A Ghost of the Past
Page 23
“Are you okay?” she asked her helping Shay into a chair.
“I am fine,” Shay said putting a hand to her head. “I just became lightheaded for a moment. That has not happened before,” she muttered to herself and Ray frowned as Cordial and Todd came into the kitchen.
“We are hungry,” Todd teased and Shay got up from the chair as she said, “It is almost done.”
She started back to the stove as a wave of dizziness surrounded her and Cordial frowned as he saw her sway. He caught her before she could fall, and Ray said quietly, “She was just lightheaded a few minutes ago when I came in too.”
“Shay,” Cordial asked his silver eyes filled worry.
“I am fine, Cordial,” Shay said leaning against him. “I am just tired that is all.”
Cordial looked at Ray who frowned as did Todd then Cordial swung Shay up into his arms.
Shay paled as her stomach rebelled against the sudden movement and she said quickly, “Cordial, put me down. I am going to be sick.”
Cordial lowered her to her feet and as soon as her feet hit the floor, she was running to the guest bathroom on the first floor. Cordial followed her as she got sick in the toilet and knelt down next to her rubbing her back as she kneeled there.
After she rinsed out her mouth and washed her face after flushing the toilet, he helped her back out to the living room where she sunk onto the couch.
“Shay, is it possible?” Ray asked as she settled down next to her.
Shay ran a shaky hand through her hair, “I did not even think about until we were talking a few weeks ago and I pushed it to the back of mind because with everything going on, my body has been a little off.”
Cordial knelt down in front of her, “Shay, is what possible?”
Shay looked up at him and she grabbed his hand as she whispered, “That I could be pregnant.”
Cordial looked at her in shock as she sat there holding his hand. He could see the fear in Shay’s eyes, but what he could see more was the hope. She wanted this baby if she was pregnant.
“Are you sure?” he croaked as he stared down at her.
“No, I am not,” Shay said as she sighed. “It could be my body is just paying games with me.” She bit her bottom lip before she said, “But if I was, Cordial, how would you feel?”
Cordial could not answer that right away as his stunned mind processed what he just been told. Shay could be pregnant; this beautiful woman could be pregnant with his child, he thought to himself. Suddenly, he saw himself with a little girl in his arms with Shay’s amazing green eyes and he knew the answer.
He smiled as his eyes lit up with excitement, “I think I would love you even more than I thought possible.” He kissed her gently before he knelt down so that his face was even with her abdomen where she would carry their child. “Our child,” he breathed as his hands settled lightly there.
Shay laughed shakily as she said, “Let’s not get our hopes up. According to my calculations, I should start my period in another week or so.”
Shay could see the look in his eyes and she sighed, “How about I go and get a pregnancy test from the store?”
Cordial was already up and striding to the door before she could finish her sentence.
“Cordial,” she called out but all she heard was the door closing and the truck starting up.
She turned to look at Ray and Todd who were silently laughing.
“I am going to be an aunt,” Ray burst out wrapping Shay into a hug.
Shay frowned, “Ray, it is too early to say if I am pregnant. I mean, it has only been a month since Cordial and I have been intimated.”
Ray and Todd only smiled as Todd said, “Tell me what to do and I will finish up the meal.”
Ray frowned as she looked over at him, “I don’t think so. You burn water so I will finish the meal. Shay, stay here and we will take care of dinner.”
She could hear them teasing as they walked back into the kitchen and she sat back against the couch. She sighed as she realized everybody was getting his or her hopes up. It was most likely that with everything that has happened since she came here, her body was just trying to adjust to the changes. She leaned her head back against the couch as her eyes slid closed and she fell asleep.
Cordial came in ten minutes later with the bag in his hand and he could hear Todd and Ray in the kitchen. He smiled as he headed for the kitchen until he glanced over at the couch and noticed Shay sleeping. He smiled softly as he picked her up gently into his arms and she stirred briefly, “Cordial.”
“Yes, Baby,” he said quietly giving her a kiss on her lips before he carried her up to their room. Once there, he helped her get undress and in to one of his t-shirts that she enjoyed sleeping in and she snuggled underneath the covers. He sat there looking at her for a few minutes before he walked into the bathroom putting the pregnancy test in the cabinet above the sink.
He walked back into the bedroom and over to the bed as he gently brushed the hair off Shay’s face. He whispered, “I hope that you are pregnant, Shay Montgomery.”
He gave her a light kiss on the lips and quietly walked out as Shay smiled gently in her sleep. Then the dream began:
Shay looked around as she noticed the cabin where Jessica took her.
“Cordial and I spent a weekend here one time,” Charity said materializing next to her.
“You have not been talking to me lately,” Shay said looking at her and Charity smiled at her sadly.
“I don’t have much time left,” she stated softly as she turned her eyes to the cabin. “I was very fond of Cordial more than the other men in my life, but I really only loved one.”
“Dillon,” Shay stated.
“Yes,” Charity said sadly, “I only loved him.”
They were quiet for a few minutes then Shay asked, “Was Lucille the one that killed you?”
