Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
Jackson: Hello?
I stared at the text on my phone. I stood in the pregnancy book section of the bookstore, still in shock from my doctor’s appointment.
Me: Hi
My phone started to ring. It was a number I didn’t recognize, but even so, I knew it was Jackson.
“Hello?”
“Emily, what’s going on?” The sound of his warm low voice washed over me. I stared blankly at the books in front of me.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you’ve been MIA. You freaking out?”
My eyes blurred with tears. Remembering how Matt had told me that Jackson had tried his damnedest not to marry me. That he only liked tall blondes and that the only reason why he had been with me was to screw with Matt.
“A bit.”
“What’s going on?”
I swallowed, the tears were clogging my throat preventing me from speaking .
“Use your words, sweetheart.”
“Matt talked to me.”
Silence screamed down the line between us.
His words were slow and pronounced. “What did he say?”
I sniffed. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine if you’re crying.”
“I don’t want to talk about it on the phone.”
A long pause hung between us. “Well, we’re going to have to talk about it on the phone because that’s the only form of communication we have right now.”
“I thought you wouldn’t be able to call me this week.”
“You gonna tell me what Matt said to you?”
Another pause.
“Matt said that you didn’t want to marry me and that you wanted me to marry him.”
“Completely untrue.”
“He also said that you only date tall blondes.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well, I’m not tall or blonde and not your type, and so he said that the only reason why you messed around with me was so that you could get to him.”
“Is that what he told you?”
“Yeah.”
“And you believed him?”
“I don’t know.”
Another long pause and then he spoke low and quiet into the phone. “You want to know why I messed around with you?”
I sniffed again. “I’m not sure.”
“Do you want to know?”
I did, but I didn’t. I looked at the ceiling. “Okay.”
“I didn’t want to mess around with you. You were so off-limits it wasn’t even funny. You were in love and engaged to Matt. But I couldn’t keep my fucking hands off you.”
“What? ”
“That’s the truth. I didn’t want you, but I had to have you. I crossed so many lines with you that went against everything I believe in, but I couldn’t stop myself.”
I leaned my head against the bookshelf. “Really?”
“That’s the truth.”
“Oh.”
Another long pause while I tried to process that. Jackson had wanted to be with me. It had nothing to do with Matt. My entire body tingled at that admission. Flashes of him kissing me, touching me, moving on top of me rolled through my mind.
“You done freaking?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure?”
I took a deep breath. “Yeah, but now I have something new to freak about anyways.”
“What's that?”
“I went to the doctor today.”
“And?”
“And it just dawned on me that we’re having a baby.”
There was a long pause, and then his laughter rumbled in my ear. His laughter was contagious, and I started to laugh too.
“This isn’t funny, Jackson. This thing is real. The doctor did an ultrasound of it, and there it was, waving it’s little alien arms and legs around. This thing is inside of me.”
He laughed even harder. When he could manage to speak, he asked, “Are you kidding me?”
“We took a picture to show you. Trust me. When you see this thing, you’re going to freak out too.”
“You’re priceless, you know that?”
“I drove straight from the doctor’s office to the bookstore. I don’t know anything about babies. I need to do some research.”
“Are you telling me this shit is getting real?” He sounded super amused.
“You have no idea. ”
A long pause.
“Jackson.”
“Yeah?”
“Sorry I freaked out.”
“Can you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“I need you to stay the fuck away from Matt, okay? I know you two have a history, but it’s messed up how he’s trying to upset you.”
“Okay.”
“I mean it, Emily. No communication. I can’t protect you from that if I’m here and you’re there.”
“Okay.”
“I gotta go. You’ll text me back if I text you?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure about that, Mrs. Hunter? I hear some doubt in your voice.”
My smile was so big, it hurt. “I’m sure.”
“Take care of that alien, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Bye, sweetheart.”
“Bye.”
I stood there staring at the baby books blinking back pregnancy tears. Sheesh . Only another six months of this roller coaster.
