Enjoy!
Chapter 13
It was a three hour drive, but the scenery was beautiful. Anna was excited about their day, the change in routine. Today they were off to see John's classic car. Anna packed them a picnic and made a playlist of songs from the 60s for them to listen to on the way.
"Oh, yeah, I tell you something, I think you'll understand. When I say that something's, I wanna hold your hand,I wanna hold your hand, I wanna hold your hand," Anna sang loudly. John glanced over at her and chuckled. Then he snaked his free hand over the dash and took Anna's hand within his own, before joining her in for the second verse.
"Oh, please say to me; You'll let me be your man. And, please, say to me, You'll let me hold your hand, You'll let me hold your hand, I wanna hold your hand."
They both began to laugh and continued to sing along with the songs as the trip continued. Randomly, during one of the songs, Anna perched herself up and bent over to kiss John's cheek.
"This is so much fun. I love you," she said with a happy giggle. John's heart skipped a beat. While the two had admitted to loving one another on the beach, they had not said it since. And they had definitely not said it in the casual way that two people in love randomly will say to one another. This was the first.
John's lips curled into a brighter smile and he happily replied, "It is. I love you, too." Anna kissed his cheek again and then settled back into her seat as the next song came on.
When they pulled up to the garage, Anna bounced out of the car, excited to get a glimpse. She had always liked the look of classic cars. As a child, she had a small collection of model cars that had set on her dresser. But this was going to be a real one.
John unlocked the door and pushed it open. Then he turned on the lights. The car was covered with a large tarp, so John lifted it and threw it to the corner.
"Wow," Anna said, her eyes glancing over it. It was in near perfect condition. "Can….can we take a ride in it?" She asked, with hopeful eyes. John chuckled.
"We can," he informed her. "I have to check the tires, the oil, and put some fresh petrol into it."
"Lots of upkeep?" Anna questioned.
"Yes. It needs a lot of love. My father taught me from a young age all of the ins and outs of caring for the cars. I wasn't allowed to touch this one, but I learned on some of the others."
"And why was this your father's favorite?"
"It was his first," John answered. "He started collecting after I was born. He had a decent company and made decent money. This was his first prize he bought for himself. It wasn't until later that his drinking hurt his career and his obsession with the cars grew."
Taking a few steps, Anna made her way next to John. She took his hand in her own and carefully touched the hood with her other hand.
"While you're fixing it up, can I sit inside?"
"Of course, my darling. Classic cars aren't any fun if you can't enjoy them."
With a giggle, Anna opened the door and took a seat in the passenger side. She ran her fingers over the leather seats and turned the knobs on the radio.
"Does the radio still work?"
"Yes," John answered.
"We'll have to listen on the ride!"
"Whatever you want, my darling."
A little while later, they began their ride through the quiet, secluded area. Anna rolled down her window to let the wind blow up her hair. As her hair twisted and tangled, she searched for something in the car to tie up her hair. Opening the compartment in front of her, she was surprised to find a pink, floral, silk scarf.
"Whose is this?" Anna asked. John glanced over and felt an overwhelming rush of emotions.
"That was my mother's," he answered, getting teary-eyed. He shook the thoughts away and smiled. "I didn't realize that was still in there. She would wrap it around her hair to keep it neat and in place."
"Oh, what a wonderful memory, John," Anna responded. She folded the scarf back up and went to place it back into the compartment. John reached out and stopped her.
"You can wear it," he told her.
"Are you sure? Isn't it special?"
"You're special. Plus, I think my mum would like you to wear it. She'd like you an awful lot," John informed her.
"You think so?" Anna teased. She pulled her hair into a low ponytail and wrapped the scarf around it to hold it into place.
"Absolutely."
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
That evening, they curled up on the couch and turned on a new movie.
"Thank you for taking me today. I'd love to go again sometime," Anna told John.
"We can do that," John answered. Anna's phone buzzed. She picked it up, glanced at it, sighed, and then placed it back down. "What was that?"
"Nothing," Anna replied, unconvincingly.
"Anna?"
"It's nothing. It's just my mum. She keeps asking to go shopping for baby things. She's also begging me to find out the sex tomorrow at the ultrasound appointment. Her words were 'I can't shop if I don't know what I'm shopping for, Anna.' Honestly, she won't put it to rest," Anna complained.
"Well, you don't have to find out the sex if you don't want to, Anna. But you should go shopping with your mum. They've been here for three weeks and you've hardly seen them," John said, trying to be the voice of reason. He knew the main reason they had moved here was to see Anna more.
"I know, I know," Anna grumbled.
John had noticed the change in Anna's behavior over the last several weeks. She seemed to get irritated more and he had noticed her on the edge of tears a few times. However, whenever he tried to bring it up and offer support, she would just tell him that she was fine. He knew that wasn't the truth. Anna was not fine.
"Have you thought of talking to someone?" John suggested carefully. Anna's head shook and she kept her eyes glued onto to the screen.
