You Belong With Me (30 page)

"Lyla called me to tell me she was in labor but my phone was on silent and I didn't hear it. What's going on here?" He swayed his hand back and forth between her and Jordan. Casey wiped the kiss from her lips.

"I don't think that's any of your business," she replied in a cross tone.

Casey crossed her arms over her chest and stood there uncomfortably.

"You both are all dressed up. Did you guys have a hot date or something?" His blue eyes were blazing and burning holes into Casey. "It's so nice that you two kids could work things out. You make such an adorable couple." Carter said sarcastically.

"Carter!" Jane said sternly. "Casey, how is Lyla?"

"She is fine. She is almost to eight centimeters last time I checked."

Carter crossed his arms, nodded his head and smirked.

"Last time you checked? You left your best friend to come make out with your boyfriend? Classy, Case. Did you take him into the broom closet and have your way with him?"

Casey lunged for him but Jordan held her back. Jane tried to hold Carter back but he went towards her with fire in his eyes. He flung his arms to his sides.

"What, Casey? What are you going to do? Draw blood on my face again? Give me even more wounds than I can stand? You want to rip my heart out again?" He banged his fist on his chest. " Go ahead. There's nothing left in there anyway. It's empty."

Jordan spoke as he still had a grasp on Casey's arm. "Casey, Carter's right. Maybe you should get back in there to check on Lyla."

Carter began laughing uncontrollably.

"Do me a favor, Richie Rich, why don't you take your Armani suit wearing ass out of my sight. Don't you dare mutter my name and stay away from Casey."

Jordan straightened his back and walked up to Carter so they were eye to eye. This action caught Carter by surprise. "Why don't you back off, Mr. Rock and Roll? I was agreeing with you because I had Lyla's best interest at heart. Let's get something straight, Casey can make her own decisions if she wants me to stay away from her. I didn't let her go, but I didn't fight for her either. I have learned from my mistakes. I intend to try and rectify it. She's worth fighting for. My suggestion may possibly be for
you
to stay away from her." Jordan stepped away and went back to where Casey was standing. Jordan Reid stepped up to Carter London. Carter had no idea he had it in him to do so. Jordan looked at Casey who was shooting daggers at Carter.

"Casey, I think I'm going to go so you can be with Lyla. I'd love for you to call me after the baby is born and you are all settled. Please give her my best wishes for a safe delivery."

"Jesus Christ, why do you have to be so fucking polite! I have loved her for nine God damn years, and then you step in with your charm and your fat wallet and all hell breaks loose."

Jordan went towards Carter with closed fists and fury in his eyes. " You're a complete ass Carter, you know that?" Jordan said to him. Jane stepped in front of Jordan. She shielded Carter even though she knew he was wrong. She turned to face him.

"Carter! Stop it right now, boy! Your best friend's girl is in there having his baby and he is not here to witness it. This is about Lyla, not about you and Casey and this...this love triangle or whatever it is, so pipe down now!" She pushed against his chest hard. Carter backed off and Jordan stopped moving.

Jordan stalked towards the elevator. Before the doors closed he pressed the hold button.

"You let her go, Carter. Years of loving her doesn't make up for that. Casey, call me when you are ready. We have a lot to talk about." The elevator doors closed and Jordan was gone.

A nurse came out to tell Casey that Lyla was asking for her and to come right away. She turned and pointed to Carter. A slow burn was felt by him in the way her eyes bore into his.

"Jane, do me a favor and keep him away from me. This is done. We are done. Anything that you could have done to bring some sort of peace here tonight, you shattered it. I will let you know when the baby is born but that will be the last words you will ever hear me say to you, you bastard." Casey stormed through the swinging doors that led to the labor rooms.

Carter stood there and watched Casey walk away from him. He did it again. He let her go.

Lyla began pushing and Casey stood beside her holding her hand.

"Holy fuck this hurts, Case," Lyla said exhausted.

"I know, honey. It's almost over. I promise and soon that little baby will be in your arms." The doctor told them from below her stomach that one more push should do it.

