I finally collapsed back into my seat, exhausted from nerves and lack of sleep. This tour had been especially brutal, and I hadn’t had a chance to sleep much. If we had more than a day between performances, I always flew home to be with Chloe. She’d decorated most of the nursery by herself since I was gone so much, but when I was home, I had spent most of the time doing the things she couldn’t do. I was so damn proud when I’d put together the crib. The look on her face had been worth every curse word I’d said as I worked on it.
At some point, I fell asleep, and I woke up when the pilot announced that we were preparing to land. I fastened my seat belt and waited impatiently as the plane slowly descended from the sky. I could have cried in relief when I felt the plane touch the ground. As soon as I was cleared to leave, I ran off the plane and into the airport. I continued to run until I reached the area to pick up the key for my rental. The lady behind the desk seemed to be determined to go as slow as possible until I told her what was happening.
As soon as I located my car, I floored it. The flight from Las Vegas to Pittsburgh took almost four hours and I still had almost two hours to drive. I knew I was running out of time. The miles disappeared quickly as I flew down the interstate. Halfway to Morgantown, I realized that my phone was still shut off. I powered it on as I drove and saw I had a new voice mail. My heart was in my throat as I listened to the message Amber had left over an hour ago. It seemed that things were happening quickly, and if I didn’t hurry, I wasn’t going to make it. It was late, so there were few cars to avoid as I pushed my car harder. I shouted in relief when I saw the signs for my exit.
I pulled into the hospital parking lot and ran for the doors. In her message, Amber had told me what floor they were on. I opted for the stairs instead of the elevator, knowing I could run faster than it would go. When I reached the floor, I could hear Chloe screaming my name. I ran past the nurses’ station and straight for Chloe’s room. A nurse jumped to her feet and started shouting for me to stop, but I ignored her.
I nearly lost it when I made it to the room. Amber was beside Chloe, holding her hand, as she cried out in pain. Her hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat, and she looked exhausted. A doctor at the foot of the bed was telling her to keep pushing.
I ran to Chloe’s side and grabbed her other hand. “Chloe, I’m here. I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, thank God,” Amber said.
Chloe looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “I can’t do this. It hurts too much.”
“Shh…you can do it. I’m right here with you.”
“Chloe, I need you to keep pushing. We’re almost there,” the doctor said.
Chloe grabbed my hand and squeezed as she started pushing. I bit my lip to keep from crying out at just how hard her hand was gripping mine. I couldn’t stand to see her in so much pain. Jesus, this was my worst fucking nightmare.
“That’s it, Chloe. Give one more big push on the count of three. One, two, three! Push!” the doctor yelled.
Chloe screamed as she gave one final push. I couldn’t breathe as I heard the single most beautiful thing I’d ever heard in my life—my baby crying.
“You did it, Chloe,” the doctor said as she cut the cord and handed the baby to the nurses.
It felt like hours were passing by as I held on to Chloe’s hand and waited to see my baby.
Finally, after cleaning my baby off, the nurse walked over to us with a huge smile on her face. “Are you ready to meet your son?”
“Son?” Chloe asked.
The nurse handed the baby over to her. “Yes, it’s a boy.”
I couldn’t speak as I stared down at the little screaming bundle in my wife’s arms. He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. He stopped crying and snuggled into Chloe’s chest as she spoke softly to him.
“You’re so beautiful. I love you so much already, little guy.” Chloe said as she ran her finger across his cheek.
She was crying as she looked up at me. “Come meet our son, Drake.”
“Son,” I whispered.
She let me take him out of her arms. He was so small. I stared at him in awe as I realized I was a dad. This baby was mine, and I would protect him with my life. I loved him and Chloe more than anything in this world.
“He’s perfect.” I whispered as I stared down at him. And he was. I smiled when I noticed that he had Chloe’s cute little nose. With the exception of my dark hair covering his head, he was Chloe.
