by Beth Maria
I lean down and plant a lingering kiss on Chloe’s forehead. Her eyes flutter closed, and the next thing I know, her breathing has evened out and she’s fast asleep again. Looking at her like this causes me to smile.
I move over to Noah’s bassinet, staring down at him peacefully sleeping, his face and skin all wrinkled. How did I make something so beautiful and pure?
“Daddy will be back before you know it for cuddles and kisses. I’ll miss you, little man.” I lean down and give him a kiss before walking out of the room, leaving my world behind. The next few hours can’t come fast enough!
Chapter 19
Chloe
This past month has been the most tiring, stressful month of my life since bringing Noah home from the hospital. I’ve hardly had any sleep, what with having to breastfeed at ridiculous hours and Noah deciding he wants to wake up at the crack of dawn. I can’t ask Jake for help because he starts work early, then as soon as he gets home around six, he has to do his college work. I’m not saying he doesn’t help at all, because he does when he can. It’s just that I hardly see him as it is, and being tired is making me all sorts of grumpy.
Let’s not even talk about my college work. I hardly have a second to have a bath, let alone to do homework. When I was pregnant, I thought that I would be able to juggle everything, but I can’t. How I thought that I would be able to look after a newborn and finish my degree is beyond me. All I know is that I will, even if it takes me years. I will get my degree and get a better job than working in the supermarket!
Now, all of that being said, I wouldn’t change having my son for the world. He’s the apple of my eye, one of the best things that I’ve ever done in my life. Seeing his chubby little face bright and early in the morning makes me forget that I’m tired, and hearing him chuckle is music to my ears; a sound that I could listen to all day.
He looks more and more like his father. Every. Single. Day. I know that he’s going to break a lot of girls’ hearts when he’s older, and the poor girls aren’t going to know what hit them. It’s going to be like history repeating itself. I’m going to have to teach him not to be like his father, messing girls around. I won’t have my son breaking innocent girls’ hearts like his father did. No way.
“You nearly ready, Princess?”
Talk of the devil.
“Nearly. I’ve just got to put on my mascara, and then I’ll be ready. Is Noah’s stuff all packed? I don’t want to have to come back because we’ve forgotten something. Oh, and don’t forget his blanket. He will be a little monkey if we don’t take that,” I reply through the mirror while applying the final touches of my make-up.
“Chloe, calm down. I’ve checked and checked again. We have everything. We’re only going out to dinner. We will be a few hours maximum, so please stop worrying,” Jake stresses, grabbing my shoulders and gently massaging. Hmm, that feels so good. “Now come on. We have to leave, or we won’t get a parking space. You know how this place gets full quickly.”
I’m so scared about going out. I haven’t really been out of the house except to go shopping since Noah’s been born. I’m absolutely terrified that he will kick up a fuss, and that I won’t be able to calm him down, which is why I’ve been avoiding going out in public. I always make sure to take somebody with me when I do. I know there are going to be a bunch of us tonight, but Noah’s my responsibility. I don’t like having to give him to someone else to sort out.
“I know. Let’s go. I’m ready.” I put my make-up back in the drawer before standing up.
Jake grabs Noah, putting him into the car seat, while I lock the door. I get into the passenger side of our new car before Jake starts the engine, making our way to the restaurant.
As soon as Noah was born, we both realized that we couldn’t all fit into the truck. Obviously, we didn’t have the money to flat out buy a new car, so we had to borrow the money from our parents. Luckily, they were understanding, telling us that we didn’t have to pay them back. They told us to just take it as an early wedding present. I was so happy that I cried for hours. I was also emotional from lack of sleep, and my hormones were still all over the place from being pregnant. When we went to choose the car a few days later, I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it- a white Audi Q7 SUV. It was a bit over our budget price, but my mom pulled me aside and told me that my dad had left me some money for if I ever needed it. I cried so hard when she told me that because that meant, even though my father isn’t here, he’s still had a helping hand. It just reminds me how much I miss him, and that I would give anything to have him with me. Now when I get in this car, I feel like a piece of him is always with me.
