Faithful (30 page)

“How soon do you want to get married?” I asked.

She smiled and bit down on her lower lip.

I let out a moan as I watched her nibble on it. “Princess?”

She turned to me. “Yeah?”

“Stop biting your lip.”

She let out a small laugh and looked straight ahead. “Right away. Since Ari and I are both due in September and Amanda’s getting bigger by the day, I want to get married right away. The sooner, the better! What about you?”

“I’d marry you today if you said you wanted to.”

We talked about our ideas for a wedding. We’d never really talked about marriage before, but I wasn’t surprised to see we wanted the same thing—something small near the ocean with just family and close friends.

When we made our way up toward the barn, Ari was leaning up against the door with a smile.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I thought y’all got lost.” She winked at me and then glanced over at Heather.

“Nope, not lost at all,” I said with a wink of my own.

“Pregnancy makes you feel like the damn fucking Energizer Bunny, huh, Heather?”

I glanced over to my girl to see that she was blushing. I laughed, and I had to adjust myself as I got off the damn horse.

Jeff came walking up and slapped me on the back. “Congratulations, dude…on getting your memory back and landing the girl of your dreams.”

I smiled as we headed into the barn. “Where’s Luke?”

Jeff turned to me and laughed. He opened a stall door a little and gestured for me to look in. Luke was sound asleep in his car seat.

My heart melted at the sight of him. “Right where he belongs—in a damn horse stall like his daddy.”

Jeff laughed. “Dude, he said ‘dada’ the other night. I about came out of my skin. It was one of the best moments of my life.”

I watched Jeff as he stared at his son sleeping.
Shit.
The four of us have come so far.
Then, it hit me.
We are all going to have kids.
“Holy shit.”

Jeff looked at me, confused.

“Jeff, by next fall, we’re all going to have kids!”

He threw his head back and laughed. “I know, right? Hey, have you seen Brad?”

“Not yet. He was supposed to be meeting with his counselor and Amanda today, right?”

“Yeah, he was. Has Heather heard from Amanda?”

I shook my head. “Not that I know of.”

I could hear Heather and Ari laughing outside. The sound of Heather’s laugh did things to my body that drove me insane.

Jeff put his hand on my shoulder. “Moves right through your body, doesn’t it?”

I looked at him, confused. “What?”

“The sound of her voice or laughter. Sometimes, I find myself catching my breath when Ari walks into a room, talking or laughing. I still can’t believe she’s mine.”

I turned and watched the girls walking into the barn. Ari was holding Heather’s hand, and Heather had the most beautiful color on her cheeks.

I whispered, “She’s glowing.”

Jeff let out a small laugh. “Yeah, she is, dude. They both look breathtaking.” Then, he smiled and gave me a wink. “If Heather’s anything like Ari is when she’s pregnant, you are gonna be fucking exhausted all the time, dude!”

We both started laughing as Ari walked up and peeked in on Luke. When Luke made a noise, everyone got quiet.

Ari turned and glared at Jeff. “If you wake him up, you’re playing with him until bedtime.”

After picking up Heather’s dad’s car from the park, I pulled up to my parents’ house and watched as Heather parked. I jumped out of the truck and jogged over to her. My mom and dad still didn’t know I had my memory back. I opened her door, and the second she got out, I pushed her against the car and started to kiss her. She pulled back some and started laughing.

“I want you, princess,” I whispered. I kissed her neck and blew in her ear before I kissed her earlobe.

“Oh god, Josh…don’t do that to me. You know how much I love that.”

I smiled and started to laugh. “Let’s just tell them another time. Come on, let’s sneak away before they—”

“Josh?”

Oh holy shit.
I snapped my head up and saw Lynda standing on the steps next to my mother…my very angry mother.

“Joshua Michael Hayes, where in the hell have you been? Your father and I have been worried sick! The last we knew you were at your apartment, and then you just disappeared.”

Heather started to giggle.

I looked back at her and winked. “Do I take care of my mom first or the bitch?”

Heather brought her hand up to her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing. Then, her face turned pale. “Oh my god! Oh shit!”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“I think I’m gonna get sick!”

Suddenly, she pushed me out of the way, ran over to the grass, and started throwing up.

Well, damn…that hit her fast.

My mother was down and by Heather’s side in two seconds flat.

“Heather, honey…oh, baby girl, are you sick again?” My mother turned to me and smiled.

Why the fuck is she smiling? My future wife is throwing her guts up, my ex is standing ten feet away, and my mother is happy?

I glanced toward the door and saw my dad standing behind Lynda.

I walked over to Heather. “Baby, are you alright?”

“Please, Josh…just see what she wants.”

My mother gave us both a confused look.

As I faced Lynda, I let out a sigh, deciding to just get it over with. “Lynda, what do you want?”

Lynda looked at my mother and then back at me. “I, um…I just wanted to talk to you and see how you were doing.”

I walked over to Lynda’s car and opened the driver’s side door. “You and I no longer have anything to say to each other. I need you to please leave…now.”

Lynda looked stunned. She slowly started to make her way to her car. She stopped right before she got in. “I don’t understand.”

