winner of the worst updater of the year award... goes to me! i am soooo sincerely sorry for taking so long for this measly update. i don't really have any good solid excuses save for the fact that i couldn't figure out what i wanted to write next. i've also been working on other things that have been preoccupying my time. i think i've got some good ideas lined up now though, so hopefully the writing comes easier.
but, i just want to thank you all who have been waiting for this update for waaay too long. im so sorry yet again for my lack of updates. you all are seriously the best readers i could have ever hoped for. you inspire me in every way. all of you are amazing! :)
heres you long awaited update. more to come soooon.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: American Honey
Steady as a preacher
Free as a weed
Couldn't wait to get goin'
But wasn't quite ready to leave
So innocent, pure and sweet
American honey
American Honey: Lady Antebellum
I was at his side in less than a second, holding him in my arms. "Shane," I cried softly, "wake up please. Wake up."
It didn't take long for someone else to notice a person passed out in the hallway. A nurse bent down next to me. "What is wrong?"
"I have no idea. He just walked out of the room and collapsed," I rushed.
She grabbed his wrist checking for a pulse. "He's alright. I think he's just passed out. What was he doing before?"
"He was in there watching his aunt have an emergency C-section," I said pointing to the door a couple doors down.
"I'm guessing it's just stress related then. Will you help me move him into a room? I will get him some medicine and water. He should be up in no time," the nurse said standing.
At that moment a couple things happened. I could hear the kids from the waiting room rushing up behind me. Their feet moving in a fast, worried pace. Just as they were closing in Nate and Jason stepped out of the room. Their faces looked considerably happy compared to the one on Shane a few seconds ago. When they saw him crumpled on the floor, the happiness instantly diminished.
"What happened?" Jason said bending down to help the nurse get Shane to his feet.
Nate stepped in and looped Shane's limp arm around his shoulders.
"I saw him walk out of the room, and he just collapsed," I sobbed softly.
"He said he needed to get some air, that he wasn't feeling well," Jason explained. "He must really not have been feeling well."
"He will be okay," the nurse informed. "Look he's already starting to wake up."
I snapped my eyes to his face. Sure enough, those beautiful eyes were fluttering open. My heart released the worry that it had been holding.
"What's everyone staring at?" he wondered shifting his weight against Jason.
"You, you idiot. You just collapsed in the middle of the hallway," I chuckled.
"That's embarrassing," he stated.
Everyone laughed. He was fine.
The nurse stepped in front of him to take a better look at his eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"Just a little dizzy and really thirsty."
"You're going to be fine," the nurse said. "Just take it easy for a little bit. I'm going to go get you some water. Why don't you sit somewhere?"
He nodded sitting down against the wall. "I'm fine everyone," he announced to the small audience he held. "You should take the little kids back into the room."
I looked up at Nate and Jason, smiles stretching across their faces. "I hope these are good smiles," I hoped.
Nate nodded excitedly. "Mom and baby are alive and doing well!"
I screamed along with everyone else. I threw my arms around Nate's shoulders and hugged him close to me. "I told you everything would be okay."
He nodded against my head.
"So," I said pulling away from him, "what is it!"
"Baby girl," he smiled widely.
I squealed again. "Aw! Does she have a name yet?"
"Alexandria May Black," he said. "We are going to call her Lexa."
"That is adorable! When will be able to see her?"
"Jason and I were just heading down when we walked out the door. I don't think we will be able to hold her yet. They are going to put her in the nursery after they run some more tests on her to make sure everything is okay. But I think we can go see Mom."
"You two go ahead and take whoever wants to go. I'll sit here with this goofball." I cocked my head towards Shane who was leaning his head back against the cool wall.
"Hey, I can still hear you know."
I laughed hugging Nate again. "Tell your mom congratulations from me. Shane and I will be down as soon as he feels better."
"Thank you Mitch," he smiled. "Who wants to go see Mom?"
All the kids cheered excitedly. Hollace grabbed onto Nate's hand, her brown hair bouncing around everywhere. "Feel better Shane," his cousins and siblings told him as they passed by.
Once the hallway was clear of the Color Clan save for Shane and I, I finally sat down next to him and took one look at his face and busted out laughing.
