by MJ Masucci
Chapter 24
Xander and Ava had settled down into domestic bliss over the next three weeks. Xander had gone back to work three weeks after he was injured. He still had some residual pain, but he was doing much better. Ava was happy he was back at work and close to her during the day. But they were open to scrutiny since everyone at the firm was now aware they were dating. They had to be careful about any contact while in the office.
Still, they managed to steal some minutes away together outside of lunch, often in the research room. Ava was busy trying to finish up all the work that Victoria had piled on her. She had not been feeling well the last two weeks and was nauseous. She said it was probably because she was stressed about the wedding and the trip down to Georgia. She had asked for vacation the week of July twenty-sixth, and Victoria was less than happy about her pending absence.
As the date got closer for Ava to leave to go down to Georgia, Xander became more agitated. It was not only because she would be away from him until they met back up at Michael’s wedding but because they would be heading to where all the secrets began. She was still unaware of things that he needed to tell her. He should have told her months ago when their relationship started, but he was a coward. Now emotions ran deep and when the secrets were revealed she would feel betrayed.
He would often find himself deep in thought to the outside world when he played the scenarios in his head. What would she do when she found out? Would she leave him? Would she hate him forever? He wouldn’t know what to do if he lost her. He had enough trouble sleeping without her in his bed but to lose her for the rest of his life would be torture. It was something he didn’t want to think about because it was just too painful.
Ava called the airline to confirm her flight for tomorrow. The next day she would be leaving to fly down to Georgia. She was excited because she was going to see her niece and nephew for the first time. Xander sat on the bed watching her pack and feeling somber. He didn’t want her to leave without him, but he couldn’t afford to take the whole week off. He had already missed too much time and was working late each night to get back up to speed. He would be coming down the following Thursday night. So they would be apart for five nights. He planned on the activities he would do late night during his bouts of insomnia. That last night he made love to Ava as if it was his last time ever. They would both be staying at her dad’s house while they were Georgia. He highly doubted that they would have a chance to make love during that time. He ticked off the days in his head until they would be back in New York and alone. Eight days until he could be one with her again. He wasn’t sure he could survive it.
“What are you thinking about Xander?”
“The time we are going to be apart. You know I sleep horribly when you aren’t in my bed. I probably won’t get much sleep this upcoming week.”
“I know, but it will be the first time in weeks that you won’t have any extracurricular activities at night,”
Xander feigned shock. “As if you aren’t the one to partly be responsible for some of those extracurricular activities. I seem to remember someone waking me up this morning to fool around.”
“And I seem to remember that someone had no problem with me waking him up especially when I took you in my mouth.” He felt his cock twitch at the reference to her sucking him off at two that morning. He loved when she took control, which was becoming more frequent these days.
“I can drive you to the airport you know.”
“I know you can, but the flight is early, and you’re still sore. I think that you should take it easy and let me take a cab.”
Xander had to agree. He was still a bit sore, but he wanted to be with her until the last possible moment she was in New York. “I don’t mind. I can get the SUV and take you.”
“I think you should relax.”
“I’m taking you. I need to be with you until you leave. I want to be with you until you leave. Don’t fight me on this.”
Ava felt a rush of love in her chest. She had to admit that they were closer than ever, and he had gotten back to the old Xander she knew.
“I won’t. If you want to drive me, then I won’t stop you. I want to be with you until I leave, too. You know leaving you is not going to be easy for me either.”
They spent most of that night making slow, intense love. In the morning they were both bleary eyed. At 4:30 AM she got in the shower. Xander tried to join her, but she locked him out.
“If you come in here with me I will miss my flight,” she said through the door. He quickly dressed, pulled a comb through his hair and waited for her to get out. When she did wrapped in a towel, he followed her to the bedroom.
“No, Xander. If you see me naked, we will never get out of here.”
“Woman, can’t you let me enjoy the last few minutes of bliss I have with you?”
“What, by eye banging me? No, go feed the boys.”
He did as she asked and when he came back five minutes later, she was just tucking in her polo shirt into a pair of capris.
“Dammit, I missed seeing you naked for a whole week.”
“You have a memory, right? So use it.”
He stuck his tongue out at her, and she threw a sock at him. On the drive to the airport, they intertwined their fingers. They both needed the contact with each other to sustain them until they were together again. He pulled in front of the terminal, and they got out to give her bags to the skycap. Xander kissed her deeply holding her tight in his arms until the taxi behind him started to blare its horn.
“I’ll miss you. Text me when you arrive in Atlanta.” She waved to him as she walked inside the terminal.
Xander had feelings of emptiness as he drove back from the airport. Being in his apartment was even worse because signs of her were all over the place. He would keep the boys until he left for the wedding. He would be bringing them back to Ava’s place so Gage could take care of them. In the three months, he had been with her; he wanted to do something that would probably be seen as impulsive. Something she would probably think he was crazy for doing. He was sure that his parents and her father would disapprove, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was being with her, forever. He parked the SUV in its space in the River Garage, then he caught the subway. He was going to do this before he talked himself out of it.
