We Used To Be Friends
Chapter Thirty
A/N: Wow, thirty chapters and over seventy thousand words already. I never expected this story to be so long! Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy!
Carter walked downstairs the next morning at about eight, dressed and ready for the day. He walked into the kitchen and smiled at Barbara. "Good morning."
"Good morning." Barbara replied before turning back to the pancakes and bacon she was preparing on the stove. "Are you hungry?"
"Yes, I am." Carter replied.
"Breakfast should be ready soon." Barbara announced.
"Ok." He stood in the doorway of the kitchen and decided that now would be a good time to talk to Lucy's mother. "You don't like me much, do you?"
She was surprised by his question and his boldness. "What gives you that impression?"
"When Lucy and I were growing up, you were…well you were different around me. Now I get the impression that you hate me or something." Carter explained.
"I don't hate you." Barbara shook her head. "But you are right. When you two were growing up, I thought you were a great kid."
"And now?" He was curious and a little worried about her current opinion.
She turned to look him in the eye. "Now I'm not so sure what you are." Barbara honestly told him. Then she went back to making breakfast. "You know, I'm still shocked that Lucy forgave you for what happened all those years ago. If you had seen the way it affected her, well…" She trailed off. "She cried every night when she thought I was already asleep. She just couldn't understand what she had done or said to make you hate her so much."
"I didn't hate…" He interjected.
She interrupted him as he tried to interrupt her. "I didn't say that you did hate her. I simply told you what she thought. She thought she was to blame for you ending your friendship and, no matter how hard Shelby and I tried, we couldn't convince her that she wasn't to blame. She felt like there was something wrong with her that made you leave."
He sat there absorbing all the new information. Lucy had never told him any of this, but it definitely shed some light on why it was so hard to get her to forgive him. "I had no idea she felt that way."
"Of course not because Lucy didn't want you to know." Barbara replied.
He was confused now. "So why did you tell me if she didn't want me to know?"
"Because I'm her mother and it's my job to look out for her." She paused. "I also told you in order to warn you not to hurt her again. Yesterday you and Lucy came by here and dropped the bombshell that you have had this one-night stand and my daughter is suddenly pregnant. I'm ok with that. I can even be happy about it, but I can't shake this feeling that there's something wrong with this picture. I don't know what, but my maternal instincts are screaming that there's something Lucy isn't telling me. I think you know what it is. Can to enlighten me?"
He didn't want to lie to her mother but he couldn't tell the truth either. "No. We've told you the whole story."
"Is that so?" She laughed. "Then why didn't you mention Abby?"
"Because she's not someone who needs to be mentioned. Yeah I dated her for a few months, but it was nothing serious. It's over now and there's nothing else to be said about it." Carter replied.
"And there's nothing else that you two haven't told me?" Barbara asked.
"No. That's it." Carter lied.
Lucy came down the stairs, stifling a yawn. She hadn't slept well, but not because of nightmares for once. She was kept awake because of her mother's question of marriage. The question lingered in her head like a deep fog, clouding every other thought she had. She was about to enter the kitchen when she heard her mother and Carter talking. Curious, she stepped back a couple of feet and listened intently.
She knew that Carter was lying. She could tell that, whatever it was, he was keeping this secret for Lucy. If she wanted to know what her daughter was hiding, she would have to drag it out of Lucy herself. She placed a small stack of pancakes on a plate and then piled a couple of pieces of bacon on the side before handing the plate to him. "Here."
He accepted the plate. "Thank you." He took the plate.
"So are you and Lucy going to get married?" Barbara asked casually. She had already asked Lucy that question but was curious about the kind of answer that Carter would give.
He wasn't surprised that she would ask him that. He assumed that she would since Lucy had explained her conversation from the night before. "I would marry her if I could but she won't marry me."
She could have sworn that her heart had actually skipped a beat when Carter had announced that he would marry her, but then her excitement faded somewhat. Did he want to marry her as part of his plan to help her out with the baby? Or was he desire to marry her more about feelings of love? She wasn't sure. Knowing Carter it was entirely possible that he would want to marry her in order to provide this baby, that wasn't even his, with a stable home.
"Have you asked her?" Barbara asked, confused by his statement. Lucy didn't mention Carter proposing to her, however she suspected that Lucy was keeping a lot of things from her.
"No." He shook his head. "But I know what her answer would be."
"Then how do you know what her answer would be if you haven't actually asked her?" Barbara countered.
"Let's just say that I know how her mind works most of the time." Carter replied sadly. "She doesn't want to marry me."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Barbara muttered softly.
Lucy stood on the other side of the kitchen, still concealed from Carter and her mother. Deep inside there was a part of her that wanted to run into the kitchen and start screaming, 'yes I do want to marry you Carter' but instead of acting on that impulse she walked back out to the living room. Plastering a smile on her face, she took a deep breath and started to walk back towards the kitchen. "Good morning." She greeted both Carter and her mother with a smile.
"Morning." Her mother smiled, handing her daughter a plate of food.
"Thanks." Lucy replied, sitting next to Carter at the small table in the corner of the kitchen. She picked up a piece of bacon and broke it in half, looking over at Carter. "You're quiet this morning." He looked deep in thought about something, and she knew that the something was about her. She found it hard to pretend that she didn't know what he was so deep in thought about. "Is something wrong?"
Carter looked over at her and smiled. "No. Just thinking about some things."
