her, she immediately stopped crying.

  “Hey…look at that. Already a Daddy’s girl,” Pete said.

  He walked over to the sink and did a few things with the nurses, and then they slowly sat Jessie back up.

  Looking down at this beautiful miracle in my arms, I couldn’t help but smile. When she yawned, my knees about gave out.

  “I promise to always love and protect you and your mommy. You two are my whole life now, baby girl.”

  I turned to see Jessie watching me. The smile on her face was like nothing I’d ever seen before in my life. I carefully took our baby and placed her into the arms of the woman I’d loved since before I could remember.

  I would lay my life down for this woman and for our daughter.

  I watched as Jessie brought our baby girl up to her lips, and she began kissing our daughter all over her little face. One peek at my mother, and I saw she was crying like mad. I smiled and wiped a tear away.

  “I’m so, so happy to finally meet you. I’ve waited so long to hold you, and I thought for sure with how much you kicked and punched me, baby girl, that you were going to be a boy!”

  We all laughed.

  My mother lightly brushed her hand across the baby’s head. “Do we have a name?” she asked as she looked at Jessie and then at me.

  I looked down, and we both nodded.

  “Lauren Ashley. Her name is Lauren Ashley Reynolds,” Jessie said with a smile.

  “It’s perfect. She’s perfect. Let me give y’all a few minutes. Before I go, Scott, would you like to go tell your friends it’s a girl?”

  I quickly looked up at my mother. “Oh yeah! Let me go real quick, Mom…on my crutches and all.”

  I made my way out of the room and down the hall. Everyone stood up at once. I knew the moment I opened my mouth, I was going to start crying again, and Jeff would probably call me a pussy. I looked at each of them standing there with smiles on their faces. These were my six friends who had stood by me through everything. I knew there wasn’t a damn thing we wouldn’t do for each other. My life would be empty without them in it. I knew this wouldn’t be the last time we were all going to be waiting to hear the news of another new baby. Our lives were just starting. So many more happy memories were waiting for all of us.

  “Well?” Ari said. “Are you going to tell us, dickwad? Or make us all stand here and guess?”

  I let out a laugh. Only Ari could make me laugh when all I wanted to do was cry.

  “It’s a girl—Lauren Ashley,” I barely said.

  They all made their way over to me. With every handshake and hug, my heart grew bigger and bigger, and my love for my friends grew tenfold.

  “Congratulations, dude,” Gunner said as he took me in for a hug.

  Each of the girls took turns giving me a kiss and wiping away my tears.

  Josh smiled as he gave me a hug. “I told you, didn’t I?”

  I nodded my head. “Yeah. You weren’t kidding either.”

  When Jeff walked up to me, I braced myself for what I was sure was going to be an onslaught of snarky comments.

  “Welcome to fatherhood, dude. It’s one of the coolest things ever. I’m glad you had a girl because if you had a boy, I would have to worry about him going after my Grace. If your son were anything like you…”

  I started laughing and shook my head. “Thanks, Jeff.”

  He smiled, and to my surprise, he brought me in for a quick hug and slap on the back. “I’m really happy for you and Jessie.”

  As everyone stepped back, I saw my father walking down the hall with Starbucks coffees, and Bryce was following behind him with more coffees.

  Dad stopped and smiled as he looked at me.

  “A girl—Lauren Ashley,” I said.

  He handed Josh the coffees, walked up to me, and pulled me in for a hug. “Son of a bitch. Well done, son. Well done. I’m so damn proud of you and Jessie.”

  I smiled, and Bryce reached out and shook my ha
nd. Things hadn’t been the same with us ever since the whole Chelsea incident, but we were trying to work on it.

  “So, I’m an uncle. Pretty damn cool.”

  “Dad, would you like to see her?” I asked.

  “Do horses shit?”

  I laughed and shook my head. I turned and made my way back into the room as I listened to my father talk about all the things he was going to teach Lauren.

  I never want this feeling to end.

  As I held my daughter in my arms, I glanced over at Scott sleeping away in the recliner next to the bed. I smiled and slowly shook my head.

  “Your daddy seems to be tired, sweet baby girl.”

