Chapter 33
THE REST OF THE EVENING blew by in a whirlwind. Cassie showed up with the twins in tow. JJ loved having little friends to play with, or rather chase around. He wasn’t walking yet, but he was getting fast on all fours. Cassie cried and hugged her friend as they quickly caught up with one another.
Charlie came in and told them it was time for dinner. Mrs. Worthington made something extra special in honor of her return. Reluctantly they all headed back down. Jared insisted on putting the new leg back on to walk but quickly discovered just how headstrong his wife truly was in her determination to wrap his injury and provide more cushion for him. He didn’t want to admit it, but she had been right, and it felt a lot better walking with it.
While many in the compound wanted to participate in Holly’s return celebration dinner, only immediate family, her squad, and Chris and Cassie had been invited. Charlie said he would consider holding a welcome home party in town for her but didn’t make any promises. After speaking with Jesse Sullivan, he knew he needed to hear Holly’s story and why she was really home before making such a commitment.
Joey and Kyla were the last of her squad to welcome her back. Kyla cried and Joey stayed close by her side. It was sweet to see not much had changed between them.
A part of Holly was hoping to see Bubba with them. If Jared had survived, perhaps he had, as well. She was afraid to ask, but his lack of presence at dinner told her all she needed to know.
Everyone had been talking animatedly, catching up, filling her in on the local gossip, when all of a sudden it went completely quiet.
“I heard a rumor my girl was finally home,” she heard her mother say from behind her.
Holly turned and smiled. “Mom!” She jumped up from the seat and ran to her mother’s waiting arms.
“I always had faith you’d find your way back home.” Karen Jenkins looked around at all the familiar faces, not surprised by any of them, except one. A strange man was sitting next to the seat Holly had just abandoned, holding a baby she didn’t recognize. “And who do we have here?” she asked.
“Oh, Mom, this is my friend, Jesse Sullivan.” Holly leaned down and picked up the baby. “And this is JJ, your grandson.”
Her mom was visibly shocked. “My grandson?” she asked, and Holly nodded showing she had heard correctly. “JJ?” she asked reaching for the baby and fighting back tears. Her baby girl was a mom? It was even more of a surprise than Holly’s unexpected arrival.
JJ reached for the woman’s face and cooed. Just like that, he had his grandmother wrapped around his little finger. Within a few minutes the baby was squirming and starting to fuss.
“He needs a change,” Jesse said. “I got it. Enjoy time with your family. Charlie gave me a room already.”
“Thanks, Jesse,” Holly said.
“No problem. Come on Junior, let’s get you out of that wet diaper,” he said taking the baby and heading out of the room.
Holly knew she was smiling, she couldn’t help it. Jesse was big, strong, and lethal, yet he was mush at the hands of her son.
“Junior, huh? JJ,” her mom contemplated. “Is that Jesse Jr. or …”
“Mom,” Holly scolded, shaking her head. She turned to face the entire room. “To clarify once again for everyone, It is not Jesse Jr., JJ’s name is Jared Hastings Jr. Jesse is a friend, there is nothing going on between us.”
“Does he know that?” Cassie asked.
Holly laughed. “Cassie! Don’t encourage it. I don’t need that kind of rumor going around. Jesse’s a great guy. We’ve been through a lot together, but no. Just no.”
“Have you seen Jared yet?” her mother asked. “I hope someone at least warned him before springing you on him.”
“Karen, stop worrying about me. I’m fine. It’s been a crazy day, but a good one,” he admitted.
“I’ll say!” Scott piped in. “You got a smoking hot wife and a kid in the same day.”
Jacob reached over and smacked him across the back of the head as everyone groaned.
“What?” Scott asked. “I’m just saying, Holly was good looking before, but that baby milk has done that body good.”
Holly blushed at the compliment and tried to hide her breasts.
“That’ll be enough Scott,” her mother scolded.
“Yes ma’am,” he said and went back to eating his dinner.
Milo burst out laughing. “I can’t believe you actually said that out loud. Idiot!”
