Whoa Baby
Chapter 58- 5 Years, 9 Months, 5 Days
"It's the oldest story in the world. One day you're seventeen and planning for someday. And then quietly and without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And that someday is yesterday. And this is your life." –Nathan Scott
I couldn't have been home alone for two minutes after putting my things down and taking off my shoes, sitting on the sofa, staring at the blank TV before I heard a frantic knock on the front door of my apartment. I quickly looked at the clock, shot up from my spot and quickly ran to the kitchen.
"Just a second!" I shouted, dumping my cup down the drain and rinsing it out. I hurry over to the front door, unlocking it and looking down to my little boy all bundled up in his winter attire. He looks up at me with giant smile on his face, cheeks rosy red from the cold, his blue eyes sparkling with energy. "Hey monkey! How was school today?" I exclaim, holding out my arms for him to run up and hug me. In a big embrace I squeeze him tightly, backpack on and everything.
"It was good. We played with chalk during recess and learned how to count by tens in math class." He tells me proudly, kissing my cheek afterwards. "Can I have a gummy snack please?" he asks sweetly, giving me a toothy smile.
"Go ahead." I chuckle, "Did you say thank you to Aunty Emma for bringing you home?" I remind him before he ran away, looking behind him to Emma standing there and watching us.
"He sure did, but I didn't get my kiss today." Emma frowns, leaning down and tapping her cheek. He giggles, reaching up on his toes to peck her cheek before running off and yelling thank you.
Colton, a smart kid, too smart for his age; and handsome, lovable, obedient, polite and outgoing. He's a great kid. You would never know by the way he acts or hearing him talk that he was brought up by two teenagers straight out of high school. People sometimes are surprised when they hear we were teenage parents to such a fantastic kid like Colton. Blue eyes like mine, if not prettier than mine. Dark hair like his father; everything else actually like JC. Like if you shrunk JC down to Colton's size they could be twins. Not a terribly bad thing though.
"Thanks for bringing him home for me today." I meant on the Emma as she closes the door behind her with her foot.
"No problem, any time. How was work? "She asks me as I usher her into the apartment.
"A little busy, but manageable." I reason, pulling out the lemonade from the fridge. "How many booger infested kids do you have in your classroom now?" I chuckle, filling up a couple of glasses.
"Three kids but I also had three absentees. You already got Colton to get his flu shot, right?" She asks me, looking hopeful.
"The first day Alice told me the pharmacy had them in stock. Got it over with when I could. I haven't seen her since. She's been working a lot." I tell Emma, pushing a glass of lemonade to her.
"Well working thirteen hours a day, yeah, I'd be pretty tired." She agrees, pulling her phone from her back pocket. "So how are things going with you?" She asks, glancing up at me from her phone.
"Not much. I just feel like I'm juggling a lot at once." I shrug, tapping my nail against the glass.
"Still feel like something is dangling over your head?" She wonders.
"All the time." I mutter. That was all we had to say about the matter. Brief, because Emma knows I stress about it all the time. "How's Liam doing?" I ask about her recent boyfriend. She's actually been with this guy longer than her previous boyfriends, and to be honest I like him the best.
"He's good actually. He's probably leaving work soon. We're going out to dinner tonight so I have to get ready soon." She tells me, looking back down to her phone with excitement.
"Oo, sounds like you're very excited." I comment, "Where are you two going?"
"Somewhere in the city." She mentions, biting her lower lip.
"Fancy!" I exaggerate, "You better be going then. Sounds like someone needs to get extra dolled up for the night."
"I know!" She says even more enthusiastically, a giant smile on her face as I walk her out, "Wish me luck." She says lastly with a wink.
"I don't think you need it." I smirk at her. I wave to her one last time before she turns the corner to use the elevator. When she leaves I do some picking up around the place, and piling together some laundry to bring downstairs. Just as I was looking for the roll of quarters that I stashed in a junk draw of the kitchen sink I heard the door open and close. Looking over my shoulder to the clock on the stove I realize the time was too early for JC to be walking in. To my surprise though it was someone else I didn't expect.