She bared down as hard as she could and he held up the baby from his seat at her feet.

"It's a beautiful baby girl!"

Casey and Lyla started crying and laughing.

"A girl! It's a girl! Oh God, Casey, look!" The doctor placed the tiny little baby on Lyla's chest. She was so tiny and let out her first cry.

"Oh my goodness, that is the sweetest sound in the world." She kissed the baby's forehead and looked at her tiny hands. The nurses took the baby to get her weighed and measured. Casey wrapped her arms around Lyla and they cried into each others shoulders. They watched her get cleaned up and waited for the nurse to tell them how much she weighed. She was six pounds, eight ounces and nineteen inches long. The nurses swaddled her and placed her back on Lyla's chest. The baby opened her eyes slowly and looked at Lyla.

"Oh God Case, she has Tommy's eyes. Look at her."

Casey wiped her nose and said between her tears, "She sure does. Let's look under her hat and see if she has purple hair." They both laughed and Casey kissed the sweet baby's head.

"I'm so proud of you Lyla. You were so brave."

"So were you to put up with me for the last nine months. Do you want to hold her?"

Casey smiled and nodded yes. Lyla placed her in Casey's arms.

"Hi, sweet baby. You are so beautiful. Let's ask Mommy if you have a name. How about it Mommy?"

"Her name is Alexandra after Alexander which was Tommy's middle name and her middle name is Casey after her Godmother."

Casey closed her eyes and shed a few more tears before rocking little Alexandra back and forth. This had been a true miracle. A piece of Tommy would always be here. She was a product of their love, there turmoil, their faults and their lives.

"Alexandra, you have to have the sweetest face I have ever seen. Little sweetface. Sweetface." Casey stopped rocking her and handed her back to Lyla. The name that Carter used for Casey came back to her. She was his sweetface once, but now he was just a stranger. Someone who she didn't recognize.

After some time Casey knew she had to go into the waiting room to tell Carter and Jane that the baby was here. She told Lyla that they were here and she looked up at Casey and waited for her to say something.

"We will save this story for another time. This is your big day and nothing or no one is going to ruin it. I'll go tell them that she is here and then I'm going to grab some coffee. I'll be back in a bit."

When she walked into the waiting room she couldn't even look at the eyes that once brought her to her knees. Instead she spoke in Jane's direction, quickly, and to the point.

"It's a girl. She's perfect. Lyla wants to see you. I'm going to grab coffee. I'll be back soon. Don't be here when I get back. Sorry Jane. I don't mean you." She stormed away quickly.

Carter stood there with no words and no expression. He clicked his jaw and bit the inside of his mouth. He watched Casey get on the elevator. She never looked up until the final second before the doors closed. Her sea blue eyes were full of affliction and Carter knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had lost Casey forever.

When the elevator doors closed Casey let out a sob and had to place her hands on the wall to hold herself up. The anguish and torment consumed her soul and she knew she needed to let Carter go. She screamed and fell to the floor. She hit it as though smacking it would release some kind of unanswered prayer. He broke her, she broke him. It was a game of cat and mouse and she could not let her mind, body, and spirit be destroyed anymore. She needed to rebuild herself. To think about Casey for a change. She needed to wipe the slate clean of all the bad, her mistakes, his mistakes. All of it. She needed a new beginning.

CHAPTER 16

Tea, Crumpets, and Bloody Hell

Three months had passed since Alexandra was born. She brought so much joy into Casey's home. Lyla had settled into a good routine with her and Casey helped with midnight feedings and diaper changes. They took her for a walk everyday and cooed and awed at her when she made the cutest baby noises. Casey babysat when Lyla had errands to run or wanted to go for a mani/pedi. Carter had come over on the days Casey had to work. He didn't stay long for fear that if Casey saw him at her house, she would kick him out flat on his ass. He would stay with the baby and let Lyla take a nap or he would bring lunch for them and they would chat about Tommy and what Carter's next steps would be in his life. Carter had made some contacts with record producers about a possible solo career. He wasn't sure what route he wanted to take so he laid low for a while. Carter didn't say much about Casey on his visits with Lyla and the baby. It was mostly about the house that Lyla just bought which was closer to her parents in Sarasota. Casey had wanted Lyla and Alexandra to live with her, but Lyla had taken a part time job near her new home and her parents were going to take care of the baby while she worked.