“What? It’s not like you all didn’t notice,” Scott defended. “I’m just saying, Hastings is a lucky man. That’s all.”
Jacob had to add his two cents. “You’d have to be blind not to see that, moron, that doesn’t mean you actually say it at the dinner table.”
“They ain’t grown up any while you were away,” Sam pointed out.
The rest of the meal was pleasant conversation. They each told her what they’d been up and what had changed about the compound in her absence. They asked her questions, too, and she gave them the surface-level version of events, confirming it was the AMAN that had taken her, but not mentioning that Griffon was behind it all. She told them she had helped a man escape the AMAN, met up with his group of soldiers, and helped negotiate a peace treaty between the two factions. No one was surprised by her stories, except to hear that the AMAN was playing nice with another group.
“There will be more details tomorrow,” Holly promised. “For now, I’m honestly exhausted and need a good night’s sleep. Jesse and I have been traveling for most of the last week, and I haven’t slept in a real bed in a month or more. So, if you don’t mind too much, I’d really like to call it a night.”
The others agreed, and everyone said good night and told her again how great it was to have her home.
Charlie ran to catch up with her as she walked down the hallway. Jared had still been talking with Chris and she hadn’t wanted to interrupt them, but hoped he’d be back soon.
“Hey, Jesse’s set up in Pod 5, as requested. Um, where are you sleeping tonight?” he asked awkwardly.
She hadn’t really considered it. “I guess I assumed I was sleeping in my pod.”
“You mean Jared’s pod? Look, he seemed happy with you and JJ tonight, but he’s more the old Jared than the one you knew. We see bits of him every now and then, but he could freak out if you tried sleeping with him.”
“Charlie, I’m exhausted. I’ll take the couch if I have to, but I’m sleeping in my pod tonight.”
Jared was limping down the hall. He had waited for Holly to leave first so she wouldn’t see how much pain he was in. It had been a long day, and he just wanted to take some pain killers and crawl into bed.
“I’m just saying, you need to talk to him about it first. Don’t assume, and that’s more his pod than yours at the moment. He’s come a long way, Hols. I don’t want to see him backtrack,” Charlie explained.
“I’m fine, Charlie. Stop worrying so much,” Jared said walking up behind him. When he heard them talking about him in the hall, he straightened up and put on his best pain-free face. “It’s her pod, you told me that yourself. If she wants to sleep there, she can.”
“She wants to sleep with you, Jared. You really okay with that?” Charlie asked, no longer bothering to spare his feelings.
Jared studied Holly as she stared back at him without saying a word. What would it feel like to sleep next to her? To hold her through the night? He had never really let himself hope for such a thing. But he had had that once, at least according to everyone he talked to. He wanted to know what that felt like now.
He shrugged. “It’s fine.”
Charlie shook his head. “Not my concern then. I’ve warned you both. I’m going to bed. Good night.” He headed off to his room as Jared and Holly walked quietly to their room.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were in so much pain?” she asked, worried about him. “We could have left much earlier.”
He didn’t bother to wonder how she knew he was. “I live in pain most days, still. It’s getting better, but it’s just a part of my life now.”
“I have to check on JJ first. Then. I’ll be in,” she said, stopping in front of Pod 5.
“I’m going to go ahead and get cleaned up. Take your time,” he told her.
Holly didn’t knock on the door, she just walked in. Jesse was sprawled out on the couch in a pair of clean sweatpants and a tee-shirt Charlie had brought him, his hair dripping wet for a shower. “Hey, how’s it going in here?”
“Fine. He crashed out for a while and is just starting to stir. I think if you go ahead and feed him, he should sleep through the night. I’m assuming you’ll be next door?” Jesse asked.
“Yeah, you okay with that?”
“Hols, there’s hot water. Like … continuous hot water. This place is amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“One of a kind,” she said proudly. “Though it’s far less appealing when the door locks shut, and you’re stuck inside this tin can for seven years.”
“Nah, that would have been like heaven compared to what I had to endure on the outside,” he confessed.
