The Long Way Home

by K. Langston

  “I want to make a promise to each of you right here, right now. No matter what happens in my life, you two will always come first. Always. You both mean the world to me and you’ve made me happier than I could have ever thought possible. I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure I do the same for you, too. I’ll tell you each and every day how much I love you. How much you mean to me, and I’ll never let you down. Never.” My eyes sting with tears as I look down at the man who undoubtedly owns my heart.

  Who has always owned my heart and fought like hell to keep it. The fact that he not only promises to love and care for me but Caroline as well only cements my deep love for him. I’ve said before there’s no way I could ever love him more but like so many times before…

  I am wrong.

  Present

  Linc left to go on tour, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Of course I miss him terribly. His kiss, his touch, and all the little ways he loves me each and every day, but he left me with an immense sense of security and he still finds little ways to show me how much he cares from afar.

  We speak on the phone every single day, usually before his shows, because by the time they are over Caroline and I are in bed. We talk via FaceTime every other day or try to anyway. Some days are harder than others. Caroline has school and I am busy preparing a home for us.

  Linc designated me the daunting task of decorating, a project I wasn’t very sure of when I first began, but once I committed myself, I gave it my all. Gwynn helps a lot, too. She is in remission now. Most of her hair has grown back and she seems to have more energy than ever before. It’s hard to keep up with her sometimes. She visits often, as do my parents and Rachel and Will. It helps having my friends and family here for support, but nothing or no one can replace what he gives me.

  Nighttime is the hardest. When it’s time to climb into our empty bed alone, I try not to cry. It’s not like he’ll be gone forever but still…I want him here now. It seems like my whole life has been nothing but one sacrifice after another. But isn’t that what life is all about?

  Sacrifices.

  My loneliness is a small price to pay to know the man I love is coming home to me in a few short months.

  The tour has been a huge success. Sold out shows all across the US. The label has been hounding him to re-sign, offering a whole lot more money and creative freedom, but he continues to refuse. He says he wants to take a break. He wants to spend time with us and focus on songwriting for a while. Part of me wonders if he’ll regret his decision not to continue on his path to stardom. He’s released two more songs off his latest album and each one has hit number one within a week. They say he’s the next legendary star with a sound that rivals any artist before him.

  Linc laughs every time he hears it. He’s still so humble. And that makes me love him even more.

  He has a break in the tour next week and he’s scheduled to come home for two days. Two days doesn’t seem like very long but when you haven’t seen each other in a little over two months it seems like a lifetime. He’s tried to talk me into coming to a show but I can’t bear to leave Caroline right now and with her in school it makes it difficult to travel. But to tell the truth, his timing couldn’t be more perfect. With spring break starting next week, we’ll all be able to spend time together. And I plan to make the most of it.

  Once I drop Caroline off at school, I head to my doctor’s appointment. I haven’t told Linc yet but I’m having my birth control implant removed today.

  I go through the motions just like every other visit. The nurse weighs me then I pee in a cup. She puts me in a room where I’m told to strip down and put on the paper gown. I think about texting Linc while I wait. Butterflies flutter in my belly at the thought but before I can the doctor comes in holding my file.

  “Hello, dear. How are you today?”

  Dr. Foss has been my doctor for as long as I can remember. She delivered Caroline and has such a good bedside manner. She’s in her late forties and beautiful but she has a weird sense of humor.

  “I’m good, Dr. Foss. How’ve you been?”

  “Good, good. I see you’re here to have your birth control implant removed.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “You do understand that once I remove it, the possibility of getting pregnant increases by, oh say…a lot.”

  I chuckle. “Yes, ma’am, I’m well aware. That’s kind of the point.”

  She tosses my file on the counter and takes a seat on the short, rolling chair, clasping her hands in her lap. “Ah, I see. Well, the implant expired five months ago. So it’s a good thing you want to get pregnant because um…you are,” she says, patting me on the knee with a wide smile.

  I gulp for air.

  I’m pretty sure I look like a fish out of water, and right now I guess I am because that is the last thing I expected her to say. “Uh, I didn’t realize it had expired.”

  I swallow against the knot in my throat, emotion building in my chest. Linc and I haven’t had sex since the morning he left to go on tour, and I haven’t had any symptoms. I can’t believe I’m pregnant.

  My hand moves to my belly. “Are you sure?” I ask, not wanting to get too excited unless she’s one hundred percent positive.

  “I need to do an exam and some blood work to be sure but your urine test was positive.”

  Tears of joy spring to my eyes. I’m going to have a baby. Linc’s baby.

  Our baby.

  After Dr. Foss completes her exam and blood work, she confirms that I am approximately ten weeks. She removes the implant, writes me a prescription for prenatal vitamins, and schedules a follow-up visit for four weeks from now.

