Complete Indelible Love Series

by Cee, DW

  “I was so relieved; I didn’t have time to be sad that a baby died. I didn’t think of the baby as our baby. I just thought of it as a nuisance and a halt to my future. But Hannah thought exactly the opposite of what I thought. She looked at me and the baby as her future, and she went through a bout of depression when she lost the baby. I tried to comfort her, but in all honesty, I was too relieved to empathize or sympathize. Shitty of me, huh?” He asked quietly.

  “Max, you were seventeen. Who wants to be tied down at that age? What you felt was normal. I would’ve felt the same if that had happened to me. You can’t blame yourself for being honest.”

  “I blame myself for pulling away from Hannah when she needed me most. After she lost the baby, I tried not to be, but I was a bastard, and I shirked away from my responsibility as her boyfriend. Her parents saw my actions as a blessing in disguise and they uprooted their family to Michigan. That’s how it really ended for us.”

  “Poor Hannah.”

  “Baby...please don’t be upset with Hannah. She’s a sweet girl, and she’s down on her luck right now. I’d like for you to be friends with her, if you can, and treat her like a sister or a cousin. You’ll like her.”

  Just what I needed...another one of Max’s ex as a sister...GROAN!

  “I was really lost when I got to undergrad. I think the pregnancy scare along with my parents’ severe disapproval from that point on, sent me into a senseless rebellion. If it wasn’t for Emily, I would’ve been a serious lost cause.”

  “Is that how you stayed a ‘virgin’ with her for four years? I always wondered about that fact.”

  “Yeah. My brothers called me a born-again virgin.” We both laughed. “As much as I wanted to further our physical relationship, I was relieved more than anything when she told me she wasn’t going to have sex with me.”

  I gave him a skeptical look. “You mean to tell me you never tried to get Emily in bed with you?”

  “Well, I didn’t say that...in any case, let’s not talk about a woman who’s your sister, a mother of three, and Jake’s wife. If he had any inkling of this conversation, I’d probably end up hospitalized.” That brought out another round of laughter. “I woke up and grew up after I let Emily go. That reality check was like an ice bucket to my face. It was then that I decided to go to med school, study pediatrics, and help kids who didn’t have any help. I guess this is my way of apologizing to, and paying penance toward my unborn and unwanted child.”

  “Okay, I understand and accept what happened to you in high school, but what was the deal with you going straight to Hannah after you dropped me off here on Sunday?”

  Max’s snickering did not sit well with me. I stood up from his lap, only to be pulled back into his body.

  “Sorry. I was being a bit of an asshole to you that night. You turning away from me that night hurt, so I wasn’t exactly truthful about why I went to go see Hannah.”

  “Oh...” Guilty feelings got to me again and I hid my face in his chest.

  “It’s all right, Babe. I understand why you ran out of my car as quickly as you could. I wasn’t honest with you from the start, the atomic bomb my mom dropped on you was beyond acceptable, and you just needed time to process all the information that was handed to you in one night. Once I cooled down from being pissed at my mom, I saw the light and understood why you did what you did.” He put his arms around me and held me tight, showering kisses upon my head.

  “And Hannah?”

  His chuckling reverberated from the bottom of his chin to the top of my head. “Of course...Hannah. My green-eyed monster wouldn’t be my gem if she wasn’t most curious about another woman. I went to see Hannah...”

  He stopped and made me wait...made me super nervous.

  “Hannah...!” I got impatient.

  “I went to see Hannah for several reasons. I wanted to make sure she was okay after what happened at the dinner table. She was probably just as surprised as the rest of us. Once she told me that she was all right, I proceeded to clear the air with her about her and me, and about you and me.”

  I stared at Max expectantly.

  “As for her and me, I explained that there was no her and me. We ended back in high school. I didn’t rehash the past, but I did explain about my future.” He paused again. I think he was doing this for effect. Asshole! He knew I was pissed again. He laughed briefly, then stole a kiss from an unwilling me.

  “I told Hannah that you are the reason I smile these days, laugh these days, argue these days, want to tear my hair out these days, and want to lock myself in a tug-of-war in bed with you these days.”

  “You did not say that last part, did you?”

  “No,” he chuckled. “Just because I didn’t say it, doesn’t mean I don’t mean it.”

  “In so many words, I told her that you are my everything these days.”

  “Your everything, with whom you can go days without resolving these issues?”

  “My everything, with whom I was embarrassed to have to explain about my dysfunctional family. Your family is ideal. How could you possibly make sense of mine? That’s why I stayed away. If you want to know about my mom and dad, I’ll tell you, but it’s not pretty, and it’s not something I enjoy explaining.”

  “We don’t have to talk about your parents if you don’t like talking about them. After Sunday, I can see why they’ve never been a topic of conversation. But...this everything wants to know why you threatened to let her go, back at the hospital.”

