“You know why I picked this song?” Jhett asked. I shook my head against his smooth cheek. “It says everything I’ve ever felt about you. When I met you, I couldn’t help but fall in love with you. It was quick and a little crazy, but I knew from the moment I walked away from you that night that I couldn’t live without you. I wouldn’t walk away again.” He glided his hand across my jaw, running his thumb across my cheekbones. “Your love is simple and sweet and I’m so lucky to call you mine, Charlotte Caroline Hudson.”
Charlotte Caroline Hudson. The name repeated in my head. It had a nice ring to it, even though it pained me a little to come to the realization I was no longer a Jennings. That was bittersweet. As a girl who grew up in the south, it was known that I should take Jennings as my middle name, but I wasn’t that girl anymore. Dropping my old last name may have marked the beginning of a brand new chapter in my life, but it also meant leaving behind a lot of things I held onto so tightly over the past year. I shed all the pain, sorrow and anger that came with my old last name and opened my heart to new adventures that would happen with my new name and husband.
I knew that my great story I would tell our kids one day wasn’t just a love story - it was more than that. It was a life story, because my life didn’t really start until I met Jhett. Before, I was only doing what I needed to survive. And then Jhett happened and he taught me that sometimes you have to stop worrying and planning because in the end, even though you may not end up where you thought you were headed, you will always end up where you are meant to be.
Looking up into Jhett’s amber eyes, I knew exactly where I was meant to be - safely in Jhett’s arms forever.
I let the cool, salty breeze whip across my skin as I looked out over the waves crashing onto the sand. Even after all these years, the beach was still my happy place – the place where I could go to clear my head when life got rough. It was mornings like this that I thought of Cameron; when I heard the music of the beach sing to my soul. Only the sound of the seagulls and the constant rush of the waves fading in and out in front of me filled my ears.
It was late September, which meant that all of the summer tourists had gone home, and the chilly wind that came in off the ocean was too cold for the locals. On days like this, I got the beach mostly to myself. There were only a few surfers littered across the water that I had to share the moment with. I was thankful for the quiet times when I got to escape reality, even for just a few moments.
Things at The Voodoo Kitchen really took off before we could even realize what was happening. Pretty soon, there was enough money coming in that we opened a second location right in the middle of the college area. After that, I was able to hire more people so I could take a few days off a week and not feel guilty about it, but it didn’t mean that things slowed down for us any less. There was a long time where music took a backseat in my life, and then my muse came back stronger than ever before …but this time she had bright brown eyes instead of blue.
I never knew I could love someone more than I loved Charlie, although technically I wouldn’t say I loved her ‘more’, I would say I loved her differently. This girl was ruthless and found her way into my heart when I’d least expected it. I guess that was the funny thing about those Jennings girls – even though they both shared my last name, they each stole my heart - and I had no plans to ever get it back.
“Daddy! Pick Millie up!” Tugging on my shorts below me stood a tiny, but fierce, spitting image of Charlie. The only thing my daughter inherited from me was my eyes…well, and maybe a little bit of my attitude.
I scooped her up into my arms, which caused a flood of giggles to escape from her tiny mouth. Her little hands tickled under my chin, leaving sprinkles of sand to trail down my bare chest. “Did you walk all the way over here by yourself, Camille? Mommy’s probably lonely now that you left her all alone.”
We named her after Cameron, but being the child of two very stubborn people, she refused to go by Cam or even Camille. Instead she insisted that everyone call her Millie. She was only three, but she was already giving us a run for our money.
“No, Mommy talk to Auntie Ginger.” Her dirty blonde ringlets fell into her face as she traced the outlines of the tattoos on my arms. It was a favorite pastime of hers, especially when I let her color the blank ones in with markers.
I looked a few yards down the beach where I had set up our spot for the day, and watched as Charlie and Gracie chattered away like they always did. It took a while for things to get settled down for all of us after Charlie’s accident. There were a lot of broken hearts and hurt feelings that needed to be fixed, but life had a strange way of working itself out sometimes, giving us situations we didn’t think we needed in order to move on.
Our first year of marriage was one of those strange situations. Charlie and I left for Europe on our honeymoon and came back with our own tiny souvenir – Millie – although we didn’t find out about her for a few months after that.
It wasn’t easy to know we’d slipped up again. We thought we were both so careful, too terrified to go through anything like the first time around. But I’ve always believed that what’s meant to be will happen, no matter if you’re ready or not.
On Christmas morning, nine and a half months after our wedding, our little tornado of terror made her surprising grand entrance into the world. I laughed, thinking about that day because ever since then, our lives have never been the same.
“Jhett, this is it.” Charlie clutched her swollen belly that peeked out from under her shirt. Her forehead creased with worry as she bent over the bed. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I checked the clock next to the bed. One in the morning. “I’m not joking, baby. This baby is ready to come out….NOW.”
The strain in her voice worried me. “Okay, let’s call the hospital and tell them what’s going on. We can head down there in a few minutes. How far apart are the contractions? ” Mentally I ran through the ‘dad list’ in my head. I did my research. I was prepared for Charlie to give birth. I even knew how long it would take to get from the house to the hospital.
