Eternal (20 page)

“No, but Cayden loves you, and he is the father
so I would hope you tell him soon,” the doctor said before he gathered up the
evidence of the test. I watched as he tucked it all back into the box then
placed it into his case.

“I need some time to wrap my own mind around
this,” I confessed. “But I will tell him.”

“I understand, Winter, but having a child is one
of the most blessed events in a lifetime. Enjoy this time. Try not to worry and
just think how lucky this baby is going to be. To have two parents who love
each other is becoming a rarity in this world.”

“Thank you,” I said. The tears streaming.

Doctor Hansen handed me two pieces of paper.
“Now, take this prescription and get it filled. Here is the name of the doctor
I would recommend and try to get some rest, avoid stressful situations, eat a
balanced diet, and try to look at the bright side of this.”

I wiped my face, tucked the prescriptions into
my pant pocket and walked the doctor to the door of my room.
Chandler
was standing in the hallway. He
looked like he was worried about me, too.

“How is she, doc?”
Chandler
asked.

“
Chandler
,
you know I cannot discuss my patients, confidentially and all, but I can say
Winter is fine.”

Chandler
smiled, allowing the familiar crinkles to break out around his
eyes. “That is good to hear. Cayden will be happy. He has been worried.”

The doctor smiled and glanced at
Chandler
over the top of
his glasses. “Yes, well tell Cayden I said hello. If you need anything else,
you know how to reach me.”

I walked out of the room a couple of steps to
watch
Chandler
walk Doctor Hansen down the hall.
Chandler
pulled his cell phone out of the top pocket of his shirt. I knew he was calling
Cayden….

“Hey, bro, she is fine so you can stop calling
me every five minutes. The doctor is leaving now so stop worrying.”

Chapter Eleven

Premiere

Melissa arrived at the Hollywood Hills home,
towing hair and makeup professionals along with her. In her hand, she held our
designer dresses sheathed in black garment bags that she quickly hung in
Cayden’s room-sized closet before twirling around with something flat in her
other hand. Melissa marched to the door, determined. She plastered a “Do Not
Disturb” sign on the outside of Cayden’s bedroom door then toted a suitcase inside
before locking the door behind her. I could not help but laugh watching her
flit around.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

Melissa giggled, the sound floated up like
bubbles popping as the air hit them. She spun on her heel, blonde hair
bouncing. “This is a big evening. We need to look our best. It takes time to
get ready for these things, Winter, so trust me.”

“Do not disturb.” I giggled.

Melissa’s bright eyes sparkled. “Of course, the
last thing we need are disturbances by the men around here.”

I took a long shower then proceeded with the
extensive buffing and polishing of what seemed like my entire body. There were
differing lotions I needed to apply. One for the eyes, a different cream for
the face and neck, a further lotion for the body, and a light shimmering powder
dusted over my neck, chest, legs, arms, and back was applied. The glitter of
the powder glided through the air. I wondered if we were causing a bio-hazard.

Next, I sat while one of Melissa’s gurus fussed
with my hair. An hour and a half later, my hair was done in an intricately
loose braid with small emerald clips dispersed throughout the twists within it.
It reminded me of something reminiscent of Maid Marian from
Robin Hood
.

With a huge smile plastered across her face,
Melissa pulled out two black boxes from her bags. My box contained emerald
earrings with a matching emerald bracelet from Cartier. Her box had a diamond
necklace plus matching teardrop earrings from Tiffany’s.

“Wow!” I said.

“Perks,” she trilled. “The designers like for us
to wear their stuff. Good publicity for them.”

My make-up was done to perfection, followed by
the application of the dress, along with the hazard of tall spiked “do me”
heels. What a strange business, the business of trying to be beautiful. I
rather enjoyed my faded jeans, but I must confess I felt like I was on one of
those reality shows that turn plain people into supermodels. I chuckled at the
absurdity of it all nonetheless I had to admit, I didn’t look too bad once I
saw the end results in the mirror.

We stood side by side, gazing at our elegant
reflections within the mirror. “We are perfect,” Melissa announced.

“You look beautiful, Melissa,” I commented, and
she did.

Melissa’s blonde hair flowed in slight waves. It
was pinned up, allowing access to her bare shoulders. Her heart-shaped face
glowed and her big blue eyes sparkled. Her black dress hugged her body like a
glove, showing off her curves perfectly. She reminded me of a classic beauty, a
starlet from the silent picture shows.

“You look beautiful, too, Winter.” She smiled
brightly. “Shall we go?” Melissa asked.

“Sure,” I said.

I took her arm, and we headed out the door of
our secured no-men-shall-disturb-sanctuary
 
and made our way down the hall then descended the staircase.
Chandler
and Cayden were
standing at the bottom waiting for us, both dressed in perfect black tuxedos.
While
Chandler
did look handsome, Cayden was beyond flawless. In all, he was completely
breathtaking. Cayden stared up at me with such an expression upon his face I
felt my stomach drop through the bottom of my feet.
Chandler
smiled at me then gazed at Melissa.
I had a sense of real satisfaction, because he was staring at her. Melissa had
to notice
Chandler
was looking, and this wasn’t a mere glance one would give to a sister. It was
appreciation of the woman.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Cayden
smiled. “Wow!”

“You both look very beautiful,”
Chandler
commented.

“Thank you,” Melissa replied.

I stood there, gawking at Cayden, unable to
speak myself and completely lost within the color of his eyes, midnight blue.

“You are flawlessly perfect,” I finally said to
Cayden after finding my voice.

Cayden reached out and took a hold of my hand.

