The Exception to the Rule (36 page)

“Oh and then you would have both been lying in a hospital bed. Then where would Matty be? Stop blaming yourself for this. Look Kat is my very best friend, and if there is one thing this girl is besides stubborn – it’s strong. She’s going to wake up Julian – I know it. She would never give up and leave Matty.” She paused briefly, “or you.”

“What?” Julian whispered.

“Really Julian, why is it so clear to everyone else but the two of you? She’s still in love with you, she never stopped loving you and she could deny it all she wants, but I know differently. She never got over you and clearly you’ve never gotten over her.”

Tricia be quiet! He doesn’t feel the same for me. I wanted so badly for her to hear me but it was to no avail, the words just couldn’t make it out of my mouth.

I waited in angst for Julian’s reply, but I was just too tired, I couldn’t fight it anymore. I drifted off into a deep sleep.

* * * * *

 “Kat, please wake up. I can’t do this without you. Matty needs you,” Julian said. 

Matty—where was Matty? I had to let him know that his mommy was here; I didn’t leave him.

“Please Kat, I need you. You’ve opened my eyes so much and helped me see the world so differently. You’ve given me the greatest gift in the world, the one thing in life I never thought I wanted – a child.” I felt his hand caress my face. “I was so stupid for letting you go so easily all those years ago. I want to be with you forever. Please, Kat, wake up; I love you.” There was a sound of desperation in Julian’s voice as he took my hand and kissed it.

 I was slipping in and out of consciousness; I was watching Julian walk out the door, I was saying goodbye to him telling him that we couldn’t be together. I wanted to tell him so badly that day that I loved him back but I couldn’t get the words out until he was gone. Why didn’t I tell him? Maybe he would have stayed; maybe we would have been here with Matty from the time he was born. I was so stupid. Say the words, Kat. I willed myself to get it out. I needed him to hear me this time.

 “I love you too.” This time I could hear my words as I fought with everything I had to open my eyes. Everything seemed so blurry. My eyes began to focus and I was staring into Julian’s beautiful tear-filled eyes.

“Where am I?” I asked in total confusion.

“Kat, thank God,” Julian said as he bent down and kissed my head over and over.  “You’re in the hospital; you were in an accident.”

“Where’s Matty?” I asked. 

“He’s fine, he’s home, Charles and Claire are with him,” Julian said. I flinched in extreme pain as I went to move. “Easy, you broke two ribs.”

“Dr. Kiron, you hit the call button, is everything…,” the nurse said as she walked in. She looked like she was in shock to see me awake. “I’m going to page her doctor and then I’ll be right back in.” 

My eyes were finally fully focused. Julian didn’t look like his clean-cut self. He had stubble on his face like he hadn’t shaved in a few days.

“How long have I been here?” I asked.

“Three days.”

A tall African-American doctor whom I had never seen before came into the room. “Dr. Vallia, it’s so nice to see you up.” As soon as he spoke I recognized the voice as the one that had been talking to Julian. “You’re pretty banged up,” he said as he shined a bright flashlight into my eyes. 

“My head is pounding,” I said.

“Okay, we’ll give you something for that in your IV,” he said gently. “I just want to order another CAT scan as a precaution,” he said to Julian. He turned back and looked at me, “you’re a very lucky girl,” he said putting his hand on Julian’s shoulder as he walked out of the room.

I tried moving again slightly but the pain stopped me. Julian rushed over to try and help me. “If you weren’t here with me right now, I would be quite certain that I had died and gone to hell, I have never been in so much pain,” I said.

“It’s going to take a while to heal,” Julian said gently.

“Am I going to have to check into a rehab when this is all over?” I joked as I looked up at my IV pole trying to make out what kind medications they had me on.

Julian smiled and shook his head. “Does Matty know anything?” I asked.

Julian had a wounded look to him. “Yes, he was pretty upset, but he’s okay now. I did it Kat; I was able to talk to him like a dad and calmed him down,” he said proudly.

I could feel an enormous smile stretch across my face, “I knew you could.” I said as I took his hand in mine.