"Ok." Lucy replied, starting to eat her breakfast. She spent the remainder of the meal talking with her mother since Carter was too engrossed in his own thoughts to talk. When she was done with her plate she started to get up so that she could rinse it out in the sink but her mother took the plate from her hands. "Thanks."
"So what do you want to do today? We could always show Carter the charm of downtown Indianapolis." Barbara suggested.
Lucy playfully punched Carter in the arm to get his attention. "Yeah Carter, are you ready to explore downtown Indianapolis?"
He really didn't want to go this morning. He was still trying to figure out how he was going to get Lucy to fall in love with him without being too obvious or pushing her into it. Besides, maybe it would be good for her to have some alone time with her mother. "Actually, I was thinking about staying here this morning and letting you two have some time alone."
"Are you sure?" Lucy asked. She saw something strange in his eyes, like he wasn't telling her the whole story of why he wanted to stay.
"Yeah, of course I am." He assured her.
"Ok." She relented. Then she turned to her mom. "Well it looks like it's just the two of us."
"How about a little shopping spree at Circle Center Mall then?" Barbara asked with a mischevious glint in her eyes. "They have some great stores that sell maternity clothes…"
"Mom! I don't need maternity clothes yet!" Lucy objected.
"Yet being the key word. Eventually you will; why not get a head start?" Her eyes lit up even more. "Ooh and then we can start shopping for the baby! This is going to be so much fun!" She left the room to go start a list of things they could get.
"She's probably going to take me to at least a dozen stores." Lucy looked over at Carter. "Sure you don't want to come with us?"
He laughed. "Oh I'm sure."
Lucy sighed. "Who knew that my mom would be this excited about my pregnancy?"
"I did." He grinned.
Her eyes narrowed and she swatted his arm. "You're just a big know-it-all, aren't you?"
"Yes I am." He nodded proudly. "And it's good you're starting to realize that."
She rolled her eyes, secretly enjoying their playful bantering. "I better go get ready." On an impulse, she leaned down and lightly kissed his cheek. "Thanks for giving me some time with my mom, and well, for everything." Before he could react, she left the kitchen and headed upstairs to her room.
Carter watched her walk out of the room and brought his hand up to the cheek she had just kissed. He knew that he shouldn't read anything romantic into her kiss, but it gave him hope.
"Take care of yourself and the baby." Barbara smiled as she gave her daughter a hug. "And call me if you need anything."
"I will mom. I promise." Lucy replied, pulling away from the hug. "But we should get going because Carter has a shift early tomorrow morning."
"Ok, ok. Just one more hug." Barbara conceded, hugging her daughter yet again. "I love you Lucy."
"I love you too mom." Lucy smiled, pulling away from the hug again. "And thank you for today. The shopping spree was unnecessary but a lot of fun."
"Anytime." Barbara replied, watching her daughter climb into the passenger side of Carter's jeep. "Carter!"
Carter was about to get into the jeep when he heard Barbara call out his name, so he brought his face up to meet hers. "Yes?"
"Take care of her," she paused, "and yourself." She gave him a small smile. He really did seem to care about Lucy, and perhaps it was time to move on from the past. Lucy has obviously forgiven Carter, so maybe it was time that she do the same. Although she vowed to herself that if he ever hurt Lucy again, he would have to deal with her.
He smiled back at her, realizing that she was starting to like him again. "I will. I promise."
"Have a safe trip back to Chicago." Barbara waved as the jeep backed out of the driveway.
About two hours into the trip, Carter and Lucy had stopped talking to each other and were both lost in silent reflection. As he drove, he started thinking about the past couple of days. It had been a shock to him when he discovered that Lucy's mom had developed a dislike for him. Lucy had never mentioned that her mom was still angry with him for the past and he never would have guessed that her mom would be the one to hold a grudge against him. Hopefully though he was starting to get back in Barbara's good graces. He looked over at Lucy, who was still staring out the window, and snuck a quick glance before diverting his attention back to the road in front of him. She was amazing. Why had it taken him so long to realize that she was the woman of his dreams? Why couldn't he have figured this out before? If he had only been able to tell her that he loved her a couple of months ago, then maybe they wouldn't be in the position that they were in now. He quickly chastised himself though because that kind of a thought was silly and pointless. What if statements were always silly and pointless. It's not like you could change the past. Of course he would love to be able to change the past and erase the rape from Lucy's mind. But if he erased the rape, then she wouldn't be pregnant. He looked over to sneak another glance at her, but found himself staring into her eyes.
Lucy had been staring at Carter and was surprised when he turned to look at her. She quickly put a nervous smile onto her face and then went back to looking out the window at the passing landscapes. Before she was caught staring at Carter, she was thinking back on her morning shopping spree with her mom. It was definitely a fun experience. Like she had expected, her mom had dragged her to about a dozen different stores and kept buying her things. She now had a few maternity clothes and some assorted things for the baby. She knew it sounded weird, but actually buying things for the baby made the whole situation seem more real. Before, the baby seemed more like an idea but now it was beginning to really sink in that in about seven months she would be in charge of another human beings' life. She was going to have to take care of him/her and help mold them into an adult. But she wasn't going to have to do it alone. She had her mom by her side…and she had Carter too. She looked over at him, sneaking another quick glance at quite possibly the greatest man she had ever met. No words could ever describe how grateful she was to have him standing by her and offering to help her raise this child. Yes this child was conceived out of an act of violence, but he/she was an innocent in all of this. And because of Carter, her child was going to have a father figure. Since she hadn't had a real father figure in her life, it meant a lot to her that her child wasn't going to have to go throw the same pain as she did.