The cake designer, Kylie (somewhere between the chocolate cake and the vanilla, I asked her her name), smiles at Dani’s compliment of her work and then asks me. “What’s your preference, Wyn?”
“My vote’s for the vanilla cake with the vanilla icing and fresh strawberries, but maybe we can do a couple tiers in each. That way, the chocolate and vanilla fans are both covered.” Even if there won’t be a wedding, at least they’ll have two delicious cake options to drown their disappointment in.
“Perfect.” She writes down my choice and then asks. “What kind of design are you wanting?”
Okay, I hadn’t really thought that far. If Mom was here, I was going to let her take the reins at this point. I look at Dani, wide eyed, quietly pleading for help.
“Can you do a purple ombre going down the tiers and put some kind of sparkly embellishment on each?” Dani asks as she takes over.
“We can do that. It’ll be so pretty.” Kylie answers, not taking her eyes away from the notes she’s taking.
“Perfect.” I smile at Dani in thanks. She covered my taste and Mom’s in one swoop and didn’t even have to take time to think it over. Kylie finishes her notes and says her goodbyes. I go to the counter and order two hot chocolates for Dani and myself. Then join her back at our table where she’s finishing up the samples on her plate.
“Want mine too?” I ask, setting her cup down and sliding my plate towards her.
She looks up, searching my face, then asks. “What’s wrong? Well, other than the scene with your mom.”
“What makes you think anything is wrong?” I ask as I take a sip of my drink.
She sets her fork down, pushes both plates away, and steeples her hands together on her belly. “The fact that you’re turning down cake of any kind might as well be a huge flashing sign pointing at you with the words ‘not right’ printed on it.”
I set my drink down and avoid her gaze by tracing the scroll work on the table with my finger. “Umm…well…I got some news the other day.”
“What kind of news?”
“I got accepted into my top choice of school with a full scholarship.” I say quietly.
I hear her gasp in surprise. “I didn’t even know you applied anywhere.”
I gather the courage to look at her and explain. “I did it months ago, because the counselor pushed me too. I didn’t think I’d be able to go or that I’d even get in.”
“So I take it that you’re bringing it up now because it’s helped you make a decision?” She asks with tears forming in her eyes.
I nod my head because I don’t want to say the words. She takes in my nod and the tears start to fall from her eyes. Seeing her cry causes me to cry too.
I grab her hand. “I’m so sorry, Dani. I don’t want to leave you.”
She pulls her hand out of mine and wipes at her eyes. “But that’s exactly what you’re doing. Do you hate this life so much that you can turn your back on all of us? Your niece, your brother, and me?”
“You know why I have to do this, Dani. I wish I could still be around you all, but they won’t let me.” I plead with her to understand.
“You’re doing this for him. He’s more important than your family. What are you going to do when he gets bored with you and throws you away? You won’t be allowed back in.”
My hand flies to my mouth to cover my shock at the hatred in her words. I grab my purse and stand, needing to get out of here and away from her.
She reaches for my hand and I pull away. “I’m sorry, Wyn. I didn’t mean that.”
“I thought out of everyone, you understood me enough to know why I need to do this, but apparently I was wrong.” She tries to call me back, but I ignore her pleas as I rush out of there.
April
Chapter 25 – Linc
~She Thinks You Are~
I take in all the cars lining the street around my house. It was no secret to me that Mom was planning a party for my eighteenth birthday, but I didn’t want to ruin all the work she’s done so I’ve been pretending to be clueless. Now if I can pull off a good surprise face for her. I walk up to the house hand in hand with Wyn; she’s been Mom’s distraction today, keeping me out of the house so everything could be set up.
I push open the door and everyone shouts. “Surprise!” Wyn and Mom are both grinning like fools, thinking they’ve pulled off their surprise. I grab both of them to me and hug them, kissing Mom’s cheek and then Wyn’s.
“Happy birthday, baby boy.” Mom says as she squeezes me around the middle and then releases me. As she moves away from me, I feel a strong hand grab my shoulder from behind. I spin around and my mouth falls open. The tears spill out of my eyes before I can even try to stop them. I grab him in a bear hug, fisting my hands in the back of his fatigues.
“Dad!” I sob into his neck.
His hand rubs the back of my head and the other is hugging me tight to his chest. “Happy birthday, kiddo.” He’s holding back his tears, but I can tell by the shake of his voice that he’s barely doing so. I pull myself together and release him from the hug. Mom takes my place, slipping her arms around his waist and leaning her head against his chest. I admire the ease they have with each other even after being separated for so long. I smile at them and then remembering Wyn, I pull her to my side and introduce her.
“Dad, this is the girl I’ve been writing you about. Wyn, this is my dad, Andrew Tatman.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Tatman.” Wyn says as she holds out her hand for Dad to shake.
Instead, Dad uses her hand to pull her into a hug. He whispers something in her ear that causes her to smile up at him and nod her head. I look at Dad in question and he winks at me, but doesn’t explain.
