We Used To Be Friends

Chapter Thirty-Five

A/N: Sorry about not updating this story sooner, but this past week has been super busy for me. Anyway, thanks for the reviews! Enjoy:)

Lucy entered the house after coming back from her doctor's appointment and threw her purse on the table by the door. She had many jumbled thoughts running through her head, each competing for her full attention. There were thoughts about her baby, thoughts about Carter, thoughts about the kiss that she had just shared with Carter, and thoughts about the way her life was turning out. The baby. She released a deep sigh. She was going to have a little girl and it was just starting to sink in. She walked over to the couch and sank into the cushions, letting her thoughts about the baby win her complete attention. She would have been happy if she was carrying a boy, but secretly had hoped for a girl. She closed her eyes as she tried to envision what the little girl would look like. It didn't take her too long to fall asleep.

A small blond girl with blue eyes ran through the house, squealing the entire time. The little girl, who looked almost exactly like Lucy when she was that age, was chasing a younger little boy. The boy was barely able to stay ahead of the girl because he was having trouble running efficiently. It was obvious by looking at the boy's clumsy movements that he was a toddler, and had just recently learned how to run.

Carter came into the living room and picked up the little girl. "Sara, what have I told you about chasing your little brother around the house?" He asked in a very authoritative tone.

"You told me not to do it." Sara replied, knowing that she was caught.

"So then why do you keep doing it?" Carter asked, interested in learning her answer.

She shrugged. "I dunno." A giggle escaped from her mouth. " Maybe 'cause it's fun?"

Carter laughed at the response. "You are just like your mother, you know that?" He teases as he started tickling her belly.

"Daddy stop! That tickles!" Sara squealed.

Lucy came into the room holding the little boy in her arms and laughed at the sight in front of her. "Lunchtime!" She announced, clearing her throat.

Carter put Sara down on the ground and watched as she ran into the kitchen. "I guess she's hungry." He observed.

"Yeah." Lucy agreed. Then she looked down at her son, who was almost an exact replica of Carter at the same age. They both had the most expressive brown eyes and thick, brown hair. "What about you Bobby? Are you hungry?"

"Yea!" Bobby replied, clapping his hands. "Food!"

Lucy smiled and turned to go back into the kitchen. She sat Bobby in his chair and then walked over to the counter to cut Sara's sandwich. A few seconds later, she handed the plate to Sara so she could start eating. "Hey Carter, do you want ham or turkey on your sandwich?"

"Don't care. Just surprise me." He replied, sneaking up behind her and snaking his arms around her waist.

She smiled and leaned back into him, letting herself relax completely. "Is ham ok then?"

"It's fine." He replied, kissing her neck. That elicited a soft whimpering from Lucy and so he continued.

"We can't do this right now. The kids." She whispered, reminding him.

"I know, I know." He whispered back, kissing her neck one more time before stopping.

Lucy turned around, taking a quick glance at the kids sitting ten feet away from them. Sara was eating her sandwich and trying to feed Bobby the crusts. They were busy and well behaved at the moment, so she focused her attention back on Carter. "I love you." She whispered, letting herself get lost in his eyes.

"And I love you." He replied, giving her a passionate kiss.

"Ah, gross!" Sara screamed, watching her parents kiss each other.

Lucy and Carter pulled away from each other and both smiled as they looked at Sara. "I promise you Sara, someday you won't think kissing a guy is gross." Lucy explained.

"That won't happen." Sara proclaimed defiantly.

"I, for one, hope that she never discovers boys." Carter chimed in.

Lucy playfully smacked Carter in the stomach. "She's going to discover boys sooner or later. You can't stop that. You can only hope that she finds someone to be just as wonderful as you have been with me."

"And I will continue to be wonderful to you until the end of time." He replied, pulling her closer to him.

"I like the sound of that." Lucy grinned, giving him a quick kiss.

"You're doing it again!" Sara exclaimed.

Lucy and Carter both looked at her and then back at each other, unable to contain their laughter.

Her eyes fluttered open and she slowly moved around on the couch. She had been enjoying her dream, and wanted to get back to it, but the ringing phone seemed determined to ruin all chances of going back to sleep. She dragged her body off the couch and walked over to the phone. "Hello?" Lucy answered, trying to contain a yawn.

