( This is a Brandon Novak story, If you don't know who that is, google it.)
" Hi, My Name is Holly I am twenty-six, I have a six year old daughter and I've been a heroin addict on and off for almost nine years."
I announced to my new group, of recovering druggies. I sat in the plastic chair wearing a HIM shirt, Jeans and letting my black hair sit on my shoulders, listening to the rest of the group tell me why they were there. Nobody told why they stopped or started and nobody asked why. All I knew was that I had to do this for my daughter, Caylee.
When I got home Caylee was just getting off the school bus.
"So how was your day short stuff?"
I asked, as my brown haired blue eyed daughter skipped past me into the house.
"It was great, Melissa and I only got in trouble once for talking in class because we passed notes instead!"
"Nice."
I laughed, "What do you want for dinner?"
"Let's go to Burger King."
"Sure, let's go now."
I said grabbing my purse. She threw he backpack onto the couch and headed out the door, to my black, beat-up Monte Carlo. I drove a few miles to the nearest burger king. We ordered and sat down. We were almost done eating when Caylee looked at some of the people coming in and her jaw dropped and her eyes got wide.
"Daddy."
She said still staring. I whipped my head around to look and just as she had said her father, Brandon was looking right back. Without another word Caylee stood and bolted to him. His friends all stopped and stared at him. I quickly got up and walked over to where he was holding her in his arms.
"Hey."
"Hey, sorry about that."
I told him motioning towards Caylee.
"It's okay."
He smiled. His friends placed their order at the counter then asked,
"Nudie, who's your friend?"
"Guys this is my friend Holly and our daughter Caylee. Hol, this is Bam, Dunn, Raab, and Dico."
His friends smiled at me and I smiled back and after a few seconds Brandon asked me.
"Clean yet?"
"Yeah, for two years now, you?"
"Sweet, Uhm…yeah me too."
I looked at him for a minute before saying,
"You don't have to lie to me you know."
"What makes you think I am?"
I just looked at him and shook my head.
"Whatever, you couldn't pass a drug test if you took one right now and you know it."
He quickly changed the subject when he saw the looks that his friends were giving him; they obviously thought he had stopped using drugs.
"So how is everyone else?"
"Well Alice wants you dead, Jack is dead, Brain lives next door to me, and Sophie is in a mental Institution."
"…Wow."
"Yeah,"
"Daddy, when you coming home?"
Caylee asked looking up at him with big puppy dog eyes. I raised my eyebrow and waited for his response.
"I…I don't know hunny."
She pushed herself down and out of his arms before looking up at him and saying,
"Your not coming back is you Daddy?"
I glanced at his friends and him, everyone had a pained look on their face and I decided to put him out of his misery.
"Daddy will visit later hun, now we've got to go"
She nodded and I grabbed my purse and we walked out the door, but not before Caylee stuck her tongue out at Brandon and his friends. I started my car and as about to back out but one of Brandon's friends was running towards me, I rolled down my window and he said
"Hey, I'm Bam, what's your cell phone number so he can get directions to your place?"
"555-9082."
"Thanks."
He ran back inside and we left. We got back home and there was already a new message on my phone since I hadn't bothered to bring it with me. The text message said 'Sorry, I'm a bad father, and I hate how I can't keep promises to Caylee.'
I replied with, 'you never gave a fuck before why start now.' He didn't reply and I was happy that he at least realized it was true. Three days went by with nothing from him until one Friday night his friend Bam and him stood on my door step. I looked up from the computer when I heard the knock at the door, Caylee looked out the window and looked at me and said
"Daddy and his friend came!"
She didn't move to go to the door; she just went back to doing her homework.
"Come in!"
I called to them. I watched, as they slowly opened the door and came in.
"Sorry we didn't call first."
Brandon told me.
"It's fine."
I said still looking at the thing I was typing for the magazine company I worked for. The both stood there for a moment before Brandon went and sat next to Caylee.
"Hey babe, look what Daddy got you."
He smiled at her pulling out a brand new 'Vet Barbie'. She took it and said thank you and I watched as she looked at it and then threw it at him. Bam and I watched and tried not to laugh, but when he looked at me and said
"Aren't you going to yell at her?"
I laughed and said,
"No, besides you're her father you can yell at her, and I would have thrown something at you too, not to mention when she throws things at me I throw them back."
He sighed and said he was sorry to her and told her she could still have the doll. Eventually Caylee gave in and let him hold her like she was still a baby. Bam came and sat down at the table I was at and he said
"We forced him to take a drug test a few days ago and you were right, he didn't pass."
"Yeah, well when you've been on that side of the needle you get to know what to look for when you see someone who should have quitted."