"Hey, you're back!" I almost all but shout when I see Adam walking into the kitchen. I was slightly surprised, I knew he was coming in from California today, but a after a flight changed I didn't know when he'd be back exactly. A warm blush filling my cheeks when he kisses me lightly on the lips and a smile bursted on my face having him so close to me again after three weeks of being away.
"I am. I thought I'd surprise you." He grins looking at me in the eyes. "How was your day?" He asks, putting his bag down on the counter along with his phone, giving me his undivided attention.
"No complaints." I confirm, still smiling, "This is such a pleasant surprise!" I gushed rapping my arms tighter around his neck. "I didn't expect you to be here for another day or two." I tell him.
"I may have lied to surprise you." He chuckles, kissing the tip of my nose.
"Well that lie I can handle then." I giggle as well, "You go see Lizzy already?" I ask him, pulling away from a hug I didn't want to let go of to walk around the counter and to the kitchen sink to wash my hands. I guess laundry could wait for later, I'm sure Adam is starving. Airplane food is not the greatest.
"Yeah, I did. Sadie has a cold, or maybe the flue. She wasn't feeling too well." He tells me, filling me in about his niece, Sadie, and Lizzy, the ex-fiancé. They lived somewhat close by from the airport, its on the way home for Adam, so usually he stopped by first to see them.
It's nice that after all that was said and done between the two they could still be civil. Lizzy let's Adam stop by and check up on them. Making sure everything is all well with them. I admired him for that, he's a good man, he really is. I trust him, I truly do. I can tell by the way he talks about Lizzy that the love he once had for her isn't here anymore. The manner in which he talks about her, though it is to the utter most respect, isn't like a man talking about a women he loves. He cares for her, and cares more I know for his niece, as if she were his own daughter. It just tells you how compassionate of a human being he is.
"Where's Colton?" He asks, turning in circles as looks for him.
"Probably in his room playing with his toys. Want to help me cook dinner?" I ask, taking some items out of the fridge.
"Sure." He says, rolling up his sleeves up to his elbows and walking over to the sink to wash his hands. "What do you want me to do?" He asks, standing next to me.
"Cut the potatoes please." I advised, sliding over the cutting board and potatoes. He grabbed a knife from the drawer and placed it down on the cutting board.
He leans over to get my attention for me to look over, and smiles, holding my shy gaze. "I love you and I've missed you so much." He says softly, brushing the hairs away from my face. Looking away shyly, with a blush on my cheeks, and a smile on my face he leans down and presses his lips to my cheek.
"Mama! I can't find my trains!" Colton shouts from his room.
"Did you leave it with daddy and Uncle Drake?" I ask him, which is what usually happens when he can't find something. He usually leaves it at JC and Drake's place.
His little feet come running into the kitchen, smiling when he sees Adam standing next to me, "Hey bud, how's it going?" Adam asks, him as he comes running over to hug his legs.
"You're back! You're back! Now we can have fun!" He shouts, making Adam laugh; forgetting all about his missing trains. "Are you staying for a really long time?" Colton asks, looking up at him.
"I'll be here for a while." Adam tells him with a chuckle, "What you and mom don't have any fun?" He asks him, putting the knife down as he waited for me to peel another potato, and picking up Colton.
"Mama doesn't let me watch the superhero movies." He whispers oh-so-discreetly in Adam's ear.
"So not cool." Adam agrees, shaking his head. "We've got lots of time to watch superhero movies."
"Yes!" Colton cheers, then looks over to me, "So can I get my trains from daddy's, mama?" He asks me, not forgetting them.
"Later." I tell him, looking at the clock behind me to see the time. JC was almost home from work.
"Do we get to go with you next time?" Colton asks Adam, swinging his legs as he sits on the counter. "On the airplane?" He clarifies, using his hands to demonstrate.
"You're still in school, Colt. Maybe over the summer." Adam tells him, tapping his nose, and setting him back down on the ground so he could cut the potatoes I finished peeling.
"Mama, how long until summer?" He asks.
"Seven more month, monkey." I tell him, "Are you hungry?" I ask, cutting the package open of chicken.
