A Year Later
I grabbed the last bag of groceries from the car, resting it on my hip as I shut the door. I was just about to head into the house when Jackson pulled into the driveway and cut the engine.
“Hey, sweetie, let me carry that for you.” He climbed out of the car and came around, taking the bag from me, then pressing his lips to mine. “How are you feeling today?”
I rested my hand on my barely protruding belly and smiled. “Fine. A little tired, but good.”
We’d been married for six months and had found out we were expecting a month later.
Jackson leaned in to kiss me again, this time placing his hand on top of mine just in time to feel the baby kick.
“Did you feel that?” he questioned, and then laughed. “My son’s already trying to bust out of there.”
“Your son? What if it’s a girl?”
Jackson looked at me as if I were being ridiculous. “Not a chance. Did you feel that kick? That’s all boy in there.”
“Come on, we should get inside. The ice cream is in that bag, and I’ve been craving it all day. I’d like it not to melt by the time I sit down to have some. You can help me put the groceries away.”
“Just what I want to do.” He winked, kissing my cheek and led me inside.
After we put away the groceries, I made us each a hot chocolate while Jackson fired up the barbeque. He loved to grill, even in the winter. I sat at the table and began reading the newspaper I’d picked up.
“Just going to get the potatoes on the grill,” he said, kissing the top of my head.
The doorbell rang, and Jackson ran out front to get it. I could hear him laughing and knew immediately it had to be someone from work. I listened as he chuckled, but then his voice turned serious. I hated it when I heard that tone in his voice and did my best to shut it out.
I’d just flipped open the newspaper to the next section and was about to read the next article when Jackson stepped back into the kitchen.
“One of the guys?” I questioned.
“It was Ryan.”
“Oh, Cara said he was working tonight. That’s odd, he’d be stopping by. Is everything okay?” I looked up to see a serious look on his face.
“What is it?”
“They arrested Garrick Barton this afternoon. He apparently jacked a car at gunpoint. Ryan said they just went and picked him up. He’s in custody.”
Jackson had eventually told me all that he knew about Garrick. He told me how the bullets at my brother’s shooting had matched the one the doctors had removed from him. He had told me that Dorian had cracked under pressure the night they arrested him, and he had turned Garrick in, giving the police everything they needed to know. The only problem was Garrick had run and hadn’t been seen again.
“What?” I asked in disbelief. I didn’t know what to do or say at this news. Finding the man responsible for my brother had been something I’d been praying for since the day he died.
“They got him, babe. It’s over,” Jackson said, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me.
I tried hard not to cry, but with all the hormones that were flooding my body, it was impossible not to. “We’ve got to go tell Mom,” I said, standing up.
“Better yet, we’ll cook all the food and take dinner over.”
* * *
I lay in bed reading the first chapter of a new book when Jackson walked in, towel wrapped around his waist. I couldn’t help but peek over the top of my book as my fiancé dropped the towel from his body and made his way over to the bed.
“Give it up, would you?” He chuckled. “I know you’re pretending to read, but in reality, you’re checking me out.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, whatever. When did you become so full of yourself?” I giggled.
“Since you came back,” he said, throwing the covers down on his side of the bed and crawling in.
I placed my book on my bedside table, shut the light off, and snuggled down under the covers and into his arms.
“Did you see your mom’s face tonight when we told her?”
“I know. She looked like she wanted to cheer and cry.” I said, thinking back to when we had shared the news with her.
I closed my eyes and rested my head on Jackson’s chest, taking in his fresh scent.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked as his hands trailed down and rested on my lower back.
“You,” I murmured.
“Is that so?”
I nodded. Jackson rolled me onto my back and looked down into my face. He placed his lips on mine and kissed me hard. I could feel him growing hard against me and pushed him away, laughing. “What are you doing?”
“What do you think I’m doing?” he asked as his hands wandered over my body.
I stopped laughing when I caught the look in his eyes. He slowly brought his lips to mine, then he reached up and shut the light off, bathing the room in darkness.
* * *
I slipped from the bed in the early morning and wandered down the hall to the kitchen. I quietly made myself a cup of tea and sat down in my favorite chair in the living room. I flipped the lights on the tree and pulled a blanket over my legs.
I loved early mornings like this, especially at this time of the year. I always welcomed the quietness. It gave me time to reflect on things. It was Christmas Eve; we had a busy day ahead of us, visiting my mom and then Cara and Ryan.
The last year, especially after our wedding, I’d spent a lot of time to focus on healing. Things were falling into place in my life and once I found out that we were going to have a baby, I knew I needed to be there for him or her in my entirety.
The things I put into practice, Jackson also put into practice. We both learned to talk to one another, especially when things were tough. We’d gone through a lot together and communication had been our weakness. We’d gone to see a therapist together and worked through those weaknesses, each of us learning things about ourselves along the way.
I picked up my tea and took a sip. I leaned my head back against the chair and took a deep breath. Letting him go had been the hardest thing I’d ever had to do, but it was ultimately what had led us back to one another. Our therapist told us that sometimes you must let go of what you love, as hard as it may be, to see if it will be returned to you. If not, then it wasn’t meant to be.
Luckily for me, and for Jackson, we each returned to one another, and our love was now stronger than ever.