Still Waiting For You
Chapter 4: "Think Twice Before You Move"
"Aiee!" screamed Val, tripping over Kara's blanket draped across the stairs and stumbling, falling down the stairs.
Tyler caught her with surprise. He had just happened to be walking by, and it was very lucky, because Val wasn't injured now—and she was in his arms.
This was absolutely frightening, how well she fit there and how good it felt to hold her and how he liked it so much more than when he hugged, say, Heather. Val's chin fit into his neck very snugly, even if she wasn't trying to put it there… and his arms wrapped around her very nicely… and the perfection was sparking in the form of electricity all over… and neither one of them moved for a minute before Val stood, regained her balance, and looked at him with a trace of puzzlement still in her eyes.
"Thanks," she said simply, bending down and picking up the blanket.
"Welcome."
And, completely aware of what had just happened, they continued on their paths.
*
"Why are you marrying her?" Val asked Tyler as they walked down the same sidewalk Kara and he had taken two days before. The three of them—Val, Tyler, and Kara—had gotten ice cream after eating dinner with Jamie, who had come the day before. Jamie had retired back to his hotel room, having jet lag, but Kara had begged for ice cream, and so here they were, walking up Peabody Avenue with Kara perched on Tyler's shoulders.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean—do you l—who proposed?" Val finally settled for that, as it was less likely to explode in her face.
"She did. I was sort of caught in the middle, I suppose, because it was in the middle of a restaurant and you know, I didn't want old ladies slapping me with handbags and all—"
"Right. I get it." Val was silent. So Tyler hadn't wanted to marry Heather? That was both relieving and painful. Relieving because it might mean he wasn't in love with her, painful because it meant that if he wasn't in love with her and if Val didn't make a move or something fast, he was going to marry someone whom he didn't love, someone who was bitter and mean. Thoughtful, she tasted the Rocky Road ice cream cone again.
"So, do you love her?" she asked. Tyler's gaze grew startled.
"Of course I do," he answered. Val nodded.
"Yeah."
But there had been something in his voice that caused her to doubt otherwise, and so she wasn't entirely sure he was telling the truth.
Meanwhile, the seed of doubt had been fed, and it was rapidly growing.
*
"I'm still trying to figure out why Tyler invited you, honestly," Val told Caitie. The brunette shrugged.
"I guess we've sort of become semi-friends, and Heather probably invited tons of people and wanted Tyler to have an equal amount so that the church pews would even out or something." Caitie was happily single and dated on and off. She had graduated college with a degree in creative writing and was in the middle of writing her third book.
"True." Caitie had arrived earlier that day and Val was having a cup of coffee with her. Hank had agreed to watch Kara.
"So, what's the deal with you and Tyler?" Caitie inquired.
"He's an excellent babysitter," Val told her, avoiding the subject as if it was a pillar of fire she was tiptoeing around.
"Seriously, Val."
And she tripped into the flames. Tears gathered in her eyes. "Caitie, how could you not have told me that he was engaged?"
"I thought it would be best if he told you." Now Caitie was also trying to get away from the fire.
"You mean he was going to?" countered Val. Caitie winced.
"Val, you know I would have told you. He swore me to secrecy."
"Caitie!"
"Well, he did!" Caitie replied indignantly. Val sighed and leaned back.
"Oh well. He can just marry Heather and be miserable with the hooker Barbie doll all the rest of his life." That wasn't how she really felt, but long ago she had learned it was safer to mask feelings and cover them up than to reveal them and let people rub salt into the wounds.
"So the hooker Barbie doll thing occurred to you as well," Caitie said gleefully. Val cracked a smile.
"Well, with that low-cut pink top and miniskirt and heels and disdainful pout and I-could-care-less attitude…not to mention all the makeup…" Val trailed off with a laugh.
"She made a comment to me over the phone that I should try to find a dress that wasn't black because black wouldn't match the colors and would disrupt the cheer of the occasion." Caitie snorted. "I may be a little different, even though all this time out of high school has made me slightly more normal, but I think I'm aware that you don't wear black to a wedding unless you're in mourning."
Val laughed. "She told me that I wasn't attractive and that Tyler would never leave her for me."
"You're prettier than she is," Caitie said, shaking her head. "Whether Tyler will leave her or not still remains to be seen."
The blonde froze, staring. "I really don't want to talk about that," she clipped firmly. Caitie looked surprised, then settled.
"All right, all right," she agreed.
Things had gotten so massively tangled since high school. Val and Tyler were going to be together, everyone knew, or at least everyone had known back in high school. Now? Well, there was Heather and Tyler, and there was Tyler and Val, and then there was Kara, who made things even more complicated.
Val sighed. "I don't know. This is just so weird, you know?"
"Yeah," Caitie agreed again with a nod. Val blew a piece of hair out of her eyes.
"Love sucks," she told Caitie, who nodded in agreement once more.
*
"So, I've been wondering," Hank began. Tyler looked up at him.
"About what?"
"Well, not to sound nagging or anything, but…do you really love Heather?" Hank inquired tentatively. "I mean, honestly, there are better people out there."