  I looked at the cast on his ankle, and my heart broke for him. He was supposed to be training a horse next week, and now, he couldn’t, and he was so upset about it. When he’d asked Ari if she would do it, I’d thought she was going to jump through the roof because she had been so happy.

  Lauren yawned while I used the tip of my index finger to gently trace a pattern along her face. She smelled so good, and she was so precious. Every time I looked at her, my heart wanted to burst open.

  “You know, I remember the first time I felt you move. I was standing outside, and at first, I thought it was like a nervous feeling, but then Ellie told me it was you moving around. I also remember the first time I saw your little body move across my stomach.” I let out a little chuckle. “Your daddy cried the first time he felt you move. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I’m pretty sure you are going to be spoiled beyond belief. Between your daddy and your two grandpas, you will be one tough little girl. Don’t worry though—your grandmother will be sure to keep you dressed to the nines in pink ribbons and bows.”

  Lauren opened her eyes, and I could swear that we were looking into each other’s souls. The strangest feeling moved over me, and I couldn’t pull my eyes away from hers.

  As she slowly closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep, I thanked God for the blessings in my life. I had been feeling so sorry for myself the last few weeks—wishing my mother could have been here to see the birth of my child or to watch me marry the love of my life. I knew though that she was with me. In some strange way, it almost felt like she was letting me know she was here.

  I slowly moved to get up when I heard the door open. I looked and saw Melody walking in.

  “Hey,” she whispered.

  “Hey! What are you doing here? I thought you had a lunch you had to go to today?” I asked as I tried to stand up. I was so sore that all I really wanted to do was soak in a hot bath.

  She walked up to me, took Lauren from my arms, and took her over to the bassinet.

  Oh, thank God. I don’t have to get up and move now.

  “Are you still going home today?” she asked in a whispered voice.

  I nodded my head and grinned like a fool. Scott and I had put Lauren’s bassinet in the sitting room off of our master bedroom, and I couldn’t wait to get home and start working on her room. We’d held off until we knew if it was a boy or a girl, and I had so many ideas.

  Melody walked up to me and held out her hand. “Come on, you need to walk around. Trust me, it will help with the pain.”

  I rolled my eyes, and she put her hands on her hips.

  “Did you just roll your eyes at me, young lady?”

  “Uh…”

  “You’re in deep shit now,” Scott said from behind me.

  I turned to see him looking at us with that panty-melting smile of his.

  Oh Lord…

  I instantly wanted him, but after I was split open from giving birth to his child, I had made a vow never to have sex with him again. I slowly licked my lips, and his smile faded for one brief second. Then, it was quickly there again, but this time, he raised an eyebrow. He always could tell when I was turned-on, which turned me on even more.

  “Come on, up you go. I see you are dressed and ready to go, so I think a walk around will do you a bit of good,” Melody said.

  I slowly stood and felt every single pain.

  As we made our way down the hallway, arm in arm, we chose to remain silent.

  “Let’s get a bit of fresh air, shall we go outside?” Melody asked with a smile as big as the Texas sky.

  I couldn’t help but smile back.

  As we walked over to a bench and sat down, I took a deep breath of air in and slowly let it out.

  “Jessie, I wanted to apologize to you.”

  I snapped my head over and looked at her. “For what?”

  She shook her head, and then she looked up toward the sky. “For the way I treated you when you first started dating Scott. I know I was nothing but a bitch to you.”

  I pulled my head back and widened my eyes. Where is this coming from? “Melody, you don’t—”

  She held up her hand. “No, please let me get this all out. I sat down today at brunch, and I looked around at all these women who were sitting there. They are the best of the best, I guess you could say. Then, I saw Chelsea take a seat, and my stomach turned. Just thinking about what she did, using brother against brother just to hurt you, and how I-I…” She quickly shook her head as if she were clearing a memory or thought from her mind. “I just let her do it. I knew she didn’t want Scott. I knew that. I knew they were never meant to be together, and when I heard her say she was going to win him back, I chose to do nothing. Now, Scott and Bryce barely talk to each other. What if…what if you had never come back? Scott’s heart would have been devastated.”

