We Used To Be Friends
Chapter Thirty-Six
A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter posted.SometimesI wish there were more hours in the day. Anyway, enjoy!
Two Weeks Later
Lucy walked down the hall and knocked on the door in front of her. She was tired of trying on clothes and decided that she wasn't going to change clothes again. She was going to wear this even if Carter told her that she looked horrible, but he would never do that. While putting this outfit on, she realized that she had been most likely been annoying Carter for the last hour. She would go into his room and ask how she looked. He would then tell her that she looked fine, or good, or something like that. But that never seemed to satisfy her. She didn't want to look fine or good. She wanted to wow him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was getting fatter by the day and needed reassured that she was still attractive. Maybe it was because she wanted to show him that she could be more than just a friend. Maybe it was both reasons, but whatever the reason, she had been rather difficult. She made a mental note to apologize later.
"Come in!" Carter called from the other side when he heard Lucy's knock. He was fixing his tie while looking in the mirror. While he was getting ready, she had come into his room asking for an opinion about her outfit at least six times. Each time, he seemed to somehow say the wrong thing about her appearance and she would then leave to change clothes again. Normally Lucy wasn't this sensitive about her choice of clothes; he blamed this on the pregnancy hormones. Mentally, he realized that they needed to leave soon or else they would be late.
"How does this look?" Lucy asked, twirling around. They were going over to have dinner with Carter's Gamma, and she wanted to look nice. She had chosen a long, black skirt that went to her ankles and a simple red blouse. Hanging around her neck was a small, red heart-shaped pendant and she was also wearing the matching earrings.
He stopped fixing his tie to turn around and look at her. But as soon as he saw her, he immediately forgot what words were. He had never seen this outfit before and guessed that it must be new. She looked stunning. He had heard that pregnant women sometimes have a certain glow around them, and Lucy was living proof of that phenomenon.
Lucy looked at him nervously. He was being too quiet. "Carter, if you don't say something soon I'm going to take your silence as a cue to change clothes again."
"No!" He replied quickly, raising his hands up in mock defeat. "Luce, you look wonderful--really, really wonderful."
She smiled and became embarrassed. "I've been driving you crazy with this whole thing, haven't I?"
"No!" He lied.
"Tell me the truth." She demanded politely.
He sheepishly nodded his head. "Ok, yeah it hasn't exactly been fun. But only because I think you look beautiful no matter what you wear. Besides, it's just dinner with Gamma."
"I know, but I just want to look nice." Lucy replied. She then walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sorry for any aggravation I may have caused you."
"I don't think it's possible for me to be aggravated with you," he replied, "but I'll accept your apology anyway."
"So, are we ready to go now?" Lucy asked, checking the clock. "We should go soon. I don't want to be late."
"Just let me finish my tie and then I'll be ready." Carter told her, turning back to the mirror and trying to finish with his tie. "I don't like ties!" He exclaimed, throwing up his hands in frustration.
She laughed at his outburst and then went to stand in front of him. Without saying a word, she started to work on his tie.
"What are you doing?" He asked, shocked and amused by her actions.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" She asked him sarcastically. "I'm fixing your tie for you since you seem to be incapable of doing it."
"I'm not incapable!" He defended himself. "They're just hard sometimes."
"You think this is hard?" She laughed. "Just be glad that you have never had to squeeze into panty-hose." She paused for a moment, looking up at him with an inquisitive look. "You haven't, right?"
"No! Definitely not." He laughed.
"Good." She replied with a smiled. "Just checking."
He smiled back at her, enjoying the way they were relating to each other. Ever since the kiss they had shared a couple of weeks ago, he was worried that things would be weird around them. But everything seemed to be fine. Neither of them had brought up the subject of the impromptu kiss and if it wasn't for the permanent memory of that moment he had engrained in his mind, he might be inclined to believe that it never happened.
"All done!" Lucy announced, backing away from him before she did something she might regret. Ever since she kissed him a couple of weeks ago, thoughts of kissing him again were regularly haunting her—especially just now. Being so close to him while she was fixing his tie was torturous for her. The smell of his cologne and the warmth his arms would have offered while wrapped around her tried to tempt her into burying herself in his arms and never letting go. But she couldn't do that. This wasn't the right time and, besides, she was incredibly confused by his actions. He seemed to care about her. She knows that he cares about her; however, is that caring a romantic love? She had no clue.
"Thanks." He replied, taking a look in the mirror. She had done a good job with his tie. "Are you ready to leave?"
