Laws of Motion – Book 3
Written by: Ms. Maggs/Edited by: KJT
Chapter 33
Friday, November 11, 2005
Nick and Carrie's
6:44 pm
"Look who finally showed up?" Nick huffed when his fiancée raced into the family room. "Darlin' you were supposed to be here at noon. It's almost seven. You're six hours late."
"Seven, Uncle Nick," Ryan corrected as he clicked off the R rated movie so his aunt wouldn't yell. "But she called and said she wouldn't be home until nine, remember? Technically, she's two hours early."
"Do you want to have a baby?!" Carrie excitedly asked, not realizing her man was sloshed.
"Do I want to have…oh, I get it…I passed out and this is a dream." Nick looked up at her grinning, "Okay, sure, we can have a baby, but I think it might help if we had sex first. Hell, I'd settle for a hot French kiss…or a hug…or you bumping into me by accident and not lookin' repulsed. You haven't touched me in weeks, Carr."
"Nicky?"
"I gotta use the restroom." He pulled himself to his feet. "I don't know why I told you where I was goin', because you wouldn't notice me gone."
Carrie's palm flew to her mouth.
"He's upset," Ryan informed his aunt before polishing off his soda. "He's a little drunk too. My mother would be totally ticked if she knew I was hanging out here with him when he's like that. Sean would have called and told on him, but not me…I'm the supportive nephew. Uncle Nick's miserable and I'm keeping him company…and having the best time. You're in the dog house though…big. He told me he cried last night because you went to bed without saying goodnight. He's gonna hate that he told me that in the morning, so I think I won't tell him he told me, because drunks don't remember stuff, right?"
Thinking back, Carrie sadly admitted, "I didn't say goodnight, did I?"
"Nope. He also said that the baby was his too and he doesn't understand why you're punishing him, or something like that. Sorry, Aunt Carrie, but you're not really giving us the time of day lately and we didn't do anything wrong. I have to take his side, it stinks." When his aunt rushed out of the room, Ryan pressed rewind. "Back to sex on the stairs!" My guardians are gone and totally absorbed in their own drama. They left beer within my reach too, they're lucky I'm a good boy. Relaxing on the couch he eyed the beer bottle. "Then again, maybe I should take Joel Goodson's advice." Grabbing Nick's sunglasses from the coffee table, Ryan slapped them on, grabbed the beer and mimicked Tom Cruise's smile, then voice, "Sometimes you just gotta say, what the fuck, make your move!"
When Carrie reached the master bedroom, she saw Nick sitting on the edge of the bed staring into space. "I'm so sorry," she immediately declared while rushing to sit next to him. "I've been walking around in a fog lately, but I thought it was okay because you were in the fog with me. I thought we were throwing ourselves into our work and waiting to get over our preoccupations with the baby and the creepiness of Mike saving your life. I swear I didn't know I was hurting you, Nicky. Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Because I didn't want to push you or upset you," he muttered while focusing on a ketchup stain on his jeans. "Then all of a sudden, instead of being worried about you, I got pissed off that you didn't seem to care whether or not I was breathing. That's why I wanted you home today…so I could confront you and tell you what happened."
"What do you mean? What happened?"
"Yesterday, at the scene…we were out in the middle of nowhere…we had to process this shit hole of a house. I had Greg workin' the trash cans outside…there were seventeen of them, that guy is so happy he didn't even care. I could have told him to process two hundred bags of decomp and he would have whistled while he worked." Taking a cleansing breath, he fought to make sense even though his blood-alcohol level was off the charts. "It was Sofia's first day back. She had a month of medical rehab on her leg after the accident and then she took vacation time. Once we were alone, she got emotional and thanked me for savin' her life. She had read the final report on the explosion and learned that after she opened the lingerie drawer, if I hadn't called her out to the living room, she would have been at ground zero when the explosives detonated. She hugged me." He glanced up at his confused fiancée and somberly said, "It felt so good when she hugged me, I didn't let go when she did."
"Did you do more than hug?" Carrie asked as tears dripped from her eyes. "Nicky…"
"No, of course not. We laughed it off. She said…'Stokes, if you don't let go of me we'll never get this place processed'. I said somethin' about near death experiences freaking me out, that's why I was holding on." He wiped his eyes. "It's been eight weeks since we lost the baby, Sweetheart. Six weeks since you really kissed me. We were doing okay and then…what's goin' on?"
"Every time I want to get close I think about how the doctor said my body is damaged and I feel..."
"No, one guy said that. One specialist out of three!" he reminded her for the hundredth time. "The other two didn't think that at all." He realized now the freeze had begun after she had gone to the doctor on her own.
"But that one doctor is the only one I hear in my head. I hear damaged…broken. I hear that I probably can't give you a family. I feel nine years old again with everyone staring at me saying 'that poor thing, she'll never be right after this'. I see Greg and Gil gazing at their pregnant wives with so much affection and..."
"Not that again." He pleaded, "How many times have I told you? We'll have our family, it doesn't matter if the baby comes from us or if it's found in a trash can like the one we found when workin' a case last week. It hurts that you don't trust me when I say that! What's it gonna take to get that out of your head? Do you want me to get a vasectomy so we're even? Will that work? I'll do it, Darlin'. I'll call tomorrow and…"
"No!"
"Then what?!" he asked in exasperation. "You won't touch me. You won't let me touch you. You sleep in a ball in the furthest corner of the bed. Now you stopped saying goodnight. Today was my day off and you promised you'd be home by noon.You swore to my face that you'd be home by noon. It's like…I don't know…it's like I repulse you. How am I supposed to handle repulsing my fiancée?"
"You don't repulse me, that's crazy."
