The Price of Fame: A Price Novel (The Price Novels Book 2)

by Craft, Maggi

  “I wasn’t alone. I had Bruce.” Bruce was my mom’s boyfriend of fifteen years. I didn’t like him all that much. He always gave me the creeps. “And I’ve tried to tell you the last few times I talked to you, but it never was the right time.”

  “I saw Kenedy the other night, and she didn’t say anything.”

  “She doesn’t know. None of them know. I wanted to tell you first.”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  “Look, Arden, I’m not here to guilt-trip you back into my life. I’m here because I love you, and I don’t want to waste any more time at odds with each other. You are right about everything you said, and I know that there’s way more than that, and I understand. You have every right to be angry, but life is short, and I don’t want any more regrets.” She stood up and came over to me. “If the time comes and you’re not as angry with me at some point, I’d love to get to know you.”

  As she turned to leave, I stood up and said, “It’s a boy and a girl.” I was crying again, and pain made me realize I’d been chewing on my bottom lip.

  She turned around and smiled a genuine smile that reached her eyes and said, “You’re gonna be a great mom. I hope I get to meet them.” She held her hand out and looked at my belly like she was asking permission to touch me. I nodded and let her. She had tears streaming down her cheeks as she touched it, and she looked up at me and said, “Thank you.” She kissed my cheek and left.

  I collapsed back into the chair, sobbing. I had no real idea what I was crying about. Maybe the stress of the situation. Maybe the realization that my mom could have died without even telling me she was sick. I wasn’t sure, but I was overwhelmed with emotion.

  Slayde came rushing into the room. “Baby, are you OK?”

  I couldn’t answer him, and after a few minutes of holding me while I cried, he carried me to our bedroom and laid me on the bed. Then he went to the bathroom and got a cool rag for my face and a rubber band for my hair. I really wasn’t sure if I was going to be a good mother, but maybe Slayde could teach me how to nurture someone.

  I finally calmed down and let myself relax. I was not feeling good at all. “I really don’t feel well, Slayde. I feel light-headed.”

  “Well, I don’t doubt it. You’ve been squalling for twenty minutes straight. That would exhaust anyone. You need to calm down and rest before you make yourself sick. I’ll go get you a soda and see if that helps a little.”

  After Slayde came back in with something to drink, he insisted I lie down and try and sleep.

  When I opened my eyes again, I didn’t know how long I had been asleep, but Slayde was still in there with me, watching TV.

  “I thought you were supposed to go meet Kevin at the gym.”

  I must have startled him, because he jumped. “Hey, baby, are you feeling any better?”

  “Not really.” I tried to get out of bed to go to the bathroom, but suddenly I got tunnel vision, and the last thing I remembered was hearing the ocean inside my ears.

  When I came to, Slayde was holding me in his lap. “You are not OK. We’re going to the hospital.”

  I tried to argue with him, but didn’t have the strength. I knew he was scared, and I understood why.

  Lexi met us at the hospital, and Dr. Wells was only minutes behind us in getting there. By the way she was dressed up, I could tell she wasn’t working or on call. I knew Slayde had called her.

  The nurses were checking my stats, and Dr. Wells was asking Slayde questions. He looked freaked. I hated seeing him like that, but I really couldn’t do anything to make him feel better.

  There were at least eight people in the room, but I couldn’t make out what anybody was saying. I finally just closed my eyes. My head was pounding, and the light was killing me. I must have gone to sleep, because I opened my eyes and I was in a different room and it was dark. Milly was there, and so was Slayde, but that was it.

  When they realized I was awake, they both rushed over to me.

  “What’s going on?” I whispered.

  “Your blood pressure is up a little, and they want to keep you here overnight just in case, but everything is going to be OK,” Slayde said. “Can I get you anything?”

  “Water would be great.”

  He stepped out, and Milly came closer to me. “Are you OK? You scared us all to death?”

  “I think so. I’m sorry. I hate that you drove all the way up here because of me. Did Slayde call you?”