“No. I have never seen true perfection until I
seen you. You are flawless, beyond beautiful. I love you, Winter.”

“I love you, too, Cayden.”

Chandler
cleared his throat. “Ahem.” He adjusted his stance so that he was
facing Melissa. “Sorry, Melissa. I have to see this kind of stuff all the
time.” He chuckled. “Be glad you don’t have to live with this. They tend to get
a little bit mushy with each other.”

“No. It is really nice to see,” Melissa replied.

“We have lost them. They will be staring oddly
at each other until we arrive at the premiere. Trust me on that,”
Chandler
said. “We might
as well go.”
Chandler
extended out his arm to Melissa. She took it without hesitation. In a very
dapper manner,
Chandler
escorted Melissa to the limo that was waiting for us.

The drive to the premiere didn’t seem long to
me, maybe it was due to the fact Cayden was at my side, holding my hand in his
lap, making small circles with his thumb on the top of my thumb. And in truth,
we were lost in each other’s eyes. Once the limo stopped, I heard screaming,
screeching, and shrieks mixed in with high-pitched squeals. The sound of the
crowd was overwhelming. It was bizarre to think all of these people were here
to see the love of my life. When I turned to peer out the window of the limo,
all I saw was wave after wave of people. I felt my face turn ashen. Sheer panic
must have covered my demeanor as I flipped my head around to focus on Langdon
and Jayden. Terrified for Cayden’s safety, that specific horrifying fear of
losing him to violence overtook me.

“Both of you stay close to Cayden,” I
instructed.

“Winter.” Cayden squeezed my hand lightly.
“Jayden needs to stay with you.”

“No. Can’t you see? Don’t you hear how many
people are out there? They are here to see you. There are too many people,
Cayden. What if someone in the crowd wants to hurt you? If someone would hurt
you….” I had to stop speaking. I closed my eyes. Every fear I ever had for his
safety flooded me. It played out behind my lids in full color terror. “I cannot
handle this, Cayden. I cannot.”

“Winter, baby, it is going to be okay, I
promise. Please don’t be so upset,” Cayden urged.

I placed my hand to his face. With every bit of
fear I had, I released it while I gazed into his clear blue eyes with pleading
intensity. “For me Cayden, do this for me. Please take both Jayden and Langdon
with you. I will be fine.
Chandler
will be with me.”

Cayden looked at me, his face none too happy.
His brow furrowed for a bit then he nodded. “Okay,” he said.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

I watched Zander and Melissa exit the limo. My
stomach churned, and my hands shook, but I pulled in the breath that eluded me
earlier. I gazed over at Jayden. “Please, keep Cayden safe.” Jayden nodded once
in assurance of my request. I took in another deep breath and turned to look at
Cayden. “I love you, Cayden,” I said, taking
Chandler
’s hand.

“You are my heart.” Cayden touched his chest. I
blew Cayden a kiss. “
Chandler
,”
Cayden said, “you are holding someone I cannot live without.”

“I know,”
Chandler
assured then
Chandler
and I exited the confines of the limo.

The sound was ear piercing once we stepped out.
Like an opera of pain with a crescendo from hell. People were screaming for
Cayden in a fevered pitch. It became a cacophony of madness to the senses.
Camera’s flashing, news commentators with their camera crews, people swirling
around us asking us to look at them, telling us to smile, asking when we were
going to get married. It all became a mash of sound, noise and more noise,
flashing bulbs with more flashing, bright lights from the news cameras melting
into more bright lights. I was lightheaded, my ears rang, my body submerged
within the depths of this operatic deluge. I tried to tighten my grip on
Chandler
but I felt someone grab at
Chandler
’s arm. I closed my eyes in an
attempt to gain my equilibrium. I moved forward a bit, letting go of
Chandler
's hand. My
fingers slipped away….

The streets were filled with hundreds and
hundreds of people all stopped by barrier walls. On either side of me were
velvet ropes with hundreds more all screaming and yelling. I looked at their
arms, flying outward, in and over other arms and pressing past the ropes. It
was as though looking into a mangle of roots all twisted together in a macabre
twist that pressed through to the surface of the ground. These people were
screaming, writhing against each other, some crying as they screamed. Some held
pictures or magazines with Cayden’s photo on the front cover. Others had
cameras trying to jockey for the best position in hope of gaining a picture.
Staring at the crowds, I became more than aware they had lost any semblance of
self-control. It seemed like mad crazy lustful chaos. It was like a snapshot
within one of the nine circles of
Dante’s
Inferno
.

From nowhere, a large framed dark-haired man
jumped over the velvet red rope. He stood in front of me, yelling incoherently.
It was hard to understand what he was saying. The sounds of the crowd muted his
tirade. I was confused. My head swam within the chaos. I’d lost
Chandler
somewhere behind
me. I turned to find him, only to see
Chandler
was a step or two away. Three photographers had him cornered. I tried to walk
back toward him. I even reached out, but was stopped. I experienced the
sensation of someone latch onto my arm as if talons took the place of hands.

I jerked around to see this large wild looking
man inches from my face. He held my arm. I was unsure if he was trying to shake
it or pull it. The man acted crazy. His eyes feral, dark. He was on something
or perhaps drunk. He said something to me; however, I wasn’t sure what he was
saying. Then I heard him. As if my senses clicked into gear.

“I love you. How can you give yourself to him
like a whore? He’s a demon!” he yelled.

I yanked my arm free. Within a blink of an eye,
Cayden was standing directly in front of me, taking a clearly protective
stance. Cayden’s right arm shot around his back. He held onto my waist. Cayden
put himself between me and the man.