"But that's how you're making me feel! Why didn't you come home if you wanted to be with me? What was so god damn important?!"
"Belinda Connelly walked into BPAC today!" Carrie hurried to explain, "She came for help. She asked me to go to Marjorie Demcak about the baby. That's why I was late, I swear."
"She did?" he asked, letting curiosity override his emotions. "I figured for sure she'd have an abortion."
"Marjorie wants to be the baby's grandmother, but…" Squeezing Nick's hands, she whispered, "You know what…we can't talk about something serious while you're drunk and hating me."
"I don't hate you." Reaching out he stroked her damp cheek. "I'm frustrated because I miss you and I can't understand why you don't miss me. Why don't you miss me, Sweetheart?"
"Just because I was staying away, doesn't mean I didn't miss you. Every time I think of getting close…I feel defective."
"I'm gonna tell you this one more time…" With his fingers laced in her hair, he drilled his eyes into hers. "You may feel defective, you may feel inferior to your friends who are pregnant, you may think the rest of the world sees a big 'damaged goods' sign above your head, but I love you just the way you are." Softly, he caressed her lips with his. "C'mon…it's like ridin' a bike…kiss me back, Sweetheart." He initiated a tender one and his heart soared when she returned it. "We have a bright future ahead, but we're never gonna get there if you stay stuck in the past."
"That kiss was amazing."
Buzzed from the booze and the much-needed affection, Nick's smile filled the room. "Good to know."
"I love you." Carrie quivered in his steady arms.
"I love you too," he replied against her parted lips before coaxing her tongue with his for a deeper kiss.
"Nicky…" he took her breath away before she could finish.
"I missed you so much." Feeling the tension in her body grow as the minutes passed, he realized all their progress had been undone. "Relax, Sweetheart," he urged in a whisper. "We'll take it real slow."
But his hand gliding under her crisp white blouse threw her over the edge. "Please stop."
He pulled away without hesitation.
Tears filling her eyes, Carrie confessed, "What if it works? The thought of counting the minutes until the next loss….I know it's pessimistic, but…I can't…I'm not ready to take that chance and…"
"Sweetheart!" He cut her off before she whipped herself into a frenzy. "There's a simple solution you're overlookin'…we can take the worry out of the equation until after the wedding, or until however long you need." After pressing a kiss to her forehead he rolled to the edge of the bed and opened a nightstand drawer.
When she saw him holding up a box labeled 'all natural', 'triple-tested', 'extra strong', 'double the spermicide-containing lubricant of other condoms' she burst into a fit of giggles. "Those should do the trick."
"Music might help too." Tossing the box on the bed, he hurried to the dresser and flipped through the romantic CDs he had stored in the top drawer and settled on one he had burned. "Do you remember this one?"
As soon as the music started, Carrie recalled their romantic night star gazing in Flagstaff. "Stars over Texas."
"The lady has learned her Country Music." Once he was next to Carrie again, Nick held her hand and softly crooned, "As long as the tides ebb, the Earth turns, the sun sets, I promise I'll always be true. And as long as there's stars over Tex-as…Darlin', I'll hang, the moo-oon, for you." Gazing into her eyes, he asked, "Do you know how long there will be stars over Texas, Sweetheart?"
"Forever," she murmured while her eyes glassed.
"That's right."
Tracing the outline of her fiancé's lips, Carrie enjoyed the ballad's affirming lyrics. "Make love to me, Cowboy. Tender and passionate…just like that night under the stars."
Drew's House
7:02 pm
Speaking through a crack as she held the bedroom door, Marta whispered a warning, "You'll never want to make love with me again if you see me in this dress!"
"I seriously doubt that," Drew replied while straightening his bowtie. "Claire's asleep, I set up Matt in his room, and the girls are downstairs gettin' things ready for the ball. Open up, Darlin'!"
"Here." She slipped him the manufacturer's photo. "That's from the bag. It's what the dress looks like off me. My point being, it's not me making it hideous, it just is."
"Jeez, does your cousin hate you? She has to hate you if she made you wear that to the wedding."
"There were eight of us wearing that taffeta and silk seaweed monstrosity. Can you imagine?"
Chuckling, he said, "If Sigmund the Sea Monster was a trannie, this would be his gown."
"Who?"
"I keep forgettin' you're sixteen years my junior. Sigmund the Sea Monster was a TV show from when I was a kid."
Giggling, she said, "I still can't believe you're only three years younger than my daddy. That seems impossible."
The revelation hit Drew like a ton of bricks. "Come again?"
"My parents were high school sweethearts. They married at eighteen and had me when they were nineteen, so my daddy's only forty-three. You're forty."
"When the hell did I get old?!"
"You don't look forty," Marta backpedaled, suddenly sensing it was a sensitive subject. "You look much younger than your younger brother actually. And physically," she snickered, "you have the strength and stamina of a twenty year old, so…"
"Stop." Feeling ancient, Drew pleaded, "Kiss me and make me feel sixteen again."
University Hospital
7:15 pm
After giving Sara a reassuring kiss, Gil took a seat next to her in the waiting area. "Dr. Simon called them to say we'd be coming in. The receptionist said it'll be a while before they can take you back. It's Friday night and they're swamped. Sorry." With a shaky hand, he presented a bottle of water. "She said they'll need a urine sample, so I got you a drink."
"Thanks." She took the bottle and mindlessly twisted the cap.
"She asked if there was any bleeding. I told her no, but has there been any since…"
Sara shook her head while swallowing a gulp of water. "I went twice while you were waiting in line just to check." Trying to hold it together, she grabbed the first magazine in reach.
"Car and Driver?" Gil stood to fetch better reading material. "Here." He held up People. "You haven't indulged your celebrity gossip craving in a while."