  “No, I called him. I’ve been calling you all day and finally decided to try him. He told me what was going on, and I drove up here.”

  “Were you in here when Dr. Wells was telling Slayde what was going on?”

  “Yes.” She looked like she didn’t want to answer me.

  “Give me the doctor version, please.”

  “She’s really concerned about your blood pressure. She is worried about preeclampsia and is considering bed rest.”

  “What? Are you serious?” I had been afraid of that, and that was the last thing I wanted.

  She nodded, and Slayde came in with a bottle of water. She didn’t say anything else. I assumed Slayde hadn’t wanted me to know that much.

  “When did she say I could leave?” I asked Slayde.

  “Maybe in the morning, baby, but you need to rest.”

  “What time is it? I’m supposed to be at work tonight. I need to call Chief Robbins.” I tried to move the bed up, but Slayde stopped me.

  “Chief Robbins has already been by here. Stop worrying about it. He said it’s fine.” He sat down by me on the bed, and Milly left the room. I suddenly got a bad feeling.

  “Arden, listen to me. You’re gonna have to seriously slow down, OK? I’m serious.” His brown eyes were staring at me intently. He wasn’t playing. This was serious Slayde. I didn’t see him often, but I knew he wasn’t budging.

  “But I have,” I interjected.

  He looked away; then when he looked back, I saw it. He was scared. “I love you more than anything in this world. I promise I want you to be happy, but these babies cannot survive like this right now. We’re doing too much. You are on the borderline of her putting you to bed.” He stopped and wiped the tears that were building in his eyes. “Do it for me. I don’t want to lose you. You hear me?”

  I couldn’t stand to see him this upset, and I promised him I would. I made him lie down with me. I didn’t sleep well without him, and I needed to feel him next to me. I didn’t know if he got any sleep, but I really didn’t.

  The next morning I woke up and saw Slayde outside in the hall talking to Julie, and I remembered he was supposed to be flying to Houston for the last few days of filming. When he came back in the room, Julie wasn’t with him.

  “Was that Julie?” I asked.

  “Yep, how did you sleep?”

  “Not great. Can we go home now?”

  “Now, you know the answer to that.” And I did. I knew Dr. Wells probably wouldn’t be there for at least another hour.

  A nurse came in and took my blood pressure. It was lower than it was the day before, but it still wasn’t normal.

  A few minutes later, Chief Robbins came by. He was a tall, thin man nearing sixty, mostly bald with small wire-rimmed glass sitting atop his upturned nose. He reminded me of my principal in middle school. “How are you this morning?”

  “Still stuck in this bed. I’m sorry I shorthanded you last night.”

  He laughed, shaking his head “Arden, you are the only person I know who would apologize for being rushed to the hospital. Listen to me. You won’t lose your spot here. You’re going to be a wonderful surgeon and mother. You can be both, and don’t apologize for it. Just take care of yourself, OK?” He squeezed my leg and smiled at me and said he’d be back to check on me later.

  I smiled and nodded. That did give me a little relief.

  An hour after Chief Robbins left, Dr. Wells showed up. When she came in, I knew what she was about to tell me. She looked at Slayde, and I realized so did he. They’d obviously al
ready talked about it. She sat in the chair next to my bed. She was talking to me more like a friend than a patient, and I appreciated that. Even though I didn’t like what she was going to say. “You’re hardheaded, you know that?” She was almost smiling. “And you’re making his job really hard.” She tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear as she looked in Slayde’s direction. “I told him that doctors make the worst patients because they think they know everything.” She nodded at me. “And residents are worse because they only know enough to be a danger to themselves.”

  Here it comes.

  “You’re going home today, but I’m putting you on bed rest for two weeks, minimum. I’ve already talked to Dr. Robbins, and you are officially off the schedule. So don’t even bother trying to argue this point. I will see you again in two weeks, and I will decide then if you’re going back to work or not.” I was angry, but mostly because I knew that she was right. “And I will be checking in with him.” She nodded toward Slayde. “You better do what you’re supposed to, or Dr. Robbins and I will gang up on you. I promise.”

