by Unknown
“Let me talk to your mom, if she says yes then you can come live with me until you finish school here. You’re right; finishing Conservatory in Mexico would be silly if you're trying to apply for Julliard and Barton.”
“Th..th. thank yyyooouuu!” It registers, Thea Valle, Pilar’s baby sister.
She hugs Kennedy and walks off the stage. Kennedy starts playing a sad melody; she goes through the whole song and then starts it again. This time she adds the words:
I feel like she is singing to me. When Tristan joins her on stage.
“I don't know that song,” he says.
“It's ‘The Real Me’ by Natalie Grant.
He sits on the piano bench next to her and gently nudges her shoulder. I'm mad as fuck, she is mine! I don't want anyone touching her! I want to fucking rip his arms off!
“Kennedy, you’ve been through a lot, your emotions are still running high. It's not good for you or my god babies.” She chuckles.
“How did everything get so fucked up, Coop? I just don't know about anything anymore. My entire life has turned upside down again. I feel like I'm dragging everyone into this giant ball of sadness and depression. You know this has destroyed so much! I wish I had never met Easton Kerrigan!”
“You don't mean that, Kennedy. You love Easton! He's a fucking tool, but you love him, and I know he loves you. He fucked this up, not you. You're going to have three beautiful babies in a few months; you're the strongest person I know. Kennedy, I can't tell you enough how much I love you and appreciate you letting me be a part of this conservatory.”
“I couldn't do this without you, Coop. So, what's going on with you and Frankie?” Kennedy asks.
“There is definitely some chemistry there, but she keeps it friendly and nothing more. I think her son is awesome, but she keeps me at arm's length when it comes to both of them.”
“Don't give up, Coop. Frankie is a wonderful woman and you're the best man I know. Sebbie couldn't ask for a better role model!” Tristan laughs.
“That poor kid needs a new nickname.” Tristan gets up and helps Kennedy up. That should be me helping her stand and then he rubs her belly and talks to my babies.
“Hey you guys, be good for mom. She is performing tonight. I can't wait to meet you guys. I'm gonna be the best godfather and uncle ever!” He rubs her belly one more time.
That should be me rubbing her belly!
“What are you doing here, Easton?” I hear Estelle behind me, “Why can't you just leave her alone?”
“Because I love her, Estelle. I can't leave her alone because I love her so much I'd rather die than live without her.” Estelle sighs,
“Easton I don't think there is any coming back from this. You have proven time and time again that when the going gets tough you don't stick around. This is the second time you have thrown her away. Do you really think she would come back for a third? I will pretend I didn't see you, but I'm asking for the health of Kennedy and your children, just leave her alone.” Estelle turned and walked out.
She's right. Kennedy would have to be crazy to let me hurt her again. It hasn't even been a month since I got her back and at the first sign of trouble, I jump ship. The theatre is starting to fill up so I find my seat off stage right towards the rear. I'm the aisle seat, so I can make a quick get away without being seen. The performance is amazing; some of the people I know are from Tristan’s TV show, and a few Tony winning Broadway stars. Tristan performs and then Thea, Pilar's sister, takes the stage. I look at the program; Thea Valle is a musical prodigy. Like Kennedy, she plays five instruments at the master’s level, but her focus is on the cello. At Seventeen, she has played places most musicians only dream of. The audience is hypnotized. I've never paid much attention to the cello, but I know it's because I've never heard it played like this.
Estelle comes on stage and introduces Kennedy, she looks so beautiful, her body has filled out, and she looks healthy and glowing. Tristan and another musician join her on stage and she sings another song I've never heard. I watch her, and the pictures flash in the background. In the pictures, those girls look so full of life and promise; they have all this hope in their eyes. As the song finishes and the theatre goes dark, Kennedy leaves the stage. The theatre remains dark and quiet for a minute with just the image of the girls on the screen and no one claps or moves. They sit there, moved to tears, most of the men keep their heads down and eyes closed, the women openly weep. My throat burns from holding back the tears. I make my way out to the hallway, and I watch from the backstage door as Kennedy walks into a back room. I want to go to her, but I see her parents, The Caseys, The DeWitts, and The Valles come into the hallway. They were all huddled together,
“I would love a copy of that video.” I hear Mrs. Dewitt say. Everyone nodded in agreement.
