I reached out to touch her leg, trying not to let it show how shocked I was to feel how slender her calf was. “It doesn’t matter anymore,” I told her. “We know you have a problem, and now we’re going to do everything we can to help you through this.”
“That’s right,” Jenn agreed, putting her hand on top of mine. “Even if we have to monitor your trips to the bathroom. Whatever it takes. We just want you to be okay.”
Kinsley smiled as tears streamed down her face. Even with her cheeks so sunken in, you could still see how beautiful she was. Her almond-shaped eyes were as bright and clear as they had always been. “I love you guys so much,” she sobbed. “I’m so sorry for putting you through this. You’ve been such good friends to me and I don’t deserve it.”
“No one ever really does,” Jenn said with a shrug, “but that’s why friendship and love are so special. Even when you treat the people you love like crap and put them through hell, they still love you, because it’s what you need to make it back to the good place.”
Kinsley sat up in bed and opened her arms. I hugged her from one side and Jenn came in from the other. We sat that way for what was left of our ten minutes, just holding each other and crying. We couldn’t have been more different or at more dissimilar places in our lives at that moment, but these girls were my sisters, and nothing could ever happen to change that.
“What a day.”
Chase slid into the bed beside me and covered us both with the blankets. By the time we got home from the hospital it was midnight. Emotionally wrung dry and exhausted, I ate a quick dinner and showered before falling into bed with the man I knew I could count on to comfort me.
“Are you okay?” he asked, coming up on one elbow and stroking my hair as he gazed down at me.
Turning onto my back to stare up at him, I surrendered to his gentle touch. “I am now,” I whispered. “Here, with you … it doesn’t matter what’s going on outside these walls.”
He smiled, lowering his head to kiss the bridge of my nose. “Kinsley will be okay. It’s not going to be easy, but she can come back from this.”
“I know. I have faith in her. Just like I have faith in the Hammonds. Our little Blob is going to grow up in the best home.”
“You’re right about that. Even though the day ended kind of crappy, I can’t pretend I’m not happy about what happened before all of that. I’m glad you convinced me to give them a chance.”
“When are you going to learn that I’m always right?” I teased.
Chase gave me a mock scowl. “You’re not right about everything. You thought we were a mistake, remember? You didn’t think we could make it through this and still find a reason to want to be together.”
“Yeah, well, we aren’t completely through this yet. We’ll see if you’re still so hot for me after I give birth to this baby and I have stretch marks, saddlebags, and saggy boobs.”
Chase scooted closer to me on the bed, his fingertips trailing down the line of my jaw and toward my neck. He paused at the neckline of my nightgown, his touch skimming toward the valley between my breasts. I shuddered as his the look in his eyes went from teasing and playful to smoldering and sensual.
“You’ll be beautiful,” he murmured. “Although, I can’t imagine you being more stunning than you are right now.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh please, I’m a whale!”
His hand trailed down further, cupping one breast before sliding down to the mound of my growing belly. “No you’re not. Your skin is glowing, and your body is just bursting with curves in all the right places. And this belly thing you have going on? So damn sexy.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
His fingertips skimmed my stomach as he slowly lifted my nightgown, exposing me from the waist down. “Oh yeah,” he answered, his breath gone heavy as he leaned down and placed a kiss just above my navel. “And I love your natural hair color. It’s like golden wheat. You should grow it out and stop dying it.”
“Mmmm,” I moaned as he kissed me again, this time giving me a little swirl of his tongue. “If you keep kissing me like that, I’m pretty much going to give you anything you want.”
One of his eyebrows arched seductively as he rolled over, straddling my thighs and removing my nightgown completely. The muscles across his bare chest and abdomen rippled alluringly, causing my body to respond with a rampant need to have him on me, in me … filling me in more ways than just the physical.
“Anything?” he asked as he slowly pulled at the drawstring holding his pajama bottoms over his hips.
