We Used To Be Friends

Chapter Thirty-Three

A/N: Thanks so much for the kind reviews! I love knowing that my readers are still liking this story. Enjoy:)

Three months later

Lucy yawned as she made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Walking to the cabinet next to the refrigerator, she smiled at Carter.

Carter, who was eating a bowl of cereal and reading the newspaper, looked at Lucy strangely. "What are you doing up this early?" He was up because he had to go to work, but she should still be sleeping. It was only six in the morning. He had expected her to still be asleep when he left for work. "Why don't you go back to bed and get more sleep?"

"Well good morning to you too." Lucy snorted, reaching up for a glass.

"Sorry." He replied. "Good morning Lucy. What are you doing up so early this morning? Is that better?"

"Much better, thank you very much." She laughed. "And for your information, the reason I'm up right now is because I wanted to talk to you before you left for work." When she finished explaining herself, she opened up the refrigerator and pulled out the orange juice.

"Why? What's up? Is something wrong?" Carter asked, hoping that whatever she had to talk to him about was something good. The past few months together have been wonderful for him and he didn't want anything to happen that would spoil that.

"No. It's nothing bad." She shook her head, taking a sip of her juice. "I just have a doctor's appointment this afternoon and I was wondering…well, I thought I'd check and see if you wanted to come with me. I think we might actually be able to find out the sex of the baby this time." She wasn't sure why she was so nervous about asking him to come with her. He had come to all of her previous doctor's appointments so why would this be any different?

He grinned like a fool and put down the spoon that was in his hand. The possibility of finding out if the baby was a girl or a boy was exciting. He wasn't sure which to hope for. He'd love to have a boy that he could play sports with, but he'd also love spoiling a little girl too. "I'd love to go. What time is your appointment?"

"One." Lucy replied, glad that he was coming with her.

"I'll be there." Carter nodded.

"Great. Have fun at work." Carrying her orange juice, she started to leave the kitchen. But she stopped and turned around when she heard Carter's voice calling out to her.

"Lucy?" He waited for her to turn around. "Thanks for inviting me."

She smiled. "You're welcome."

Lucy came out of the bathroom combing her hair after taking a shower. She looked over at the clock by her bed and saw that she still had two hours before her doctor's appointment. There really was nothing else for her to do, so she laid down on the bed and started to reflect on the events of the past few months. Ever since she heard Carter's declaration of love when he thought she was asleep, a lot of things had happened. The next day, she went to Mercy Hospital and started therapy sessions with Dr. Monroe to purge the bad memories from her mind. The twice-a-week sessions were helping enormously. Her nightmares, which used to haunt her every night, were now only happening once every two weeks. And she was starting to feel better about herself again. While she still believed that she should have fought back harder, she realized that the rape wasn't her fault. She was moving past her trauma and was regaining complete control of her life. She was very proud of her accomplishments. Classes had ended about a week ago, and since she was pregnant, she wasn't going to work at the hospital over the summer. Carter however was working there during the summer, trying to get in as many hours as he possibly could. While she was happy that he was going to get a few months of extra experience at the hospital, a small part of her was jealous. She couldn't work at the hospital and she was also going to have to postpone going back to school for a few months after the baby was born. Her med school track was derailed but his was moving on at warp speed. Inside she knew it was petty and stupid to envy him for that, yet she couldn't help the feelings she was having. Laughing, she blamed it all on her hormones. She had discovered that pregnant women can easily blame any and all mood swings on their hormones, and it was coming in handy lately. Another new thing in her life was the house that Carter surprised her with about six weeks ago. She smiled when she thought back to the day he first brought her here.

"Where are we going?" Lucy asked, watching as Carter drove down the streets of Chicago.

"I told you that it was a surprise." Carter gently scolded.

"Is it a good surprise?" Lucy asked hesitantly. He had said nothing to her about what the surprise he had for her this morning. All he had said was that he had something to show her this afternoon. That left her with no clue about what he was going to show her. It was a good thing she trusted him or else she would be extremely anxious right now.

"It's definitely a good surprise…I think." He paused, amending his previous statement. "Well I think it's a good surprise, and I think you will too."

She didn't reply with words, only a gentle sigh as they pulled into the driveway of a small, two-story brick house. "Where are we?"

