The Commitment (8 page)

“Hi Aunt Sophie,” he giggles.

“Hi Best Friend,” she smiles over at me. “How’s your day going?”

“Hey,” I smile back. “Good, we’ve been running errands all day.”

“I bet that was fun,” she grins down at JT, giggling when he shakes his head no in defiance.

“Ana made me eat a fish,” he says, his face covered in a look of disgust causing both of us to laugh.

“A whole fish? You poor baby,” she smiles, pulling her desk drawer open and handing him a piece of candy. “We better get some junk in your belly to help counter all that nutrition.”

“Yes!” he says, giving a little fist pump.

“Don’t tell your Uncle Chase you got that from me,” she whispers, making me snicker as she looks up to face me. “Thank you for keeping him tonight.”

“No problem,” I tell her. “Do you have any idea what y’all are doing?”

“No,” she shakes her head. “I’ve been trying to get it out of him all day, but he won’t tell me anything.”

“Drake did the same thing to me on our anniversary,” I smile as I recall the memory. “He wouldn’t tell me anything either, he just called me before he came home and said, ‘I will be there in one hour,’ told me what to put on and then we left.”

“That’s sweet,” she smiles, her eyes staying on JT as he climbs down from her lap and makes his way to the mini-fridge. “No soda, Buddy. You’re going to the movies with Uncle Jack later.”

“Okay,” he says, grabbing a juice and climbing back onto her lap.

“Well, I’m still puking every ten minutes, so I doubt Chase is taking me on a boat,” she laughs, recalling the cruise Drake had surprised me with.

Instinctively, I touch my fingertips to the white gold and diamond Cartier Love necklace he’d given me and smile to myself.

“I know that you’re not used to being dependent on anyone else,” he’d said as he fastened the clasp at the nape of my neck before dinner. “But it’s been an honor to take care of you, to build this relationship with you over the past year, my Love.”

“Drake,” I’d whispered, gasping at the beauty of the entwined circles that glittered with diamonds. “You didn’t have to…”

“None of that,” he’d said, lightly placing his finger over my lips to halt my objections as he nudged my chin up, meeting my gaze. “You didn’t have to agree to devote yourself to me completely, but that’s exactly what you’ve done. This pales in comparison to what you give me every single day. I know I’m not the best at talking about my feelings, but I hope you know that I’m just as committed and devoted to you, to us. I love you.”

“I can’t figure it out,” she says, breaking my thoughts. “He’s so protective anyway, especially since I got pregnant, so there’s no telling.”

“Is he driving you crazy?”

“Not at all,” she laughs. “He’s being perfect, actually. I’m just starting to crave junk food and he won’t let me have anything on ‘the list’.”

“What’s on the list?”

“Everything I want to eat in the whole wide world,” she sighs dramatically, making me snort. “Along with about seven things nobody should
ever
eat.”

“You’re pretty healthy,” I start. “I didn’t think your doctor would actually give you a list.”

“She didn’t! This is
his
list,” she says, rolling her eyes and pulling a loud laugh from me. “For the two weeks he was scared to touch me, he read like a hundred baby books to distract himself. He’s been handing lists out like a lunatic for two months. I’m surprised you haven’t gotten one yet.”

“Well, you’re only halfway through month four,” I smile, watching as JT hops from her lap and runs to the bathroom. “There’s still time.”

“Hey,” Jack says as he pulls the door open and walks into the office.

“Hi,” I say, smiling over at him.

He’s been home for months now, but I still can’t help but get a knot in my throat when I see my brother.

“Hey Jack,” Sophie says, smiling brightly at him.

“Hey Beautiful,” he says in a soft voice, winking at her.

I was worried things would be a little awkward between them after their fight back in Camden, but they’ve both surprised me, especially Jack.

While I know he’s still adjusting to not being with her, he even admitted to me a couple weeks ago that he’s still in love with her, it’s obvious in everything they do that they both intend on maintaining a close relationship. Things may not be the way we’d all thought they’d be for them, but it was clear that they’d meant it when they’d promised to never say goodbye to each other again.

“Still time for what?” he asks.

“Oh, for Ana to get an approved food and activity list from Chase,” she laughs.

“Hey, that reminds me,” he says with a smirk as he reaches into his tool bag. “I have something for you.”

“Really?”

“Yep,” he smiles, pulling out a small bag of chocolate covered pretzels. “I was going to give them to you this morning, but I saw Chase in there pinning another list on the board in Drake’s office. It’s starting to look like the rule wall from that Harry Potter movie in there.”

“Oh my God! That’s hilarious!” she laughs, standing to hug him. “Thank you, Jack.”