"We made him feel bad about not visiting you right away, so I drug him over here."
"Thanks, but you didn't have to we've gone two years at a time without him, were used to it."
"I want you and your daughter to move in with us."
He blurted out.
"What?"
I asked surprised.
"Well I mean, Novak is her Dad and if you were there you could help him quit."
Bam told me, looking at me with pleading eyes. I looked around my small house and finally agreed that we'd move in with them. Bam smiled and told us that he'd have his guys over tomorrow to help pack and move. Brandon and Bam stayed for dinner and then left. I sat down next to Caylee and said
"Were moving in with Daddy tomorrow."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
I smiled at her. She got all excited and bounced up and down for a few minutes before asking.
"Mommy, tomorrows Friday. Do I have to go to school?"
"Yes, but Mommy and Daddy will pick you up from school tomorrow."
The next morning I woke Caylee up for school and watched her get on the bus. I waited around the house putting some things in boxes until around noon when finally I heard the sound of tires in the driveway. Instead of knocking Brandon, Bam and some other guys walked in.
"Holly, you remember Dunn, and Dico. And this is Glomb."
"Yeah, Hi."
I nodded and Bam started ordering his friends around.
"Dico, you get the kids room, Glomb and I will get the living room and kitchen, Dunn and Novak help Holly with her room and the bathroom."
They all nodded and quickly went to work, I showed Dico were Caylee's room was, and I showed Dunn to the bathroom before leading Brandon to my room.
"You can take the closet."
I said as I headed for my dresser. He opened it and looked at all the stuff in my closet and said,
"Gee, thanks."
"Anything for you Brandon"
I laughed, and started throwing underwear, socks, belts and jeans into a box. Within an hour we had filled two boxes of my shirts and hangers, one of pajamas and two of jeans, belts and underwear. Brandon carried all the boxes out into the living room where Glomb and Dico were putting them in the truck they brought. They had almost everything in until Glomb came inside and said
"There's no more room in the truck."
"Put them in my car then."
I suggested, I tossed him the keys and he nodded before going back to work. In just a few more minutes my whole house was packed up and in the cars. I locked the door and got into my car. Brandon hopped in the passenger seat and we pulled out of the driveway. I quickly looked at the time and saw I had to be at the school to get Caylee in five minutes.
"Why aren't you fallowing Bam?"
Brandon asked me, as I turned the opposite road as his friend.
"We have to pick Caylee up."
I said as we pulled in front of the school. He just nodded and got out with me. We walked into the school and too the main office where we were told to wait for her. Soon Caylee was down there and her smile got even wider when she saw both of us. Brandon carried her to the car and set her in the back.
"Let me drive."
He demanded. I shrugged and tossed him the keys. The ride to our new home took about ten minutes and once we got to the gate Brandon realized he didn't have his card so he couldn't get in. I handed him my cell phone so he could call Bam. I could hear Bam laughing on the other end but he reluctantly opened the gate. We pulled up the long drive way and parked in front of the door next to a red hummer. The three of us got out and Brandon led us inside while Glomb appeared to get the rest of the boxes out of my car.
The inside of the house was huge. It was basically a castle. Bam came over and said
"Fallow me and I'll show you your new rooms."
We fallowed him down the stairs and into a room at the end of the stairs.
"This is Caylee's room."
He smiled opening the door and letting her peek in. The room was bright pink and her stuff was neatly set up. On her bed sat a brand new bed set and the Barbie Brandon had given her the day before. Caylee hugged Bam and Brandon before running into her room and forgetting we were even there. Then Bam lead me up stairs back into the living room and then up stairs to where most of the rooms were. My room was next to Brandon's and was painted tan, with most of my things set up like they'd been in my old room. The only things no one put away were my clothes.
"Thank you so much Bam."
I said smiling at him.
"No problem. Novak, give Holly a nice tour of the rest of the house."
He instructed before leaving the room. Brandon and I walked out and looked over the railing at the living room.
"See that hallway that leads off of the living room? That goes to the tower, there it's anything up there but it's kind of cool. Next to my room up here is Dunn's, then Dico's, and then Raabs."
"Cool."
I said as he lead me back down stairs and too the kitchen.
"This, is the Pirate Bar, over there is the fridge, the video games and the washer and dryer."
We walked outside and he showed me the garage the pool area, the backyard, and the hobbit hole. When we got back inside Caylee was already seated in the living room watching TV with Dunn and Dico, whose names I soon found out were actually Ryan and Brandon. Bam's mom and dad came over because I guess she always makes dinner for the boys. Their names are April and Phil, but April told me to call her Ape because everyone else does. They were so nice, and Ape is an amazing cook. Plus it felt good not to have to cook dinner for a night.