It’s not too long before we’re parking the car, and Jake was right; the restaurant is starting to get busy, and it’s only five o’clock. I get out of the car, and Jake gets Noah before we walk into the restaurant. We instantly spot Maisie and Jesse, along with our other family and friends. Only Jake and I actually know why we’re all having this big dinner in a place that isn’t exactly the most sophisticated restaurant for such an occasion, though the meaning behind it is adorable! Pablo’s pizzas are the best around. Everybody knows that.
“Oh, give me my beautiful grandson,” Theresa, Jake’s mom squeals when she spots us.
“Jesus, Mom, can we sit down first?” Jake grumbles, causing me to chuckle. She loves Noah and always wants to hold him as soon as she sees him. It drives Jake insane, as normally, she’s barely given us time to walk through the door, having not even taken our coats off, dropped our bags, or even settled in.
“Oh, yes, of course,” she replies a little dejectedly.
We greet everybody else before finally sitting down. It seems like we’re the last to turn up, but what do you expect? When you have a baby, everything takes ten times longer.
“Can I hold him now, Jake?” Theresa asks, practically bouncing in her seat with eagerness. You would think that she’s never held him before!
“Yes, now you can, Mom.”
Jake passes Noah over the table to Theresa, and she instantly starts cooing. She’s so good with him, and Noah loves her to pieces already. He loves everybody, and everybody loves him.
“He’s grown so much since I last saw him.”
“He just seems to grow every day. He’s going to have his daddy’s height, that’s for sure,” I reply.
The waiter comes over and takes our order, promising that the drinks shouldn’t be too long. I take a quick look at Jesse, as he was very quiet when we walked in. Oh God, I have to literally stop myself from laughing out loud. He looks so pale, like he’s been ill, and he keeps trying to loosen the neck around his t-shirt that isn’t even tight. That boy is really nervous, and Maisie is completely oblivious to it, talking to her mom and dad and smiling at Noah.
My legs aren’t long enough to reach under the table and kick him, but Jake is directly opposite him. “Jake, kick Jesse to get his attention for me.” He just raises his eyebrows in confusion, but before he can’t ask why, I cut in, “Just do it, will you?”
“Ow! What the hell was that for, fucker?” Jesse curses at Jake, causing me to laugh because it was my fault.
Jake just points in my direction, so I give Jesse a cheeky smile. He just shakes his head, a small smile playing on his lips.
Not risking speaking, and Maisie overhearing, I stick my thumbs up, silently asking him how he’s holding up. He replies with a shake of his head, letting me know that he’s not good. Sympathy is conveyed in my eyes, I’m sure of it. There’s only been one other time when I’ve seen Jesse nervous, and that was when he came around to sing to Maisie. Apart from that, he’s usually a calm, collected person, cocky even. To see him like this is a shock, and before long, Maisie is going to notice, or someone else will. They will point it out, bringing light to the problem, and we can’t have that happening.
Leaning over to whisper to Jake, I say, “Tell Jesse that everything will be okay. Oh, and he needs to stop acting so nervous. Otherwise, people are going to star
t noticing that something is wrong.”
And he does without any complaints.
“He says he’s trying, but he’s just nervous that she will say no, and that everyone will witness it,” Jake tells me a few seconds later.
I silently groan and roll my eyes at his stupidity.
“Tell that idiot that he is even more stupid than I thought. We all know that she isn’t going to say no. She’s been wanting to marry this fool for months now!”
And he does again.
“He says you better be right.” Oh, I am right. She’s already picked out her wedding dress, unlike me, and I’m the one who’s been engaged for a few months!
The waiter brings out food, interrupting Jesse’s mental breakdown. Theresa passes Noah back to us, and I put him in his car seat on the chair next to me before tucking into my pizza. I love a good chicken supreme pizza.