  “You couldn’t just be happy with me telling you that you were my everything, could you? You had to bring up my threat. A threat that I wouldn’t have been able to keep because there was no way I was going to let you go, my precious gem. Do you still not understand what you mean to me?”

  “Everything?” I questioned, still uncertain.

  “EVERYTHING!” He answered without hesitation.

  “So we’re all good?” I still questioned.

  “We’re all good. That’s my life in a nutshell. I promise, no more surprises from the past. The entire skeleton is out.”

  I finally got everything from him, I think...

  April 1, 2013 Flashback

  I’m about to get on the plane, but I wanted to text one last time and say goodbye. I’ll miss you.

  I’ll miss you too, my precious gem. Don’t work too hard.

  Like there’s a chance of that NOT happening. Once again, I’m the least senior member of this legal team. All the grunt work will fall on me.

  Baby, I gotta go. Everyone’s waiting for me. I love you. Have a safe trip.

  Wait!

  Yeah?

  Is...I mean...will Hannah be riding on the Harley with you...?

  Maybe...

  If you love me, you will NOT have any other girl riding on the back seat of that bike. YOU UNDERSTAND ME MAX DAVIS?!?

  We’ll see...

  JERK!

  Once again, I love you. See you in a week.

  “Time to board,” Donovan called out. “Put away your phone and turn that frown upside down. We’re going to paradise. Why in five hours, you’ll be sipping cocktails and sitting on the beach.”

  “No, you’ll be sipping cocktails, and I’ll be writing up documents!”

  “Sucks to be an associate...” Donovan chuckled his way onto the plane.

  Within the course of two days, I went from working late on a Saturday with Andrea and all the other associates from our department, to a Monday business trip with Donovan and Kate. Kate is now fully on board with our law firm and though she’s technically not a partner, she has higher ranking than most members of our firm—not to mention the awe and respect of everyone. From the moment she stepped into the office, she brought in a huge hedge fund client who wanted to invest in, and merge a biochemical and pharmaceutical company from Taiwan. Because of the long flight for either party to visit one another in their respective countries, Hawaii was chosen as the midpoint. And, since ther
e was some pharmaceutical trademarking involved, and because I was Gimpy’s favorite (step) grandchild, I was chosen to go on this trip with Donovan and Kate.

  Oh...and did I mention? Practically my entire hood is coming with us.

  “Aw, come on!” I complained when I saw Jake, Emily, Kate and Donovan turn left upon boarding the plane, while Laney, Doug, Nick, and I were herded to the right of the plane. “That’s not fair. I can’t believe the firm put us in different classes.”

  “Sucks to be an associate!” Donovan called out again, while sipping his mimosa at 8:00am.

  “Hope you choke on your champagne!” I yelled back. There was laughter that ensued from the four fortunate ones up front. The rest of us put our carry-ons away and sat in our seats.

  How, you ask, did the five other Reids end up on this trip with us? Well, sit back, think wavy screen on a television set and...flashback.

  “Emi, we need a vacation—just the two of us—before the baby arrives in August,” Jake lamented.

  “We just had a vacation in New York. We don’t need to go away again. And plus, I can’t go anywhere without my babies. What will they do without me? Shoot...what will I do without them?” She giggled.

  “How about you will spend time with your husband and your husband only. We don’t have to go far—just far away enough where if I want your attention, I don’t have to pass it by two mini despots before having you to myself.”

  “I don’t know, Honey. I just weaned them. I don’t want them to think I’m abandoning them as well.”

  “EMILY! I beg of you...a few nights away and a few mornings of sleeping in.”

  “Only a few nights? And not too far away?” She pleaded.

  “Only a few nights and not too far away...” he agreed.

  “All right. Let me go talk to Mom and see if she can watch the kids.”

  Emily took both kids up to their room to start the whole bedtime routine. I offered to help but she said she needed to take care of the first part (whatever that was) and she’d call me when she was ready for me. Whatever...

  “Too bad you can’t join me in Hawaii. Donovan, Kate, and I are going there on a business trip all next week.”

  Next thing I knew, Jake whipped out his phone and called his best friend. All I heard was a bunch of uh-huhs after he asked Donovan for our itinerary. Then he went online and booked himself and Emily two seats on our flight and a room in our hotel.

  “I thought Emily said close by,” I reminded him.

  “It’s only a five-hour flight.” Jake shrugged.

  “It’s thousands of miles away,” my voice got a bit louder, aggravated for Emily.

  “Little sister...close is a relative word. It’s not like we’re going to Australia.”

  “Whatever...I’m going up to give your wife the good news.”

  “You do that. And while you’re at it, tell her I’m going back to work till it’s time for us to board the plane,” he chuckled.

  “Hey Jane. Scoot over. Let me have the aisle seat.” Nick held up the flow of traffic.

  “Nick, you scoot in. I hate being squished.”

  “But I have longer legs than you. You scoot in!”

