Raising Madison (The third book in the 'The girl in the attic trilogy')

(18) Raising Madison

Raising Madison

Chapter 18

Brooklyn’s POV

I desperately wanted to see Preston and Madie so when he phoned and asked me to come over I was really excited. I haven’t seen them all week and I didn’t like it. I have somehow managed to grow attached to them and although I’m not sure if it’s a good thing I couldn’t help but rush to get to Preston’s apartment.

I was happy that he had asked me to come over to visit and not to watch Madie, not that I mind watching her at all but because it meant that he actually wanted to spend time with me. He does seem a bit better since his been back and the fact that he actually talked to me about Katie when we had lunch over the weekend made me feel some hope for him. I promised that I would help him and he promised that he would let me. This time it looks like he is going to stick to his promise.

It took me twenty minutes to get to his place but it felt like forever. As I drove I got more and more anxious to see him and to be completely honest, it was freaking me out a bit. I’ve probably missed him more than I should over the last week and every time I think about him, which is a lot, I get this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The feeling intensified as soon as he opened the door and I saw his handsome face. He smiled at me and I had to restrain myself from giving him a hug. I shouldn’t even want to hug him, we are just friends, nothing more. Preston is still in love with Katie and although I want to help him get over the pain of her loss, I doubt that he would want to move on anytime soon. He doesn’t seem to be interested in a relationship and I can’t really blame him after losing the love of his life and having to raise his baby on his own. I will just have to get over whatever it is I am feeling for him because I am pretty sure that he doesn’t feel the same about me.

Preston’s POV

A very unwelcome feeling spread through me as Brooklyn looked up and smiled at me. She is beautiful I thought, surprising myself, I haven’t looked at any girl since I met Katie and I didn’t like the fact that I was actually noticing Brooklyn. I pushed all the thoughts out of my head and stepped aside so that she could enter. I had invited her after all and although I didn’t like to admit it, I was happy that she came.

“Is Madie still sleeping?” she asked as she walked passed me.

“Yeah, we played all morning so she’s beat,” I replied, following Brooklyn into the living room. She looked a bit nervous which in turn made me feel nervous. Maybe I shouldn’t have invited her after all.

“Ok, so what do you want to do?” she asked, turning to look at me.

“I don’t really know, maybe we can watch a movie or something,” I replied, sounding like a complete idiot.

“Only if I can chose,” Brooklyn replied jokingly but I agreed anyway. I had no problem with her choosing the movie. I doubt that I’d be able to concentrate anyway considering the circumstances.

She looked through my collection and then decided on a horror movie of all things. I didn’t expect it but I was grateful nonetheless, it can only be better than watching a romance.

“I’ll get us some crisps and sodas,” I said and then quickly made my way into the kitchen, trying to get a hold of myself. I’ve been around Brooklyn a lot and it never effected me, why was I feeling this way now?

I took my time getting the snacks but after a few minutes decided that I had to go back. Brooklyn looked at me strangely when I returned but she didn’t say anything so I sat down on the couch next to her, keeping a safe distance, and opened the pack of crisps.

We watched the movie in silence, eating the crisps and drinking our sodas. Madie woke up once but went right back to sleep after a minute or two.

When the movie finished, I turned it off and Brooklyn turned in her seat to face me. There was still a good open space between us but with her looking at me I started feeling all nervous again.

“Tell me more about Katie,” she said, surprising me. I really didn’t expect her to bring Katie up again. I gulped slightly and then took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

“What do you want to know?” I asked, hoping that I can stay calm like I did the last time.

“How did you two meet?” she asked, looking genuinely interested.

“It’s a strange story,” I replied, remembering the first time I saw Katie.

“Good, I don’t like boring ones,” Brooklyn replied, smiling. I returned her smile and then started me and Katie’s’ story, telling her about how I went to go live with my aunt and uncle and how Katie was living in the attic. How I found her and sneaked her into the house and how I fell in love with her.

“That is so romantic,” Brooklyn half whispered, a tear stinging in her eyes.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” I replied, feeling my heart starting to break, knowing that I was getting to the really sad part of the story next.

“What happened then?” Brooklyn asked and I could tell what she really wanted to know. She wanted to know what happened to Katie, how she died.

“Katie was sick and I finally convinced her to let me take her to the hospital. It turned out that she had really bad cancer,” I replied, not liking that particular memory.

“Oh,” Brooklyn gasped, the tear stinging her eye escaping down her cheek.

“It was horrible but the doctors managed to get the cancer to go into remission. We were really happy and I asked her to marry me. I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and she felt the same way. I got a job while I studied and we moved into our own place, everything was going great and then we found out she was pregnant. It was almost too good to be true. On our wedding day she fainted and I rushed her to the hospital. It turned out that the cancer had returned and because she was pregnant they couldn’t do anything about it. Katie had the choice of getting an abortion so that she could get the right treatment she needed or to go through with the pregnancy…,” I said, trailing off. My heart was pounding heavily in my chest and a few tears had escaped my eyes. I didn’t want to cry but I couldn’t stop myself.

“She chose to have Madie,” Brooklyn stated, a look of admiration on her face.

“She died not to long after, she only got a few hours with her baby,” I replied, remembering it as if it happened yesterday.

“I’m so sorry Preston, she really sounds amazing,” Brooklyn said softly and I could tell that she really meant it and surprisingly enough it did make me feel a little bit better.

“It’s ok, I guess I should just focus on all the good memories,” I replied, trying to convince myself that I could actually do that.

“It sounds like you’ve got a lot of those,” Brooklyn said, smiling at me.

“Yes I do and I have Madie,” I replied, the thought of my little girl warming my heart.