Usually Caylee is in bed by eight, but tonight she was so excited that she couldn't sleep. So she sat with me on the couch in the living room while we watched all the guys play a game they called Maniac Pool. Which turned out to be just pool, but they beat each other up during the game. Every time Dico hit someone he'd make a funny face at us or some random noise making Caylee giggle. Around nine Caylee finally fell asleep on the couch so I carried her to bed. The guys were still running around the pool table when I got back up and I announce I was going to bed.
Once I fell asleep it felt like I'd been asleep forever when my phone started ringing. I stood up and went t over to my dresser where it was sitting.
"Hello?"
"Holly?! Where are you are you okay?"
Brian shouted into my ear.
"Oh my god , I'm so sorry I forgot I didn't tell you. We moved. Brandon came home and his friends felt bad for us so they had us move in with them."
"Brandon reappeared."
"Yeah, he's asleep in the next room actually."
"Holly…"
He began in a warning tone.
"Chill out I won't let it happen again, besides there's four other guys living here that seem to be willing to keep him in line anyway."
"Fine, but you know where I am. Have you told Alice yet?"
"No, Do you want to? Because I know she'll just want to scream at me for a few hours anyway."
"Okay, I'll do it for you. You sound tired, go back to bed."
"Okay, Thanks! Night Night."
"Bye."
I shut my phone off and crawled back into bed before passing out again.
In the morning, I walked downstairs and found Bam and Dico sitting on the couch arguing over what they wanted for breakfast and who was going to make it.
"Eggs!"
Dico demanded.
"Cereal!"
Bam shouted. I looked at them and said
"I want pancakes so I'm going to go make some, want any?"
They both looked at me and nodded before fallowing me down to the kitchen to show me where everything is.
"You should make a lot, once the guys smell them they'll come running."
Bam told me as I mixed the batter. I nodded and once the first few were done Caylee and Dunn appeared and then Brandon and Dico. I sat with Caylee on the couch eating while the guys sat at the table. I brought my phone with me downstairs just incase and of course it starts ringing. I looked at the caller ID and found that it was Alice.
"Hello?"
"Really Holly, Really? Why the hell would you go and live with him?! He broke off the engagement, left you for a few years and then comes back and wants to be friends?"
"It's not like that but go ahead and keep yelling because that's the only reason your calling and you know it."
"Damn right it is! I can't believe after all the shit he put you through you'd take him back and-"
I cut her off quickly.
"I didn't take him back Alice."
" You didn't?"
"No."
"Sorry, I just assumed since you moved in with him and his friends that you were back with him."
"Nope."
Oh, my bad, sorry. I'll leave you alone now. Bye."
"Bye."
I rolled my eyes and put my phone back into the pocket of my pajama bottoms.
"Who was that?"
Brandon asked raising an eyebrow at me.
"Alice."
"You told her, you were moving here?"
"No, Brian did."
"How'd he know?"
"He called me last night thinking I'd been kidnapped."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
Once everyone finished eating Raab was elected to do the dishes. Since it was spring and there was no snow on the ground Bam decided he wanted to go skateboarding, so everyone sat outside. The mail soon came and Dunn ran to get it. He left most of it inside except for one, that he handed to Bam.
"Another township letter, Noise violation."
He scoffed.
"You know what! I'm going to make my own state, state of Bam!"
We all looked at him funny, and also notice Ape and Phil had pulled up and were now listening to his rant.
" Raab, Phil, get me land. Dico, Dunn get me some homes! Novak, Holly, call Glomb and tell him to build me a monument."
Bam said before leaving us all standing in his driveway with questioning looks on our faces. In a few hours Bam had us all setting up trailers on some piece of land a few miles from the house. Caylee and Dico played tag, while I sat in between Dunn and Brandon in lawn chairs with our backs facing Dunn's trailer. Ape and Phil were still setting up their trailer, Bam was talking to the cameramen for his TV show and Glomb was still off building Bam's 'monument'.
"How does Caylee like it here?"
Brandon asked me.
"She loves it."
I smiled as she jumped over my legs with Dico fallowing close behind her.
" I'm sorry."
Brandon whispered.
"For?"
"Ditching you again."
"Oh."
I sighed, I really didn't want to have this conversation, I was having so much fun it could have been a dream but this conversation just dragged me back into reality. Dunn got up and went to help Bam with something while we continued to talk.
"Do you still have your ring?"
I nodded and pulled on the chain that was around my neck. In the middle of the chain was the engagement ring that Brandon had spent his entire collage fund on.
