Chapter Five
"Kelsi, I'm home," Jason said, walking through the door. He was wearing a pair of blue shorts and a white t-shirt. Dark stains on his armpits and around his neck showed where he sweat. Kelsi came out of the kitchen wearing jeans and a green shirt. The front was hidden by an apron and the smell of steak followed her.
"Hey," she replied. She leaned in and gave her husband a kiss. "I made your favorite. Mashed potatoes, steak with fried onions and steamed broccoli."
"Thanks, Hun. Just let me grab a quick shower and I'll be ready," Jason replied.
"This smells wonderful," Jason said, taking a seat. He grabbed his fork and was about to take a bite when he stopped. "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?" Kelsi asked innocently. "Can't a wife do something nice for her husband?"
"Usually when you do something this nice, there's some sort of news to go with it," Jason pointed out. "You're pregnant," he guessed. She shook her head no. He paused to think. Then he dropped his fork.
"Your mom is coming to visit."
Kelsi didn't say anything. She didn't shake her head or make any movement at all. "It will be one night, I promise."
Jason sighed. "Your mother hates me."
"No she doesn't," Kelsi protested.
"She blames me for the miscarriage," Jason stated bluntly. That was one of the reasons they married at eighteen. When they went to a party someone slipped some alcohol in their drinks and they had had sex. When they found out she was pregnant, he proposed and they got married. Three months later, Kelsi had a miscarriage.
"The doctor told us that my body wasn't ready to have a baby," Kelsi reminded him. "My mother was there when he told us."
Jason sighed. He loved Kelsi so much. If her mother was coming to visit, he would put up with her for Kelsi's sake. "What if we invite Troy and Gabriella over for dinner the night she's here?"
Kelsi grinned at him. "Thank you."
Later that night as they were getting ready for bed, Kelsi was sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing her hand on her stomach. Jason was in the bathroom brushing his teeth. She lifted her shirt up and rubbed her index finger over the scars on her stomach. Her mind drifted back to the night she received them. She was bleeding really badly. Jason and her mother rushed her to the hospital. The doctor told her that her body would naturally flush it out. After her blood pressure drop severely, they decided to do an emergency C-section. They gave her a blood transfusion and removed the fetus. They told her the scars would fade over time. Since this happened not even a year ago, the scars were still plainly visible.
"You're beautiful," Jason said, bringing her back to the present. He had watched her rub her scars for about a minute. He walked over and sat down beside her. "I love you and everything about you." He rubbed her stomach. "Even these."
Kelsi leaned her head against his bare shoulder. Tears leaked out of her eyes and dripped onto his chest.
"We'd love to," Gabriella exclaimed when Kelsi and Jason stopped by the house the next day and offered them to dinner.
"Yeah, we got your back, man," Troy agreed. All of Jason and Kelsi's friends knew about the whole incident that happened not even a year before.
"Is there anything you want us to bring?" Gabriella asked.
Jason shook his head. "Just you guys."
"She'll be here any minute," Kelsi said, bustling around the table, making sure that everything was perfect. Just then, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." He yelled. Please let it be Troy and Gabriella, he pleaded silently. He opened the door.
"Are we too late?" Gabriella asked.
Jason let out the breath he was holding. "You're right on time," he assured them. Kelsi walked in and stood beside them.
"I know you told us that we didn't need to bring anything but Gabriella insisted that we bring something so she baked this," Troy stated, handing Kelsi a three-layer chocolate cake.
"Thanks," she said. "Dinner is just about done." Just as she was about to leave, there was another knock at the door.
"That will be your mother," Jason said. He was going to take the cake out to the kitchen while she answered the door.
Kelsi knew what he was about to do and handed the cake back to Troy. "Could you and Gabriella take this to the kitchen?" She turned to her husband. "It will look better if we both answer the door together."
Jason nodded, giving Kelsi the okay to open the door. Might as well get this over with, he thought to himself.
"Mom," Kelsi said when she opened the door. She let go of Jason's hand and threw her arms around her mother.
"It's so good to see you, Kelsi," Mrs. Nielson remarked.
