If I Never Knew You (If I Never Knew You Series)

If I Never Knew You: PROLOGUEMY MOM ALWAYS said that everyone has a story to tell. Mine isn't exactly a fairy tale-like the ones you would find in a bedtime story or a movie-but it is one worth telling.CHAPTER ONE"ANDY, WILL YOU please come on! You're gonna be late for school!" I banged on my brother's bedroom door. My mother was already at her cleaning job, which she did from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. "Turn off that music and come out!" Finally, the door opened.CHAPTER TWO"MADISON, YOUR BROTHER is here!" one of the other servers informed me, which took me by surprise, considering the time of day. Unless Andy skipped some classes, or something similar to that, he shouldn't be here by now.CHAPTER THREETHE NEXT DAY, after work I walked from the bus stop to my house, totally exhausted. The lack of sleep wasn't good and Fridays were especially tiring because everyone seemed to want to come eat at Wayside. I wound up having to work until four, because there were a few people who just didn't seem to want to leave my section.CHAPTER FOURI WAS SURPRISED that Damian really didn't do anything. I thought for sure he'd want something more passionate, but all he did was kiss me before he left. As soon as I stepped out of the airport departure area, I saw Orion and his car parked not far away. We didn't talk much on the ride back to my place, but I sensed we were both happy to be together again. When we arrived at my house, Orion told me that he'd pick Andy and me up at six the next evening. I was definitely more excited than I let on.CHAPTER FIVEI LAUGHED LOUDLY at something Orion had just said as we stumbled up the stairs to Orion's apartment. Man, I was drunk! I had glints of guilt for doing this behind Damian's back, but they were always engulfed by a swarm of lust that tugged at the chords between my brain and my heart. Orion looked like he was waging an inner battle as well by the time we got to his apartment door.CHAPTER SIXI LEANED BACK against Orion as he took hold of the control stick for some fighting game we were playing. Colby was going against Orion in this game and it was going to be an exciting match. Nora was standing next to the machine. I had originally been playing Colby, who destroyed me-so much for chivalry-and now it was Orion's turn. I tried to move aside to give him room, but he just came up from behind and wrapped an arm around me, telling me to stay put.CHAPTER SEVENA FEW DAYS later, I walked into my house just after midnight, exhausted from another day of double shifts. For the last few days I had been going crazy with work and I felt as if my whole body might crumble into pieces at any moment. I was lucky that I was young had lots of energy when I needed it, even if I was dead tired when I finished work.CHAPTER EIGHTI RUBBED MY eyes and yawned. Orion did come with Mom and Andy for dinner, but there was little conversation at the table, as Orion and I were not in the mood for socializing after our fight. Andy and Mom asked numerous times what was going on, but neither of us could give them convincing answers since we really didn't know ourselves.CHAPTER NINETHE PHONE WAS ringing again. Why did it always have to ring when I was asleep? I started moving to grab it when I realized that Damian had spent the night, so it couldn't be him calling. I wondered who it could be.CHAPTER TENONCE HE FINISHED the song I nearly cried, but I remembered Damian was there with me. I couldn't believe he wrote it about me! I wanted to run up on stage and kiss him.CHAPTER ELEVENI WENT TO work, leaving Andy and Orion to do as they pleased. Mom was due to arrive home at one that afternoon. I figured she would be tired after her vigil at the hospital and would probably want to take a rest after lunch. Poor Aunt Cheryl had cancer and the prognosis was not good, so Mom would be making many more visits to her in the near future since our grandparents had passed and there were few other siblings.CHAPTER TWELVEAFTER STUFFING OURSELVES on Hawaiian pizza, I was so full that I was about to crash on the sofa, or at least I would have if the doorbell hadn't rang.CHAPTER THIRTEENMY MOM WOULD always say, "You never appreciate what you have until it's gone." Well, in my case it's a little different. I knew what I had before it was gone. And now that it was gone, I was tearing myself apart.CHAPTER FOURTEENI USUALLY ENJOYED the end of April and the beginning of May, but this year it didn't seem as beautiful as usual. I was still feeling pretty bad most days, I had not dealt with Damian-I never was good dealing with people in a serious way-and Orion was constantly on my mind. So, I did what I always did when I felt pressured-I tried to escape from reality. I thought it would be nice to visit Andy at school one day after my boss suggested I take a day off to relax. Andy's suspension was over so he would be there. If I was right, he would be on his spare period. A few of his other friends had a spare period at that time, too. They usually sat outside on the bleachers by the football field.CHAPTER FIFTEENNEITHER ANDY NOR I saw or spoke to Madison much for the next few days, since she had decided to stay at Damian's for a while. I could not imagine what she was thinking. She was a secretive type of girl who rarely opened up about her life.CHAPTER SIXTEENYOU KNOW THAT feeling that you think you're awake, but you just can't open your eyes? That's pretty much how I felt when I woke up in the hospital. I heard people talking around me, but couldn't get my eyes to open to see what was going on. Everyone sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher. My arms felt heavy and my head felt warm and sticky. Then I was out like a light again. This happened several times before I felt someone take my hand and I forced my eyes open to see my brother standing over me. I looked past Andy and saw Orion too. Then I saw my uncle, who looked really concerned. I had never seen that look on his face before. My mom then walked into the room and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek. I felt myself blush.CHAPTER SEVENTEENI WAS ALLOWED out of the hospital after another two days when the doctor finally proclaimed that I was ready to go home. Orion had to get another bag to pack up with because of all the stuff everyone had given me during the last ten days. It was mostly stuffed animals and there were a few balloons that I wound up popping as we tried to secure them on the bag. Also, there were loads of flowers that we put into a box. Everyone fussed over me on the day that I got to leave. I kept saying I could do things for myself, but they wouldn't let me, so I wound up getting to sit in a wheelchair, with Andy pushing.CHAPTER EIGHTEENIF THERE WAS anything that needed to be said about my pregnancy, it was that it was a pain in the ass ! Between the mood swings, nausea fits and exhaustion, I was surprised I hadn't sent Orion running yet. I was also surprised that it only hit me right then, being four and a half months along, that I really was pregnant. I guess the catalyst was when I noticed my belly getting bigger and feeling the baby move.CHAPTER NINETEEN"YOU CAN'T BE serious," Orion said.EPILOGUECan you believe it! I, Madison Summers, of all people, am actually at a completely happy point in my life. Of course, I had to go through an unplanned pregnancy, three years of raising an adorable boy and get pregnant again for this to happen.