by Stone, Nora
“Really?” I asked. She nodded.
“I felt so bad talking to you guys about it, like I was dumping on you when you’ve got enough going on in your lives. But talking to the therapist, I don’t feel guilty, so I can actually unload. I think it’s really helping.”
“I think so too, Izzy. You look almost back to your happy, bubbly self,” Char said.
“Mmhm. I have a tougher time at night than during the day, but it’s still way better,” she said with a smile that lit up her entire face.
“You can come out to the house, if you need to crash somewhere where you’re not alone, you know,” Char said. Izzy nodded.
“I know, and thank you. But I’ve got to get past this. If it gets to be too heavy, I promise I will come out there with a bag packed.”
“Well! That was easier than I thought it was going to be,” I said without even thinking about it.
“Wait, was this about talking to me? This spa day?” Izzy asked. Char and I glanced at each other, and Char blushed a bit.
“We were worried about you. We were afraid that you were falling into depression, but we weren’t sure how you’d take us bringing it up to you.”
“So we decided to bring you here, and maybe get you all relaxed so that we ran less chance of you getting angry with us,” I finished.
“I wouldn’t have been angry. Thank you guys, so much,” she said, reaching across the table and taking our hands in hers.
“Really?” Char asked. Isobel hesitated.
“Okay, I might have been angry, but I wouldn’t have really meant it,” she said. The three of us laughed.
“We just want you to be okay again,” I said. Isobel gave my hand a squeeze.
“I know. I’m getting there, I promise. I’ll be back to my old self in no time,” she said.
And that was that. We ordered our food and laughed all the way through the meal. The wine was gone by the time we were ready to move on to the sauna, which was the first stop in our day, and we were all laughing and talking about all the good times that we’d had together. Almost back to normal. Almost.
~~~
“How do you get your hair to do that?” The girl working on Charlotte’s hair asked. Char glanced over her shoulder.
“Do what?”
“It’s over halfway down your back, but it’s not breaking off or splitting ends or anything. My hair hits my shoulders and all hell breaks loose,” the girl said. Char grinned.
“I used to have a problem with it, but I found this great conditioner that I have to order online because it’s made in South Korea, but it is amazing. I’ll show you,” she said, pulling her phone from her pocket and beginning to type away on it.
“Is it expensive?” she asked. Char shook her head.
“Nope, but I always buy at least three bottles, otherwise the shipping isn’t worth it. But, three bottles will last you forever.”
Chapter 16
Joey and Patrick’s flight to their season’s first away game was leaving way earlier than any of us wanted to be awake. We’d gone out to Joey and Charlotte’s the night before for dinner and told them the news. They were almost more excited than we had been that night, and we enjoyed every minute of it. By the time we wound down, it was so late that they suggested that we stay there for the night. Luckily, Patrick always packed his bag a few days beforehand and put it in his trunk, so he was prepared for the flight the next morning.
The room that they pointed us to was amazing. It was huge, with its own sitting area and a private bathroom with a large jetted and separate glassed-in shower. The bed was a king sized four poster frame, and there was a small electric fireplace in the corner, complete with a thick blanket draped nearby for those who wanted to be in front of it.
“Char did this room specifically for couples that stay, since this is the other one that has a private bathroom,” Joey said. I looked around, almost awed.
“She has always had good taste in furniture,” I said with a grin. Joey laughed.
“I know, that’s why I told her that she could take care of the rest of the house. The only thing that I did was the man cave.”
“Where did she go?” Patrick asked. I turned, noting that he was right, she’d been right behind us a second ago.
“She ran to the bedroom to grab you guy’s clothes,” he said, just as her footfalls came down the hall and into the room.
“I got you a night gown, Jacinta. Patrick, I grabbed a pair of Joey’s basketball shorts and a tank top,” she said, handing each of us our piles. I noted that the nightgown was silk, and rather short. She’d given me something sexy, and when I glanced up at her, she winked. I loved her so much.
“Everything is pretty self explanatory. Except, there’s a TV over the fireplace,” Joey said, picking up a remote and pushing a button to open a compartment in the wall to reveal a flat screen TV.
“There are some fun movies above channel 300,” Char whispered to me. I snorted a laugh as the two of us giggled.
“You are horrible,” I said. She scoffed.
“I’m awesome and you love me for telling you that.”
“Telling her what?” Patrick asked. Charlotte and I shared a look.
“Nothing,” we said in unison.
“And on that note, before my wife and you’re future wife can plot on you anymore, we are going to retire to our room,” Joey said, putting his arm around Char’s waist.
“You’re free to eat anything in the fridge, or drink a bottle of wine from the wine fridge. Jacinta knows where it is!” Char squealed as Joey pulled her out of the room.
