I let out a groan and flopped back on the pillow, wishing I could take a nap but I knew we needed to leave within a few minutes to make it to the ceremony on time.
“I don’t know. Truthfully, things don’t sound good. Maybe that’s why I’m not as excited. What if Chase loses his job? Then what are we going to do? They don’t have any evidence of what that bitch is saying to find it true, but I guess her parents are pretty influential in the town. I don’t know, it’s just a little stressful.”
“Don’t worry honey, everything will work out. I just know it.” She patted my stomach and then grabbed onto my hand to haul me off the bed. “Now, let’s go graduate.”
**********
The graduation ceremony did end up being pretty exciting in the end. It felt good to know that all of my hard work had finally paid off. Now I just needed to figure out when I would actually be putting my degree to good use.
The goodbyes with Ally and Remy had been rather emotional. Ally had been there for me so long, it felt strange that she was leaving and I didn’t know when she would come back. Remy had become a good friend as well, and I would miss all of the time we had spent together. I had been a wet, crying mess when I watched them drive away. I was blaming it all on the pregnancy hormones. Totally their fault.
My phone ringing brought me back to reality and I smiled when I saw that it was Chase.“Hey, baby. You think you can bring my briefcase over to school? I don’t know how I just realized that I forgot it this morning, but I’m definitely going to need it for my last class. Are you busy?”
I snorted and sat down the book that I had been trying to read. It was my official first day off from school and I had absolutely nothing to do. Mary had come by that morning and picked up Caleb for a play date with Belle, so I had nothing but a quiet house. It was totally weird and while I liked it at first, I was now bored out of my mind. What in the hell was I going to do with myself until this baby came?
“Well, I don’t know. I’m like super busy right now but I guess I can bring it over,” I stated in an exasperated tone. Secretly, I was jumping up and down inside. I guess I wasn’t meant to be one of those people who sat around and turned into couch potatoes. Go figure.
I hung up with Chase and quickly changed out of my sweat pants and hoodie that I had donned for the day. No need to make those drooling girls think that Mr. O’Neil was unhappy because he had a bag of a wife at home, just giving them further reason to try to sink their claws into him.
Did they not see how highly inappropriate that was? I mean, I can’t say I ever had the hots for any of my teachers in high school. But I guess if thought about it none of them had even come close in comparing to Chase.
I walked into the high school about thirty minutes after Chase had called, and cringed. How Chase came here every day was beyond me. I couldn’t stand high school and all I had ever wanted to do was get out of there. I guess it was different for Chase though, since he was the one in charge.
“Knock, knock. Someone looking for this?” I cracked the door open to his classroom and smiled when I saw him sitting behind his desk, looking all professional with his glasses laying on the desk and studying the papers lain out. His green eyes quickly flicked to me and his concentration broke from whatever he was looking out.
“Well, I’d rather have you over the briefcase.” He stood up quickly and assaulted my mouth with his as soon as I closed the door behind me. “Mmm, I could get used to this during the day. Definitely a good way to de-stress,” he murmured against my neck where his mouth had slid down to work his magic on. “Maybe you should make these trips daily.”
He backed my body up until I felt my knees hit his wooden desk, and he easily slid me up to sit on top of a mess of papers. “I don’t know, I think I would probably be pretty distracting.” I wrapped my legs around his waist to pull his body closer to mine, and he readily let me.
His hands slid up and down my sides as I pulled his head down to mine once again and I squirmed against him, wanting more. How much of a slut did that make me, wanting to do my husband right then and there on top of his desk? Oh well, I guess I was a slut then.
Chase broke away abruptly, pushing himself out of the haze that we had been tangled up in, when he heard the twist of the doorknob. He held out a helping hand and I slid off the desk, just as students started to pour in.
“Well, that was a close one,” I whispered out as he sat down behind his desk once again. His green eyes were shining and still filled with want, but he was just going to have to put that on hold for a little bit. He was already in trouble as it was, I’m sure having sex with your wife in the middle of the school day probably wouldn’t help him out at all.
