Key To My Heart: Stay (18 page)

His words touched her, and she could
see in his eyes that he meant them. Tears stung her eyes again, but
this time they were tears of happiness. It hardly seemed possible
that he could love her as much as she loved him, but it had become
apparent that he did. She squeezed his hand.

“
I love you
Garett.”

“
I love you
Acasia.”

Heather reentered the kitchen with her
now empty plate, looking pointedly at Garett’s also empty plate. He
gave her an apologetic grin and filled his plate with food. They
finished dinner and then stayed to visit for a while
longer.

Then they went home and made love and
everything was right with their world once again.

Garett

When he realized how much of a weight
it took off of his shoulders when he told Acasia the truth about
Renee, he knew even more that he should have told her the truth all
along, and he made a promise both to himself and to her that in the
future he would always talk to her, no matter what. And it was a
promise that he meant to keep.

As soon as they got home after dinner,
he secured the blinds. Then they went upstairs and made love. And
as it always seemed to do, making love to the woman he loved made
everything all right with the world, or at least their world
anyway.

He was a little worried that Renee
might still try to cause trouble, but as the days passed and he
received no calls from his ex and neither did Acasia, he was able
to put her out of his mind, and he hoped that his fiancé was as
well.

The house was coming along well,
finally starting to feel as if it would be ready by the time the
baby was born. So Garett decided that it was time he put some real
thought into the actual setup of the wedding. He planned to build a
gazebo specifically for the wedding, but also something that could
remain in the yard as a reminder. He had a pretty good idea of what
he thought he wanted to do, but he consulted with his father and
Gavin, and together they came up with a plan of what they thought
the best way to build what he wanted would be.

Life was still busy, but again,
everything seemed to be going well. The baby was still growing well
and was at a healthy weight, Jay and Nikki seemed happy to be back
together, and Gavin and Demi seemed to exist in a world of
perpetual bliss. His older brother was so happy that it was almost
comical, and he was one of the proudest fathers that Garett thought
he had ever seen. Garett felt good about the future all around, and
he thought that Acasia did too.

Acasia

Acasia was happy. After the Renee issue
had been clarified and seemed to be solved, she felt much better.
The wedding plans were right on track, the baby was healthy and
growing well and even the house seemed to be coming together.
Garett no longer seemed concerned that the house wouldn’t be ready
before the baby was born, and he turned some of his attention to
his plans for the wedding itself.

Before she knew it, it was time for
Acasia to take her maternity leave. That was quite a relief as
well. Her ankles had started to swell so much when she was working
that she had had to purchase different socks and shoes, and even
her larger uniform had started to feel tight. She got bored at home
sometimes while Garett was at work, but she did what work around
the house she could, and spent quite a bit of time with her sister
as well.

She wasn’t thrilled with the way she
looked in her wedding dress, but Garett assured her that she would
always be beautiful to him, and to her that was all that mattered.
Everything seemed right on track, and she was able to let go of
some of her worries, especially as the days towards the wedding
ticked down and their backyard started to take shape.

The gazebo that Garett had designed
with the help of his father and Gavin was beautiful and she was so
proud of her man. He was really talented, and she knew that she
would always be proud to call their house home.

The days seemed to fall away at an
alarming rate, and before they knew it, the wedding was right
around the corner. And everything was well until three days before
the day Acasia and Garett were set to say their vows.

Garett

Acasia was still in bed sleeping, so he
made an effort to be quiet as he made a pot of coffee. He felt half
asleep since it was only 6 a.m. and they had been up late the night
before making love, but his lack of energy was worth it. Making
love to Acasia was always worth it.

He stood at the kitchen window and
looked out into the backyard, wanting to take a minute to admire
the combined handiwork of himself, his father, and his brother. He
thought that his eyes were deceiving him at first, and he blinked,
and rubbed his eyes, looking again. His heart sank as he realized
that what he thought he had seen had indeed been real, and he moved
to the kitchen door, opening it carefully so that it didn’t creak
as it often did.

He wanted to cry. The gazebo had been
destroyed. He had a feeling he knew exactly who had done the
damage, but he didn’t know quite how she had managed to do it. He
sighed as he went back into the house, wishing again that he had
never been dumb enough to date a woman like Renee Neal.

Acasia was sitting up in bed when he
entered their bedroom. She took one look at his face and said “Oh
baby, what’s wrong now?”

“
The gazebo.”

“
Hold that thought.” She got
out of bed, used the restroom and then returned. “What’s wrong with
the gazebo Gar?”

“
Someone destroyed
it.”

“
What do you mean someone
destroyed it?”

“
It’s ruined baby. And three
days isn’t enough time to start over.”

“
Start over? How could
someone have damaged it so badly that you would have to start
over?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know baby.
I really don’t. I have no idea how someone could have done so much
damage and we didn’t hear a damned thing.”

“
Who would do something like
that?”

“
Renee would do something
like that. She’s always been spiteful, especially when she didn’t
get something that she wanted or thought she wanted.”

“
What are we going to
do?”

“
We can reschedule the
wedding again I suppose, though that’s probably not the best idea
with you being so close to your due date, and everything already
being scheduled.”

Acasia bit her lip. “I know how much
this meant to you, being able to get married in the gazebo that you
built. And it was so beautiful, with the flowers and everything it
would have been perfect. How long do you think it would take to
redo it?”