"It's the pregnancy issue."
"Oh." He tossed it back in the bucket. "Let's stick with Car and Driver."
Disneyland Hotel
7:21 pm
"Did you get tired of driving a flaming red Ferrari around town so you traded it in for this Lexus SUV? Which, by the way, still isn't a red-blooded man's car." Matt Vartann busted his brother while helping with the luggage, "People musta thought you divorced Amy to embrace your inner queer when they saw you driving that Spider."
"Maybe Becca's his beard," Reggie joked, "because there is that picture of him wearing Ma's pearls and heels."
"Go to hell, both of you." Tony armed the Lexus, pretending to be annoyed while loving every minute of the razzing and the brotherly reunion. The three of them hadn't been together since Christmas 2004 and he planned to enjoy it to the fullest. "I didn't trade in the Ferrari," he boasted. "We still have it and I still have my old car too."
"Are you gonna keep that hot red pussy wagon even after Becca squeezes out her first puppy?" Matt needled, "Or are you officially rich enough to keep it under a dust cover for when you need to work out some middle-aged tension?"
Tony winked at his big brother, "I'm officially rich enough to keep it under a dust cover in the four car garage of the four thousand square foot house Becks and I are gonna buy next year. We're leasing the house we have now and it isn't a family place." All the talk of family reminded him to share his shocking news. "Hey…before we go inside." Tony stood just out of earshot of the bellman's desk and whispered, "You're not gonna believe what Amy told me today." He gave them the short version of the sperm tampering story.
"Didn't I tell you that bitch had to do something to your balls!" The hot headed brother yelled, "No woman screws with my brother's sperm and gets away with it!"
"Jesus Christ, Matt!" Tony scolded, "We're at Disneyland, there's kids everywhere. Keep it down and watch your mouth."
"What are you gonna do?" Reggie asked, knowing his brother's penchant for staying calm. "I woulda killed her when I found her in bed with the other guy, but messing with your balls while she was screwing other guys? Even you must want to kill her now." He shook his head. "Can you sue her? Maybe you could recoup some of that money you had to pay out in the divorce?"
Grabbing his cell phone, Matt said, "Take the bags, I'll meet you inside."
"Who are you calling?" Tony queried.
"It's none of your business." Matt pointed to the building. "Go!"
Top of the World Restaurant – The Stratosphere
7:28 pm
"We're here!" Taking Tawny's hand, Greg led her out of the elevator. "Isn't it great?"
"I know! I love it here."
"You've been here?"
"Oops."
Deflated, he remarked, "Of course you've been wined and dined here. Just tell me it wasn't with…"
"Sorry." As much as she didn't want to bum him out, she told the truth. "It's his favorite place in Vegas. The manager here went to A&M and Drew could call with ten minutes notice and get a great table."
"You know what?" Greg shook it off. "So what? I'm not hung up on competing with him anymore. That's so Greg - Version 2.0."
"So we can stay?"
"Of course."
"Yay! I've been craving the Portabella Mushrooms ever since you spilled the beans on where we were going."
"My dad said their rack of lamb is awesome." He stepped to the hostess area. "Sanders, party of two."
"Yes, right this way." The hostess flashed her Hollywood smile. "There's a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne on ice courtesy of your father."
"Aww!" Tawny squeezed her husband's hand. "I'm so lucky to have two wonderful men in my life."
"Here we are." The hostess presented the table with the enthusiasm of Vanna White revealing four 'Ts'. "Enjoy the view." Then she pointed to a table on the tier behind them. "Your father's right there if you want to say thank you for the bubbly." Before sashaying off she sweetly informed the couple, "He's also asked to pay your check, so order big."
When Greg saw Mike and Marlene holding up champagne flutes, his jaw hit the floor.
"I don't believe this!" Tawny huffed. "Let's go."
"No." Greg held out a chair for his wife. "We'll sit with our backs to them and ignore them. I've been looking forward to this all day. They're not going to ruin it, because that's what he's hoping will happen." After Tawny was settled, he grabbed the bottle of champagne and marched up the four stairs to the next level. "Keep it." He harshly set the bottle on Mike's table.
"Is that how you treat the guy who saved your best friend's life?"
Nick and Carrie's
7:35 pm
"I think I just figured out how I'll be able to thank Mike when I have to pin that medal on him next week," Nick remarked in between jagged breaths. His body spent, he left their bodies joined and savored the intimacy. "I'm gonna think back to this moment and remember how grateful I was to be alive and making love to you again."
"Just don't say that part in your speech," she gave a light laugh.
"About that…" He pecked her curved lips. "I've been wantin' to ask you…would you write up somethin' for me to say that has just enough double meaning to make me not vomit after spewing the words at that smug bastard's face?"
"I'd love to."
Shifting slightly he joked, "I think I have enough blood restored to my extremities to move now."
"I'll miss you."
"It's okay…I'll be here nightly if you're so inclined again."
Grabbing the condom box, she teased, "I'm frugal, so we'll definitely use the other eleven."
"Good to know." Before heading to the bathroom he winked, "Next time I'll buy the box of forty-eight."
Disneyland Hotel Gift Shop
7:40 pm
With her sister-in-law Gina at her side, cradling Baby Sierra, Becca tapped a clerk on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, where are the condoms?"
Gina burst out laughing. "They don't sell those at Disneyland!" When her laughter ceased, she whispered to the clerk, "Do you?"
"Yes, ma'am. "Janelle, the thirty-two year old African American woman, motioned for the two women to follow her, "Without 'em, it wouldn't be the Happiest Place on Earth, now would it? You're in luck too, because Gay Days are in October and we've even got some of the better kind left over."