Carter came over to visit one day after he saw Casey leave for work. He often would sit in his newly purchased Audi down the street from her house. He watched her come out onto her front porch dressed in her scrubs and Converse. Her hair always pulled up in a ponytail and he watched it swing back and forth as she went to her car. He always felt a pang in his chest when he saw her. It would always be there no matter what. God he thought how much he had loved her. He loved her deeply, passionately, fiercely and it back fired on him. She pulled away and took off for work. Carter slowly pulled down the street and into Casey's driveway, got out of the car, and knocked on the door.

Carter was holding Alexandra and Lyla was fixing them some breakfast. "Ly, she is so adorable. I could just eat her up." He nuzzled his nose to the baby's and she rewarded him with a baby coo.

"She is something else, isn't she? She's such a good baby too." Lyla said smiling down at her precious girl.

"So when is settlement on the new house?"

She let out a sigh. "Two weeks! I'm so excited. I can't believe it. It has three bedrooms and a beautiful back yard for Alex to play in when she gets a little older."

"That's so great, Lyla, and the job you were telling me about sounds fantastic too. So are you going to need help moving stuff?" He snuggled the baby a little closer to his big, firm chest.

"I'm good. I bought new furniture since I sold all my old stuff with the townhouse. It will be delivered the day I move in. My dad has a big truck. It's mostly clothes and paperwork and Alex's things. Between my car, daddy's truck, and Casey's car we should be fine."

He stood up and handed the baby back to Lyla. He pushed his fingers through his newly overgrown hair. He looked out Casey's front window then his eyes led him to the stairs. He thought about where they were a year ago. They were in love and he wanted a future with her. He first kissed her in this living room. He carried her up those stairs and made love to her on the bed that was just a few steps away. Suddenly he felt like a thousand elephants were sitting on his chest. He tried his best to control the way he felt. Being in this house was going to kill him. The memory of the love they shared was prominent in every space he looked at. The way they danced in the kitchen, the wrestling on the floor, eating Thai food on the coffee table, fighting, the first time their lips met, the first time he touched her flesh and had claimed her as his forever. It all went to shit and he was to blame.

"So how is she, Ly?" He felt nervous asking her because their conversations usually revolved around baby Alex.

"She's good. I've been keeping her busy with Alex. She picked up an extra shift at work for some extra money."

"Does she... is she... never mind." He couldn't get the questions out. He appeared flustered.

"What do you want to know Car? If she's seeing Jordan? He took her to dinner a few times and they will occasionally talk on the phone, but that's all I know. She really isn't saying much and I'm not about to ask." She started feeding Alex a bottle and sat down on the kitchen chair.

"Can I ask you a question, Carter?" He nodded.

"You still love her?"

He laughed a bit and crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against the wall of the dining area.

"That's the question of the century, isn't it? First my mother, my brother, Jake, now you."

"So, what's the answer?" She asked while burping Alex.

"You know, I could never see myself with anyone else. Not after I told her I loved her and she loved me back. I waited so long to hear her say it. To feel it, Lyla."

"Carter, love is not who you can see yourself with, it's who you can't see yourself without."

"I know that. I feel it everyday. Do you know how I prayed that she would choose me, that she would see through all the ugly shit I had going on. She would see past my faults and love me for whatever it was worth."

They both remained silent for a few moments.

"You still haven't answered my question, Lond. Do.You.Still.Love.Her?" She paused after every word so the question would seep in a little better.

"Till the day I die."

"Then I suggest you quit being a pussy and try and slowly win her back."

He rubbed his stubbly face into his hands and pulled at his dark waves slightly as to be in some kind of agony.

"OK, so you know that I've been playing acoustic down at Beach Bums for the past month or so right?"