I take the first bite and have to hold in the moan that wants to escape. I’ve not been here before, but I’ve heard good things about the food, and it was spot on. This definitely has to be the second best pizza I’ve ever had. I think I’m literally about to have a foodgasm! Judging by the noises around me, everybody feels the same. It makes me laugh to hear our parents moaning over food. Then it makes me feel sick because they’re moaning. Eurgh! It makes me shudder.
“Did anyone else just vom in their mouth at hearing our parents moan?” Maisie asks over the table, causing us all to burst out laughing. Even Brandon and Evan laugh, and it isn’t even their parents!
“Definitely,” we all reply in unison.
“Come on, kids. We’re not past it, you know. I know how to show your mother a good time, and her moans are some of the most beautiful sounds I’ve ever heard,” Tim, Maisie’s dad, says. Maisie and Jake look like they’re going to be sick, while the rest of us just crack up laughing. I’ve never heard Tim talk like this before, though it’s hilarious.
“Dad, please. That’s enough and wrong on so many different levels!” Jake cringes.
We eat the rest of our dinner, the conversation flowing and everybody laughing; well, except Jesse, but he’s joining in when he can, as not to alert anybody.
Jesse coughs, letting me know that it’s time. I quickly wrap the necklace around Noah’s neck, being careful that it doesn’t strangle him.
“Maisie, do you want to hold Noah? I think he misses his Aunty MaiMai,” I coo, going along with the plan.
She claps her hands and excitedly screeches, “YES, YES, YES!”
I nod to Jesse, letting him know that everything is ready and that she has about two minutes before she finds it so he needs to be ready, before passing Noah over to Maisie.
Jesse
Fuck. All day I’ve been jittery and a bundle of nervous energy that only intensified when we got to the restaurant. I know I told Jake that I wanted to do it on mine and Maisie’s anniversary, but that plan got ruined when Noah decided to come into the world a month early, meaning I had to change all of my plans.
Today isn’t really as special as our anniversary, but it was the day that we first made love, the day that she bared herself to me, allowing me into her heart and soul. So it’s a pretty close second.
I don’t know how I gave Chloe the signal in the state that I’m in right now. It kind of just happened, and now that I’ve done it, I’m shitting my pants. It’s only a matter of minutes before she finds it, and she has the power to make or break me. I’m hoping for make, though it could go awfully wrong.
I know deep down that she wants to marry me. Nevertheless, I’ve been having the same nightmare for days now, where she says no in front of our family and friends, then gets up and screams no in my face before running out of the restaurant, leaving me to explain what just happened. Because of that, I’m so scared of her answer.
Chloe carefully passes Noah over to Maisie before giving me a look. I swallow loudly, then I start taking in deep breaths¸ getting ready to change both of our lives.
I know the minute that she spots it because her back goes ramrod straight.
Fuck. Here it goes…
Maisie
I’ve been wanting to hold my little Noah all night, but my damn mom has been hogging him! At one point, I was going to steal him from her, but I knew she would have been pissed off with me, and I was in too good a mood to deal with that right now. It’s all-good though because I now have my little man in my arms, which he isn’t leaving for the rest of the night.
Jesse’s been acting weird. For the last few days, he’s been saying less and less to me, and to say I’m worried would be an understatement. Maybe what I shared with Jake is really happening. Maybe he’s finding a way to break up with me. I mean, it’s not like we’ve been making love as much as we usually do. Usually, he can’t get enough of me. Recently, though, we’ve not had sex once. Had it been anyone else, I probably wouldn’t have worried, but Jesse has always loved sex. It’s a well known fact, so the fact that he isn’t having it with me has had me worried these past few days. I’ve even gone as far as buying sexy lingerie. He didn’t even act fazed by it, which heightened my insecurities another few notches. I haven’t spoken to anybody about it because what would I say? Jesse isn’t having sex with me. I don’t like telling the whole world about my sex life – or lack of.
