This is the ENDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD of you and me... ;)
14 days later…
Humming along to the theme song of The Office, I sat criss-cross in front of the coffee table. Kenny had ordered us Chinese food and at the moment I was shoving it in with my shovel of a fork. Boxes surrounded me, holding memories worth millions. My house didn't look like my house anymore. It was some foreign hotel I'd been staying in for a few nights and at the end of the week I'd find a new place to stay. Every single picture of Eric and I was either turned faced down, or taken down completely.
My marriage was ending but I couldn't be sad. I was past the point of sad, or hurt. I was numb. Losing "Jack" was one of the hardest things I had ever gone through, and Eric's unfaithfulness was just adding insult to injury.
I popped a few pieces of boneless pork in my mouth and cracked open my can of Pepsi. A drop fell down my shirt and I grabbed a napkin off the table to wipe it. I followed the trail to the crease of my bra and crinkled the napkin up. Tossing it in one of the boxes marked "garbage" I heard someone calling for me.
"Britta come here!" he called.
"Hurry come here! Hurry up!"
I hopped up off the floor and stretched my still limbs. My left foot had started to fall asleep so I stomped on it for a few seconds before I descended the stairs to the computer room. I stepped in the door and met eyes with a smiling Kennedy. His chin was scruffy and a matching "almost mustache" lay between his nose and his top lip.
"Come look at this!" He turned towards the screen and I walked over to the desk. Resting my head on his shoulder I watched him click around a few times before he found what he wanted to show me. He pulled up a YouTube video of us from three years before. We had fake grills in and wore red and black bandanas across our foreheads. As soon as I heard the entering music of "Richman" by 3OH!3 I knew exactly what video this was.
"You idiot," I smacked his arm, "you were yelling for me so loud I thought something was wrong."
Kenny chuckled and paused the video, "I just wanted to see if you remembered this…"
"Of course I remember it," I leaned my face in closer and soon pecked his lips. I slightly pulled away but Kennedy dragged me in with another kiss. "I love you, you know that?"
"I love you too." Rubbing Kenny's shoulder I kissed his cheek and backed out of the room, "next time you need me," I said before leaving, "how 'bout you just come and get me, so I don't think you're dying."
Eric's POV-
I left Sam's before she could get back from LA; I didn't want to have to face her. She already knew what happened; I didn't want to make it worse. I stayed at Nicks for a little while, and finally built up enough courage to buy a plane ticket and come back to Arizona. Britta probably didn't want to see me, but I had to see her. We had to talk about the baby that she had lost, I couldn't imagine what she was going through and I just needed to talk to her.
When I pulled in the driveway a Black BMW was parked in my spot. I couldn't remember who had a Black BMW…well John Oh did, but he was in New York. Had he left it to someone when he left? The outlander was pulled out of the driveway with a trailer attached. The door was half shut and dozens of cardboard boxes were placed inside. Maybe I was too late.
I stepped out of the car and smelled the flowers I had picked up at the airport. The nerves bubbled in my throat as I clicked open the back door and scooped Hawke out of his car seat. He smiled up at me with wide eyes and I kissed his tiny hand. He had no idea what I'd done and he'd love me no matter what. He was all that mattered when it came down to it. Even if my wife never wanted to talk to me again, I'd always have my son.
Shaking my hair out of my eyes, I mounted the steps and hesitated before opening the door. I was afraid to enter my own home. I knocked once and slightly pushed the door open.
"Britta…" I called in. The TV was on but no one was sitting on the couch. Soon a head popped up and I met eyes with my wife. A weak smile fell upon my face, but her eyes remained cold.
"Nice of you to show up," she murmured as she got up off the floor.
"We have to talk," I replied, "about everything."
"We have nothing to talk about," Britta pulled Hawke out of my arms and ignored the flowers.
"These are for you," I pushed them forward.
"I don't want flowers Eric," she marched away and my heart fell, "you can leave now."
