Finally my shift was over. Carter had called me earlier and told me not to
worry about her, but I still did. He wouldn't tell me what happened either,
which actually just made me more worried. Funny how that works sometimes.
I got home and as soon as I walked in the door I saw him sitting on the
couch. He heard me and turned around, putting a finger over his lips
signaling to me to be quiet. Molly must already be asleep. I walked over
and sat down next to him. We kissed hello then I whispered, "What the hell
happened?"
He didn't look concerned or worried or scared, which calmed me down a
little, but I still wanted to know what happened to my baby. "She got into
a fight at school."
"Yeah, I figured that much!"
"But I told her I wouldn't talk to you about it."
"Carter! You're seriously not going to keep that promise are you?"
"Well."
"Carter!"
He looked at me. "Abby, over the past few weeks I've gotten the chance to
get to know your beautiful daughter and I've discovered what a sweet and
adorable person she is. And she's finally gotten to the point where she
trusts me now, and that trust means so much to me. I don't want to break
it."
"But Carter, I'm her mother," I pleaded.
"I know, and somehow I've managed to fall in love with her mother, so I'm
going to tell her. But I told you this because I want you to know that
Molly absolutely cannot find out that you know, okay?"
"Okay."
"Good." He smiled, then got serious again. "Today at school a boy called
her a name and she got in a fight with him. He said she was weird because."
"Because why?"
"Because she.doesn't have a father." He looked up at me with those dark
eyes and I could see so much emotion built up in there. He took my hand and
squeezed it. I squeezed back. I knew we were both thinking the same thing
but neither of us could say it. It was just a thought, nothing concrete.
It would be something amazing, but I don't want to think too much about it.
I like how things are right now with us. We don't need anything to change
what we've got going right now.
"Is she okay now?"
"Yeah. I told her to ignore people who say things like that because she's
special." He smiled again. I love his smile. The way it reaches his eyes
and makes them dance.it's one of the many things I find so captivating about
him. Enchanting. He kisses me and stands up, then takes my other hand and
pulls me up off the couch with him. I slide my arms around him and we stand
there in that ever so comfortable position. He leans his head down to my
ear and whispers, "Ready to go to bed?"
I smile up at him, "I'm always ready."
That night as we lay curled up with each other I started to think about what
I had told myself not to think earlier. About Carter...being Molly's
father. There, I said it in one complete thought. Is it right? Are we
really meant to be together forever? We seem so perfect together in every
way. Even our bodies seem like they were always meant to be molded together
someday. But with all our past and our families and everything, I'm so
afraid that it might not work. Actually, I'm terrified that it might not
work. He's everything to me. He's my whole life. Even Molly, as much as I
love her, could never totally make up for the loss of Carter. And so as
much as I want to have him forever, I don't know if I want to do that. To
take the next step. Because I'm terrified of losing him.
I stop. That's too much. We've only been dating for a few months. But
sometimes it seems like so much longer than that. When did I first start to
love him? I don't really know. I guess at some point I realized that our
friendship meant something more to me on a subconscious level, but I don't
know when that was. All I know is that I'm crazy about him now. I love him
so much.
I close my eyes and lay my head against his chest. All I want is this.
Here in this moment. Right now. I smile as I slowly drift off to sleep.
This is heaven.
**
Why do dresses hate me?
Seriously, for one of the few times in my life I make a serious effort to
look presentable and it backfires. Why did I even buy this dress? Well, I
know why. I was stupid and took him with me when I went shopping. And he
told me I looked good in it. Liar.
Today is my med school graduation. 8 years after I first entered med
school, 4 years after I quit and became a nurse, a few months after I went
back, and several cups of coffee later, I am finally graduating. Carter
keeps telling me how proud he is. I have to say, I might be a little proud
of myself. I actually accomplished one of my goals!
I have to be there in an hour and I can't really get the dress to tie right
in back, which is throwing everything off. I call Carter in from his job of
entertaining Molly in the living room to come in and help me. He comes in
the room and smiles a little before fixing my problem. Now it's goin'. He
stares at me in the mirror, then wraps his arms around me and kisses my
neck. "You look gooood," he murmurs.
I smile. "I looked really bad without you."
"You couldn't look bad if you tried."
I smile again, then turn around and kiss him goodbye. "I gotta go. See you
there?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world."
**
Pomp and circumstance. Such an odd song. Why do they play it at
graduations again?
I ponder that question as the hundreds of other students walk across the
stage to receive that little piece of paper we've been working our lives off
to earn. I see Carter and Molly in the midst of the crowd and wave for the
billionth time. They wave back. Again.
"Abigail Lockhart."
That's me. I walk up the steps and take the scroll into my hand, shaking
the hand of the dean with the other. I look at Carter, who's beaming and
attempting to control Molly, who's going crazy, all while trying to take
pictures at the same time. But even though he has a lot he needs to do and
take care of in these few seconds, he stops trying to get everything and
looks up at me. He's smiling even bigger and mouths the words, I love you.
I smile and start to cry as I mouth them back. I go back to my seat and
impatiently wait for the rest of the students to get their diplomas.
Finally the dean makes one final speech and then we're free to go visit our
families. I race through the crowd to find mine at our pre designated spot
and throw my arms around both of them when I finally get there. I get
kisses and hugs from both sides, and I realize that all three of us are
crying. Such a happy moment in my life. My life is so wonderful right now.
We had our celebration dinner at Doc Magoos where I was treated to a cheeseburger and a sundae. Then we went
home, which is when we all realized how tired we were, myself included. I
put Molly to bed while Carter cleaned up the place. When I got to our room
I found the bed turned down and my pajamas sitting out for me. I smiled and
slipped out of my dress into them. Then I got into bed and snuggled up to
the warm body that was waiting for me, as I fell happily asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Only two chapters to go!
worry about her, but I still did. He wouldn't tell me what happened either,
which actually just made me more worried. Funny how that works sometimes.
