by Brynne Asher
“What are you doing?” I ask as I sit with her in between my legs, fitting my chest to her back.
“We were playing fetch and he got tired.” She leans into me without looking away from her dog. “How was basketball and your meeting?”
“Good. And better. But I have news for you. You want the good or the bad first?”
She twists to look at me frowning. “Bad news?”
I pull the band out of her hair letting it fall down her back and go on. “Kind of bad. I got a call from the DA this morning. Two nights ago, Preston was pulled over and didn’t pass a sobriety test. He was arrested. His blood alcohol level was high, as in pretty damn high.”
Cocking her head to the side she asks, “What does that mean?”
“It means he’s violated his probation. He’s in jail now and I don’t think he’s getting out. In fact, he’ll be there for a while.”
Her brow furrows farther. “What’s the bad news?”
It’s my turn to cock my head. “I guess I thought any news about Preston would be bad.”
Giving her head a shake, she looks back to her dog. “I guess it’s not good or bad, just news. I don’t care about Preston or what happens to him. I do everything I can not to think of him. Although it is a little ironic he’s in jail for violating his parole by drunk driving when I just donated over half his money to Tina’s treatment center.”
I shrug. “That is ironic. Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have told you.”
“No, I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant I don’t care what happens to Preston. What’s the good news?”
“Okay then,” I start, thinking she’s in a weird mood but move on. “They offered me partner today.”
She jerks around in my arms but smiles this time. “They did?”
I smirk back at her. “Yeah.”
“I’m proud of you, honey. Congratulations.” She leans into kiss me. Keeping her big smile, she goes on, “We’ll celebrate tonight, do something special. Does your job change?”
“Not really. I wasn’t expecting it this soon. I guess I have Richard Blaton to thank for speeding along my career.”
“Stop it. You worked hard, don’t diminish it. You saved their company and brought in tons of new clients. You deserve it.”
“Whatever. I’m all up for celebrating though.” I say as I pull her into me again, tucking her tight in between my legs.
After many long moments of silence, I tug lightly on the end of her hair that I’m twirling in my fingers. “You okay?”
She pulls in a deep breath and I feel her slump a little in my arms while looking out to the yard. “Today was my due date.”
I crush her to me with my arms and legs. “I’m sorry, gem. I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have left you today.”
“It’s all right.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
“I guess. I didn’t want to dwell on it but I can’t help but think about it, especially now.”
I give her another squeeze. “Why now?”
She turns a little in my arms and gives me her emerald eyes. “I’m pregnant.”
I feel myself go solid and then blink in slow motion as I stare at her. “You’re pregnant?”
Her face turns softer and she smiles small. “Yeah.”
I pull my hands up to cup her face and I repeat, “You’re pregnant.”
This time she just nods as her smile gets bigger and I pull her to me to kiss her. Finally letting her go, I have to lean my forehead against hers, still trying to take in what she just told me.
“Tony?”
I open my eyes.
“My life couldn’t be more beautiful.”
I inhale again and press my lips against my wife’s. “Neither could mine, gem. Never more than this.”
Epilogue
Tony
“I’m late. I’m meeting Leigh Carpino, can you point me in the right direction?”
The receptionist looks down at her computer and flips through a few screens. “They should be under way. Go through that door, take a left, and it will be the third on the right. Room one-oh-seven.”
“Thanks.” I tap my hand on the desk and move fast through the door to get to Leigh.
I find the room marked “Sonogram” on the plate outside and go right in. Through the darkened room I see the back of a woman sitting at a computer screen moving a mouse around. Leigh’s lying on the patient bed with her medium sized, bare belly sticking up. Even through the darkened room, I see her head turn toward me, immediately giving me her emerald eyes.
She smiles. “We’re just getting started, we waited as long as we could.”
Moving to my wife, I go to the other side of the bed and lean down to kiss her forehead. “I couldn’t get out of my meeting, sorry.”
Still smiling, she turns her head back to the monitor where the sonographer is measuring the blob on the screen that is my child. “Everything looks great so far. We just have a few things to check before we get to the fun stuff.”
Minutes later after watching her measure our blob on the screen in a million different ways, I squeeze Leigh’s hand as I feel her relax and I blow out a breath when the sonographer turns to us both. “Everything looks good. You’ve got a healthy baby. Everything is measuring right at twenty weeks.”
“Baby?” I ask. Needing to make sure, I reiterate, “You’re sure there’s only one?”
I hear Leigh giggle as the smiling sonographer assures me, “Yes, there’s only one this time.”
“You knew there was only one, Tony. We heard two heartbeats from the beginning last time.”
I look to my wife. “Just making sure.”
“You want to find out the sex?” the sonographer asks.
I look down at Leigh, raising my eyebrows in question. She smiles small and nods back up to me.
“Yeah, we want to know,” I answer.
She moves the wand and jelly around Leigh’s belly again, pushes more buttons on the keyboard and finally settles on one spot, clicking more buttons making the screen come to a standstill.