"This is my house!" I exclaimed.
"Correction!" she gently placed Hawke down on the couch and stomped back over to me, "this was your house. You don't live here anymore, we're not married anymore."
"Well according to that ring on your finger, we still are!" I pointed down at her hand and she dropped her eyes to it as well.
I figured she was going to pull it off and drop it on the ground in front of me, but she did neither. Instead she left it on and gave it a quick twirl.
"Eric," she whispered, "I might still be wearing this ring, but we're not together. We can't be."
"But why? I love you!" I exclaimed, "and I know you love me!"
"Of course I love you!" her whole body shook as she screamed the words, "but I just can't be with you. Not after what you did."
"What I did? You cheated on me first!"
"Good fucking joke!" Britta exclaimed.
"What do you mean joke? You slept with Alex when you were in LA," I replied.
"I NEVER slept with Alex!" Britta screamed, "and the fact that you did what you did because you thought that, is pathetic. I would never cheat on you, and for you to just throw us away like that, really hurts."
"You never slept with Alex?" I asked.
"No, Eric. I never slept with Alex. And I never would. Just please just leave," Britta walked away and clicked off the TV. She slipped on shoes and sauntered over to the hall closet.
"What about our baby?" I faintly asked.
Britta stopped in her tracks and sucked in a deep breath. "What about him?" she asked.
"What happened? How did you lose him?"
"The egg was growing outside of the womb, he had no chance of surviving," she explained.
"I'm so sorry," I replied, "I wish we could have saved him."
Britta sighed and backed away from the closet. She stepped up to me and I held out my hand. She pushed past it and laid her head on my chest. I rested my head on hers and sucked in a deep breath.
"You're a great dad, Eric." She hugged me tighter and I could feel her heart beating. "And that baby boy would have loved you just as much as Hawke and I do."
She stepped back and whipped her eyes, "but maybe losing this baby was the best thing that could have happened for us."
"What are you saying?" I softly cried, "How could you say that?"
"I'm saying that having another baby would have linked us together even more than Hawke does. Another baby would have made this even harder." Britta walked away and grabbed a bag from out of the closet.
"Make what even harder?" I begged.
Soon I heard footsteps and I turned to face the stairs. Kennedy stood at the opening to go down the den. I looked back over at Britta and then at Kennedy.
"What's going on?" I asked.
Britta grabbed another box from off the floor and tucked it under her arm. "Come on Kenny," she nodded her head towards the door. "It's time to go."
Kennedy picked Hawke up off the couch and I marched forward. "Get your hands off my son!"
"Hey man," Kennedy backed away, "I'm just carrying him to the car. Chill out!"
"No I will not chill out," I barked, "put my son down and get out of my house."
"I'd be glad to get out of here," Kennedy walked away from the couch and grabbed Hawke's diaper bag off the floor, "but you're son is coming with us."
"To hell he his!" I lunged forward but Britta stepped in front of Kennedy and my son.
"Eric," she warned, her voice dripping with anger. "We're leaving, and Hawke's coming with us."
"What? Where are you going?" I asked, my head spinning from all the tension and confusion.
"We're moving to the beach house. I have to get out of Arizona and away from you. This house, this town, it holds way too many memories. Over there I'll be closer to everyone I want to be closer too. And hopefully…I'll never have to talk to you again."
Pushing past my shoulder Britta made her way to the door and held it open for Kennedy. He stepped up to my side holding my son. He looked up at me sympathetically and my teeth began to grind. Finally he passed me and left the house.
He thought he was so much better than me. He had my wife, my son…he was taking my life. And what pissed me off the most, is he had done the same damn thing to her! Why could he get away with it and I lost everything. It wasn't fair.
I turned and faced Britta who was still in the doorway. She looked up at me, then at the ground. She peeked out the door, but didn't flinch. Leaving this house had to be hard for her. I had to think of something to say that would make her stay.
"So it's just that easy?" I choked.