"Beecham, please."
"Like Val, for instance," Hank continued. The blond froze, staring.
"Don't get involved with that," Tyler warned, tousling Kara's hair. Hank had been babysitting her, but he came over to talk with Tyler and they had turned on the sports channel, and Kara was watching professional football very enthusiastically.
"See?"
"See what?" Tyler asked, completely confused now. His hand withdrew from Kara's blond locks.
"You want kids, Tyler, and you know it, as well," Hank pointed out. "Have you asked Heather if she wants kids?"
"Kids have nothing to do with if I love Heather," said Tyler crossly, his blue eyes growing stubborn.
"They have everything to do with it," argued the other. "If you want kids, you're going to be a whole lot happier with them than without. Sure, Heather might be stylish and fashionable and pretty, but when it all boils down, Val is gorgeous and has a better attitude and is all-around so much more what you're looking for."
Tyler glared. "How on earth do you know what I'm looking for, Hank? I am 28 and I know what I want! I know what I'm doing, and what I'm doing is marrying Heather! So leave me alone and don't talk about Val, okay? It hurts enough already!"
He stood up and walked off. Kara pouted.
"Stupid Brett Farvery," she told Hank, who smiled. "Go! Run! Yay!" she shrieked as her preferred team made a touchdown. "Go for gold, not silver!"
Hank had no idea where she had learned that saying, but it fit everything very well.
*
Seven digits. Three rings. One word.
"Hello?" Heather asked in an annoyed tone. Tyler sighed. He had probably interrupted her pedicure.
"It's me," he said. Heather sighed.
"Tyler, couldn't you have called at a more convenient time? I'm in the middle of my weekly pedicure and I'm in the middle of deciding my color!" Heather exclaimed. Bingo, thought Tyler. "I mean, I have to choose between Peachy Perfect, Passionate Pink, Pretty Pink, Lovely Lilac Lavender, or Glamorous Glitter and how am I supposed to do that if you keep calling?" she whined.
"Sorry. But, Heather, do you think we could have kids?"
"Ick, who wants kids? They're so messy. I mean, that Karen girl is so gross. She spit on me. Ew." Tyler could practically hear Heather wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Her name's Kara," Tyler corrected, temper flaring for a moment.
"Whatever," sighed Heather with exasperation, "all kids are the same. Disgusting, messy, and annoying."
"All right, then. Bye." He hung up. Heather had failed to remember that he was a pediatric emergency doctor by choice, and that he loved kids.
Or
maybe, Tyler said silently, she remembered but didn't care.
Yes, that was the sort of thing Heather would have done. She valued her opinion above anyone else's. Val, on the other hand…but there was no Val. Val couldn't even be considered, not when everything was this complicated.
"Love sucks," Tyler muttered.
*
Kara padded into the bathroom with a toothbrush in her hand at nine that night.
"Mommy went to sleep," she explained to Tyler. "And I gots to brush my teeth."
"So you want toothpaste?" Tyler inquired.
"Yep," Kara said, angling her head with another of her perfected pouts that came automatically, whether it was needed or not.
"Will you tell me if your mom likes me or not?" he asked hopefully. Kara wrinkled her nose.
"No. Give me the toothpaste. Please," she added as an afterthought.
"Oh, fine." Tyler gave up for the second time and handed her the toothpaste. Kara smiled and squeezed it onto the toothpaste, then watched in dismay as the excess fell to the floor.
"Sorry," she said to Tyler. He smiled.
"It's fine. I'll clean it up later. Right now, though, you're going to undergo a very severe punishment."
"I am?" Kara asked worriedly.
"The Tickle Monster Attack!" yelled Tyler, pouncing. Kara started giggling nonstop.
It wasn't until Tyler was picking Kara up and handing her the toothbrush that he noticed Val was in the doorway with a smile on her lips.
"Connell's good tickler," Kara said to Val, whose expression grew even more amused.
"I'm sure he is," she answered, watching her daughter spit in the sink. Val picked her up. "Are you and Heather going to have kids? Because you're great with them." She tilted her head just slightly to the side in questioning, blue eyes automatically curious and blond hair falling with the angle of her head.
"Heather doesn't want them," Tyler said in a low voice. "She doesn't like them."
Val seemed as if she was about to reply, then nodded and left, leaving Tyler alone in the bathroom with a look of pain etched on his features as he slowly bent down to clean up the toothpaste on the tiled floor…
*evil cackle* Doncha like? I'm so cruel…but wait until NEXT chapter. Then I'm going to be REALLY evil. REALLY evil. It should be out relatively soon—I want to finish this story before I continue my others.
I was sorta wondering where you guys got the idea Kara was Tyler's kid, but that's no matter. It was a possibility, I s'pose, but it's not the reality. Sorry to disappoint you. :-(
---IVY
P.S. – I'm hyper. Just so you know. Vertical Horizon is coolsisos. Download Shackled and Everything You Want and all those great songs if you don't have them already. And Only One by Lifehouse. Okay, this is besides the point. See ya. AND REVIEW! =D