“Do you two have a name picked out?” the nurse asked.
Chloe smiled up at me through her tears. “We do. Meet Michael Andrew Allen.”
As I stared down at my wife and son, I knew that my life was now complete. I had everything that I could ever want. Chloe and I had finally found our happily ever after.
The End
Every child puts his or her parents up on a pedestal. Parents could do no wrong, and their opinions were your opinions as well.
At the tender age of six, I felt the same way. My mother, the famous supermodel, Andria Bellokavich, was my idol. I wanted to wear her clothes, make my hair look the same as hers, and share her opinions with the world.
“I can't believe they let that kind of riffraff in this park,” my mother said as she wrinkled her nose in distaste.
I followed her gaze to see a boy around my age and his mother playing by the sandbox. “What's wrong with them, Mommy?”
“They're low-class white trash, and I don't see why they feel the need to invade our park.”
I stared at the boy. I saw nothing low-class about him, but what did I know? My mommy knew everything, and if she said they were icky, then they must be.
“Can we make them go away?” I asked, eager to please my mommy.
“I wish, but unfortunately, this is a public park, so there's nothing I can do. I will say this-we will not be coming back here anytime soon.”
I loved this park, and it made me sad that we couldn't come back. I instantly hated the boy and his mother for taking away my favorite place in the world.
“Can I go play on the slides?” I asked, not wanting to waste a minute of my time here since it would be my last.
“Of course, honey, but don't go anywhere near them.” She sniffed as she pulled out her BlackBerry and started punching buttons.
I hated that thing. Mommy was always on it, and she never paid attention to me when she was. Daddy had one, too, but he always put it down if I wanted his attention. I didn't mind Daddy's so much.
“Thank you, Mommy!” I said as I leaped off the bench we were sitting on and ran for the slides.
I looked back once to see if Mommy was watching, so I could show her just how fast I could climb up the slide, but of course, she wasn't looking. She still had that stupid thing glued to her hand.
I sighed in defeat and slowly climbed the ladder. I was so proud of myself when I made it to the top. Not every six-year-old could climb this high without being afraid, but I could. I'd been doing it forever or at least since I was five and Mommy had started to let me run around the park on my own. She always told me that I was a big girl now and that I could take care of myself while she worked.
I sat down and pushed myself down the slide, giggling when I got to the bottom as I felt the static in my pigtails. I loved the slide. It was my favorite part of the park-after the sandbox, of course. I glanced over at the sandbox to see that the boy and his mommy had moved on to the swings.
Now's my chance! I jumped off the slide and ran as fast as I could to the sandbox. Once I made it there, I sat on the edge, so I wouldn't make Mommy mad by getting sand all over my dress. I picked up the bucket and started filling it with sand to make my very own fairy princess castle. One day, when I was all grown-up like Mommy, I would find a prince who would build me my very own castle.
“Whatcha making?” an unfamiliar voice asked.
I looked up to see the boy from earlier standing above me. I wasn't supposed to talk to him, but how could I not when he'd asked me a question?
<
br /> “Making my princess castle,” I replied, hoping he would lose interest after the princess part and leave me alone. If Mommy saw us talking, she would be so mad at me.
“Can I help?” he asked as he sat down right in the middle of the sandbox.
I looked around, expecting his mommy to yell at him for getting his clothes dirty, but she was just watching us and smiling as she sat on one of the slides.
“I can do it on my own,” I replied shortly, hoping that he would take the hint and leave me alone.
“Don't you want to play with me?” he asked, sounding hurt.
“I'm not supposed to play with you. My mommy said so.”
“Why not?”
“Because you don't belong here, and you're trash.”
His eyes widened at my words, and he frowned. “I am not trash!”
“Well, my mommy says you are, and she's always right. She says you shouldn't even be allowed to play here.”
“Well, your mommy is wrong. My mommy says that we are welcome here, just like everyone else.”
