Whiskey Lullaby

by Dawn Martens

  Chapter 32

  Jase

  Waiting here in this fucking waiting room is pissing me off. No one has come out to tell me one damn thing! Pop comes over and puts a hand on my shoulder. “Calm down, boy. You aren’t making the situation any better.”

  “Fuck calm. I want to know how my woman and kid are!” I yell out.

  “I know, son, but you have to calm down or they will kick your ass out. Julie needs you here.”

  I start to yell again but stop when I see Bethany walk into the room. Bethany has been in another room getting seen to. She looks like she now has a few stitches. I wish I could have killed the fucker when I had the chance.

  She walks straight to me and wraps her arms around me. “Have you heard anything?”

  I know if I open my mouth that I will scream. She doesn’t need that. I find the willpower to shake my head no.

  “I’m so sorry, Jase,” she says, tears filling her eyes.

  I don’t even have time to respond before Matty walks over. “You do not have shit to be sorry for. This was all your brother. It has nothing to do with anyone else.”

  Bethany looks over to him and shakes her head. “That’s not true.”

  “Yes, it is! This is not your fault,” I say, giving her a squeeze. I will not let anyone take responsibility for this shit. No one but that fucking psycho Dean.

  She pulls away from me. “That may be true, but it does have something to do with Brittany.”

  “What?” Matty and I both ask.

  “Brittany was the one giving Dean Julie’s new numbers. She also gave Dean the key to the house. She had copies made before we even moved in.”

  Matty looks to me. “How did she even know about Dean in the first place?”

  As soon as Matty asks, I hear a gasp. I turn around and Bec is standing behind me, with tears running down her face. “I did it.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” I ask, but it comes out sounding more like a roar.

  She shakes her head. “I didn’t know.”

  I grab her arms and give her a shake. “What did you do?”

  “I told Brittany that Julie’s ex-husband was harassing her at work. She asked me all kinds of questions about him. I didn’t know much. Just that he was a doctor and where he was from, but she just kept asking. I never thought she would contact him. I’m sorry, so sorry,” Bec says, between sobs.

  “Dean said that you gave Brittany Julie’s number the first time.” Bethany’s face is fierce.

  “I did. It was the first day she came to work. Brittany asked if I had Julie’s cell number. She said that she wanted to call her and tell her about sleeping with Jase. I was so mad that she was working with me that I did it without even thinking, but I only gave it to her the once. She kept asking for it each time Julie changed it, but I said no.”

  I am mad as hell that Bec played a part in this shit, but I don’t doubt for one minute that she didn’t have a clue that this fucked up shit would happen. I am going to make sure Brittany pays, though.

  Our conversation slowly dies down, and I make my way to a chair. I sit down and pull out my wallet. I take out a picture of Julie and Jenny on Christmas morning. They both look so happy. I sent Jenny home with Shane. Neither one of them wanted to go, but I didn’t want Jenny to be here until we found out if Julie was going to be okay. But hell, I wish she was here where I could hold her. I am just putting the picture away when I see a doctor walk in. “Is anyone here for Julie Walker?”

  *****

  Julie

  I wake up to the sound of monitors beeping. My whole body aches, especially my stomach. Dean must have kicked me a few times. I look around and see Bethany sitting at the end of my bed. The side of her face is black, her mouth is swollen and she has a handful of stitches above her eye. Dean must have got her too this time. She has her eyes closed, but I don't think she's sleeping.

  "Bethany," I say as loud as I can.

  Her eyes pop open and she jumps up from her chair. She makes her way to me and grabs my hand. "How are you feeling, hun?"

  She always asks the same thing when Dean beats me. Sometimes I want to scream, how do I look like I feel? But I know she is just trying to be nice. I realize that she is struggling too, so I give her my usual answer. "I'm okay. How long this time?"

  She blinks and gives me an odd look. "You've only been out a few hours or so." She looks over to the clock on the wall. "It's five now. We got here a little after eleven this morning. You've been out about six hours. You were unconscious when they got you here. You had lost so much blood that they thought they might lose you. They ended up doing a C-section. Everything turned out fine. You have a healthy baby boy," she finishes with a big smile.