"Good evening, Mrs. Nielson," Jason said.
"Jason," Mrs. Nielson replied icily. As they walked past, Kelsi threw Jason a sympathetic look.
During dinner things seemed to go from bad to worse. Every time Jason tried to get into the conversation, Mrs. Nielson would keep butting him out.
Finally it was time for dessert. "Jason, could you give me hand out in the kitchen?" Kelsi asked.
Jason nodded and together they retreated from the others. "I'm so sorry that I put you through this," she apologized.
Jason sighed. "I know. But I love you and would do anything for you, even deal with your mother." He grabbed three plates and turned back to her. "Dinner's almost over anyways."
"There they are," Troy exclaimed when they came back into the dining room.
"For a moment there, we thought you guys got lost," Gabriella smiled at them.
Believe me, I wish that were true. Instead Jason replied, "We had to cut the cake, get the dishes, that kind of stuff." He handed Gabriella and Troy their plates and took his to his seat.
"So, Jason, what have you been up to lately?" Mrs. Nielson asked after taking a bite.
"Well, I've been doing okay. Basketball practice had been brutal." Jason took a bite of his cake.
Mrs. Nielson used this time to interrupt. "So would you say that you spend more time focusing on basketball than my daughter?"
Jason felt his temperature rising. How dare she come into his home and make wrongful accusations. "No. I love my wife. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her." Mrs. Nielson opened her mouth to say something but Jason cut her off. "The only reason I am sitting here at the same table with you is because Kelsi asked me too. I love her with every fiber in my being. I know you blame me for her miscarriage but it wasn't me. I knew that I had made a mistake and I was taking responsibility for it. That's how I was raised…"
"So you only married my daughter because you got her pregnant?" Mrs. Nielson asked calmly.
"Mom!" Kelsi yelled.
"I would have married her even if she wasn't pregnant. She makes me happier then anything else in the world. She loves me and I love her. The only reason we got married sooner rather then later is because she was pregnant. I'm sorry we lost the baby, I really am, but that is not going to make me love her any less." By the time he was done, his breaths came in short puffs.
Just then Mrs. Nielson did something no one at that table would have suspected. She started clapping. "You, Jason Cross, have passed the test."
Jason was baffled. "What test?"
"I never blamed you for the miscarriage. Since my husband divorced me, I've been very skeptical about men. When you married Kelsi, I thought it was just because of the baby. When Kelsi had the miscarriage, I thought for sure that you would leave her. Now I know that you truly love her. I am truly sorry that I put you through hell." She stood up. "Kelsi, I had better head home. I'll call you later in the week." She turned to say something to Jason but he was still sitting there in shock.
Later that evening, after everyone went home, Jason and Kelsi were dancing in the living room. "I'm glad that things between your mom and I are finally settled."
"I'm really proud of you. You made me fall in love with you all over again." Kelsi told him. She leaned her back to give him a kiss. "I love this song," she said when they parted.
"I know."
Lying
here with you
I watch you while you sleep
The dawn is closing
in
With every breath you breathe
I
can feel the change
The change you've made in me
But will I
ever see
All the things you see in me
When
you say that I'm one of a kind
Baby, I don't see it but you
believe
That I'm so strong and true, I promise you
I'll try to
be that kind of man
Because you love me like I am
When
it comes to love
I may not know the rules
But there's one thing
I know
My heart belongs to you, just you
When
you say that I'm one of a kind
Baby, I don't see it but you
believe
That I'm so strong and true, I promise you
I'll try to
be that kind of man
Because you love me like I am
You
show me you love me
With a fire that burns deep inside
When
you say that I'm one of a kind
Baby, I don't see it but you
believe
That I'm so strong and true, I promise you
I'll try to
be that kind of man
Because you love me like I am
When
you say that I'm one of a kind
Baby, I don't see it but you
believe
That I'm so strong and true, I promise you
I'll try to
be that kind of man
Because you love me like I am
I
am
I'll never understand
I don't think I'll ever understand
Why
you love me
Why you love me just like I am