Remember Me: Oakville Series:Book Two (11 page)

Finally, after what seems like forever, there’s nothing left. Holly reaches around and pulls the lever to flush the toilet. A new damp paper towel is pressed to the back of my neck as Holly helps me to my feet.

“Are you okay, sweetie? Do you have the flu?” Holly asks, concern clear in her voice.

“I’m fine now. I haven’t felt sick at all. This just came out of nowhere.”

“Why don’t I take you home? Kyle and Paul can come get your car later. You may be coming down with something and the last thing you want to do is spread it around the center.” Holly doesn’t wait for my reply before gathering my things to go. She’s right. If I’m getting the flu, I don’t want to get all of the kids and the rest of the staff sick. Giving in, I let her take me home.

As soon as we get in the car, I call Kyle to let him know I’m going home to rest. After a few minutes, I’m able to convince him to stay at work, that I’m fine and Holly is with me. I know he worries. Truly, I understand why he does, but he needs to relax or he is going to drive us both crazy. No matter who you are, what you do, or how much you try to stop it, bad things happen. I refuse to live my life in fear every day, wondering if today is the day that something bad happens to us. I’m not foolish enough to think that the rest of my life with Kyle will be without any pain or heartache. That’s life. We can’t enjoy the sun without first experiencing the rain.

Maybe I should have gone home alone. Holly is about as bad as Kyle. She insists on tucking me into bed, taking my shoes off, and even tries to change my clothes for me.

“Holly...I love you but if you don’t stop hovering and treating me like a toddler, I’m gonna have to kick your ass.” I was trying to keep the smile from creeping across my face, but as soon as the words were out of my mouth, she burst out laughing. Yeah, I suppose me trying to be a badass is pretty hilarious. She finally stops laughing enough to talk.

“You poor thing, having the flu by itself is bad enough but PMS on top of it must really suck.”

“What makes you think I have PMS?”

“You’ve been a little on the cranky side lately.” She’s totally right. I have been a bit bitchy recently. And it hits me. Like a baseball bat to the face. I’m late. Really late. What is Kyle going to think? We talked about this before the accident, but it hasn’t really been discussed much since. That feeling I had earlier is coming back full force. I jump up out of bed, pushing Holly out of my way as I race to the bathroom. I barely make it to the toilet before I’m heaving.

With the help of Holly, I once again get cleaned up and back into bed. The need to know if my suspicions are correct is imminent. This is something I know we both want. The question is, do we want it now? Is it the right time just when we are getting our life back to normal?

“Holly, I need you to do me a favor.”

“Of course. Anything, you know that.”

“Can you run to the store and buy me a couple pregnancy tests?” She starts squealing like a teenage girl, until she sees the uncertain look on my face.

“This wouldn’t be something you would be happy about?” Concern is evident in her voice.

“I am. I’ve always wanted this.
We
have always wanted this. I just don’t know if now is the right time.” She sits down on the bed and smiles warmly at me.

“Is there ever really a right time? Maybe this is the universe or God saying you’ve had enough heartache and it’s time to be happy. It’s time for the life you both have always dreamed of.” I want so much to believe that’s true. Deep down, there is still something telling me that Kyle and I haven’t been through our toughest time yet. I just can’t shake that feeling and I’ve tried to for months now.

My nerves get the best of me as I wait for Holly to get back with the tests. I’m afraid to let myself get too excited in case I’m wrong. Then I think again of Kyle. How is he really going to take this news? What if he’s upset? He may have changed his mind about starting a family right after we got married. Why would he though? Nothing has really changed between us. If anything, it’s more important for us not to take a single day we have for granted. We never know what tomorrow holds.

Just before I completely lose my mind, a panting, out of breathe Holly comes barreling through the door. The sight of her has me in a fit of giggles. She looks like she ran a freaking marathon. Sweat is running down the sides of her face and she’s having such a hard time catching her breathe, she’s actually wheezing. She gives me a glare that has me throwing my hand over my mouth to suppress the giggles.

“Wh... what…” she holds up her finger, telling me to give her a minute, “What is that you find so fucking amusing?” She tries to keep a straight face but I can see the corners of her mouth raise.

“I really don’t know. I think I’m slowly losing my mind. I’m sorry.” With a shrug of her shoulders, she hands over the bag. All of a sudden, I’m not so confident any longer. In a few minutes, my whole life could change forever.
Our
whole life. Noticing the anxiety raising up within me, Holly sits next to me and puts an arm around me.

“Are you more worried about being pregnant or not being pregnant?” Hmm. Good question. I really don’t know. “The way I see it, if you are, you will both be over-the-moon happy. If you’re not, you know you are ready to discuss starting a family.” This is why I love this woman. She is absolutely right. It’s not as if we were trying and I’m getting bad news. If it’s negative, it’s time to bring the subject up to Kyle. If I am, we will both be thrilled. Feeling resolved and slightly better, I look in the bag.

“Do I really need six? I figured two would be enough.”

“I didn’t know what kind to buy and really, how do we know how accurate they are? With six different ones, we’ll know for sure.” She is so serious in her explanation that I can’t argue with her logic. She tells me to stay put and leaves the room.

