by Jen Andrews
“Why did you do it, Teagan?”
“I didn’t mean to. Initially, it took me a while to get it through my head that you didn’t do anything wrong, that it was all Cammie. Then everything in my life got so out of control. Moving in with my cousin and starting a new job. Then we began dating which started out great, and we were doing things the way we should have from the beginning.”
Jeremy rolled to his back, and pulled me with him, so I was lying on top of him. He carefully took my hair out of the loose bun I’d put it in after my shower this morning, and combed through the strands with his fingers. I could feel the steady thump of his heart beating beneath my cheek, and I finally felt like I was home.
But I knew I needed to continue.
“Everything was going good for us and we were taking our time, not moving too fast. But I’d never really dealt with all the cheating Gary had done. Or my cheating prick father for that matter. I know neither have anything to do with you, and I’m sorry if I made it seem that way. The night when you brought me in here after dinner, all I saw in my mind was you and her, then Gary and Katie.”
His hands stilled on my back. “I don’t need to know about all that because it doesn’t matter, but, why did you stop talking to me, Teagan?”
“I have no excuse. The only thing I can say, is two days after I left here, Nanna had another stroke. In my heart, I knew she didn’t have much time left, so my mind reverted to when my dad had cancer. She was my best friend, Jeremy. I needed to spend as much time with her before she left this life.”
Tears spilled from my eyes and landed on his shirt. I lifted my head to wipe them away and he kissed my forehead.
“Every day I went to work early, and I took my breaks and lunch in her room. Then every night after work, I stayed with her until she fell asleep. On the weekends, I had to take care of everything I’d neglected during the week . . . laundry, pay my bills, clean the apartment, and spend time with my family. Jeremy, I’m so sorry. I should’ve told you. Time just got away from me. I was exhausted and basically shut everyone out except Nanna and my family. She had two more strokes after that, but she seemed okay. Until the Friday she died.”
Jeremy wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head again. “I’m so sorry, pretty girl. I didn’t know about the strokes. She seemed a little different each time I visited her, but—”
“I was with her at the end Jeremy. You have no idea how much that meant to me.” Tears rolled down my face at the memory of her last day. “The last words she heard on this earth came from me as I read her The Two Trees. I’d just finished the last sentence when she reached out to me—just like she did to you the day you met her—and placed her hand on my arm.” I had to stop because my tears were quickly turning into sobs and I couldn’t speak.
Jeremy pulled me closer as my sobs grew louder. “Let it all out,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”
When my sobs had finally quieted and I had no more tears to shed, I finished. “She looked me in the eyes and said ‘Peaches.’ A second later, she was gone.”
“Teagan . . . I’m so sorry.” He kissed the top of my head and wrapped me in his embrace again.
Nanna’s final wish suddenly popped into my head. The book. I needed to give him the book. I leaned over and kissed him, loving the way his soft lips felt against mine. Sitting up quickly, I braced my hands on either side of his head.
“She left you something, Jeremy.”
“She did?”
I hopped from the bed and went to get the book. When I came back into the room, Jeremy was sitting up against the headboard waiting for me. I climbed back onto the bed with him and tucked myself in to his side before handing him the book. He smiled and ran his hand over the worn cover the way he always did when he held it, then wrapped his arms around me.
Sometime later, Jeremy finally spoke. “I’m sorry I tore your fence down,” he said quietly.
“What made you do it?”
“A song.”
Pulling away from him, I watched Jeremy’s expression turn guilty.
“Did Zoey put these songs on your iPod?” he asked.
I nodded. Zoey had told me how much music helped her, so I’d let her load my new iPod with music, thinking it would help me clarify my thoughts. I had to admit it really did work.
Jeremy took my iPod off the dock and scrolled through the music. He found the song he wanted and reconnected it.
I listened closely as the song played and could see why the lyrics would have thrown him into a mood to tear out the fence. I probably would’ve done the same thing. I climbed on to his lap, straddling him. Holding his face in my hands, I was prepared to beg him to stay with me.
I didn’t want this song to be our last love song. I wanted it to remind us of what we’d had together, and what we could get back.
“Jeremy, I understand why you did it. But in the song she lists everything they won’t have, we can. We can have all of it and so much more. Please, come home. This house isn’t my home without you in it. It’s ours. It’s always been ours . . . don’t you see that? Even before you bought it, I wanted it. I still want it . . . and I want you.”
He pressed his fingers lightly against my lips, shutting me up. “Can you take me back to Dub’s to get my car?”
Was he saying no? I reached up and pulled his hand away from my mouth.
“Jeremy?”
Panic ran through my entire body and my eyes filled with tears. He was saying no. Jeremy didn’t want to be with me.
Suddenly he sat up and embraced me so tightly it was hard to breathe. His body was shaking with emotion as badly as mine. “I love you so much, pretty girl. Don’t ever leave me again, promise?”
I sat back and stared at him. “You’re staying?” I asked, wiping the tears off my cheeks.
“Not to be a total dick for not saying anything sooner . . . but you had me convinced when you said you bought my house,” he admitted with a smile.