"Mm, not yet. What are you cooking?" He asks, stepping on his tip toes and looking over the counter.
"Chicken noodle soup. Maybe. I don't know yet. Something with chicken and potatoes." I tell him with a small laugh.
"Can I go over daddy's?" He asks again, hopping up and down.
"When he comes back from work." I tell him, looking over my shoulder again for the time.
"Is Uncle Drake home?" He asks, walking over to the fridge.
"I don't know, Colton." I tell him, making sure I didn't cut my fingertips off as I diced the raw chicken breast. He rushes back to his room, leaving us alone in the kitchen once again. "Did you invited Lizzy over one day for dinner?" I ask Adam, breaking the silence in the room.
"Not yet." He mumbles, "I just got back this morning, P. I'm tired, I didn't really think about it." He defends.
"I'm just asking. There's no rush. I just want you to invite her over one day. So we can all have a meal together. As crazy as it may sound. It'll be good for all of us." I express to him.
"Dinner with insanity is how I think about it." He states.
"We'll survive." I say hopefully, "You want to peel the carrots." I order next. He nods his head moving to the fridge to find them.
"So have you and JC made any progress about the party?" He asks, coming over to the counter with a bag of carrots.
"We were thinking about doing it at the trampoline place. Colton had been wanting to go back ever since he went to that kid in his class birthday party." I tell him. Like my mom had pointed out too, it's better than doing it at the house, having to cook and clean afterwards. This was is the easier way. People do it for you, all you have to do it show up- and pay of course.
"That's a good idea." He agrees, nodding his head.
"How long are you going to be in town for?" I ask him, placing all the chicken in a pot with some olive oil to cook.
"I'll be here for the rest of the month." He grins. Adam still travels back and forth. It's a hassle, and he rather stay in once place- usually North Carolina- but he needs to be in California too. He'd prefer to live in North Carolina, but things are a lot easier in California he says.
We go for most of the summer. To JC's dismay, he doesn't like being away from Colton for too long, but Colton likes going on airplane rides, and he loves California. Mostly because he loves the beach, and Adam's condo is right on the beach. Literally, you open the back door and take ten steps out and you've hit the sand.
"My mom asked me again when we plan on setting a date and moving out west." He chuckles, dumping both potatoes and carrots in a bowl together.
I bit down on my bottom lip, looking down at the ring on my left hand as a reminder. It's been almost a year, you'd think we'd at least pick a date by now. "Right." I exaggerated, slightly giggling.
"I don't want to move out west. I rather settle here, but you know. Work." He brings up again.
"I know, I know." I mutter over and over. Not only that but we had both agreed it wouldn't pass with JC moving Colton out of state. Neither would my parents like that or my job. Adam too wouldn't want to be too far away from Lizzy and Sadie now, not after all the progress he's made with them. "You think spring is too soon?" I ask, sprinkling some spices in the pan of chicken and mixing it well.
"I don't think so. We've already got a sense to what kind of wedding we want." He says, leaning up against the counter.
We talk for a little longer, not much more about the wedding, but about how work is and how his parents are doing. Same with mine. Even though we talked every day, four times a day, it was as if there was still so much to catch the other one up on. Dinner was about half way done when JC decided to arrive. Of course he's the same as ever with just walking into people's places like it's his own.
"Hey Adam, nice to see you back." JC greets, entering the kitchen.
"Good to be back." Adam responds, putting the clean dishes away for me.
"Colton, come here." I call out, surprised he didn't rush into the kitchen hear JC's voice, better yet the door opening or closing.
I hear his little feet coming our way, "Daddy!" He shouts. Even with my back turned to them I could see Colton running to JC with his open arms, waiting to be carried.
"Hey buddy, how was school today?" JC asks him. Colton told them same story to him as he told to me, along with a couple of other stories he didn't tell me yet.
"Can I stay with you and Uncle Drake tonight?" Colton asks JC first.
"Did you ask momma already?" JC asks, Colton shakes his head, "I guess we can have a dude's night."