“Night! Love you!” I yelled after her.
“Love you too!” she yelled back. Patrick laughed and closed the door gently.
“So. Now what?” he asked. I grinned.
“Now, we take a nice hot bath,” I said. Patrick smiled and turned, walking into the bathroom. A few moments later, I heard the water running and Patrick came back out into the room, pulling off his shirt.
“There’s rose scented bubble bath in there, so I put some in with a few drops of the oil beside it,” he said. I stopped and looked at him.
“You know about bath oils?” I asked with a grin.
“Joey told me how much to put in while you and Charlotte were over there plotting,” he said with a smirk. I laughed.
“He knew?”
“Charlotte taught him how to pamper her,” he said, unbuttoning his pants. Suddenly I was very distracted, and I had to work hard to keep my mind on undressing myself. Once we stood there next to each other, naked and happy, we turned and walked into the bathroom together.
The water was just the right amount of hot, and Patrick hadn’t put in too many bubbles. The bathroom was warm and smelled of a gentle rose scent as we climbed in together. Patrick sat behind me and pulled me back against him. It was so warm, so wonderful and peaceful that neither of us said anything. We simply sat there together and let the rose surround us for a while.
“We should get one of these at the house,” Patrick said softly.
“At your house?”
“Our house, unless you want to move into something new,” he said. I shook my head gently.
“I love your house… our house,” I said. Patrick laughed softly behind me.
“Maybe you can take a look at a few bathroom designs while I’m out of town and we can look at contractors when I get back.”
“Okay.”
“And if the work is going to be done while the team is out of town, maybe you can move out there and Char and Izzy can come stay for a bit. That way you guys are there to make sure that the contractors are doing well.”
“You’d be okay with that?”
“You being out there, of course. Char, Izzy and obviously my nephew, sure. I know that you’d all take care of our home,” he said. I smiled.
“What am I going to do without you while you’re gone?”
“Miss me, of course,” he said with a smile, his hands turning me to face him. I str
addled his lap and let him pull me close for a kiss.
Chapter 17
The four of us arrived at the airport the next morning, half asleep. Charlotte and I couldn’t go past security with the guys, but the team had set up barricades so that the team had the freedom to say goodbye to their families in peace, without being harassed by media. Joey and Charlotte were used to this, and they stood there, playing with Al together. Patrick and I looked at each other and smiled, a bit awkward.
“The media is going to see us here,” I said softly. Patrick pulled me into a hug.
“I’m okay with it if you’re okay with it.”
We hugged, kissed, talked. Made a nightly date to talk and laughed as we discussed the bathroom remodel and revealing that we were engaged to the world. Then, it was time for them to go. Char and Al hugged Joey while I hugged Patrick.
“I love you,” he murmured, resting his forehead against mine.
“I love you too,” I said. He hesitated, but finally he and Joey turned and walked through the gates. Char sighed and put her head on my shoulder.
“So what now?” I asked.
“Let’s go back out to the house. We can make breakfast.” She and I shared a look, and left the airport together.
~~~
Back at the house, Char set Alton in the playpen with several toys. We’d tried just having him in the floor, but he was so mobile and curious now that he got into everything and was quick enough to get there before we noticed sometimes. We made waffles, bacon and scrambled eggs, and Charlotte made another pot of coffee before we sat down to eat. Once we’d gotten the dishes rinsed off and into the dishwasher, we settled on the couch together, flipping on the TV with the full intention of falling asleep for a while in front of it. I hit the power button and frowned, turning up the volume as we both noted the camera shot of a large plume of smoke over a large body of water.
“What the hell?” I said to myself as noises from Char getting more coffee came from the kitchen behind me.
took off just a little over an hour ago from Dallas/Fort Worth International airport in Dallas, Texas. According to airline records, the plane carried the Dallas Bullets to their first away game of the season, but authorities will neither confirm nor deny the passengers on board or the status of survivors at this time…
“Charlotte!” I screamed. I heard her come running into the room.
“What? What’s wrong?” she said. I held out a shaking hand towards the TV.
Once again, we can neither confirm nor deny who was actually on the plane that went down over the Gulf, but we can say that it was supposed to contain the Dallas Bullets on their way to…
I couldn’t hear the rest of what the woman said. Charlotte was screaming. I was screaming. Alton was screaming. My phone was ringing…
Chapter 18
The pretty blonde sitting behind the news desk started talking about the lead story of the plane going down again as I stared at the screen, my mouth hanging open. Charlotte knelt beside me, her hands covering her mouth as tears rolled down her face and she watched the report yet again. She was saying something. I think? My mind wasn’t really fully functioning just then, as the words flashed across the screen. Her hands muffled the sounds of her crying and trying to speak, as my brain tried to think of the ways that this could happen and still have everyone alive.
