One Simple Step (Journey Series) (24 page)

“Where is Kara by the way? I know she’s pregnant and all, but you would at least think she would’ve been here handing us bottles of water or something.”

I tossed my empty bottle towards the trashcan, and stood up from the spot that I had collapsed to on the floor. All of her stuff was moved in, but now we had to figure out where it was all going to go. She had put her furniture in storage, but there was still so much shit, and barely any space to put it.

“She went out with my mom.”

Danny choked on his water, and I slammed my hand on his back as he coughed loudly, trying to clear his throat. “Kelly? Your mother? Willingly went somewhere with Kara? Did you have to drug her or something?”

I grunted in response, not really wanting to go there. I had already received a lecture from both of my parents over the whole situation. Yes, they had been almost the only set of parents out of all of my friends who were actually together, and yes, it was good to be raised by two parents, but it was also good for them to actually like each other, they explained. Kara and I had been in love before, maybe we could get back to that point somehow, or at least to one where I was actually able to stand being around her.

Once they realized I wasn’t changing my mind, I think they decided they better get used to the idea of Kara being around. “Yeah, they went shopping for baby stuff. C’mon, help me get some of these boxes into the garage. I guess that’s where they’ll have to go for now.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon getting things put away before my mom and Kara showed up. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed, but they just showed up with more stuff. My muscles were aching, my back hurt, and I felt like an old man. The nursery was slowly starting to fill up though, and I was at least happy about that. We had a crib, endless amounts of clothes, a changing table, and I’m pretty sure they had bought out the store’s wipes and diaper supply.

I decided that I might as well start getting some of the stuff put together, so I went to work on the crib first. That had to be one of the most important things.

“I’m going to head to bed, Nick.” I looked over to see Kara standing in the doorway, one hand resting on her stomach, and the other on her lower back. “Are you coming?”

“Um...” I looked at the parts that I had spread out over the floor, and then back to her, shaking my head. I hadn’t even thought about what this whole living together thing actually meant. I couldn’t even think about sharing a bed with Kara because in the morning, I would want to wake up with someone else next to me, not her. “I’ll be in in a little while, I want to get this stuff together.”

“Okay,” she responded quietly, giving me a sleepy smile before heading down the hallway.

I ended up putting everything together, just so I could avoid going into my bedroom. What if us sleeping together, and living together, instantly made her think that we were
together
? Would she want sex? I mean her stomach was huge, could women even have sex when they were that far along? No, just the thought made me sick to my stomach. Not the whole having sex with a pregnant woman thing. No, just the fact that she simply wasn’t Ally.

I couldn’t touch her.

I eyed the couch as I stepped into the dark living room, and I had a feeling that is where I would end up sleeping, at least until I figured some things out. Yeah, Kara was here, we were living together, and about ready to have a baby together, I just couldn’t help but think about the what-if’s though as I collapsed onto the couch and my eyes fell shut.

The usual guilt that started to roll in whenever I tried to sleep, started up quickly. How was Ally? Was she upset? Was she pissed? Was she depressed? Was she back with that asshole? God, I hoped she wasn’t. While it would kill me to see her ending up with anyone, I just wanted her to be happy, and I knew Teddy couldn’t do that for her. He didn’t even deserve the chance.

Somehow, I must’ve finally fallen asleep because the next time my eyes opened it was at the sound of my phone’s alarm coming from my pocket. I jumped when I sat up and saw Kara sitting in the chair across from the couch, staring at me.

“Oh good, you’re finally awake,” she said in a sweet voice, giving me a fake smile. Just what I wanted to wake up to every morning.

“Don’t you need to be at work or something?” I asked as I sat up, craning my neck back and forth. If the couch was my new bed, I needed to get a much more comfortable one.

“Nope,” she answered with a pop. “The doctor wrote me a note for early maternity leave because my blood pressure’s been a little high. He says it has to do with so much stress in my life,” she said, nonchalantly. And she was the cause of most of it, I wanted to add.