“You’re welcome, Babe,” he smiles, kissing her hair and turning to greet JT when he hears the bathroom door swing open. “Hey! It’s the J-Man!”

“Uncle Jack!” JT cheers, smiling widely at him as he runs toward him.

“You ready to go?” he asks him, lifting him into his arms.

“Yeah,” he says, nodding enthusiastically.

“Okay, go love on Aunt Sophie and Ana so we can blow this popsicle stand,” he says, earning a giggle.

“Bye Aunt Sophie,” he says, hugging her neck and giving her a kiss.

“Have fun, Baby,” she says, wiping the gloss from his cheek. “Be a good boy for Uncle Jack. I love you.”

“Okay,” he says. “I love you, too.”

“See ya later, Alligator,” I smile at him, returning his hug.

“Bye, Crocodile!” he calls back, making me laugh.

“Love you, Sis,” Jack leans over to kiss my cheek before hugging Sophie to his side and kissing her temple. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she smiles, watching them pull away in my Jeep and walking over to the couch to sit beside me, leaning her head on my shoulder. “Miss you.”

“I miss you, too, Soph,” I tell her, squeezing her hand.

“Promise you’ll never leave me,” she whispers, causing me to laugh.

“I promise,” I tell her. “In fact, I’m moving in with you next week.”

“That sounds perfect,” she sighs, nuzzling against me. “You’ll have to sleep in the bathtub once the baby comes though.”

“You’re so generous,” I snicker.

“I know,” she giggles, resting her hand on her stomach. “I’d give you the garage, but that’s where we’re putting Peanut. We’re gonna turn the third bedroom into a home theater.”

Her ridiculous words pull a loud laugh from me. By the time Drake and Chase walk in from the site, we’re both in tears from our fits of laughter. We’re laughing so hard, in fact, that we can’t even answer them when they ask what we’re up to.

It’s one of the best moments we’ve shared in a while.

While I know we’re both very happy in our relationships, the past few months have been insane. We’ve laughed and cried together more times than I could even begin to count, but lately moments like this have been few and far between for Sophie and me.

The road we’ve shared hasn’t always been easy. Yet, as I wrap my arms around her before watching her climb into the truck with Chase, I can’t imagine any other girl I’d rather have taken this trip with.

“You okay, Baby?” Drake asks, breaking my thoughts as he walks out of his office, keys in hand.

“Yes,” I answer, meeting his eyes and giving him a soft smile.

For the first time in months, I actually believe it.

Jack

Although I can’t say it isn’t awkward as fuck babysitting for Sophie while she’s on an anniversary date with her new fiancé, I’m having a great time with JT.

When we get to the theater, the movie I’d planned on taking him to see has already started. Since there isn’t really anything else appropriate for a five year old, we end up driving around for a while. Eventually, I see a fun center off the highway and pull up to check things out. Once I find out they have a batting cage, I know I have to take him to try it.

I’ve always loved sports. In high school, I was on just about every team I could manage until I had to start working full-time. When I had to cut down to one thing, I chose football because that’s what I was best at. If I was being honest though, I’ve always been more of a baseball fan.

Once we make our way to the cage on the end, I help him get his helmet on and hand him the small, aluminum bat.

“Okay, you have to stand like this,” I start, showing him where to put his feet. “Hold your bat right here and keep your eye on that spot.”

“Am I gonna get hit in the face?”

“Not if you pay close attention and stand where I tell you,” I tell him with a smile. “Just don’t take your eyes off that spot. If you move in front of the plate, you might get hit so just stay right here and you should be fine.”

“Okay.”

“Alright dude, I think you’re ready,” I tell him. “Remember, feet like this, bat up high, keep your eyes on the ball and swing when I say.”

“I feel weird.”

“Well, stick your tongue out,” I tell him. “It’ll help you balance.”

“For real?” he says in a disbelieving voice.

“Yep,” I nod, laughing when he does it. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” he says and I step just outside the cage, causing him to glance over his shoulder. “Uncle Jack?”

“Keep your eyes ahead, Buddy,” I warn him, watching him immediately do as he’s told. “What’s up?”

“Am I doing it right?”

“Yep,” I tell him. “Just keep your bat up there and swing when I tell you, okay?”

“Okay,” he says, keeping his feet glued in place.

When the first ball launches out, he swings and misses.

“Aw man,” he grumbles under his voice, making me grin.

“That’s alright,” I tell him. “You’ll get it.”

Eventually, on the third ball, he swings and hits it. If the surge of pride I’m feeling isn’t enough, he jumps up and down in excitement.

“Uncle Jack! It worked!”

