Just Friends?

by K E Osborn

  “Okay, do you think you can stand Kat?” the nurse asks.

  I keep breathing long, steady breaths. I put my weight on Will and the nurse as I slide off the edge of the bed.

  “Ahhh,” I moan out loudly as they steady me. My head feels fuzzy, but I try to focus on Will’s face. He’s giving me that ‘you’re doing great’ look.

  “Okay, let’s sit you back down,” the nurse says as she pushes the wheelchair in behind me with her free hand.

  “You can do it, just keep your eyes on me,” Will reassures, knowing that I’m using him to help me through this. I nod as I start to bend my legs to sit down in the wheelchair. I start off slowly as the ripping feeling moves through my stomach causing me to sit suddenly. I flop into the chair and sigh with relief that it was there to catch me. The dizziness I was feeling eases slightly. Will bends down and places the foot rests in front of my feet and he slowly puts one leg up and then the other onto the rests.

  I exhale loudly as I finally get settled into the wheelchair. The nurse sets up my IV and we head off to the NICU. Will walks next to me the entire way. Liz, Dan and Brooke follow closely behind. My breathing becomes rapid, my heart rate increases, I start to feel even dizzier as we get closer to Cohen. The nurse opens a door and I’m wheeled into a ward with lots of incubators everywhere. My hand shoots to my mouth as I’m wheeled to the furthest incubator from the door. I notice a little name tag on the front of it saying ‘Cohen Sanders’. My breathing hitches and tears well in my eyes as I’m wheeled next to him. Will bends down to my level and takes my hand.

  “You ready to see our son?” he whispers and kisses my cheek.

  I nod and gulp. We both exhale as we look into the incubator to see our tiny little baby boy with a tube taped to his nose, little pads stuck to his chest and something wrapped around his foot. I’m not sure if I’m feeling elated now that I’m seeing my baby boy for the first time or miserable to see him looking so tiny and helpless. I can’t contain myself, I start to cry, tears of joy… tears of heartache… tears of pure love.

  “He looks like you,” I say. I look at Will, who’s standing in awe of his son.

  Will sniffs and wipes a quick tear away from his face.

  “He’s amazing, just like his mother.”

  “Oh guys he’s adorable. Wow! My first grandchild,” Liz remarks as she too wipes a tear from her eye.

  “Can I hold him?” I ask the nurse.

  “No, I’m sorry, but you can put your hands through here and touch him,” she says and I nod my head.

  “We should do it at the same time,” I say to Will who looks as thrilled as I am to be able to touch our son for the first time.

  Will puts his hands through the lower gap and I put mine through the top one and touch Cohen’s tiny little hand as Will touches his foot. He moves slightly at our touch as he wraps his tiny hand around my pinky finger.

  “Oh God,” I mumble as it all becomes too much for me and I burst into tears. Will places his arm around my shoulders.

  “Look what we made. He’s perfect.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I stayed for nine nights in the hospital after Cohen was born. It was only going to be six, but I’d lost a little bit too much weight and was quite weak. My IV stayed in for a few days with antibiotics for a slight fever I’d succumbed to after the operation. I was on morphine for the first five days or so, but then I wanted to see how I handled the pain without it. I was okay and I managed to get by on pain killers and the gentle love of Will, my gorgeous husband who never left my side.

  I visited Cohen every second that I could which was most of the day, every day and I can tell how much Will is in love with his son, which is about as much as I am. Cohen stayed in the hospital until around his due date. The poor hospital had paparazzi and fans camped outside all day, every day waiting for a first glimpse of Cohen.

  My parents arrived a week later to see their first grandchild. They were as thrilled as Liz and spoiled Cohen rotten with toys and clothes. We have set up our home ready for Cohen. The nursery looks awesome, thanks to Will, Dan and Mark.

  ~*~

  The day has come to take Cohen home. I hold him close to me as we walk from the hospital to our car. The camera's flash and the fans are crying and screaming as they take their first glimpse of our baby boy. We pose so the paparazzi can get a family photo of us together, because this will be the one and only photo opportunity with our child. After this he’ll be our closely guarded little boy away from the public eye. Just because his parents are famous does not mean that he will be. As usual the paparazzi throw questions at us.

  “How are you feeling after your ordeal?”

  “How is the baby?”

  “What’s his name?”

  “I’m doing great and I’m feeling much better. Our little baby Cohen is fine. Thank you for asking,” I say as I buckle Cohen in his baby car seat.

  Patty is here to answer any other questions for us. She’s been marvelous and I love her so much.

  I hop in the car next to Cohen and Will sits on the other side of the baby capsule. We shut the doors and wait for Patty to finish. Once she moves into the car the driver takes off toward our home. As we pull up at the front of our house, I smile and talk baby talk to Cohen and let him know that this is where he lives. Will watches on lovingly.

