A few days later, Cappie and Casey went back to pick up the pictures. When they came home, her parents were excited to see them.
"Oh my god. We got a lot of pictures." Cappie laughed, taking the large bag out of the car.
"Tell me about it." Casey laughed. "I can't believe we bought 125 wallet sizes of that picture with us in our Greek shirts."
"Well I wanted to be sure we had enough for both of our houses. I'm sure by the time we get back your sisters will come around and want you back, and will want copies of these pictures." Cappie said.
"I hope you're right." Casey said, opening the front door. Her parents were already waiting anxiously in the living room.
"Let's see those pictures." Mr. Cartwright said cheerfully.
"Do you guys want to look at the book first that has all the pictures, or just the ones we bought copies of?" Cappie asked, putting the bag on the coffee table.
"Of course we want to see all of them." Mrs. Cartwright said, grabbing the book out of the bag.
She set the book on the coffee table and opened it so both her and her husband could look at it.
"Awe, Russell, look at how cute this one is." Mrs. Cartwright said, pointing to a picture of Casey laying on her side with Cappie laying on his side behind her, his arm draped on her belly.
"That is adorable." Mr. Cartwright said. "But I like this one better. It's more romantic."
Mr. Cartwright was looking at the picture Cappie and Casey had changed to black and white.
"We actually have a copy of that one for you guys." Cappie said, pulling an 8x10 picture out of the bag.
"And mom, thank you for the outfit." Casey added.
"I told you you'd like it." Mrs. Cartwright said. She enjoyed being right.
"This will look perfect on the mantle." Mr. Cartwright added.
The Cartwright's continued looking through the pages of pictures, admiring every one and picking out their favorites. They both stared in awe when they saw the picture of Casey and Cappie kissing.
"You two always did look good together." Mr. Cartwright smiled.
"Surprisingly yeah." Mrs. Cartwright added. "Much better than you and that Derek guy."
Cappie and Casey just stared at each other. Even Casey's parents thought they belonged together. Cappie decided after what happened to him he couldn't wait around any longer. He almost died without Casey ever knowing how he truly felt. It was at this very moment he devised a plan.
"Hey Mr. Cartwright, you mind helping me out a sec?" Cappie asked, trying to get him alone.
"Sure thing." Mr. Cartwright replied.
The two walked out onto the back deck as the girls continued to look through the pictures.
"Mr. Cartwright, I need you to bring me to physical therapy today." Cappie said once they were alone.
"I thought Casey was supposed to bring you." Mr. Cartwright was a little confused. "Big day, you're getting your walking boots taken off."
"I know Casey was supposed to come, but if she does then my plan is ruined." Cappie said.
"Plan?" Mr. Cartwright was still confused.
"After physical therapy today I need you to bring me to go get a picture frame." Cappie explained.
It finally clicked a little for Mr. Cartwright. "Let me guess, for the picture of the two of you kissing."
Cappie just smiled. "I want to show her how much she means to me. After almost dying I realized we're not guaranteed tomorrow. Casey has always been the love of my life and if I'm not alive tomorrow then I want to be with her today."
"That's very romantic." Mr. Cartwright smiled. "How can I help? Oh if you need to get a frame I can bring you to this cute little gift shop down the street. It's where I got Karen a gift for our first anniversary."
"That's perfect. Thanks Mr. Cartwright." Cappie said.
"And when were you planning on giving it to her?" Mr. Cartwright asked.
"Tonight. And I also have this to go with it." Cappie said, pulling a cue ball out of his pocket.
Mr. Cartwright gave him a strange look. What in the world did a cue ball have to do with his daughter?
"It'll remind her of our secret place." Cappie explained.
Mr. Cartwright just went along with it. He was sure he would find out soon enough.
"Well your appointment's in 20 minutes. We better get going if we don't want to be late." Mr. Cartwright said, walking back into the house.
Cappie soon followed and then let the girls know that Mr. Cartwright was taking him.
"Hey Case, your dad wants me to go to the hardware store with him for some stuff. After we go I'm just going to have him drop me off at physical therapy, alright?" Cappie explained, hoping she bought it.
"Yeah, sure, no problem." Casey said. "Just let me know later how things go."
"You got it." Cappie said.
Cappie and Mr. Cartwright were waiting in the waiting room when Cappie's physical therapist came in to get him.
"Hey Cap." He said.
"What's up Jake?" Cappie smiled, getting up and following the physical therapist into the training area.
"Today's the day man." Jake said. "You ready to get those boots off?"
"Hell yeah!" Cappie laughed. "Ridiculously heavy black boots suck in the summer."