"Hey, did I wake you or something?" Shelby asked, noticing the sleepiness in her friends' voice.

"Yeah, kinda, but it's ok." Lucy replied, forcing herself to wake up and be alert again. "What's going on?" She scanned her mind to make sure that she hadn't forgotten about any plans to do something with Shelby.

"Nothing much." Shelby replied. "I was just wondering what happened with your doctor's appointment. Did you find out if you're having a boy or a girl?"

"Yes, we did." Lucy informed her friend. "We're having a girl!"

"Yes!" Shelby exclaimed happily. She knew that Lucy wanted a girl and was very happy that she was getting her wish. Ever since she had known her, Lucy had wanted to have a little girl that she could dress up and do her hair. "I'm glad that it's a girl—not that I wouldn't have been glad if it was a boy either."

Lucy laughed at Shelby's enthusiasm. "I know what you mean. I'm glad too, and so was Carter."

Shelby laughed softly. "I can't believe he didn't want a boy. Most guys almost expect their first-born to be a son."

"Well not Carter. I have a feeling that this girl is going to be a daddy's girl. She'll probably have him wrapped around her little finger."

"Now that I would love to see." Over the past few weeks, Carter had become one of the most over-protective expectant fathers she had ever seen. He was always doting on Lucy and the baby and she couldn't help but wonder why Lucy and Carter hadn't admitted their feelings for each other. There was still this air of uncertainty that seemed to permeate the room whenever they were together. There were many times when it was almost like they were uncomfortable to be so close to each other, but they shouldn't feel that way since they had already slept together once. She had often wondered about this, and had come to a conclusion. Maybe Carter and Lucy didn't sleep together. The only problem with that scenario was why were they lying about it? So either they were just idiots who couldn't admit that they love each other, or they were lying about sleeping together and Carter wasn't this baby's father. Neither option made much sense to her. She wanted to ask Lucy about it, but decided against it. Maybe it just wasn't any of her business.

They both laughed. "So how are the wedding plans coming? Do you need any more help?"

Shelby sighed. "No, you've done enough for me, and I don't want to bother you."

"You're not bothering me. I'm bored over here since I'm not working anymore. I could use a distraction." Lucy explained. Shelby and Dave decided to get married in June and Lucy had been helping Shelby plan every detail.

"Well the only thing left is all of the little details." Shelby exclaimed. "And the little details are starting to drive me crazy. I will be so glad when the wedding is over with and Dave and I can just go on our honeymoon. I never would have guessed that planning a wedding would be so complicated—especially since we're having such a small wedding!"

"I'm sorry." Lucy replied. "I guess maybe your first instinct to elope may have been right."

Shelby laughed. "Yeah, maybe." She paused for a moment. "Well I need to get back to work. Wanna have lunch together tomorrow?"

"Sure." Lucy agreed.

"Great. I'll come by around eleven and maybe we can try that new place on 7th Street."

"Sounds good. Bye." Lucy hung up the phone and immediately felt a pang of guilt course through her mind. Maybe she should have told Shelby about how she had kissed Carter earlier. She knew that Shelby still felt a little betrayed by the fact that she hadn't been told about Lucy's fake one night affair with Carter, but she didn't think she could tell her about the rape. Finally, she came to the conclusion that she could deal with this on her own and didn't need Shelby's help.

Carter came through the door and glanced into the living room, hoping to find Lucy sitting on the couch waiting for him. Unfortunately he wasn't that lucky and decided to call for her. "Lucy! I'm home!"

A few seconds later, Lucy appeared at the top of the steps and smiled at the object in his hand. "Ooh the pizza is here!"

He gave her a weird look and pretended to pout. "Ooh the pizza's here? That's all I get? What about ooh Carter's here?"

She laughed, approaching the spot where he stood and impulsively gave him a short peck on the cheek. "How about this?" She raised her hands up and pasted a huge grin on her face. "Ooh Carter's here!"

"Very funny." He knew that she was teasing him, but at least he had gotten a kiss on the cheek. Earlier in the day she had given him two kisses and now he was getting a kiss on the cheek. Those things, coupled with the news that the baby was girl made this day one of the best he had experienced.

