A New Journey (Second Chance #3)

by Christina Escue

  “I do still love you, Conner, and I probably always will, but it’s going to take more than words to fix this between us. I do want to fix it though. I want you back in my life. I want my Conner back.”

  “Then I will do whatever I have to do to prove to you that I am still the Conner you love. I am now, and always have been, yours. I love you, Karla, and I always have.”

  “I love you too, Conner.”

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  “Karla?” Conner said quietly as he walked her to the door.

  “Yes?” Karla answered just as softly.

  “I want to kiss you.” He whispered.

  Karla stopped walking and just looked at Conner for a second before she took a step toward him, stood on her tip-toes and brushed her lips across his.

  When she went to pull away he dropped her suitcase and pulled her into his arms. “I have missed this.” He whispered into her hair as he inhaled her scent.

  “I have too.” She agreed and held him a little tighter.

  “Can I come in with you?” He asked softly.

  “Yes. You know you’re always welcome here.”

  “I’m not so sure about that.” Conner said as he released Karla and picked her suitcase back up.

  “What makes you say that?” Karla asked.

  “What are you doing out here with my sister?” Elliot asked from the front door.

  “We’re just talking, Elliot. I promise I won’t do anything to upset her.” Conner assured him.

  “Elliot, I’ll be in in a minute.” Karla said and gave him a look that caused him to retreat back into the house. “What was that about?”

  “He doesn’t like me anymore.” Conner said in a sad voice.

  “Conner, he does like you. He has been hoping we’d get back together since we broke up. He’s just nervous that you’ll hurt me again. He may be my younger brother, but he’s very protective of me. He’s also bigger than me now.”

  Conner thought about what she said for a minute before he responded. “I will do whatever I have to do to prove to your entire family that I’m not going to hurt you again. Karla, there is something I have to tell you.”

  “What is it, Conner?”

  “I have been meeting with an anger management group for the past three weeks.” Conner said and waited for Karla’s reaction.

  “Is it helping?”

  “Sometimes.” He answered honestly. “We basically just talk, but I have discovered that my main trigger is you. Or I guess it’s more the thought of something happening to you.”

  “Want to come in so we can talk some more? I’m getting cold.” Karla asked. She wasn’t sure how to respond to what he’d just said and was trying to buy some time.

  “Of course I do. I have missed spending time with you.”

  When Karla opened the door Elliot was sitting on the couch waiting for her. “Elliot, can you join us in the kitchen please?”

  “Sure.” Elliot answered and followed them to the kitchen.

  When they were all sitting at the table Karla looked at Elliot and saw that he was looking at Conner. “What’s going on, Elliot?”

  “Nothing.” Elliot answered quietly.

  “Something is.” Karla countered. “Just the other day you were telling me how much you wanted Conner and I to get back together.”

  “I do want you and Conner to get back together, but I don’t want to see you get hurt again.” Elliot admitted.

  “Elliot, I can’t promise that I won’t hurt her again, but I can promise that I will always love her.”

  “Elliot, for the moment Conner and I are working on building our relationship back up. We are going to take it slow and see if we can get back to where we were. Please don’t make this more difficult than it already is.”

  Elliot looked at Karla, saw the pleading look in her eyes and gave in. “I’ll back off, but I’m watching. If I see her crying because you were a jerk you’ll have to answer to me.”

  “I’ll remember that.” Conner told him. He was happy to know Karla had a fierce warrior in her corner. “Elliot, do you mind if I talk to Karla alone for a minute?”

  “I’ll be in the family room.” Elliot said in a tone that suggested he’d be listening for any sign of an argument.

  After he was gone Conner turned to Karla. “He’s just looking out for you.”

  “I know. You would think he was my big brother rather than my little brother.” Karla said with a chuckle.

  “Can I ask you something?” Conner asked seriously.

  “Yes.”

  “Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to a New Year’s Eve party at Daniel’s house?”

  “I think I would like that.” Karla answered with a smile. “But you’ll have to ask my Dad, because I have an eleven o’clock curfew and I am sure we would be out later than that.”

  “I’ll ask him.” Conner said with a grim expression. He wasn’t looking forward to speaking to Andrew.

  “Ask who what?” Leslie asked as she walked into the kitchen.

  “Mrs. Peterson, I asked Karla to attend a New Year’s Eve party with me, but I would have her out past her curfew and I need to ask Dr. Peterson if that would be alright with him.”

  “Conner, I have been Leslie to you for two years and I am still Leslie so please call me by my name instead of all the formalities. As for the party, before I say it’s alright I need to know where it’s going to be at.”

  “It’s at Daniel’s. I was already invited, but wasn’t going. I didn’t feel like partying.”

  “Do you want to go?” Leslie asked.

  “I do now.” Karla said and Leslie smiled.

  “You can go as long as you’re home by one.” Leslie said and Karla looked at her in shock.

  “You’re the best, Mom, but what about Dr. Daddy? You know how he is sometimes.”

  “You leave him to me. I know how to handle him.” At this moment, after seeing the smile on her daughter’s face, she would do almost anything to keep that smile there.