Thea tried to say something, but she couldn't so she signed it to her mother.
Paloma says “Thea is going up to the control room; the guy working the soundboard was recording Kennedy's performance in HD format. He is burning copies for us.”
Thea signs again and Paloma relays the message,
“Kennedy just found all those videos a week ago. She got an email saying her cloud needed to be upgraded or she needed to make room so she went in to see what she could delete and found the videos we made the tribute video and slideshow out of.”
Thea went up the stairs and came back down quickly holding four DVD's in cases, she handed one to each mother. The Casey’s and DeWitt’s were too emotionally drained to stay. The Brennan’s look drained and Palomar tells Thea it's getting late. Thea is signing quickly and Palomar is answering quickly but also speaking, “Thea wants to stay with Kennedy tonight.”
The Brennan’s give Paloma a hug and Mrs. Brennan pulls Thea into a hug.
“We talked to Kennedy and your mom. It's okay for you to stay so why don't you go to the hotel and spend these last few days with your mom before she leaves. She needs you tonight, Thea.”
I see the girl nod and she and Paloma leave. The Brennan’s soon follow, I see Dr. Franklin and Tristan walk into the room and the door doesn't close all the way, so I stand at the door after Kennedy is done.
“Is that how you really feel.” I say from the doorway.
Hearing her yell I'm not welcome here is like salt in an open wound, and then she collapses in pain. Tristan lifts her up and starts running towards the entrance, Dr. Franklin is on the phone. I see blood running down her legs, that’s not good. I know that's not good. The ambulance arrives and Tristan is trying to go with her. “She is my wife, and those are my babies!” I yell.
“No, asshole! She isn't your wife!” Tristan yells back angrily.
Both of us are so focused on yelling at each other that we don't notice the ambulance pull away.
“See what you did, you asshole!” Tristan yells before running to the parking garage.
I call my mom in a panic. I explain what happened and ask her to please come to the hospital with me. I find the limo and the driver pulls in front of hospital. I tell him he can go, and I rush in.
“Hi, the ambulance just came in with Kennedy Brennan in it! She’s pregnant, I'm the father!”
“I'm sorry sir,” the nurse said.
“I can't release any information. You aren't family.”
“I'm the baby's father!”
“Yes sir, but it's Ms. Brennan being treated. You aren't her husband, you aren't her fiancé, and you aren't a blood relative.”
I sit down. She's right, I'm nothing to Kennedy and that’s my fault. I could have been her husband or still her fiancé, but I fucked it all up. The reality is a hard pill to swallow. The doors open and my mother walks in.
“Mom, they won't let me back there!” She sits next to me. The Brennan’s rush in, the minute her dad sees me he starts yelling,
“You just couldn't leave her alone!”
Her mother walks over to Elena.
“Now emotions are running high, it's not doing anyone any good for you to be here. Please don
't make this worse than it already is.”
She turned and walked with her husband through the door. Tristan and Estelle arrived and neither one spoke, just walked through the door.
“Mom, what am I going to do?”
“I don't know, son. What you did was not unforgivable, but you broke her heart again. She trusted you and you let people poison what you had. Your dad's concern came from a fatherly place; your brother’s advice came from fear and maybe a little jealousy. He and Rose's relationship seems to be having some trouble. Maybe he didn't want you to suffer the same fate. I don't know what to tell you.” She got up and left.
Mr. Brennan was standing in front of me, “She doesn't want to see you. The babies are doing fine. They were able to stop labor, but she is on restricted bed rest and being kept here until it's safe for her to deliver.” He turned and left.
