Anabel Unraveled (42 page)

“I’m so happy to see you!” she said, taking me in. “My goodness, you’re pregnant.”

“She’s coming early,” I said absently. “I won’t have to endure this for too much longer.”

“So are you done with your breakdown?” she asked, linking her arm through mine.

“I think so,” I responded. “How’s Kevin?”

Meghan’s face lit up. “He’s good. He’ll be thrilled you’re talking again.”

We sat down on the couch and she took my hands. “Jared’s been taking this really hard.”

“I’m sure.” I looked down. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t deal with everything.”

“Princess, no one blames you, okay? But I’m glad you’re talking now, because your baby shower is next week, and I didn’t think the whole silent thing was going to go over well.”

“Oh no, are we still doing that?” I looked at Matt. “We should’ve just stayed in my room until it was over.”

Meghan’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean—ooh,” she gasped. Then she smiled knowingly at the two of us. “I get it.”

“You get nothing,” I protested, but was cut off by the arrival of my brother.

He looked like he had aged a great deal in the past two weeks. I could swear that his hair had taken on more gray strands. He stood in the entryway and quietly said, “I’m so sorry, Annie.”

“It’s okay,” I smiled at him. “But look, I need you to come over and hug me, because it’s gotten much harder for me to move myself around.”

Meghan left the couch and Sam came to me and drew me into a tight embrace. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said in my ear.

“I’m sorry about what happened with Alexis,” I whispered.

He laughed bitterly. “She’s not. She maintains she would’ve killed you if she could have.”

“Well, at least I won’t have to send her a Christmas card this year.”

“I can’t believe you’re taking this so lightly,” he began.

“I’m not,” I said in a more serious tone. “But I’m trying to make you feel a little better.” I kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, you know.”

“I love you, too,” he said. “I’m glad you’re talking again.”

“You know what I’m glad about? We don’t have to go to those wretched hearings anymore,” I commented, sending Matt a smile.

My brother kissed the top of my head and stood up. “I can’t stay, Annie, I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I have to get home to my kids.”

“Oh, are they here?”

“Yes, we flew them down last week.” He frowned. “They needed me.”

“Well of course they did,” I replied. “Go be with them. We’ll talk later.”

He turned to leave, and then looked at Matt. “Anything I should know about?”

I groaned. “You are so annoying. Mind your own business.”

And then my brother gave me a smile, a real smile. “I know what that means. Good. Bye.”

“Goodbye,” I muttered, meeting Matt’s eyes.

Meghan came back over and sat down with me. “You’ve really kind of exploded, haven’t you?”

“Thank you, Meghan,” I tried to maintain politeness.

“Well, it’s just before, you sort of looked pregnant, but now there’s really no question, and—”

“I said thank you, Meghan,” I raised my voice a little.

She patted my arm. “Well, you still look lovely,” she began.

“No, I think the term ‘exploded’ sums it up.” I frowned. “Where is Jared?”

“He just pulled up,” noted Matt. “That car is ridiculous.”

Meghan rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it.”

“I think we should give them some space, Meghan,” Matt suggested. “Will you come with me to the library?”

I frowned at him, but Meghan nodded and they quickly exited, leaving me alone to answer the doorbell.

I walked to the door and pulled it open, and found myself face to face with Jared.

“Hi,” I managed, suddenly feeling a little shy.

“Anabel,” he said. “Anabel.” But he was struggling.

“I know,” I attempted to keep my voice light. “As your sister so eloquently put it, I have exploded.”

“You look beautiful,” he returned.

I shook my head. “Don’t lie. Come on in.”

I stepped back and he walked in, and we walked back over to the couch and sat down. Oh, this was awkward. “I don’t know what to say,” I admitted.

“There’s a first,” he cracked, but there was no mirth in his eyes.

I touched his arm. “Jared. It’s okay, you know.”

“It’s not okay,” he spat, losing his cool. “Anabel, if I hadn’t gotten back when I did, if I hadn’t stopped Alexis, you and Emma would both be dead. How am I supposed to live with that?”

I raised my eyes to the ceiling, searching for answers. “I guess you just need to remember that you did get back in time and you rescued me once more. With your tongue, no less.”

