CJ was in a slump. Sure; she had a great boyfriend in Seth and now they were official on twitter, but she felt like something was missing and she knew that something was Dean. She knew that she shouldn't miss him, because he was a dick, but that didn't stop her from missing him. He had been such an active part of her life and a nagging voice in the back of her head told her that she loved him, it was hard for her to not miss him.
But she knew that she couldn't think like that because it wasn't fair to Seth. Seth had loved her unconditionally for months, and stepped up to be a man about this pregnancy with no questions asked or demands for an abortion. Seth wanted this with her and had no qualms with raising another man's child and raising that child as if it were his. Seth had promised to be there for her regardless, and she admired him for that. She was falling for Seth, so why did she still feel for Dean?
The emotional conflict had sparked a turmoil in the second generation star and, even though she knew stressing was bad for her and her children, she was stressing out. She still forced food(that didn't upset her stomach) down so that way she wasn't starving, but she wasn't one for leaving her apartment. It didn't exactly appeal to her, so she didn't. Once she was in Iowa she'd be making doctor's visits and going outside regularly, but until then her thoughts of Dean would be running rampant and keeping her in her apartment. She would be in Iowa on Friday, today was only Thursday. She got to deal with her thoughts for another long day.
A very long day.
Seth, knowing CJ better than she probably knew herself, knew that she was probably in desperate need of a distraction. So he hopped a flight to Syracuse and let himself into her apartment. He was going to make her feel better, and she was going to love every moment if it.
"Hi Seth." CJ greeted on her way from the kitchen to her living room. Her apartment was all boxed up, and he assumed that the movers would be picking them up later in the day. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to surprise you, but I thought you'd be sleeping." Seth admitted with a sheepish grin, checking his watch to see that it was six in the morning.
"I can't sleep. I don't know why, but I can't." She mumbled as she walked into his open arms.
"Babe, let's go lay down then. You need your sleep."
"But-" CJ tried to argue, but Seth gently pinched her lips closed.
"I'm with you until Saturday, and you need your sleep, babe." He reasoned, carefully lifting her into his arms and carrying her to her bedroom. She didn't try to protest any further, and just let him lay her down a d position them in her bed. "Everything is going to be okay in the end, CJ. I promise."
"I miss Dean. I shouldn't, but I do."
"I know you do. But it might be best to not think about him right now." Seth advised, rubbing her back soothingly. He was silently seething because she still wanted Dean even after he was a dick to her about being pregnant. But that don't change anything. Dean made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with her, and this was where Seth knew he'd capitalize. It'd only be a couple weeks before she was totally done with Dean.
"Sethie, I really don't think we should go too-"
"We need to be out of the way for the next couple hours and I thought this would be fun for us to do." He reasoned, looking over at her while she stated at him from the passenger's seat. "I really like your car, by the way."
"Thank you. Will you at least tell me what we're doing?"
"We're going to the zoo." Seth spoke with a grin as he turned into the parking lot and CJ smiled at him.
"You know me too well and I hate you for it."
"I love you, too, babe." Seth teased, leaning over to kiss her softly but CJ turned her head to yawn so all Seth got was her cheek. He wasn't disappointed, though, because he got to kiss her.
"You're ready to carry me around when I get tired of walking, right?" She asked jokingly as she put on her sunglasses and Seth nodded, turning her head by her chin to kiss her softly.
"Always." He whispered against her lips with a smile before pressing his lips to hers once more. Just feeling her smile into the kiss made Seth feel like the king of the world because he was making her happy. "Ready to go?"
"I was ready when you said 'zoo'." CJ spoke with a grin before getting out of her car, making sure that Seth locked and armed the alarm before letting him lead her to the main entrance. He playfully threatened to break up with her if she tried buying her own ticket to which she playfully punched his shoulder while they waited for the elderly woman to print their tickets.
"What a lovely couple." She observed and CJ couldn't help but smile up at Seth.
"She's the light of my life." Seth commented as he got their tickets and the woman beamed at the two.
"Such a sweet man. You be sure to hold onto this one, young lady." The woman told CJ, who nodded with a smile before wishing her a good day and letting Seth pull her into the zoo. She went to grab a map but he assured her that they didn't need one and instead pulled her out of the lobby and outdoors.
"Good thing we wore shorts, huh?" Seth asked, giving CJ a seventh once-over since she got dressed that afternoon. Khaki shorts that were short enough to display a lot of leg, but not too short that they were distasteful. He loved those shorts. Not to mention the Ramones tshirt and the worn out vans she was wearing. Everything about what she was wearing stood out to him and he loved every bit of it.
"Definitely. Do you want to go left first?" CJ asked, looking up at him as she pointed down the path and Seth looked down the right path. Seeing a group of little kids approaching from that direction made him nod and usher her down the left path. He wanted to spend time with his girlfriend, not pose for pictures.