My eyes zeroed in on the little line of sable hair disappearing into his waistband, my lower lip disappearing between my teeth as the pants slid down an inch, revealing the little lines of definition at his hips that drove me wild.
“God, yes,” I said, reaching for the drawstring myself. Damn, he was taking too long!
Chase held his hand over mine, stilling it as he leaned forward until our lips were almost touching. “Marry me,” he whispered.
I gasped as his mouth closed over mine, muffling the sound. His kissed washed over me, destroying any and all doubt in one powerful rush. I whimpered as his tongue found mine, rasping against it and causing goose bumps to appear on my naked skin.
“Marry you?” I managed when he finally pulled back.
Chase nodded, his curls tumbling recklessly into his eyes. “Yes, Chloe, marry me. Not today, not tomorrow … but someday. I know we have a long road ahead of us. I’ve got my mom and my brother, you’re still finding your independence from your parents with the new job and all that. But it’s like you said, none of that stuff matters when we’re together. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone in my life and I don’t think I’ll ever love anyone this way again. I just want to know that we’re headed in the same direction. I want to know for certain that my future will have you in it.”
Reaching for him again, I took Chase’s face in my hands and pulled him toward me for another kiss. This time, the meeting of our lips was languid and slow, filled with promises.
“I want a future with you, too,” I said. “You’re right, we have a long road ahead of us, but I want to walk that road with you and no one else. I love you so much, Chase, and I would be honored to be your wife someday.”
His grin took my breath away with its ecstatic joy. “That was easier than I thought it would be,” he joked, giving my lips a little nibble. “You’re getting less bratty the longer we’re together.”
“Shows how much you know,” I teased. “I was going to propose to you anyway. So, it looks like I’m getting my way as usual.”
Chase shook his head and laughed. “Still a spoiled brat,” he said. “What am I going to do with you?”
Reaching for the waistband of his pants again, I tugged, making him as naked as I was. “I’m your brat now,” I said huskily. “You can do whatever you want with me.”
His lips found my throat and my pulse leapt against his mouth. “That’s right,” he murmured between kisses as he worked his way down my body, “all mine …”
Epilogue
Four and a half months later…
“She’s pretty perfect, isn’t she?”
I smiled as I gazed at the little pink face peering out at us from a bundle of blankets and the striped pink cap on cover a headful of perfect blonde curls. Her eyes were the same cool, minty green as Chase’s and her cupid bow’s mouth was so adorable I wanted to cry. Rosy cheeks, ten fingers and ten toes … little Blob had entered the world after twelve hours of labor, and she was the most perfect little thing that had ever existed.
Julie and Matthew stood beside my hospital bed, staring down at their newborn daughter with tears in their eyes. Chase sat beside me in a chair, his eyes blood shot and heavy-lidded after a long night of coaching me through labor. It couldn’t have been easy for him, having his fingers squeezed to nearly the breaking point and being called every foul name in the book for subjecting me to so much pain. Though, once I got my han
dy-dandy epidural, the torture finally ceased for both of us. Who knew you could take a nap during labor? Oh, the marvels of modern medicine—though, after the meds wore off I felt as if I’d taken a chainsaw to the pelvis.
Despite Chase’s fatigue, I could see he was feeling as happy as I was. Our little girl was finally here, and tomorrow she would be going home with her new parents.
“Yes,” I said in answer to Julie’s question, “she’s spectacular.”
Over the last few months, I’d grown very close to Julie. She’d called me at least once a week to check on me and see how the pregnancy was progressing. She brought me homemade strawberry jam after I’d told her I was craving the fruit, bought me herbal tea that help me sleep when pregnancy made me an insomniac, and even booked an appointment for me to have a massage when the back pain became nearly unbearable toward the end. Seeing her so happy today filled me with more joy than I could have imagined it would, now that I’d truly gotten to know her.
“Have you decided on a name yet?” I asked.
