Fragile (25 page)

“Lu?”

“Why did you do it?”

He stopped walking towards me. “You wouldn’t talk to me any other way.”

“That’s not what I mean.” I held up my right hand, and Rick’s eyes narrowed in on the ring.

“I love you, and I want to marry you.”

“Why?”

He sighed deeply and came to me. “I love you, and want to marry you.”

“Did you ask me because I’m pregnant?”

Rick picked up my right hand and kissed the ring, “I bought this before I found out about the babies. I bought this ring before I made the worst mistake of my life by leaving you. I was always going to ask you, Lu. I just didn’t have the chance to do it the way I wanted to.”

The damn hormones had tears running down my face. “What you did today was unacceptable, Rick. There were people who actually needed me.”

Rick took a hold of my other hand gripping both of them tightly, “I needed to get you away from Tray. He’s very protective of you, and you wouldn’t talk to me.”

“You left me.” My voice came out chopped up and heavy with emotion. I didn’t want to sound pathetic and needy but I couldn’t help it.

Rick ran his hands up my arms, resting them on my cheeks, his thumb wiping away the tears. “Worst decision I’ve ever made, Lu. I wanted to protect you from my family, but I should have stuck by you. I should have said fuck it, and that we’d figure it out.” My cries escaped me and Rick bundled me up, taking me to the bed. I cried myself to sleep with Rick wrapped around my body.

Soft whispering woke me from my sleep. “Take it easy on your mum, you guys. She works too hard and it doesn’t help when you make her sick.” His fingers danced over my belly. “I love you guys.” He kissed my belly before lifting his head, catching me looking at him. He crawled up my body, kissing my lips when he got to them. “Morning, beautiful.”

“Morning.” I ran my hands up and down his arms as Rick continued to kiss me.

Rick stopped and looked down at me, his face full of so much emotion. “I love you so much, Lu. I promise you that I will make you so happy, and you can rely on me to be here for you and for our children.”

“I know,” I whispered, leaning up and kissing him.

LUCY

“Have you eaten?”

“What is it with you and food?” I took a bite out of the banana I was holding.

“You’re carrying twins, baby. You need to eat,” Rick scolded me over the phone.

“I am currently eating a banana.”

“Good. My babies need to eat.”

“Technically, they can’t eat yet,” I pointed out.

“Ha ha. You need to eat, so that my children get as much nutrients as possible.”

“I would kill for some coffee right now.” I eyed the coffee cart that wasn’t too far from where I was sitting.

“You can’t drink coffee, honey.”

“I know,” I whined into the phone. “My boobs hurt,” I complained. I was on a roll with complaints today.

“I’ll give them a massage when you get home.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. I love these new hormones. I’m getting you pregnant again as soon as I can.”

I choked on my water. “No way. I’m barely three months in, and I’ve had enough already.”

Rick went silent before saying, “We’re going to have to tell Ray and Mather.”

I put my water down and stared across to the garden. “I know. Dad will rush up here as soon as he hears, and with that, Mather, and then there’s Ireland.”

“Don’t bring her into our lives, Lu. We don’t care about what she’s going to assume or say. You don’t need the stress.”

I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “I know, I know. I have to go.”

“Ok, honey. I’ll see you later. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I went back into the hospital and got into work. As much as I loved work, I wanted to go home and sleep. I was tired and sore and my interns were more than capable to look after the patients. No one needed surgery and if they did, there were plenty of doctors here and I could come back if needed.

“Lucy.” I turned and saw William approaching me.

“Hey.” I put my chart down on the nurse’s desk, but kept my pen in my hand, tapping it slightly against the folder.

“How are you feeling? Are you eating and drinking and getting plenty of rest? Rest is vital. And you know they say that doctors make the worst patients, so I’m giving you doctor’s orders.”

“Yes, Dr. Hunter. Rick has me eating and drinking, and I go to sleep every night. The three of us are perfect.”

His face dropped and he looked to the floor, an uncertain look playing in his features. “So you and that Rick guy are back together then?”

His whole demeanour had changed. Long gone was the light, smiling William. The man now standing in front of me was upset and uneasy. “We’re trying, but yes, things seem to be going alright now.”

He nodded along, still looking at his shoes. “That’s great, Dr. Jackson.” He looked up to me. “Just remember to take it slowly. Twin pregnancies are hard on the human body.”

“I will,” I whispered as he walked away from me and I was left feeling like I had done something wrong to him.

RICK

We were all home. I had Lu here, Aiden who never left her side, Dad, and Tray. We were having dinner, laughing and chatting. It was great. I felt a sense of completeness. “When’s your first ultrasound, Lulu,” Tray was excited about becoming an uncle.

“I’ve already had one, but I do have an appointment next week.” His smile was huge. Lu’s phone started to ring. She got up and walked over to where her phone was charging, looking at the screen. “Its Dad,” she whispered, turning to face the table.

I got up and walked over to her, putting my hand around her waist. “Answer it.” I touched the phone’s answer button, connecting the call.

Lu looked from my eyes to her phone, before bringing it to her ear. “Hey, Daddy.” She listened to what he had to say then pointed that she was going upstairs.

I opened the bedroom door and Lu walked in, sitting on the bed with her legs crossed. I sat behind her and wrapped my arms around belly, resting my hands over our babies. Ray was talking her ear off, and Lu sat there listening to him with a smile on her face. Eventually, Lu got her chance to speak, “Dad, I have something I need to tell you.” I kissed her shoulder, letting her know that I was here for her. “You’re going to be a granddad.”