  I slide out of the car and pick Cohen up from his baby capsule. I notice everyone standing in the driveway with a ‘Welcome Home, Cohen’ banner. I smile at my family and friends as I walk with our son in my arms and Will’s arm around my waist.

  We head inside and the joy I feel at having our son finally home with us is immeasurable. The overwhelming love and support from our family is taking its emotional toll on me. I start to cry as we head to the living room. Will gets me seated with Cohen, then, stands up and exhales loudly.

  “Thank you everyone for coming. We really appreciate you spending time with us and our baby boy. We can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for us since Cohen’s birth. Now, as you know I have a surprise for my beautiful wife and it’s just arrived.”

  He walks over to our front door, opens it. A tall blonde walks in, but her face is covered by a giant nappy cake. I giggle slightly as she makes her way through our friends and family and places, the giant cake down on the coffee table right in front of me. I wait eagerly to see who it is. She peers out from behind it to reveal her face.

  “Oh. My. God,” I stutter out. I jump up with Cohen to move over to her.

  “I’m sorry for being a dramatic cow,” Charlie says as she opens her arms for a hug.

  “Charlie, it’s so good to see you… so very good. I thought you hated me?” I ask, wiping a tear from my cheek.

  “I did, until I realized that Olsen was a complete and utter douche bag. He was lying to me about everything, including you. I’m so sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain, Kat,” she says as she hugs me softly with Cohen in-between us.

  ‘It’s okay. I have to admit I’m glad you came to your senses and realized he was a complete waste of space though.”

  “You got that right,” she says and kisses my cheek. “And look at you, little Cohen, aren’t you’re the spitting image of your daddy? You’re so handsome and look at all that black hair you little cutie, patutie.” She gently rubs Cohen’s cheeks with the tips of her fingers.

  Brooke walks over and grabs us in a group hug.

  “The gang is back the way it should’ve always been,” she says while she continues to hug us both.

  ~ WILL ~

  I can’t help but smile at my beautiful wife. Seeing her so happy to have all her friends here showing their support for us, makes me melt inside. Seeing Kat ecstatic after everything she has been through is the only thing that matters to me. Well, other than our baby boy being healthy and growing stronger each day. I don’t know what I’d do without either of them, so I have to protect them at all costs. I can’t have anything happen to them ever again. That’s why I have
Mark and the security contingent surrounding us at all times. They will stay with us even if we’re on set shooting movies or if Kat’s off singing. From now on, she’ll always be protected. Kat still hates all the fuss, but she doesn’t need reminding about the horrors that can happen when you’re without security. She knows I’m only doing this for our safety. They’re there for our protection and for our child and any future children we have.

  I know Kat is still a little anxious about staying in this house, seeing as this is where she was abducted so I’ve bought us another house, a bigger one with massive security and I’m surprising her with it in a week or so when the paperwork and the security details are finalized.

  Even after the massive fuck up that Mark made allowing Kat to be taken from me for those agonizing hours, I didn’t fire his ass. He’s now, actually a great friend and Mark, Dan and I are like brothers. Considering all the help that Mark was on that horrendous day, he’ll always be our number one bodyguard, and best friend. At least I can trust him not to hit on Kat like my former bodyguard and ex best friend did. I often wonder where Olsen has ended up. I don’t hear his name mentioned anywhere, so I guess he’s turned into the no-one he should be.

  Stupid Fuck!

  I stand and watch my family and friends in awe. I love these people and I love my life with my beautiful and adorable wife. I couldn’t be happier than I am right in this moment. I’m one lucky son of a bitch!

  Epilogue

  ~ KAT ~

  “Will, where’s the spade?” I call out as Cohen mumbles against my chest.

  “It’s against the stairs baby.”

  I walk with Cohen in one of those harnesses you wear with the baby strapped to your chest.

  “Found it, thanks,” I call out as I walk through the brush to the waterfall with the spade for Will. He sees me and walks over and leans in and places a gentle kiss to my lips and then to Cohen’s head.

  “Okay, my main man, let Daddy show you how to plant a tree.”

  He starts to dig a hole next to the waterfall. I pick up the sapling Sycamore we are getting ready to plant. It’s our own tree to celebrate Cohen’s birth, just like Will’s mother did all those years ago.

  “Daddy’s doing a great job, and he’s looking mighty fine shoveling all that messy dirt. Just look at his muscles. If you were a girl you’d be impressed too,” I say to Cohen loud enough for his daddy to hear me.

  Will laughs and flexes his biceps. “Enjoying the show are we?”