He cracked one eye open and groaned. "I'm glad you find my passing out so hilarious."
"Shane Gray passing out, I never thought it was a possibility. I was extremely worried don't get me wrong. I just didn't know you weren't invincible."
He groaned again but reached out to grab for my hand. I quickly laced my fingers through his loving the feeling it always gave me when they meshed perfectly together.
"I'll be fine. I think everything just got to me so fast that I didn't know how to handle it. I'll be good in no time though."
"I have no doubt about that," I smiled pushing his stubborn waves off his forehead.
"Can we just sit here for a minute and relax?" he asked letting his head fall back against the wall gently.
I nodded, mimicking his movements. Until the moment my head hit the concrete, I hadn't even realize how exhausted I was. All the extra amounts of effort I was putting into rehearsals plus my extended hours at work really were beginning to take a toll on me.
My mind was slowly slipping away until I felt a warm hand touch my cheek. My eyes fluttered open only to automatically shut as Shane's warm lips met mine. Warmth spread from the tips of my lips all the through my entire body, literally lighting my blood on fire.
Briefly, his lips left mine only to mutter, "I don't think we should start this in a hospital. People may get the wrong idea."
Honestly, if he would have asked me to repeat what he said I wouldn't have been able too. My mind was still reeling from the kiss, that one little kiss. He could still leave me absolutely speechless after a simple little kiss. So I nodded.
"Want to go see the baby?"
Before I had a chance to response he was already on his feet pulling me to mine. I staggered into his arms.
"Are you sure I was the one that fainted?" he chuckled wrapping his arm tightly around my shoulders.
"Oh shut up," I said knocking him in the side. "Let's go see that baby girl."
The doctor had moved Laurie back into a normal delivery room. She was still hooked to some machines, but she definitely looked much happier. It was then I noticed the small bundle in her arms.
Nate moved off the bed so Shane and I could take a look at the newborn.
"Meet your new cousin, Lexa May," smiled Laurie with utter adoration. Mark stood on the other side of the bed gazing down at the beautiful baby.
I peered over Shane's shoulder and gasped. The smallest little baby I'd ever seen sat pleasantly in Laurie's arms all bundled up in her pink blanket. Laurie held her out for Shane to hold. He took the small baby carefully, holding it close to his chest.
She opened her eyes and blinked up at us with big blue eyes. My heart melted instantly. A little tiny fist poked its way out of the blanket. I reached out, and she grabbed onto my finger. She made an adorable baby noise and smiled.
"She is one happy baby," I confirmed.
"Would you like to hold her?" Shane asked holding her out to me.
I looked at him, panicking. "I don't know. I've never held a baby before."
He smiled. "It's not that hard, hold your arms like this," he said showing me how he was holding Lexa. "And just keep her head supported. That's the most important thing."
Timidly, I held my arms out. Shane placed Lexa in them. She weighed practically nothing. Her beautiful blue eyes followed my eyes as I held her close. "She's so beautiful Laurie," I said after a couple minutes. I reluctantly returned her to the happy mother and retreated to the back of the room with Caitlyn. We let the family crowd around Laurie and the baby.
"She is beautiful, isn't she?" Cait said her eyes on Nate's happy face.
"Nothing like a baby to bring everyone together," I said with a laugh.
She nodded her agreement. After awhile the crowded room was starting to take a toll on everyone's mental health. Laurie instructed the children to head home, get some food, and head to bed. There was no use staying at the hospital. It took a lot to convince Nate to leave, but we finally managed to get him out of the room.
The four of us and Jason took all the children home. We managed to get everyone fed and in their beds without much of a fuss. The excitement of the arrival of baby Lexa had finally gotten to the children. They were fast asleep before we had left their rooms.
Since we finally all had a minute to relax, we decided we would all watch a movie together in the family room. We were too tired to walk down to the basement where the real theater was, so we sufficed with the TV on the main floor.
Jason excused himself and went up to his room. I don't think he really wanted to watch a movie with us. He would have felt like a fifth wheel, and I had a feeling that that probably made him miss Stella even more.