“See? You’re already awesome! Get ready for another one!”

“Okay!” he responds, still shouting.

We spend the bulk of the night at the cages and once he’s got the hang of it, I’m thrilled to see he’s pretty good. After turning his gear back in, we stop off for some supper and head back to the hotel.

“Did you have fun?”

“It was awesome!” he says, still shouting and making me grin. “Could we go again tomorrow?”

“Well, I don’t know about tomorrow,” I tell him. “We’ll have to talk to Aunt Sophie, but I promise to take you again real soon. Deal?”

“Yeah,” he says immediately, nodding his head.

As we pull up to the hotel, I help him out and we head up toward Ana’s room, where he’ll be staying for the night.

“Where’s my Aunt Sophie?” he asks once we walk in the opposite way of the room they’re staying in.

“She knew I wanted to hang out with you, so she went to have supper,” I tell him.

“Did my Uncle Chase go, too?”

“Yes,” I say quietly, still childishly jealous of the way he refers to Sophie’s boyfriend. “Hey, is he pretty nice to you? Your… uh…
Uncle
Chase?”

“Yeah,” he says immediately with a grin. “He’s really funny.”

“And he’s nice to your Aunt Sophie?”

“Yeah,” he tells me, running his fingertips across the wall as we walk. “He’s always kissin’ her, though. Ugh! It’s really grody.”

“That is pretty grody, dude,” I agree, internally groaning but knowing I brought it on myself. “Ugh is right.”

“Hey,” Ana says with a smile as she pulls the door open to greet us. “I thought I heard some handsome men out here. Did you have fun?”

“Yeah! My Uncle Jack taught me how to be a baseball player!”

“Oh really? That’s so totally awesome!” she says, smiling up at me. “You coming in?”

A quick glance in and I can see that they’re in the middle of a movie and I shake my head.

“No thanks,” I answer. “I’m beat. I think I’m gonna head back to my room for the night.”

“Okay,” she says quietly. “Well, if you change your mind and want some company, I’ll be up for a couple of hours.”

“Okay,” I smile, crouching down to JT. “Love you, Little J.”

“Love you, too,” he says, wrapping his small arms around my neck.

“Be good, okay?” I say, smiling when I see him nod quickly and walk into the room. “You be good, too.”

“I will,” Ana chuckles as I kiss her cheek. “I love you.”

“Love you, too, Sis.”

Once she’s safe inside, I turn and make my way down the hall towards my room. Pushing the door open, I toss my stuff onto the table and reach into the mini fridge for a beer, letting out a deep sigh as my ass hits the chair.

Glancing over at my wallet, I see the sharp corner of the same worn photograph I’ve been carrying with me for the past five years peeking out. Reluctantly, I pick it up and pull it from the place I’ve kept it tucked away since I got home.

As I trace my fingertip along the blonde hair coming away from her face, I can’t stop the knot from forming in my throat. The memory that’s staring back at me is a bittersweet one, deceptive in its time.

On one hand, it feels like it happened a lifetime ago. We’ve been through so much since that night, sometimes it feels like it’s all happened to two other people and we’re just left with the story.

As our past stares me back in the face, though, I know better.

I can still feel the breeze kissing my face as I stared back at her at the edge of the field. My gear was heavy as fuck, but it didn’t stop me from lifting her into my arms after we scored the winning touchdown. The crowd went fucking crazy. People were cheering in the stands all around us, but the only thing that mattered to me was pressing her soft lips against mine.

She’d thrown her purple and silver pom-pom’s down and lunged at me, wrapping her legs around my waist right there on the edge of the thirty yard line.

“You did it, Baby!” she’d said, beaming as she grabbed my face, pressed her lips to mine and kissed me fiercely.

Her lips tasted like the bubble gum flavored ChapStick she’d been wearing all winter. When she let out a quiet hum into my mouth, the grip I’d had on my helmet began to slip. That’s when Lucy snapped this picture, less than two seconds before my helmet hit the turf. I’d raised my hand to cup her face, tasting her full bubble gum flavored lips and knowing I’d never forget that kiss.

Over the next few years, there would be hundreds of pictures, thousands of memories between us. This one would always be one of my favorite, though.

This was the night we’d had our first fight. This was the night we’d first made love. It was the night she’d told me she loved me for the first time.

The night I’d first known that Sophie Ryan was my forever.

Sophie

His lips on my bare shoulder gently pull me from my dreamless sleep early the next morning. Although no part of me is ready to slip back into reality just yet, knowing the blue eyes I long for are waiting for me is enough to have mine drifting open.

