Key To My Heart: Stay (9 page)

“
I love you too Garett. And
I am happy. But I’m scared too. I don’t know how to be a mother.
I’m afraid that it’s not going to come natural for me like it did
for Nikki.”

He squeezed her hand. “You’ll be a
wonderful mother Acasia. This is all a little scary, but it feels
right. I need you Acasia Brown. I need you in my life, especially
now. I need you to stay with me. Need to know that you’ll be mine
forever. You have my heart beautiful. You always have.”

Tears stung her eyes again. She said
nothing as he crossed the room and pulled a ring box out of his
coat pocket. He knelt before her, tears standing in his eyes as he
took her hand. He popped the ring box open with his other hand, his
eyes on hers, unashamed of the glistening tears.

“
Acasia Brown, will you
marry me?”

She couldn’t speak, so she nodded and
he slipped the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly, and she had
to wonder how he had known what size to buy. The ring was beautiful
and she was suddenly so happy she could hardly see
straight.

Garett’s kiss awakened her passion as
it always did, and they ended up making love. Lying in his arms
afterwards, Acasia realized that she’d never been happier. She
loved Garett more than she’d ever imagined that she could love
someone, and he loved her too. He laughingly told her that he’d
picked out the engagement ring weeks before, and she laughed
too.

Even though some of her nervousness
remained, she saw a bright future for herself and Garett, and she
found herself looking forward to becoming his wife.

Garett

Garett’s mind was on overdrive as he
drove to Trent. He wasn’t sure that buying the engagement ring was
the right thing to do, but the thought of letting the beautiful
woman that he loved slip through this fingers was unbearable. And
he knew that even if he lost the nerve to propose to her that
night, that he wanted her to be his wife. Even if it took three
years for her to wear his last name. He didn’t care. He loved
Acasia and he was going to tell her.

He stopped and picked up flowers at a
grocery store in Trent, and then bought dinner for them at the
diner next to the shithole motel she had checked into, worried that
she hadn’t eaten. Acasia brought out a protective streak in him
that was undeniable.

His heart was pounding in his chest
when he knocked on her door. Demi had texted him the room number
only half an hour before he’d gotten into town. He’d been afraid
that he’d have to knock on every door, that Acasia was so intent on
hiding from him that she might give Demi the wrong room number, or
even change motels at the last minute. But her car was sitting
directly in front of room 104, and it made him feel a little better
that Acasia had told her sister the truth, probably knowing all the
while who she really wanted the information for.

When she opened the door, she avoided
his eyes. He knew that something was going on, and his heart was
still pounding as she moved back into the room. He asked her to
look at him, and she refused, but at least she’d told him to come
in, so he entered the room, trying not to think about how low
budget it was as he sat in the desk chair that looked like it
wanted to fall apart. Then Acasia started crying. He was almost
afraid to hold her, but he couldn’t stand to see her cry and
crossed the room and took her into his arms.

When she confessed her pregnancy, he
was so happy he could hardly stand it. He wanted to scream and
shout, tell the world that his baby was having his baby. But then
it dawned on him that she had run away from him. So he confessed
his love for her, and ended up proposing right then and there. The
world stood still when she accepted his proposal. He’d never been
happier in his life.

Making love to her afterwards had been
a divine experience. He had never felt such love in his life. He
couldn’t wait to tell everyone the good news, couldn’t wait to wake
up beside her in bed every morning. But between the problems that
neither Jay nor Nikki wanted to admit, Demi’s coming back home, and
Gavin’s need to make a decision, it seemed as if he and Acasia were
suddenly the only ones that things seemed to be going right for. He
supposed that they should approach the breaking of their news to
their families with caution, though Acasia admitted she had already
told Demi, guilty that she hadn’t told him first.

He forgave her without a second
thought, so damned glad that they were getting married and having a
baby that nothing else could really touch him.

Acasia

After they got back to Clinton, the
first stop Acasia and Garett made was at her childhood home. They
had agreed that she was going to move in to his house as soon as
possible, and while she wanted to break the news to her mother
gently, she was certainly looking forward to not having to live
under her mother’s roof anymore.

Heather Brown took the news well,
though she seemed disappointed that Acasia had chosen to move out
almost as soon as she had discovered she was pregnant. She looked
at her mother and realized for the first time how lost her mother
was going to be without someone to really mother and felt more than
a little sad. She loved her mother dearly, but she was opening a
new chapter in her life, starting a family of her own; and it was
high time that she had a place of her own again.

She had few possessions, mostly clothes
and personal items since she had left all the furniture and
household appliances she had purchased over the years behind when
she had left Colton behind, so it took hardly any time at all
before everything was packed and ready to go. She felt tears sting
her eyes when she hugged her mother goodbye after Garett had loaded
everything into the back of his truck, and wondered again if she
was already experiencing the roller coaster emotions that pregnancy
had been known to bring. It wasn’t as if she was saying a final
goodbye to her mother since she was only moving a few blocks away,
but at the same time, she knew that she would never live under her
mother’s roof again and so the goodbye did feel different this
time.

When her mother pulled back, she saw
that tears stood in her mother’s eyes as well and she reached for
the gentle hand that had soothed her when she was sick, and brushed
many a tear from her cheeks, offering it a reassuring
squeeze.

“
I love you Mom. I couldn’t
have asked for a better mother.”

A smile brightened her mother’s face,
banishing the tears. “Thank you sweetheart. I love you
too.”

She wondered how long her mother stood
in the driveway after they had driven away, but tried to put it out
of her head. There was much that needed to be done and a short time
to do it in. There was still tons of work that needed to be done on
the house, and they had a wedding to plan and a baby to prepare
for.