I scooped up my purse from where I had dropped it next to the door and handed Chase’s briefcase to him. “I think you needed this, right?” He smirked and kissed me on the cheek as he grabbed it out of my hands just as a tall blonde walked in and roughly brushed past me with her shoulder. Yeah, that wasn’t on purpose.
“Another underage girl to add to your list, Mr. O’Neil?” she giggled out quietly as she walked by. “I’m sure that won’t help your case very much, hmm?”
I watched with narrowed eyes as the blonde bimbo pranced by us on five- inch heels and made her way to a desk that was situated right in front of Chase’s. This must be Brittany. I could only guess as I watched her stare down my husband like she was trying to eat him alive.
Anyone with two eyes could see that she was the one infatuated with him. She wiggled her fingers at me with an icy smile and then proceeded to blow a kiss at Chase. He looked down at his desk uncomfortably the second she did it. I suddenly realized how serious this situation was.
He had told me that when he explained what was going on, but I just didn’t listen. This girl had it out for Chase because he wouldn’t return her inappropriate feelings. I couldn’t imagine how hard that was for Chase to put up with every day. I felt this overwhelming need to protect him, like he had done for me so often.
“That’s the little bitch, isn’t it?” I hissed out between clenched teeth as I stared back at her, we were in some kind of intense stare down right now and I was most definitely not going to be the one to look away. I made a move towards her, wanting to just give her a piece of my hand, but Chase yanked on my arm as my feet went in the other direction.
“Don’t you think it’s time you get going? Let’s not make this situation any worse,” he murmured out in a husky voice while giving me a stern look. What the hell? I was getting a look that was reserved for his students and Caleb when he was being uncontrollable. I guess if I thought about it, I was being a little immature. I was the adult here, and I needed to act like it.
“Fine, I guess you’re right,” I huffed. He gave me a sideways hug and then cleared his throat, his students quickly quieting down and bringing their attention to the front of the room.
“Everyone this is my wife, Leah. Luckily, she brought in my briefcase for me this afternoon, so the quiz I promised will be going on as planned.” The class gave a unified groan but it was more of a cheerful one, I could tell that his students truly liked him. It would be pretty hard not to.
Unfortunately, some liked him too much. Chase gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before I left and I watched out of the corner of my eye as he did so, blonde bimbo narrowed her eyes at me with a heated glare and she raised an eyebrow, like she was trying to challenge me or something. Sorry, sweetie. No challenge here what-so-ever. I quietly left the room as Chase began to pass out quizzes and walked back out to the parking lot, hoping that this mess for Chase would be over as soon as possible.
**********
“Wake up, graduate, don’t you need to get to the doctor early?” Chase’s nose moved across my jaw and trailed down to my neck, before he placed one kiss in the crook and slowly pulled away, pissing me off in more ways than one.
“Please remind me why I made an appointment so early, especially when I’m finally done with school,” I groaned w
hen I sat up and rubbed at my eyes, trying to clear some of the sleep away.
“I don’t know babe, but you do need to get up. I let you sleep as late as possible. I already got Caleb up for the day so I can drop him off at my mom’s house on my way to work. So get that sweet ass moving, pronto.”
I shoved him in the chest, which caused him to laugh before kissing me once more and walked back out into the hallway. If I was a little bit more awake, I would be dragging his ass back in here and demanding that he make up for waking me up so early. Maybe I could pull that card later.
Caleb ran into the bathroom right after I got out of the shower and wrapped his arms around me in a quick hug. “Bye Mommy, I’m going to Grandma Mary’s house to play with Belle. Chase said you’re gonna come over for lunch.”
“Yup buddy, I will see you later this afternoon. Love you.”
“Love you too, Mommy.” I watched as he bounced out of the bathroom and then proceeded to get dressed. I bent down to shimmy on my jeans, wincing as I did it.