"Why don't you wear it on your hand?"
"Why don't you wear yours?"
I fired back. He pulled out his wallet and opened it to wear you'd keep bills, he then pulled out his engagement band and showed me. I just nodded, surprised he still had it.
" Is it too late to take every thing back and ask you to be my wife again?"
"No, but I'm not going to say yes. You've taught me that even when I want to trust you I can't because you can't trust yourself. For now I'll keep my ring, and maybe one of these days we'll actually get that wedding we planned."
I told him before giving him a kiss on the cheek and leaving to go find Caylee. A few hours later everyone was sitting by a huge campfire. I sat in-between Bam and Brandon, Caylee was sleeping in-between my legs on the lawn chair. We all sat in a circle starting with Bam, Me, Brandon, Dunn, Dico, Glomb, Ape, Phil, Raab, and we were telling random and funny stories.
" So Holly, I would love to hear the story of how you and Nudie Novak met?!"
Bam exclaimed looking at me as he spoke.
"Okay."
I said cautiously looking at Brandon out of the corner of my eye, but he was already passed out.
"You know how in high school how there's always one couple who just seemed to be perfect together and nobody could remember a time when they dated anyone else?"
Everyone nodded.
"Well that was us. We met in Kindergarten, and were best friends until we started dating in seventh grade. We stayed together for all of high school."
I stopped waiting for the next question to get tossed my way.
"Then what?"
Ape asked before anyone else could.
"Then, we got engaged our senior year of high school. The wedding was going to be three years later. Friday August 25th, but we lost everything. We had no money, we went bankrupt, our parents disowned us. The drugs took over our lives and then I got pregnant. Brandon got scared and ran away, I didn't see him again until I woke up in the hospital after Caylee was born to see him standing there holding her. He stayed with us until she was four, and then he ran off again and came back for Caylee's fifth birthday and stayed for a few months. That time when he left he never came back, and I'm sure if Caylee hadn't pointed him out, or ran up to him that day at burger king, that we'd never see him again."
I studied their faces when I was done, a few looked sad others looked confused and one or two had blank looks on their faces.
"What happened to the engagement?"
Ape asked me.
"Technically it's still on, we both still have the rings. He asked me again but I can't marry him, as much as I want to, if I can't trust him to trust himself."
Everyone at the same time asked the same question, "Can I see the ring?" I laughed and took the necklace off. I passed it to Bam who looked at it and passed it to Raab before asking me
"How could he afford that?!"
"He used his collage money, that's mostly why his parents hate me so much. I told him I could wait for a ring but he wouldn't listen."
"What does his look like?" asked Glomb. Brandon had since rolled onto his stomach, so I reached into his back pocket and got the ring out of his wallet. I passed that too Bam as well. Dunn handed me my ring back and soon I got Brandon's and slipped it back into his wallet.
"It's beautiful!"
Ape exclaimed.
"Thank you."
I smiled while admiring my ring for the billionth time. Everyone was just sitting in silence for the moment so I stood and carried Caylee to our tent that was set up near Ape's 'pretty trailer'. I tucked her in on the air mattress and zipped the tent back up before re-joining everyone else. It was almost three in the morning when everyone finally went to bed, or passed out in their chair.
When I woke up, I heard everyone running around, and a lot of shouting. I quickly got dressed and neatly threw my hair into a bun before leaving the tent. I looked around and saw Brandon, chasing after everyone, naked. I looked over to where Ape was standing next to Dico who was covering Caylee's eyes. Suddenly everyone was staring at me, but I couldn't figure out why until I was tackled to the ground, by one very wet Brandon Novak.
"Ew! What are you covered in?!"
I shouted as I rolled out from under him.
"That would be, booze, pond water and a few snot rockets."
Bam said throwing Brandon a pair of boxers.
"Gross."
I complained grabbing a new hoodie, from the tent, to put on.
"Why was he covered in that?"
"He needed a bath."
Dunn told me appearing next to me.
"And that got him clean?"
"Actually it probably did."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
We both stood there for a few minutes before he asked me,
"Hey, uhm do you want to go out to breakfast?"
"Sure."
I smiled. He gave me a smile back and then I fallowed him to his motorcycle that was parked next to Bam's hummer. I hopped on the back, after telling Brandon and Dico to watch Caylee, and then we sped off towards town. We drove around for a few minutes before realizing that the only place that we wanted to go to was the diner. We went in and sat down, we placed our order and while we waited we talked more.
" So are you really going to marry Novak?"
"Maybe one day, but not yet."
"Why would anyone want to marry him?"
I smiled and said " It's just something that feels right. It's hard to explain."
