Echoes in the Bayou

by Dukes, Ursula

  "Hold that thought," he said and went over to the other side of the room. He reached up and pulled down one of the chairs that were stacked neatly in a corner. "Here, sit down," he said and helped her into the seat.

  "Yes, it would appear that Steve has been the cause of our signals being crossed and mixed up. But I don’t want to think about that right now, I can't think about that. I'm going to be a daddy," he grinned and stared at her belly. Ava, it's been eight months and you've gone through this alone, I should have been there for you and I wasn’t I am so, so sorry," he said. "Magnus, I haven’t gone through it alone. Kelly lives with me now. And that guy who threatened to kill you? His name is Sterling and he and Kelly are my work associates, we've all gotten to be very close," she said. The dizzy feeling in her head was getting stronger now and suddenly she was parched.

  "Ava? Ava are you alright?" He asked. A look of panic on his face.

  "I'm fine," she said. "But would you mind getting me a glass of water or something? All of a sudden I'm very thirsty," she smiled up at him. "Don’t worry, it'll pass," she reassured him.

  "I'll be right back; he said and took off towards the doors.

  Sterling and Kelly almost fell into the room when Magnus pulled open the doors. "What is it? What's wrong?" Sterling asked. When Magnus told him that she was in need of water he relaxed and immediately went to her. "Honey how are you holding up?"

  The reality of seeing Magnus suddenly hit and she reached out for his hand as the tears broke through.

  "Am I going crazy? Or is he really here?" She asked him. "Because if I am then please let me stay crazy," she told him.

  Sterling squeezed her hand. "No sweetheart you're not going crazy, he's here and from what he told Kelly, he's staying."

  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Magnus was here and he was staying, the excitement was almost too much to bear.

  "I got you a water." Magnus had returned to staring eyes. The small group had assembled in the room now and had surrounded Ava. Magnus couldn’t help but notice how much they reminded him of a family that was protecting its young from a predator, and to everyone but Ava, he was the predator. "I'd love to make the introductions but I'm not feeling too good at the moment, she said with tears in her eyes. "I wonder if someone would be so kind as to bring me home."

  "What is it? Is it the baby?" Magnus and Sterling chimed in and then glared at one another. "I don’t know." Was all that she could say. "I just feel incredibly strange, I can't describe it but I'm worried. What if something's wrong?" She asked eyes wide with fear.

  "That's it were bringing you to the hospital. Adrian go get Anthony and tell him to bring the car around front. Within minutes Sterling and Magnus had Ava bundled up in her coat and were waiting for Anthony to pull the car around.

  Kelly you and Adrian follow us, we'll take Mister Hollywood here and Ava to the hospital."

  "We'll talk about that comment later on," Magnus said to Sterling as he climbed into the back seat of the car.

  "Oh yes we will," Sterling replied and gave Anthony a quick kiss on the cheek before telling him to make haste towards the hospital.

  During the ride Magnus had managed to get in touch with the doctor who told them that he'd meet them there. Ava rested her head on his shoulder as he tried to calm her nerves. "You and the baby are going to be fine," he reassured her and kissed her softly on the lips.

  "I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere, I promise you."

  "You're damn right you're not going anywhere. This woman waited around for you for eight months, you leave again, she ain't waiting no more," Sterling snapped at him.

  "Come on you two no fighting," Ava murmured. She was still dizzy and all of a sudden felt incredibly tired.

  An hour later, she was hooked up to the fetal monitor and resting comfortably in a private hospital room. "So far so good," the doctor had told her. He told her that she was not in labor and that the dizziness and strange feeling had more than likely been brought on by the sudden shock of seeing Magnus. "Not to mention that you've been on your feet dancing for several hours, you should have taken a break," he lightly reprimanded her.

  Ava smiled sheepishly, he was right. She figured that since the music was slow, there was no harm in dancing to most of the songs. "You over did it is all," the doctor told her. "But now, you've got to take it easy Ava, the baby can come at any time now and you're going to need your strength for delivery you got that? Now how about we let daddy to be take you home?"

  He smiled at Magnus who was sitting at her bedside enthralled at the sound of his hearing his baby's heartbeat.

  "It's amazing," he said eyes wet with tears. "Simply amazing."

  "Glad to see he finally came to his senses Miss Montgomery, just don’t forget what I told you," he winked at her. "Go easy on him," he whispered in her ear before giving her hand a gentle squeeze and leaving the room.

  She was much calmer now; the short stay at the hospital and listening to the baby's heart beat was more than enough to boost her spirits. Not to mention the fact that Magnus had come to her, and was more than a little excited at the concept of becoming a father. The ride home was a lot more relaxed and tense free than the ride to the hospital. Even Sterling had managed to call a truce with Magnus, for the rest of the night anyway and as Anthony drove them back to the Inn so that Magnus could pick up his car, the two shook hands before saying goodbye.

  "Magnus, why didn’t you tell me you were coming?" She'd waited until they were alone in his car and heading back to her place before asking the question.

  "By the time I came to my senses and realized that none of what I was doing seemed right without you, I had already made up my mind that I wanted to surprise you," he grinned.