He was trying hard not to laugh at that one. “Baby, I feel horrible.”

“I know you do. And I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to talk to you,” I told him. “But seeing you with Alexis really did a number on me. Plus remembering everything took a lot out of me, too.”

“It was just a stupid attraction. I never let it get anywhere,” he began.

“I know,” I reassured him. “I know because I watched her face once you pulled away from her. But watching that really made me realize that you and I are best off as friends.”

He was silent for a moment, and then said, “I guess I should be grateful that you still want to be friends.”

“Well, we have a baby to raise, and I don’t have time to do it all myself,” I informed him. “I was reading a baby book and apparently initial baby poop is disgusting, so I expect you to be the one who deals with that.”

He laughed. “I guess that’s fair.”

I searched for words. “Jared…I guess I kind of love you.” Then I hesitated.

“But not like you love him,” he finished for me. “I know. I can see it in your eyes.”

“You need to be with someone who wants you like Alexis does.” I looked at him. “I was sort of afraid the two of you were going to go at it right then and there.”

“I did what I had to,” he began.

“I know,” I told him. “But what you and I had never came close to that.” I whispered in his ear, “That was hot, Jared.”

He pulled me into a hug, and I leaned against him, taking in his smell, his strength, and I relaxed. It was easy for me to be close to him like this, I realized. For once, I felt comfortable with Jared.

And that was good.

Matt and Meghan decided to make their reappearance then, and Meghan’s eyes were sparkling. “I know something you don’t know,” she taunted me, and then planted a kiss on her brother’s cheek.

I looked at Jared. “What happened to your sister? I miss morose and serious Meghan.”

Jared shook his head. “It’s this being in love garbage. She’s intolerable.”

Matt and Meghan exchanged a look, and then she said, “Jared, we have to go, we’re picking up Crystal from the airport in half an hour.”

“Crystal’s here?” I asked.

Meghan nodded. “Yeah, she decided that she wanted to come meet you. She was convinced that she was the one who could get you to talk.”

“She hadn’t counted on Matt,” said Jared, almost masking the sourness. “Do you mind if I leave my car here? I’ll come by tomorrow to check on you.”

I nodded, and he kissed me on the cheek. Meghan hugged me again, and they left.

Matt sat down next to me, and I leaned against him. “I’m glad that’s over with.”

“Other people want to see you,” he began.

“I can’t see Marilyn, Matt. It hurts too much.” The thought of dealing with her made me ill.

“She says she knew nothing.”

“I know,” I said. “I read the papers. But I’m not ready for that yet.”

He nodded, and slid his arm around me. “My dad also wants to come visit you.”

“That’s fine.” I felt pleased. “I kind of miss Geoff.”

“We also will need to set up an interview with the press.” I could hear the gears turning in his head, and I pulled his face to mine and kissed him. He pulled away. “What was that for?”

“I don’t want to think about that stuff right now,” I smiled at him. “I want to talk about more pleasant things.”

“Like what?”

“Like what we’re going to do for my first holidays off of Caereon.”

“Well, you can come with me to Thanksgiving at my parents’ house,” he began. “I already agreed to come, so we’re sort of stuck on that end.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And how will Clara take that?”

“Probably about as well as can be expected,” he admitted. “We can have Christmas here, as I’m guessing you won’t want to move around too much at that point.”

“I want you to stay here,” I began.

“It’s just as well. The lease on my apartment is up at the end of the month anyway.”

“Well I guess that’s settled, then.” Then I smiled. “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you, where did you get those books?”

“The ones I read to you?” A look darted across his face then, and I could’ve sworn Matt looked almost devious.

“The Alice one is almost exactly like one that I used to have.”

“No it’s not,” he said, a little too lightly.

“Yes, it is. I think I know my own books, Matt,” I stated, offended.

“Clearly you don’t,” he replied. “You didn’t recognize your own copy.”

I was stunned. “My own copy?”

“I managed to get a friend who owed me a favor to get some of your books sent over,” he told me. “Come on.”

He helped me up from the couch and led me into my library, where I saw a box laying in the center of the room. I could hardly believe it, and I squatted down and began sorting through. There they were: A Christmas Carol. Sense and Sensibility. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. The Harry Potter series, and—

“Ah, Lolita,” I said, gently running my fingers down the spine. “One of my favorites.”