“No,” she said shaking her head, “Although she wanted, too, so did my mother. I was so mean to her although I never knew why I was, and I can see that I gave her as much pain as my father did. It is funny what you learn after you die in which you can only regret as you cannot fix the mistakes.”
Charity turned to Shay, “Everyone thought I was going to Cordial’s house that night…”
Shay frowned, “Well, yes.”
Charity shook her head, “I was not going to Cordial’s house that night. I was heading to the house of the man that I loved who I thought love me. I was stupid that I walked right into trap.”
Shay paled as she looked at her sister, “You were going to Dillon’s house that night?”
Charity nodded her head as she looked at the cabin, “I wish I had loved Cordial maybe then my death would have meant something.”
“He cared about you, Charity,” Shay said.
“I know, but he did not love me,” Charity said with a smile as she disappeared…
Shay woke up fast and Cordial just walking into the room looked at her with worry.
“What is the matter, Shay?” he asked walking over to the bed.
Shay looked at him for a moment before she gave a sad laugh pulling her knees to her chest, “You will think I am crazy.”
Cordial looked at her in confusion before he said, “Try me.”
She shook her head and without looking at him, she began to tell him about her dreams of Charity. She talked as he sat on the bed listening watching her face as the emotions crossed them; fear, worry, loathing, pity, and even love.
Finally she was silent looking at the window and Cordial looked at her with affection.
“Shay, are you telling me that you knew about Charity before you arrived here?” he asked taking her hand.
She shook her head as she looked at their hands, “Not before I arrived. I thought my dreams were just my imagination creating the life that I thought I would like. I did not like the “me” in my dreams, but that was all I thought they were until I came here.”
She looked up from their hands to his eyes, “When I first got here, I knew something w
as off because everyone looked at me like I was a ghost or something. Then the letters started coming and I had to know so I looked up Charity’s name a few weeks after I was here. It was shock to the system to see the picture of you and Charity in the paper while reading about her death.”
Cordial put his arm around her as he said, “But there was more to it then that.”
Shay sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder, “When I was 19, I had a dream; I was running through the woods and someone was chasing me. I kept telling myself that I needed to make it to a certain place because the person there would protect me. I woke up in a cold sweat after I was shot. I never even knew that I was seeing some one else’s death especially as the person looked just like me.”
Cordial felt himself pull away slightly to look at her with a frown, “Why have you never told me this before?”
“Tell me, honestly, what would you have say to me, or done, if I told you this before?” Shay said looking at him with narrowed green eyes and he opened his mouth to tell her that he would have believed her when he suddenly stopped.
He looked at her narrowed eyes and he laughed as he admitted, “I would have thought you were crazy just like you said.”
“Exactly,” Shay said nodding her head.
Cordial slid down on the bed pulling Shay with him until they were lying fully on the bed.
“But how could you see all those flashes of her life?” Cordial asked stroking her arm lightly.
“I think because we were twins although we were separated at birth,” Shay said slowly. “I would have to ask Mark, but I think that it is a good bet.”
Cordial laughed as he turned to her, “Mark, honey, is a medical doctor not a shrink.”
Shay hit him lightly on the chest, “I know that but he may know a little bit about it. Besides, he wants to talk to me about something anyway.” The frown was back on her face and Cordial knew what worried her.
“Don’t worry about it tonight,” Cordial said pulling her tighter against him. “Just sleep and tomorrow we will figure everything out including this.” He rested his palm against her abdomen and she looked at him with wide eyes.
“No matter what I still want this baby if you are pregnant,” Cordial said reading her look. “If you are not pregnant, then we will have to just work a little harder.”
Shay had laugh at that as she curled up against him letting sleep take her as Cordial stayed awake stroking her back as he thought about what she said. He looked down at her and kissed her lightly on top of her head.
“No wonder you were so anxious to leave at first,” he whispered, “Because you already knew that something was not quite right from the beginning.”
He kissed her one more time and pulled her as close to him as he could get her before he fell asleep, one hand splayed lightly across her middle.
Chapter 39
Vincent arrived back two days later and they threw him a welcome home dinner. Shay had called Mark the night after her and Cordial talked, and he said that he would talk to her at the welcome home dinner. Shay had been nervous all day as she cooked the dinner.
“Shay,” Cordial said coming into the kitchen and he noticed her pale face.
He did not say another word, but walked over to her and pulled her into his arms.
“We will get through this,” he promised and she just hugged him before she pulled away to finish what she was doing.
They were all in the kitchen when Vincent arrived and Ray went to get the door.
“Hi everyone,” he said coming into the room with Ray and a smile.
He was hugged and asked about his time with his friends as Shay kept drinks filled as she shuffled around keeping an eye on the food.
Vincent was in the middle of an amusing story when the doorbell rung and Cordial looked over at Shay as Shay stopped what she was doing.
“Don’t ask me,” was all she said as she went to go answer it. There was laughter and then Shay came back with Nettie.
“Nettie, when did you get back?” Pauline asked as she was given something to drink after she was hugged by everyone.
“A few hours ago and I thought I would come over to say hi to Cordial and Shay,” Nettie said. “Sorry if I am interrupting a party.”