  That's when it all comes back; divorcing Dean, returning to Cromwell, getting pregnant, Dean coming for us. I break into sobs. Bethany leans down and holds me. "You're fine now. Your son is beautiful. Jenny is safe. Everything is perfect."

  “What happened to Dean?” I ask.

  She squeezes my hand. “He was arrested. This time, I don’t think Dad will be able to sweep it all under the rug.”

  Knowing that he will finally get what he deserves makes me happy, but I can't seem to stop crying. I need Jase. "Jase," I say between sobs.

  "Right here, baby." I look up, and Jase is walking through the door. He has a black eye, but he’s smiling a beautiful smile. Jenny is holding his hand, and she is smiling too. The rest of the family is following behind them. But I only have eyes for Jase and Jenny.

  Bethany steps away, and Jase takes her spot. Jenny starts to climb onto my bed, but Jase grabs her around the waist and pulls her down. "Got to be careful, Sweet Pea. Momma's sore. We can't be crawling on her," he explains.

  Jenny nods and looks up to me. "I got to see my baby brother. He's all red and wrinkly. He's kinda ugly." She whispers the last part.

  I start to laugh, but it hurts too much, so I settle for a smile. My baby. I feel my heart constrict at the thought of my son.

  "You weren't the prettiest thing either right after you were born," Kristen says from the end of my bed. "You had a huge cone head. It was so funny looking that your mom kept you in a hat until you were two months old."

  "Nuh huh! Momma says I was a pretty baby." Jenny puts her hands on her hips and gives Kristen a bite me look.

  "Pretty ugly" Shane says with a smile.

  Jenny retaliates by sticking her tongue out. I smile, but all I can think about is our son. Everyone starts to laugh but they quiet down when the door opens. A nurse sticks her head in and asks if I'm ready to see my baby. My heart is in my throat. My baby. I nod yes, and she shoos everyone but Jase from the room. He grabs my hand and we both stare at the door until the nurse walks back in rolling a bassinet towards my bed.

  I look at Jase as he takes our son from the bassinet and brings him over to me. He places our son in my arms. I look down at his perfect face and tears fill my eyes. “He’s perfect.”

  Jase smiles at me. “He sure the hell is. So, what are we naming him?”

  “I named Jenny without you; I think you should pick his name. But I do want his middle name to be Andrew after you and Pop.”

  “That sounds good. I think we should stick with ‘J’ first names,” he says smirking. “Jamison, Jordan or Justin?”

  “Don’t leave that up to me. They all sound great.”

  He looks down at our son. “Hello, Jamison Andrew Gibson.”

  Epilogue

  Jase

  It’s been two months since Jamie was born, and things are just now starting to settle down. Julie had to spend nearly a week in the hospital, but Jamie came home after only three days. The doctors said that it was a miracle that he was so healthy.

  He was almost a month early, but he weighed over six pounds and his lungs worked just like they should. I was horrified about taking him home without Julie, but Bethany helped. She moved into my old apartment two weeks ago, but she is over nearly every day. I wouldn’t have it any oth
er way.

  Dean goes on trial next week, but it’s not looking good. It seems his dad’s connections reach far and wide. The prosecuting attorney says that he thinks that Dean will get two to five, which means that he could be out in as little as a year. At first, they said he was facing twenty-five years. They couldn’t explain what had changed, but we’re not stupid. All it takes is a bit of power and plenty of money.

  Brittany was arrested about a week ago. She was charged with conspiracy to kidnapping. Bec came over to the house to tell Julie and me all about it. She said that Brittany did it all because she wanted to be with me. Brittany even went as far as to say Julie destroyed her life. She claimed that she was pregnant when Julie came back to town. She said that the stress of seeing us back together caused her to have a miscarriage.

  I called her story bullshit! She may have been pregnant, but it wasn’t mine. I had not been with the bitch in months. If it had been mine, she would have been as big as a house by the time Julie got home. Plus, I always wore a condom. Julie was, and still is, the only woman that I have ever been bareback with.