As I turn slowly to face him, I nuzzle into his embrace and breathe in his scent. As he wraps his ink clad arm around me, he kisses my hair and his fingertips begin to slowly trace my skin.

His deep voice, still steeped in sleep, breaks the silence as the English lyrics to one of my favorite classics, ‘La Vie En Rose’ leave his lips, melting me to my core.

When we’d arrived back at the suite after work yesterday, Chase had sent me into the bathroom to get ready. I’d heard him moving around in here, but I would have never guessed I’d be greeted with a room packed full of red roses. There had to be hundreds of them scattered throughout the room. When my eyes found the petals on the bed, I saw the note in his familiar script.

One year ago, I sat on a park bench in Rockport with the girl I will soon call my wife. When she leaned over to pluck a petal from a rose, she brought it to her nose to inhale the scent. As she turned to find me watching her, I wondered if that petal was as soft as her lips. Her cheeks blushed so scarlet they put those red roses to shame. “I know its cliché,” she’d said. “But the red ones are my favorite.” When I asked her why, she said, “Any other flower could mean any other thing, but a red rose? You only give those to someone you love. You never give a red rose to someone you can live without.”

I didn’t tell her for months, but I think I loved her even then.

Here’s a red rose petal for every breath I’ve used to pray I’ll never have to live without her.

As I pulled myself together, I slowly opened the door to find him waiting for me in the sitting area. He was wearing a black suit that matched my dress with my favorite blue tie, the one that brings out his eyes.

He’d leaned against the arm of the couch and when his eyes met mine, he let out a small sigh and stood.

“Chase,” I managed, my voice cracking as I take him in. “You look so handsome, Lovebug.”

“I’m glad you think so, because I had to pick this suit out a week in advance,” he smirked. “And that’s because a year ago I was scrambling around my house, trying to decide what I should wear to watch a movie at your apartment.”

“No, you weren’t,” I said, laughing through my teary eyes.

“Yes, I did,” he smiled, gently running his finger across my cheek. “That’s why I was late. I was so nervous that I got halfway to the truck before I realized I wasn’t wearing any shoes.”

“Shut up,” I said softly. “Say you swear.”

“I swear. I forgot my shoes, then my keys, then the movie and right as I got to your door, I spilled lo mein all over my sweater. I’d never been so nervous,” he admitted quietly. “Then you opened the door and you were stunning, just like you are tonight… every night. You’re absolutely breathtaking, Sophie. I knew then, just like I know now, that every single thing in my life led me to your door that night. There’s nothing I wouldn’t endure for that. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to belong to you. I could never live a second without you.”

As he handed me a single red rose, the last shred of self control floated away and I began to openly sob.

“Oh my God, Chase!” I wailed, pulling a stifled chuckle from his chest. “Baby, you can’t do this to a pregnant woman!”

“Sophie…” he’d whispered, his eyes full of adoration as he pulled me to his chest. “Don’t cry, Baby.”

“I can’t help it,” I managed. “I just love you so much.”

“I love you, too, my Sweetheart,” he said softly into my hair. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, taking a final look into the mirror and patting myself on the back for switching to waterproof mascara a month ago.

Over the course of the next few hours, Chase continued to surprise me. With all the hard things we’d been through in our first year, it was sometimes easy to forget all the amazing things that had happened.

He’d managed to remember every amazing memory we’d shared together.

As we made our way to different places in the city, it was clear he’d thought on this night for a while.

We went to a Japanese steakhouse where he fed me lo mein and promised me a zombie flick as soon as my morning sickness subsided.

For dessert, I sat on his lap while we shared my favorite, rocky road ice cream.

We visited the Water Wall and as I was staring up at the massive structure, he took my hand and gently pulled me to his chest. As the words to ‘I’m Gonna Be’ by Sleeping At Last left his lips, he gently began to sway with me in his arms.

Unconcerned with the people around us watching our intimate exchange, he pulled away and wiped the fresh tears away.

“This is a really good date,” I sniffed, causing him to chuckle.

“Is this a date?” he whispered, smirking against my lips as he recalled the question I’d asked him the night he first kissed me in my kitchen.

“God, I hope so,” I managed, my soft voice cracking as I brushed my hand over his strong jaw, holding the perfect blue eyes that saved me. “Otherwise, this kiss is gonna make things really awkward.”

As his lips met mine, he rested his hand across my stomach and I’m completely consumed with love for this man. For many people, noodles, rocky road ice cream and dancing next to a huge manmade waterfall might not sound like much, but it was perfect.

It was
us
.

“Happy Anniversary, Baby,” he’d whispered. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I sighed, my throat thick with emotion. “God, I love you so much.”