Since we all arrived at the restaurant, though, he’s been even more distant. He hasn’t spoken to me, and he’s hardly looked at me, so looking after Noah will help me forget the problems that we seem to be having. After tonight, though, I’m going to talk to him. I can’t take this anymore. I want the honest truth, whether it breaks my heart or not.
“You’re a beautiful boy, aren’t you?” I coo to Noah, who replies with a small smile.
I tickle under his chin in his ticklish spot, and I love hearing his baby chuckle. I could listen to it all day. Then I feel something cold. I pull back his t-shirt, only to find a silver chain. Since when does he wear a necklace? Surely that’s dangerous…
I pull the necklace out of his shirt, preparing to take it off, when it see it…
I gasp, dropping the necklace as if it’s on fire, but making sure that I don’t drop Noah. I’d never forgive myself.
It can’t be what I think it is, can it?
I lift my head up and look at everybody. Most people are engaged in conversation, except for Jesse, Jake, and Chloe, who are all looking at me expectantly. I don’t understand what they are silently communicating with me…
Then Jesse does something I didn’t expect to happen. He pushes his chair back and gets down on one knee. I have to hold onto Noah harder to make sure that I don’t drop him. Everybody stops their conversation, turning to face us. I can feel watchful eyes on us.
“Maisie, my beautiful Maisie. The moment you smashed into my world, my life changed. I knew that I couldn’t carry on keeping my heart guarded because after one look into your eyes, I knew that I wanted you to have it, and have it you do. We’ve been through so much in the year that we’ve been together, most of it good but a few bad things. I want to spend my life going through the highs and lows with you. I love the way your cheeks blush when you’re embarrassed, and the way you bite your lip when you’re confused. I love the way you breathe heavily while you’re sleeping, and the way that you snuggle into me. I love everything about you. I want to be able to stare into your beautiful brown eyes for the rest of my life, feeling content. I want to watch your stomach grow with our children, watch them grow up to look just like you, and then one day watch our grandchildren grow up. I want all of that with only you, Maisie. Will you marry me?”
By this point, I can hardly see Jesse kneeling before me, giving me a warm smile, or anybody else through my damn tears that are blurring my vision. Here I’ve been worrying myself to death that he’s bored with me, when really, he was just nervous because he was planning to propose. I’m such an idiot!
I don’t even have to think about my answer before I reply. I wouldn’t want to spend the rest of my life with anybody else ei
ther.
“Yes! Yes, Yes YES!” I near enough shout, causing everybody in the restaurant to turn to look at us. I feel my cheeks blush a bright shade of red, my face burning from the heat.
“Is that a yes?” Jesse asks, the smile on his face becoming a mega-watt smile.
“It’s definitely a yes,” I cry. I so badly want to hug him right now, but I have Noah in my arms. Jesse must realize this because he carefully takes the necklace off of Noah before passing him back to Chloe. Then he kneels back down, takes the ring off of the chain, and places it onto my finger. As soon as it’s safely on there, I leap from my chair, straight into Jesse’s awaiting arms. The feeling of contentment settles over me. I know that this is definitely where I want to spend the rest of my life – in Jesse’s arms. I hear people cheering, which causes us both to laugh.
“This is the happiest day of my life,” I sniffle into his ear.
“Mine too, and we have many more to come, baby.”
I squeeze him harder, afraid that if I let go, this could possibly be a dream. I pray to God that this isn’t a dream.
“What do you think of your ring?” Jesse murmurs in my ear. Crap, I haven’t even looked at it yet.
I begrudgingly pull back to inspect it and end up gasping again. It’s absolutely beautiful. It’s completely different to Chloe’s. Mine is a platinum cluster diamond ring, by the looks of it, and exactly like the ones I’ve been secretly looking at for the past few months. I could stare at it forever. Unfortunately, I can’t though, because my mom is begging me to show it to her.
I roll my eyes to Jesse before turning around and getting prepared to show off my ring. I would happily show it off after I’ve had a few more minutes to look at it myself!