My phone buzzed. I looked down at it.
Jackson: Mail me Echo Tango’s pic
Me: Echo Tango?
Jackson: E.T.
I snickered so loud, someone across the aisle lifted their head to look at me.
Me: I will
It took me until I got to the car to realize that he never actually denied that he only dated tall blondes.
The next four weeks passed by in relative quiet. I mailed the ultrasound picture to Jackson. Even though I hadn’t been to work since Matt’s accident, I officially quit my job at the gallery. They took me out for a little good-bye lunch.
I was forced to go maternity shopping. Some of my more fitted clothes were getting way too tight on me. According to my baby book, which I had started to read obsessively, it was just a matter of time before I started wearing maternity clothes full-time, so I went out and bought a brand new wardrobe.
I swam daily and slept a lot. I took my pregnancy vitamins. I stopped drinking coffee and eating sushi. Martha and I took Chloe for daily walks around Central Park.
Jackson texted me when he could. I never texted him first, but I always responded to his texts. He liked to tease me a lot. He often asked me how my day was going or what I was doing. We kept things light. It felt like the natural friendship we had before we slept together.
Jackson: Got a text from Chloe this morning
Me: Really? What did she say?
Jackson: She says that she wants to rethink the whole pink studded dog collar thing
Me: I love that collar!!
Jackson: She only wears it because she knows you like it
Me: I can’t believe this
Jackson: Truth
Jackson: You there ?
Me: I am
Jackson: Did you have some of Martha’s pancakes for breakfast?
Me: Granola and yogurt
Jackson: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Me: WTF?
Jackson: Yeah, that is what I just said. You gotta eat some pancakes. For me.
Me: My clothes are already starting to get tight
Jackson: Feed them to the alien, but you gotta have a pancake for me
Me: You sure seem obsessed with those pancakes
Jackson: Best. Pancakes. Of. My. Life.
J ackson: Got another text from Chloe today
Me: Now what did she say?
Jackson: She misses me
Me: What else did she say?
Jackson: She wants to enlist
Me: Into the navy??
Jackson: I was telling her that there are dogs in our unit
Me: You’re kidding
Jackson: That’s exactly what she said
Me: I’m going to have to talk to her about using my phone
Jackson: Please do. I think this obsession with me is borderline unhealthy
And then I got the text that sent my heart into overdrive.
Jackson: You packed?
Me: Why?
Jackson: A house has become available. It’s a two bedroom. Available immediately
Me: Really?
Jackson: Really. You can ship your boxes asap
Holy shit. This was happening. I was suddenly inexplicably nervous.
Me: Okay
Jackson: I have the weekend off. I’ll come get you
Me: I can drive myself
My phone began to ring.
“Hello?”
“What do you mean, you can drive yourself?”
“You don’t need to come out here. I need to drive my car there anyway.”
“I don’t like the idea of you driving on the highway by yourself.”
“Well, it doesn’t make sense for you to come all the way here and then spend a day driving with me.”
“It makes sense if you’re safe. I get back to the base on late Friday afternoon. I can fly out there, and we can drive on Saturday.”
“I can be there on Friday before you’re even off work.”
Silence.
“Emily,” he said my name quietly. My heart raced with how protective he was. This is what got me into trouble in the first place. His constant need to take care of me. I loved it so much, and it made my heart do stupid things in my chest.
“I promise I’ll be so careful. I’ll have Chloe with me.”
More silence on the other side. This was in Jackson’s DNA. I had to remind myself that he was just a natural born protector. This had very little to do with me and was all about how he viewed the world and his role in it. “I don’t want you to stop at any of those shit rest stops.”
I struggled not to laugh at the tone of his voice. “I promise.”
“You don’t stop for anyone along the highway. I don’t care what the circumstances are. I don’t care if you see little kittens and puppies crying for help. You do not stop.”
“Jackson. I promise. It’s going to be broad daylight.”
I got a long-winded sigh from his end. “Take this serious, Emily.”
“I’m taking this seriously.”