It was all starting to come back to me now. With the rain pelting down, I didn’t see the deer until the last minute. My first instinct was to just slam on my brakes and swerve to avoid it and instead I hit a tree.

Julian pushed my hair out of my face and tenderly kissed me on my lips.

 “I’m sorry for getting so angry with you the other night Julian. I was just afraid of putting my heart out there again. I didn’t want to be that girl who meant nothing to you.” 

He looked at me sadly and shook his head. “Never, you are so much more, that it scares me.” I smiled at him with tears in my eyes. “I’m in love with you Kat. I’ve been trying to fight it as hard as I could – but I can’t anymore.”

 “Are you in love with me because of Matty? Because you feel like that’s the right thing to do because I’m the mother of your child?”

“Absolutely not, I’ll always be Matty’s dad and I am going to be in his life and there to support him with whatever he needs regardless if we’re together or not. I’ve wanted you from the day that you showed up at the hospital. It was as if all of those old feelings came rushing back.” I swallowed hard and listened intently. “Then this happened, I thought I was going to lose you again forever. I don’t know what I would have done if -” His eyes began to glass over. I put my finger over his lips to stop him from talking. 

“It’s okay, I’m fine, I said as I caressed the stubble on his face. “I like this look,” I said trying to lighten the mood.

“I don’t want to waste any more time. I want you and Matty to come to Chicago with me to live.”

“Chicago? Wow!” I was in shock; this is what I had wanted from the day I found out that I was pregnant – for Julian to want to be with Matty and me. But I couldn’t help but feel a little hesitation at the prospect of moving halfway across the country, away from everything and everyone I loved so much. Then it dawned on me that I would be with the two most important people in my life.

“I know it’s a big decision and I want you to take your time to think about it,” he said.

I thought about how much I wanted to be with him. It didn’t matter where we were. I just wanted the three of us to be a family. “I don’t need to think about it – I’ll go,” I answered quickly.

 His blue eyes widened. “I don’t want to push you into anything.” 

 “You’re not pushing me into anything. I want to be with you. It doesn’t matter where, as long as it’s with you.” I wanted to hug him so badly but I couldn’t—I was in too much physical pain. Emotionally it was a different story—I had never been happier.

He looked up at my IV and smiled. “Do you want me to ask you again when you don’t have all those drugs pumping into you?” He laughed.

I managed my best smile, and shook my head no.

“I love you Kat.” He said as he bent down and kissed me on the forehead. 

“I love you too,” I answered, making sure he heard me loud and clear.

Chapter 38

It had been three weeks since my accident and Julian hadn’t left my side. I was feeling much better. I was still a little sore and bruised but it was nothing compared to the pain I had been in when I first came home. Matty was out of the hospital and doing well too. He and Julian had been taking such good care of me these past three weeks.

 My car had been totaled so Julian and I were spending the entire morning car shopping. There was nothing I hated more than buying a new car. I usually gave in and took the first price that they threw at me just to avoid playing their stupid game. Julian was the opposite; he loved playing this game and he played it well. The salesman got up from the desk to talk to his manager.

“You know we could have been out of here hours ago,” I said.

“No way, Kat; you never take the first price they give you.” 

“Well, that was just a ridiculous figure you threw at him; you know they’re not going to accept it,” I said. I was getting anxious over the thought of wasting the rest of this sunny warm spring day in this place.

I watched as the manager got up from his desk with the salesman. “Here we go,” I whispered to Julian.

“Congratulations, Dr. Vallia,” the manager said with a Cheshire cat grin. 

Julian smirked at me. “You see, that’s how it’s done,” he said proudly.

They didn’t have the color I wanted so they had to order it from another dealership. I could pick it up in two days. I finished filling out the paperwork and was so relieved to be leaving, car or not. I jumped into Julian’s rental car and sighed with relief. I pulled my phone from my purse and realized there was a text from Tricia. We were heading to her house for a barbeque later. Matty was with her and James to spare him from the agonizing task of car shopping. 

 Please bring Matty a change of clothes he and James had a little mishap. 

