A.N. Enjoy

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek

Chapter 12 : Happy Birthday Thomas…and Casey's Surprise

Saturday arrived. Casey started getting ready at around two in the afternoon. She bathed and then wore a pair of maternity jeans and one of her favourite new tops which was light pink with dark pink embroidery. Casey applied some light make-up to her face, took the wrapped up game she had bought for Thomas and headed off to Sandy's house. Her friend greeted her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek and they went to the kitchen where Casey would help her prepare. Joe was putting up decorations in the sitting room and Thomas was watching TV while the girls prepared food. Casey started preparing the chocolate cake and some chocolate muffins while Sandy prepared some sandwiches. They covered the sandwiches with aluminium foil and stored them in the fridge, and gave instructions to Joe to check on the chocolate cake while they headed out to the supermarket to get some candy and drinks. Sandy drove to the closest one and they selected bags of mini chocolate bars, two packets of liquorish, some gummy bears, some mini croissants and sponges and about seven 2 litre bottles of soft-drinks and orange juice. They paid for the stuff and drove back to Sandy's apartment to store everything in the fridge. The cake was finished and Joe had followed their instructions. It was now setting on the countertop. There were two hours left for the guests to start coming and so Casey helped Sandy to clean up the clutter a bit and after a while, they started to divide the stuff they had bought into little bowls which they placed in a circle all around the circumference of the round dining table with the cake in the middle on which Casey had spelt 'Happy Birthday Thomas' with coloured Smarties. The two sandwich trays were also placed on either side of the cake and they selected some soft music to play in the kitchen area and some DVDs which the kids would watch. Soon, the guests started to arrive. They all brought presents with them, which Sandy placed neatly in a pile alongside Casey's present and their own. The kids watched the animated movies while the women and their boyfriends or husbands chatted as they ate sandwiches and drank soft drinks. Casey drank water. She felt out of place; she was the only one without a companion. Sandy knew exactly how Casey was feeling so she held her close and rubbed her shoulders. Casey wanted to smile at her best friend but she couldn't bear to look up for fear that she would cry due to being so touched by this moment. She had found a true friend and she didn't want to let her go. The time to open up Thomas's presents came. Everyone sat around Thomas while he opened up each present bit by bit. He got a lot of games, some soft toys and a Thomas the Tank engine train set. Thomas smiled at all of these gifts and he hugged everybody after opening them up.

"Thank you Casey," he mumbled as he wrapped his arms around her neck and cuddled into her arms. Casey held him close and knew how it would feel to love a child so much.

"Happy Birthday Tommy," she said as she ruffled his hair and sent him off to embrace his parents who had bought him an Xbox despite their financial difficulties. When all the guests left, Casey and Sandy cleaned up while Joe ate all the remaining gummy bears. Casey had an extra piece of cake as it tasted so good and Casey joined. They stored the rest of it in the fridge so that Joe could indulge later during his favourite wrestling show. Only a few soft drinks were left and they stored them in the cupboards. They threw out the remaining bread and stored the remaining chocolate in a jar. Casey hugged her friend, wore the hoodie she had brought with her and decided to walk to her dad's apartment. She made her way slowly in the breeze. When she arrived, she took off her jacket, realized that her dad wasn't home judging by the TV remote which was still the way she had left it and probably wouldn't be as he sometimes spent his nights away ; probably at some woman's house. But Casey didn't mind.

She walked upstairs to her room, and couldn't believe the horrible surprise awaiting her on her very bed. Her heart sunk, her breathing became shallow and her world was divided as she met the eyes of none other than Truman French.

"Surprised?" he asked.

She couldn't speak.

"Who fucked you Casey? Cos I surely didn't…"

"It's none of your business," she managed to stutter.

"By the way, your friend is a total fool Case… she totally fell for it."

"Emily?" Casey asked.

"Yeah…I told her I wanted to surprise you by asking you to marry me, and she thought it was so sweet. She revealed your whereabouts in less than sixty seconds."

"You tricked her into telling you," Casey said, "How could you?"

"Haven't you ever heard…that one would do anything for love?"

"Love?! You've never loved me! Get out and go away from here Truman. I don't want you."