"Anyone want something to eat or drink?" Shane asked as Caity rifled through their DVD collection.
"Popcorn sounds lovely," she said tossing another box to the side.
"Maybe some lemonade or water to drink," added Nate settling himself into the loveseat.
"I'll help you," I offered pushing myself off the couch.
I followed Shane into the kitchen heading for the fridge as he went to the pantry. "So, we have some juice boxes, half a carton of lemonade, and milk," I said observing my options. I moved a couple boxes of leftovers aside. "Oh! And some mountain dew."
I glanced over to Shane who was putting the first packet of popcorn into the microwave. He shrugged, giving me a small smile. "I know you want chocolate milk."
I scoffed. "Am I that predictable?"
"I just know you," he said coming up from behind me and looping his arms around my waist. He rested his head on my shoulder and sighed. "I haven't been this happy in a long, long time."
I laid my hands on top of his, smiling to myself. "Me either," I breathed contentedly.
He tilted his head toward my ear and left a soft kiss right below my earlobe. I squealed from the tinkling sensation, ducking away from his mouth.
"That tickles Shane!" I squealed attempting to break free from his grasp.
He was too strong for me. I gave up fighting him and twisted in his arms so that I was facing him. My forehead met his softly; our eyes connecting in an unbreakable gaze. The magnetic energy between us brought our lips together in a fiery kiss.
The microwave dinged, breaking us apart with a jump. Blushing, I stepped out of his arms and retreated back to the fridge to make a decision on drinks. I held tightly onto the door, attempting to focus my spinning mind on the contents of the fridge. It was harder than I thought.
Eventually Shane and I managed to gather up all the food and return to the family room without any other interruptions. The four of us settled in and watched some terribly dramatic movie that Caitlyn had obviously picked out. It felt good to finally take a break and relax with my friends.
I snuggled into Shane's shoulder, sighing contently. There was nowhere else I'd rather be than right here with him.
The next couple of days all ran together to the point where I could barely distinguish one from the other. Lexa Black and Momma Black came home after staying the night at the hospital. The baby was doing extremely well, perfectly healthy for a newborn. I don't think I'd ever seen Mark smile so much; it would have been unnerving if I hadn't known the affect Lexa was going to have on people.
Everyone was absolutely in love with her. The moment she opened her big blue eyes and smiled, there was no turning back, you were sucked in. She had to be one of the most spoiled babies I'd ever known. The time I spent at the Clan's house I never saw her leave someone's arms. As soon as someone got sick of holding her, someone else popped up showering her with kisses and admiration.
Having Paul there also was becoming more and more normal. He melded right into all the craziness. Sometimes it felt like he had never been gone. The younger children were coming around to the fact that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Even little Keavy Rae was warming up to her father. It felt like for once in a really long time everything and everyone in the Clan household was doing well and happy.
As much as I'd have loved to spend the rest of time sitting around watching the new baby, there were other important things going on outside the Clan house such as school, work, and rehearsals. School was surprisingly less hectic than usual. It was work and rehearsals that were sucking all the energy out of me. We were coming down to the wire with rehearsing for our musical. It was exactly two weeks until opening night, and M was not taking average for an answer. Work was also something else. We had been working hard to restore order to the shop ever since the wreckage of a couple weeks ago. The shop was almost back to working order. Jason just had a lot of inventory to do, and I have a feeling that's what I would get sucked into at work this evening.
Friday after what felt like a never ending day of school accompanied by a stressful rehearsal of practicing our dance routines until I had blisters, Carmen and Caity dropped me off at JJ Records.
"Do you need us to pick you up?" Cait asked as I stepped out of the car into the chilly end of February air.
I shook my head, slinging my bag over my shoulder. "I'll just have Jay drive me back after work. I'll see you later. Thanks for the ride!"
Carmen honked and drove off.
The door to the shop dinged as I pushed through.
"I'll be with you in a moment," Jason's voice called from the back room.
"It's just me Jay," I said placing my bag under the counter and looping my nametag around my neck. I pulled my wavy hair from underneath the band and sat down on the stool.
He poked his head out the door and smiled. "Thank goodness you're here. I completely forgot I scheduled an extra beginner guitar class today. I'm so bogged down with paperwork and restocking all the shelves I have absolutely no time to do anything else."