“You have good taste, son.” Dad says. He releases Wyn who moves back to my side. I slip my arm back around her shoulder.
“Something you passed down to me.” I reply grinning.
Dad looks down at Mom and smiles. “I do believe you’re right.” Then he leans down and kisses her.
“Well, I believe that’s our cue to join the rest of the guests.” I tell Wyn.
“Smart kid.” Dad chuckles and adds. “We’ll catch up more after the party, Kiddo. Enjoy yourself.”
The party goes by in a blur. I make my rounds with the guests, introducing Wyn to my family. I blow out the candles and make my wish. I open my presents: a car cleaning kit from Nate, money from my parents and most my relatives, and Luke Bryan tickets from Wyn. Then the last of the guests leave, including Wyn and Nate.
I’m settled on the back porch with Dad. A bottle of beer in his hand, a glass of sweet tea in mine. It’s a perfect spring evening; mid-seventies, sun slowly fading, and a George Strait song coming out the kitchen window where Mom is straightening up. Dad takes a swig from his bottle as he watches the sky.
“I like your girl.” He says, breaking through the comfortable quiet.
“Me too.” I reply as I take a drink of tea.
“I told your Mom I’d be okay with her staying with us. It takes an awful lot of courage to turn your back on the only life you’ve ever known. And I’m proud of you for supporting her through this. She’s going to need that when the time comes to leave them.”
“I’m afraid I won’t be enough.” I tell him the truth, what’s worrying me.
“And you might not be, but all that matters at this point is that she thinks you are.” He sets his beer down and scoots closer to me, putting his arm around my shoulder. “Whatever happens, I want you to remember that she does love you. I saw it in her eyes tonight and even if she can’t leave them, at least for a little while, you got to experience a real version of that. Some people never do.”
But will that be enough to keep me going if she leaves me? I take another drink of tea and watch the back yard instead of putting that thought into words. I’m afraid of the answer I’ll get and the worry that answer will cause my parents.
Chapter 26 – Wyn
~Born Fighter~
My phone goes
off for the third time. I hit ignore and throw it back on my night stand. It’s Dani, again. She hasn’t talked to me in three weeks and now she thinks she can call me like nothing happened. After the blow up, I needed the time to cool down. Her words hurt and scarred me, but I can’t help thinking what if she’s right. What if I leave my family and then Linc realizes he doesn’t love me? I’ll have no one. My family won’t take me back; they’ll be too ashamed by my betrayal. I have no friends outside of my gypsy life, other than Linc. If our relationship goes bad, I’ve got no one and nowhere to go.
I believe the gamble’s worth the risk because this is the life I want with the guy I love. But I’m going to lose Dani. She was hurt and hormonal and that’s why she said what she did, but it still burned. And even after three weeks, it still does. I’ve always supported her and now when I need her support the most, she doesn’t give it. I understand how hard it’ll be not seeing each other. Hell, she’s one of the only reasons I even considered going through with the marriage to Shay, but she has Adam and the family to help her when I’m gone.
The phone goes off again. I hit ignore, again, and turn off the ringer.
I decide I need a cupcake and a glass of milk to lift my spirits, so I roll out of bed and head to the kitchen. I pass Mom and Dad in living room; they’re cuddled up on the couch watching a movie.
“Want anything from the kitchen?” I ask as I pass. Mom still isn’t talking to me, so she doesn’t respond. Dad looks over his shoulder and gives me a weary smile. “A beer, please, baby girl.” The strain between Mom and me is upsetting him, but he won’t step in because he thinks it’s a woman thing we need to fix on our own. His words, not mine.
“Can do.” I throw back.
I grab Dad’s beer and walk it back out to him, then head back into the kitchen. I pull out a glass and the jug of milk, pouring some, then putting it back in the fridge. I take my glass to the island counter and pop a fresh cupcake out from underneath the cake stand. I’m two bites in when I hear Mom’s cell phone ring.
She walks in the kitchen with the phone to her ear, eyes on me. “Uh-huh. One second.” Then she speaks to me for the first time since the cake tasting, knocking me for a loop. “Dani’s in the hospital in labor. Adam’s out of town working and is trying to get back. He said Dani couldn’t get ahold of you and had to ask a neighbor to take her.”
Not needing to hear anymore, I race out of the kitchen and grab my coat, purse, cell, and shoes. I’m in the car and on my way not even five minutes after the words left Mom’s mouth. I didn’t even take the time to change out of my pajamas. Dani needed me tonight. And because I didn’t let our stupid argument go, I wasn’t there for her. If something happens to her or the baby, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.
At the hospital, I head straight to labor and delivery. The nurses at the desk direct me to Dani’s room and I hesitate at the door. What if she’s mad at me? She might not want me here now. If she doesn’t, she’ll tell me, but I’ll show her I’m here in case she does.
I knock and push open the door, peeking my head around it. “Can I come in?”