Gina, the good Catholic girl, blushed, "You have to buy something else to hide…"
"Here." Becca grabbed a large stuffed Pooh bear from a shelf as she walked by. "Kids love these things, I'll buy it for Sierra."
"The sign says it's fifty-eight dollars!" Gina exclaimed, "That's…right, right…I keep forgetting that's not an issue for you."
"Here you go, Honey." Janelle pointed to the shelf. "Right between shaving cream and the deodorant. Walt's probably rollin' in his grave, doncha think? Let me know if you need anything else, Ladies. I'll be fluffin' the shelves."
"Why do you need condoms anyway?" Gina whispered as Becca snatched a box. "Tony's sterile. Oh God…did that sleaze give him a terrible disease?!" The anxiety-prone woman suffering from a nasty case of post-partum depression, raced into a panic. "Oh my God, does he have AIDS? Did she give him AIDS? He's kissed Sierra and…or is it you? You had an abortion, that means you had unprotected sex and…you've kissed Sierra too and…"
"Chill!" Becca handed over the stuffed animal. "Hug Pooh and breathe deep. Tony doesn't have AIDS. He's been tested a bunch of times and is officially clean, so am I. We found out that Amy was giving Tony steroids and Rogaine to kill his sperm count. He got retested today and he's not shooting blanks anymore." She held up the box of Trojans. "That's why we need protective gear."
"What if you're pregnant already? You've been taxing Xanax. Xanax is bad if you're pregnant, it can cause…"
"Hug Pooh!" Becca grabbed a Mickey and Minnie handbag to put the condoms in so her sister-in-law wouldn't die of embarrassment. "First of all, I haven't been taking Xanax for the last month. I just got it refilled for this trip and after hanging out with you for five minutes, I'm ready to take one."
"Sorry." Gina forced air into her lungs.
"I peed on a stick this afternoon just to be sure. I wasn't." Becca smiled at the memory while opening her Xanax bottle. "Tears of joy were forming in Tony's eyes when he thought I was."
"Wait!" Gina swatted the bottle out of her sister-in-law's hand, spilling its contents everywhere.
Watching her pills roll away, Becca groaned, "It's not going to be the Happiest Place on Earth for me now."
"If you're just barely pregnant it wouldn't show a positive! You should retest with first morning urine. And then wait at least two weeks, and test again to be absolutely certain. Don't take the Xanax, Becca!"
"Uh, I couldn't if I wanted to, you just knocked my pills all over the floor."
When Gina looked down and saw potent medication within arms reach of children, she shrieked, "Grab your kids! There's Xanax everywhere! Cast members! Over here! Pick up the pills before children eat them and die!"
While Disney personnel came out of the woodwork, Becca rushed to find Janelle. "Do you sell pregnancy tests?! I need one for morning."
"Now those we don't sell," the clerk laughed. "Some people want to give their kids away after spending a couple of days here runnin' around and droppin' a fortune. Findin' out you have another one comin' would ruin the happy buzz. We can't take the chance."
Drew's House
7:47 pm
Hoping her plan would pay off, Cassie paused the movie and asked, "Marta, would you teach us the dance Maria is teaching the kids? When we watched it last time you said you knew how to do it."
"Sure, Sweetie." The nanny stood and held out her hand for the little girl to take and explained to Drew, "My family comes from Austria and my grandma taught my brother and me a lot of traditional dances. The Laendler being one of them."
"We wanna learn by watching you dance it with my Daddy."
"I doubt your daddy knows The Laendler," Marta laughed.
"Will a waltz work?" Drew stood and took his girlfriend's hand. "I took lessons." He almost slipped and said 'for my wedding'. Do you know how to waltz, Nanny Marta?"
"Grandma Leonie taught me that too."
"She sounds sweet," Drew smiled, imagining the woman was responsible for Marta's gentle nature. "You must take after her."
"She was a Nazi," Marta whispered.
"I take that back then."
"She was very young and everyone in her village swore allegiance to the Nazi party because they were scared to death after two boys were shot in the town square for waving the Austrian flag. I could write a book filled with the stories she told me."
Cassie and McKenna raced to turn on the scene where Maria and Von Trapp dance on the patio. "Now you have music!"
In his secret love's ear, Drew said, "Our first dance."
"Don't they look beautiful together?" Cassie whispered in her friend's ear.
"This is just like Belle and the Beast dancing in the big room at the Beast's castle. Not that your daddy is a beast."
"You're good," Marta gushed as Drew swept her around the room.
"The two-step's my specialty. You know how to do that?"
"Yep."
"Then we need to find a country bar in this town and go real soon."
"Did you just ask Nanny Marta on a real date, Daddy?!"
"Uh." He stopped the dance. "I…" Suddenly he saw his daughter's eyes were lit. "Is me taking Nanny Marta out on a date somethin' you want me to do?"
"Yes!" The little girl couldn't believe how well her plan was working. "I think she's sweeter than Maria and you're much nicer than Captain von Trapp, so I was hoping you could fall in love!"
"Me too!" McKenna added in support. "Cassie's old mommy scared me, but Marta bakes the yummiest cupcakes and smiles all the time. Oops…shouldn't have said that."
"Kids…" Drew glanced over at Marta. "They're so honest. I can't blame her…I love your cupcakes too."
"Will you take her out on a real date, Daddy?!"
Hamming it up for his daughter, Drew dropped to one knee, "Marta, would you do me the honor of goin' on a real dancin' date with me some time soon?"
"I'd love to go on a real dancin' date with you."
"Yay!" The Two girls joined hands and spun around until the door bell chimed and Cassie shrieked, "I bet it's Uncle Nicky! I'll get it!" But when the little reached the door and flung it open, she "Baroness Schraeder!" McKenna's hands rushed to cover her mouth. "She popped out of the TV!"