"Of course I'll help out!" I exclaimed hopping off the stool already heading for the stairs.
"Thank you so much Mitch. I owe you big time. They are all up in Studio C. Just ask them what they've been doing. I'm sure you won't have any trouble giving them direction."
"I'll be fine, don't worry about a thing," I said with a laugh, climbing the stairs two at a time.
I stopped in Studio B to grab Carley from her case. It seemed like ages ago since the last time I played her, when in reality is was less than a week. Walking into Studio C, I felt a rush of emotions wash over me. It had only been a couple days since I played my song in front of my class and given Shane his Valentine's Day present. My skin prickled with heat as I glanced at the piano in the corner, remembering.
Pausing at the podium, I noticed the room had grown silent since I entered. I glanced around at all the small faces not recognizing a single one. They all looked so young and intimidated.
"Hi everyone, my name is Mitchie, and I'm going to be filling in for Jason tonight. I hope you all don't mind that I am replacing him," I said deciding to take a seat in front of them instead of standing authoritatively at the front of the room.
A couple of the younger girls shifted their small guitars in their arms, giving me shy smiles.
I smiled back. "Could someone let me know what you have been working on?"
One of the braver little boys raised his hand.
"Yes, what is your name?"
"Ben," he said timidly.
"Okay Ben, what has Jason had you all working on?"
"We just learned F," he said placing his fingers on the correct strings.
Another hand shot up in the air. I nodded at the little girl.
"I'm Jess, and Jason was teaching us how to play Yankee Doodle."
I nodded, scrunching my nose up as I thought. I moved my fingers over Carley in the tune of Yankee Doodle. "Like that?"
The six children in the room stared dumbfounded at me, as if I had just played an outstanding piece of music comparable to Mozart.
"You are amazing," a petite blond girl said shyly.
I actually blushed.
Jess nodded animatedly. "You are so good. How did you get that good?"
"Lots of practice," I chuckled. "I actually have a very good teacher."
"Who?"
"Jason."
A redheaded boy laughed. "You are way better than Jason!"
I shook my head. "Don't catch him hearing you say that! But really, I've had a few teachers, and Jason was definitely one of them. The most important thing is you've got to love it. If you don't love it you won't stay dedicated. You all want to be famous guitarist someday right?"
Their heads all bobbed 'yes' together.
I smiled. "Well, if you want to be a famous guitarist you've got to practice every day. Keep practicing and one day you will be able to do anything."
"I want to be as good as you someday," the shy blond said.
"What's your name?"
"Mara."
"Well, Mara, as long as you strive to be great, your possibilities are endless."
Clapping rang from the doorway. I snapped my head to the noise and rolled my eyes. "I didn't expect to see you out of the house until Lexa was going to college."
Nate laughed sarcastically, entering the room.
"Everyone this is my friend, Nate. He is also in a band with Jason."
"Hello Nate!" The small group chorused.
He waved back to them. "Jason told me you were teaching a class. I had to see it for myself."
"Oh shut up," I said noting his amazed tone.
"Mitchie is doing a great job!" Mara exclaimed. "Watch this."
The class turned and watched Mara's fingers expertly match the tune of Yankee Doodle to which I just played. When she finished, everyone's eyes widened in amazement.
"I think you were holding out on me," I laughed, congratulating the young girl.
She blushed again. "I can listen to something, hear it in my head, and then play it. I don't know why. I just can."
"That is a very good trait to have," Nate interjected. "That will really help you with your music when you are older."
I wasn't sure if Mara's reddened cheeks were going to be able to take any more praise.
Nate stuck around for the rest of the lesson. I didn't mind one bit. His knowledge of guitar was far greater than mine would ever be. So, we tag teamed and the kids seemed to really enjoy our different styles of playing guitar. At the end of the hour, a couple of them even asked if we would teach private lessons.
Once the last child, Mara, exited the studio, I turned to Nate. "You really don't think they were serious about private lessons, do you?"
Nate shrugged, disassembling the stands. "It's not like it's extremely uncommon to have private lessons."