“There,” she says pointing at the screen. “Surely you two recognize that.”
I huff one single chuckle and look down and Leigh. She’s grinning up at me and I ask her, “Are you disappointed?”
“He’s healthy. How could I be disappointed? And I get to spend my life surrounded by Carpino men. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
I lean down to kiss her and say against her lips, “Another boy.”
“Another boy,” she agrees happily. However, she instantly raises her eyebrows and with a serious face warns, “But if they ever get married on the sly, there’ll be hell to pay and you’ll be the one paying it.”
I do nothing but grin down at my wife.
Leigh
I watch the boys play in the backyard with Finny from the deck. They start to climb the rock wall of their new playset they got for their second birthday a couple months ago. This makes me cringe because I know they’re going to get hurt. I wanted to wait one more year to get it, but Tony insisted they should have it now. He said they’d be more than ready for it before they were three, but we’ve already had plenty of scraped knees and bruises, thus the reason for making me cringe. I bandage them up, cover them in kisses, and send them back on their way, praying they don’t break a bone. They’re all boy, just like their dad, and nothing slows them down.
Our twins. Tony was on a mission to get me pregnant back in the beginning and he sure did a bang-up job of it. But I wouldn’t want it any other way.
With their dark hair, almost black eyes and, despite coming six weeks early, they’ve grown big and strong. But their personalities couldn’t be more different. Jack, who is seven minutes older than Gabe, is the definite leader. Gabe is quieter, more observant in most situations, but keeps up with his big brother without a problem when it’s just the two of them.
They jump off the rock wall, making me cringe again. Running around to the swings, they dive head first
onto their tummies with their arms and legs flailing about. Finny is running around them barking, not knowing which boy to run after since they keep coming back and forth. Finny loves his boys and they wear him out, but he’s still my dog through and through.
I hear the deck door slide open and without looking away from my boys, I greet my husband. “Hi, honey.”
“Hey.” When I look up at Tony, he’s lost the suit jacket, tie, and his sleeves are already rolled with his top two buttons unbuttoned. Oh, and his over longish hair is rumpled like he’s been running his hand through it again. As hot as my husband is in a suit, I prefer him this way. Home from work, relaxed and half-rumpled, ready to spend time with us.
He smiles down at me. “Sit up.”
I sit up and scooch forward enough for him to straddle the lounge in back of me. He doesn’t pull me back but starts to rub my back down low and makes a suggestion that I know is more like a plea, “Since you’re halfway, you should reduce your shifts at the hospital.”
“Honey, I’m fine,” I insist.
During my pregnancy with the twins, I had a lot of swelling and finally had to go on bed rest for the last month. Tony blames it on me being on my feet too much with my job, but I know it would have happened anyway. So far, this pregnancy has been easy and I don’t see that happening again.
“It is official, Tony. We’re not having twins. I’m fine to work and I’m down to two shifts every other week. How much more can I cut it down?”
“How about one shift every other week?” he strongly suggests.
I smirk and turn slightly, not wanting to disrupt my backrub because I love his hands on me. “Sorry. Not gonna happen.”
I hear him sigh and he finally pulls my back to his front and his big hands come around to cup our baby. We sit here for many long peaceful moments watching the boys play, who have yet to see their dad home, otherwise the moments wouldn’t be so peaceful. But I love every minute of it—our busy family and constant noise in our home. It will be busier in a few months when our third little guy arrives, but he’ll only complete the picture, making it even more perfect.
Tony breaks into our peaceful moment, obviously wanting to piss me off or start an argument. “You can’t put it off any longer, gem. We have to go this weekend.”
“Would you stop? We have plenty of time. We’re just going to fight, why do you keep bringing it up?”
“Because knowing us, it’s going to take a long time. If you want to wait, that’s fine with me. I’ll show up with something new when it’s time to bring this little man home from the hospital, but I really don’t want a standoff in the hospital parking lot with a newborn. You can’t fit three car seats into your backseat. It’s time to get something bigger and we need to go this weekend,” he explains to me for the millionth time.
“I told you what I want.” I watch Gabe kick a ball across the yard and it slam into the fence with Finny chasing after it.
Tony’s fingers lightly grip my tummy. “We are not getting a minivan.”
I shrug, though silently agree that my husband really would look silly driving a minivan, but I can’t help but like the sliding doors. The one I want has about ten thousand cup holders, which would be helpful and cool.
“Can we please talk about this later?” I beg.
“All right,” he murmurs in my ear as we both feel boy number three kick the shit out of me. “Wow.” Tony moves his hands around my tummy again.
“Are you sure you weren’t a soccer player? I think you lied and said you played basketball all those years. No way does a basketball player kick like this,” I say.
He chuckles. “He’s healthy and perfect, sweetheart. He can be anything he wants.”
“Yeah,” I agree at the same time I hear our boys scream, “Daddy, daddy!” They start running to us from the yard, realizing their human jungle gym is home for them to play with.
I smile as I put my hands over his on our baby. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
He gently squeezes me, pulling me into him tighter. “Beautiful.”