Dani’s and a nurse’s eyes both flicker to me. Dani is doing some weird breathing exercise as she grips on to the rails of the bed. But between breaths, she manages to say. “It’s about time you got your butt here.”
I walk over to stand by her bed. “I’m sorry I didn’t answer.”
“You’re here now and that’s all that matters to me.” She reaches for my hand and I give it to her freely.
The nurse moves to the end of the bed. I focus on Dani’s face because I do not want to see what’s going on down there. Her face scrunches as the pain hits her again. I rub her back with my free hand as she squeezes my other.
“It’s time.” The nurse says as she pulls off her gloves and heads out of the room. “I’m going to call for the doctor.”
Dani looks at my eyes wide with fear. “No! I’m not ready. Tell them I’m not ready! It’s too early. She’s not supposed to be here for another three weeks.”
“Too late to stop it now, but don’t worry, I’m here with you.” I try to reassure her, though I’m just as scared for her as she is for herself.
“I don’t know what I’ll do when you’re not around anymore.” She says, her voice trembling with both pain and sadness. I don’t get a chance to respond, not that I had a good enough response, because the nurse walks back in with the doctor and another nurse.
I stand my ground, holding Dani’s hand and wiping her brow, encouraging her when needed for the next hour. Lil Wyn finally makes her appearance into the world at 11:33 p.m. One of the nurses takes her over to be cleaned up and the doctor stays at the end of Dani’s bed doing whatever in the world he has to do down there. Dani’s smiling, looking in the direction the baby went; I’m smiling, watching her be so happy.
“Doctor, we need you over here, now.” The nurse calls, shattering our happy little bubble.
“What’s wrong?” Dani calls out, but gets no response. The nurse rushes out of the room with the baby in the warmer and the doctor comes back over to us.
Dani is broken when she asks. “What’s wrong with my baby?”
“We believe she has infant respiratory distress syndrome. We’re putting her on oxygen and an IV and we’ll be monitoring her closely. Usually, with the right treatment, this clears up in a few days.” The doctor explains gently.
“Can I see her?”
“We need to get you finished here and moved to a regular room. Then, when they have her stabilized, a nurse will take you to see her.”
Dani nods, tears coming down her face. The doctor moves to finish what he started at the end of the bed. Dani looks over at me. “Can you call your brother and let him know what’s going on?”
“Of course. I’ll be right back.” I give her hand a squeeze and release it.
I find my parents and Dani’s in the waiting room. I explain what’s going on to them. Dani’s Mom heads to her room to be by her side and I excuse myself to call Adam.
Once I’m outside in the cool night air, I take a seat on the curb and dial the number. He picks up on the second ring. “Does my baby girl look like me?”
“Where are you?” I ask instead of answering.
“On the road. I’m still about four hours away.” He gets quiet for a second and then asks. “Did something go wrong? Is Dani and the baby alright?” I take in a lung full of the cool air, release it, then I explain what’s going on. I hate that he’s driving when I do it, but I know he wouldn’t pull over for me to explain. That’s why I didn’t even waste the breath asking.
His voice is shaky when he responds. “You stay with my girls and watch over them, Winnie. I’ll be there soon.”
“I will, Addie. Don’t speed. You need to be safe.”
“I need to get to my girls.”
“Yeah, and they need you here in one piece so don’t do anything stupid.” I remind him.
“Sorry, you’re right. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I don’t even want to find out. If it wasn’t for you, Dani would’ve had to go through this with only our parents. And you know how fucking crazy they are.” I know he meant this as a thank you, but it’s like he stabbed a knife in my heart and twisted it for good measure. I can’t leave my family. I love Linc and I want to be with him, but look what happened tonight when I turned my back on Dani. She almost had to go through delivering my niece alone. She wouldn’t have had anyone by her side when she found out about the baby’s health problems. I can’t leave them. We support each other. That’s what Dani and I have always done. I was just complaining about how she wasn’t supporting me and look at what I was planning on doing, leaving her without her best friend’s support for the rest of our lives.
I lean my head down against my knees and let the tears come from the realization that I have to let go of Linc, and my dream of college, and for my tiny niece who is upstairs fighting for her life.
An arm snakes around my shoulders and
my head snaps up to find my dad beside me. I wipe at my tears and he squeezes my shoulder. “They’ll be okay. Don’t forget that little girl is a Scott which makes her a born fighter.”
I lean into his side, laying my head on his shoulder. “She gets that from you.”
I feel him kiss the top of my head. “Ah, some would say she got it from you too.”
Tilting my head back I ask. “How so?”
“You may not have fought with your fists like the rest of us, but you’ve been fighting since you were a kid. You fought all of our ideas of what was right for you to be the girl you are today. And though I didn’t support some of those decisions you made, I know they were right for you. Because I couldn’t be prouder of the woman you’ve grown to be.” He wouldn’t be proud if he knew that I was planning on leaving and not marrying Shay, but I guess now he’ll never have to deal with that truth about his daughter.
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