Ava took her seat on the plane after she removed her iPod out of her carry-on bag. The man sitting next to her was young and handsome. He was about her age and had struck up a conversation before the plane took off.
“I’m sorry if I’m a little straightforward, but you are beautiful,” he said.
Ava blushed and without waiting for her to answer, he asked her to go for a drink with him when they got off the plane in Atlanta. She declined, holding her left hand up that had the promise ring Xander had given her.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were married. You look too young to be married. What a lucky guy he is. I hope he knows that.”
She smiled at him and listened to the flight attendant gave in-flight instructions. After take-off, she unwrapped her ear buds and turned on her the iPod. It flashed to the song previously played, “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel. She didn’t remember putting the song on her iPod. Xander must have done it. She played it and found comfort in listening to the song since it reminded her of Xander and the first weekend they spent making love together. She played it several more times before the flight ended.
In Atlanta, her brother met her at the terminal.
“Button! How are you?” He gave her a huge hug. She was so happy to see him since it had been awhile since he and Alicia had come to New York. He had dark circles under his blue-green eyes and looked very tired. The twins must have been keeping him up nights.
When they got outside and headed to the parking deck, the Georgia weather was balmy. She immediately started to feel uncomfortable in the southern humidity.
“I forgot how sticky it could be here in the summer.”
“Get into the
car I’ll turn on the air conditioning. How many years has it been since you were back here?”
“It’s been about five years.”
“You know people forget things, and it’s about time you realize that they aren’t going to remember some stupid prank,” Michael said.
He knew that was why she hadn’t come back in all those years. He didn’t even know the whole truth but people talk, and she was sure he heard a bunch of different stories. She just hoped that she wouldn’t see Vance Albridge while she was in town.
“So have you got the guest list in order, Michael?”
“Pretty much but you know there are always those last minute stragglers. We invited two hundred fifty people, and so far we got two hundred twenty-four responses. Uncle Daniel and Aunt Mavis are coming down mid-week and Jacob, Sandra, Rachel, Dani and Robert will be here on Friday. The Wilders are coming down on Thursday.”
“I know I can’t wait to see Xander.”
“Dad told me how he saved you from the sicko Liam. I suspected something was going on when he called me about Victoria Carter.”
“Why didn’t you ask me back then?”
“I didn’t want to pry. You’re an adult, and if you wanted it out, then you would have told me. I know that even though he saved you, dad is still unsure of him.”
Ava’s heart sank. She thought that her father understood how deep her love was for Xander. She didn’t want to walk on eggshells when he got here. She wanted to show her affection without being scrutinized.
“Don’t worry; Dad will come around. When he realizes how important Xander is to you, he will get it.”
“How are my niece and nephew doing? I can’t wait to see them!”
“They are doing great. We aren’t getting that much sleep, but we can deal with it. Elizabeth sleeps more than Michael, which is surprising since she is smaller than him. He is up every two hours like clockwork crying for his bottle. Maybe you can help us with some feedings this week and give us some rest?” Ava smiled widely.
“Absolutely, I love babies. I can’t wait to have a carload myself!”
“Not too soon I hope. You are only twenty-four.”
“Well, first I have to find myself a husband. Then we will talk about babies.” “Oh, so you don’t think that Xander is marriage material?” She absentmindedly twirled her ring around her finger enough so that Michael noticed.
“What’s that? Did you get married and not tell us?”
In her haste, she forgot to switch the ring back to her right hand.
“No, it’s a promise ring.”
“Promise ring?”
“Yes, a promise of commitment.”
Michael discontinued the conversation because he had a feeling that Ava was uncomfortable discussing her future with Xander. They arrived at their father’s home. As Michael pulled into the long circular brick driveway, she peered up at her childhood home. It was a grand white plantation house with full-length front porches on the top and bottom floors set on fourteen acres of property.
“Daddy did some landscaping since I was here last. Those Magnolia trees are beautiful.”
“Dad had those planted a couple of years ago. Wait until you see the backyard!”
“What did you do back there?”
“You’ll just have to see. The caterers have been setting up things back there since six this morning. We have plenty more to get ready this week. Alicia is going a little crazy, and I’m sure she will be happy to see you.”
“I want to see my niece and nephew first.” Michael pulled her suitcases from the truck and carried them into the grand house. The door had been changed since she was last here. What had once been a solid single wood door had been changed to three-quarter window double doors. She liked it because it brightened up the foyer.
“You will obviously be sleeping in your old room. Dad didn’t change it since you left.”
“How far away is your house from here? Can we go see the babies after I get settled?”
“You don’t need to go far to see the babies. They are in the room just down the hall from you. Mom’s old sewing room has been changed into a nursery. Alicia and I are having work done on our home, and Dad offered for us to stay here rather than renting a house. We are staying in my old room for now. It’s been redone to be a little more comfortable for us.”