"Aren't you precious." Chuckling, the stylish woman asked, "Is your daddy home?" Then she saw Andy and a fat woman wearing a horrid seaweed-green dress rounding the corner. "There you are!"
"Carly?!"
Carly? Who's Carly? Marta wondered as she stared at the woman with fourteen foot legs.
"Hey! How are you, Honey?!" Drew opened his arms, and grabbed his first love. "I haven't seen you in years. You and Dawson are always out of town during the holidays. How'd you track me down?!"
"Your sister, Barbara." Carly savored the bear hug. "It's so good to see you!"
"How's Dawson?"
Dawson…must be her husband. Husband is good. Breathing is restored. Marta stepped forward to watch the love-fest with a new perspective.
"Dawson and I divorced in March."
"What?"
What?! Marta's breathing quickened again.
"I'm in town for a business meeting and since I just heard you and Lissa ended things too I had to look you up." Winking she said, "I was hopin' we could lick each other's divorce wounds." And a few other things.
"Children!" Marta pointed to the stairs. "Jammie time!"
"But Nanny Marta…our pretend dance party isn't over yet!"
"I'll be there in a minute," Marta pleaded.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Oh!" Carly released an uncontrollable giggle. "That explains things. I was wonderin' for a sec if she was your new 'friend', but I get it…you were just playin' dress up with the nanny and the kids. You always were a sweetheart, Andy. Now pleeeeeeeease buy the poor woman a nicer dress for the next time, because that get up is humiliating."
"You and Dawson are divorced," he said in surprise. "Wow…I'm stunned, I really thought the two of you were happy."
"No, he broke my heart," she sighed. "I don't know, maybe if I had gone to A&M with you instead of goin' to Harvard, we would have had a happily ever after together. Who's to say? And I remember you never cared much for Saturday mornin' quarterbackin' after a rough game under the Friday night lights, so we'll leave it at that."
Harvard! Marta's breathing accelerated as she studied the sex bomb dripping in diamonds. She's gorgeous, rich and smart! And they were high school sweethearts just like my mom and dad!
Turning to the dumpy nanny, the divorcee said, "Would you mind if I stole the man of the house for the night? I'm hopin' he'll have dinner with me."
"Wait!" Drew pulled his hand from Carly's. "I can't go to dinner with you. My daughter's having a…"
"No!" Marta anxiously said, "I really think you should go to dinner with your old friend." Did I just say that!? Am I crazy?!
"Where's your restroom, Andy?" Carly asked. "I'll freshen up while you work things out with the help."
Marta pointed. "Down the hall, first door on your left."
When Carly was out of range, Drew snapped, "What has gotten into you?!"
"I don't know!" She grabbed her head. "I think maybe…what if this is all just one big 'let's pretend'. We haven't been out of the house. We're living this fantasy, but Carly…I saw how happy you were when you saw her."
"We go way back, Darlin'. She was my first and I was hers, we'll always have that bond, but come on…that was over twenty years ago and I'm crazy about you now, not her."
"Maybe you only want me because it's convenient and because it's sweet and you need sweet after being burned by Lissa, but it all happened so fast and maybe you want so badly to be a family man and give your kids a mother figure, that this is about you being scared. I don't know…maybe this is crazy and we're just too close to it to see how wrong it is? I guess I said it because I thought if you went to dinner you'd realize you should be with someone else and I'd rather…"
"Stop it!" Smarting from the distrust and rejection, his defensiveness snapped into high gear, "You sound just like Lissa the night she told me to go sleep with someone else because she didn't want me in her bed! I can't believe…"
"No, that's not how I…"
"I know what I want, don't tell me what I want. If you have a problem, then why can't you be honest with me? Yeah, it all makes sense now, that comment you made about your daddy bein' three years older than me and how you were worried I wuoldn't make love to you again after seein' you in that dress. This is all just a fling to you.. I can't believe you! I've poured my heart out to you and you're standin' there actin' like it's been a game of pretend. Well, you coulda told me it was just a game to you. How can you think that after…"
"Ready, Andy?!" Carly fluffed her hair as she sauntered toward him.
"I'm more than ready to get out of here." Reaching into his pocket, Drew grabbed his cell phone, "I'll call my buddy at Top of the World and see about a table." His heart racing from the betrayal, he hurried for the door without looking back.
No! Marta rushed to the window, but when she saw Drew holding Carly's hand, she changed her mind about running out the door to stop him. "You have it all wrong."
The Blakes
7:59 pm
"No, it's wrong!" Sean blasted Ryan over the phone. "I won't help Celine sneak out. Mom is still her legal foster mom and if anything happens to her, Mom will get in big trouble!"
"Put Mom on the phone, Dork!"
Sean carried the phone into the kitchen. "Mom…it's Ryan, he wants to talk to you."
"Hi, Sweetie." Wendy cradled the phone in her neck while scrubbing the fridge.
"Aunt Carrie said Sean, Lindsay and Celine could come over for a movie night, could you or Dad drop them off?"
"Sure, Honey, I need to send your father to the store for milk anyway. I'll tell him to go right now. Bye, Sweetie." She clicked the phone. "Paul!"
Sean watched as his mother fell for the ruse.
"Would you drop the kids off at your sister's on the way to the store?"
"Do you think Catherine would be okay with Lindsay going there with the boys?" They were babysitting her while Catherine and Warrick were in Bermuda on their belated honeymoon.
"It's not like they'll be alone, so I can't imagine why she would. She trusts Nick with her life on the job, I can't imagine she wouldn't trust him and Carrie watching the kids."
"You're right." Paul fished out his keys. "Sean, tell the girls and meet me out front."