The plane was a plume of smoke in the water, that was it. Everything else had either sunk or was on fire. Was this how it was going to be? I finally find someone who I’m willing and wanting to commit to, and life simply snatches them from me. Life leaves Charlotte a widow and Alton without his father? It can’t be, right?
Char hiccupped, dropped her hands and stood, slowly moving to the play pen to pick up Al and come sit beside me on the couch. She slipped her phone from her pocket and set it on the coffee table in front of her. Then, she stared at it. She stared, unblinking for almost a minute in total silence.
“Ring, damn you!” she screamed, so suddenly that I jumped.
“Charlotte…” I said softly, intending to say something soothing, but coming up empty. Char threw her arms around me and we hugged. We hugged until someone pounded on the door and brought us out of our little bubble.
“I’ll get it,” she said, sniffing as she stood and handed me Al. He looked like he was going to cry too, but that was probably because he was latching onto our emotions, so I forced a grin and stood, talking to him softly as we wandered over to the play pen.
“Silly Mommy, she pulled you out of there but didn’t bring any toys for you to play with, huh?” I said, reaching in and pulling out two of his favorites. I tossed a blanket down on the carpet and set Alton on it with his toys just as I heard two set of shoes returning from the front of the house.
“How are you guys holding up? I came over as soon as I saw the news,” Isobel said, coming around the couch and hugging me tightly. I sighed.
“Inside, I’m a wreck. Outside, I’m playing with the baby until someone’s phone rings,” I said.
“We haven’t heard anything yet,” Charlotte said.
“Well, let’s make a pot of coffee, turn on something insanely silly and wait,” Izzy said, turning and walking into the kitchen to get started with task number one.
“Insanely stupid?” Char said.
“Something SpongeBob related?” I offered. She nodded and brought up the TV menu to change the channel. I leaned over and placed my phone on the table beside hers.
“It’s really a shame that Alton won’t remember his father,” Isobel said, as if that was the normal type of thing that you’d say to a woman who is waiting to find out if she is a widow and a single mother or not. At the time it didn’t really register to me what she’d just said, though I did have enough brain capacity to think ‘Of course she didn’t just say what I think she said, that would be asinine!’
But she had said it. And Charlotte had heard it.
“We don’t know what’s happened yet, Izzy. The news hasn’t made a final call yet and neither has the team. If they were 100% gone, someone would have called,” Char said, turning and fixing Isobel with a hard gaze. Al made a happy gurgle and I grinned at him. He was keeping my sanity together right then.
“Char, I know how this feels, losing someone important to you. But denial is the first step of grief, so it’s good that you’re processing it. The faster you process and accept, the easier it is to move on with your life,” Isobel said. I glanced up in just enough time to see Charlotte blink at Isobel, as if in complete disbelief. Then she stood.
“Listen, Dr. Phil, I don’t need you around here processing my grief or whatever. If you aren’t here to have our backs while we wait to find out what happened, then get out,” she said. I looked down at Alton, and wondered if Patrick and I would ever have a little bouncing baby boy. Would we even have the chance now? Wait, Char was right, someone would have called if they had been confirmed dead. The team’s PR guy, Nick, had become a friend over the time that we’d gone through everything with Ryan, Joey and Char, he wouldn’t have let the media be the ones to tell us. I knew he wouldn’t have.
“You’re putting me out?” Isobel asked.
“There is no way in hell I’m going to let you come in here and tell me my husband is dead. Get out,” Char said, pointing. Normally, this was about the time that I’d jump in and try and calm emotions before someone did or said something rash. But this time, I wasn’t interested. They could have dueled at 50 paces in the yard for all I cared in that moment. I wasn’t interested in playing mediator, so I wasn’t going to.
Al giggled. I smiled. The world kept spinning as my world seemed to fall apart.
~~~
It was hours later that we heard anything. Isobel had been gone, after huffing and fussing and slamming the door behind her. We’d drank an entire pot of coffee in half of a second, then ordered a pizza because we needed to eat something. We both picked over half a piece, then gave up and slipped the rest into the fridge. Al had eaten several t
imes and been put down for a nap in his room with the baby monitor on standby. An hour later, Char and I fell asleep on the couch together. When her phone finally did ring, she jumped a foot and almost unintentionally dumped me in the floor.
“Hello!” she said, immediately putting the call on speaker.
“Char? It’s Nick,” Nick said, his voice gentle.
“Oh thank God, please tell us what’s going on,” Char said.
“Us? I hate to have to do this, but I need to know who else can hear me, Char. I’m about to tell you information that hasn’t been released,” he said. Char nodded.