  When she left the room, I looked at Slayde. “You traitor.”

  He tried to smile. “A, I’m not a traitor. I’m your husband, and I want you to be OK.”

  I closed my eyes and crossed my arms, pouting, and scoffed, “You’re totally not getting laid.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, I knew that was coming, but don’t worry. I’ll survive. It’s not the first time you’ve punished me.” He patted my leg, and I opened one eye to see that he really was entertained by my comment. Asshole!

  Slayde still had to go to Houston, and Milly was able to work it out to stay with me for the first two nights I was home. But she managed to make it fun. We ate junk food and stayed up late watching Saved by the Bell reruns and looking at bridal magazines. Milly was the kind of person who got all into the wedding thing, the complete opposite of me.

  “I hate that you’re too preggo to go look at venues with me next week,” she said with her lip poked out.

  “Me too, but I know your mom is going to have so much fun ordering you around. I really hate that I am going to miss that.” I elbowed her.

  “Ha-ha! You know Mom’s not too thrilled that I won’t have a big ol’ Texas wedding,” she said in a really country accent.

  “Yeah, how did you get her to be OK with you getting married in California?”

  “She was upset at first, but I just told her I’ve been in California for almost ten years now. Texas isn’t my home anymore. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but it was the truth.”

  “It is your wedding,” I reminded her.

  She looked at me seriously. “Do you ever regret having such a small wedding?”

  “Absolutely not. I got exactly what I wanted, and that was Slayde.”

  “That you did.” She laughed. “I can’t believe you are going to be a mom in few months. That’s so weird.” She reached across, rubbing my tummy again. She and Slayde did this all the time. However awkward it was when anyone else did it, to me it was not when they did it. Not anymore anyway.

  “Me either. I’m really scared. I don’t know one thing about babies,” I admitted.

  “What are you talking about? You practically raised your sisters.”

  “They weren’t babies, though. I don’t know, Mills—I resented having to take care of them. I’m scared I’m going to be a terrible mother. Slayde would be so disappointed.” I really was worried about this, but I had never said it aloud before.

  “Arden, that’s crazy. Slayde loves you. Don’t think like that.” She put her arm around me. “Don’t you think every first-time mother feels the same way you do?”

  I hoped she was right, but I wasn’t so sure.

  I really was nervous about hiring a stranger to watch my babies, but I didn’t really have a choice. Lexi had told us her friend was moving in a few months, and she had a nanny whom she had used for years and loved.

  Once I was allowed to leave bed, Lexi set up for her to come to the house and meet us when Slayde wasn’t home. That way we could form our opinion, and then if we liked her, we would ask her to come back when he was there. It was kind of strange, but some people did seem to act differently around him than they did when he wasn’t around. And I wanted to get a good sense of how she felt about him. She would be home alone with him from time to time, and I didn’t want to even think anything crazy. Not that I didn’t trust him, but why put it out there for him?

  “Are you sure about this? Do you really think a stranger is the way to go?” I asked nervously as Lexi and I were eating lunch.

  Lexi looked up at me from under her long lashes. “Honey, unless you are planning on staying home indefinitely, you need to hire someone. The sooner, the better. That way she isn’t a stranger by the time the babies get here.”

  “Can’t you do it? You know. You, Slayde, and me? Will you move in with us?”

  She smiled and grabbed my hand across the table. “And you need to remember this is babies, plural. One is hard enough. Two, we’re going to need reinforcements.”

  The nanny showed up about five minutes early.

  “Punctual. I like it,” Lexi said as she stood up to let her in.

  “Hey, Casey,” Lexi said, offering her hand to the short, round brunette.

  Casey shook it. “Hi.” She looked at me. “You must be Arden.” I nodded and smiled while shaking her hand. “When are you due?” she asked, looking at my tummy.

  “Four months,” I said.

  “Twins?”

