Everyone laughed as Austin smiled sweetly and looked at Michael’s shocked face. It was in that moment that Emma and Jessica realized they missed the banter between Michael and Austin, but neither could fault how happy Austin appeared to be now.
“I’m only eight years older than you now,” Michael defended himself playfully at her comment. “You wait until you’re thirty-four, then you’ll be panicking about getting old.”
Shaking her head, Austin continued to smile sweetly, “I’m going to be forever young.” Austin giggled as she watched Michael try and come up with a comeback, but failed. This was always something she loved, whether it be Michael or Tyler, one of her brothers or one of the team. “Don’t even try to trump me, Old Man. I’m the birthday girl and I’m still as young as I was when I was nineteen and last celebrated a birthday Pearson style!”
“That is what I like to hear,” Tyler exclaimed as he watched his baby girl smile brightly.
“So,” Austin began and turned to Tyler, “What do we have planned to make tonight magical, Sugar?” She asked him, knowing if anyone, it would be Tyler who had packed tonight full of surprises.
“Well, can I steal you for a moment?” Tyler asked Austin quickly, flashed the three in front of them a knowing glance before looking at Austin’s expectant expression for him to divulge more information. “I want to give you some birthday loving.”
“Do your worst,” Austin told him and grinned teasingly, her eyes glinting with sexual tease instead of playful. That look meant just for him and he knew it.
Feeling Tyler lead her away made her forget about the pregnancy tests in her en-suite at Tom’s and just enjoy the moment. Hers and Tyler’s time to have a family would happen soon enough, and for now, she just had to enjoy this life and focus on getting completely healed.
As he spun her around, he watched her stop as she gasped painfully, “You okay?” Tyler asked, terrified he had hurt her.
Austin nodded, “It’s just a little tight still.” Austin calmed him down, “I’m fine, Handsome! We know that although I’ve been okayed by the doctors, there’s still some healing to be done.” She smirked as his face remained unchanged, “You know I’m still tender, but I’m fine,” she then kissed him to prove her statement right. “You need to not worry, Ty.”
“I can’t help it,” Tyler said deflated. He knew she was still new to healing, regardless of the weeks that had transcended. He knew there was so much more recovery ahead of them and he panicked that she was in pain or suffering and he had missed the telltale signs. “I just know how hard is it for you to have full mobility at the moment in that arm and I just expect you to have it.”
“I’d rather that, than you treat me like a china doll,” she reprimanded him sternly, “I’m not fragile, Ty, I’m not going to break on you!” she chided him, and took his hands to continue dancing. “See,” she started, “I’m fine and I want to enjoy my birthday with you.”
“Can I give you one last present?” Tyler asked her, knowing how to make her enjoy the moment even more.
Austin tilted her head to the side, “I think you already gave me enough, T.”
Tyler shook his head, “Can I give you one last present?” he asked her again and smiled, “Or, well, propose something?”
“Hmm, seeing as we’re already engaged, I would say go for it and propose something else,” Austin answered intrigued and wanted to know exactly what he had up his sleeve.
Chuckling, he stilled their dancing, “Would you marry me within the next few weeks? I mean, without any planning, except for what I have already planned,” Tyler asked her simply. He didn’t want to be seen as cocky, but he had arranged for this to happen on her birthday, for him to be able to tell her he had set a date.
“Yes,” Austin whispered back at him, “In a heartbeat.”
“Good, because our first night as newlyweds will be in our new house, and it’s all happening two weeks from tonight,” Tyler told her with a sense of glee, and his eyes showed her what exactly was going to roll out. They still had six years of loving to make up, for and if they were newlyweds, then the passion was going to be explosive. Babies could wait; this was a time for them.
Now Austin was truly happy for ever coming home.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
BITTERNESS tore her to shreds. She should be married right now. She should be Mrs. Austin Armstrong, and her life should make sense. However, she wasn’t married and the day Tyler had promised to make her a wedded woman had come and gone. Four days ago she should’ve had that idealistic wedding he had planned, and yet, Tyler was nowhere in sight, and hadn’t been for the most part of those four days.
It did nothing to settle her mind when he came home late at night and fell right to sleep. He missed mealtimes, he texted to say he was working a case brought to his desk. The doubts began to bubble up within her and tear her soul to shreds.
At first she believed it was her – after all, she wasn’t exactly aesthetically beautiful anymore. Her physical appearance damaged and scarred on one-half, perfect on the other. Maybe Tyler couldn’t deal with that and the memories it relinquished upon them. Maybe she wasn’t enough. Maybe she was too much. Maybe he did it all out of pity.