  “Nick, why don’t you take my seat and I’ll sit next to Jane? I don’t mind the window seat,” Laney smiled and got up from behind us.

  Nick and Doug were acting like buffoons, excited to be doing something during their spring break, rather than helping Mom and Dad watch the kids. Of course, we all loved the little buggers, and of course, there will be plenty of attention given to them between the grandparents, great-grandparents, and all the grandaunts and uncles popping in throughout the week. But, in all honesty, would you rather be in Hawaii or babysitting your niece and nephew? Yep, I thought so!

  “This is going to be so much fun. Did you check out where we’re staying? I looked it up online. It looks badass! I don’t think I’ve stayed at any place as nice as the one we’re staying at, on the Big Island.” Doug sounded like such a moron sometimes.

  “And to think...it’s all FREE!” Nick joined in on the meeting of the morons as they high-fived each other more than once, practically howling at the moon.

  How, you ask, did these buffoons end up on this trip with us and HOW, you ask, are they staying in the most luxurious resort for free? Again, flashback...

  “Jake! You seriously booked us a flight to Hawaii???” Emily was not a happy camper.

  “You’ll wake up the babies, Love. Don’t yell,” Jake tried to coax her from her ire, but it wasn’t working.

  “You promised no place far and you promised only for a few days! And we’ve already been to Hawaii. Why do we need to go back there? Can you cancel and get your money back?”

  “It’s only a five-hour flight,” he said, pulling Emily into his arms, “it’s only for a week,” he started kissing her face, “and we’ve been to Maui, not the Big Island.” He kept kissing her till she melted a little. These two were iconic lovers! “Plus, everything is booked, paid for, and no, we cannot get a refund. I know you don’t want thousands of dollars going down the drain, my thrifty wife.” Jake kinda chuckled as he knew he’d won this argument.

  At this point, the two buffoons I had mentioned earlier, came over to share in the chocolate cream pie Emily made—we all did that from time to time, bummed off their food—and asked, “what’s booked and paid for with no refunds?” Nick took a finger-lick of the pie before it was sliced.

  “Emily and Jake are joining me, Donovan and Kate on the Big Island. They will be vacationing without the kids, while the rest of us work.”

  “That’s so cool! I wish I could go somewhere this spring break.” Doug sounded bummed. “Maybe Nick and I can go hang with Sam in San Diego for a few days.”

  At that unfortunate moment, Donovan called the house phone for some reason and Jake put him on speaker.

  “Donovan, you’re on the house speakerphone, and Emi, Jane, Doug and Nick are here. What’s up?”

  “What up Reids? You all enjoying Emily’s cooking again? Emily, how come I never get an invite?”

  “I always tell my husband to invite you. I guess your invite got lost in the email?!?”

  “That’s a dogged way of treating your children’s godfather.”

  “Oh...do our children have a godfather, Jake? I haven’t seen him with the kids since the birthing room, I think.” Emily laughed silently.

  “Okay, Mrs. Reid. I promise to come by and play with my godchildren and impart as much of my knowledge as possible.”

  “Well, thank you, Donovan. That should give me all of ten minutes? twenty minutes of freedom while you impart all your knowledge?”

  We all started choking on our pie.

  “You wound me, Madame.” Donovan laughed with us. “Hey, Jake. You booked everything already?”

  “Yep! Signed, sealed and delivered via email.”

  “There’s going to be an extra room at the hotel. Why don’t you cancel your room and take mine? Our clients are paying for it, but it’ll be unused.”

  “I’ve already booked our room with points. I don’t think I can change it now.”

  “Can we take the room?” Doug asked, while Nick nodded his head like a bobble-head.

  “Sure. The more Reids the merrier. You boys can have my room as long as you can get yourself a plane ride over to the island.”

  His room? Where the hell was he going to stay? Like I really needed to ask. Whatever...

  “Laney,” Sea-foam called out in her classy British accent, “I have a bit of a change in plans and I need to catch another flight. Why don’t you take my seat up in first class?”

  What? Why her??? Laney wasn’t even supposed to be here!

  “Where are you going, Kate?” Laney asked.

  “I have an emergency meeting right now, so I’ll catch a later flight. I just got the memo.”

  “Does that mean Donovan is leaving too?” Nick presumed there’d be another e
mpty seat.

  “No, Nick. He’s staying. Sorry.” Sea-foam smiled at all of us, but motioned for Laney to get up and get her bag.

  “Thank you, but that’s all right. I’ll stay back here with my cousins.”

  “When I got the call, you were the one unanimously selected to join the elitists up in first class,” she smiled. Geez Louise, this woman even had a sense of humor. Is there anything she couldn’t do?

  “That was nice of Jake and Emily but I don’t think...”

  Kate didn’t let her finish the sentence. She grabbed Laney’s bag and started walking back up to the front of the plane. Laney shrugged her shoulders and followed.