“I’m only going to tell you this once.” Charlie grinded her teeth together, but her voice remained soft and controlled. It was even scarier than if she were to just flat out scream at me. “I appreciate you trying right now Jhett, I really do, but if we get into that car, your daughter is going to be born on the side of the road. And I’d rather not end up on some TV show because of it.”
I tried to remember what everyone told me. The worst thing you could do for her was panic. How the hell was I not supposed to panic with what she threw at me?
“I…I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean. Should I call 9-1-1, then? What do you need me to do?” I carefully approached her, my hand sliding over her back gently. I felt every muscle in her body tensing up as she rocked back and forth.
She spoke between breaths. “I need you to go into the bathroom…..and fill up the tub….grab towels and some of the baby blankets….and then get 9-1-1 on the phone…..and meet me back at the bathtub….” Charlie’s face twisted in pain. My heart practically exploded in my chest as I stood frozen, staring at her. “Go, now, please…”
Instincts took over and I ran into the bathroom; filling up the tub with water just warm enough so it didn’t sting. Charlie swayed, holding onto the sides of her belly behind me. She placed a hand on my shoulder. Despite the visible amount of pain she was in, her touch was still soft and gentle.
“Okay, time to go get the rest of the stuff from the baby’s room.” I looked up into her deep blue eyes and imagined what my own eyes must look like. Wild and terrified, I was sure. Following her directions, I ran as fast as my legs would carry me into our daughter’s room. The grey walls and pink curtains were still visible from the strings of lights that ran across her ceiling; the same lights that hung in our backyard on our wedding day. Shaking away my thoughts, I reached into one of the baskets that lined the wall and pulled out as many blankets as I could hold.
&nbs
p; As I passed back into our bedroom, I grabbed a few towels from the closet and returned back to Charlie with my findings. The bathroom was transformed, with only the light of a few flickering candles illuminating Charlie’s naked form in the water as she took in and let out one deep, controlled breath after another.
“I got the towels and stuff….” That was my genius response. To be honest, my brain wasn’t even processing what was happening. Things were not going like we talked about. This didn’t happen in any of the parenting movies we watched. In none of the books did I read about what would happen if your daughter decided to be two weeks overdue and then try and beat the world record for fastest baby ever born.
“Good….now I need you to come here and sit with me….and whatever happens…I need you to promise you will stay calm. Okay?” Her face was slick with sweat; her hair tied in a knot on top of her head. I smoothed the stray pieces of hair that stuck to her cheeks and forehead. She never ceased to amaze me. Even now, through all of this, she was the calm one. I, on the other hand, wanted to run out the door and scream for help. I went with the calmer option.
My hand slipped over hers. “I promise.” I squeezed her hand. “I’ll always be right by your side, remember? Never alone when you have me here.”
She looked over at me, a weak smile on her lips, and nodded. Then, without any type of warning, she curled her body around her belly and pushed. It was the most terrifying and beautiful thing I’d ever seen. She looked as if she were in so much pain, yet she didn’t scream or make a sound. Instead, she took another deep breath and pushed again and again. My eyes didn’t know where to focus - her face, her belly, or her hands between her legs in the water. I needed her to tell me what to do. I was going to lose my mind at any given moment.
“Grab the towels….” she grunted almost inaudibly, although it was right on cue to my silent pleas to her. I quickly snatched up two towels in my hands, just in time to witness the most hauntingly beautiful thing the world had to offer.
Charlie reached down, and with one fluid motion of her screaming and pulling; she lifted our daughter from the water and clutched her to her bare chest. All my common sense flew out the window in that moment. My ragged breath matched hers, even though I hadn’t done anything. She had just given birth, in our bathroom, without any help from me, doctors, or anyone. Her body just did it - she did it.
That was the second time in my life I openly wept and had no cares about it. The water didn’t reach far up her belly, so the towels I wrapped around the baby and her soaked up very little water. My only goal was to make sure they were both warm and healthy. That was all I cared about in the entire world - my two beautiful girls right in front of me.
The smile on Charlie’s face was just like the one on our wedding day, except she looked exhausted, but equally as blissful. “Charlie…you did it. I can’t believe it. I’m so proud of you. That was…you were…” My words started to jumble together. So instead of babbling, I leaned forward and pressed a kiss into Charlie’s damp hair, and then reached out and touched our daughter for the first time. She wasn’t exactly pink or clean like in the movies, but she was completely perfect. Her eyes fought to stay open for more than a few seconds, but I caught glimpses of her dark eyes in the candlelight. My eyes.
“What should we name her?” Charlie looked up at me and my breath lodged in my throat. We never picked a name because we couldn’t agree on one. The only thing we did decide on was that we would wait until we saw her to name her. I smiled in amazement. That was Charlie’s subtle way of telling me I got to pick her name, and she knew exactly what I was going to say.
“Camille. Camille Elise Hudson. After Cameron…and my mom.” I ran my fingertips over her fist as she snuggled against Charlie’s chest.
A contented look washed over Charlie. She placed a soft kiss onto Camille’s forehead. “Hi, Camille. We’ve been waiting a long time to meet you. You are the best Christmas gift your daddy’s ever given me. He’s going to have a hard time topping you every year.”