I shrugged. “I don't care what your mommy says. My mommy is right, and you shouldn't be here. Go away.”
Before he could respond, I heard my mommy calling my name.
“Emma Bellokavich Preston! Come here!”
I glared at the boy as I stood. “Now see what you've done? I'm in trouble all because of you!” I turned and ran back to my mommy. I felt a twinge of fear as I saw the angry sneer on her face.
“What did I tell you? I do not want you around people like that!”
I hung my head, ashamed that I'd disobeyed her. “I'm sorry, Mommy. I told him to go away, but he wouldn't listen.”
“I don't want to hear it! If you can't listen to me, then you don't need to be here. Come on, we're going home.”
I sighed as I followed her out to the parking lot where her brand-new Mercedes was parked.
All I wanted was a princess castle.
Eleven Years Later
“Emma! Are you ready to go?” my mother shouted through my door.
“I'll be ready in a minute!” I shouted back as I applied eyeliner around my green eyes.
I needed complete concentration to get the smoky look that I was going for, and my mother yelling through the door wasn't helping matters. I finished applying the liner and reached for the brush sitting in front of me. I ran it through my strawberry blonde hair until it looked perfect.
Today was the first day of my junior year in high school, and I wanted to look perfect. I needed to be perfect. I'd managed to snag a spot on the varsity cheerleading squad my freshman year, but this was the first year that I was co-captain. I needed to set the standards for the rest of the girls on my squad. Anything less than perfection was unacceptable for the girls of Hamrick High School's State Champion Cheer Squad.
I set down the brush and grabbed my bag on the way out of my room. As I started down the stairs, my phone rang. I smiled as I listened to Ke$ha's “Die Young” playing. I had that ringtone reserved for one person and one person alone-my dad.
My parents had divorced when I was eight. My dad, Alexander Preston, traveled a lot with his rock band, Seducing Seductresses, so I rarely got to see him anymore, and I cherished every phone call that I would receive from him.
“Hi, Daddy,” I said as I held my phone up to my ear.
“Hey, baby girl. Are you ready for your first day?” he asked.
“Yep. I'm getting ready to walk out the door now.”
“I wish I were there to see you off,” he said sadly.
I knew that he'd meant it, but like always, he was thousands of miles away from the home I shared with my mother in Santa Monica.
“Me, too. How's England treating you?”
“It's great. It's far rainier than I remembered though,” he replied, sounding truly distraught about the weather.
I laughed. “You're such a dweeb, Dad.”
“Did you just call your rock-god dad a dweeb?”
“I did. Listen, I need to go, or I'm going to be late. I'll talk to you later?”
“Of course, baby girl. Enjoy your day.”
“Thanks, Daddy. I love you.”
I disconnected the call and walked into our kitchen to find something quick to eat for breakfast. Our chef, Razoule, was standing by the island, holding a granola bar and smiling.
“Thanks!” I said as I grabbed the bar from his hand.
“You are very welcome, Miss Emma,” he replied as he turned back to whatever he had been working on.
Razoule was one of the best chefs in the country, and my mother had managed to snag him a few years ago. After living off of his cooking for most of my life, I wasn't sure if I could handle it if he ever left us.
I walked to the front door, but just as I put my hand on the knob to open it, I heard my mother calling my name.
“Emma! Don't forget that I have a committee meeting tonight, so I won't be home until late.”
“I know, Mom. You've only told me about it twenty times since last week.”
“Don't use that tone with me. This is a very important meeting, and if all goes well, we will have a new and very well-known celebrity on our side.”
My mother was on every committee from here to San Francisco. Since she'd walked away with a huge chunk of my dad's fortune when they divorced, she could afford not to work. Instead, she spent all her time climbing the social ladder around here, and she expected me to do the same. She only liked my friends if their parents were rich or famous or both. I loved my mom, but she was conceited and power hungry, not two things that you want to put together.
“Have a good day!” she called after me as I opened the door and walked out into the bright sunlight.