 I shook my head wondering what kind of mischief he and James had been up to now. I showed Julian the text as we made our way back to my house to get Matty’s clothes. 

 Julian’s phone rang as we were just about to enter the house. I could tell it was a work call and went in ahead of him to gather Matty’s clothes. I grabbed Matty a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I went into my bedroom and sat down on the bed for a moment, waiting for Julian to get done with his phone conversation. I had so much to do to prepare for this big move to Chicago. I was hoping to have my house on the market within the next week, which made me sad. This had been my home my whole life. I had so many happy memories here and it was hard for me to fathom living anywhere else. When those thoughts crept in, I reminded myself that I would be with the two most important people in my life and would be making new memories. 

 I still had to give my notice to work and had to work on finding a job in Chicago. Julian kept telling me to take my time with it and that I didn’t even have to work if I didn’t want to. I knew that wasn’t an option for me; being a doctor was part of who I was. I would never be happy just sitting home all day. I let him know I had every intention of working and I would find a job all by myself without any outside influence from him. 

 We still hadn’t made love and I wanted him more with each day that passed. He was so afraid that I was still in pain and didn’t want to hurt me. What he didn’t realize was that it was hurting me more by not being with him. It had been six long years since I felt his touch and I yearned for it more than anything. I heard the front door open as he came into the bedroom.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked.

I tapped lightly on the bed signaling for him to sit down next to me. “I want you to make love to me, Julian.”

“Kat, we can’t; you’re still healing. Believe me there’s nothing I want more, but I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“Please, Julian; you’re not going to hurt me, I promise.”

There was a look of longing and hesitation in his eyes. I decided to be bold and make the first move as I leaned in and kissed him passionately. He responded with the same intensity, taking me a little off-guard – but I liked it. As our lips finally parted he pressed his forehead up to mine. “I want you so badly, Kat.” There was still a little uncertainty in his voice. I lifted my sundress over my head and removed my bra. I became a little self-conscious realizing that I still had some faint bruising on my chest. I removed his shirt and began to kiss his neck, slowly making my way down to his chest. I could feel him breathing heavier as he softly and gently caressed my breasts. His hands touching my body felt so perfect. I unzipped his pants and he quickly removed them. He began to kiss me softly on my neck. He slowly removed my underwear and gently laid me down on the bed. He was on top of me taking extra care to make sure he didn’t press his weight up against my ribs. He slowly began to kiss my breasts, making his way down to other parts of my body – I was in heaven. He rolled over, pulling me on top of him very gently. He gazed at my naked body closely while he softly caressed my breasts. 

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. My stomach did a somersault at the sound of his voice. 

He was inside of me now, never breaking eye contact as he looked up. I moved about slowly, watching the pleasure on his face as he placed his hands on my hips. It felt so familiar – so right. He sat up, kissing my neck, gently moving on top again. His movements were quick and hard—it felt perfect. 

“I love you,” he whispered in my ear. I was filled with a rush of excitement hearing his words. He continued to take me with each thrust. I was enjoying every single second; I had longed for this forever. I didn’t want to close my eyes because I was afraid that if I opened them, it would only be a dream. All those years apart, comparing every guy I met to him, dreaming of being in his arms – and here we were together again. I could no longer hold out. I gently dug my fingers into his back, raising my hips one last time to meet him as I let out a gentle cry of sheer pleasure. 

He began to move quicker and harder now. “Oh Kat,” he whispered as I felt the warmth of his release filling me up.

I kissed him gently on the cheek. I was on emotional overload as my body began to quiver. I had never felt so fulfilled in my whole life, being with him again in this way after all of these years. I was overjoyed and at the same time inexplicably crying. It was as if all of the emotions that I had bottled up for the past six years were coming out.

He had a look of alarm on his face. “Are you okay; did I hurt you?” he asked.

I pulled him closer as the tears continued to fall. “No, Julian; that was absolutely perfect.” 

We quietly rested in each other’s arms for quite some time. “We’ve got to get going to Tricia’s,” I said half-heartedly. I would have much rather been spending the afternoon wrapped up in his arms.