"Uh…" He considered spilling the beans that Nick and Carrie hadn't given permission and were preoccupied, but he didn't want his brother to tell Lindsay he was being a dork. "Okay, Dad!"
University Hospital
8:05 pm
"Relax, Dad," the med student informed the tense looking man. "She's not having contractions. Mrs. Grissom, I'm Todd. This is my second week here and I'm working with the ER resident tonight." He held out his hand. "According to the urine specimen you left, you have a raging urinary tract infection, or UTI as we like to call it. Tell me if I need to slow down so you can understand the medical stuff, okay."
"She's a doctor," Gil informed the boy, "of Physics."
"Awesome!" The med student smiled, "It's much easier talking to smart people."
"Back to my raging infection…" Sara forced a smile. "Is the baby in danger?"
"Not if we get it under control ASAP, but left unchecked it would cause big time problems. Let's hear it for antibiotics!"
"So the baby's okay," Gil confirmed.
"I wonder what caused it?" Sara stated, never having one before in her life.
"Dirty sex is one way," Todd joked. "Not raunchy, I mean literally dirty…bacteria from the rectal area for example, getting introduced into the vaginal cavity during intercourse."
Sara stared at her husband, "I really hate hospitals."
"You didn't have a problem when it was me in an ER bed having to field embarrassing questions." Gil finally felt vindicated. "You relished it as I recall."
The med student turned to the husband. "Do you usually wash your hands before getting close with the missus?"
"Yes, Todd, I do." Gil held up his hands. "I work with corpses and live with a germphobe. I have no choice."
Todd continued making notes. "It could be improper wiping technique. Do you live by the golden rule, Dr. Grissom?"
"It's Dr. Sidle and…golden rule?"
"Wiping front to back to avoid contaminating the pubic region."
"Is this humiliating inquisition really necessary?" Sara droned.
"It's on my checklist." The med student held up a paper titled 'Questions to ask the UTI patient'. "Sorry. But we're all doctors, right?"
"You're not a doctor yet," Sara pointed out. "Can't I just have my drugs?"
"You better lose the modesty before you have to push that baby out." Todd looked up from his paperwork grinning. "Have you ever seen a delivery?"
"On the baby documentary shows."
"No, I mean the real deal." Todd laughed sweetly. "They edit out the gross stuff. Everything comes flying out of you during delivery…even excrement. It's a bloody, slimy, mess. So, I'm a little concerned if you can't even talk about it to me and your husband that you'll freak when you do it in front of a room full of people."
"Make him stop talking," Sara directed her husband. "I need drugs and no talking."
Downtown Disney – Monorail Station
8:10 pm
"My Xanax is gone, your sister-in-law Janey hasn't shut up for ten seconds, and we just missed the monorail," Becca lamented to her husband as they strolled toward the monorail. While his parents stayed back with baby Sierra and Matt's two youngest children, the rest of the family was heading over to enjoy the park until the midnight close. "When she heard I wasn't pregnant after flying without a net for two months, that nasty woman actually said to me…do you ever fear that God has cursed your uterus because you had an abortion?"
"Sorry, Honey. It's not just you though, she's lacking a verbal filter. She literally says everything she thinks and she's very Catholic. It'll be the one thing you have in common with Amy…hatred of Janey." Squeezing her hand, he whispered in Becca's ear, "Thank you for putting up with my annoying family."
"Only because I love you."
"Here." From the bag he was holding, he produced 50th Anniversary gold sequin mouse ears. "These are for you. Pretend they're magic and give you the power to tune out Janey or anyone else who annoys you this weekend."
"Aww."
"Hey, Tone!" Matt called over. "I need to talk to your better half for a sec, it's about your birthday."
Waiting for the monorail, Tony reached for his cell phone and pointed. "I'll check my voice mail."
"Becca…" Matt whispered, "Since you guys got married on the fly, Reg and I never got to throw a bachelor party for Tony like he did for us. So, if it's okay with you, instead of returning to the hotel, we'd like to kidnap him for a night of guy fun. I'm not sure how you feel about your husband goin' to a strip joint after he's married, so I wanted to ask. After the raunchy stuff, we have this tradition of going out to the desert to get drunk and then waking up in the morning to ride ATVs. Reg brought his trailer with the ATVs just in case and I brought the pop up camper."
"That's really sweet." Becca smiled at her gruff but loving brother-in-law before grabbing her wallet. "Here's four hundred bucks for a VIP dance, because Tony doesn't get to see boobies at home and I only want him to have the best."
Taking the cash, Matt laughed, "Why the hell couldn't you be my wife?"
Top of the World
8:14 pm
"To my wife." Greg lifted a champagne flute filled with the bubbly he had purchased after sending Mike's back. "Thank you for carrying my children for the last twenty weeks. You're doing a wonderful job gestating and I know you'll be a wonderful mother after they're born." He tapped his glass to hers. "Here's to the second half of the pregnancy."
"Thank you." She sipped the sparkling cider and sighed, "Great food…a great view…and a great time with a great guy. What more could I want?"
"Drew."
"Huh?"
"He's here." Greg pointed. "And that's not Nanny Marta. He told me he was madly in love with the nanny. All we need is my mommy to show up and we'll have the perfect triad of distress. It's kind of like A Christmas Carol actually."
"What?" Tawny eyed Drew's date, looking over the woman from head to toe.
"Drew is like the stress of Greg past, while Mike is the stress of Greg present. Out there in Maui, my mom is the stress of Greg future." He smiled when Drew saw him. "He's waving me over. Why is he waving me over?"
"He probably feels awkward and wants to ask you if it's okay if he stays."
"Oh, okay. Well…Mike isn't at his table, but your mother is. Don't say a word if she comes over here." Greg stood and tossed his napkin on his chair. "Be right back."