  "I wanted to see if you were going to be happy to see me."

  She whacked him on the shoulder. I wish you would have told me you were coming, well at least you caught me looking pretty," she joked. "Most days I'm lucky if I can change out of my pajamas."

  "Ava, you couldn’t get any prettier. I love the new hairstyle by the way," he winked.

  "And here I thought you hadn’t noticed."

  "Oh I noticed believe me I noticed, but at the time that little bump in your belly seemed to warrant all of my attention. Put your haircut on the back burner for a minute or two," he said with a grin.

  Magnus whistled loud when he saw the gorgeous Victorian home. This is all yours?" He asked with enthusiasm. He knew that she was a sucker for older homes like himself and the house that stood before him was the quintessence of Ava Montgomery.

  "No it's not all mine," she said as he helped her out of the car. "It's all ours," she said and wrapped her arms around him.

  Once inside he couldn’t help but smile at the Victorian inspired decorations that seemed to scream Ava lives here! "Are the others coming?" He asked, not wanting her to feel alienated from her friends. But once she explained that they had wanted to give the two space and let them get reacquainted he began to like them more and more. "And Kelly is spending the rest of the weekend at Adrian's," she said with a wink. So you and I have the house to ourselves, she motioned towards the fireplace. "So how about you start a fire while I go change and then we can catch up?" She smiled warmly at him.

  "It's wonderful to have you home," she said before making her way up the stairs.

  "It's wonderful to be home," he said.

  When she came downstairs wearing a crimson colored chemise that fit her body like a second skin, he instantly grew hard. The fire placed crackled and soft music played in the background. It reminded her of how only hours before she had been dancing with Sterling.

  He gathered her in his arms and smoothed her hair back away from her face. "Did you miss me?"

  "Just a little," she said with a grin and shrugged her shoulders.

  The tears had begun to run down her face. "I think you missed me more than just a little Ava Montgomery."

  "And you called me what? Once and you never emailed me!"


  "I did email you; I emailed you so many times that I can't even begin to count but once again, something went wrong and my emails must have gotten lost or something. That was my only way to communicate after Steve deleted your cell. And after the line went dead the day that I called, I all but gave up but I'm so sorry Ava. Now that I know that Steve was behind it all, everything makes sense."

  "But know that I missed you so much that it broke my heart and I don’t ever want to have to miss you that much again!"

  "But what about the book tour and movies?"

  He gave a shrug. "I can write anywhere and writing makes me feel good, but not as good as being with you." He leaned in for a kiss. "Not as good as when I am inside of you. Ava, it's time that I made some changes."

  "What kind?"

  "I need to take things down a notch and realize that I have everything that I need right here."

  And I don’t think I'll be signing with another agent. From now on, I'll self- publish and start doing things my way. Ava what we have is perfect, and I for one want us to stay together forever. If of course you're still interested, that is."

  She glanced away to hide her smile. "I'll have to think about it."

  He buried his face in her neck. "Well can you think fast? Because I so very badly want to make love to you."

  She leaned back and put both her palms on the warmth of his cheeks, and stared into his eyes with desire. "Magnus, I need to know that you're in this for the long haul because if you aren’t you need to tell me right here and now. I don’t want you here unless this is where you absolutely want to be and I won't have you feeling obligated towards me or the baby."

  "Ava, I understand where you're coming from I do. I want you to know that I am one hundred percent committed to you and not only that but I am helplessly and wholly yours. I'll scream and shout it from the widows walk if you want. I am in love with you, Ava. Like I've never been in my entire existence."

  "But will you feel completely fulfilled living here Magnus? Because I've no intentions of moving back to New Orleans, or anyplace else for that matter. This is my home now and I'd like very much if you would make it your home too."

  "This may sound silly but the moment I saw you, I felt fulfilled. I feel as if I've been given a whole new life and in so many ways, I have. Ava we have a baby on the way, we're going to be parents! You and the baby are everything that I need. And without you in my life, well… I don’t even want to think about it."

  He kissed her long and hard then, and in a seductive whisper he said, "You are my life Ava, you're what I need to feel alive."

  She returned his kiss and led him over the oversized sofa so that they could begin to catch

  up.

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  "What I don’t get is why Steve would do something so spiteful as to erase all of your accounts and disregard my messages."

  It was morning and they were lying in bed trying to put things in perspective. "I don’t know, I guess ever since he started using, things seemed to get out of hand for him. He probably thought that by keeping us apart, I'd finish the book tour and want to move forward with the whole movie idea."

  "But surely he must have known that we would both try to contact one another."

  "I don’t think so, I think that the more distance and time he put between us the more we would see that it just wouldn’t work but I hope he realizes that it was a complete waste of time."

  She reached down and placed her hand on top of his. "Magnus are you sure you're ready for all of this? I mean, you say you are but are you really ready?"

  "He kissed her softly on the cheek. "Ava I have never wanted anything so bad in my entire life, you have to know this. I am ready; you have no idea of how ready I am."

  She smiled. "Good and since you're so ready, you can be the one to wake up with the baby for his or her hourly feedings and diaper changes," she joked.