  My face hurts from smiling so much, and I feel like I am walking on air. By the time I pick Caroline up from school, the news has really sunk in. I’m nervous about telling her but I don’t know why. She’s always wanted a little brother or sister. I guess I just don’t want her to feel like it will change anything between us, and I don’t want her to feel left out.

  I debate whether to tell Linc over the phone or in person and decide to wait until he comes home next week. It just might kill me, but I want it to be special. I want to see his face when I tell him he’s going to be a father for the first time.

  Linc calls later that night but his phone call is short and sweet. He tells me how he can’t wait to see me next week along with a few other naughty things and then he talks to Caroline briefly before letting us go. I try not to be disappointed. There are days when he’s so busy with radio interviews and other obligations that he doesn’t have time to sit and chat, but I was kind of hoping today would be different.

  Just a few more days.

  Later that night, as I’m lying in bed caressing my belly, I notice for the first time how hard it is and appreciate the delicate life growing inside of me. I can’t believe I haven’t had any symptoms. I was sick as a dog the first three months with Caroline but Dr. Foss did tell me that every pregnancy is different. And life has been chaotic the last few months. I guess I just never really slowed down long enough to realize. I’m actually kind of glad I quit my job at the Blue and White now. I was hesitant at first. I knew I needed to be home. To spend as much time as possible with Caroline. But I didn’t want to have to rely on Linc to take care of us. I wanted to contribute. But arguing with him about it was like trying to reason with an angry bear. It just wasn’t happening. This will give him even more reason to gloat about him being right but I don’t care.

  I’m more than happy to let him have his moment.

  The following day is a haze of daydreams. Between wanting to tell Linc and wondering if the baby will be a girl or a boy, I can hardly contain my excitement.

  In an effort to keep myself busy and resist the temptation of telling him now instead of in person, I find myself in the garage where I’ve stored a bunch of things I need to go through.

  There’s a lot in here that I need to get rid of but haven’t really put forth the effort. I think because some
of the boxes are filled with Dean’s things. I donated most of his stuff but there were some things I wanted to hang onto for Caroline. Like his wedding ring, his birth certificate, some old coins he’d collected over the years.

  Digging through the boxes I find several tiny onesies from when Caroline was born and the precious little smock dress we brought her home in, setting it aside to hold onto for her, too.

  I notice, for the first time in a long time, it doesn’t hurt so much to remember. The pain is a reminder of where I’ve been but the love and joy in my heart helps me remember where I am going.

  I find two large boxes and begin tossing out things we no longer need. As I get to the bottom of one filled with junk, I find that small wooden box at the bottom. My heart clenches in my chest. It’s the one he used to keep all of his drugs in. I’m about to toss it in the discard pile but open it up to make sure there is nothing in it.

  And there’s not.

  Minus a small white envelope with my name written across the front in Dean’s handwriting.

  My breath freezes in my lungs as tears prick my eyes. Setting the old box aside, I hold the envelope in my hand for what feels like an eternity before I finally summon enough courage to open it.

  Dear Sylvie,

  The first time I laid eyes on you, I knew you were the only “good” I was ever going to get out of life. I was also fully aware that making you mine meant stealing your happiness. A better man would have walked away, but I was never that kind of man. I’m selfish. I always have been. I’ll never forgive myself for all the pain I put you through. The things I’ve done. The things I’ve said.

  You deserved better than I could ever give.

  I tried so hard to be what you needed but every day that monster inside of my head pulled me further and further into the darkness. My mind has always been warped and twisted but it has reached a point where I can no longer—no—where I cannot wait any longer. I refuse to wait for the final twist where it snaps all together.

  I’ve lived on this earth for twenty-seven years and there is not one day I would want to relive except for two. The day I married you and the day our daughter was born. Those two days were worth every day I fought for my sanity. But even those moments of pure happiness do not silence the monster, and I have come to realize, nothing ever will.

  Death is my only salvation, and I accept my fate willingly if it means setting us both free.

  I wish you nothing but happiness, even though it requires my absence in order to find it.

  Please tell Caroline that I love her more than I ever loved myself and that every time the sun kisses her face, that’s me, watching over her.

  Dean

  My hand trembles as I lower the note and fall to my knees on the cold concrete floor. I sob into my hands, relieved to know that he’s finally at peace. That even though he chose death as his escape, it gives me comfort knowing that he’s no longer suffering or in pain.

  Once I pull myself together, I fill the small wooden box with the note and the things I want Caroline to have of her father’s and put it in my chifforobe. I will share this with her when she is old enough to understand. Until then, I will hold them close and never forget the man who loved me with everything he had.

  It may not have been the kind of love I needed but it was the kind of love that changed me forever.

  That kind of love never dies.

  Life can be full of sorrow and grief but there can also be sunshine after the storm. There can be joy and happiness and light. But in order to fully appreciate that light, we have to walk through the darkness.

  We have to hold hands with pain and dance out in the rain.

  It’s the only way our heart can comprehend what love truly is.