"You'd better shut up and be quiet if you ever want to see that bastard child be born."

Casey looked at him. Her eyes filled up with tears.

"Don't hurt me while I'm pregnant Truman…don't go so low…"

He looked at her, "I've no problem with that…as long as you stay with me."

"But…"

"As I said Casey; your choice."

"But why do you keep tormenting me so? Haven't you had enough of me?"

"Oh no Case," he replied, "I can't let myself live if you let somebody fuck you but wouldn't let me…I won't stay put until you let me do that…"

"Not while I'm pregnant that's for sure! And not even later…"

"I don't like the last part Case. Shut up," he said, "Now pack and let's go."

"What?"

"Yeah…I even got an apartment here for us."

"What did you tell your aunt?"

"She thinks I'm visiting my future college. Little does she know I've rejected the acceptance. I'm getting a job in the winter. I wouldn't want my kid to get hungry now, would I?"

He was up in her face now. Casey was scared. Tears were forming in her eyes.

"Not your kid," she replied.

He slapped her straight across the face.

"The child will never be yours Truman," she challenged.

"But you will be, and if you tell that child I'm not its fucking father, I will kill it and you in the split of a second. I'm not scared of anyone or anything Casey. Nobody will know you're dead and I'm not afraid of doing it."

"You've gone crazy Truman…you need to seek help."

"Shut up bitch. You're such a whore – you got pregnant the moment you left me. Look at yourself. You've got the body of an impregnated whore."

"Shut up; I'm not that type of person."

"Do as I said…and nobody gets hurt." Casey knew that her ex-boyfriend had gone mad. She knew it for sure. But she also knew that he had no limits and he would do as he said; he was definitely not bluffing. She gulped and sent him out of her room so that she could pack quietly. He went to the bathroom and she took out her clothes and folded them neatly into her suitcase once more. She looked at her bracelet and at all the other precious things she had. She decided to leave them exactly where they were and she just took her laptop and her clothes with her and of course she kept her bracelet on. She walked out of her room and went downstairs to find Truman checking out what was in the fridge.

"I'm ready to go," she said.

"Don't glare at your boyfriend Casey; it's rude." He said as he smirked, "Apologise."

"I'm not a toy."

He walked over to her and grabbed her wrists. He grabbed and squeezed them hard.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

"Good girl," he mocked as he kissed her. It felt so unnatural.

He let her hold her bags which were quite heavy and they walked to his apartment. It was a long walk. It took them thirty minutes to get there and Casey felt exhausted. They walked up the stairs : two flights and Casey put her bags down in the entrance to the small apartment.

"Where's my room?" she asked him.

He held her hand and led her to a door opposite the main one. It was a room with a double bed with cheap linen.

"This is our bed," he told her.

"What?"

"Yeah," he replied, "Go get your stuff."

She went to the entrance to get her bags and carried them to their room. Her back was aching by now.

She unpacked and put everything in the small closet space he had left for her.

Tears came to Casey's eyes.

"I'm going to shower," she said as she walked over to the couch where he was watching TV.

"No. You'll just waste water. You've already showered today, haven't you? Shower tomorrow."

"Fine," she replied to avoid another slap, "How did you get into my dad's apartment anyway?"

"I broke the lock."

"OK. I'm going to sleep," she said.

He nodded.

She went to their cheap and uncomfortable bed and lay down to sleep. She found it hard to close her eyes in such an unfamiliar environment. She felt him coming into the dark and laying down next to her. His hands stroked her hair and his hands travelled down her side. He covered her belly. Casey couldn't understand.

"What's happening?" she asked him.

He quickly took his hands back to his sides.

"What bitch? You woke me up."

"Mm, ok nothing," she replied, "I must have been dreaming. Sorry."

"Fine. Go to sleep." She pretended to close her eyes and felt him turn around. Casey's eyes welled up with tears. She had gone from being a normal teenager with a blended and loving family and a comfortable home to a pregnant girl living with someone she was forced to sleep next to and who hurt her if she decided not to listen to what he wanted.

Then she closed her eyes and dove into a peaceful sleep away from her waking nightmares.