“Listen, Nick, I know this whole situation didn’t exactly play out how you wanted. I know you were happy with that girlfriend of yours.” She paused, rolling her eyes, and it made me want to slam my fist through the wall. “But we need to figure out a way to make things work. I’m not saying you need to instantly fall in love with me again or anything, but we do need to get along. Do you really want our daughter growing up with parents that hate each other, living under the same roof? It wouldn’t be very healthy.”

I hated to agree with Kara, but what she said had made sense, mostly.

“If we can’t work things out, maybe I’ll go live with my mom in California. She offered us a place to stay, so after the baby’s born, we could move out there. You could have visitations at like holidays or something.”

My mouth dropped open when I realized she meant just her and my daughter would be going to California. No way in hell I was going to let that happen. No. Way. In. Hell. If I had to get along with Kara to make her stay, I would. I needed to figure out how to do that, quickly.

“No, Kara, that’s not happening. We can make things work, I promise.” I forced a smile onto my face, and that seemed to satisfy her as she sat back in the chair and nodded her head at me. “How ‘bout I make you something for breakfast before I leave, and then I’ll grab you some movies or something to keep you occupied?”

She smiled as I leaned down to cover her legs with a throw blanket, and I froze when she kissed me on the cheek. “Thanks, Nick. I love having you to take care of me. It was so hard on my own.” She pouted her lips, and I tried to keep my eyes from not rolling as I headed into the kitchen. This was going to be difficult, but I had to do it.

I couldn’t imagine not having my daughter in my life all of the time. I didn’t want to deal with all of that visitation mess, especially if Kara was really telling the truth about considering the move to California. That was all the way across the damn country. Not going to happen.

So, I fixed Kara some eggs and orange juice, made a little conversation with her as I got ready for work, and smiled at her when I left. It was exhausting, but it had to be done. And that had just been the start of my day. I couldn’t imagine it getting any better. Is this what I had to look forward to for the rest of my life?

Chapter 25

Ally

It had been over a month since Nick left me alone in the parking lot. Granted, I told him to leave after he stomped all over my heart, but a part of me had wanted him to wrap me up in his arms anyway, and forget all about that bitch Kara.

A million unanswered questions raced through my head for at least a week after he broke things off. Had he cheated on me just like Teddy? What was so wrong with me that the men in my life felt like they needed to do that? Would I ever find someone like Nick again?

I allowed myself to grieve for two weeks and that was it. I wasn’t going to wallow around in self-pity and let myself get all depressed over a guy. A guy that I could’ve seen myself with for the rest of my life. Nope, I wasn’t going to go there anymore. Maybe I would just be done with guys forever. All they caused was heartache and I certainly didn’t need any more of that.

“How you doing today, Al?” Remy asked as I stepped out of my room and grabbed my purse off the counter. She walked on eggshells whenever she was near me, and I hated that she didn’t think she could just act normal around me.

“I’m fine really, Rem. You don’t need to keep asking me that. Really, I’m fine,” I said again, and I’m not sure who exactly I was trying to reassure, her or me. “I’m especially excited because Ben gets here today.”

Her face lit up at the mention of Ben’s name, and I was glad that I had thought to change the subject. “I know, I can’t wait to see him. I’m picking him up from the airport in about an hour. Do you want to ride over with me?”

“I would love to,” I replied, slipping my purse strap over my head. “But I need to run to the craft store for some supplies.” Remy’s eyes widened, probably surprised by the fact that I was actually leaving the apartment.

I didn’t want to chance running into Nick or anyone until I knew that I would be able to handle myself and not have an emotional breakdown in public. While this was a beach town, and there were lots of tourists, there were very few actual year round residents.

“Give Ben a hug for me when you see him, and maybe we can all go out for dinner or something. If you two don’t mind. I’m sure you’ll be plenty busy.” I poked her in the side with my elbow, and she turned a bright shade of red, looking down at the ground to avoid my eyes.

“Jeez, Al, he is your brother and all. Talking to you about that kind of stuff is just a little awkward.”