Matthew smiled, exchanging a glance with his wife. “Actually, we talked about it a lot over the last couple months and we thought … well, if you wanted …”
“We’d be honored if you would name her,” Julie finally said.
My eyes widened. “Really? You want me to name your baby?”
Julie grabbed my hand and held on tight. “She’s just as much yours as she is ours, Chloe. I think her birth mother should name her.”
“Wow,” I whispered, glancing over at the little bassinette and the sleeping baby inside. I hadn’t given any thought to names, because I’d known little Blob wasn’t mine to keep. Technically, she belonged to the Hammonds. We’d already signed the papers, and everything would be official the day they took her home from the hospital. But for this moment, I was her mother. Reaching into the bassinette, I lifted her, carefully to hold her head. The white gold engagement ring Chase had given me a few weeks ago glittered on my left ring finger. It was simple, with a tiny princess cut diamond; a promise that we both intended to keep … a promise of forever.
She squirmed and grunted a bit before settling in the crook of my arm. My chest swelled with emotion as I gazed down at her—at the child I didn’t know I was even capable of loving. Looking at her now, I realized that I would always love this little girl.
The name came to me in an instant as I sat and rocked her. “Annabelle,” I said. “Annabelle Grace.”
“That’s beautiful,” Chase said, leaning forward to place a hand on her tiny head.
“It’s perfect,” Julie agreed. “Annabelle Grace it is.”
Suddenly, Matthew’s phone rang, frightening Annabelle and causing her to start wailing. Fishing it from his back pocket, he headed for the door swiftly.
“Sorry about that, it’s my dad. Probably wants to know why we haven’t sent pictures yet.”
He disappeared quickly out into the hall, but Annabelle, who was pissed about being awakened from her beauty rest, kept on crying. Her wails were sharp and loud, echoing from the walls of the hospital room. I glanced up at Julie.
“Do you want …?”
Julie started backing toward the door. “No, not this time. It’ll be my turn soon enough. I’ll let you have some time with her. We’ll come back a bit later, okay?”
I nodded as she paused in the doorway. “Thank you,” I said, gently rocking Annabelle.
Chase joined me on the bed, putting one arm around me as I rocked our daughter. She took the pacifier I offered her and suckled, smacking loudly.
“Well, the girl is serious about her sleep,” Chase whispered. “We know where she gets that from.”
I gave him a dirty look before turning back to Annabelle, who was quickly falling back asleep. “She’s so beautiful,” I said. “I didn’t think she’d be this beautiful.”
“I knew,” Chase said, kissing the top of my head. “Look at her mother.”
“Only, I’m not her mother. Julie is.”
“You’ll always be her mother, Chloe.”
I shook my head, no longer able to hold back the tears. “No, I won’t be. I’m okay with that, though. When she’s hurt, Julie will be the one to kiss her owies, and when she’s sad, Julie will cheer her up with her smiles and her laughter. When her first boyfriend breaks her heart, Julie will tell Matthew and he’ll hunt the guy down and kick his ass. I know this is what’s best, but I never imagined it would be so hard to let her go.”
Chase wrapped his other arm around me, turning to his side to fit better on the hospital bed. “We’ll have more someday, when we’re ready,” he said.
A soft knock sounded at the door and I frowned turning to Chase. “Who do you think that is?”
Chase stood, frowning as well. “I don’t know. Julie said they’d be back later. It’s only been a few minutes.” Still, he crossed to the door and pulled it open. His jaw tightened angrily when he saw who was on the other side. “What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded, moving as if to block her from my sight.
It was too late, I’d already seen her. “It’s okay, Chase,” I said. “Let her in.”
It was my mother, dressed to the nines and sober for a change. Still, it wasn’t quite noon yet. “Hi, Chloe,” she said gently, with a nervous smile. “I hope you don’t mind, but one of your roommates called last night and told me you were in labor. I got up first thing this morning and drove down.”
I pursed my lips, unable to hide my annoyance. “Damn it, Jenn.”