He nodded and we sat in silence until our food finally came. We ate and then drove around a little before heading back to the 'State of Bam' around one-ish. When we got back everyone was standing around a white car that sat on the top of the hill facing the pond.
"What are you guys doing?"
I asked as I approached them.
"Bam and Novak are going to ski a car."
Glomb announced proudly. I looked at him skeptically but watched as Bam and Brandon hopped in the car and Bam floored it down the hill and into the water. I shook my head and laughed as they hit the water and Brandon quickly swam to the shore while Bam stayed on top of the car as it sank. Ape handed them both a towel and they decided to start their drinking binge. Caylee went to sleep in the tent early that night and I drank with the boys.
I woke up the next morning with a horrible hangover, and when I finally regained some of my common since I realized I was laying naked in between Dunn and Brandon, in Dunn's trailer. I sat up and glanced around the trailer to find my clothes in a pile on the counter. I pulled them on and quietly left the trailer. It was completely quiet outside, and taking a quick look at my cell phone I found it was already noon. Everyone's cars where still here, and Caylee must have been off at school, Ape had gone to work but everyone else was still passed out. So I changed into clean clothes and sat down in a lawn chair with a book and read until around two when Brandon stumbled out and sat in the grass in front of me.
"You wouldn't happen to know why I woke up naked next to Dunn would you?"
"Don't worry I was naked in between you two."
I muttered not looking at him.
"Do you remember anything?"
"No."
I replied, even though I remembered the sex, with Dunn and Brandon.
"Liar."
He groaned. I shrugged and one after the other everyone else stumbled out into the circle of chairs.
Over the next week we stayed at the State of Bam but eventually left and went back to the castle so we could take actual showers and eat something other than hotdogs and hamburgers. I drove Caylee to school the next morning and back at the house found they left Brandon and I home alone while they all went to Europe for Ape and Phil's anniversary. Brandon was laying on the couch naked watching an old episode of Viva la Bam, so when I walked in I plopped down on his feet and watched it with him.
About half way through the show my phone started ringing.
"Hello?"
"So when can we see this new place?"
Brian asked.
"I don't know hold on."
I cover the phone and asked Brandon, he suggested today. I told Brian and he said cool. Brandon went up stairs and pulled on some jeans before the Brain called and told me he was at the front gate. Once he pulled up to the house and got out I realized he wasn't alone. Alice was with him, and Brandon was sitting on the couch.
"Alice is with him."
I said peeking out the window before opening the front door. I heard Brandon shut the TV off and go downstairs into the pirate bar.
"Hey guys!"
I greeted them joyously. They hugged me and I moved over to let them inside.
"It's huge in here!"
Brain exclaimed.
"How many people live here?"
Alice asked as she looked around the living room.
" Seven."
I told her as I watched them walk around the living room.
"Where's Brandon?"
Alice asked looking at me.
"I'm not sure."
"Where's all the rest of the people that live here?"
"Europe."
"What's down there?"
Brian asked pointing to the pirate bar.
"The kitchen I said leading them downstairs were we found Brandon sitting at the table looking at a picture. When he saw us come down he shoved the picture back into his wallet.
"Hey."
He said to them faking a smile. Alice glared at him and Brian gave him a hug. I watched Alice just stare at him with her arms folded. I always had a feeling there was something more to the reason Alice hated him so much and I'm sure it had nothing to do with him constantly leaving me.
"I wanna see your room!"
Brian told me.
"Okay."
I laughed.
"Alice are you coming?"
"No, I wanna have a little talk with Brandon."
"Okay, just try not to murder him, He has to pick up Caylee from school today."
I said leading Brian back up the stairs.
"Forget your room, I wanna know what she's saying to him!"
Brian whispered before I even got to the other side of the living room. I smiled at him and we sat at the top of the stairs listening to the conversation.
" I thought you left her for good."
Alice growled.
"Well sorry Caylee found me, and as much as you don't like to hear it I love my daughter and I love Holly."
"If you loved Holly so fucking much then why did you cheat on her with me, and promise me you were going to leave her for me!"
If Brian hadn't instinctively held me down I would have flew down there and busted her face in.
"I wasn't thinking and I was wasted and you fucking know it. I'm never going to be with you Alice get over it!"
Brandon growled right back.
"I love you Brandon why can't you see you and I were meant to be together forever! I want you back."
"How can you want be back when I was never yours to begin with?!"
"Look at us, we are so much alike. Holly is nothing like you! She's a prissy ballet dancer!"
"Stop it."
"No, Brandon I'm not leaving until I have you back."
I heard Brandon sigh but the phone rang interrupting his answer.