"I know that," I said sarcastically. "I never imagined myself giving private lessons."
"It could be a good idea for Jason to start offering private lessons. We have four very talented guitarists, why shouldn't we?"
"Just never crossed my mind," I said stacking the last chair in the corner.
Changing the subject, Nate asked, "Are you excited for opening night?"
I squealed. "I can't believe it's almost time for opening night. It doesn't seem like we've been working on this for almost three months."
"I'm kind of sad it's going to be ending, but at the same time I'm more than excited to see the final production. We have to be perfect at rehearsals this week to be ready by next Friday."
I nodded, waiting for him to leave the room so I could turn the lights off. "Are you working tonight?"
He shook his head. "I stopped by to see if Jason needed any help with the shop, and it seems like he has got it somewhat under control now."
"So you are going to leave me here all by myself? I'll be so bored," I complained, jumping down the stairs.
"You will survive," Nate laughed. "Jason is here. He isn't that bad of company."
"Oh fine," I huffed, dropping down on the stool.
Nate shook his head at me. "I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Bye," I grumbled taking a magazine from underneath the counter. "What celebrity can we stalk today?"
The bell dinged again. I looked up assuming Nate had forgotten something. My smile quickly turned down. I spotted Jason out of the corner of my eye and put on a fake smile in case he spotted me looking sour.
"Hello," I said formally, not moving from my post, "can I help you with anything?"
Her perky smile never left her face. "I have been hearing rave reviews about this shop ever since I got here, and I have to come check it out for myself."
I nodded.
Even though it's been a couple days since her first appearance, I hadn't warmed up to Ms. Dana Jasper whatsoever. And I think she knew it. Her personality definitely rubbed me the wrong way. No one ever stayed that happy or perky all the time. I knew there had to be something more behind her mask of perfection. I wasn't falling for it unlike the rest of the school.
She moved through the rows of music, stopping to pick up one or another. I watched her over the top of my magazine, keeping an eye on her at all times.
"Shane isn't in is he?" she wondered aloud, walking over to the records.
"No," I said slowly. "Why?"
She shook her head, focusing her smiley face on me. "Just curious, you two seem to be pretty close," she continued saying walking towards the counter.
I lowered the magazine a little. "Yeah, we are."
"How long have you two been dating for?"
"A couple months," I said shortly.
She reached the counter and set down an old Styx record. As much as I hated her, I was impressed with her taste in music.
"Anything else?" I asked scanning the barcode.
"That will be all," she smiled.
I told her the price. She rummaged in her bag for her credit card. I made the transaction and bagged her record.
"Have a great day," I said through gritted teeth.
She took the bag from me with a huge smile plastered on her face. "Thank you so much," she said heading for the door. "Oh yeah, and Mitchie?"
I looked up at her one last time.
The smile never left her face as she said, "Don't look so sour all the time; it's not like I've come to steal Shane from you."
Even after she had left the shop and silence settled around me, I continued to stare at the closed door. What in the hell…
"Caity, I have to talk to you," I said in a hushed voice as soon as I walked into the house after work. Carmen and Owen were chatting in the kitchen while they cooked dinner.
Caitlyn looked to her parents and nodded. "We're going to go upstairs and hang until dinner. Call us down when it's ready."
"Okay sweetie," Owen called after us.
I charged up the stairs and headed straight to Cait's bedroom. I flopped onto her bed, burying my face in her pillows. I wanted to scream. The door was barely shut before I angrily started spewing about my run in with Dana.
"Wait, wait, wait," she said holding her hands up for me to slow down, "she actually came into the shop? She has some balls."
I rolled my eyes. "Not the sympathy I'm looking for. Before she left she told me something."
"What?"
"She said, 'Don't look so sour all the time; it's not like I've come to steal Shane from you'. What kind of person, let alone a teacher, says that stuff?"
My friend stared at me for a long time, trying to decipher why she would have ever said anything like that. "I really don't understand. I mean she's friendly and nice. Shane has her for English, but as far as I can see there isn't much there. Shane is completely taken with you he doesn't even bother to look at other girls."