Read Link and Avery’s story:
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Regrets
Leigh
Age seventeen
“I’m with Leigh.”
I jerk my head around when I hear his voice.
Shit. It’s Tony. What’s he doing here?
“Like hell, Carpino. And aren’t you supposed to be at Washburn?” Chase asks.
Yes. Isn’t he supposed to be at Washburn?
I bite my lip and look at Chase LeBorn, the first-string quarterback at school. Gabby told me on the way here that he wants to ask me out. I almost rolled my eyes because I’ve heard that for a year. He’s either a liar or his bravado is as fake as his creepy smile. I have no interest in him and never have.
Gabby steps away from me to give our unexpected visitor a side hug followed by a punch to his gut. This earns her a hike of his dark, thick brows and a ghost of a smirk. They don’t act like cousins—more like siblings who bicker but would still go to the ends of the earth for each other, too.
But I have more important things to think about. Or, more accurately, worry about. Because he’s back and he’s here.
Tony Carpino. My best friend’s cousin. He’s a year older than me. And, now, a college guy. I think he’s grown since I last saw him two months ago when he left for school. I swear, he’s an inch or two taller, broader, and … different.
He’s not a boy anymore. He went away to college and now he’s all man.
Gabby looks up at her cousin. “Wasn’t expecting you on Halloween night. It’s like you came back to haunt us.”
“You can say that again,” Chase mutters under his breath so low I can barely hear him.
I stuff my hands deep in my pockets because my sister took the only gloves I have. It’s almost November and this is Nebraska. We’re just lucky there’s no snow on the ground yet.
And since it’s Nebraska, I bet there are more cornstalks in our home state than people. Right now, I’m smack dab in the middle of a cornfield because my best friend, Gabby Carpino, can’t get enough candy corn, pumpkins, or apple cider. She’s a freak for all things October, and because I can’t say no to her, I’ll probably freeze to death, lost in this corn maze. They might not find me until the big thaw in the spring and I can’t afford that. I just got the letter today—the letter—my ticket to freedom and a life I’ve only dreamed of. A letter I never thought I’d get.
But that letter means I need to finish my senior year strong, which means I cannot die in the middle of a corn field on the scariest night of the year.
My mom probably wouldn’t even notice I went missing. Not until she’d need me to clean the apartment or do her laundry, that is.
“I’m here to be fitted for my suit for Soph’s wedding. Mom forced Lanny to make me a groomsman. Lanny is so far gone for my sister, he doesn’t give a shit who stands next to him—he’s letting Mom boss his ass around. I’m not excited but whatever Lizzie Carpino wants, Lizzie gets. Keeps the universe balanced.”
Damn. The wedding. Gabby invited me and her parents insisted I attend. I’ve already been thinking of how to avoid Tony without skipping it altogether. But seeing him now, transformed from a boy to a man with a presence so inescapable, I don't think avoiding him is possible. I have a feeling I’m going to have to come down with a bad case of the flu the day that union happens.
And right now, I’m ready to bolt into the corn and not give a shit about the night terrors I’ll surely get because my sister made me watch Children of the Corn when I was too young.
“How about it, Leigh?” Chase starts as he takes a step in my direction. With a lift of his chin and a smile that makes me cringe internally, I brace. “Partner up? My sense of direction is sharp—I’m the king at maneuvering my
way around … all things.”
“You can barely maneuver your way into the end zone, LeBorn. Your record speaks for itself,” Tony jabs. He’s not wrong. Chase might be the first-string QB, but does that even matter when your team is one and seven on the season? Our football program sucks and everyone knows it. “Leigh is with me—we need to catch up, anyway.”
No way. We certainly do not need to catch up.
Even through the dark, cold night, I see Chase’s face redden and I don’t think it’s from the cold temps.
Gabby rolls her eyes and grabs Chase by his sleeve. “Come on. You can be the third wheel with Megan and me. We all know Meg has no clue where she’s going.”
Megan tosses her blond hair over her shoulder. “True. Still, not cool, Gabs.”
Gabby waves Megan off as she gives me a sly smile that makes me want to scream at her but that’ll have to wait until later. “See you at the finish line. Losers have to buy caramel apples and hot chocolate.”
“How about losers buy the beer?” Chase tries.
“My mother would kill me and you know it’ll get back to her.” Gabby glares at him. “Having a mom who teaches at our school really sucks.”
Tony’s hand wraps around my bicep and I swear I feel its heat through my sweater and coat. He leans in and his breath warms the side of my face. “Let’s go before LeBorn turns into a self-induced bonfire.”
With my quickened breath visible in front of me, we watch the other three take a right and Tony immediately pulls me to the left.
“Maybe we should follow them. Gabby has the map and I thought I was going to be with her.”
“My mom has dragged us to this place every Halloween since we were born. I don’t need a map.” He falls into a slow but steady walk and I have no choice but to follow—Children of the Corn, and all. “You never answer my texts. Did your number change or did I piss you off?”