  “Thank you, Mom.” Karla said and hugged Leslie tightly.

  “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Now, we need to get ready for dinner. We’re going out for dinner tonight.”

  “Oh, okay.” Karla said and turned to Conner. “Will I see you again before Tuesday?”

  “You’ll see me at dinner in about an hour. Andrew called Dad earlier today and asked if we wanted to join you for dinner. I think Rylee’s family and the Carpenters are going to be there too.”

  “Mom, what’s going on?” Karla asked in concern.

  “Nothing is going on. We just wanted to get everyone together.” Leslie answered without looking at Karla.

  “Mom, what aren’t you telling me?” Karla asked. She was worried that something was happening,

  “Everything is fine, sweetheart. I promise.” Leslie reassured her.

  “Okay.” Karla said before she turned to Conner. “I’ll see you at dinner.” She told him then turned and walked out of the kitchen and straight up to her room.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  “What’s going on?” Karla asked for the fifth time since they got in the car and headed to the restaurant.

  “Our daughter has zero patience.” Andrew said with a smile.

  “You two are keeping secrets and I don’t like it,” Karla admonished them from the back seat.

  “Karla, can’t you just be patient?” Leslie asked.

  “Patience isn’t my strong suit.” Karla said under her breath.

  “Sis, just chill and we’ll find out soon enough. They’ve been whispering in corners since the day you left for Puerto Rico.” Elliot whispered to her.

  “Well I don’t like it.” She whispered back. “We are their children and they shouldn’t keep things from us.”

  “What are you two whispering about?” Andrew asked as he pulled into the parking lot of the Opryland Hotel.

  “You have your secrets and we have ours.” Karla said in response and Andrew chuckled.

>   “Fair enough.” Andrew said with a grin.

  “Ready?” Leslie asked as she opened her door and started to get out of the SUV.

  “Definitely.” Andrew responded with another grin.

  “You know, for someone who was supposedly angry about Conner picking me up from the airport, you’re awfully cheery.” Karla told Andrew when she fell into step beside him.

  “I wasn’t angry, I was concerned. I like Conner, but he hurt you and I really don’t want to see you go through that again.”

  “He’s going to anger management meetings.” Elliot told Andrew.

  “I know. He called me a couple of weeks ago and we talked for about an hour. I gave him Dr. Morgan’s name and he’s been attending her anger management group meetings almost every day since.”

  “That’s good.” Karla whispered as they entered the hotel.

  “That’s very good.” Leslie said from beside her.

  “Wow, this place is huge.” Elliot muttered as he looked around the restaurant they entered.

  “Yes it is.” Leslie agreed.

  Once they were seated Andrew looked at his family and took a deep breath. “Okay, kids, before everyone else gets here we want to tell you something.”

  “Finally.” Karla said with a note of sarcasm in her voice.

  Andrew ignored her comment and continued. “Your Mom and I do have an announcement to make tonight, which is why we pulled the entire family together.”

  “I knew something was going on.” Elliot said from his seat beside Karla.

  “Dad, you are smiling so it isn’t anything bad. Are you going to tell us now or do we have to wait for everyone else?” Karla asked and stared at Andrew.

  “I’m going to tell you now.” Leslie said from across the table. “Our family is going to be growing.”

  “What does that mean?” Elliot asked in confusion.

  “It means they’re either fostering or adopting another child.” Karla said and grinned. “It means we’re going to have another sibling.”

  “You’re half right.” Andrew said with a smile that lit up the room. “We actually have two announcements. First, Elliot, I talked to my lawyer last week and he told me that since you have lived with us for a year and a half and you don’t have any other family we can start the adoption process and most of the wait periods can be waved.”

  Elliot’s face lit up and his eyes filled with tears. “You want to make me your son?”

  “Elliot, you have been our son for over a year now, we just want to make it legal.”

  Elliot stood up, walked around the table and hugged Andrew hard. “I would love that.”

  “We love you, son.” Andrew said and hugged Elliot back.

  “Okay, what’s the other part?” Karla asked in anticipation.

  “Remember about a week after the fire when I started feeling really bad and we all thought I had the flu? I went to the doctor, mostly because Andrew made me, and I was told I didn’t have the flu.” Leslie paused and Karla looked at her expectantly.

  “Karla, Elliot.” Leslie said and paused again. Before she could say anything else the waiter approached their table followed by the Jennings, the Newberry’s, the Parks and the Carpenters.

  “Great.” Karla said and rolled her eyes. She was pretty sure what the announcement was going to be, but she needed to hear her Mom and Dad say it. “Why couldn’t they be five minutes late for once?”

  Elliot chuckled from beside her. “I know, right?”

  “May I sit beside you?” Conner asked from Karla’s other side.

  “Sure.” She answered softly and he sat down.

  “You look beautiful.” He whispered in her ear and she shuddered at the warmth of his breath on her skin.

  “Thank you.” She responded and looked at him for the first time. He was wearing black slacks, a sapphire blue, button-down shirt, which she had gotten him and that matched his eyes, and a charcoal colored tie. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

  He ducked his head a little and grinned. He was hoping she would recognize the shirt he chose and her smile told him she did. “Thank you.”

