Mollywood (Carved Hearts #2)

by L. G. Pace III

  “I suppose. So what did you order for dinner?” He shook his head at me and smiled.

  “I’m not telling. You’ll just have to wait and see. Now do you need anything before I head outside? I want you to stay on this couch and rest.” I had him fetch me some cocoa in my favorite mug and then settled down to watch the rest of the show. My tired eyes swept the room and I smiled. Joe had picked the ideal paint color, and the mix of our furniture looked perfect together in it. We’d picked out a few new mission style pieces, and the house already felt homier than anyplace I’d lived since leaving my parent’s house. Soon, I was drifting pleasantly into dreamland beneath the cozy throw.

  I woke up to the wonderful scent of smoked meat filling the room. Joe rounded the couch and brought me a plate of mouthwatering food. He’d outdone himself again, reading my mind and ordering exactly what I was in the mood for. Pork ribs from The Salt Lick and Dark Chocolate with Olive Oil and Sea Salt ice cream from his new favorite dessert place, Lick.

  “I’m noticing a theme tonight.” I remarked, purposely sucking some of the sauce off my fingertips. “Lots of licking.”

  Joe’s eyes lit up and he leaned in for a delicate kiss with just the slightest hint of tongue. We chatted more about how to organize the nursery as we enjoyed our delicious dinner. I looked over at my wonderful man with his fantastic lips covered in barbeque and I reveled in how right the moment felt.

  After Joe cleared the plates, he put in the movie. Grabbing the remote, he turned it up almost too loud. Snuggling under the covers with me, he resisted my efforts to unzip his jeans, as I innocently suggested it would make him feel more comfortable. He continued to block my passes throughout the impossibly long movie, and I was starting to get a complex by the time it ended. I saw him texting a couple of times on his phone and felt a little defeated. Was I finally too fat for him? Before I could find a way to broach the subject he pulled me to my feet.

  “Let’s go out back and look at the stars.”

  Grabbing my new winter coat off the rack, he helped me into it. He was so careful with me, so gentle, I felt foolish for even questioning how much he cared for me. Pulling on his jacket, he took me by the hand and led me toward the back door. Just before we got to the threshold, he paused and his eyes searched my face. Then he opened the door and whisked me outside. As soon as we stepped onto the patio, I froze in absolute shock with my eyes locked on the ground. The white, frosty ground.

  All around the yard were piles and piles of white snow. I gaped around in disbelief. The trees and bushes were flocked in white. Our entire back yard was awash in drifts of the pure white powder. Turning to Joe in disbelief, I tried to find the words.

  “Snow? How…?” I’ll admit it wasn’t the most eloquent use of the English language, but I’d dreamed of a white Christmas for as long as I could remember. Even during the decade that I lived in the Pacific Northwest, I’d never had one. Draven hated the snow, and refused to take me to the mountains. Now here I was, living my dream smack dab in the middle of Texas. I was struck speechless.

  Joe smiled at my reaction, his eyes twinkling with obvious joy. Taking my hand, he carefully led me over to the bench in the middle of the yard and helped me sit. Taking a seat beside me on the bench, he took both my hands and turned to look into my eyes.

  “Molly…do you really like it?”

  I looked at him in confusion and then gestured around the back yard. “Wait…you mean…you did this?”

  Joe laughed and I felt my heart skip a beat. It was the laugh. The one that I remembered from when we were younger.

  The laugh of a carefree and happy man.

  I felt a stinging sensation in my eyes.

  “Yeah, I did. Or I should say I know a guy who knows a guy. I realize it isn’t the same as being somewhere with real winter…” He looked so nervous at that moment that I almost couldn’t stand it.

  “It’s amazing! It’s even more beautiful than I imagined.” The snow glistened in the moonlight like thousands of stars. Joe seemed to exhale a long sigh of relief.

  “I’m glad that you like it, baby.” He wrapped his arm around me and I rested my head against his shoulder. The absolute wonderment I felt at his romantic gesture left me completely at a loss for words. Pure, raw love overwhelmed me, and I clung to him as we sat in silence enjoying the winter wonderland around us.