"I'll be right here chowing for three and ignoring my mother."
As soon as Greg arrived, Drew grabbed him by the elbow and walked him to the lobby. "I have a problem and you were good at saving my ass last month, I want you to help me out of another bind. I'm on a date with my old high school sweetheart when really I want to be home with Marta."
"You're coming to me for dating advice." Holding his gut, Greg broke into a fit of laughter. "Are we on Candid Camera?"
"I know you've been a loser with the ladies enough to empathize."
"Mocking me is how you're going to persuade me to help you?"
Drew anxiously explained, "Marta told me to come on the date with Carly and Jesus H that pissed me off! It reminded me of Lissa tellin' me to go out and find another bed. I stormed out of there."
Greg sniffed the air. "Is that insecurity and vulnerability I smell? This is the first time I see a resemblance between you and Nick."
"Stop bein' a wise ass! Why the hell did she tell me to come on a date with my old high school flame?!"
"Ah." Greg nodded knowingly. "That one I can actually answer for you. Before we got engaged, Tawny told me to go see Becca. She said she was worried that I was only with her out of obligation and by going to see my old flame, who was crushing on me, I'd be able to know once and for all if what we had was real or not."
"But it's not like I invited Carly over, the woman showed up at my house."
"Booty call?"
"Definitely." Drew cracked a Texas size grin. "How hot would it be twenty-three years later to make love with the woman you lost your cherry with and see how far you've come? On a hotness scale of one to ten?"
"Eleven."
"Exactly what I was thinkin'." Drew pushed out a labored sigh.
"I'll never have that chance, my first girl died of a brain tumor when we were in college."
"That's awful."
"Yeah." Greg pointed at Carly. "Tonight, you can actually live the fantasy."
The Excalibur
8:20 pm
While waiting for her friend Randi to get off work, Amy Vartann mindlessly dropped quarters in a slot machine.
"Another drink?" Randi dangled a vodka and cranberry in front of her friend.
"Sure."
"Cheer up," Randi goaded, "You look totally hot tonight. As soon as I'm off, we're hitting the town and who knows…maybe you'll find the next great love of your life."
Before Amy could answer, her cell phone rang. "Maybe I won't have to go trolling after all, it's Tony." She clicked to answer. "Hey, Baby."
Downtown Disney - Monorail Station
8:23 pm
"I gotta go." Tony closed his cell phone and hurried over when he saw the monorail approaching. "Everything okay, Honey?"
"What?" Becca cupped her gold sequin ears. "I can't hear you over the monorail."
Tony took her in his arms. "I know you had your heart set on riding Space Mountain with me, but just in case Gina is right about the first morning urine, I think you should hold off." He kissed her forehead. "After we're done at the park, I'll run to that twenty-four drug store to buy another test for morning."
University Hospital
8:31 pm
"Your lab tests are fine, Mrs. Grissom," Dr. Polanksi reported as he entered the room. "Except for the urine specimen showing a UTI, you're very healthy. You'll have to be careful going forward though, because after you have one UTI during the pregnancy, you're prone for them and later on, and they can easily cause preterm labor or pose serious risk to your baby's health."
"I'll stop having sex," Sara stated, thinking of the baby's welfare.
"Until the infection is cleared," the doctor chuckled, "But then you can resume…"
"Nah," Sara stared at Gil, who looked as though he just received a death sentence. "We'll refrain until the baby is born to play it safe, right Honey?"
Nick and Carrie's
8:43 pm
Focusing on the ultrasound photo of Kyle and Belinda's baby, Nick didn't know what to say.
"It's overwhelming, isn't it?" Carrie climbed into bed feeling refreshed from their shower. "I know we talked about it in theory, but to actually agree to adopt the baby in June..."
"I don't want to sound like I'm goin' back on my word. I'm great with adoption, Sweetheart, I really am, it's just…we only tried once. Technically, we didn't even try." Rolling onto his side, he softly said, "I know it was devastating to lose our baby, but don't you think we should try again before giving up? My sister Barbara had two miscarriages before a successful pregnancy and Kendra had three miscarriages and three kids. I guess I'm just worried you're wantin' this baby because you're afraid of tryin' again."
"I know, I thought of that too." She took the ultrasound photo from his hand. "I absolutely do want to try again…several times if it comes to that, but I think it would be so much easier to try and fail and try again if we already had a beautiful baby to start off our family. And I think of Marjorie wanting to be the grandmother and fearing that another couple would shut her out. And I think of this poor baby conceived during an abusive situation and I think it's so fitting for two abuse victims to give a baby like that extra love." Glancing over at Nick she sweetly said, "Kyle was a big time jock. His baby's gonna need a daddy who enjoys sports."
"How long do we have to decide?"
Meanwhile, in the family room…
"Make up your mind, Sean," Ryan prodded, "Are you watching the movie with us or not?" His brother was hung up on Risky Business being R rated. "I'm telling you, I've watched it and there's hardly anything bad in it. I don't know why they rated it R, I think the rules were more restrictive in the eighties."
Sean took a seat on the couch between Celine and Lindsay. "I'm sure Uncle Nick wouldn't let you watch it if there was questionable material, so I'll watch."
Top of the World – Observation Deck
8:55 pm
"Look at that…wow," Tawny remarked in wonder as she gazed at the city sprawled out below. Perched at a thousand feet with a perfect view of the twinkling lights, the moment was wonderful, but when Greg wrapped his arms around her from behind, it became magical. "Mmm…that feels nice."
Nestling closer, Greg whispered, "I love the smell of whatever it is you have on."
"Garlic?" she giggled. "Because there was a ton in my food. Not really good planning on my part considering how much I want a goodnight kiss tonight."