“Need some help with that?” I turned around to see Chase smirking at me with a to- go cup of coffee in his hands.
He liked to tease me about my growing belly and he knew it got on my nerves. We hadn’t told Caleb about the baby yet, because truthfully four year olds see time in a whole different way than we do. So when I started to show, Caleb began to comment on how Mommy was getting fat. That kid was lucky I loved him so much the first time it came out of his mouth.
“No, I don’t, thank you. I think you need to be going, Mr. O’Neil. Have a good day at work.” After yesterday, I would see as how it would be hard for him to go to work every day when he knew he would have to deal with the blonde bimbo, but he always had a smile on his face and never acted like it bothered him.
“Alright.” He leaned down to kiss the side of my neck and then bent all the way down to slide my shoes on for me without a word. Sometimes he could be so sweet when he wanted to be. “Call me after your appointment; I’ll get back to you in between classes. Love you, Leah.”
“Love you.”
I pulled into the doctor’s office with about a minute to spare before my appointment. Luckily, I wasn’t stuck in the waiting room for long and I was in the room quickly getting all my vitals checked. The nurse leaned the table back right before the doctor came in and spread the cold jelly across my belly.
Today should be the day we were finding out what we were having as long as the baby cooperated. I was crossing my fingers for a girl, but either way we would be happy. Chase had considered taking the day off from work, but we didn’t think it was such a good idea since the school board was already on his ass.
“Hi Leah dear, how are we doing today? Have you had any problems that you needed to discuss?” Dr. Strahan walked in, washing his hands immediately and placing the Doppler on my stomach.
“Nope, none whatsoever.” I leaned back onto the squishy pillow they provided and looked at the screen while he ran the instrument across my stomach and pressed lightly with his fingers.
“Hmm…,” he tapped his free hand on his chin while staring at the monitor intently and then turned back to look at me. “Are you sure you haven’t been having any problems? Any cramping? Spotting?”
“No, not that I can think of.” The expression on his face was starting to worry me. What if something was wrong? Judging by the way he was looking at me, I was guessing there was some sort of problem.
“Okay dear, well we need to do a few different types of ultrasounds and run some tests. There seems to be a problem with the baby and we need to get everything checked out. Lay here for a bit and I’ll be right back with a nurse.” He patted me on the arm, I guess to reassure me, and quietly closed the door.
I looked up at the stark white ceiling, my mind racing with all of the different problems there could be. I mean, I was officially a nurse now, you would think something would jump out at me, but nothing did. This pregnancy had been pretty easy so far and I hadn’t had any problems, maybe it had been too easy and I should have noticed something sooner.
I laid there for what seemed like hours being jostled around and poked by the doctor and two nurses. After the final ultrasound, the nurses quietly left with somber expressions, and the doctor sat down on the stool next to me.
“Leah, I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this but the baby does not have a heartbeat. I’m not sure exactly what happened but I’m assuming it has something to do with your cervix. I ran a few tests and we should get the results in a matter of days…”
He kept droning on but I didn’t hear any of it. I just knew, in that moment, I didn’t want to be alone. I reached down for my purse and somehow in a blur of tears pulled my phone out.
“Chase, I need you.”
Chapter 13
Chase
It had been almost a month since I had gotten that dreaded call from Leah in the middle of the day. When she hadn’t called for about an hour after her appointment, I had started to get worried, and had set my phone on my desk, willing it to ring.
Of course, it didn’t help that Brittany had stayed after class, scooting herself onto the edge of my desk, in probably what was one of the shortest skirts I had ever seen. I had no clue how she hadn’t gotten in trouble for it. She just made me nerves even worse, putting me on edge that someone would walk in and assume the worst. So, I quickly left my classroom and just as I did, my phone rang.
For some reason, I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was wrong with Leah and our baby. Unfortunately, I was right.
