Chapter Twenty-Two
Brianne
It’s been two weeks since Jaxon proposed and I’m so happy, I really do love Jaxon and being with him has made me realize that he is all I want. Well him and our family, I’m thirty weeks and today is the day that Jaxon finally gets to see them along with us finding out their genders. Livie tried to persuade us to do a gender reveal party but we both didn’t want that, we’ve waited long enough and we’re anxious to find out what we’re having.
Jaxon hasn’t spoken about his dad, he never came back to my house that night, but Carson went to Jaxon’s house to make sure he was okay. Whatever was said, I don’t know but Carson told me that Jaxon didn’t want to talk about it and that he never wants to see Ben again. I feel bad as I was the one who pushed Jaxon into seeing Ben, I honestly thought that he had changed and wanted to be Jaxon’s dad. So, from now on, when it comes to Jaxon’s parents I’m staying out of it.
Livie and I are so busy with work now that everyone knows that Mayor Ashwood is a dirty rat bag who cheats on poor Sophia although she’s a bitch, she doesn’t deserve the humiliation she received that day. Finding out that your best friend and your husband have been having an affair for over a decade has got to hurt. Although how she didn’t know is beyond me especially as Loretta wasn’t the only woman he was cheating with. Mayor Ashwood must have some supply of Viagra, I wonder if he has shares in the company?
There has been talk that Mayor Ashwood would resign along with calls for him to stand down, but mom and dad believe the Ashwood’s love the power that being the Mayor and the Mayor’s family gives them that they won’t give it up. Livie is the worst, anyone who comes into the salon and wants gossip Livie gives them the full lowdown of what happened. Nobody has said that the Pastor is Jaxon’s father and we’ve agreed that until Jaxon is ready to talk to him it’s going to stay that way. Pastor Jacob Lonnergan is actually a really nice man, and if the town found out that he cheated on Mary-Sue there will be even more uproar than there is with the Ashwood’s.
I haven’t seen Sabrina since we found out that she’s a liar and a self-centered bitch, I’m not complaining that I haven’t seen her I just hope it stays that way. I’m glad that it’s over and done with and we can finally be happy without any interference. Jaxon thinks that it isn’t over, Livie agrees with him, she doesn’t believe that Loretta or Sabrina have finished with us yet and the worst is yet to come. I honestly think they’re overreacting, they’ve been found out that they both have lied and vandalized our property they can’t be stupid enough to do anything else.
I hear my front door open and my nerves start to kick in, we’re going to see the babies today! “Princess, you here?” Dad shouts and I’m wondering what he’s doing here?
“Yeah dad, I’m in the kitchen!” I open the oven door and my nose is filled with the aroma of chocolate and cinnamon. I’m baking cookies and it’s my first try, I followed Grammys recipe I just hope they came out as good as hers.
“Something smells nice, what have you got?” I think dad was a sniffer dog in a previous life, the man can smell food a mile out.
“I’m baking dad and I’m glad you’re here. You can be my guinea pig.” I place the cookies onto a plate and hand it to him.
He looks at them with a weird expression before picks one up and takes the tiniest bite of it, “Hmmm,” That’s all he says. What the hell, surely there’s more to say than hmmm? He takes another bite, this time bigger than the last but still not a normal size one.
“Dad, what the hell is hmm meant to mean?”
“Princess, these cookies remind me of my mom’s. They’re really good.” He winks at me before he finishes the rest of the cookie.
“Really? Grams gave me the recipe.”
“Yeah Princess, they are that good. Want to tell me why you’re baking? You don’t bake.” He swipes another cookie from the plate.
“I just want to do what Grams did for us, whenever we went to Grams the smell of cookies and baking would be all that we could smell, I loved that it was really happy times dad and I want to give those memories to my babies.” Just remembering the smell of Grams house brings a big smile to my face.
“With these cookies you will, at least someone learnt how to bake cookies like my mom use too, your mom tried and burnt them so bad.” He shakes his head in disappointment, “Your brother takes after your mom, you take after me. If you’re going to keep this house stacked in cookies and cakes, I may just move in.” He has a glint in his eye, he’s so happy and I know it’s not because of the cookies, “Although if you bake me cookies, I’ll babysit those grandkids of mine.”
He’s happy because he’s about to become a grandad, “Dad, you have yourself a deal. So, where’s mom?”
“At home, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something, and I was interrupted the last time.” He gives me a pointed look and he’s still mad that are lunch turned into a chaotic mess. “When your brother was born, I started a savings account for him and when you were born I made one for you too. You both don’t need the money, but it was just in case something happened. Right now, there’s about fifty grand in each of your accounts. I decided that when you both either got married or have kids I’d give it to you.”
“Whoa dad that’s a lot of money!” Holy shit, what an amazing thing to do.
“I know that you don’t need the money, but it’s yours to do as you want. It can pay for your wedding or help buy a bigger house.” He hands me a check for fifty thousand dollars, and I start to cry. “Why the hell are you crying? This is why Carson’s my favorite, he doesn’t cry!”
“Eh, Carson can be your favorite it just means no cookies for you!” I stick my tongue out at him and take the plate of cookies away from him, I want to save some so I can bring them to Grams later on and show her the ultrasound scan. She’s excited to be a great-grandmother although she does say she’s not old enough to be one just yet.
“Fine, you can be my favorite, just hand me back the cookies!” He’s like a big child sometimes, other times he’s like a scary biker dude.