"I've got it!"
I called. Brian stayed to listen while I picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi, This is Principal Mongomery calling for Ms. Novak, Caylee's mother?"
"Speaking."
"I'm sorry to report that Caylee had an accadent on the play ground and has been sent to the hospital."
"What hospital?!"
"Philadelphia general."
"What the hell happened?"
"Another student pushed her while she was on the ladder to the slide and she fell back and hit her head on the last step."
I hung up on the man and grabbed my car keys, cell phone, and jacket. Brain was hot on my heels as I headed down stairs and as I walked past Alice and Brandon I told them
"Caylee's in the hospital."
Before I got out the door Brandon was moving quickly next to me. Alice not far behind. Brandon hopped in the passenger seat of my car and Alice and Brian fallowed us as we headed for Philadelphia.
"What happened?"
"She got pushed on the play ground and hit her head on the steps of the slide."
I told him trying to hide the fear in my voice.
"Are you okay?"
He asked apprehensively. I waited until we got to a red light before I smacked him in the back of the head.
"Sorry, dumb question."
He muttered. I noticed he was suddenly wearing his ring, had he been wearing that all day? I still had mine on a chain around my neck but as I drove I slipped it onto my finger.
" What did Brian think of your room?"
He asked, obviously trying to take my mind of Caylee. I laughed in reply and shook my head.
"You guys didn't even make it up their did you?"
I smirked in response and he quickly asked me,
"How much did you hear?"
"When did the phone ring?"
"Oh."
He said looking away embarrassed. When I said nothing else he watched me while I drove. It wasn't until we were fifteen minutes from the hospital when he said to me
"I'm yours forever Holly, Even if you don't want me anymore, I'm yours."
Inside I smiled and my heart did summersaults but the fact that I could see the hospital now forced me to keep quiet because I knew the moment I opened my mouth I'd shatter into a million tiny pieces and cry in his arms until my I couldn't cry anymore. Without another word we parked and everyone fallowed me into the hospital.
"Hello, how may I help you?"
He receptionist smiled at us.
"My daughter was brought here from school a few hours ago."
"Last name?"
"Novak."
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Brandon, Alice and Brian's eyebrows raise in wonder, I never told anyone I gave Caylee Brandon's last name.
"Caylee?"
She asked looking for a confirmation.
"Yes."
"Only immediate family, Are you her parents?"
"Yes."
"Can I see some ID?"
Brandon and I both handed her our IDs and she looked them over and handed them back to us before she told us,
"Room 254, West wing."
"Thank you."
I said before almost running to the room. Alice and Brian went and sat in the waiting room while Brandon fallowed me down the west wing of the building.
"How long has she had my last name?"
"Since she was born, didn't you read the birth certificate?"
"I don't think I did."
He said slightly embarrassed. I shrugged and walked into the room labeled 254. Inside my daughter laid on the hospital bed, with bandages on her head watching a TV that was playing Courage the Cowardly Dog.
"Mommy?"
She asked when the door opened.
"Yeah hun it's me. Are you okay?"
I said standing by her side. Brandon stood next to me waiting for Caylee to notice he came too.
" Andrew pushed me, he couldn't wait his turn. It hurt at first but the nice doctors made it all better. They said that when I got better they'd give me a lollipop to go home with."
She smiled at us.
"Daddy!"
She squealed finally noticing him.
"Hey sweetie."
He smiled gently stroking her face. A few minutes later a doctor strolled in to check up on her, and informed us that she wouldn't be able to leave until tomorrow. I declared that I was staying her with her, and Brandon said he was too. I went and told Brian and Alice we were staying here for the night and they said they'd go home and call us tomorrow. I got back to Caylee's room and found Brandon and her playing connect four on her bedside table. Brandon was letting her win. I smiled at them, they were my life and not even stupid Alice could take it away from me.
That night we both fell asleep in the room with Caylee. In the morning I woke up to my phone viberating in my pocket. I had two missed calls and a text message. One call was Alice the other was Brian and the text was from Bam.
Bam: Why isn't anyone answering the house phone?
Me: Brandon and I are at the hospital. Caylee got hurt at school. We'll be back at the house later.
Bam: Is she okay.
Me: Yeah she just hit her head, and needed a few stitches.
Bam: Okay. =)
I didn't bother to call back Alice or Brian, they'd called Brandon too and he cared less than I did. We didn't get home until four-thirty and by then Alice had called Brandon fifteen times and I had finally talked to Brian and told him everything was fine. Brian told Alice and they both wanted to come visit Caylee but we said no visitors. Alice didn't care and showed up at the house anyway.
"Hey hunny how are you feeling?"