  Suddenly, Joe turned to me and took my hand again. “Mac told me a while back that you always wanted a white Christmas. I knew right then that I wanted to give it to you, to take you somewhere where we could go and sit by a fire and look out at the mountains. But with the babies coming, I knew it wasn’t the right time to drag you to Vale. I know this isn’t The Rockies, but it was the best I could do.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him that this was the most wonderful thing anyone had ever done for me, but he continued before I could get a word out. “I will always give you my best, Molly. We’ve never been a traditional couple, God knows we’ve taken a very different path, and it’s been a rough one at times. But I think it made me appreciate you even more, and I realize now that wouldn’t have it any other way. You bursting back into my life is the best thing that has ever happened to me. You mean so much more to me than I could ever put into words.”

  Slipping down to the ground, he knelt on one knee and pulled a box from his coat. My heart thudded forcefully as he opened it. Inside was a gorgeous antique style ring that took what little breath I had away.

  “Molly, you are the part of me that I have always been missing. Being with you makes every minute of my life better. So I’m asking you now, and I’ll keep asking you until you tell me to go the hell away. Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”

  As he poured out his heart to me, I felt my blood collect in my cheeks. I searched his emerald eyes, so sincere…so eager…and totally fearless. He was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen, and him down on one knee in front of me was all of my secret dreams come true. I nodded, trying to swallow the giant frog in my throat that seemed hell bent on preventing speech.

  “Is that a yes?” He smiled, his eyes darting back and forth as he seemed to try to see both of mine at the same time.

  “Yes.” I snuffled, throwing my arms around his neck. Warm tears streamed down my cool cheeks. I pulled back to search his eyes, verifying that this was really happening. He locked his determined gaze with mine, and then my lips were on his. His hands were entangled in my hair, and we kissed until I no longer felt the cold. Finally, Joe pulled me away and picked up the ring he’d dropped in our fit of passion. He pulled it out of the box and taking my hand his slid it onto my finger.

  I was crushed when it wouldn’t go on past my knuckle.

  “Shit.” I felt my face fall, but he just smiled at me tenderly.

  “You’re fingers are just swollen. It’ll fit you after.” He kissed me on the tip of my nose and slid the ring onto my pinky.

  THE COLD FEBRUARY wind rattled the windows, startling me awake. Spooned up against Molly, I’d instinctively draped a protective arm over her in my sleep, my hand resting on her belly. I’d been dreaming again, but instead of my typical nightmares, I’d dreamed about holding our babies and rocking them to sleep. As if she’d sensed I was awake, she tried to roll over. I edged backward, and made room for her to roll onto her back.

  “I’m glad you took out that naval piercing on New Year’s.” I teased, pushing on her outie bellybutton as if it were a squeaky toy. She batted my fingers away with a tired smile, wrinkling her button nose. “One of those two might have come out with a pierced lip or something.”

  “It was really starting to pinch.” She replied, and I noticed her eyes looked a little puffier than usual.

  Pushing my worry aside, I leaned down to her naval as if it was a microphone. I spoke in my sternest ‘daddy’ voice. “Mornin’ Eva, mornin’ Logan. You two getting along in there?”

  While most couples were out at swanky restaurants or showing off new lingerie on Valentine�
��s Day, we’d spent our evening deciding on names for our children. It didn’t take us long. I’d picked three first and middle name combinations for our daughter and she picked three for our son, we traded notebooks, and whichever name the other liked best was the one that would be on their birth certificates. We ended up with Eva Rose and Logan Alexander, but we agreed not to tell anyone else until they were born. That way if someone didn’t like the names they’d look like an asshole saying anything about it out loud.

  At this point in her pregnancy, I didn’t even have to lay a hand on her to tell the twins were moving. She was in her thirty-fifth week, and I could see them shift under her skin like something out of a science fiction movie. Though we still had over a month to go, she was much bigger than Jess had ever been.