Chapter 19
“Now Kennedy, things are looking good. It looks like you’re exactly Six months and two days so we need to keep you on bed rest for at least eight weeks. We hope you go the full twelve weeks left in your pregnancy, but that's not likely. I want to do another sonogram in about an hour or so. Do you want me to call anyone?”
“No, thank you,” I reply with a sigh, I want to cry but won’t.
Dr. Felix sits back in his chair; I never noticed how handsome he was for an older man.
“When I was in college, I met the love of my life. She was everything I could ever want. We dated the remainder of college and both graduated. She is a pediatrician and I'm an OB-GYN. We had everything; we just bought a beautiful house. We found out she was pregnant, we were so excited, everything was perfect. One night after a new mother died; instead of going home to my beautiful house, my amazing and stunning pregnant wife, I ended up with a nurse in an on call room.”
“We were just getting started when my wife opened the door with dinner in her hand to find a nurse on her knees. My wife, like you, didn't make a scene; she put the containers with my dinner on the table, closed the door, and walked out. By the time I realized what happened, she was already gone. I drove as fast as I could to the house but when I got there, her car wasn't there. I walked into our bedroom and found her wedding rings on my nightstand. She didn't even leave a note. Two days later, I was served with divorce papers. She didn't want anything from me.”
“We had been together ten years and she didn't want anything. I signed the papers because I knew I was the one who destroyed our relationship. She has had our daughter and I got my court appointed visitation, things went on like that for almost two years. She decided to move to Denver to start her own practice. When I got the paperwork from the lawyer regarding custody, I put in my resignation at Johns Hopkins and bought a building here. One side was my OB-GYN office, the other a pediatric office.”
He Pauses before continuing, “I refused to sign the papers, instead telling Michelle I was also moving to Denver. She agreed to lease the office next to mine and we built a friendship. We raised our daughter together, over time the trust was built back up. I never stopped loving Michelle. I made a bad choice, a stupid moment of weakness. Men at thirty aren't any smarter than when they’re 14. Just so you know, it took until my daughter Kayla was almost four before I convinced Michelle to go to dinner with me. It took another year of proving myself before she even considered giving me another chance. When Kayla was eight we got remarried, it took me nine years to win Michelle back. We have been married now for almost twenty years. I'm telling you this because love is always worth fighting for. I saw you and Easton at the first sonogram that was true love. I'm not telling you to forgive him, but maybe give him the chance to prove he can be a friend and worthy of your love. I'm going to get the machine I should be back in twenty minutes.”
“Dr. Felix, can you call Easton with a list of appointments you've set for me here starting with today's?”
“I can do that, Kennedy.” He smiled and walked out the door.
Fifteen minutes later Easton walked through the door. Neither one of us said anything. Dr. Felix came in.
“Ok, ready Kennedy?”
Easton came and sat in the chair beside my bed.
“Kennedy, everything looks good. The third baby has caught up in size to the other two. They are all three looking good and it looks like you guys are having two daughters and a son. I'm calculating your due date is December Thirty-First, however you more than likely won't make it to full term, so we are probably looking more at the end of November. I know you want to try for a vaginal birth but with triplets, I like to do a C- section. It's a lot of work on your body delivering one baby, imagine having three!”
“I don't want to be cut, Dr. Felix. Please, I want to try vaginal birth.”
“Okay, Kennedy, let's sit down this week and really look at all your options regarding your birth plan.” Dr. Felix squeezes my hand then shakes Easton’s.
“Thank you for letting me be here,” Easton says kissing me on the forehead before walking out of the room.
The next day a nurse delivered a huge box; in it was a keyboard, headphones and some blank sheet music.
The day after that, some men came into the room with a giant TV that they quickly mounted to the wall. They also gave me a control to a small box that was loaded with Netflix, Hulu, and Redbox. They handed me a new MacBook Pro and a new iPad and they also set up a wireless router in my room.
For the next few days, things arrive every day: comfortable pajamas, specialty lotions and soaps.