Alice cooed at Caylee.
"Fine. Thank you."
She smiled. Secretly Caylee hated Alice because Caylee could see right through Alice's fake smiles. The whole time Alice was over Brandon held my hand and refused to move. Alice wasn't happy about it and made another attempt to talk to him alone but he said no and she finally gave up and left.
Around eight I tucked Caylee in and went back up into the living room. Brandon was sitting on the couch facing the TV but the TV wasn't on. He was looking at a picture the same one I assume he was looking at the day Alice and Brain came over.
"What's that?"
I asked sitting next to him. He turned the picture so I could see it, It was taken at Caylee's first birthday party. The picture was of Brandon with both his arm's around me while I held Caylee, the rings on our fingers stood out, and we both had big smiles on our faces.
"I can't believe you still have this."
He smirked at me and said
"Come with me."
I fallowed him up to his room and I sat on his bed while he searched under the bed for something. He pulled out a blue box and took the lid off. He handed me something that looked like a binder. I opened it and saw it was a scrapbook. The first page was the same picture that he had been looking at downstairs. The title above it said ' My Family'. I smiled and flipped through the book. A lot of it was high school pictures of us together and there were some of him holding Caylee. There was one of us three at the hospital that I don't remember being taken, and even some from my 16th birthday party. It had all of Caylee's school pictures up until this year.
I looked up at him smiling, I didn't realize he had sat next to me and had been watching me, until now. Wordlessly he grabbed another box and removed the lid. This one was all loose pictures of us. Some dating back to kindergarten. As I went through the pictures I couldn't think of a single word to describe how I felt, or what I wanted to let him know. All I wanted to do was kiss and hug him.
"Why did you keep these for so long?"
I asked in almost a whisper.
"Because when I'm too old to remember my name I want to be able to look at these and know what made my life worth living."
I could see the tears welling in his eyes. I couldn't hold myself back any longer, I kissed him. He kissed me back and we just sat there for a few moments kissing before we relized we were both crying.
"We must look so stupid right now."
He laughed wiping his eyes.,
"At least were being stupid together."
I laughed wiping off my now messy eyeliner. It was now about one and I finally realized how tired I was. I stood and started to head to my room but before I made it to the door Brandon asked
"Stay with me?"
I nodded and curled up next to him on his bed. He pulled the blanket over us and we fell asleep. We didn't wake up until around noon and when we did we couldn't figure out where Caylee was until we realized she had went to school.
"She's like you, Doesn't want to ruin her perfect attendance."
Brandon laughed.
"Shut Up."
I said throwing a cat toy at his head. He stick his tongue out at me as he dodged it. We sat in on the couch in the pirate bar all day and cuddled in front of the fire place we never lit until Caylee got home. We all went out for dinner at the diner in town and when we got back we found Bam had called. His message said that they'd be back next week and we better have the house clean like he left it. For a few hours I sat down and typed some articles and e-mailed them to my boss, before going to find Brandon and Caylee who were playing Barbie's downstairs.
"Mommy! Daddy's almost as good at playing Barbie as you!"
I laughed and said
" Yeah he always did like to play with dolls."
"Do you wanna play mom?"
"No thank you, I'll just watch."
I smiled. Brandon wasn't even Ken, so it just made it twice as funny when he tried to make the Barbie's kiss and then Caylee would yell at him that Barbie wouldn't never do that. Eventually Caylee tired herself out and we went upstairs and turned on the TV. We started watching an episode of Paranormal state when we noticed it was raining really hard outside. About half an hour later the power went out. We searched the house for flashlights and candles and finally found an electric lantern that we turned on downstairs in the pirate bar. We sat across from each other at the table and finally had the conversation we'd been avoiding since Alice came over.
"Did you really cheat on me with her?"
"Yes."
He said sighing, I said nothing and he hesitated to explain.
" Remember after Caylee was born and we had that huge fight?"
I nodded.
"We'll at first I came here, to Bam's because I knew you were way to mad at me to let me sleep at the house. Of course Bam thought he'd cheer me up by taking me to the bar. Alice showed up at the bar when I was half way through my tenth beer. She realized I was too drunk to know who she was, so she pretended she was you. I didn't know it was Alice until I woke up the next morning. That's why I didn't come back for awhile, I felt like scum. I couldn't take tell you, or seeing you because I'm such a piece of shit."
He explained looking me in the eyes. The way he said it made me almost positive he was telling the truth but just incase, I was going to ask Bam when he got home.
"Why did she keep saying she wanted you back?"
"I really don't know. I never knew she liked me until that night. I never dated her, I never had any feelings for her."
"Okay."
"You believe me?"