“Let me explain it to you. I’m with Heather. I’ll be with Heather until the day I die. I love her and only her. I will only ever love her. Don’t ever text, email, or call her or me again. Do I make myself clear?”

“But I—”

I leaned closer to her. “I know all about the lies you were feeding her. I’d die to protect her from being hurt. I never want to talk to you again. Ever.”

She turned and got into the car but not before looking over at Heather, who was now just standing there, watching us.

I shut her door and watched her drive off. When I turned back around, my mother was standing there with tears in her eyes.
She must know I have my memory back.

“Mom—”

She held up her hand and shook her head. “Give me a second here to bask in this wonderful feeling.”

I smiled at Heather.
Yep, she knows.

“I have waited for so long…for you to tell that bitch to take a hike! Oh. My. God! You don’t know how happy I am right now!”

My dad started laughing as my mom walked up to him. He held up his hand, and they gave each other a high five.

What the fuck?

I looked over at Heather, and she just shrugged her shoulders. I headed over to Heather, grabbed her hand, and walked her up to my parents, who were still laughing and celebrating.

“Jesus H. Christ, y’all. Did you really not like her that much?”

My mother turned around and let out a gasp. “Wait a minute. How did you know that was Lynda?”

I smiled.

My mother screamed as she grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. “Oh my god! Do you remember?” She pushed me away from her and looked me right in the eyes.

“Yeah, Mom…I remember everything.”

My dad took both my mother and me into his arms. He looked at Heather and smiled. “Baby girl, get your ass in this hug!”

Heather started laughing as she walked up. I pulled her in closer to me, and we just stood there, enjoying our group hug for a few moments.

“Hold everything! How did it come back? Heather, why do you have your dad’s car? What the hell is going on?” my mother rattled off.

Heather started to giggle. She looked at me and then over to my mother. “It’s kind of a long story, Elizabeth, but after Josh left our house this morning, I needed to tell him something…in person. We both forgot that I’d left my car here yesterday, so I took my dad’s car.”

“And while I was at my apartment, Victoria knocked on my door.”

My mother looked confused. “How did she know you were there?”

“I’m guessing she heard me last night when I was talking about heading into Austin to my place,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

After we explained everything, my mother smiled.

“How did you know where Heather would be?”

I shook my head as I looked at the love of my life. I noticed how she’d been hiding her left hand in her pants pocket or behind her back. “Ari told me.”

Heather shook her head and let out a laugh.

“Okay, so where the hell have y’all been the last few hours, Josh? I’ve been trying to call both of your cell phones. Your father and I have been a nervous wreck.”

I grinned as I held out my hand toward Heather. I glanced over toward my parents. “I’m so sorry y’all were worried. I took Heather back to Mason.”

“Mason?” both my parents asked at the same time.

“Yep. There was a certain spot I needed to take her to…so I could ask her to be my wife.” I lifted up her hand and kissed the back of it, making sure my parents could see the ring.

My mother started jumping up and down, and my father winked at me. The next thing I knew, my mom had Heather wrapped in her arms, and they were both crying. When I looked at my dad, he just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

“Just go with it, son. They’re happy tears. They can turn that shit off and on like magic.”

My mother pushed Heather away and giggled. “And?”

Heather started shaking her head. “Um…and?”

My mother put her hands on her hips and looked between Heather and me. She raised her eyebrows at both of us.

“And…we wanted to go out to eat and celebrate tonight,” I said.

She slowly grinned, and then she winked at my dad. “Okay…dinner it is.”

My mom hooked her arm around Heather’s, and we made our way into the house.

Damn! I can’t wait to see her face when she finds out we’re pregnant!

We walked into Hut’s Hamburgers while Josh and his dad talked about the business. During the whole drive over, Elizabeth had talked my ear off about the wedding. She hadn’t asked yet when we wanted to get married.
Thank God!
I knew if I were to tell her as soon as possible, she would figure out I was pregnant.

She smiled at me. “I love the idea of a wedding on the beach.”

We all slid into a booth, and I sat across from Elizabeth.

“I do, too. I can picture it all in my head!” My stomach did flip-flops just from thinking about marrying Josh.

Josh reached down, grabbed my hand, and placed it on the table. When I glanced down at my beautiful ring, tears began building in my eyes. So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours. I looked over and just stared at Josh as he talked to his father.

I love this man with every breath I take. I’m going to be his wife…and have his baby. Please don’t let this all be a dream.

Breathe, princess.

Josh turned to me. Leaning down, he whispered against my ear, “Breathe, princess.”

I smiled as I placed my right hand on my stomach. I could feel that my parents were with me. They were always with me, and I swore that my father would talk to me through Josh.

Josh kissed me gently on the lips. “I love you.”

“I love you more times infinity!” I said with a giggle.

“I love you just a little more than that.” He laughed as he turned to his parents. “Heather and I are getting tattoos.”

I choked on my water.

Elizabeth reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “Honey, are you okay?”

I looked at Josh. “What?”
I can’t get a tattoo while I’m pregnant!

When I looked back at Elizabeth, she seemed like she was upset. “When? What are y’all getting?” she asked as she tried to smile.

Oh shit! Is she upset that I want to get one? Josh already has tattoos, so why would she be upset if I want one?