  Molly cried at the last visit when the nurse informed her she’d gained forty-five pounds. I tried to tell her she should be glad, since the doctor had insisted she gain a minimum of thirty-seven, but she shot me a homicidal look. It was very good news, considering she’d had such trouble keeping anything down in the beginning

  I marveled every time we had an ultrasound. Based on the size of the twins, it wasn’t a surprise Molly was so uncomfortable all the time. Jack had been 7 pounds 6 ounces when he was born at eight months, and Dr. Myers was projecting that Logan was already nearly six pounds and Eva was about five. Molly had somehow continued to work part time for the entire month of January and most of February. Just last week I’d finally convinced her to quit working all together.

  Her headaches were just too frequent and her blood pressure had crept up higher each time we’d been in. At the last visit, they’d found protein in her urine, and Dr. Myers sent her for a non-stress test. Her labs work looked good and the non-stress test looked okay but they sent us home with a jug to collect her urine for twenty-four hours. Molly joked about how glamorous she felt and her remark about the bright jug by the toilet was something snarky about orange being the new black. The babies seemed fine, but the doctor gave Molly a steroid shot to help the babies’ lungs to develop. She also put her on a blood pressure pill to manage her elevated pressure, which I religiously reminded her to take every day. Molly called it nagging.

  I pressed the doctor on what we needed to do, but Dr. Myers seemed to be under the impression that her preeclampsia was mild. She said if Molly was serious about taking it easy, she wouldn’t have to be hospitalized or need bed rest.

  Her twenty four hours urine result came back borderline, so the doctor said she could continue to stay at home. She would repeat the tests in a couple of day at her next visit. The doc was recommending modified bed rest just to be safe. Only up to eat, shower and use the restroom. It was driving Molly crazy.

  The cherry on top at our latest visit was, when the doctor announced that Molly was already two centimeters dilated. Dr. Myers recommended we stop having intercourse. Not surprising, this added to her mood. Baby girl was especially grumpy.

  “Do I have to get out of bed today?” Molly asked with a groan, and I assumed the question was rhetorical.

  “You’ve got about ten women and two gays coming over to shower you with presents today, so rise and shine. At least they’re having it here. You just have to get dressed and go look pretty. They’ll do everything else.”

  ‘How am I supposed to look pretty when I’m the size of the Michelin Man? It’s too damn early.” She grumbled hissing at the sun like a vampire. She tried to sit up and sort of collapsed on the bed like a slug. “Can you hand me my glasses?”

  I’d had a wonderful time harassing her about the thick black glasses. We’d been together for over a year and I’d never seen her in them once. She normally wore contacts, but since her vision had been a little blurry, the eye doctor suggested a slightly stronger prescription. He said the change wasn’t uncommon in pregnancy, and should resolve itself after she delivered. She made a lovely nerd, and I called her ‘four eyes’ as often as I could work it into casual conversation.

  I was toasting bagels when I heard her coming down the hall in flip flops.

  “Flip flops? It’s barely March, little girl. You’re toes are gonna freeze right off.”

  “I can’t fit my feet in anythin’ else.” She said, still sounding unusually drowsy. ‘I’ve got cankles.”

  I chuckled at her and handed her the bottle of blood pressure pills. She took one and the glass of juice I handed her, I noticed her hands were puffy and white when she gripped the glass, and when I caught a glimpse of her feet, I nearly dropped the pill bottle.

  “Baby…I said, looking down at her feet that seemed to have almost doubled in size. ‘I think we need to go to the doctor.”

  “No…I just need to put my feet up.” She replied, hoisting her legs onto the chair next to me. I took off her flip flips and snagged her slippers from the closet. They fit on her ballooned feet, but barely.

  “Warmer?” I asked.

  She nodded, her big blue eyes shining with gratitude. “Yes. Thanks, baby.”

  A few hours later when Betty turned up on my doorstep, I was still concerned about leaving. But once she arrived, a deluge of estrogen hit my house and I started to feel unwelcome. Or overly welcome, when Molly’s slutty cousins arrived.

  When Dan turned up with no less than seven gift bags, he started trading snarky barbs with Molly’s high school friend Jay. Evidently they were vying for Queen of the Hill, but this development seemed to amuse Molly, so I figured it was a good time to make myself scarce. Besides, Robin was a nurse and most of these women had given birth more than once. Molly would be in good hands with the collection of hens in the house, I assured myself.