  Present

  Linc’s body moves with mine, a soft melody of love and desire. The notes strung together in a rhythm of time, creating a sound that echoes within the confines of this room and our hearts. A love like ours doesn’t exist in books or movies or the pages of some glossy magazine.

  It exists right here.

  In the breaths exchanged between us.

  His body is slick with sweat. Shifting his legs to spread mine wider, pushing himself deeper. The weight of him on top of me paired with the stark need in his eyes is a reflection of my own soul.

  Unfortunately, Linc’s flight home had gotten canceled so he had to take a red-eye and he didn’t crawl into our bed until three a.m. and let’s just say that I didn’t waste any time welcoming him home.

  “This,” Linc whispers, his trembling lips hovering above mine. “Nothing compares to this. Nothing. Only with you, I am home.”

  His forehead presses to mine as he surges forward once more, claiming his release. I explode around him, my body fading into his as my mind drifts away on a collective cloud of bliss.

  “Tastes like home, smells like home.” He pushes inside of me once more, driving home his point. “Feels like home.” His mouth moves to my neck, the whiskers on his face tickle my skin, causing me to laugh.

  “I’m so glad you’re back.”

  “Me too.”

  “Because there’s—there’s something I need to tell you,” I say between breaths and his endless kisses.

  Linc freezes and his eyes find mine. I gaze up at him, wondering if he can see it in my eyes. The dim bed lamp offers enough light to see the right side of his face and if that smile is any indication, he’s figured it out.

  Pushing up, he looks down at my belly, then back up at me. “Really?”

  All I can do is nod because the words are trapped somewhere behind the knot in my throat. He kisses me long, deep then he moves down my body and pushes up my silk teddy to press his lips to my abdomen. “How long?”

  Running my fingers through his hair, I can’t stop the tears that escape the corner of my eyes. “Eleven weeks. It’s been killing me not to tell you.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “Because then I would have missed this,” I tell him, pressing my palm to his jaw. The look on his face right now is worth every agonizing second. Reaching over, he pulls my wrist to his mouth and presses a kiss there.

  “Does Caroline know?”

  I shake my head. “I thought we could tell her together.”

  Tears well up in his eyes and he presses his face to my belly. “I have spent my entire life waiting for this moment. To have this. To have you. It’s not just what I feel for you. It’s what I do not feel for anyone but you. I swear, every time our lips touch I can taste the next sixty years of my life.”

  “You always have such an amazing way with words.”

  “Still trying to write that song about us.”

  “How’s it coming along?”

  Dropping another kiss to my belly, he moves to lie next to me, pulling me into his arms. “Pretty damn good.”

  Present

  Standing in front of the floor length mirror, I twist from side to side, taking in my reflection. I hardly recognize the woman standing before me.

  Looking back, I think of all the battles I’ve fought. Some that left me broken and shattered.

  Hopeless.

  But love saved me. Love mended the pieces of my soul and brought me back to life.

  Love gave me hope.

  “You look beautiful, Mama!” Caroline says, standing next to me in her pretty lavender dress.

  “Thank you, baby. So do you.”

  “You ready?” Rachel asks, and I nod, tears pricking my eyes.

  She gives me a hug then I lean down and embrace my daughter. Her tiny arms wrap around my neck before she pulls away, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “I love you, Mama.”

  “Love you too, sweet girl.”

  “Come on, Caroline. Let’s go get your grandpa and tell him your mama is ready.”

  Once they leave the room, I reach for a Kleenex and dab the corners of my eyes.

  There’s a knock at the door. “Come in,” I answer, thinking it’s my father but Linc enters the room.

&nb
sp; “Linc! It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”

  He smiles.

  The smile he always saves just for me. The smile that lets me know he’s mine forever. “I think we’ve already met our quota in bad luck.”

  He’s right about that.

  “Jesus, you look fuckin’ gorgeous. Are you sure I’m in the right room? There’s no way the good Lord blessed me with someone as beautiful as you.”

  I laugh, even though I’m on the verge of tears. I can’t believe this moment is happening. That I get to spend my life with this man.

  My best friend.

  My everything.

  He loved me at my best. At my worst, and even when I didn’t love myself. A love like this only comes along once in a lifetime. It might not be perfect but it’s ours.

  “You don’t look half bad yourself.”

  He’s devastatingly handsome in his khakis, white collared shirt, navy tie and suspenders. That smile he only reserves for me eats up his scruffy face. One hand behind his back, he walks closer until he’s standing in front of me. “I wanted to give you something before we start this forever thing.”

  I laugh and he reveals a small, baby blue box with a white bow, he lifts my hand to place it in my palm then kisses my lips.

  Tender.

  Soft.

  Like a cool summer breeze.

  It leaves me breathless by the time he pulls away, long enough for me to open the box. Black and white diamonds sparkle, curling around one another to make the shape of a treble clef.

  “From this day forward, you will never walk alone. There may be dark roads but my heart will be your shelter and my arms will be your home.”