Cordial laughed as he put an arm around her and kissed her cheek, “You are not interrupting anything and you would have been invited if we knew that you were back.”
With that said, they headed to the kitchen were Shay laid out a decent dinner and they enjoyed their time not talking about anything serious.
Shay cleaned up, but she left the dishes for later as everyone went into the living room.
Cordial settled on the floor as the others took the couch and loveseat. Shay settled next to him as Ray said, “So Dad what happened?”
Vincent looked at her and smiled, “The divorce papers are drawn up and sent out. I am pretty sure that she will be giving me a call soon about them.”
Shay rested her head against Cordial’s shoulder as she listened to the conversation. She yawned and Cordial whispered, “Tired?”
“A little,” she answered. Mark looked at her and frowned as she looked tired and pale.
“Shay, are you okay?” Pauline asked.
“I am fine, Pauline,” Shay said sitting up quickly and her face paled as she scrambled to her feet running for the bathroom. Cordial was right behind her and everyone looked at each other as Ray and Todd sat back on the loveseat.
When they came back, Ray asked, “Did you take the test?”
Shay shook her head as Cordial exclaimed, “We forgot about it.”
He looked at her and Shay nodded her head as she walked upstairs to their room.
“Cordial what is going on?” Vincent asked.
Cordial was heading for the stairs that he did not hear him so Ray told them, “Shay may be pregnant.”
“What?” Mark and Vincent said at the same time as Nellie and Pauline said, “Oh my.”
“We don’t know for sure that is why I asked about the pregnancy test,” Ray said as Todd laughed and Ray glared at him.
“I go away for a few weeks,” Nellie said sinking back into the couch, “And Vincent is getting a divorce and Shay may be pregnant. Damn, why does everything happen when I leave?”
Everyone laughed as they waited to hear the news.
Upstairs, Shay had taken the test and walked back into the bedroom where Cordial was sitting on the bed.
“We have to wait for a few minutes,” Shay said quietly walking over to the window.
“Shay, will you be happy if we are pregnant?” Cordial asked. He saw the look in her eyes, but he needed to hear her saw it aloud.
“Cordial, honestly, I am scared,” Shay said. “But in answer to your question, I won’t regret it if we are pregnant. In fact, I think it will be a wonderful thing.”
She turned and smiled at him, “But let’s not get our hopes up. It can show a false-positive or even a false-negative.”
Cordial laughed as he looked at her and she giggled as she walked over to give him a kiss. Standing in between his legs, Cordial held Shay to him as his head rested against her breasts.
“I love you,” he whispered. Shay heard the words, but more she could fill it in the way he held her.
“I love you, too,” she said back and looked at the clock next to the bed. Cordial felt her take a deep breath and he let her go so she could go check on the test.
When she came out, there was a smile on her face and Cordial was off the bed picking her up.
“The test says positive,” Cordial stated and Shay nodded holding up the test to show the two lines.
“We should get a blood test to be positive, but I believe we are pregnant,” Shay said.
Cordial whirled her around as Shay laughed and Cordial dropped her on the bed coming down to her so he could kiss her.
“Cordial,” she said breathlessly, “We have guest downstairs who are waiting to see what the answer is.”
“D
amn,” Cordial said kissing her one more time before getting up. Then he smiled, “Let’s go tell my dad he is going to be a grandfather.”
Shay’s smile disappeared at the remainder and Cordial quickly said, “Shay, he will be happy that he is going to be a grandfather and it is you who is the one giving him one.”
He could see that she was still worried, but she nodded her head as they headed out of the room.
They went down the stairs and into the living room where everyone was talking until they saw them.
Cordial smiled as he held up the test, “We are pregnant.”
Everyone started shouting at once as Cordial and Shay were hugged and congratulated.
“I am so glad,” Vincent said as everyone settled down. Shay looked at him with a worried look and he smiled, “I am so glad that Cordial loves you and you are going to be my grandchild’s mother.”
Shay smiled as she hugged him and said, “Thank you.”
Everyone was talking and laughing until Ray said, “It is too bad that the child’s other grandfather is a jackass.”
There was silence at the comment and Ray looked stricken as she turned to Shay.
“I am sorry, Shay, I did not mean it like that,” Ray said mournfully.
Shay shook her head and was about to say something when Mark intervened.
“That was what I wanted to talk with you about, Shay,” Mark said. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “I guess this is a good time as any.”
He looked at Shay, “You have a birthmark on your lower back, shaped in a somewhat form of a butterfly.”
Shay frowned, “Yeah, but I only know about it because one of the woman at the orphanage made a comment about it. I tend to forget that it is there. What does that have to with anything?”
“I have seen that birthmark before,” Mark stated. “But not on Teresa or Shane.”
“What?” Shay said collapsing back onto the couch.
“We want you to take a paternity test,” Mark said as he noted her shocked expression.
“Is that even possible for identical twins to have separate fathers?” Nettie asked in a shocked voice as Cordial sat down next to Shay noting to himself that he had meant to ask her about the birthmark when he saw it the other day after their shower.