  "I wouldn’t have it any other way. And you'll see, I am going to be the world's greatest dad," he said and squeezed her gently.

  "I have no doubt in my mind about that Magnus, no doubt at all."

  Ava decided to put Sterling and Kelly in charge of the shop while she helped Magnus settle into her new home. Neither Kelly nor Sterling objected when she told them of her plans. She would get Magnus settled, and the two had planned to finish the baby's room. She wanted to get all of the last minute details in place, so that they were no longer in the back of her mind, nagging her to get them done. After that she planned on taking time off to relax before the baby arrived.

  Things were falling into place for the them now. The baby was kicking up a storm and Magnus had told her that he or she was getting restless, and was ready to come out. Ava had never been happier, she felt wonderful when Magnus went with her to her obgyn appointments and held her hand during the entire exam. Her visits had become weekly now and the doctor had reminded her again that the baby could come at any time now and with each day they both grew more and more excited.

  "Just wait until your first contraction," Sterling said. "You'll be singing a different tune," he teased. Ava knew that he was right; she told Magnus that she hoped that he wasn’t squeamish because she expected him to be right by her side. When he told her that he wasn’t, Sterling made a face. "What was that for?" Magnus asked.

  "Oh nothing," Sterling replied. "It's just that you look like one of those men who faints at the sight of blood is all," he said holding back a laugh.

  Ava playfully slugged him in the arm. "Now you promised you'd be nice!" She reminded him.

  "I said no such thing," he smiled and gave a wink.

  Sterling had come to like Magnus and thought it wise that he made the right choice and came after Ava. "And it only took eight months," he said with sarcasm.

  "Better late than never that's what I say," Anthony chimed in. They were all sitting at the dining room table; they had just finished eating a delicious Cajun meal prepared by Magnus and Kelly. Throughout the entire meal, Ava held a warm and smiling glow. She'd been so happy being with Magnus these past few days and it warmed her heart to know that her friends had taken a liking to him as well. Even Sterling, who'd been his toughest critic had begun to warm up to him. Especially after Magnus took him aside and assured him that he loved Ava like no other and planned to spend the rest of his life with her.

  "Well when you're ready to get the ring you make sure to take me along because I know exactly what she wants," he said with sureness.

  And he was right, when asked he told Magnus that the ring Ava had fallen in love with was one that was for sale at her own shop. It had been bought by the previous owners but no one ever inquired about it. When Ava saw the ring, she immediately fell in love with it. The sweet antique engagement ring contained a two carat marquis diamond. It was flanked by two square cut diamonds and twenty five single cut diamonds. It was crafted in the 1930's in a stunning platinum antique filigree and beaded design.

  "And I suppose you've devised a plan on how I can acquire said engagement ring and surprise Ava with it?" Magnus questioned him.

  "Of course I have," Sterling replied. "But now is not the time, she's being nosy," he remarked as he noticed Ava trying to innocently listen in on their conversation.

  Steve had become so strung out that he hadn’t noticed that Monday had come and gone and that he had stayed an extra week. It wasn’t until the motel manager contacted him and asked if he had thought about moving into an efficiency did he realize just how long he'd been there. Steve told him that it would be just a few more days and then he would be leaving. He had depleted most of his savings account and until his percentage of the royalties that he was to receive from his clients came in, he was forced to dip into a private account that no one but he knew about.

  It wasn’t the motel stay that was wearing him out, it was his coke habit. He had found that if he drove into Burlington, he could get hooked up with whatever he wanted and what he wanted was cocaine and that's exactly what he got. Some days were
better than others and he was able to make it through but other days he knew that if he didn’t take a hit, things could get very, very ugly and this particular day was one of those days.

  He'd just got off the phone with the young man who'd met him at the airport weeks ago and when he told him that he needed to replenish his supply, the young man responded by telling him that he'd have to wait. That they were expecting a supply tonight and that once it was delivered, he would give Steve a call and be able to fill his order. Steve didn’t like being told that he'd have to wait. He was used to getting what he wanted when he wanted it and now he had no choice but to wait. He needed something to pass the time and decided to momentarily turn his fixation back onto Ava.

  In his current state of delusion, he blamed his not being able to get his supply on Ava. It had been her fault that he had run out of the coke and her fault for him being holed up in the motel. "It's time I taught that bitch a lesson," he mumbled and prepared to go out for the night. He'd spend the early evening watching and if and when the opportunity arrived, he'd jump on it. "Fuck trying to plan shit," he said. The addict in him had begun to spew out and he was becoming more and more desperate. "Some of the best ideas come from those who make no plans," he rambled on while he dressed in a black hoodie and denim jeans.

  He took one last look around the motel room before placing the Smith and Wesson in his front pocket.

  It took him thirty minutes to reach Ava's house, and as he pulled over on the side of the road, he took notice that every light was on and it looked as if she was home. He thought about breaking in and taking her by surprise but thought better of it when he noticed a big black pickup truck and three other cars, her's included in the driveway. He had no doubt that Magnus had arrived and that one of the cars must have belonged to him. "I bet you're having the time of your life playing house with Magnus aren’t you?" He said through gritted teeth.