  Against my better judgment, I’d let Mac and Mason talk me into going out. Considering our last attempt at a field trip, you’d think I’d have pondered this suggestion a bit more carefully. I went into the kitchen to retrieve my keys, and Betty and Granny were putting chocolate bars into diapers and heating them in the microwave. It was the last thing I expected to see, and I almost forgot what I’d gone into the kitchen for in the first place. Returning to Molly, who was propped up on the couch in the living room, I told her what I’d seen.

  “Take me with you!” she whispered urgently, clutching her abdomen near her ribs on the right.

  “What’s wrong?” I frowned.

  “One of the babies is kicking me in the ribs.” She replied.

  “Maybe I should just have them all go home,” I whispered back. “We could go back to bed.”

  Tamryn interrupted us by swatting me on the shoulder. “Get your butt out the door, Joe. We girls need some time without you menfolk around.”

  “You heard her, Joe.” Molly’s sassy friend Lisa agreed, handing a beer to each of the slut sisters.

  Mason came over to where I stood beside the couch and steered me out the door. We ran face first into the neighbor lady, who held a giant basket that looked like it had been hosed down with pink and blue.

  “Hello, Joe.” She drawled, sounding like a phone sex operator.

  “Hi.” I blinked at her over the top greeting, and held the door for her. She ducked under my arm, brushing herself against me unnecessarily.

  “What was that?” Mason asked, his eyes the size of saucers.

  ”Neighbor.”

  “This is going to be one of those kinky key party neighborhoods.” Mac snorted, but I saw the amusement vanish from his face when he saw Kelly walking up the street with a giant silver box in her arms. She peered over the green bow at him with a reluctant smile.

  “Hi.” He said, suddenly looking a lot less cocky.

  “Hello, Malcolm.” She replied with a slight smile curling the edge of her mouth, but her stride never faltered.

  Both Mason and I looked at one another bemused.

  “Shut your faces.” Mac preemptively interjected before we could even being.

  We jumped in a cab and were halfway across town before I realized I’d forgotten to ask Robin to keep an eye on Molly for me. I tried to call her, and a few
of the others, but went straight to voicemail. I shrugged, and slipped my phone into my pocket.

  The boys had decided that we should hit the Alamo Draft House for a reshowing of Road House. Afterward we planned to head over to Legends Sports Bar to watch a game and grab a beer. It was as good a place as any to hang until the women left my house. We were just at the part where Caretaker, Sam Elliot’s character, is found dead when my phone went crazy. I’d put it on vibrate rather than turning it all the way off.

  At first, I thought the damn thing was electrocuting me. It was buzzing so damn fast. I jumped up, bumping the table with my knee and spilling beer all over Mac. Pushing my way past several people, I ran out of the theatre, I pulled my phone out and answered it.

  “Joe! It’s Tamryn! Molly’s hurt. She had a seizure. We called an ambulance and they’re on their way.” My normally unflappable sister sounded like she was on the edge of tears. Cold swept through me like someone had opened a door to the artic inside my heart.

  “What happened?” The words barely slipped past the growing lump swelling in my throat.

  “I don’t know. She was talking and laughing one minute and the next…” It was less what she said and the way her voice caught as she said it. I could hear Jamie sobbing in the background.

  “Oh my God, she’s bleeding.” She wailed, and for a moment I was sure my heart screeched to a dead halt. Then I heard Granny’s distinct voice barking orders.

  “I’m on my way.” Mac and Mason stood next to me with looks of alarm. I ignored them as Tamryn spoke again.

  “Joe, the ambulance is here.” I heard the noise level drop and assume she had covered the phone with her hand. My stomach was twisting in knots and the popcorn I had eaten was threatening to come back up all at once. A moment later she came back on the line. She told me the hospital they were headed to and hung up.

  “Joe, what is it?” Mason looked as pale as a ghost. Mac had a queasy expression that I found far too relatable.