I got home and as soon as I walked in the door I saw him sitting on the
couch. He heard me and turned around, putting a finger over his lips
signaling to me to be quiet. Molly must already be asleep. I walked over
and sat down next to him. We kissed hello then I whispered, "What the hell
happened?"
He didn't look concerned or worried or scared, which calmed me down a
little, but I still wanted to know what happened to my baby. "She got into
a fight at school."
"Yeah, I figured that much!"
"But I told her I wouldn't talk to you about it."
"Carter! You're seriously not going to keep that promise are you?"
"Well."
"Carter!"
He looked at me. "Abby, over the past few weeks I've gotten the chance to
get to know your beautiful daughter and I've discovered what a sweet and
adorable person she is. And she's finally gotten to the point where she
trusts me now, and that trust means so much to me. I don't want to break
it."
"But Carter, I'm her mother," I pleaded.
"I know, and somehow I've managed to fall in love with her mother, so I'm
going to tell her. But I told you this because I want you to know that
Molly absolutely cannot find out that you know, okay?"
"Okay."
"Good." He smiled, then got serious again. "Today at school a boy called
her a name and she got in a fight with him. He said she was weird because."
"Because why?"
"Because she.doesn't have a father." He looked up at me with those dark
eyes and I could see so much emotion built up in there. He took my hand and
squeezed it. I squeezed back. I knew we were both thinking the same thing
but neither of us could say it. It was just a thought, nothing concrete.
It would be something amazing, but I don't want to think too much about it.
I like how things are right now with us. We don't need anything to change
what we've got going right now.
"Is she okay now?"
"Yeah. I told her to ignore people who say things like that because she's
special." He smiled again. I love his smile. The way it reaches his eyes
and makes them dance.it's one of the many things I find so captivating about
him. Enchanting. He kisses me and stands up, then takes my other hand and
pulls me up off the couch with him. I slide my arms around him and we stand
there in that ever so comfortable position. He leans his head down to my
ear and whispers, "Ready to go to bed?"
I smile up at him, "I'm always ready."
That night as we lay curled up with each other I started to think about what
I had told myself not to think earlier. About Carter...being Molly's
father. There, I said it in one complete thought. Is it right? Are we
really meant to be together forever? We seem so perfect together in every
way. Even our bodies seem like they were always meant to be molded together
someday. But with all our past and our families and everything, I'm so
afraid that it might not work. Actually, I'm terrified that it might not
work. He's everything to me. He's my whole life. Even Molly, as much as I
love her, could never totally make up for the loss of Carter. And so as
much as I want to have him forever, I don't know if I want to do that. To
take the next step. Because I'm terrified of losing him.
I stop. That's too much. We've only been dating for a few months. But
sometimes it seems like so much longer than that. When did I first start to
love him? I don't really know. I guess at some point I realized that our
friendship meant something more to me on a subconscious level, but I don't
know when that was. All I know is that I'm crazy about him now. I love him
so much.
I close my eyes and lay my head against his chest. All I want is this.
Here in this moment. Right now. I smile as I slowly drift off to sleep.
This is heaven.
**
Why do dresses hate me?
Seriously, for one of the few times in my life I make a serious effort to
look presentable and it backfires. Why did I even buy this dress? Well, I
know why. I was stupid and took him with me when I went shopping. And he
told me I looked good in it. Liar.
Today is my med school graduation. 8 years after I first entered med
school, 4 years after I quit and became a nurse, a few months after I went
back, and several cups of coffee later, I am finally graduating. Carter
keeps telling me how proud he is. I have to say, I might be a little proud
of myself. I actually accomplished one of my goals!
I have to be there in an hour and I can't really get the dress to tie right
in back, which is throwing everything off. I call Carter in from his job of
entertaining Molly in the living room to come in and help me. He comes in
the room and smiles a little before fixing my problem. Now it's goin'. He
stares at me in the mirror, then wraps his arms around me and kisses my
neck. "You look gooood," he murmurs.
I smile. "I looked really bad without you."
"You couldn't look bad if you tried."
I smile again, then turn around and kiss him goodbye. "I gotta go. See you
there?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world."
**
Pomp and circumstance. Such an odd song. Why do they play it at
graduations again?
I ponder that question as the hundreds of other students walk across the
stage to receive that little piece of paper we've been working our lives off
to earn. I see Carter and Molly in the midst of the crowd and wave for the
billionth time. They wave back. Again.
"Abigail Lockhart."
That's me. I walk up the steps and take the scroll into my hand, shaking
the hand of the dean with the other. I look at Carter, who's beaming and
attempting to control Molly, who's going crazy, all while trying to take
pictures at the same time. But even though he has a lot he needs to do and
take care of in these few seconds, he stops trying to get everything and
looks up at me. He's smiling even bigger and mouths the words, I love you.
I smile and start to cry as I mouth them back. I go back to my seat and
impatiently wait for the rest of the students to get their diplomas.
Finally the dean makes one final speech and then we're free to go visit our
families. I race through the crowd to find mine at our pre designated spot
and throw my arms around both of them when I finally get there. I get
kisses and hugs from both sides, and I realize that all three of us are
crying. Such a happy moment in my life. My life is so wonderful right now.
We had our celebration dinner at Doc Magoos where I was treated to a cheeseburger and a sundae. Then we went
home, which is when we all realized how tired we were, myself included. I
put Molly to bed while Carter cleaned up the place. When I got to our room
I found the bed turned down and my pajamas sitting out for me. I smiled and
slipped out of my dress into them. Then I got into bed and snuggled up to
the warm body that was waiting for me, as I fell happily asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Only two chapters to go!