"Yes, just let me grab my purse from my room." She disappeared from his room, stopping in her room only long enough to pick up her purse and then headed downstairs so they could leave.
"It's my fault we're late. I shouldn't have taken so long choosing my outfit." Lucy sighed as they got out of Carter's jeep and started up the driveway to the door of the mansion. The last thing she wanted to do was give Carter's Gamma any reason to dislike her, although she knew that was an irrational fear. His Gamma had always liked her, and approved of her being friends with Carter. His parents however, weren't as approving of her friendship in the beginning. In fact, they still didn't like her very much. They just tolerated her. As they were walking, she wondered if Carter had told his parents about this baby. She knew that they had moved to New York and were currently traveling through Europe, but Carter hadn't told her much else about them. His relationship with his parents has always been difficult, to say the least, but it seems even more strained now that he's an adult. She made a mental note to ask him about it at another time.
Carter smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they walked. "I don't think Gamma's gonna care that we're a few minutes late. She's just gonna be glad to see us."
She smiled back at him. "Yeah, you're right…as usual."
A few seconds after Carter rang the doorbell, the butler promptly answered the door. "Ah, Mr. Carter and Ms. Knight. Welcome. Your grandmother is expecting you. Right now she's in the sitting room."
"Thank you Gregory." Carter smiled at the older man. He then led Lucy to the sitting room. They found Gamma sitting in a chair with a bunch of papers. "Hello Gamma!" Carter grinned, walking over to his grandmother and giving her a quick hug. "How are you?"
"I'm fine." Gamma smiled. After pulling away from her grandson's hug, she moved the papers to the nearby table and stood up. "How are you?"
"Great." Carter replied.
"Good to hear." Gamma then turned to Lucy and gave her a hug. "And how are you doing my dear? Is pregnancy being kind to you?"
Lucy snorted. That was definitely a loaded question. "It has its' moments, but it's ok. I know that any discomfort I may have now will all be worth it once she's born."
Gamma nodded. "Yes, yes it will."
Lucy leaned in closer to the older woman and lowered her voice. "I think Carter's ready for some of my pregnancy symptoms to go away though. He won't admit it, but I think I'm starting to annoy him with my mood swings."
They both laughed and looked over at Carter. He was only standing a few feet away from them, so even though Lucy had lowered her voice he was still able to hear her statement.
"You know I heard what you just said." He reminded them.
"So?" Lucy questioned innocently.
He simply rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"I think dinner should be ready by now." Gamma interrupted. She started leading Lucy to the dining room. "I hope you're hungry."
"She's always hungry." Carter spoke up from behind them.
Lucy turned her head back to look at him and gave him a look of playful anger before answering his Gamma. "One of the things I've learned in the past few months is that pregnancy makes you a lot hungrier."
"That is true." Gamma agreed. "When I was pregnant with Carter's father I was constantly eating anything I could find in the kitchen. It didn't even matter to me what it was, as long as it was food."
The two women laughed and started to share other stories about their experiences as they allate dinner. Carter didn't want to take part in this conversation, and didn't really know what he could possibly contribute to the conversation, so he let his mind wander off. After letting his thoughts roam free for a few moments, he finally settled on Lucy. She was his favorite subject and most of the time she was the subject of his thoughts. He was sitting across from her at the table and snuck a glance at her. She was busy talking to his Gamma and didn't notice that his glance had turned into a long stare. As he sat there watching her talk and occasionally laugh with his Gamma, he thought about what an amazing woman she was. Beautiful, intelligent, strong, independent, and strong-willed were only a few of the good qualities that she possesses. Looking at her now, you could hardly tell that she was raped only a few months ago. She was no longer the broken shell that she had been thanks to her own personal strength and the therapy that she went through. She was, once again, the same Lucy that he had always known. But was she ready for any kind of romantic relationship? He was; he was beyond ready to pursue a romantic relationship with her. He loved her, but did she love him? Could she love him? He was certain that she cared about him and felt a definite sense of gratitude for agreeing to be this baby's father; however, he was confused. She had kissed him—really kissed him. Yet they hadn't talked about it and they hadn't kissed since then. So did she think that the kiss was a mistake? Was she waiting for him to make the first move? Should he even make the first move? Was she ready for that kind of thing? The questions swirled around in his head.