"Yes!" Colton exclaims, "Did I leave my trains with you?" He asks, wiggling and moving around in JC's arm.
"Yes you did. I left them in your toy bin for you." JC tells him.
"Alright let's go." Colton says as if he were in a rush.
"Colton, why don't you eat dinner first." I tell him, "I'm making chicken noodle soup."
"Yeah, eat dinner first and then come over." JC agrees.
"Do you want to eat daddy?" Colton asks him, looking hesitant.
"I'm not hungry yet buddy, but that's ok it's your dinner time and you need to eat." JC instructs him, "You can come over when you're done, promise." He assures him.
"Ok then. Mama can I eat now." Colton more like demands than questions.
"Dinner will be done in fifteen minutes. Why don't you show daddy what you made with your blocks last night." I suggest to him so his could kill time.
"To my room!" Colton shouts, pointing for JC to go. After I had fed Colton, and got his bag ready to go across the way to JC's, I watched Colton run across the dead parking lot to where JC stood at the front door. With a quick wave I turned back to the apartment building and up to my place. I go to the kitchen, and grab two mugs, making us tea.
Adam walks into the kitchen, a grin on his face that I've missed seeing, "Date night?" I grinned, handing him a mug of hot tea.
"Wedding planning date night?" He compromised, raising an eyebrow at me. I pressed my lips together looking down at my mug, "We should have something planned by now. Especially if you want a spring wedding. That's not too far away."
"Early June wedding. How does that sound?" I suggest, though, I did had just mentioned sometime earlier that I thought about a May wedding. It wasn't much further.
"Whatever day you want. We've just got to get invitations out soon, very soon." He reminds me. I nod my head, looking away as I lean back against pillows, sinking. "If you're getting second thoughts, P, or cold feet-"
"I'm not." I reject hurriedly, sitting up right. "I'm not getting second thoughts, I just, don't know where to start or how to plan and thinking about it overwhelms me so I just push it off to the side and that's not getting anything done either and I feel like your mother is expecting this huge wedding and I don't want to disappoint her or you and I don't know if she's thinking the wedding will take place in California-"
"I'm going to stop you right there." He says, ending my blabbering by putting a hand on my shoulder and staring deeply into my eyes, figuring it would calm me somehow, but eye contact make me feel uncomfortable. "You don't have to worry about any of that. You plan the wedding the way you have dreamt about. Don't worry about my mother, I'll take care of her. I can help you out you know, you're not alone on this. Or I can even hire someone to help you out- one of those wedding planner people." He rubs his hand up and down my arm soothingly, grinning, "Don't stress out about it. You know I'm good with small wedding with just family."
"Your mother isn't." I mumbled, getting a look of reminder from Adam. "I know, don't worry about her." He nods his head and kisses my forehead. My phone began vibrating on the coffee table, illuminating the space around it. I glance at JC's name on the screen and slide green button over to answer. "Hello?"
"Mama, can you bring Dumbo to daddy's, please." Colton asks me in a half tired voice.
"I'll bring it right over to you monkey. I'll be there in a minute." I tell him, already uncrossing my legs and setting my mug on the table. I shut the phone off, telling Adam over my shoulder that I'd be right back.
Grabbing Colton's stuffed elephant off the rocking chair, I tidy up his room slightly before putting on my slippers and walking out of the building. JC lived in apartment building B, whereas I lived in C. It was right across the parking lot, which is really convenient. Especially in times like these when Colton decides he wants to sleep at JC's.
I take the elevator to the third floor, hugging my long cardigan tightly around me. My black tank top and cardigan was no match for the cool atmosphere. I was chilly to say nevertheless. I knock on the first door next to the elevator, waiting for it to open.
"Hey baby mama. What you got for me?" Drake smirks, opening the door for me.
"Nice to see you too, Drake." I grin, walking past him. "You know it's like thirty degrees out? Maybe a shirt will keep you warm." I suggest, standing outside of JC's room and facing him.
"I don't need cloths to keep warm." He smirks, laying back on the couch with the remote in his hand. I roll my eyes, knocking twice before pushing the door open enough for me to walk in.