"Everything down there isn't moving in the next couple minutes, Seth."
"Sorry, babe. There was an incoming field trip and I didn't want us to get spotted." He explained, giving her hand a gentle squeeze as they stopped in front of the Spectacled Bear exhibit.
"He's a cutie." CJ observed, watching the bear climb a tree. "And a ninja."
"It's the color scheme." Seth commented proudly, noticing the cream coloring on the bear's face when it turned its head towards the couple. "Attracts all the ladies."
"You wish." She teased, pulling out her phone to take a picture of the bear.
"Dippin' Dots for my babes." Seth announced with a smile as he sat down beside CJ at a picnic bench. After half an hour of meandering and taking pictures, only a few went online, CJ got hungry for something ice cream-like and Seth spotted the Dippin' Dots stand before directing her to the nearby bench. He even asked the guy to put a rush on it, he didn't say that CJ was pregnant, but the guy must gave gotten the picture. Seth was looking out for his girlfriend.
"You're my hero, Sethie." CJ praised, gratefully taking a spoon and the cup he handed her. "You should get a Nobel Peace Prize."
"I don't think doing my job is that noble of a task, babe." He joked, wrapping his arm around her and tucking her into his side. "Eat your ice cream."
"I haven't had Dippin' Dots in so long, with all the dieting, food routines and the fact that I didn't know they still made them, I feel like my mouth is having an orgasm." She rambled around her spoon as she savored the flavors assaulting her taste buds. Of course, in her little moment, CJ didn't realize exactly what her word choice and the playful moans of pleasure were doing to her boyfriend. Seth had to stop mid-bite to adjust his shorts and now all he could really think about was shoving CJ against the picnic table and giving her a real one. But he couldn't because that would be very bad. So he just fidgeted his legs for a minute while he ate slowly, half tempted to just put the ice cream down his pants. "Are you okay, Seth?"
Does rock hard and lusting for you count as okay? "I'm with you. How can I not be?"
"What do you want to do now?" She asked, dipping her spoon into his cup to steal some of his Dots. "You've barely eaten yours, Sethie."
I want to carry you to the bathroom and share with you the reason why I wasn't focused on eating. "I was thinking that maybe we could go see if the penguins were out since that exhibit is kind of close, and then we could go look at the monkeys. Did you want the rest of mine?"
"I shouldn't-"
"You've barely eaten today, babe. Don't worry about your figure. If you want it, you can have it." Seth cut her off, smiling down at her unsure expression.
"I'll share it with you. Final offer."
"I can do that."
Seth changed her flight to Iowa to a late night flight, since it didn't really make sense for her to sleep in an apartment that she had no furniture in. Her car had already been picked up and was on its way to his house, so they caught a cab to the airport. CJ was exhausted from the day's events and being pregnant, so she was falling asleep on his shoulder in the terminal while they waited on their boarding call.
"Babe, you can sleep on the plane."
"Sethie, I'm so tired."
"I know. Just hold tight for another few minutes, okay?" Seth asked, stroking her cheek gently. He knew that all sorts of cameras were pointed in their direction, but he didn't care. His concern was his girlfriend, not their pictures on some dirt sheets. "You can sleep on the plane and the whole ride home. Just stay awake for me."
"Seth..."
"I can't carry you onto the plane, I'm pretty sure they frown on that." Seth chuckled, coaxing her to look up at him. "It should only be a couple more minutes."
"How long is the flight?"
"About four hours. Good nap, right?"
"Great nap." CJ agreed as their boarding call was announced and Seth took her hand in his gently, helping her to her feet. "I really wish you could just carry me."
"I wish I could, too. Hopefully we're not sitting by a fan. I just want you to get your rest." Seth spoke softly, kissing her temple as they made their way onto the plane and the stewardess pointed them to their seats. CJ was in the middle while Seth got the window seat, but they traded to reduce the chances of her getting disturbed by whoever got the isle seat.
It seemed like she was fast asleep once the turbulence evened out and Seth kept her hand in his. Her hands were small compared to his and her skin was always so soft, he just loved whenever he got to hold onto her. Their babies would grow up to have soft skin, regardless of their career choice. Their mother kept her hands baby soft despite her workout regime and career choice, surely she'd pass on her tips and tricks even though she never shared them with him.
Dean will be making an appearance in the next chapter and so will the lucky winners!
Thanks to ArtisticLullaby, princessofdarkness2016, UntilNeverDawns, TaijiaK, Sammie94, Dixiewinxwrites12, angelsdee327, Britney-xx, Sarcastic Nightmare, Ubersassynova, and AshleighxAwesome for reviewing the last chapter!