I leaned forward to kiss him, but he reached out and stopped me. “I still needed to hear everything we’ve talked about since we came inside, though. I had to see that you really wanted us back.” He smiled. “Can we go get my car so she doesn’t have to spend the night at Dub’s? She misses her garage.”
After I told him yes and kissed him, I jumped off the bed and slipped my shoes back on. “Jeremy, I’m on the pill now.”
His brows rose and a smile eased over his face. “You’re telling me this why?”
I took his hands in mine and pulled him off the bed. “Because when we get back here, we’re going to christen every room in our house.”
He sat back down on the bed and pulled me to him. “My car can wait. We’re christening this room right now.”
Jeremy yanked my shirt over my head as I slipped my shoes back off, simultaneously pushing my jeans and panties down my legs. We were in such a frenzy of undressing while trying to kiss one of us was going to get hurt.
His shirt came off and I pushed him back on the bed. My hands made quick work of his jeans and boxers. As soon as they were on the floor, I crawled back onto the bed and hovered over him. As I kissed him, he unsnapped my bra and pulled it off then tossed it aside. He licked and sucked my nipples as I reached down to guide him inside me.
He didn’t move as I eased down onto him. When I was ready, I moved. Jeremy gripped my hips and moved with me. He thrust upward as I lowered myself down his length.
My entire body felt him inside me. He was everywhere all at once, consuming my senses and dulling the ache in my heart. We were falling in love all over again, and it felt right.
Finally, I felt free of Gary, Cammie, Katie, and their betrayals.
Jeremy pulled me down to kiss me, and rolled us so I was on my back. He stilled over me and brushed my hair away from my face.
“Teagan, open your eyes,” he said softly.
My eyes opened and met his blue gaze. I reached up to pull him into a kiss, but he hesitated.
“Is something wrong
?”
“Tell me what you see, Teagan. Inside your head, right now, what do you see?”
Understanding what he was asking, I answered him honestly.
“I see you, Jeremy. I see you and me in our house, in our bedroom. I see us getting married and making lots of pretty babies. I see us raising those babies and growing old eventually. But what I see right now, is how much I love you and how much you love me.”
His eyes filled with tears and he pressed his cheek to mine. “I love you, Teagan,” he whispered and began moving inside me.
We made love as if it was our first time. It felt like it was the first time for us, even though it wasn’t. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him, as we loved each other.
“You feel amazing. I missed you so much,” he murmured against my cheek, his hips thrusting harder.
My hands moved over his chest and back, into his hair, then down to grip his ass and pull him harder and faster against me. I didn’t want this feeling to end, but ultimately, my body gave in, hurling me over the edge into the abyss. With my body clenching tightly around him, Jeremy came with me.
We lay there until he rolled us to our sides. We faced each other while I studied his gorgeous eyes, wondering what he was thinking.
“What are you thinking about, pretty girl?”
“Just wondering what you were thinking right now.”
He propped himself up on his elbow and played with my hair. “I was thinking about the day we met, and how I thought it was the best day of my life. But I was wrong. Today is the best day. The next best day will be the day you say you’ll marry me, and the day after that will be the day you say ‘I do.’”
“What then?” I asked because I loved where our conversation was going.
“The next best day after that will be the day you bring our first child into the world. But for right now, I’ll settle for today being the best day of my life. The day you came home to me.”
“I love you, Jeremy.”
“I love you too, Teagan.”
“I love it when you say you love me,” I teased.
He kissed me quick on the lips. “Get used to hearing it, Red. I plan to tell you every day for the rest of my life that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You will never go another day without hearing how much I love you.”
We stayed wrapped around each other for a while longer before I remembered something else I needed to give him. I went to my jewelry box for it.
When I turned around to face the bed again, I found Jeremy grinning from ear to ear.
“You have a great ass, Red. Your tits are amazing too.”
Shaking my head and laughing at our inside joke, I sat next to him on the bed.
“I want you to have this,” I said as I held my hand out. My papa’s Claddagh ring lay on my palm.
Jeremy sat up on the bed and stared at my hand in awe. “You found it?”
I nodded. “I did, and I want you to take it back. Will you accept it?”
He didn’t say a word just thrust his right hand in my direction, his fingers splayed.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I teased as I slipped the ring back on his finger.
“Absolutely. Thank you, my beloved. Now, let’s go get my car so we can come home and get to work christening the rest of the rooms in our house.”
The next morning, I slept in later than I had in ages. When I woke up, I reached out for Jeremy, but his side of the bed was cold. I sat up quickly and rubbed my eyes. Glancing down, I found a piece of paper on his pillow. I unfolded it and read his short note.
Teagan,
I have something important I need to do. I’ll be back as soon as I can, but it might take most of the day. I’ll see you soon. I love you,
Jeremy
When he’d said it might take most of the day, he’d meant it!
It was midafternoon before I heard a car pull up outside. I glanced out the window to find one of the James Racing trucks in front of the house with a flatbed trailer attached. The trailer was stacked with what appeared to be some sort of lumber.