“
I don’t know sweetheart. I
think I could probably get some of the other guys from work to help
out.”

She sighed. “Why does something always
have to go wrong? Why aren’t we allowed to be happy?”

He squeezed her hand. “We are happy
baby. And there is nothing in this world that will keep me from
marrying you. We’ll get this worked out one way or
another.”

“
I love you Garett
Black.”

“
And I love you soon to be
Mrs. Garett Black.”

He called his father, who advised him
to report the damage to the police. Garett knew that it wouldn’t do
any good, but he made a report anyway. And then they set about
rescheduling the wedding.

It luckily wasn’t too much trouble to
reschedule everything with Clinton being such a small town, and he
discovered that some of the materials for the gazebo were
salvageable. So they rescheduled the wedding for three weeks down
the road, knowing that it may be too close to Acasia’s due date for
comfort, but not having much of a choice.

Acasia

She thought it was a false alarm when
she had the first contraction, but as she put on her wedding dress
and had a second contraction, she realized that she was in
labor.

Heather noticed that something was off
and gave her daughter an inquiring look. “Baby, what’s
wrong?”

She forced a smile for her mother.
“Nothing Mom.”

“
Don’t you lie to me Acasia
Marie.”

Demi smiled at her behind their
mother’s back, then shared an eye roll with Nikki. Sammi and Nicole
were down the hall in the capable hands of their fathers, since
they had much less to do to get ready for the ceremony.

“
I’m not lying Mom, I’m
fine. I promise.”

“
You are not fine. I can see
from the look on your face that you aren’t. Now tell me what is
going on darling. Are you getting cold feet? I would have thought
that after your wedding had been rescheduled for the second time
that cold feet would no longer be a problem.”

“
No, I don’t have cold feet.
I’m just having some stomach problems, that’s all.”

“
You’re in labor aren’t you?
I told you that you needed to wait until after the baby was born to
get married honey.”

“
I’m not in labor
Mom.”

Then she winced as another contraction
hit, and she knew that she couldn’t keep the truth from her mother
any longer.

“
Okay, so maybe I am in
labor.”

Heather shook her head. “Demi
sweetheart would you go tell Garett that your sister is in labor? I
knew this was going to happen.”

Demi left the room and returned shortly
after with Garett.

He gave her a gentle smile. “It’s time
huh?” He squeezed her hand.

She nodded, squeezing his hand back as
another contraction hit. “Yeah, it’s time. I’m sorry.”

Garett chuckled. “No need to apologize
sweetheart. Dad is telling everyone what’s going on. I’ll go get
your bag and then we’ll go.”

He left the room.

Acasia looked at her mother. “Mom, is
the baby going to be okay?”

“
You’re only three weeks
from your due date honey. She’s going to be fine.”

Heather embraced her. She could see
that there were tears standing in her mother’s eyes when she pulled
away, but she hoped with all her might that her mother was right
and that the baby would be fine, even if she was born three weeks
early.

Garett

He wasn’t exactly surprised when Demi
told him that Acasia was in labor. He was a little concerned that
she was still three weeks away from her due date, but both his
parents and Heather Brown assured them that the baby would be
fine.

And their little girl was fine. She was
a little small, not quite six pounds, but she was breathing on her
own just fine, and seemed healthy. Besides Acasia, he was sure that
their daughter had to be the most beautiful thing that he had ever
seen, and he couldn’t have been happier to welcome her into the
world, even if she had interrupted the union of her
parents.

They hadn’t been quite sure of what
they would name her, and had been throwing around name combinations
up until the last minute, but when they looked at their dark haired
blue eyed little girl, they both agreed that she would be named
Elda in honor of her grandfather, and everyone agreed that the name
fit.

Their daughter took right to her
mother’s breast, and the happy family was able to return home six
days after Elda Jean’s birth. Everyone settled in well, and even
though being the father of a newborn was exhausting, Garett had
never been happier. His life felt complete, and he knew that it
would only feel more so once he had made the mother of his child
his wife.

Acasia

When she laid eyes on her daughter’s
face for the first time she fell in love. It was incredible to
think that two imperfect people had created such a perfect child,
but she supposed that parents felt that way quite often when they
looked at their children. And she knew that she never should have
worried about becoming a mother. Holding her daughter, caring for
her daughter felt right. It felt meant to be, and she knew that
they were all going to be okay. She knew that it wouldn’t always be
easy, but she knew that it would always be okay as long as she had
her daughter and her man.

She was tired a lot after they went
home, and she knew that Garett was too, especially since he was
working full time, and getting up in the middle of the night to
care for Elda so that she would have an occasional break. But she
was happy, and she knew that he was too.

They decided to reschedule the wedding
a month into the future, and for once, their wedding plans went
along exactly as scheduled.

Renee Neal had left town without
selling her house. Rumors had gone around town for a while that she
had had sex with three different men all in the same night so that
they would destroy the gazebo, but Acasia tried to ignore the
rumors. She didn’t care what Renee had done. She was just glad that
the woman would be out of their lives for good.

The wedding was beautiful and Acasia
didn’t think she had ever been happier than when she said the words
“I do.” She meant every word of her wedding vows, and knew that
Garett meant his as well.

They didn’t have much of a honeymoon,
since it was only overnight and they stayed home while Elda spent
the night at Grandma’s house, but it didn’t matter because they
were together and they were happy.