"Do you want me to think your lying?"
I asked confused.
"I am telling the truth but I don't know why you'd believe me after what an ass I've been."
" Brandon, you've done some fucked up shit but don't you think If I was going to leave and never come back that I would be long gone by now?"
"I don't know."
"I love you, you idiot."
He smiled and said
"I don't think I could ever stop loving you."
I smiled and he leaned over the table and kissed me. The power didn't come back on until morning and we had fallen asleep on the couch in the pirate bar so Caylee woke us up to tell us. I drove her to school and sat at the table across from Brandon eating my breakfast. Brandon and I were the only ones home still because Bam and everyone wouldn't be back until tomorrow.
"You know what I want?"
I asked randomly.
"huh?"
"Fish."
I said absentmindedly. Brandon's face went from a look of confusion to horror. At first I didn't get what was wrong and then suddenly I realized that one, I'm highly allergic to fish and two, the last time I told Brandon I wanted fish we found out I was pregnant with Caylee two days later. Brandon stood up quickly as my face went from a look of horror to anger. The last time I had sex was ether him or Dunn, I couldn't remember anymore.
"I'm going to Castrate You!"
I told him right before he bolted out the back door with me hot on his heels. All through high school we would get into fights and one of us would run away and the other would chase after, I always lost. Until I got into my twenties and then I started getting faster. Now as I chased Brandon to were everyone was behind the hobbit hole, I sprang and landed on top of Brandon pinning him to the ground. I started punching him, not hard but hard enough to make me feel better. He did nothing but put his hands in front of his face because at this point the knew if he managed to throw me off, he'd feel bad about hurting me and then I'd kill him in his sleep. Finally I stopped and he asked
"Had enough?"
"No."
I growled at him. For a few more minutes I just sat on his chest and then when I stood up I was nice enough to help him back up, before pushing him down again.
"Want that fish still?"
He said trying not to laugh.
"I will castrate you if your not carefully."
"What if it's not my fault this time?"
"Your funny."
"Sorry."
"Will you go to the store?"
I said sweetly with a smile on my face.
"Only if we can have sex again after you take it."
I glared at him but said fine. He got home and I was nervous as hell. I went into the bathroom with the EPT and waited fifteen minutes after peeing on the stick. A little + meant I was pregnant and a - meant I wasn't. I couldn't look at it so I made Brandon do it, when he came out he wouldn't tell me, he made me go see. Low and behold the little stick showed a small + sign.
"Damn it."
I muttered under my breath. Brandon picked me up and happily carried me to his room. We stayed in there until it was time to get Caylee. We both went and got her. I cooked dinner and we played monopoly until we were all tired. Again I fell asleep in Brandon's arms.
It was Saturday and Bam was due home. The three of us were curled up on the couch under a blanket watching TV when Bam and everyone came in.
"We're home!"
He shouted.
"Yay!"
I shouted back. They all put their things in their rooms before plopping themselves down somewhere in the living room with us.
"How was Europe?"
I asked.
"Vito ruined everything, again."
Bam scoffed.
"Why don't you do destroy one of his cars then?"
I suggested. He suddenly got an evil grin on his face.
"Anyone want to go golfing?"
Everyone except Brandon, Caylee and I nodded and jumped in excitement. Within the next hour Bam and the guys were back and outside making a mini-golf course because they challenged Vito to a game of golf. We didn't play but we watched the game. Some of the holes were really funny, my personal favorite was the Zombie hole. They were at the fifth hole and Vito was having a fit so I was sitting in the grass with Brandon watching Caylee play some of the holes.
"Holly?"
"Yeah?"
"Marry me?"
Brandon asked me.
"Of course."
I smiled. He took his ring out of his wallet and placed it on his finger and I took mine off my necklace and let him put it on my hand where it rightfully belonged. We got up and walked with everyone to the next hole hand in hand.
After dinner we announced that we were engaged again, and Bam decided that we were having the wedding in three days. So Ape and I went to get my dress and get Caylee's flower girl dress. Finally we were standing outside the church. My parents had shown up and so had Brandon's, I think they were just there because they wanted to see who would flake first. Alice and Brain where there too, they sat near the back of the church and Alice skipped the reception but it was nice that they came.
" Do you Brandon Novak take Holly Smith to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I Do."
"And do you Holly Smith Take this Brandon Novak to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do."
"You may now kiss the bride."
Three years later, We live in a fairly big house across the street from Bam. Caylee's nine, and I had a baby boy we named him Brandon, after his father, he's three. We have a chocolate lab, named Xavier. Finally, Brandon and I got our forever, and we couldn't be any happier.
The End.