We Used To Be Friends

Chapter Thirty-Seven

A/N: I really hope that there is still an audience out there for this story. I apologize deeply for neglecting this story for so long.It wasn't my intention, but somehow days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. I'm going to try and do much better about updating this story more often. Enjoy:)

Two Days Later

Lucy and Carter strolled around the huge department store, searching for a wedding gift for Dave and Shelby. They had been searching stores for the right gift for about three hours now, and Carter was getting bored. He smiled and hurried over to an object. "How about this?" He pointed out.

Lucy looked over to where he was, expecting to see something that might actually work as a wedding gift. Instead, she saw he was pointing to a lava lamp. "A lava lamp? I don't think so."

"Can't we just get them a toaster or something?" He asked. Shelby and Dave's wedding was in less than three days, and they had yet to get their friends a wedding present. That's why Lucy dragged him out the door this morning.

"No we can't get them a toaster!" Lucy shook her head and rolling her eyes at him.

"Why not? If we got them a toaster we could be done with this and go get lunch." He reasoned.

"They already have a toaster. They don't need another one." She replied, letting out a sigh. Shelby and Dave's wedding was less than three days away. "We shouldn't have waited until the last minute to get them a present."

"It would be a whole lot easier if they had a gift registry somewhere." Carter mused.

"Yeah, I agree. But they didn't want one." Lucy reminded him.

"Well when I get married, you can bet that I'll have a gift registry somewhere. I don't want my friends having to worry about what kind of gift to get me."

Lucy remained silent after hearing his last statement. When he got married? That statement scared her on many levels. What if he found someone that he wanted to marry? Where would she and this baby fit into that picture? More and more, she was fooling around with the notion of telling Carter how she felt about him. Honestly, she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep her feelings a secret from him.

"Ooh, we could give them spending money for their honeymoon as their present." Carter suggested.

"That seems kinda impersonal." Lucy shook her head.

"Well what are our alternatives?" He paused. "I think it's either spending money or the lava lamp."

She laughed. "I don't think we should get them a lava lamp. I guess we can go with the spending money idea."

He smiled, glad that he had convinced her to let them quit shopping. "I wish I had thought of this earlier. Maybe then we wouldn't have wasted three hours of our life." He really didn't like shopping. The only thing that made it bearable was the fact that he was with Lucy. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they walked out of the store and headed for Carter's jeep.

Her stomach quickly reminded her that she was hungry and she looked over at him. "You mentioned something about lunch?"

"Yes I did." He nodded. "Where do you want to go?"

"Doesn't matter to me." She shrugged.

"There's a new Chinese place on 3rd street we could try." He suggested as he got into the jeep.

"Sounds good." She got into the jeep and fastened her seat belt around her expanding belly.

The next day, Lucy and Shelby went to the dress shop for a final fitting of their dresses. Lucy went first and came out of the dressing room in a dark blue off the shoulder dress that went down to the floor. "It's a little tight. I think I've gained some weight since last week." She laughed.

"Well at least you're supposed to gain weight." Shelby joked, trying to make her friend feel better about the tight dress. "If it helps any, you look great."

Lucy sighed and took a look at herself in the mirror. She had always been blessed to have a nice figure; she was never overweight and never super-thin. Because of this pregnancy, she was having to deal with the fact that she was gaining a lot of weight. It didn't make her happy, but she consoled herself by remembering that in a few months she would be back to her normal figure again—and she would have a beautiful daughter.

The dress maker walked up to Lucy and started pining parts of the dress so that she could make the alterations later. After only a few moments, she released Lucy and let her change back into her other clothes. She also sent Shelby into the dressing room to change into her wedding dress.

Lucy had finished changing first and was glancing around at the wedding dresses that were on display while waiting for Shelby. A smile came to her face as she stopped in front of one of the dresses. Letting her thoughts run wild, she imagined what kind of dress she would wear if getting married to Carter. It would most likely be something simple with short sleeves and a puffy skirt. Before she could let her mind go too far into detail, she dropped back into reality and focused her attention to Shelby, who was coming out of the dressing room. "Wow. Shelby, that dress is going to make Dave forget how to speak."

Shelby looked down nervously at the dress and then walked over to the mirror. "You think?"

"Absolutely." Lucy nodded, walking over to her. "He's not going to know what to say when he sees you walk down that aisle to him."

Shelby had to admit that Lucy was right. This wedding dress did make her look wonderful, and she would love to be able to make Dave be speechless. After having the dress maker pin a couple of places, she changed back into her normal clothes and they started to leave the store. "So, I saw you looking at the wedding dresses when I came in. Think marriage is in your future?"

"I don't think so." Lucy shook her head.

"Why not? Why aren't you and Carter together?"

"Because we're happy with the way things are right now." Lucy knew it was wrong to lie to her friend, but it was better than telling her the truth.

Shelby let out a frustrated sigh. "Lucy, I really don't understand you sometimes. I mean, you and Carter are having a child together, you love him, he loves you. So what is standing in your way?" It wasn't until after she was finished with her tirade that she realized she had just told Lucy that Carter loved her. Well, it was the truth. Carter was in love with Lucy, but she scolded herself because Carter should have been the one to tell Lucy that.