Jesse didn’t talk about his past much, but the little he did gave her the impression it had been a rough life no child should have to endure.
She plucked the baby up off the blanket on the floor and sat down on the couch. Jesse moved his feet at the last minute, as she knew he would. She kissed JJ’s sweet head and nuzzled him till he started to stretch and yawn, just awake enough to feed him without fully waking him back up. She put him to her breast and he suckled greedily.
“How are things with you and Jared?” Jesse asked, curious.
“Good, actually. Different, but I’m still in so much shock he’s alive, it hasn’t fully sunk in.”
“So how are you holding up with all this?”
“Like I said, shocked. I know I said we’d only stay a day, but I think I might take you up on that three day max you set, if you’re good with it.”
“I figured. Already told your brother that’s how long we’d be. You sure you still want to go through with this?”
Holly looked down at JJ eating peacefully in her arms. Tears fell from her eyes.
“You know I have to. For him.”
Jared knocked on the door of Pod 5. He had showered quickly and didn’t bother putting the leg back on. Instead he grabbed his crutches. He was exhausted and knew his meds would kick in soon pulling him into darkness. He hated them, but he found it difficult to sleep without.
“Hey, I’m heading to bed. I wanted to say goodnight to JJ,” he said, when Jesse answered the door. Holly had told him she wanted to sleep with him in their pod, but seeing her settled onto the couch feeding their child, he wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
“He’s finishing up his last meal of the day. He should sleep good through the night,” Holly said.
“I have a bed the twins use for naps sometimes when I’m watching them. They’ve mostly outgrown it, but it’s still there. Would you like me to set it up for JJ?”
“That would be great,” Holly said.
“If you want, we can set it up in here. I’ll watch him tonight so you guys can have some time alone,” Jesse offered.
Jared looked back and forth between him and Holly. He liked the idea of a family, and wanted JJ in their room, but he didn’t feel like he had an opinion on that.
“For tonight, that would be great. Thanks Jesse. I think I’m going to sleep like a brick tonight.”
“Come on, I’ll show you where it is,” Jared told the other man, feeling a pang of jealousy. He knew that unless he put the damn contraption back on his leg, he wasn’t going to be able to move the bed into another room by himself.
Once they were back in Pod 7, Jesse stopped him. He saw Jared’s disappointment when he offered to keep the baby.
“Look, if you want JJ closer to you, I understand. We can set him up in here. I only offered because I know how tired she is. It’s been a long, emotionally draining day for her and I just thought she could use the break. The fact that she said yes confirms that. She cares for him one hundred percent by herself. She never asks for help and rarely accepts it when offered.”
Jared considered that. “It’s fine. The bed’s just in here.” He showed it to Jesse, but didn’t go with him to set it up. His pain meds were making him tired, so he laid down on the bed once the man was gone.
As Jesse set up the bed for JJ, Holly finished feeding him. He squirmed only a minute when she laid him down, then with a contented sigh, settled in.
“If he wakes tonight and needs me, promise you’ll come get me,” Holly insisted.
“I promise. Stop worrying. We’re right next door. And try to actually get some sleep. If the nightmares get too bad, you know where to find me.”
She nodded and said good night.
Jared was trying to stay awake long enough for Holly to get settled, but when she insisted on taking a shower, he knew he wasn’t going to make it. He cursed the drugs as they pulled him back into darkness.
Holly took a longer shower than she should have, indulging in hot water and sweet-smelling soaps. It was bittersweet knowing she was on borrowed time. Exiting the shower, she was a little nervous. She didn’t know what to expect. On the one hand, Jared was alive. On the other, things were definitely different. He didn’t even really remember her. That hurt, but she understood, and she was so shocked and elated just to find him still breathing, that she didn’t even care about that. They’d find their way back, somehow.
Her nerves were quickly put to rest as she mustered up her confidence and walked into the bedroom they once shared. Jared was passed out and snoring softly on the bed. She smiled at the sight, climbed in, and snuggled up next to him. He never budged, but she felt like she was finally home.