I take a few from the plate and put them into a bag for my Grams and the rest into another bag for dad to bring home with him. “You can bring these home with you, just keep them away from Carson otherwise he’d steal them.” Dad laughs and grabs the bag from my hand.
“Princess, are you sure that Sabrina and Loretta are finished in whatever vendetta they have?” He’s as bad as Livie.
“Yes dad, they’ve both backed off and we’ve seen hide nor hair of either of them dad. I’m just happy that I don’t have to put up with Loretta for the next eighteen years.” I’d lose my mind if I had to see her all the time. I look up at the clock on the kitchen wall, twenty minutes until Jaxon will be here. The excitement is beginning to bubble up inside.
“I’ll be on my way, call me as soon as you find out what those grandbabies of mine are, your mom wants to start knitting, god knows why! The woman should stick to what’s she’s good at and knitting isn’t one of them!” Dad has one of his wicked grins on his face.
I don’t even ask him what he thinks she’s good at because I’m actually scared of what will come out of his mouth. “You’ll be the first I call, I’m going to get changed into something more comfortable for the scan and then I’ll be going to the hospital.” I’m not wearing a dress to this scan, no way. I made that mistake once before and had to take the dress off.
“Okay, Princess drive safely.” Dad kisses my cheek and leaves, and the excitement soon disappears with a sudden dread, I have a really bad feeling, I feel as though something bad is going to happen.
I put my hair up so that it’s out of the way and have a quick shower, I can’t be blow drying my hair right now as I don’t have the time, so I’ll have to be extra careful not to get it wet. Thankfully I don’t shave, I wouldn’t be able to bend down even if I wanted to. I’m so big right now that once I sit down it takes me ages to get back up, that’s if I can get back up, sometimes I need help.
Wrapping a towel around me I walk into my room and dry myself off, that bad feeling I have is getting stronger and I wonder what’s coming. Hearing the front door open I smile, Jaxon’s here. We’re going to see the babies, I can’t wait. Livie wants them both to be girls and Carson wants them to be boys. I’m happy either way as long as my babies are healthy.
I throw on a tank top and a pair of jean shorts along with my flip flops. They’re the comfortablest shoes I can wear especially when my feet start to swell. “Jaxon I won’t be much longer, I just need to finish getting dressed!” I shout so that he can hear me, I didn’t hear him come up the stairs, so he must still be downstairs.
I untie my hair and brush through it, I’ve heard so many times that your hair becomes really healthy looking while you’re pregnant, I say bullshit, my hair is dull and lifeless, and I’ve gone through copious amounts of coconut oil to try and keep it somewhat healthy looking. That’s weird Jaxon didn’t answer me when I shouted down to him, he’ll usually have either a smart comment or he’ll come up stairs to see if I’m okay.
I hear the faint sound of my cell ringing, but it cuts off as I leave my bedroom. The house phone starts to ring and I’m curious if it’s the same person who called my cell. As I reach the top hall I hear a creaking noise behind me, looking behind me, I come face to face with Sabrina. Her eyes look maniacal, she looks different. Her hair extensions are no longer blonde they’re brunette and instead of her usual face full of makeup she’s got the minimal on, I’m getting freaked out because the closer I look at her the more of me I see.
“Sabrina, what are you doing here?” How the hell I managed to keep my voice even I don’t know, I’m so scared right now, she doesn’t seem stable. The phone stops ringing, and my cell starts again.
“Tell me Brianne, why is it that all men like you. What is it about you that has them fawning all over you like pathetic assholes?” She’s angry and she takes a step toward me and I take one back. “Jaxon and Ethan, they want you. Even Shyanne wants to be friends with you. Why are you trying to ruin me?”
“I’m not trying to ruin you.”
“You are!” I jump as she screams at me, “You’ve taken the only man I love, and you ruined my family!” She’s delusional, I don’t know what to do, right now I just want to run and hide.
“Sabrina, I didn’t ruin your family.” She takes another step toward me, and I take another one back, I’m getting closer to the edge of the top step.
“You did, mom and dad are unhappy and so am I.” The house phone starts ringing again just as Sabrina takes another step toward me, fear is lodged in my throat. “I hate you, you took Jaxon away from me, before you came along we were happy.” She lets out a gasp as she sees my hand, fuck, I forgot about the ring, her face contorts into sheer rage, and I don’t get a chance to say anything to her as she charges at me and gives me a hard shove.
I lose my footing and start to fall backwards, I let out a scream as I hit my back on the stairs and start to roll down the rest of them. Tears are streaming down my face as I hit the ground. Pain explodes in my abdomen and I let out a shriek, something is wrong, something is so terribly wrong. I start wailing as the pain comes again, this time stronger and even more painful than before.
I look down and see I’m in a pool of blood, my wails get hard as do my tears, I hear Sabrina running down the stairs, and as she gets to the bottom step I grab a hold of her leg, “Help me, please Sabrina, help me!” I plead with her, and I sigh in relief as she bends down only to slap my hand away from her leg and runs out the front door leaving me lying on the floor, bleeding.
The house phone rings again, this time the person calling waits for the machine to pick up, “Bri, I’m late and I’m so sorry. You’re probably driving right now, and I’ve left a voice message on your cell. Just in case you haven’t left yet and you’re not picking up because I’m a bastard. I’m sorry, I’m so damn sorry, I’m leaving work now and I’ll meet you at the hospital. I love you baby,” Jaxon says, and I cry harder, no one’s coming to help me.
My babies, there’s something wrong with my babies. Oh God, please someone help us!