Austin didn’t want to live like this, with this feeling, but she couldn’t help it. Left alone in their new home wasn’t easy on her in daylight hours, but in the middle of the night, when she lay awake, she couldn’t stop herself from hating that her wedding day had vanished with just one phone call.
The biggest shock, in actual fact, was the day before her supposed wedding day. After constant complaints regarding her health the previous two weeks, Tom had spoken up, and worried that her fatigue and sickness was more to do with her body rejecting the skin grafts again than anything else. In a panic, he had joined her at the hospital when Tyler had been called to work. He had stuck by her side like he had when she was nineteen, and like he had in the aftermath of the fire. It seemed he was not just her big brother, but always her hero.
He didn’t even leave her side when she was ushered into a room and was seen to by the medical staff. After having blood drawn and her burns inspected, she found out her wounds were perfectly healthy. However, she was in fact pregnant – regardless of the pregnancy tests she had taken. After an ultrasound, the doctor estimated she had conceived the day in the house when she and Tyler had given to passion. Tyler had told her to forget about that day, about their moment of lust, and she had. Now it was all she could remember. Austin remembered the pipe spraying water, them both getting entirely soaked, their moment of laughter leading into a moment of love that ended with regret.
That day had given her life, and even as she looked down at her stomach, she was amazed she wasn’t showing more than she thought she would. Apparently the stress upon her body was having an adverse effect and the doctor admitted she might barely show at all. He had told her it was normal and had even shown her, her and Tyler’s healthy baby. He had then looked over her chart, trying to figure out why all the tests ran when she was first admitted to the hospital after the fire hadn’t shown up a pregnancy. There was no explanation, but with a healthy baby, Austin had just wanted to go home and tell the man she loved he was going to be a father. Nothing else mattered in that moment. Why should it? She was carry Tyler’s baby again. This was their second chance at pure, unadulterated happiness.
Her plan was to tell him on their first night as husband and wife, but that dream imploded and died when Tyler got sucked into work and had to postpone the wedding. It had killed Austin, admittedly, but she masked her emotions, stuck on a smile, and said that they had the rest of their lives to get married. She didn’t want to tell him in the few minutes they shared during the day. That wasn’t how a woman told a man she was giving him a family, and she refused to do it like that when his attention was obviously on something else. That was her downfall.
Austin Pearson – ever the martyr.
Picking up the dinner plate she had laid out earlier for
Tyler, Austin took the short walk over to the trashcan and pressed her foot onto the pedal to raise the lid. With a sad sigh she realized only one thing - she was back where she was seven years ago.
Home alone with a cooked meal on the table, ignored and pregnant.
Apparently that was the story of her life.
To Be Continued...
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My biggest acknowledgement goes to my mum, without who I wouldn’t have faith in myself to carry on pursuing my dreams. When all else fails, she is the one on the sidelines of life cheering me on. She’s my hero, my confidante, and most importantly, she’s my inspiration.
Lee and Darren – the best big brothers a girl could have - who like to strike up support in their random ways and actually inspire me in every way possible.
‘Nou-Nou’, who makes me a proud granddaughter, I am never happier than when I know I’ve made you proud, and made you laugh with my crazy antics.
Dad, for empowering me in ways he wouldn’t understand.
Sukh, without you I wouldn’t be able to be ‘me’. You believed in me from day one and have shared my obsession with writing ever since. You showed support like no other person. You’ve been my rock and you embraced my writing when I was scared no one would.
Emma, my first friend I made when I started writing and still one of my closest friends all these years on. You’ve never changed the way you think of me, the way you love me and the way you support me. You make me joining the writing world more worthwhile.
Heather and Amy – without you two I’d have a mess of errors and not a book!! You’ve kept my sanity in check, kicked my self-doubts and always been ready to pick me when I needed it.
Beth, my partner in crime, you’ve been a rock helping with formatting, editing, and loving my book. You’re always there for me, and always ready to pick me up when I think I’ve hit rock bottom.
Ada, you’ve become my little star. I can’t thank you for the belief you have in me but, I will forever cherish it.
Nicola, Sue, Steph, and Jordyn – without you I wouldn’t have my sounding boards, my bad idea killers or my emotional support. You understood the person under the writer far more than most.
And lastly, I couldn’t forget everyone that saw me for ‘Kirsty’ and not my writing pseudoym. You loved my writing first and loved me when you got to know me. You’ve been there through the new stories, the ‘trolls’, the jokes, and all my sarcastic randomness.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kirsty is a twenty-two year old British writer. She has a degree in Education Studies and a hope to pursue a career working with disabled children. Writing is a hobby she hopes to continue throughout life.
To learn more about Kirsty, visit-
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Kirsty-Anne-Still/524455580934384
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A Fire That Burns Page 31
