“Hey baby, what are our plans for Thanksgiving? I’d really like to have all our family come out together,” Shelby called in from the dining room where she was putting up a few fall decorations she had gotten from the store. Shelby was about eight weeks pregnant now. Besides being tired and having some cramps now and then, she wasn’t really experiencing anything else. This pregnancy was going much smoother with the morning sickness – it was slim to none.
“Our family?” I smirked from the kitchen. I walked in to see her grinning at the table with a frown over her face.
“Yeah, why?” She asked me, completely confused.
“Oh, nothing. I just find it cute that you said our family…like, including us together,” I shrugged and leaned against the table. She rolled her eyes and laughed.
“Nick, we are together,” she shrugged and smirked. I raised my eyebrows and glanced behind me to look at the couch. Lanie was fast asleep. She had her chemo that morning and had already gone through her horrible vomiting. Now she was just tired out. I casually walked across to the other side of the table and placed my hand on Shelby’s hip.
“Say that again,” I grinned and leaned in to gently suck on the soft skin on her neck. She giggled and ran her fingers through my hair.
“We are together,” she said softly. I brought my lips to hers and kissed her softly. She pulled back and glanced over my shoulder into the living room. “Nick, we can’t. She’ll wake up.” She muttered softly.
“She’ll be out for a while,” I insisted and pulled her into the other room. I closed our bedroom door. Ever since we had come back home after the emergency at the hospital, Shelby had been sleeping in my bed. She felt more comfortable there. Strangely enough, I felt more comfortable with her there.
“Nick…” she hesitated. “I don’t feel comfortable with this. If she wakes up and is alone, she might get really freaked out.” She bit her bottom lip. I sighed and plopped down on the edge of the bed and ran my fingers through my hair. “Are you mad?” She asked softly and sat down beside me.
“No, I’m not mad,” I muttered and glanced over, licking my lips before I continued. “It’s just…if we want to work on us, Shell, we’re gonna have to stop worrying so much about Lanie. I just feel like with Lanie’s cancer, the new baby on the way and everything, we aren’t really able to focus on us,” I sighed. She nodded and turned towards the door and then back at me. “I want us to work, Shell. I just need us to spend more time together, that’s all.” I shrugged.
“I understand, Nick,” she nodded. “I know where you’re coming from. It’s just so hard right now. I’m so worried about Lanie and the baby,” she confirmed my exact thoughts. I knew she was. I knew she was too preoccupied right now.
“Then how about we make a deal?” I challenged and turned towards her. She cocked her head at me and furrowed her brow.
“What kind of deal?” She asked.
“Promise me that we’ll get someone to baby-sit Lanie this weekend. We’ll go out on our own, just you and me, and have some time to ourselves,” I said matter-of-factly. She looked a little unsure, but nodded her head anyway.
“Okay,” she nodded. “I agree. It’ll be good for us.” She said. I smirked.
“Thank you, baby,” I leaned in and kissed her softly. “I can call BJ or we can try Chris and Brittany. I think they’re hanging out here in California a few more weeks before taking off for Miami.” I stood up and began throwing some dirty laundry into the hamper to put in the wash.
“Actually…I know Leighanne and Brian are leaving Monday. What if we called them and invited them over for dinner one night, then asked them to sit with Lanie? I’m sure they’d love to…” Shelby said. I glanced up from the laundry. Shelby had a slight idea about how I was upset with Brian for the way he had been acting, but I hadn’t told her about my meeting with Leighanne. And so far, I hadn’t listened to Leighanne and spoken to Brian.
“I don’t know…” I mumbled, trying to come up with an excuse as to why we shouldn’t invite them over. Shelby walked up behind me and wrapped her arms around my center.
“Baby, you have to talk to him eventually. Lanie’s not gonna be sick forever,” she whispered against my back. “Please invite them over? Lanie would enjoy seeing Baylee and it’d be good for all of us to start talking to them. Eventually you’re going back to the studio and working with them again.” She said matter-of-factly. It brought a smile to my lips. Even though we both knew now wasn’t the right time for me to be involved with the music, she was letting me know she’d support me one day in the future.
“I guess I could make a phone call,” I sighed. She squealed excitedly and turned me around to plant a big kiss on my lips.
“Thank you,” she beamed and hurried out of the room with the laundry basket.
“Hey, where are you taking that?” I laughed after her.
“I’m doing laundry,” she shrugged and turned back towards the door. I rolled my eyes with a laugh and followed her. It had been a lot different with the girls living in the house. Shelby was a lot cleaner than I was, so she was picking up a lot of the “chores” around the house. I loved it…it made it feel more real. It made it feel like we were really a family again. “So where are we gonna go on our getaway weekend?” She asked as she piled some clothes into the washer.
“Well, I think I should keep it a surprise,” I grinned as I leaned against the doorframe of the laundry room. She rolled her eyes at me.
“As long as we don’t use Lanie’s Hawaii trip. I really do think that’d be a great family vacation to take once she gets better. Maybe by then this little guy will be able to go on a vacation,” she beamed and placed her hand on her stomach. She was getting more and more comfortable with the fact of having another baby.
“How do you know it’s a boy?” I questioned as I moved into the room and wrapped my arms around her from behind. She continued to throw clothes from the hamper into the washer.
“I don’t,” she smirked. “I just think it’d be nice to have a little boy running around here too. I mean, we’re blessed with whatever we have.” She shrugged and I kissed her cheek.
“I agree,” I smiled. “We could use another male Carter in this house.”
She turned in my arms and looked up at me seriously. My brow furrowed, curious as to why the subject had turned from light and humorous to solemn all of a sudden. “So you really want to keep us all around this time?” She asked me softly. “You really want me, Lanie and this baby?” She asked once more, placing her hand on her abdomen.
I looked down at her stomach and placed my hand over hers. “Baby, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks so much for all the reviews!! I will definitely try to get another chapter out tomorrow, if I can =]. If I forget to mention...remember to go out Tuesday and get the new album if you live in the US!!! It's going to be amazing =]. Keep the reviews coming!! Enjoy =]