“I can’t believe your dad let you read that one,” he commented. “By the way, I figured it out. That’s where your name came from.”

I grinned. “You’re too smart for your own good.” I flipped it open. “I always felt sorry for Lolita. Humbert’s agony is what we have to deal with, but I wonder what the story would have been like if it had been told from her perspective.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, especially now, I understand her. She put on a show, but at the heart of it, she was just a messed-up kid,” I lamented, and I wasn‘t really sure who I was talking about at that point.

Matt of course picked up on that right away. “You’re not messed up, honey. You’ve done well,” he said, helping me up.

I leaned into him. “So what now?”

“I think,” he said slowly, “we should go back upstairs and finish making up for lost time.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked. “And how’s that?”

“Well, I’ll read to you some more, of course,” he said, businesslike.

“Is that what they’re calling it these days?” I asked innocently, as we made for the stairs.

“You’re terrible,” he said, fighting a grin.

“You adore me for it,” I replied.

“That I do,” he returned. “That I do, Anabel.”

Chapter 46—Jared

On the day Emma was born, Anabel woke me up by poking my arm. I had been camped out on her couch for the past week, since she had been swearing up and down that Emma was coming early. It was two in the morning and she said, “Hey, so . . . my water broke.”

Those words sunk in and I sprang to attention. “Are you serious?”

“Quite,” she said. “Totally ruined that carpet.” Anabel started to fidget.

“But you’re early, isn’t that bad?”

“I’m 37 weeks,” she replied. “Would have been 38 tomorrow. Emma’s full term, there’s nothing to be done now.” She grinned. “Told you she was coming early.”

“So what do you want to do? Are you having contractions?”

“No,” she sighed. “I’m not, which sucks. I called Kevin and he’s on his way over, but I highly suspect we’re going to have to go to the hospital.”

“What does all of this mean?”

She grunted and sat down next to me. “Well, if I don’t start contracting on my own soon, they’re going to have to give me some medication to make me do it. And I’m not too thrilled with that idea.” Anabel had decided she wanted an all-natural childbirth, and had forced me to attend classes with her. I had done it because she wanted me to, but I had my doubts about the whole thing.

I patted her arm. “It’ll be okay, Anabel.”

She nodded. “I think we’re in for a long day, Jared.” She smiled. “I’m going to go wake up Matt. He may as well join the party.”

By the time Kevin and my sister arrived, Anabel had experienced exactly one contraction and was getting more frustrated. Matt, Charlotte, Phil, and Carrie were all staring at Anabel with a mixture of fascination and fear, and the moment Kevin showed up she began flipping out. “I don’t want Pitocin,” she warned him.

“Fine,” agreed Kevin. “Then get your labor started in the next ten hours, and we won’t use Pitocin.”

“Ten hours?” she whispered.

“Look, this is the way it is. I’ll give you twelve hours from the time your water breaks, but that’s it. I’m sorry,” he said brusquely, “but you have to let me do my job.”

She then sighed and put her head in her hands. “Okay.”

I stroked her back. “Hey.”

“What?” she asked through her fingers.

“We’re going to have this baby today, Anabel. It’ll be good.”

“There’s something I should’ve told you . . .” she began.

“I know,” I cut her off.

She looked surprised. “You know?”

I nodded. “I know why you didn’t tell me. It’s okay.”

“Oh, Jared,” she cried, beginning to tear up. Then she stopped. “That’s another one,” she said, grabbing her belly.

“Great,” Kevin said. “That’s two contractions in two hours. I need you to get them to at least five minutes apart by 2 p.m.”

She glared at him. “We really need to work on your bedside manner.”

That was when Sam arrived. “Hey,” he said, coming and giving her a hug. “Are you okay?”

But Anabel was still glaring at Kevin. “How exactly do you propose we get this going?”

“Well, you could try walking around, go up and down the stairs . . .” he gestured. “Stay active, Anabel. Sitting around like this isn’t doing you any good.”

She got up and growled at Meghan, “I really don’t know what you see in him,” and flounced off.