  Bec said not to even worry about Brittany’s claims. She said that she knew Brittany was never pregnant. Even if she was, that it could have been fathered by more than a dozen men.

  Bec knew all this because Brittany had the nerve to come into Mr. Friedman’s law office to ask him to represent her. Mr. Friedman told her that there was no way that he would be representing her. Not only was it a conflict of interest with Julie working there, but he didn’t want anything to do with a woman that hurt one of his employees and used the other. So Brittany was going to have to find someone out of town. According to Mr. Friedman, she might end up getting more time than Dean. She doesn’t have his connections or his money, so she’s looking at a ten-year sentence.

  I look back and wonder how I didn’t see that she was bat-shit crazy. I knew that she was a jealous cunt, but I had no idea that she would try to get Julie hurt. There is no doubt in my mind that it went down the way she wanted it too. It just didn’t end the way she thought it would. Shit, I still can’t believe I fucked that bitch.

  I look in the mirror and try to fix my tie. I haven’t wore one of these things since Mom died. I hope to never have to wear one again. I pull on it a little, and the damn thing looks more like a big knot. Pop, Shane and Matty walk into the room.

  Pop shakes his head and laughs. “Let me get that for you, son.” As soon as he is done, he pats my shoulder. “There you go.”

  “Thanks, Pop. I’ve been working on the fucking thing for almost an hour,” I say with a little laugh. I look over to Matty and Shane. “Remember when Mom made us practice with a tie?”

  “Yeah, she made us work on it every day,” Shane says with a laugh.

  “She said that we would want to impress a woman one day,” Matty adds, then looks right at me. “Guess she was right.”

  I nod my head and start to think about Mom. God, I wish she was here today.

  “She wanted you to have this,” Pop says, holding out a small blue box.

  “What?” Did Julie send me something?

  “Chelle packed this up for you right after you were born. She said that she was going to give it to you the day you got married.”

  I guess Mom is here in a way. Slowly, I open the box. Inside there is a flattened penny, with Nashville stamped on it.” I pull it out and shake my head at Pop.

  “When we got married, we didn’t have enough money to have a real honeymoon, so we went to Nashville instead. We spent the night at some cheap hotel. Best night of my whole damn life,” Pop says with a sad chuckle. “There was one of those penny machines in the office. Your mom wanted one as a keepsake. She carried that thing with her every day until you were born. Then, she taped it in your baby book. She said you were created not long after she pressed that penny, so it was yours. She wanted to give it to you on your wedding day. Chelle hoped maybe it would bring you all the love that it did us.”

  I think back to growing up, watching Mom and Pop together. Yes, Pop screwed up. He screwed up so fucking bad that Mom is now gone forever, but they did love each other. I look up at Pop and nod my head. I place the penny in my pocket, where it will stay until Jenny or Jamie gets married. “Come on. It’s time for me to get hitched.”

  ******

  Julie

  Kristen has just finished my hair when Uncle Mack walks in. He smiles at me. “You look so beautiful today, my little jewel.” The old nickname brings tears to my eyes.

  “Oh no! No tears. We just finished your makeup,” Bethany says, rushing across the room with a handful of tissues.

  After she gets done touching up my makeup, she, Kristen and Aunt Angie leave the room.

  Uncle Mack hooks his arm through mine. “I know you wanted your brother to be here to give you away today, but you will have to settle for an old man.”

  A voice cuts through the room. “Uncle Mack, you know a bride always gets what she wants on her wedding day.”

  I jerk my head around and see my brother Brandon standing by the door. Oh my God! He’s home! I run over to him and give him the biggest hug I can without hurting him. “Brandon,” I whisper, tears running down my face.

  “Hey, little bit, you look absolutely beautiful,” he says gruffly, hugging me tightly back.

  “I’m so happy you made it.”

  He smiles down to me. “I wouldn’t miss your wedding for the world.”