"It's that easy…" she shut the door and I felt my heart beat slow down. I watched as the Outlander pulled out of the driveway followed by the trailer. Britta looked up at me from the passenger seat and frowned. Kennedy leaned over and kissed her cheek and her face erupted into a smile. A solemn tear fell down my cheek and I backed away from the window. I couldn't stand to watch my life drive away, in the passenger side of a mint green Outlander.
Britta's POV-
"Plenty of gas?"
"Check!" Kennedy exclaimed.
"Snacks for the road?"
"Check!"
"DVDs for Hawke when he gets antsy?"
"Check!"
"A kiss for good luck?"
Kennedy leaned over and pecked my lips three times. "Check, check, and check."
We merged onto the highway and I slightly rolled down my window. The Arizona weather was beautiful and I knew I was going to miss it.
"So, you excited to be going back to New Jersey?" Kennedy asked.
"Uhm hm," I nodded, "I've always wanted to live there. I always pictured that house as my first home with a family. I never imagined myself as an Arizona girl. It just happened that way."
"Well you're a Jersey girl now," Kennedy winked.
"We've got a long way to go before I'm a Jersey girl again," I sighed at the busy highway. "I can't believe we're driving all the way there."
"Oh come on, it'll be fun." Kennedy winked, "just think of all the memories we'll make."
I smiled at Kennedy and admired his optimistic view on life. He was always the one who wasn't afraid to try new things and push me to be a better person. I lost myself finding him. And it was the best find of my life.
Kennedy slid open the sunroof and the warming rays spilled down into the car. He took his hand off the wheel and gently grabbed mine. We laced fingers over the center console and he began to slowly rub my thumb.
As we drove farther down the highway I began to slowly drift to sleep. As the sounds of the road faded away I found myself in a white room. I looked down and admired a beautiful white sundress I was dressed in. Frantically searching the room for anyone I tried to scream but my throat was closed.
"Looking for me?" I heard a voice behind me ask.
I whipped around and met eyes with Wiley. He wore a white tux and top hat and held an envelope. I ran to him and watched as he held out the envelope. I ripped it open and a black image fell into my hands.
"I don't see anything," My own voice echoed back to me.
"Hold it up to the light," Wiley instructed.
I held the picture up to a light source I didn't know was there and deciphered that it was an ultrasound image. Instead of one baby though, there was two.
"I don't understand," I finally admitted.
"You will one day," Wiley smiled and soon the picture disappeared with a puff of smoke.
"Why are you still here?" I asked, "The dreams are over."
"They are over," Wiley agreed, "I'm here to congratulate you."
"Congratulate me?"
"Yes, for finally making the right decision!" Wiley took off his top hat and poured more pictures into my hands. I caught a few and studied the faces.
One picture was of me in a white wedding gown, similar to the dress I was wearing now. Kennedy stood beside me, wearing the white tux Wiley was wearing. The next picture was of Kennedy, he was standing in front of the Eiffel tower holding a tiny baby in each arm.
"Wiley," I whispered, "where did you get these?"
I looked up and Wiley was gone. "Wiley!" I yelled, "Where are you!"
I jolted awake as Kennedy slammed on the brakes. Our hands were still intertwined and Hawke was watching The Lion King in the backseat.
"Well good morning sleepyhead," Kennedy laughed.
I didn't respond. Instead I leaned over and kissed Kennedy harder than I ever had before. He chuckled as I pulled away and focused back on the road.
"Well…have a good dream?" he teased.
Dreams. They had been haunting me for weeks. Telling me about making decisions and love. This whole time the dreams weren't telling me that I wasn't in love with Kennedy. They were trying to tell me that I had made the wrong choice a long time ago. This whole time my heart belonged with Kennedy and I had spent too much time denying it. Now I was in love and the dreams were over. I had been hurt and broken. But still came out stronger than before. This was my life now. And I couldn't have been happier.
thanks to everyone who read! :)
you're all amazing!