  “Yep, and I have never changed a diaper. Is that bad?” I asked, nervously laughing.

  She smiled and grabbed my hand again. “Nope. Not at all, but you’ll be a pro in no time.”

  Casey was very warm and friendly. She was easy to talk to and seemed very down to earth. When we showed her the nursery, she immediately told me some things I should change for safety reasons. I liked that—maybe she could teach me how to change a diaper. She was also engaged, which was definitely a plus. She spent several hours with us before she left. I liked her. I wanted her to stay and hang out.

  “I love her,” I said after she left.

  “I do too,” Lexi said. “I wonder if she has any advice on moody teenage girls.” We both laughed.

  “I wonder how she would do in this crazy life? I wonder if the paparazzi being outside every day, and never getting to go in public, will make her not want to work for us.”

  “The only way to find out is try and see.”

  Slayde came home a few days later, and Casey came back over. She didn’t even give him a second glance unless he was speaking to her. She was a keeper. After I talked to Slayde and knew he felt OK about her, I called her back and offered her the job. We were paying her more than her previous employer, and we would provide her a vehicle. She accepted the job and said she could start in three weeks. Even though the babies weren’t due for a few more months, I wanted her around to get to know us and teach us some stuff. I wanted us to all feel completely comfortable with each other by the time the babies were born.

  Chapter 18

  Slayde

  Arden had been released by Dr. Wells to go back to work. This wasn’t something I was excited about, and I really had hoped she’d stay home, but nonetheless, she didn’t.

  I knew Arden was stressing about work and the babies coming. Throwing anything else on her plate right now would probably be overload, but our house was only four bedrooms. And two of the four were tiny.

  We were having two babies, and they’d share a room for now. So that left two rooms. One for the new nanny, Casey, and one for possible future help. Which was more probable than possible. Casey couldn’t do it all, all the time, and I felt we needed someone there all the time. Even when we were both there. So, we’d be outgrowing this house very quickly. I’d rather move only once. So I wanted to use the little bit of time that we did have to build the perfect house for our family.

  One that would have all the room that we would n
eed as we had more kids and as they grew and needed more space. We would need a big yard and no fewer than seven bedrooms.

  I was explaining this to Arden as she stared at me like I had three heads. “Seven bedrooms? Why do we need seven bedrooms?”

  “OK, so we know at some point we will have another kid, right?”

  She was still staring at me like I was insane.

  “OK, let’s say it’s a possibility. Am I wrong?”

  She nodded slightly. “It’s a possibility.”

  I was freaking her out. I could tell. I tried to keep from laughing. “You wanna move more than once?”

  “No,” she answered, much more sure of that answer than the previous.

  “Then maybe let’s do ten bedrooms to be safe,” I teased, and before she could slap me or tell me how I would never touch her again if I wanted that many more kids, I wrapped my arms around her from behind. “Kidding,” I said softly.

  She exhaled and seemed to calm visibly by that statement. “But seriously. I’d rather have more space than not enough. We can always turn any extra rooms into your sewing room or something.” I laughed at how ridiculous that sounded.

  “Or your doghouse,” she retorted, and I stopped laughing. After another brief pause she added, “Slayde, seriously I don’t care what we do. We could stay here, and they could have bunk beds for all I care. I really don’t have time to worry about it.”

  I kissed the top of her head, breathing in the smell of her shampoo. “Then don’t worry about it, baby. I got this.”

  “How?” she asked. “You are gone a lot too.”

  “I’m not building it myself, babe.”

  “Well, thank goodness for that,” she said, pulling away and turning to look at me. “So, who are you going to get to build it then?”

  “One of Dad’s friends owns a construction company. He will have one of his crews do it. They sub it all out, but it will be no stress for you, OK?”

  She looked up at me. “OK. Have fun with that.”

  That evening she and I sat down and gathered a list of what we wanted in the house, and I sent it to the contractor. He got back to me saying he wanted to sit down and look at a few house plans and see if we were on the same page.