She took the pizza from his hands and moved into the kitchen. After setting it on the little island in the middle of the kitchen, she brought back paper plates and napkins. "So how was the rest of your day?"

He was in the kitchen getting a beer for him and a can of 7-up for Lucy. "Oh you know…it was…busy. What else did you do?" He asked, grabbing a plate and putting two slices on it.

"Absolutely nothing other than the doctor's appointment." She sighed. "I am so completely bored!"

"You wouldn't be if you had a hobby." Carter pointed out casually, knowing that he would get a reaction out of her from that.

She just rolled her eyes at him. "Oh not this again! I don't need…" she stopped and considered what she was about to say. She was about to say that she didn't need a hobby, but that really wasn't true. She did need a hobby. Cursing him for being right, she tried to figure out a way to admit she needed a hobby without making his already huge ego even bigger. "Look, maybe we should just stop having this disagreement. You seem to think I need a hobby and I don't. But for argument's sake, what hobby would you suggest for me?"

He smiled, glad that she was at least ready to hear his idea about this. He had been thinking about this ever since their initial conversation at her mother's house. "Well it's more like a project actually."

Her eyes narrowed, wondering what his idea could be. "What kind of project?"

He took a look around. "This house came with only a few pieces of furniture. Even with the furniture that we have moved here with, it still looks bare. Wouldn't it be nice if someone came along and re-decorated this place?"

She knew what he was hinting at. "You want me to be an interior decorator?"

"Wouldn't that be fun? You can do whatever you want to the house. Replace the furniture, re-paint the walls, put in new carpet, re-do the kitchen, whatever. I'll pay for everything. You can turn this house into whatever you want it to be."

"No thanks." Lucy shook her head. She then picked up her dinner and moved to the living room. Placing her drink and food on the coffee table, she grabbed the remote and turned on the television to do some channel surfing.

Carter hurried after her and also sat his food down on the coffee table. He wasn't sure why she had refused his offer. He had been sure that she would jump at the chance to remodel this house. As much as they both loved the space, it was slightly out-dated. "Why not?"

She didn't bother looking over at him; instead she focused her attention on the television. "Because."

"Because?" He laughed. "What kind of a reason is that?"

"It's a very valid reason." She replied, still not facing him.

The fact that she wouldn't look at him was irritating him. Finally, he yanked the remote out of her hand and turned the television off.

"What did you do that for?" She asked angrily, finally looking over at him.

"You weren't giving me a straight answer about why you don't like my idea." He replied.

"Fine." She replied calmly. "I don't like your idea because it sucks. How about that? That's a straight answer. Now give me back the remote."

"No." He refused. "What's the real reason?"

"I already told you the real reason." She lied.

"No, you told me a lie which you thought would placate me enough to get me off your back about this." He grinned, certain that he was right about her earlier intentions. "But it didn't work, so now maybe you should go ahead and just tell me the truth. What is it about my offer to redecorate the house that sucks?"

"Ok, so maybe the idea doesn't suck." Lucy admitted, crossing her arms across her chest. "It's a very nice offer and I appreciate it a lot, but I can't take your money like that. It's not right."

"Oh, it's about money." He should have guessed. Of course it was about money. "I don't care about the money, and why is it not right? I'll be living here too, you know. I'd like this place a little more if we got new furniture—maybe some that matched each other."

"I just don't feel right about taking your money." It's not like we're married or anything. Redecorating a house seems more like something a wife would do. But I'm just your…I don't even know what I am to you anymore.

"Please take my money? We'll both benefit from this." He gave her a sad, pathetic look, hoping to convince her into doing this. "Don't let the money issue stop you from this. If you think you'd be interested in doing this, then go ahead. Please?"

The more she thought about it, the more interesting it seemed. She could change anything about this house and the contents of it too. A smile graced her face. "How about I do this on one condition?"

"Depends on the condition." He smiled.

"You have to come with me when we go furniture shopping." She informed him. "I would hate to get something that you don't like because like you said, you'll be living here too."

"It's a deal." He nodded.

"Now will you give me back the remote?" She asked softly.

"Sure." He laughed and handed it back to her.