I walked outside and found Jeremy unloading boxes from the truck. He set a box down and saw me just as I stepped up to him. He instantly smiled and pulled me into his arms.
“Hey, pretty girl, did you miss me?”
“Only the entire time you were gone,” I replied as I brushed my lips against his. “What is all of this?” I motioned to the boxes.
“Well, all the boxes are filled with my clothes and shit from the apartment. And this . . .” he trailed off. He took my hand and led me to the trailer attached to the truck. “This is going to be a white picket fence when we’re done with it.”
I slapped my hand over my mouth to cover the happy sob that was about to escape. Tears streamed down my face as I stared at the stacks of posts, pickets, and bags of concrete.
“But you hated the fence,” I said when I stopped crying.
He shook his head and grinned at me. “Turns out I’m a white-picket-fence-kind-of-guy after all.”
I flung my arms around his neck and kissed him as he lifted me off the ground. I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed all over his face until we were both laughing.
“Let’s get started on the fence right now,” I said.
“No way, Red. First, we’re going to take care of the boner you just gave me, and then we’re going to unpack all my shit, and christen every room in the house, again. Tomorrow we can work on the fence. Sound like a good plan to you?”
Taking a page from his book, there was only one answer I could give him.
“Yes!”
“Good answer.” He chuckled and carried me toward the house.
Our house.
We ride up the elevator to the fourth floor of the hospital with our hands full of baby stuff. When the doors open, we both try to step out at the same time, but we’re carrying too much and we bump in to one another. We look over at each other and laugh.
We’re both excited that the time has finally arrived.
Jeremy carries two car seats, and I carry a diaper bag full of necessities and baby clothes.
We make our way to the nursery to pick up our babies. They were born early and had to stay in the hospital for two weeks after I was discharged. But now they’re ready to come home.
Neither of us have twins anywhere in our family histories. When we went in for my first sonogram and the doctor found I was carrying twins, we were shocked.
But thrilled.
We didn’t know until they were born via C-section we would be blessed with a boy and a girl.
“Are you ready for this, Jeremy?” I ask, because he’s looking a bit green all of a sudden.
He smiles, and I know he’s okay. “Ready. Let’s get our little ones checked out of here and take them home.”
We get our paperwork processed and go to the nursery to pick up our babies. Once we have them dressed in their outfits to take them home, we thank the nursing staff for taking great care of them.
Jeremy scoops our baby girl, Brenna, from her bassinet, and carefully arranges her in her car seat. While I strap her in, he picks up Lucas, who we named after my dad, and settles him in his car seat. Jeremy straps him in and picks up both car seats. I grab the diaper bag, and we make our way back down to our super roomy mini-van with our twins. Yep, we bought a mini-van after seeing how much baby stuff Jeremy’s siblings carried around for their kids.
And Luisa was right; we did make pretty babies, just like she said we would.
I drive us home while Teagan sits between the babies in the back seat of the mini-van. She’s small and fits perfectly between the car seats. Occasionally, I glance in the rearview mirror to see my beloved wife staring down in awe at our twins.
Every single day, Teagan amazes me.
She carried our babies inside her as long as she could, but when they wanted out, she had to have a C-section. Andy tried to prepare me for it, because Z had one with both Sweet Pea, and their son
Kieran, but seeing my wife cut open like that scared me to death.
As soon as each baby was out and crying, the relief on Teagan’s face helped me to relax. If she was okay, I was okay.
I pull our van inside the garage and one by one, I carry the babies in their car seats inside the house. Teagan isn’t supposed to lift anything heavy yet, and I make sure she follows the doctor’s orders.
I carry them into their shared bedroom, where Teagan sits in one of the two rocking chairs. I hand a hungry Brenna to her so she can nurse her.
Lucas is still asleep, so I carefully lift him from his car seat and sit in the other rocking chair. I rock my sleeping son while his sister nurses. Of course, as soon as Brenna has her fill, Lucas is awake and ready for his turn.
We trade babies and I burp Brenna and rock her back to sleep.
Teagan and I work great together and have this down to a science now. I am taking six weeks off work to spend time with my babies and my wife. I’m not going to miss a second of time with them.
Our families are awesome. They helped with everything from cooking us meals, to my brothers taking over my work when Teagan and the babies were in the hospital.
Once they are asleep in their bassinets, we quietly leave the room and go into our bedroom. We settle ourselves on the bed facing each other like so many times in the past.
“I’m so happy they’re home, Jeremy,” I say quietly. “I hated being away from them every night.”
“Me too, pretty girl,” he replies. “I think Brenna looks like you more and more every day. Don’t you?”
I nod, because I know he’s right. “You know Lucas is going to be a little heartbreaker don’t you? It’s crazy how much he looks like you.”
“He won’t be a heartbreaker. I won’t let him. I am going to teach him how to treat girls with respect,” he says.
I laugh, because I know our son will be as gorgeous as his daddy. Brenna’s hair is already turning the same shade of red as mine. We each have a mini-me now.