Lucy continued listening and talking to Carter's Gamma while also being aware that Carter was staring at her, and had been for about five straight minutes now. She wondered why he was staring at her and hoped it wasn't because she had food smashed all over her face. No, she reasoned, if that was the case he would have done the gentlemanly thing and told her about it because he was a gentleman. That was one of the reasons why she loved him so much. However, sometimes she wondered about if his willingness to help her with her baby was because of his constant need to do the right thing and help out those that he cares about. Often she had felt guilty about saddling him down with a child that wasn't even his biologically, even though he has sworn to her about a million times that it doesn't matter to him. She tried to tell herself that it shouldn't matter to her either, but there was always a little part of her mind that screamed it did matter. There was a break in her conversation with the older woman, so Lucy took this opportunity to turn her head and look at Carter. They locked eyes and she smiled when she saw him look down at his plate, knowing that he had been caught staring.
Millicent looked at the two of them and wondered for maybe the hundredth time lately why they hadn't gotten together romantically. They were having a baby together and were obviously in love. So what was stopping them? Or rather who was stopping them? Were the two stubborn people seated at her dinner table not allowing themselves to give into the feelings that were plastered onto their faces for some unknown reason? And if so, how were she and Barbara supposed to make the two of them see what everyone else in the world saw? She decided to give them a little push. "So, I know this is an odd question, but have you two decided what last name the baby will taking? Will it be a Carter or a Knight since you two aren't married?"
Lucy and Carter immediately looked at each other, then at Millicent, and settled their eyes back on each other. They were both surprised by her question. Neither of them had discussed the detail of this baby' last name. Lucy had assumed that the baby would take her name.
"Actually, we haven't discussed that yet." Carter informed his Gamma.
"Don't you think you should? I mean, it would be a lot easier if you two were already married. But…"
"But we're not." Lucy finished Millicent's statement for her. For whatever reason, Carter had never proposed marriage to her. Would she have said yes if he did? Absolutely.
Carter knew that this whole conversation was just another ploy used by his Gamma to try and convince them to get married. Truthfully, he didn't need convincing. He would marry Lucy right now if she would say yes. Unfortunately thought, before she could say yes he would have to ask her and asking her to marry him was something that he didn't think he should do right now--mainly because he was afraid of her answer. If it was no, then it might scare her away and then not only would he lose any chance of a romantic relationship with her, but he might also lose the friendship that he treasured.
Millicent looked at the two of them and realized that she wasn't going to help this situation. With Barbara's help, she had tried many things over the past few months to get the two of them to admit their true feelings for each other. Nothing seemed to work. They seemed to be in a state of perpetual denial, and she was running out of ideas to help them. She resolved not to give up and instead merely wait for a new idea to come to her.
After dinner and some dessert, the three of them all went back to the sitting room and Millicent picked up the stack of papers that she had been going over before Carter and Lucy had arrived. She leaned over to the couch that the two of them were sitting on and handed Carter the papers. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm giving you a present for the baby."
Lucy leaned over and took a look at the papers in Carter's hands. If she was eating while she read the papers, she was certain that she would have choked.
"Gamma, this is…" Carter started to say until Lucy cut him off.
"Too much." Lucy finished. "You don't have to do this."
Millicent smiled at both Lucy and Carter. "I know, but I wanted to do something for my first granddaughter."
Lucy sat there looking at the paperwork that was in Carter's hands and suddenly felt incredibly guilty. Millicent was starting a trust fund for her child—a child that wasn't even a blood relation to her. But she didn't know that. She couldn't accept this; she couldn't take this money. "We can't…"
Carter grabbed Lucy's hand and interrupted her this time. "Thank you enough for this. It's incredible."
That wasn't what Lucy was going to say and she wasn't sure why Carter was accepting this money, but she held back her anger at him and smiled instead. "Thank you." She managed to say to the woman.
"We can't take this money." Lucy stated as they entered the jeep to go home.
"Why not?" Carter asked, starting the engine and backing out of the driveway.
"Why not?" She exclaimed. "You know why not! How about the fact that she thinks she's setting up a trust fund for her grandchild but this isn't her grandchild?"
"She doesn't know that." Carter pointed out.
"I know, but we can't take her money."
"It's already a done deal Luce." He informed her. "Besides, what possible reason could we possibly give for refusing this gift without telling her the truth?"
"I don't know." Lucy sighed. "I just don't feel right about taking her money like this. We're not married and this child isn't her grandchild, yet she's treating her like a regular family member."
"We can't exactly give it back." Carter pointed out. "Just think of it as a large college fund."
She knew that he was right and they couldn't give the money back without raising a lot questions that she didn't want to answer. That still didn't make her feel any better about taking Millicent's money though.