It went silent before Ray spoke four words loud and clear, “I’m on my way.”

LUCY

I searched for Dad’s head among the crowd of exiting passengers from the plane. When we spotted each other, he dropped his bag and rushed to me, engulfing me in a hug. “Tell me it’s not Luke’s.”

He pulled back and held me at arm’s length and waited for me to answer. “It’s not Luke’s.” Dad thanked God and hugged me again. It was then that I noticed Mather was here too. We headed out to the car and I drove them to my apartment. I had been staying with Rick so the apartment had been empty until Dad had said that he was coming up. I filled the apartment with Dad’s favourite foods, and as much as Rick hated the idea, I was going to stay here until Dad left.

“I went shopping before I picked you up, but if I forgot anything, let me know and I’ll pick it up on my way home.”

Mather had gone to put their suitcases in their bedroom, leaving me and Dad alone. Dad was staring at me. He was worried. I could see it in his eyes. “Does Rick know?”

“Yeah, he knows.” He sat down on the couch, and I went and sit next to him. We sat in silence for a while. None of us knew what to say next. I could only imagine the things that were going through his head right now. “When Rick broke up with me, he thought that he was doing right by me. By distancing himself from me, his family would be distanced too.”

Dad looked at me. He understood. “He hurt you.”

“He was hurting too.” We sat in silence, Dad staring at me with his fatherly eyes. Mather joined us, but said nothing. “He asked me to marry him.”

Dad sat up and took a deep breath. “Wow.”

I looked at Mather who had tears in her eyes. “Mather?”

She sniffed and lifted her head, looking at the ceiling. “I’m happy for you, Lucy.” She came and sat beside me, and I moved over on the couch to make room for her.

I held up my right hand. “It’s on the wrong hand, honey,” Dad pointed out.

I chuckled, “I haven’t given him an answer yet. He said that when I make up my mind, to move it to where it belongs.”

“At least the boy went all out.” I studied Dad as he looked at the ring.

“You like him, right?”

Dad looked at me and said, “Yes, I do. I just...you’ve been through so much.”

“I know, but I’m trying to get my life back on track. It just involves a few more people now.”

RICK

I knocked and waited for someone to answer the door. I heard feet against the floor, the lock on the door click, and then the door opened. I was nervous and scared, if I was being honest.

“Hey, Ray.” I held up the six pack that I brought. A bribe and Ray saw right through it. He stepped aside and I walked into the apartment. Lu was at work, so I knew that I would have time talk to Ray alone. As I walked into the apartment, I saw Mather sitting in the lounge room. I set the beer down on the kitchen table and got two out, uncapping them before I passed one to Ray and Mather before getting one for myself. He was watching me like a hawk. When I sat down, the interrogation started.

Ray asked questions a father is supposed to ask when a man gets his daughter pregnant. Why I want to marry Lu? Did I ask her because she’s pregnant? He wanted to make sure that I was going to stick by her. I explained that I bought the ring before the Luke/Ireland incident, and that I hated what I did. He understood that I was trying to protect her.

“So, I take it that it wasn’t food poisoning then. It was morning sickness?” Mather asked.

I sat back on the couch and rubbed my face. “Yeah, the babies are making her pretty sick. It’s getting better though. Other doctors have her on some sort of medicine that helps with the nausea.”

“Babies?” Ray looked up at me in confusion.

“We’re having twins.”

He sighed and sunk into the couch. “Wow, Rick.”

I laughed. “You’re telling me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic about it, but yeah, wow.”

LUCY

“How long will you be staying?” I slid the plate full of food that Rick had handed me over to Dad.

“As long as you need us.” I smiled at my Dad’s predictable answer.

“I don’t want Ireland near Lu,” Rick pitched in over my shoulder.

Dad and Mather shared a look. “She won’t be,” Mather said.

“Good.”

“Won’t she need you, or...?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about her, Lu.” Rick touched my waist.

“She needs her mother, Rick.”

“She’s with Luke,” Dad said. I nodded at the news as I moved about the kitchen, sitting down at the table. Rick sat next to me, and we eat while talking about the day’s plans.

I excused myself to go and lay down. I wasn’t feeling the best. I hadn’t been laying down for long when Rick entered the room carrying a bottle of water. Without saying anything, he placed the bottle on the bedside table and crawled into the bed behind me, wrapping his arms around me. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m just tired.” Rick rubbed s my arms, and I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up alone, but I wasn’t alone for long. Walking out of the bedroom, I heard voices. As I moved further into the apartment, I saw everyone was in the lounge room. I was greeted and Rick held his arms out for me. I walked over to him and sat on his lap, and he wrapped his arms around me, resting his hands on my belly.

“Feeling better?” He whispered into my ear.

“Yeah, I needed a nap.”

“Pregnancy is supposed to be very tiring on the body. You’ll be sleeping a lot.”

I leaned back against Rick, who kissed my forehead. “Yeah, I can feel it already.”

RICK

Lu’s body was changing. Being pregnant with twins was taking its toll and she had dropped back at work as much as possible. She was upset that she had to drop surgeries because she could no longer stand for hours on end. I loved seeing her eat and knowing that she was eating to feed my children filled me with a sort of pride.

The hormones were taking their toll too. I loved being woken in the middle of the night by Lu. But with the good hormones came the bad ones too. I caught her crying in the bathroom one night. She was crouched on the bathroom floor, her tears flowing. “Honey?” I went over to her and sat in front of her.