"We're about fifteen minutes away from the hospital." Carter replied, getting out of the jeep and motioning for Lucy to join him as he started walking up the driveway to the front door.

Lucy hurried after him and soon joined him on the doorstep of the house. She had to admit that it looked like a nice place. "So who lives here? Or can you not tell me that because it would ruin the surprise?"

He smiled at her and took out a small set of keys. "We live here. I just bought this place two days ago."


She stared at him with her mouth hanging open. He bought them a house? He actually bought them a house? He had mentioned something about getting a bigger place before the baby came, but he actually went out and bought a house? She wasn't sure how to react to that. She was both touched that he would do something like that yet also angry that she had no chance to give any input about where they would live.

"Luce? Are you just going to stand there with your mouth hanging open all day or are you going to come inside?" Carter asked. He had unlocked the door and was standing on the other side of the threshold.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and followed him inside, numbly following him as he gave her a tour of their new home. As soon as she entered the house, she was in the living room. It was a spacious room with a fireplace and crème colored walls. Next to the living room was a fairly large dining room with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. She followed him into the kitchen and was amazed to see that it was a very nice kitchen. There was even a mini island in the middle and a little counter with bar stools. The next part of the tour was the second floor. After climbing the stairs, she followed him into a bedroom. The walls were painted a nice peach color and Lucy guessed that this would most likely be her room.

"I thought this could be your room." Carter told her, confirming her suspicions. "There's a bathroom attached on the side."

She didn't say anything as he took her into the next room. It was slightly smaller than her room and the walls were painted a light blue.

"I was thinking that this room could be for the baby. That way, your room would be on one side and mine would be on the other." He explained as he led her into the room that he intended to take as his own. "What do you think?"

Honestly, she didn't know what to think. It was all so…so sweet. Somehow he kept surprising her. Just when she started to think that he couldn't get any better, he just kept surprising her with things like this. First he agrees to pretend to be the father of her child and now he's buying them a house to live in. He's thought of everything. He really does love me.

"Luce? What do you think about the place?" He asked again after a few moments of silence. He was really hoping that she would love the place and wouldn't be upset that he had gone behind her back and bought it without asking first.

A huge smile came onto her face and she threw her arms around him, giving him a hug.

When he felt her arms wrap around him he wrapped his arms around her tightly, never wanting this moment to end. As corny as it might sound to others, he cherished moments like this with Lucy.

Since she was this close to him, she used this as an opportunity to bury her head in his shoulder. Breathing in his scent was almost intoxicating to her and she let herself get carried away for a moment before pulling away. But she couldn't pull away too far and they were still only inches apart. "I can't believe you did this for me. It's…there are no words for this."

"You like it?" He asked, really hoping she did.

"I love it!" Lucy exclaimed, walking around the room and stopping by the window. Looking out at the view, she spoke again. "You just keep surprising me."

"I like surprising you." He smiled, joining her by the window.

"I don't know what I'd do without you in my life." She confessed. She really wanted to tell him that she loved him but couldn't seem to say that, so this would have to suffice for now.

It was his turn this time to envelope her in a hug. As he held on to her, he started gently stroking her hair. "Well then I guess it's lucky that I don't intend on ever leaving your side."

She looked down at the floor and smiled. Then she looked back up at him. "And I don't intend on letting you leave my side." Did she just say that? Where did that come from? Sure she was thinking that, but she hadn't meant to say it. Oops.

He wasn't sure what to say to her remark. She didn't want him to ever leave her. That was a good thing, but was it because she had feelings for him or she just didn't want him to leave her and the baby? He wasn't completely sure. He wanted it to be that she didn't want him to leave because she loved him. Maybe she did love him but wasn't sure how to say it and wasn't ready to try yet. He kissed her forehead, deciding to change the subject. "So you really like the house? You're not just humoring me?"

She laughed. "No, I'm not humoring you. I love this place." Almost as much as I love you.

"Then welcome home." He grinned.

They've been living in the house for almost a month and a half now and she still loved the house. It wasn't huge, but wasn't small and cramped either. It was just the right size for their little family. Family. It's such a simple word, but it's a complex subject. Were they a family? She wanted them to be. Eventually they would be. She just had to be patient enough to wait for that day to come.