Every week, Dr. Felix would come for my appointment. Easton would arrive five minutes early, sit in the chair and hold my hand. Once the visit was over, he would thank me for letting him be there, kiss me on the forehead and then leave. This went on for three weeks: on the fourth week after Easton's visit, I heard a chime. Grabbing my iPad, I see I have a message from Easton:
EKerrigan: Do you need anything?
KBreenan: No, I have everything I need. Thank you for all the stuff.
EKerrigan: I went looking for a house today. I found one a few streets over from you on E. Cedar Ave.
KBreenan: Is it the one with the ivy growing on the outside? I love that house.
EKerrigan: Yes, I put in an offer today so hopefully I will hear something by end of day. I want to be close to the kids, I want to be part of their lives.
KBreenan: I want that also, I hope you get the house.
KBreenan: I'm going to take a nap, talk to you soon.
I curl up with Pride and Prejudice, whenever I need advice I turn to Jane Austen. In my situation, what would Elizabeth Bennett do?
Over the next couple of weeks, Easton and I exchange messages. He was excited because he was now the owner of his first home,. has already figuring out where the nursery was going to be. And told me he had everything the babies would need delivered to my house. He wasn't sure what theme I was going with, but he said he just reproduced the nursery for both houses. Things fell into a strange friendship with Easton, he would come visit sometimes while my parents were there. They realized that, as much as they were angry at what happened, he was still the father to their grandchildren and he wasn't a bad person, just a bad boyfriend.
Seven weeks into my hospital stay, my water broke. Everything moved really quickly. Tristan and Easton were in the room with me. Estelle was on her way but stuck in traffic. My parents had called all the Kerrigan’s, who were waiting in the family waiting room down the hall. Tristan and Easton work together to help me stay calm.
“I'm scared something isn't right. I don't know but something feels wrong!” I feel panicked.
“Everything is fine,” Tristan tried to reassure me. “The doctor is coming right now, Kennedy.”
“Thank you, thank you so much for letting me be here with you! I promise I'm going to make things right.”
“Easton, I love you. I just want you to know that and I forgive you. I love you so much!”
I can't help the scream that comes out; I'm in so much pain. Tristan grabs some washcloths a
nd starts wiping my face. The doctor comes in.
“It’s time Kennedy! Are you ready to push?”
“Yes!” After a few pushes, I hear my son cry.
The nurse takes him and starts cleaning him off. Estelle rushes into the room. She comes and takes Easton's place so he can go to our son.
“Nurse, she is losing a lot of blood!” Dr. Felix is working quickly to stop the bleeding.
“Dr. Felix, I feel funny.”
“Kennedy, you're losing too much blood, the baby could choke if we don't do a C-section. Nurse, prep for surgery. Kennedy, don't push!”
Everyone is running around, they start pushing the bed towards the operating room.
I hear Easton and Tristan asking “what is happening?”
Estelle is running beside the bed, they push her back and tell her she has to wait outside.
“Kennedy,” I hear Dr. Felix say, “We are going to help your babies, just sleep.”
I'm on stage at the conservatory, it’s pitch black I can’t see anything I’m so scared and it’s really cold.
“Hello can anyone hear me?”
Emma, Whitney, and Pilar walk on the stage
“Oh my god, am I dead?”
Emma grabs my hand, “You're in the in-between place, Kennedy. It's not your time but we needed to see you.”
“We brought you here to show you, so watch.” Whitney says
I turn to the screen, a short image flashes. It shows Estelle’s grave; it's dated next year. Rhydian is falling down drunk; Tristan is with his ex-fiancé and miserable. Michael is still alone, but he's old and Stacy is with a woman-beater and Killian is some kind of weird recluse, and Liam and Rose are divorced.
“Why are you showing me this?”
“This is what will happen if you don't go back and try to fix things with Easton,” Pilar says with a sad face.
“Show me Easton and my children.”
The screen lights up, my kids are beautiful. They are sitting at a table doing homework, but they are with my parents.