She didn’t look up at me again; her focus was entirely on the little life she held so perfectly in her arms. The rational side of me knew I needed to get someone on the phone to tell us what to do next, but I decided a few more minutes of watching my wife and brand new baby wasn’t going to hurt anyone.
“Millie!” Gracie’s red hair blew behind her from where she sat on the large blanket spread out on the sand.
“I gots Daddy. No worries.” She pointed her tiny fingers at me as she wiggled in my arms and made her way down my hip. Sighing, I set her down on her bare feet. When it came to Auntie Ginger, both Charlie and I became chopped liver. That was her favorite person in the world.
Camille ran straight into Gracie’s opened arms and they embraced like it had been months since they’d seen each other. In reality, it’d only been a few days. Family was never far away in our house - we had an open door policy. Family was welcomed anytime, as long as they gave us a heads up before coming over. Charlie and I both agreed that we would raise our children surrounded by people who loved them, and that family didn’t always mean blood relatives.
As Gracie and Millie chatted away about what color nail polish they were going to choose next, I found my way over to Charlie. When she saw me, she leaned back on her hands, her oversized sweater swallowing her whole. I sat down next to her and was greeted with a warm kiss.
“Well it’s nice to see you, too.” She adjusted herself so she could lean up against me. My hands slid under her sweatshirt and laid flat against her skin.
She shrieked and jumped, trying to get away from my cold hands. “Jhett! Be careful,” she scolded me, her eyebrows folding together. “Bowie doesn’t like that.”
Whenever she mentioned our son by name, my heart leapt with a new kind of joy. In a few short months we would welcome another troublemaker into the world, and his arrival was eagerly awaited by all of us. I loved my girls, don’t get me wrong, but knowing we were also going to have a little boy made me feel complete.
“Mommy, you promised I find Daddy, you tell Millie a story.” Millie planted herself at the end of Charlie’s feet; arms crossed over her chest and a perfected pouty look on her face.
“I think Daddy is a better storyteller, don’t you?” Charlie turned her head up at me in my arms and laughed. “Daddy, won’t you tell us a story?”
“Yeah, Daddy. Tell us a story,” Danny mocked, as he made his way through the sand and over to us. “Sorry I’m late. Some little old lady wouldn’t let me leave today. Just kept talking and talking and talking…” He rolled his eyes while he made a talking motion with his hands.
“Are you sure it was her that wouldn’t stop and not you?” Gracie teased and stuck out her tongue at him. He swooped down and tried to bite her tongue, causing a fit of laughter to erupt from both of them and claps from the approving Millie. That relationship was a hard pill to swallow for me, but according to Charlie, I was the only one who didn’t see it coming. As much as I hated to admit it, they were actually perfect for one another. They balanced each other out in a way similar to Charlie and me.
“Story, Daddy!” Camille plopped her boney butt down on my outstretched legs and let a foot fall over each side. She leaned back against me and snuggled herself directly between her mom and I, as always. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath through my nose. “Tell me the pwince and pwincess!”
“The one about the prince and princess, huh?” More small claps of approval came from down in my lap.
“Yeah. Yeah. Pwincess Shawlot and Pwince Tet!” she squealed excitedly.
And so I went on about the story of Princess Charlotte and Prince Jhett. She was still too young to know who she was hearing stories about, but it never mattered to me. As I held Charlie and our little golden-haired spitfire in my lap, thinking of another ending to our fantasy fairytale story, I couldn’t help but think that maybe life wasn’t about all the tiny, broken pieces we tried to fix. It was about taking those pieces and making som
ething even better with them. I knew that in my arms, I held my something better, and not a day went by that I wasn’t amazed they were mine.
Looking over at Charlie as we all took turns telling parts of the story for Millie’s enjoyment, I realized that if someone had told me five years ago that I was going to be a husband and father of two, I would have laughed in their face. But now that was my life, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“The end.”
Millie sighed with disapproval at the ending to her story. She turned in my lap and placed her hands on my cheeks, squeezing them into a fishy-face.
“No not the ennnndaaaa” she protested. Her nose and eyes scrunched up as she stared at me. It was her ‘mean’ face that meant business.
I took her hands into mine and lowered them away from my face. “Do you want to know a secret?” She nodded eagerly. “Okay, but this secret is just between daddies and their daughters, okay?”
She flashed me her best ‘What are you up to?’ smile and I was overwhelmed with the urge to kiss her. Her smile could still get a reaction from me. Charlie watched me curiously as I leaned forward and whispered into Millie’s ear. “A true love story never ends.”
I knew, because I was staring at mine.
Hey readers! Thanks for picking up this book and giving it a good readin'. If you enjoyed Charlie and Jhett's story, why not take a few moments and leave some words for a review and maybe even rating, too? It's super easy and it helps me out a bunch since I'm an Indie author and we need all the help we can get. I appreciate any time you take to leave a review and always try my best to read all of them. So, if you have minutes to spare, go back to where you bought this from and write some words on what you thought about Promise Me Forever. I would appreciate it beyond belief.
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