“I’m glad she called,” Mom said, coming further into the room and closing the door. “I wanted to see my granddaughter at least once before you gave her up.”
I sat up, letting Chase help prop me up with the pillows as I held on to Annabelle. “How did you know we were giving her up?”
“Jennifer told me when she called last night. I asked her if you’d planned to keep the baby and she told me what you were doing.”
“Have you come to lecture me some more?” I spat angrily. “I’m sure this is just one more decision I’ve made that you don’t approve of.”
“But I do approve!” she said suddenly, her heels clicking on the tiles as she approached the bed. She paused just at the foot, her fingers working at the strap of her purse. “I know you think I don’t love you, and I can’t say I blame you. You know I never wanted children, and your father just wouldn’t let up about it. When I got pregnant by mistake, I didn’t want to carry you. I was angry with your father and depressed. I didn’t have a maternal bone in my body, and besides that I had my own ambitions and dreams that were going to be crushed. Your father wanted a pretty housewife, so that’s what I became, but it was never what I wanted.”
I stared down at Annabelle and remembered my fears that I could someday come to resent her for my own lost dreams. “You had me anyway.”
She nodded. “I did. I can’t say I’m proud of how I handled things. I let depression take hold, and then drinking became my escape. I tried to love you and to be a good mother, but I just … I’m sorry, Chloe, I never really felt like your mother. I can’t explain it. I wanted to be better, but no matter how I tried I always failed at it. That only made the depression and the drinking worse.”
“I know, I was there,” I said. It was hard to remain sarcastic, when I could tell she was being genuine.
She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I know you have dreams,” she said, her voice low. “I know you’re ambitious. You’re so much braver than I was, and I have always envied you for that. I just wanted you to know that I fully support your decision, Chloe. You’re doing the right thing for that baby girl and for yourself. I’m so proud of you.”
I nodded. “Thank you,” I said, relenting a bit. I supposed I could understand where she was coming from. While it certainly didn’t excuse the twenty-two years of pain she’d put me through, I could honestly say I understood her better, where before I honestly did not. “Would you like to hold her?”
She blinked rapidly, her mouth falling
open. “Oh … Oh, no, I shouldn’t.”
“Come on,” I said, extending Anabelle toward her. “She’s so sweet. This is probably going to be your only chance.”
“Oh … Well, all right then,” she conceded, coming forward reluctantly. To my astonishment, her face softened the instant she took the little bundle into her arms. She sighed and smiled, swaying back and forth. “Chloe, she’s beautiful,” she whispered. “What’s her name?”
“Annabelle Grace.”
“It fits her. What a sweetheart.”
I sat and watched them for a while, as pleased as I was shocked. Maybe my mother did have it in her to be a good mom, or maybe even a grandma someday. Still cradling Annabelle with one arm, Mom reached into her purse with her other hand. She came out with a white envelope and set it beside me.
“What’s this?” I asked as I lifted it.
“It’s a check,” she replied, her eyes never leaving Annabelle’s face. “I feel awful about what your father did, cutting you off like that. That money is from my own account, and he never has to know I gave it to you. Just take it, please. Pay for your classes next semester and use the rest for whatever you need.”
Glancing down at the check, I was tempted to accept it. For a moment, the old Chloe emerged, the one who was used to having everything handed to her. There were a lot of zeroes on the check; enough to see me comfortably taken care of for the rest of the year. But then the new Chloe—the one who’d just given birth to the most beautiful baby on the planet—took over. She reminded me that I didn’t need anything handed to me. I was stronger now than I’d ever been.
With a smile I took the check between my fingers and promptly tore it in half. Putting the two pieces together, I tore it again, and then again, until it was in shreds in my lap.
“Chloe, what are you doing?” Chase exclaimed, racing to my side. “You should take the money.”
I smiled up at him. “Are you kidding me? No way!”
“Chloe, please,” my mom begged, still rocking Annabelle. “Let me make it all up to you.”
Brat Page 17