My mind was reeling, thinking through all my encounters with her. "I just don't get a good vibe from her. I feel like she's here to start up trouble. She's too friendly and nice. She acts like her and Shane are all buddy-buddy, which doesn't make sense. I know she isn't much older than us, but it's still sort of illegal for her to even think of doing anything with a student."
It was Cait's turn to roll her eyes. "You're being paranoid and dramatic. First of all, I don't think Dana is stupid enough to start something with a student. Second, like I already said, Shane is head over heels in love with you. He got you a damn puppy for god's sake!" Jeffey chose that moment to come rushing through the door and hopped up onto Caity's bed.
I picked up the small puppy and buried my face in his fur. "Well why else would she say that then? Why would she even bring it up if she wasn't trying to get Shane? I'm sure she knows I'm not her biggest fan, but it's not all because of how she acts with Shane. I don't like how she is a part of our production. Which is another funny coincidence if you think about it; she probably joined because she knew Shane was in it."
Cait smiled at me sadly. "I think, now don't take this the wrong way or get mad at me. I think that you've had a tough couple months, and you are still dealing with everything whether you want to admit it or not. You have always been protective of yourself, and you are even more protective of the people you love. I think you may just be a little worried about someone coming between you and Shane."
"I'm not jealous, Cait," I said exasperatedly. "Surprisingly I'm not jealous at all. She just rubs me the wrong way. I don't trust her. Not with our production and definitely not with my man."
Caity burst into giggles.
I sat there for a couple minutes and watched her laugh uncontrollably until I finally asked, "What are you laughing at?"
"You said 'my man'," she laughed imitating me terribly.
I shoved her slightly. "Shut up, you know what I mean though? People that aren't trying to steal other people's boyfriends don't tell you they aren't. I just feel like she's up to something."
She patted my arm softly. "I think you have to forget about it for now. I don't care if you don't trust her, you don't have too. But you have to respect her; she is a part of our production now and a teacher at our school. We don't need to have any more problems with that or M will seriously lose it. Until she really truly gives you a reason otherwise, you have to forget she ever said anything to you about Shane. It's not healthy for you, and you have been making such great progress. I would hate to see it all fall apart now."
I gave her a weak smile. "You are the best, you know that? I'm sorry. I am being paranoid and overprotective. I can't help it. Fault of mine. I'll try not to worry about it."
Cait smiled and jumped off the bed. "See, look at you! Being all old and mature, I'm proud of you. Let's go see if dinners done, I'm starving."
She bounced out of the room and down the stairs. I sat still for another couple minutes, idling playing with Jeffey's fur, thinking. Even if Caity didn't want to see any problem with her, I knew better than to let a gut feeling of mine go. I would definitely try not to think about it, as I had promised Caity, but I wasn't going to completely let it go. She may have everyone else fooled but not me.
I was still confused on why she felt she had to tell me that in the first place. I was never worried about her and Shane together. I knew she seemed to like him a lot, but that never bothered me until now. She obviously felt it was something she needed to say to me, which made me wonder if she really was planning on doing something to break us up.
I shook my head. I needed to stop thinking about this soon before I really started to go crazy. I didn't want to go back down that dangerous dark spiral. Pushing Jeffey playfully off the bed, I emerged from Caity's room with a smile plastered on my face. I wasn't going to let everyone else know of my troublesome thoughts.
Dinner was delicious. Carmen and Owen kept the conversation light and entertaining talking about past memories and events. They were in the midst of telling us about their disastrous third date when Cait's cell phone rang from the living room.
She looked at me, then to her parents. "No one would be calling me right now if it wasn't important."
Carmen nodded understandingly. "Go answer it."
I watched her, holding my breath, as she jumped the couch and grabbed her phone off the side table. She flipped it open. "Hello?"
The three of us watched Caity closely. Her eyes opened wide as whoever on the other side talked quickly, relaying something to her.
"Are you sure? Yeah, we will be right there." She hung up, her eyes fixated off into space.
I got up. "Cait, what's wrong?" I asked, worrying lacing my words.
Her brown eyes flickered to me. Water welled in them. "There's been an accident."
don't hate me please. :) i am definitely going to try and update a lot sooner than last time. i know i always say this but i will try! love you all to pieces!