  “Can you two stop acting like two teenagers on a first date?” Kevin said as he sat on Conner’s other side.

  “We are teenagers.” Conner said in an irritated voice. His brother had been grating on his nerves since he’d been home.

  “That’s true, but this far from your first date.” Kevin pointed out.

  “Shut it, Kev.” Callie said as she sat on his other side.

  “Looks like everyone is here except Manuel, Kiara, Jake and Rosa.” Elliot said and looked around. “Never mind, there they are.”

  Once everyone was seated the waiter approached and took their drink order. When Leslie ordered a glass of tea instead of the white wine she usually ordered when they went out, Karla’s suspicions were validated and she grinned.

  “The reason we called everyone here tonight is because we have a couple of announcements to make.” Andrew said after the waiter left. “Leslie and I have decided to adopt Elliot and make him a Peterson.”

  The table erupted in cheers as everyone expressed their happiness over this news. “What’s the other thing?” Karla asked above the noise.

  Leslie rose to her feet and looked at all the faces around the table. When her gaze settled on Karla and Elliot her eyes filled with tears. “Karla, Elliot, we told you that our family was growing, but we didn’t tell you how. When I was sick and the doctor was running tests to see what was wrong he ran one test just because it’s procedure. We never even considered that would be the cause of me feeling the way I was.” Leslie paused as the waiter brought the drinks. When he left she looked at Andrew and he nodded. “We wanted to share this incredible miracle with our family. So, after being told it wasn’t possible and after years of believing it was we finally gave up hope, but as we all have learned from our beautiful Karla, there is always hope. I’m pregnant.”

  Everyone sat in stunned silence for a moment before Elliott pushed away from the table and ran out of the restaurant.

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  “Elliot?” Karla yelled out when she didn’t see her brother outside the doors.

  “Everything is going to change.” Elliot said from somewhere behind her. When she turned around she saw him sitting on a bench in a little flower garden beside the doors.

  “What do you mean?” She asked as she stepped over the little flowers and sat beside him.

  “They’re having a baby of their own, sis. A baby that will share their DNA. A baby that will be theirs from birth. Where is that going to leave us?”

  “Exactly where we are now. Think about it, Elliot. They made a point to announce to everyone that they plan on adopting you before they told anyone about the baby. They have known since the first week of November that they were going to have a baby, but dad didn’t talk to his lawyer until last week about adopting you. They wanted you to know that they want you to legally be their son before they mentioned the baby. Nothing is going to change except we’re going to have a new baby brother or sister to love.”

  “I never thought of it like that.” Elliot admitted as he wiped his eyes. Karla had seen the tears, but had chosen not to comment on them.

  “Now, why don’t we go back inside and celebrate with our family?” Karla suggested.

  “I need to apologize to Leslie. I’m sure I hurt her feelings by running out like I did.” Elliot said as he rose to his feet.

  “She’s worried about you. Dad is too”

  “I’ll talk to them. Sis, thank you for always knowing just what to say and for always being there for me.”

  “Always, Elliot. Thank you for always being there for me too.” Karla said and hugged him tightly.

  “Okay, let’s go back in and celebrate.” Elliot said and they walked back into the restaurant together.

  As soon as they got to the table Elliot walked over to Leslie and hugged her. “I’m sorry I ran out like that.”

&n
bsp; “It’s okay. I’m sure this was a shock to you. It was a shock to us all.”

  “It was a shock, but that isn’t why I ran out. I’ll explain it to you when we get home. I love you and cannot wait to be a big brother.”

  “I love you too, Elliot.” Leslie responded. “Now why don’t we order some dinner? I am super hungry.”

  Elliot laughed and went back to his seat. The rest of the evening passed with lots of laughter and happy tears.

  On the way home Elliot explained why he ran out of the restaurant like he did and Leslie and Andrew reassured him that they had enough love for all of them.

  “We’re going to need help from you both though.” Andrew told them as he pulled into the driveway of the house. “Mom and I aren’t as young as we used to be.”

  “Dad, you’re crazy. You’re only thirty-seven years old. It isn’t like you’re fifty.” Karla told him with a laugh. “Plus you’re healthier than most twenty-five year olds.”

  “Be that as t may, we’re still going to need both of you to help.” Andrew said with a grin.

  “Dad, you know I’ll help. I love babies.” Karla told him as she got out of the car.

  “Karla, your Dad is just worried. He’s afraid something is going to happen to me or the baby. We were told that we would never be able to have children because of some medical issues I had as a child so we had given up on ever having biological children. When we found out I was pregnant we were thrilled and terrified at the same time.”

  “I understand that.” Karla said and walked over to where Andrew was standing looking out into the night. “Dad, Mom and the baby are both going to be fine. You have to hold on to that or you’ll drive yourself insane with worry.”

  “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her.” Andrew said and Karla wrapped her arms around him.

  “Dad, please don’t think like that. We have to keep the faith that she will be fine. Dr. Newberry is her doctor isn’t he?”