As they walked down the long hallway to her room, she peered into the other bedrooms. Her father had left Brooke’s and her bedrooms as they had been, but the others were changed in the eight bedroom house. Michael dropped her bags off and told her to come down the hall to see her niece and nephew in a little while. Alicia had just finished feeding them, and they needed to be changed.
She looked around her old room. It had pictures and posters of things she was into five years ago. She opened the closet and found a stack of old notebooks that she had written short stories and poems. It was something she had long forgotten. She also found a bunch of clothing several sizes too big for her. The last time she lived here she was forty-five pounds overweight. None of these things would be of much use. She opened the top drawer on her dresser and started to remove some old socks and t-shirts. Her hand closed upon something paper.
There at the bottom she found a high school picture of Vance Albridge that she had cut out of the yearbook. He was in his football uniform looking rugged and handsome. She crumpled the picture tight into a ball and threw it into the garbage can near her desk. He was a long ago crush and one of the reasons she had left Cameron University. He was cruel and what he did had devastated her. He was the last person she wanted to see. She unpacked some of her bras and panties and stacked them into the drawer. The other clothing she left in her suitcase on the chair by the desk. She texted Xander to let him know she had gotten to her father’s house safely.
I’m here. It’s hot as blazes, and I’m sweating my booty off. I might go for a swim later to cool off. I miss you already.
Did you have to mention your booty! Don’t sweat too much of it off because I like it just the way it is. How are you feeling?
I promise not to sweat too much of it off. I still feel a bit queasy. I didn’t eat on the plane because of it. I might have some ginger ale as it usually makes me feel better.
If it continues, you need to go to the doctor. You have been feeling that way for a couple of weeks now, and you might have a virus of some type.
I will go to the doctor when we get home. I’m sure it’s nothing, probably from the heat. I have to see my niece and nephew now. I’ll text you later. I love you.
Love you too, sweetheart.
Ava walked down the hall to the nursery just as Alicia was finishing changing Elizabeth. Michael was lying in his crib cooing at the mobile Alicia had just wound up.
“Ava, it’s so nice to see you!”
“Can I hold her?”
Alicia placed Elizabeth in Ava’s arms.
Ava was instantly in love. She was a little angel. Both she and her twin had sparse blond hair and blue eyes. Ava bent down to kiss the baby’s forehead and took in her smell. She loved the smell of babies. The baby started to gurgle and spit up on Ava’s arm.
“I’m sorry.”
Ava laughed. “I guess I should get used to this while I’m here.”
“You have no idea. I need a full-time maid just to help with the laundry that these two create. I think I went through four shirts yesterday.”
“Is Natalia helping with all the laundry?”
“Oh yes, and she has been wonderful. She said it’s so nice to have babies back in the house.”
Natalia was their nanny/housekeeper and had been with the family since Brooke was a baby. She had no family of her own since she emigrated from Germany many years ago. She was in her sixties and made the best apple strudel. Ava hoped she still made it because she was dying for a piece. She was kind to Ava and had become like a second mother after her mother had died.
“Can I hold Michael?”
Alicia took Elizabeth from
her and laid her in her crib and then took Michael out of his.
“He seems a bit bigger than her.” Ava said.
“He was about a pound more than Elizabeth when he was born. He eats much more than she does. I think we are going to have a football player on our hands. Your brother loves that prospect.”
“What am I loving?” Michael said as he entered the nursery.
“The fact that your son is probably going to be a football player or as big as one.”
Michael went over to the baby in Ava’s arms and nuzzled him.
After she had spent some time with the babies, Alicia put them down for a nap. She wandered downstairs to the kitchen to see if Natalia was there.
“Natalia? Natalia?” When she got no answer she opened the refrigerator and sure enough, she found an apple strudel. She cut herself a generous slice and was enjoying it when Natalia came into the kitchen.
“Ava, you’re home.” Ava dropped her fork and gave Natalia a huge hug.
“Mein Schatz, look how thin you have gotten since I last saw you! Are you eating in New York?”
“Yes, I am eating. I just lost some weight, and I try to work out a few times a week.”
“I heard about that nasty business up there.” She touched the fading scar on Ava’s face. “We were so worried for you.”
The woman hugged Ava again as if she was afraid she would disappear back to New York with a poof.
“I’m fine. My boyfriend, Xander, saved me.”
“Oh, we have a boyfriend now?”
“Yes, you met him before. He is Peter and Gabby Wilder’s son.”
“Oh.”
“Natalia is there something wrong?”
“No, he’s a nice boy.”
Somehow Ava didn’t seem convinced of her approval by the tone of her voice. What was it about Xander that everyone found so untrustworthy? Ava kissed Natalia on the cheek and thanked her for baking the strudel. She took her plate out to the front porch to sit and enjoy it. She started to feel queasy again right after she finished it and ended up throwing up in her father’s Rhododendrons right next to the porch. I think Xander is right. I might have a virus. I have been feeling like this for a couple of weeks. She made a mental note to call the doctor for an appointment when she got back to New York.