“Oh please, Rem,” I called over my shoulder before shutting the door. “You can still talk to me, I swear. Just don’t give me
too
many details.”

I drove into town, and picked up a basket as I walked into the craft store. I had been getting a lot of custom orders lately, and they started to get backed up because I couldn’t really concentrate. I wish I could turn my brain off for at least an hour each day, just to give myself a little break from Nick. He was all I could think about.

I picked up some tulle, in a whole rainbow of colors, and added it to my basket. I just started making tutus along with my bows, and I seriously couldn’t get enough of the things. Several of my repeat clients had just started to send me pictures of their little ones in the tutus, and I about peed myself when I saw how adorable they looked. With the clients’ permission, I had added the pictures to my website, and the orders started to really flow in.

“Well, fancy meetin’ you here.” I whirled around, and groaned when I came face to face with Danny. At least it wasn’t Nick, or better yet, Kara. I’m sure she would just have a field day if she could get ahold of me.

“Yeah, right. Do you hang around craft stores often?” I turned to walk down the aisle, but he quickly jumped in front of me, preventing my escape.

“No, they really aren’t my thing. I’ve just been trying to catch up with you, and now I did.”

I placed my hands on my hips as he continued to block my way. “So, what exactly are you saying? You’ve been stalking me?”

An amused smile took over his face. “I’ve missed that smart ass attitude of yours. Can’t we still be friends? Please,” he added, giving me a sad puppy face.

“Sure, just answer me one question, Danny.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I think I can handle that,
Ally-Cat.”
I really felt like smacking him. When he heard Teddy’s nickname for me he thought it was hilarious, and had called me it repeatedly that night at the bar. Apparently, he was sticking with it. For some reason, it didn’t get on my nerves like it did when Teddy said it.

“Did you know?”

“Know what?” he asked, giving me a confused look as he finally relaxed his arms that had been blocking the aisle, and crossed them over his chest.

“About Nick and Kara? Did you know that they were back…together?”

“Ally.” He let out a loud sigh, and shook his head. “Nick is a lot of things, but one thing he isn’t, is a jackass like that ex-husband of yours.”

I snorted loudly, and looked down, trying to find something interesting on the sterile white floor.

“You might not believe me, but no, they weren’t together. There’s more to the story, but I think Nick needs to tell you that part.”

I felt a little bit of weight lift off of my chest at what Danny said, but not much. At least he hadn’t cheated on me, well, at least according to Danny. He had been a good friend to me when I was dating Nick, so I guess I believed him. He had no reason to lie. “Okay, fine. We can be friends again as long as you never mention Nick to me again. Got it?”

“Not a problem, it’s not like I ever get to see him now that—”

I cut him off with my hand. I so did not want to hear about him being with
her
all the time. “No Nick talk, whatsoever.”

“Okay, fine. Whatever you want, Ally-Cat.” He bent down and picked up my basket for me. “So, what other frilly shit do we need to find?”

Nick

“Okay, Kara. C’mon, we need to push one more time.” My hand felt about ready to break off from her squeezing it so tightly, and she let out a long stream of curse words, the nurses not even blinking twice about it. I’m sure they heard that kind of thing all of the time.

“Yeah, one more push my ass, and there’s no
we
about this,” she panted out as she flopped back onto the pillow behind her head. “Just quit talking, I’m ready to get this kid out. Oh, no, another one’s coming.” She sat up quickly, and I grabbed onto one of her legs like the nurse had instructed. I watched her bear down with everything she had, and felt like I was about ready to pass out just from watching her.

“Alright, here we go,” I heard the doctor say before Kara pushed one more time, and the nurses went to work quickly, scooping the baby up and swaddling her in a towel.

The baby.
My
baby.

I was an actual dad now.

They stuck something in her mouth, and a tiny wail escaped as soon as they pulled it out. I never thought I would be so happy in my life to hear a baby cry. The feelings that were running through me were almost overwhelming as the nurses finished doing what they needed to do, and came walking towards us with the tiny bundle.