"Talk to someone? About what?" Anna was being obtuse on purpose and John knew it.
"About what happened to you. Perhaps if you…"
"I'm fine, John. I don't need to talk to anyone," Anna brusquely replied.
"You're ignoring your mother. I don't think….." Anna lifted her phone and quickly began to text Elsie.
"There," Anna said. "I told her I would go with her tomorrow after my appointment. Is that better?"
"Anna….." Anna got up from the couch and placed the blanket down next to John.
"I'm going on to bed. I'm tired. Goodnight, John."
As Anna walked away, John sat back and sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was push her, but he knew she couldn't keep pretending to be alright. She was already beginning to crack and he wasn't sure when she would meltdown completely.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
"Anna! Look!" Elsie called from an aisle over. Anna made her way over to her mother and looked at the small little overall set she had picked up. She turned the tag and nearly fainted at the price. Her mother had insisted that they look at a boutique that seemed to have all overpriced items.
"Cute," Anna simply stated. "But we should be looking at gender neutral clothing."
"I don't understand why you won't find out the sex of the baby, Anna. You've always been such a planner. It's not like you," Elsie stated. Anna lifted up a small, white teddy bear and twisted her lips.
"Yeah, well, people change," Anna said with a loud sigh.
"Alright, Anna, what is going on with you?" Elsie asked. She took the teddy bear out of Anna's hands to force Anna to look at her.
"Nothing, Mum. I'm tired, is all. I didn't sleep well last night. The baby has started kicking and it thinks the middle of the night is the best time," Anna said, not completely dishonest. The baby had started moving and its movements were mainly at nighttime.
Elsie's head shook.
"You've been avoiding me and your father."
"I have a job and we've been getting the flat all organized. A lot has been going on," Anna lied.
"Is there something wrong with the baby, Anna?"
"No," Anna said, shaking her head. "As I told you, the ultrasound showed that everything is perfect with Baby."
"Are you having first time mother jitters?" At Elsie's question, Anna quickly nodded her head. Yes, she thought, the perfect excuse for her behavior. It wasn't that Anna wanted to be so flippant and rude to everyone lately, but her attitude was getting harder and harder to control. The harder she tried, the more difficult it became.
"Yes, I'm very nervous, Mum. You know this happened fast and I'm not sure I'm ready," Anna answered. And it wasn't really a fib. She really wasn't sure she was prepared to be a mother. But time ticked on and she was already over halfway through her pregnancy.
"Oh, Anna, my dear, I'm sorry I've pushed you. How about we go and get some ice cream right now? We can look at clothes and things later, okay?" Anna gave a grateful nod.
"Okay. John and I want to have you and Dad over for dinner next week."
"We'd love that, Anna."
-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Anna walked into the flat after work the next day and sighed. John had forgotten to take the chicken out of the freezer. She made sure she wasn't missing where they would usually set it to defrost, but it wasn't there. Opening the freezer, she saw it sitting right up front, right where she had told John it would be.
She groaned.
A moment later, John entered the flat with a big, bright smile. When he saw Anna's face, his lips fell.
"What's wrong?"
"You forgot to put out the chicken," Anna stated, pointing to the still frozen meat. John gave her a sheepish look.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, my darling. I completely forgot. What if I take you out to dinner tonight instead? It's been a while since the two of us went on a date," he said with a wink.
Anna shook her head, but chuckled. "Oh, alright. You get away with it this time, Mr. Bates. But I get to choose the place."
"Whatever you wish."
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
"How's the steak?"
"Good," Anna replied with a smile. Her mood had improved with John's idea of a date night. It was true that they didn't really go on dates. The last time they had gone out to eat was when they were at the beach and that had been a couple of months ago.
Anna twisted her fork into her pasta and took a big bite. She had gotten all of her favorites for dinner: steak with a side of pasta. The waiter had joked about needing a vegetable to help even it out, but Anna had just waved him away. Date nights were nights you could get away without eating healthy.
"How's your work going?"
"It's going really well," John answered. "Robert is trying to bring in a new client, so it'll be all hands on deck for a little while. But if we can land her, then we should be set for years to come. She'll bring in a lot of money to the company."
"That's great, John. Work has been rather boring for me lately. Before the baby happened, I had been thinking of going back to school to get my degree in teaching."
John took a bite of his salad and then asked, "Why can't you still do that?"
"I don't know," Anna said. "It'll be a lot harder with the baby. My job allows for more flexibility now."
"I'm not sure you should give up on your dreams so easily, Anna. I'm not saying you have to do it right away, just don't say never, alright?"
Anna shyly smiled and said, "Alright."
As she looked up over John's shoulder, her face blanched.
"Anna?" When Anna didn't acknowledge him and her eyes remained on whatever she was looking at, John turned to see what had caught her attention. His blood began to boil when he saw that sitting across the restaurant was Alex Green.
To be continued...
Thank you for reading. If you get a chance, let me know what you think. I'll try to update quickly. :)