"I was referring to your hair products, but now that you mention it…"
After a shared laugh, they quickly became consumed by the view again.
"Look, how cute!" Marlene declared as she strolled holding her husband's hand. "You two really do make a sweet couple. I'm very sorry for everything bad I've said about you."
Greg's hopes for a dreamy kiss gone, he pulled away from Tawny and snapped, "Which part of 'she wants nothing to do with you' don't you understand?"
Mike copped his best Minister's tone, "Marlene has accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. She desperately wants to heal the pain between her and her estranged daughter. Don't stand in the way of that. Forgiveness frees the soul."
"He's right, Honey." Marlene held out a trembling hand. "Please…"
With her hands on her heart, Tawny stepped forward to face her mother. "Mama…" tears welled in her eyes. "I've been waiting forever for you to…" Drops began falling. "Do you really want to start over? That's…oh my gosh, that's such…good…bullshit!" She cut off the feigned tears and laughed. "It looks like it's a three way race for the Oscar! Who's it gonna be? Mike Rodgers playing the part of the Good Reverend? Marlene Rodgers over acting the part of the repentant mother? Or Tawny Sanders starring in the role of the daughter who's way too smart to believe any of their crap!?"
"Come on, Honey." Mike took his wife's hand. "She's not ready, and you can't push her. We'll go home and pray on it."
Tawny shouted after them, "And the Oscar goes to…Mike Rodgers!" Turning to Greg she huffed, "Can you believe that bullshit they were spewing?! They're so incredibly fake…"
"Stop! You're preaching to the choir." Greg took his wife's trembling hand. "Take a deep breath, because this hysteria isn't good for the babies."
"You're right." She sucked in as much oxygen as her lungs would hold and then pushed it out.
Greg slowly backed her into a corner, hidden from direct view. "Another few breaths just like that."
Tawny repeated the process until her heart rate was back to normal. "Better."
Stroking her cheek, Greg said, "While you're calm, I'm going to drop another bomb."
"Oh God." Tawny braced for the worst.
"You won't be getting that goodnight kiss you were hoping for tonight. I'm not in the mood."
Her emotions swamping her, Tawny lowered her head and rambled, "It's been over a month and I really thought we were…things have been going so well, and tonight with this romantic date and…the way you were holding me. Not to sound like a pathetic loser, but…I really wanted that kiss, I needed that kiss. I'm twenty weeks pregnant and hormonal and I love you and I know I hurt you, but I think we've worked through all that and I know tonight was about celebrating the babies, but I thought it was going to be the night you told me you loved me and then we'd kiss and…"
"Tawny…"
"Yeah?" She looked up sniffling and saw Greg was dangling a room key.
"No goodnight kiss tonight, because I don't want to say goodnight tonight." Watching surprise mix with passion in his wife's eyes, Greg's lips flared into a smile. "Will you stay here with me tonight? I'm dying to kiss you too…among other things." His question was answered when Tawny gripped his shoulders, slammed him into the nearest wall and kissed him with ten times the passion he had seen her exhibit on the video tape with Drew.
"Yes!" she exclaimed upon finally coming up for air.
Sweeping her off her feet and into his arms, Greg beamed, "Let the fireworks begin!"
Disneyland
9:00 pm
"Here we go!" Tony yanked Becca into his arms.
"You and your brothers really are Disney dorks."
"We have lots of good memories here." Standing in his favorite viewing spot in front of the castle, Tony watched the colorful fireworks bursting above them and said, "After this, we'll get that churro you've been craving."
"Yum."
"Are you sure you don't mind me being gone until lunch tomorrow?"
"Not at all."
"You're not going to do the test without me, right?"
"I promise to save my pee-pee in a cup until you're back."
"I know it's just wishful thinking, but I have this feeling that it's positive." He tightened his embrace as the music changed from fast to dreamy. "And if not, at least we know we have a shot now. One day we'll bring our kid here."
"Your evil ex-wife almost ruined that Disney happy ending for you," Becca snapped. "Seriously, the more I think about it, the more pissed I get! I can't believe she left all those voice mails for you today and thinks you're going to help her just because she's in therapy and…"
"Shh." He snuggled closer. "Don't worry about, Amy. I know you don't need her stressing you out and I promise…I'm handling it."
Amy Vartann's Townhouse
9:32 pm
Standing in front of her full-length mirror, Amy studied her figure in her old wedding dress. "It looks much better now that I have boobs." Smoothing her hands over the fitted bodice, her eyes watered. "Maybe if he sees me in it…"
The cordless phone snapped her attention away from the mirror.
"Tony!" Breathless from anticipation, she raced for the phone. "I'm here, Baby! Just like you asked me to be."
Author's Notes:
The reverse fairy tale continues…the dashing prince runs away from the castle while Marta, in her ball gown, stays there. The betrayed man's baggage was clearly on display as he leapt to conclusions and threw up a wall. Marta didn't even know what happened in her own head and he was gone. Good thing Greg was there to 'help' later. KJT read that and was like "GREG! Don't encourage him to sleep with Carly!" But we don't know what Greg said next. Maybe it was "You'd be stupid not to go for it, man! You've made no formal commitment to Marta! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!" LOL because he can't resist seeing Drew fall OR maybe he actually offered good 'big brother' advice. That was a REAL dress by the way…ewwww. Drew and Marta have been blissfully happy and just didn't see the insecurity coming.
Nick's having a much better night than Drew for a change! Sometimes couples really don't understand how quickly distance can build and then one day you realize…we've grown apart, how did that happen?!
Greg got his dream kiss! I had a feeling he would eventually LOL
Thanks for reading!!
Maggs