Garett

It was a very busy week for Garett and
Acasia. Breaking the news of their engagement and Acasia’s
pregnancy to their respective family members had gone more smoothly
than both of them had thought it would. Everyone seemed to be happy
for them, even Jay who still seemed a little off in mood to Garett.
He still wanted to talk to his brother, really talk to his brother;
but he put it on the back burner because he had a lot on his mind
as it was already.

He felt like he had little time to rest
between work, working on the house, and getting Demi’s house ready
for her to move into since his father had convinced Melda Gaines to
give him a set of keys; but all in all he couldn’t have been
happier. Waking up beside Acasia every day made him feel as if he
could take on the world. If someone so beautiful, so smart, and so
caring could love him, and wanted to spend the rest of her life
with him, then he felt as if he could do anything, be anything. It
was an incredible feeling, and he felt as if he loved her a little
more every day.

Demi arrived in town over the weekend,
and everyone helped her set up the house. He stole a moment away
from his fiancé while she was involved in conversation with her
mother and her sister, and stepped away to call Gavin.

His brother answered on the second
ring, sounding a little breathless. “Hey Gar.”

“
Hey Gav. She’s
home.”

“
How is she?”

“
She seems fine. Gav, you’re
going to have to make a decision for once and for all. And you need
to do it soon. Are you going to spend the rest of your life being
scared, or are you going to take a chance on love?”

“
You’re so corny little
brother. Next thing I know you’re going to be driving a minivan
loaded down with four or five kids.”

“
Maybe we want a lot of
kids.”

“
Do you? Have you discussed
that with her?”

“
Give me a break Gav. You’re
just trying to change the subject so you don’t have to address your
own issues. My relationship is right on track. Yours on the other
hand, well you can’t even say that you have a real relationship
with the woman that you love anymore.”

“
Thanks for reminding me.
Are you sure she’s okay?”

Garett chuckled. “I grew up with her
too remember? I promise you that Demi is fine.”

Gavin sighed. “I hope so. How’s
Acasia?”

“
She’s good. It sucks to
have to watch her get sick every morning though.”

“
I’m sure it does bro. But
between our mother and her mother they must have some tricks to
ease the morning sickness.”

“
Yeah. So when are you
coming home?”

“
I don’t know. It’s not that
simple Gar.”

“
How is it not simple Gav?
How much thought have you put into any move you’ve made over the
past few years?”

“
I have a
system.”

“
Sure you do. Stay somewhere
until your boss pisses you off or someone gets too close, then move
on. That’s no way to live and you know it.”

“
I know Gar. I know. Thanks
for calling.”

“
No problem. I promised you
I would, didn’t I?”

“
Yes. And you always stand
up to your promises.”

“
What’s wrong with
that?”

“
Nothing really. Isn’t it
exhausting always trying to please other people though?”

“
It is possible to not only
be happy yourself, but to make other people happy Gav. Without
sacrificing anything.”

“
Not always. Sometimes it’s
not worth it.”

“
But sometimes it is.”
Acasia was coming his way, and he felt a little guilty that he had
run off to call Gavin when she wasn’t happy that unresolved
feelings existed between her sister and his brother. “I have to go.
I’ll call you again soon. And hopefully you’ll drag your sorry ass
back here sooner or later.”

“
Maybe. Take care little
brother.”

“
You too. Bye
Gavin.”

Garett disconnected the call and shoved
his phone back in his pocket right as Acasia reached
him.

She offered him a puzzled smile. “Why
were you in such a hurry to hide your phone?”

He could tell by the tone of her voice
that she was teasing him, but he figured that it would be better to
tell her at least a partial truth.

“
It was Gavin.”

“
Oh. Is he planning on
coming back to town?”

“
I don’t know babe. And it’s
not like my brother ever did anything that anybody ever expected of
him anyway.”

Acasia bit her lip. She glanced across
the yard to where Demi was still talking with their mother. “I
worry about her.”

“
I know you do baby. It’s
what big sisters do. She’s going to be fine. Even if Gavin does
come back to town.”

“
I know. I just. .
.”

“
Just what baby?”

She sighed. “I don’t know. I guess I
need to back off and let her live her own life. I’m just afraid
that she’ll end up getting hurt.”

“
Everyone gets hurt honey,
but I think that that’s the last thing on Gavin’s mind right now
where Demi is concerned.”

“
I suppose. Can we go home?
I’m tired.”

“
Of course baby.”

He took her hand and they said their
goodbyes to everyone and drove home. He wasn’t sure what the future
held for Gavin and Demi, and maybe even Jay and Nikki, but he felt
as if things were definitely on the right track for him and
Acasia.

Acasia

She was happy to have her baby sister
back in town, though the idea that Gavin would follow still didn’t
sit well with Acasia. She knew that she needed to let her sister
live her own life, she just wasn’t sure that having Gavin in her
life was the best thing for Demi.

She hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to
Demi alone that day, and she was hoping that a chance would come up
soon. She also knew that it was time to have a talk with Nikki, a
real talk with Nikki; and she wasn’t looking forward to either
conversation. Everything else seemed to be going smoothly though,
and for that she was certainly glad.

She enjoyed living with Garett, though
between both of their work schedules and his work on the house, she
sometimes felt as if they spent little quality time together. So
they made it a point to set aside some time each day for real
conversation, no matter how tired either of them were; where they
discussed something besides the wedding, the baby, and the house.
It was good for both of them, and Acasia hoped that they would
always be able to talk that way.