"Mama! I'm over here." Colton whisper shouts, waving his hands in the semi dark.
"What are you doing in daddy's bed and not yours?" I ask him, meaning the small kid bed in the corner of the room that was his own at JC's.
"Daddy gets scared in the dark so I protect him." He smiles, reaching out for his elephant. JC, laying on the side of the bed closest to the door, with his elbow propped on the mattress, chuckles and looks back at me, "Thank you mama." Colton says, wrapping his arms around my neck and burring his head in the crook of my neck.
"You're welcome monkey." I tell him, kissing his cheek. "Come on, you should be sleeping by now." I tell him, patting his back to let me go.
"Can you lay here and pray with me." He asks, still continuing to hug me.
"Daddy's here. He'll pray with you." I tell him, rubbing his back.
"But mama I want you to pray with me." He whispers, "Please, please-"
"Ok Colton, ok. Lay down first." I tell him. He scrambles to the middle of the bed, laying the blankets over him and hugging his elephant.
I sigh, walking around the bed, laying on the other side on top of the covers, "You want me to pray first?" I ask him, brushing his hair with the tips of my fingers. He nods his head, closing his eyes and folding his hands on top of his elephant. With a deep sigh, I look over to JC quickly, making eye contact before closing my eyes, "Dear Lord thank you for this wonderful day you have given to us. Thank you for keeping us safe and healthy. Thank you for loving us unconditionally even with all our faults and imperfections. Lord I ask that you take away all of Colton's nightmares and fear and give him a good night's sleep. Protect him all the time in the name of Jesus. Amen."
I open my eyes, kissing Colton's forehead and grinning down to him. He keeps his eyes closed, releases a deep sigh and begins his prayer that he recites every night, "Dear Father in heaven, look down from above. Bless daddy and mama, and those whom I love. May angels guard over me tonight, amen."
"Amen buddy." Kissing his forehead again he curls up to my side and yawns. "Go to sleep now, ok?" I tell him, kissing his head again and rubbing my hand down his back lightly. "Love you monkey." I whisper to him, hoping and trying to slide off the bed.
"Love you mama." He whispers, squishing and hurting my boob as he rubs his face on my shirt. "Night daddy." He whispers too.
"Good night Colton." JC whispers, rubbing his head, "Why don't you come lay with me so mama can go." He tells him, tugging at his arm lightly for him to roll over.
Colton whines, pulling away from JC and hugging my waist. I wave my hand to JC, letting him know it was fine. Colton falls asleep quickly anyways, and there aren't many times when I allowed Colton to sleep with me. He needed to learn to sleep in his own bed.
JC laid there, his back against the mattress, one arm behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. My fingers brushed Colton's hair, and I felt myself wanting to fall asleep even if it was only eight. "How was work today?" I asked JC, quietly, barely above a whisper so we didn't wake Colton.
"I have a lot of work to get done. A lot." He whispers, shaking his head. "How about you?"
"It was a slow day." I responded, not being able to tell much. Patient doctor confidentiality agreement.
After six years of college, I graduated in the summer. Usually, to become a therapist it's seven years at the least, but because I did so well in high school, advancing in all my AP classes so that I opted out of those courses in college, I was closer to my goal. I worked my butt off though like any other student there. Maybe even harder. Difficult at times, especially, balancing college life, a part time job, and raising Colton. I had great help though. I still do.
Then I got a job. Very recently actually. Five months by next week. A job with great benefits, and salary. Tough long hours, but eventually down the line that would change. It's everything I wanted, truly. Working with people and advising them. Helping them to go down the right path. I love my job, and my life right now, and not many people can say that.
JC graduated college. Civil engineering. He always did like the challenge of building something. And yes, the chair he built me is still around. Still in the corner of Colton's room where it's meant to be. JC graduated before me by two years. It also didn't take him long for people to notice his skilled talents and hire him. He started from the bottom, and worked his way up.