I was there for her as much as I could be. Unfortunately, because she had been so far along, labor had to be induced and she was put through the experience of having to deliver our child. When the doctor had pulled out the tiny baby, lifeless with no heartbeat, Leah had squeezed her eyes tightly shut, refusing to look at the baby. I had held it for just a minute, before they had taken it away. It had been a baby boy.
She was shaken up after that, as expected and let me comfort her for the first week, but after that she started to push me away. She barely left our room and talked to no one. Ally and Remy both called every day to check up on her, but she refused to talk to them.
Ally was worried, insisting that she needed to come back, but I didn’t think it would do any good. Leah was in her own little bubble right now, and no one could seem to be able to pop it. I knew Ally was having a good time on tour and she was where she needed to be. I had promised if there was any change in Leah’s mood, she would be the first one I would call.
Caleb was confused by the whole situation. After I realized that things weren’t getting any better, I called Roy and he agreed to take Caleb to give Leah some time. If I had thought he would’ve healed her, I would have kept him home, but she barely even noticed when he was in the room.
I didn’t know what to do, plus I had my own heartbreak to deal with. I know Leah had carried our baby, but it had been a part of both of us, created by our love.
“Baby, I brought you something to eat.” I flicked on the light, setting down the tray on the nightstand. She blinked up at me, her eyes completely emotionless. “I’m not hungry.”
I let out a loud sigh and looked down at her with my hands clenched tightly against my hips. I had tried to be understanding, but it was starting to get harder. She could be so damn stubborn sometimes. “Are you going to come with me today? Everyone’s been asking about you. You know you can’t resist my mom’s cooking during the holidays.”
She shook her head and flopped back down on the pillow, pulling the blankets straight up to her chin. “C’mon Leah, everyone will miss you. It won’t be the same without you and Caleb there. It’s Christmas.”
“You’re right it won’t be the same without Caleb, one of the many reasons I don’t want to go. Please don’t push me on this, Chase.”
“Leah, if you wanted him home you should have said something. I thought it was for the best.”
“I know,” she answered qui
etly. “It is, I’m not good for him and he’s where he should be. I just screw everything up anyway.”
“Baby, you know that’s not true. None of this was your fault.” I leaned down to kiss her but she pulled away and rolled to her side, her back to me. “Just go Chase, have fun, tell everyone I said hi.”
I sat there for a few minutes until I heard the hum of her soft snores and quietly left the room, leaning up against the door. I didn’t know how to fix her. I just wanted my old sarcastic, stubborn girl back. I knew she was in there somewhere; somehow, I needed to find her again.
“Hi honey,” my mom greeted me at the door with a warm hug, looking over my shoulder with a small frown. “Couldn’t convince her to come?”
I sighed when I stepped inside. I wasn’t instantly greeted by my little sisters like usual. They were all quietly sitting in the living room and I’m sure my mom had given them a warning before I got here, just in case Leah had come along.
“Nope, I don’t know what to do with her anymore, Mom. She doesn’t leave the house; she barely leaves our room. I can tell she’s lost a ton of weight and she barely talks to me or anyone for that matter.”
“Maybe I should try coming over again, dear. She might just need a woman around right now. I know I never went through something like that myself, but sometimes a motherly figure is just the best to help out in that kind of situation.”
“You can try, but I don’t think it’ll work.” I followed her into the kitchen, where the majority of the food was spread out and my two older sisters, Amy and Katie, were putting the finishing touches on things. My mom and Chris had come over right after it happened, to comfort Leah and stock the house with food. She stayed with Caleb the first night and then had taken him home with her for a sleepover with Belle.
“Have you thought about counseling, Chase?” Katie piped in, while grabbing a basket of rolls and setting it on the dining room table. “I know I wasn’t as far along as Leah when I had my miscarriage, but it helped. It would probably help her even more. Chad even went with me a couple times and it helped him too. The woman isn’t always the only one who suffers through these things, but they normally take it the hardest.” She patted my back as I sat down at my seat and the table began to fill up.
Limitless (Journey Series) Page 7