I slipped my sunglasses over my eyes and smiled as I walked to my car. I loved California. The weather was perfect, the beach was just a short drive away, and the entire place was beautiful. I'd traveled some with my dad over the years, but no place could ever come close to California.
I attended a private school, Hamrick High School, with most of Santa Monica's finest. Rather, I attended it with the demon spawn of Santa Monica's finest. When mommy and daddy were gone most of the time and they supplied you with endless amounts of cash, the perfectness that surrounded our school and the students attending all but disappeared. Underneath were wild parties, drunken fights, and more than one crashed sports car. Lucky for me, I was at the heart of it all.
I played the perfect daughter and the perfect student by day, but when the parents disappeared and the alcohol flowed, I liked to party with the best of them. Chalk it up to my mommy and daddy issues, but I used the parties as an escape from reality. After all, who is really perfect when it comes right down to it?
My school was less than ten minutes from my house, and I arrived before I'd even managed to finish my granola bar. I parked my brand-new Mercedes-Benz next to my best friend, Lucy's, Jaguar and stepped out. Students were everywhere. Most were standing by their cars while others, the more responsible ones, were walking up the steps to the school.
I caught sight of Lucy's dark brown hair in a crowd of people next to the stairs. I snuck quietly over and launched myself onto her back. Her squeals of terror had everyone laughing as she tried to throw me off. I finally gave up and released her after I thought she'd suffered enough.
She turned to glare at me. “That was so not cool, Emma!”
“It might not have been cool, but it was funny,” I said as I giggled.
She rolled her eyes as she linked her arm through mine, and we started walking up the steps to the school.
“Lookin' good, Emma,” Todd Bex said as he walked past us.
I sighed dreamily as I watched him walk by. Todd was a senior and the captain of the football team. Add in his good looks and charm, and he was the most sought-after guy in our school. I rarely wasted my time on boys, but he wasn't a boy. He was a man. He kept his dark hair cut short most of the time. His eyes were a beautiful baby blue, and that, coupl
ed with a strong jawline and full lips, made every girl turn to mush at his feet. The fact that he had talked to me, a lowly junior, sent thrills through my body. Maybe this would be the year that someone finally tamed him, and that someone could be me.
“Wipe the drool off your face,” Lucy teased.
I stuck my tongue out at her. “Shut up.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but she was cut off when we heard a loud backfire coming from the parking lot. Both of us turned to see a beat-up Jeep pulling into the lot and parking beside my car.
I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. Who on earth is driving something like that around here? And why do they feel the need to park next to me?
“Who is that?” I asked as we watched a guy climb out of the Jeep and walk toward us.
“I have no idea, but I wouldn't mind finding out,” Lucy replied as she stared at the new arrival with lust-filled eyes.
I squinted, trying to see him as he walked toward us. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place him. Lucy squeezed my arm as he looked up and noticed us staring. I thought my arm was actually going to fall off when he approached us and stopped directly in front of me.
“Hi. I was wondering if you could tell me where the office is,” he said politely.
Now that I could see him up close, I understood Lucy's excitement. Wow. Just wow. I had been ogling Todd not two seconds before, but I had to admit that this guy was far better than Todd. His hair was a shaggy mess of blond curls, and his eyes were the brightest emerald green that I had ever seen. His upper lip was a bit thin, but his bottom was full and just begging to be kissed. He was wearing a fitted polo shirt, and it stretched to its limit every time he moved due to the muscles that it was concealing. Several tattoos covered his arms, and they were a total contradiction to how he was dressed. This boy looked like a fallen angel and a surfer boy all rolled into one, and I wanted to wrap myself around him.
I blushed as I pictured us together, both wearing nothing but a smile. Dear Lord, what has gotten into me? Yes, I was a partier, but I'd never been in that situation before. Virgins didn't imagine total strangers naked, yet here I was, picturing him naked.
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