He did it. JC Ace. He proved everyone wrong. Not that he's the guy to rub in your face that "I told you so" phrase, but he did it. He did something with his life even when people thought he wouldn't. He made something out of himself. He's doing great for himself. He's a fantastic dad to Colton. A great friend and supporter to me. Even though things didn't turn out the way we would have liked, to be together for Colton, we're still a family. We do everything because of Colton and because we love him and because he's our world.
"How did that, uh, date go with..." I asked, trying to remember her name. I wanted to say her name is Ashley, but I knew I would be wrong. I think it was Amy...
"Amy. It went well. I think it did anyways." He whispers, shrugging his shoulders and turning his head to me, "How's the wedding planning going?" He asks me.
I gave a nervous chuckle, staring up at the ceiling, "At the rate I plan things we might get married in five years." I said jokingly, taking a deep breath.
"Not like there's a rush for you two to get married." He reminds me, propping himself on his elbow. "Does he still talk about moving to California?" He asks after a long and awkward moment of silence. During that silence I could sense that question on his mind and forming on the tip of his tongue. It was that obvious.
"Not really. He says it'd be easier for him, but he doesn't really want to move out there either. I don't think I could move out there though, you know? Away from my family, away from my friends, away from you- it wouldn't be good for Colton either." I tell him, shaking my head.
"You know, Colton was asking me the other night what to call Adam." JC mutters, shifting slightly on the bed, careful not to wake Colton up.
"What do you mean?" I ask, wanting some clarification.
"He asked me why he doesn't call him Uncle Adam. Why I don't live with you like his friend, Alex's mom and dad do. He's picking up on things, Pais." He tells me, and I could pick up the worried tone in his voice.
"Well we knew he was bound to start asking these questions, it was just the matter of when." I remind him, knowing that eventually I'd have to start answering questions like this and having to explain. I don't think JC expected it to be so soon, but Colton is a bright kid.
"What are we going to tell him?" He asks.
"The truth." I tell him simply, there was no other way I'd do it but to tell Colton the truth. "Explain it to him in a way he will understand and when he gets older he'll understand better."
JC nods his head, taking a deep breath and then releasing it, "I'm sorry things couldn't work out between us."
"Yeah, I am too." I voice lightly, trying to look over to him from the corner of my eye, but I didn't see much through the dark.
"I know that's not how you wanted things. Especially with raising Colton." He remembers. It was true. We both tried really hard to move on from everything, we restarted fresh a few dozen times, but no matter what we still weren't healed from everything. We tried, for Colton's sake, we tried to be happy together for years, but I realized you shouldn't have to try to be happy with someone. It wasn't my fault or JC's fault, it was just something we tried forcing and it didn't come out right. As long as we could still be friends, supporters, and civil with each other, for Colton, that is the best we can do for him.
I look down at Colton, finding his mouth had parted slightly and his eyes shut; sleeping soundlessly. I scoot away slowly, trying not to wake him as I place his head on the pillow and slide off the mattress. I pull the covers up and kiss his head, putting my slippers back on and holding my cardigan tighter around me. JC got up from the bed too, following me out the door, blinded by the bright TV screen that Drake had his eyes glued too.
"Good night Drake and please, don't get my son to play violent video games with you. He's not even seven yet." I tell him, walking past him to the front door.
"He's going to want to play them sooner or later." He tells me, turning his head away from the TV and smirking to me.
"Not if I can help it." I mumble under my breath. JC follows me out to the hall, until I reach the elevator and press the button for it. "You want to come over tomorrow to talk about Colton's birthday party?" I ask him as I wait for the elevator.
"So you want to plan a birthday party that's a month away but you can't plan your own wedding?" He questions me with a chuckle, leaning against the wall.
"Like you said, his birthday is a month away. It's not like my wedding has a deadline." I tell him with a shrug. I got things done faster when due dates motivate me.
"So, pick a date for your wedding, send out invitations, so then you're motivated to plan things. Paisley, its not-"
"JC, please, I already have Adam and his mom and my mom talking about wedding plans nonstop I don't need you on board that train too. Please, give me a break." I sigh, running my hands in my hair and down my face, exhausted.
He presses his lips together, nodding his head, "I think if you loved him just as much as you say you do you wouldn't be putting off wedding planning. I would think you'd want to get married."