  I felt tears stinging my eyes, but I tried desperately not to cry. “I did come back though because what Scott and I have is real, Melody. I love him with all my heart, and I have loved him for so long. What happened is in the past and doesn’t matter anymore. It really does no good to keep thinking about it. We have an amazing future ahead of us, and I want to focus all my energy on loving and taking care of Scott and Lauren. And I might add that we have a wedding to plan.”

  She nodded her head and looked at an older couple walking by as they held hands and laughed. When she looked back at me, our eyes met, and I saw the sadness.

  “I just need you to forgive me for acting like such a snobby-ass bitch because, really, I’m not. When you and Scott came over and I saw his grandmother’s ring on your finger, I was so happy. Then, you said you were pregnant, and I thought Scott, Senior and I were going to have heart failure because we were so excited. I just want you to know that you are like the daughter I never had, and I’m so happy that you are a part of this family.”

  That was when I lost it. The battle to hold back the tears was now over and done. I began sobbing, and Melody pulled me into her arms and began rocking me.

  A lone memory of my mother holding me while she sang to me entered my mind. I could almost smell her perfume and hear her voice. Everything hit me at once—the loss of my mother, the guilt I felt about leaving Scott and being with Trey in Belize, and the guilt I felt about Trey’s death. All of it crashed down in that one moment, and I cried like I’d never cried before.

  I wasn’t sure how long we sat there as I cried, but by the time I was done, I couldn’t believe how much better I felt.

  Melody pulled back and looked into my eyes. “Listen to me because I’m only going to say this once. It was not your fault. No one blames you for leaving. I would have probably done the same thing if I had walked in and seen what you did. No one blames you or judges you for staying away for so long, and it is not your fault that Trey died. He made the decision to do the things he did. Okay? So, I don’t want you to ever have those thoughts in your mind again.”

  I nodded my head and wiped at my tear-soaked cheeks.

  “Now, I know I could never, ever replace your mother, but I will do the best I can to be like a mother to you. I always wanted a girl.” She smiled as she gave me a wink. “I can’t dress you up in pink ribbons and bows, but I sure as hell can do that with Lauren.”

  I busted out laughing, thinking about how I’d had the same thought earlier. br />
  She laughed and shook her head. “You know I’m going to spoil the hell out of her, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I know,” I said.

  We both stood up and started to head back to the room.

  “Let’s talk wedding. Do we have a date in mind?” she asked as she slipped her arm through mine again.

  I peeked over at her. “Scott wants to get married on Halloween.”

  I cringed at how she was going to react. I was pretty sure she wanted a huge wedding where we would have to invite everyone in town, but Scott and I wanted something with just family and our closest friends.

  She let out a gasp, and then she threw her head back and laughed. “Oh Lord! Halloween was always his favorite holiday besides Christmas, so I’m not surprised in the least bit.”

  I slowly let out the air I had been holding in. “Wait—you’re not upset? I mean, if we decided to get married on Halloween and only have family and our closest friends attend, you would be okay with that?”

  She stopped and looked at me. Her whole body seemed to straighten up more. “Jessie, I’m already thinking of the decorations…and what I want to wear! Oh, please say the guests can come dressed up. I have the perfect costume in mind!”

  My jaw dropped to the ground, and I just stared at her. Who is this woman? And where did the Melody I thought I knew go?

  “You’re looking at me like I have two heads, Jessica. I can get my party on just like the rest of them. Come on, let’s get y’all home. We have only a little over three months to plan this! Oh, we can set up games for the kids, too. My mind is racing with ideas.”

  As we walked back to the room, Melody kept coming up with all these wonderful plans for the wedding.

  “Damn it, I wish I had a pen and paper, so we could write this all down,” I said as I pushed the door open. Then, I stopped dead in my tracks.

  Scott was holding Lauren and dancing with her in the middle of the room as he hummed a song. He was totally lost in the moment with her. My knees began to wobble, and I had to reach for the wall to hold myself up. I felt Melody steady me with her hands.

  She let out a giggle. She whispered to me, “I remember the first time I saw his father holding him just like this. I was so swept away that I thought I couldn’t breathe. When you get angry with him…think of this moment. Always remember this moment, sweetheart.” She kissed me on the cheek and turned to leave. “Call me when y’all get home.”