"Tell me about it." Jake laughed. "I had one a few summers ago, and that was only one. I can't imagine having both."
"It sucked, but I'm just glad to be alive." Cappie said.
"Well now that you are alive why don't we focus on getting those boots off and getting you back to normal." Jake said.
Jake and Cappie undid the velcro and slipped the boots off his feet. Once they were off he carefully put his favorite sandals back on. This was the first time he'd worn them pretty much all summer.
"Alright man, you ready to get started? Do you want some crutches?" Jake asked.
"No need." Cappie said, jumping off one of the tables and walking over to some of the weight machines. "Let's get started."
Jake had Cappie on every kind of leg strengthening machine he had, and Cappie was doing amazing on all of them.
"Great job Cap." Jake smiled.
Cappie went from the machines over to the treadmill. He started off at a slow pace, just to get used to walking on his own two feet again. He was up to an average walking pace when Jake wanted to bring it up a little.
"You want to try jogging now?" He asked.
"Does it look like I run?" Cappie laughed.
Jake laughed too. "Alright, I'll leave it where it is. I'm sure you won't have to run anytime soon anyway."
Cappie kept walking at his steady pace. He was so thrilled to have those boots off. About a half hour later Cappie got off the treadmill because his appointment was over.
"So Cap, am I going to see you again?" Jake asked when they walked out into the waiting room.
"Dr. Keenan said he wants me to come back two more times, just to be sure I can walk again." Cappie said.
"So since it's Friday, I guess that means you'll be coming back on Monday and Wednesday." Jake said.
"Sounds good man." Cappie said, meeting back up with Mr. Cartwright.
"Got it." Jake said, writing it down in his book. "And good luck with the Casey thing."
"Thanks." Cappie smiled. "I'll tell you how it goes on Monday."
Mr. Cartwright and Cappie got back in the car and headed to their next destination; the gift shop.
As soon as Cappie got there, he was amazed by the amount of stuff they had.
"I told you this place was good." Mr. Cartwright said.
"Now to find the perfect frame for that picture." Cappie said.
He began perusing the aisles of frames, trying to pick the right one, but they were all pretty boring. He wanted to fanciest frame he could get. Finally after about twenty minutes of looking, he found it. The metal frame was cut into an intricate pattern of swirls and fancy curly hearts.
"This is the one." Cappie said, picking it up to make sure it fit the picture.
"I like it." Mr. Cartwright said. "Casey will too."
"Thanks Mr. Cartwright." Cappie said. "Now I just need a red sharpie to write on the cue ball with."
"Well the markers are all on the wall over there." Mr. Cartwright said, pointing to a whole wall of every color permanent marker you could think of. "And I meant to ask you about the whole cue ball thing before. I know you said it had to do with your 'secret place', but seriously, what's up with it?"
"Back in Cyprus, Casey and I have a secret place we go to that nobody else knows about but us. It's a bar that we usually play pool at." Cappie explained. "It's at that pool table where she kissed me at the beginning of the school year, and it's also where she told me about our child."
"So this place is pretty special to you guys." Mr. Cartwright said, finally understanding the significance of the cue ball.
"You have no idea." Cappie replied as he paid for the marker and the frame.
When they got home Cappie ran to his room to put the picture in its new frame. It looked absolutely perfect. He was sure Casey would love it. Leaving the newly framed picture on his bed, he took the ball out of his pocket and wrote a very special message on it using the red marker. He couldn't wait to surprise the love of his life tonight.
It was about 10 that night when Cappie decided to give the ball and the picture to Casey. She had already gone to bed and was fast asleep, so his plan was still working. He carefully slid into her room, not wanting to wake her. When he reached her nightstand, he placed the picture frame facing Casey so she would see it when she woke up and placed the cue ball up against it. Once everything was set he went back to his own room, feeling like he just put all his cards on the table. The ball was in Casey's court; their future would be decided in a matter of hours.
Casey woke up in the middle of the night. The past couple of nights she had been waking up to go to the bathroom at around one in the morning. When her eyes opened the first thing she saw was the picture. Her eyes immediately gazed down the picture to the cue ball against the bottom.
She picked it up, and got teary-eyed as she read Cappie's note to her. I don't want our game to be over. Do we have another shot?
Casey immediately went into her nightstand drawer and pulled out her favorite pink marker to write an answer. She got out of bed, and when she came back from the bathroom, she picked up both the picture frame and the ball and went into Cappie's room across the hall.
A/N = Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I've been camping where there isn't any internet access. :( Hope you guys are still loving the story. Once I come home in a few days I promis to go back to updating much more often...daily if possible. Your reviews help keep me in a writing mood so keep them coming.