  “Of course, Mr. Sanders. You’re always a mighty fine sight to behold.”

  “Okay, well then, I guess I’ll have to show my appreciation,” he says and he strides over to me confidently and kisses me passionately.

  Jeez, he takes my breath away. Gotta love that gorgeous body of his.

  Cohen starts to mumble baby talk as he puts his hand up tapping on Will’s face making him laugh.

  “Sorry mate too much PDA in front of you, hey? Well, we don’t want to scar you for life now do we?”

  He quickly pecks my lips again and walks over to finish digging the hole.

  “Okay, all done, I think.”

  I step over holding the sapling and squat down to be level with Will. He takes the sapling tree from me, turns it over and pulls the tree and the soil from the container. He places it in the ground and then covers it with dirt securing it in place.

  “Our tree for you, Cohen.”

  We both stand up and smile at each other. Cohen mumbles again and we chuckle at his apparent lack of interest. Unfortunately, my hair is a far more interesting thing to play with than looking at a sapling. Will wraps his arm around my waist and I rest my head on his shoulder as we look at our tree.

  “What do you think we should we name it?” I say looking at Will.

  “I think we should wait till Cohen can talk. He should name it, just like I named Mom’s tree Bruce. What do you think?”

  “Sounds like a great idea to me.”

  ~*~

  “So Cohen what do you want to name your tree?” Will says to our four year old Cohen, who’s more interested in playing with Holly our dog and our two year old daughter Kailee to even care about a tree.

  “Mommy, Kaywee smells like doo doo,” Cohen says making us both laugh. I walk over and pick up Kailee and check her nappy.

  “Yes, she does smell doesn’t she?”

  I laugh as Will bends down and picks up Cohen walking him over to the two trees lined up side by side next to the waterfall’s edge.

  “So, have you thought of a name for your tree, yet?” Will asks Cohen, who looks deep in thought.

  “Ummm, I call it, mmm, Ben Ten,” Cohen says, laughing while his father is tickling him.

  “Ben Ten, it is, you crazy kid,” Will says.

  I laugh as my cell rings. I prop Kailee on my hip and pull out my cell from my pocket.

  “Will, it’s our agent, Frank.”

  “Put it on speaker,” Will says, as he walks over to me. I press the answer button and put it on speaker.

  “Frank, how are you?”

  “Good, thanks Kat. Is Will with you?”

  “Yes, I’m here.”

  “Great, you both got the parts. This movie could be an Oscar winner if you play your cards right.”

  I look at Will with excitement in my eyes and he smiles brightly.

  “When do we start filming?” Will asks.

  “In a month,” Frank informs and we both smile brightly.

  “Okay, thanks very much, Frank,” I say and I hang up my cell.

  “Oh My God, Will, we’ll finally be in another movie together and not apart this time. It’s going to be great, I’m looking forward to this one,” I say as Will comes in and kisses me softly.

  “I love you, baby.”

  “And we love you, I’m glad you came to your senses and we didn’t stay ‘just friends’,” I say.

  “Me too, baby, me too.”

  ~ THE END ~

  Play List

  “Friday I’m In Love” - The Cure

  “With Or Without You” - U2

  “Jessie’s Girl” - Rick Springfield

  “Go Your Own Way” - Fleetwood Mac

  “You’re All I Need” – Motley Crew

  Click here to listen to the song that was a big part of Kat and Will’s journey.

  I hope you enjoyed the story

  of Kat and Will.

  Check these links for more books from Author K E Osborn.

  Goodreads Links

  Click on the links below to add to your TBR list.

  Complete Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy (Book #3.5)

  Off Your Rocker? The Rock God Series

  Amazon Links

  Trust Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy

  Love Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy

  All of Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy

  Connect with Me Online

  Web:

  www.keosbornauthor.com

  Twitter:

  http://twitter.com/KEOsbornAuthor

  Email:

  keosborn.author@hotmail.com

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  http://www.goodreads.com/KEOsbornAuthor

  K E Osborn

  Australian author K E Osborn was born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia. Having worked in the optical industry for some time, K E Osborn decided it was time to leave the optical world behind and start on something new. With a background in graphic design and a flair for all things creative, she tried her hand at writing.

  K E Osborn hid the fact that she was writing from her family, as she believed her first story was simply something she had to get on paper first and then judge if it was good enough for others to read. It wasn’t until her mother found a printed version of the manuscript that her secret came out. She was a writer, and she loved it. Writing gives her life purpose. It makes her feel, laugh, cry, and get completely enveloped with the characters and their story lines. She feels at home when writin
g.

  K E Osborn hopes you enjoyed her first stand alone novel - Just Friends? You can look forward to more books being released in 2014.