When she comes back a few minutes later, she’s holding a large bottle of apple juice. She opens it and hands it to me. It probably would help to pee on all those sticks if I actually had to pee. I start to drink it as she begins to set up the tests in the bathroom. I finish the juice then read the instructions for the tests. Pretty simple really. Pee on the stick, wait a few minutes, and read the results. Simple. Yeah not so simple, especially when I have Holly standing there watching, waiting to take the peed on stick and hand me a new one. As odd as this is though, I couldn’t do it without her here to support me.

We both sit on the edge of the tub waiting for the timer to go off. I am afraid to look. There’s a lump in my throat and knots in my stomach. If there weren’t a possibility of being pregnant, I would seriously need a drink right now. And with that, the timer Holly set on her phone buzzes. We both look at each other. I can’t look. Without having to say a word, Holly stands and walks over to the counter. Watching closely, I look for any signs in her expression of what the results are. Nothing. Her face is like a statue. Silently, I plead for her to show me something, some emotion.

“Well...they are all the same. So I think it’s safe to say that it’s unanimous.” She looks at me. “Ready?” I nod my head yes. Here goes. “Sweetie, you definitely are pregnant!” Holly hugs me tightly and I can’t help the tears that fall to my cheeks.

“I’m gonna be a mom.” My hand goes to rest on my flat stomach. This is something I have always wanted. To be a mom, that is. I always thought it would be a little more planned out, but that doesn’t that matter. I have to get Kyle home so that I can tell him now. I don’t want to wait. I leave all of the tests on the counter for him to see when he comes home, grab my phone from the bedroom, and call him.

“Hey, princess. How are ya feeling?”

“A little better. I need you to come home.”

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“I’m okay. I just need you to come home now, can you do that?”

“Of course I can, but you’re scaring me. Are you really okay?”

“Babe, I promise. I’m fine. Actually, I’m great.” After a little more convincing, I finally get him to hang up. Holly sits with me as I nervously wait for Kyle to get home. As worried as I am about how he might react, I still can’t wipe the stupid grin from my face. We are going to have a baby. We hear Kyle’s truck pull up and Holly quickly hugs me, saying she’ll send Kyle up on her way out. I watch her leave.
Deep breathe.
This is it. The moment of truth.

I
HANG
up the phone with Amber and try to quickly put everything away in my office, but the more I think about our conversation, the longer it takes and the more I worry. I can’t help all of the scenarios that run through my head or the fact that they are all negative. My nerves are out of control and I have to remind myself that she said she’s fine. I’m so lost in thought that I don’t notice Paul talking to me until he snaps his fingers in front of my face.

“Earth to, Kyle. What’s going on? You were a million miles away there.”

“Amber called and asked me… no, told me to come home now. She says she’s okay, but something’s up.” When I look at him, he looks amused. What the hell?

“You have got to stop getting yourself wound so damn tight man. One of these days you’re going to over think things so much that head of yours is gonna explode.” He laughs. He actually stands there and fucking laughs at me. I should dot him right between his eyes. The guy is lucky he’s my best friend. He finally stops and holds his hands up in surrender. “If she says she’s okay then she’s probably okay. Maybe she just misses you. Why? I have no idea,” Paul teases. With that, I flip him off and I’m out the door.

On the drive home, I can’t shake the feeling that something is up. Why else would Amber call and have me drop everything to come right home? As I pull in front of the house, I see Holly’s car is still here. I don’t know if that eases my nerves some or makes them worse. When I walk through the front door, Holly is coming down the stairs.

“She’s waiting for you up in the bedroom,” Holly says with a beaming smile.

“Is she really okay? Nothing is wrong with her?”

“I wish you both would save the worrying until there is actually something to worry about.” She stops and hugs me tight. It almost looks like she’s a little teary eyed. “I am so happy that you both are finally getting the life you deserve. I love you guys”

“What are you two up to?”

“Go find your wife and ask her. See ya later.” With a kiss on the cheek, she bounces down the stairs and out the door. Confused, I head up the stairs to Amber.

Walking into our room, I see Amber sitting on the edge of our bed. She’s smiling at me but she looks nervous. Smiling back, I walk over and place a sweet kiss on her lips.

“Hey there, princess. What’s so urgent?”

“There’s something you need to see in the bathroom.” Now, I’m confused. She called me home to look at something in the bathroom? “Go on,” she urges. I walk to the bathroom, my curiosity getting the best of me.

As I step into the bathroom, I look around and notice a bunch of things lined up on the counter. I get closer to try to figure out what they are. It takes me only a second to realize what I’m looking at. The moment it hits me, I have to grab hold of the counter to hold myself up. My heart is beating so fast and hard, I’d be surprised if Amber can’t hear it from the other room. I let my eyes examine each and every test for confirmation. Six. Six positive pregnancy tests.

I can’t believe she’s pregnant. We talked about this before we got married — about wanting to start a family right away. After the accident though, I haven’t given it a whole lot of thought. We’ve been too busy just trying to get our lives back; trying to heal. Now that it’s actually happening, I’m not exactly sure what I’m feeling. We both love kids. I can’t think of anything better than a child that’s part Amber and part me. I want this. There’s no doubt in my mind about that. I’m just a little concerned that it may be too soon. She’s only been back at work for a couple months. The excitement hits me full force. Everything happens for a reason, so we can do this.