"Nothing's standing in our way…" Lucy stopped when Shelby's words started to register in her mind. Carter loves her? Could she afford to hope that it was true? Shelby wouldn't lie about something like that, but how would Shelby know about Carter's feelings? She thought about asking Shelby about it, but decided against it. She would just pretend that she hadn't heard Shelby's declaration.

Carter walked into the lounge at the end of his shift and saw Dave sitting at the table writing something. He decided to sit down and see what Dave was doing. "Hey, what's that?" He asked, pointing to the paper.

"Ah, nothing." Dave shrugged, shoving the paper into his pocket.

"Looked like you were writing something. What were you writing?" Carter asked, now more curious than ever.

"Nothing." Dave shook his head.

"Oh come on. Why won't you tell me?"

Dave knew that Carter wouldn't give up until he found out. "Ok. It's a little note that I'm writing for Shelby."

"What, like a love note?" Carter asked.

"Kind of." Dave replied with a sly smile. "It's just a little note that I'm going to put with my wedding present for her."

"That's sweet." Carter smiled. He was truly glad that his two friends found love with each other and were so happy. "Which reminds me, you haven't told me what you got her. So spill it."

Dave chuckled. "I'm not telling. It's a surprise."

"Yeah it's a surprise for her, but you know that I wouldn't say a word about to her. Just tell me." Carter asked again.

"Nope. If you're so eager to know, maybe Lucy will tell you." Dave revealed.

"Lucy knows what it is?" If Lucy knew what it was, then there was a good chance that he could find out. "Why does Lucy know what it is and I don't?"

"Because she helped me with it." Dave explained.

"So, are you ready to become a married man? You have less than 48 hours of bachelorhood."

"I know, and I can't wait. When you've found the person that you want to spend the rest of your life with, you know it and you want that life to start as soon as possible." Dave then smirked. "But then again, I imagine that you know all about that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Carter asked with a chuckle.

"C'mon man, it's painfully obvious that you love Lucy as more than just a friend or even as the mother of your child. What Shelby and I don't know is why you haven't made any kind of attempt to make your situation with Lucy more…permanent."

Dave was right. He did love Lucy and he did want to spend the rest of his life with her. But would she marry him if he proposed? He wasn't sure. She might think that he was proposing only because of the baby and say no. Besides that, proposing to her might scare her off. They haven't exactly had the most normal of courtships—or any real courtship at all. No, he couldn't think of proposing right now. "Lucy and I are happy with the way things are between us right now. We have no plans to change them." Of course that was a lie, but know wasn't the time to talk about the truth. He glanced at his watch. "I should get going. Are we still on for your bachelor party tomorrow night?"

"You bet." Dave replied. He knew that Carter was lying when he said that he was happy with the way things were between him and Lucy. He just wondered how much longer it was going to take for those two to finally be honest with each other about their feelings.

"Ok. See you later." Carter said as he left the hospital.

When Lucy heard the doorbell ring, she looked at the clock. It was almost eight at night and she wasn't expecting anyone, so who could it be? She put the bookmark in her book and got up from the couch. Opening the door, she stood there in shock. "Um, hello." She finally managed to say.

The two people looked at each other and then back at Lucy. "Lucy? Lucy Knight? What are you doing here?" The female asked.

Lucy laughed nervously. "I live here." She suddenly realized that they were having this conversation on the doorstep. "Oh, would you two like to come in?"

The couple exchanged glances again before fixating their gaze on the pregnant woman in front of them. "Actually, we're looking for John. Millicent gave us this address…"

"He should be home from the hospital any minute now." Lucy informed them. "You're more than welcome to come in and wait."

Eleanor Carter smiled politely and entered the house ahead of her husband. "Thank you."

"Can I get you anything?" Lucy asked as they all settled in the living room. Carter's parents sat on the couch and Lucy stood in front of them.

"No thanks." Jack Carter replied.

"Ok then." Lucy replied with a smile as she sat in a nearby chair.

"It's been a long time since we've seen you Lucy. How are you?" Jack asked.

It was clear to Lucy that they didn't really care how she had been during these past years and were just trying to be as polite as possible. They had never treated her as anything other than an annoyance and always thought of her as not being good enough to even be friends with their son. She did not look forward to their reaction when they find out about Carter's involvement with her and her baby. "I've been fine. I just completed another year of med school."

"You're going to be a doctor?" Jack asked, surprised by this statement.

"Yes, I am." Lucy replied, trying to keep the smile plastered onto her face.

"Interesting." Eleanor commented.

"So Millicent didn't tell us that you were living here…" Eleanor informed Lucy, "and she certainly didn't tell us about your pregnancy. Congratulations."

"Thank you." Lucy replied, hoping that Carter wasn't going to be late. She wasn't sure how much longer she could stand being left alone in a room with his parents.

"If you don't mind my asking, who is the father?" Eleanor asked.

Before Lucy had a chance to reply, a familiar voice entered the room. "I am, mother."