"I do! I do love Adam and I do want to get married, but I'm busy, and it's not so easy either when he's flying every few weeks too." I reason with him. The elevator door opens and I step in, JC following me, which he never does, so I gave him an odd look.
"Look I'm only going to ask you this once, and I'll only bring this up now and never again." He warns me. With that, I already felt sick to my stomach because I had a feeling of what he was going to bring up. That's why I never really talked about wedding plans with JC. He's always the one to bring it up, and it scared me every time.
"Two years ago I asked you to marry me and yeah, it was to save our relationship, but it was also because I thought of you and Colton and how you always said you wanted to be a family together. His father and mother together. You told me no, but you also told me that maybe there would be a chance. Are you holding off your marriage with Adam because you're thinking about our chance?" He stares at me, pressing the buttons on the elevator again to go back up.
"I love Adam." I told him with a shake of my head. "JC, you're an amazing father, and there was a time that I did love you. I still love you, but not the same way as I love Adam. You were the first person I fell in love with and that will never change, that will always be some part of me. I forgave you years ago, but we both agreed we needed new people in our lives that haven't hurt us nor have we hurt them. A clean break, a new start, new relationships; that's what we needed. Yes, our chance is gone, but I'll always love you no matter what." I tell him, finding that we were both standing fairly close to each other.
He nods his head, brushing his thumb over my cheek, pushing the strands of my brown hair away from my eyes, "You're right." He agrees, cracking a grin. "Move on." He whispers, as if he's telling that to himself. He kisses the top of my head, resting his lips there for a moment or two before backing away. "I'll bring breakfast over tomorrow." He tells me, reopening the elevator doors that had shut us in time ago.
"I'll make sure we have orange juice this time." I joke, nodding my head as I step out the elevator. "I'll see you in the morning." I whisper, turning the corner. I saw him wave his hand to me, then the elevator doors closing.
I rush back over to my apartment building, embracing the heat when I walk through the doors. Walking up one flight of stairs I walk down the hall to my unlocked door, lock it behind me, and go straight back to the couch, "Sorry, Colton had me stay until he fell asleep." I tell Adam, curling back up on the couch with my mug.
"I figured you did." He grinned, putting the remote down and scooting closer to me. "I've missed you." He whispers to me after pressing his lips against mine.
"I missed you too. Don't leave again." I pout, kissing the tip of his nose with a chuckle.
"I wish, hun, I wish." He grins, resting his forehead on mine, "I'm sorry about the flying back and forth thing."
"I'm just fortunate that you can fly back." I tell him. Adam always flies back to California every month for a couple of weeks. Clients that need to meet him in person to go over contracts and whatever else he does. The entertainment industry isn't real big in little towns of North Carolina, so it's not like he can just get a job here that quickly. He's lucky that his father owns the entertainment firm, otherwise he wouldn't be able to fly back and forth.
"I'll work on the invitations this weekend." I mention, resting my head on his shoulder as we turn to the TV.
"Do you want help?" He asks, turning to look at me.
"I don't know yet. I'll let you know though. I might have Emma help me out too. If she can." I say to him, grabbing the blanket from behind us, draped over the couch to throw over us. I turn to him, cupping his cheek and pressing my lips to his, "I love you." I remind him.
"I love you too." He whispers, kissing me again until I pull away. I rest my head back on his shoulder again, staring at the TV as we caught up on some old shows.
That's how the story goes. How the bad boy and the pastor's daughter turned out. Not the way your normal Hollywood film would have ended it. Not the way that you would think it would typically end. Not the way you would want it to end. Because that's how reality works, it works in ways you least expect it.
Once upon a time, JC Ace, the towns bad boy found himself running off to a cliff to clear his mind. Paisley Devoncourt, the town's sweetheart, a pastor's daughter, at the same cliff to get away from her problems. The two cross paths... and the rest you know. Two polar opposites who grew up and mended each other's problems.
The moral of the story is this: no matter how much we try, or how much we want it... sometimes life has a way of pushing you past your wants and hopes and accept the reality you are in now.