  Kristen walks back into the room. “I knew you were going to need a touch up as soon as saw Bran walking in here.”

  We are just finishing up my makeup again when I hear the music start. Kristen rushes out of the room to take her spot in the line. Brandon takes my hand and leads me to the rectory doors. When the wedding march starts, he looks down at me. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  I smile up to him. Am I ready? “I have never been more sure of anything in my life.”

  The wedding is just what I always dreamed of. Jenny is our flower girl, and she spends most of the ceremony picking up the petals that she had already tossed and tossing them down again. Jamie’s our ring bearer. Our rings are on a ribbon tied around his little ankle. When the preacher asks for the rings, Matty unties the ribbon and gives Jase and me the rings. Everything is perfect.

  As soon as the ceremony is over, we all head over to Pop’s garage. We have a huge party in the field out back. Everyone is here; eating, drinking, and dancing. Just having a good time. Believe it or not, Bec is even here. We are not as close as we used to be, but I do consider her my friend again. She helped save mine and Jamie’s life. How could I not forgive her?

  I look around and I can’t help but smile. Tonight is all about celebrating family. Not only have I just married the man I’ve always loved, but my brother is home. It may not be the way most women dream of celebrating their marriage, but it’s perfect for me. The garage no longer holds bad memories for me. I refuse to let it. Not only have I forgiven Jase, but Jamie was conceived here.

  I’m dancing with Jase when the song ‘Whiskey Lullaby’ by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss comes on. I think about how much our lives are like this song. Jase’s drinking, both of us being sad and lonely, a love that never fades. I look up at him and smile. “I’m so happy our story doesn’t end the way this song does,” I say to him.

  He pulls me closer. “Me too, babe. I love you.”

  I look up into his eyes. He is smiling, and his eyes are full of pure happiness. “I love you too, Jase.”

  ******

  Jenny

  Me and Jamie are in Poppa’s office. Jamie is in his playpen blowing spit bubbles. He does that all the time. I think it’s kind of gross, but Momma thinks it’s cute. He’s supposed to be asleep, and I’m not supposed to be in here bothering him, but I really needed to talk to him, so I snuck in here anyway.

  I lean over the top of his playpen, so he can see me. "I'm your big sister; isn’t that so cool? Now, I can talk to you. I won't have to bug Aunt Bethy any
more, ‘cause just between us, I think she wants to kiss Uncle Bran. I think Uncle Bran wants to kiss her too, ‘cause they keep looking at each other just like Momma and Daddy do right before they kiss. Gross, right! You better get used to it though, cause Momma and Daddy kiss all the time.” I stop and think about last night.

  “I think that kissing might be how they got you and me. See, I heard them talking last night. I was supposed to be sleeping, but I wasn’t. Momma and Daddy were going in their room, but Daddy kept kissing her neck. She told him that he better quit it or they would have three kids, so I ain’t never going to let no boy kiss me. Momma got real fat when you were in her tummy, and if I got real fat, I wouldn’t be able to fit in my pretty flower-girl dress.” I twirl around so Jamie can see how pretty it is.

  “But, it might not be so bad if Uncle Bran and Aunt Bethy kiss. Maybe they could have a baby too, and then I would have another baby to play with. Maybe it would even be a girl. I like you, but I want a little girl baby to play with, too." Jamie grabs my finger and pulls it to his mouth. Daddy said all babies do that, but I think it's because Jamie loves me so much. "I can’t wait till you get bigger. We’re going to have so much fun. I’m going to teach you how to do everything. You are gonna have a great time growing up with me and Momma and Daddy.”

  I reach into his diaper bag to find Lulu. I love this doll. I think of all the times she was my only friend, but now I have Jamie. "I love you, Lulu, but I think you need to get a new best friend." I kiss her on the head and lay her beside my brother. "Jamie, I want you to have Lulu now. I love her, but I love you most".

  I hear the door open, and Momma and Daddy walks in. “I thought I told you not to be in here?” Momma says, but she smiles so I know she’s happy. I love to see Momma so happy. I don't even like to think about the times she was sad.