Swallowed in Grief, Healed by Time

The next morning I awoke to a huge commotion on the bus. As I attempted to get up I noticed a pair of strong arms wrapped around me. Zander had stayed with me the whole night. A smile grew on my face as I looked down at him. Gently I brushed my hand through his hair as he started to wake up. He smiled at me gently and pulled me closer to him kissing me gently.

“Good morning,” Zander whispered seeming oblivious to the world around us.

“Good morning,” I whispered back just as the door to the room burst open.

We both looked over to see Derek come in with a huge smile on his face. He quickly ran over to us and sat on the edge of the bed. I had no idea these tiny little bunks could hold three people but apparently they could.

“What’s going on?” Zander asked not removing his grip on me.

“Well, since Elise is pregnant the guys decided that she needs some womanly help around here,” Derek stated.

“Oh god,” Zander groaned. “Please tell me they aren’t send Angelica back?”

“No, no nothing like that,” Derek quickly assured us as I had been worrying about the same thing. “They know better than to do that. No, my mom is coming and Jamie is coming with her.”

“Awesome,” Zander said with a growing smile on his face. “Now we can double date.”

“You finally ask her?” Derek questioned looking over at me with a soft smile on his face.

“I did and she did not turn me down like you kept saying she would,” Zander stated.

“Ugh, you are no fun at all Elise,” Derek groaned. “Braden is going to kill you for not telling him first, by the way.”

“If Brian is ok with this then Braden will get over himself,” Zander stated with a smile. “Her father is allowing me to date his pregnant daughter.”

“Not the wisest choice on his part,” Derek smirked.

“What are you talking about?” Zander questioned. “She’s already pregnant, what more can I do?”

“Alright, alright guys,” I protested. “If you want to have a talk like this do it while I am not around. Derek, when are the girls getting here?”

“Mom said their plane landed at 9 in the morning which was about an hour and half ago. Dad went with Jimmy to pick them up so they should be back within the hour,” Derek explained. “I would get ready if I were you. Jamie will drag you out no matter how you look and since she has wanted to meet you for a while you can bet you are going to be in her sights.”

“Looks like you’ll have to fight for attention,” Zander laughed.

“Shut up, you will too here shortly,” Derek told Zander as he walked out of the room.

“What are you talking about?” I questioned.

“Jamie doesn’t give Derek much attention when another girl she likes is around,” Zander said with a smirk. “You’ll still give me attention, right?”

“Depends on how much cooler Jamie is than you,” I said playfully.

“What if she’s not cooler than me?” Zander pouted.

“Oh darling I already know that she is,” I said with a slight smirk. “It’s just a question of how much.”

“See, you will be fighting for attention as well, I rest my case,” Derek said as a loud commotion came from the front of the bus. “That would be them.”

Derek shot up and ran out of the room as Zander released me and threw me a sweatshirt. Quickly I put it on and discovered that I would have to wear these more often. It hid most of my bump which I was very thankful for. I could hear everyone talking quickly outside of the door and suddenly decided that I did not want to go out there. Zander sensed my change in mood and came over, placing his arms around me from behind.

“What’s wrong?” Zander whispered in my ear.

“What if they don’t like me? What if they think like Angelica that I’m just trying to get money from the guys?” I whispered.

“Jamie and Angelica hate each other, first off. And Val would never think that,” he said. “Come on, just give them a chance. They really aren’t that scary.”

“I don’t think you understand, these are the people that I have wanted to meet my whole life. I’ve always wanted to meet the A7X women and now one of them, the most famous one, is standing right outside,” I told him. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“Well, I would say you have about ten more minutes before Jamie comes back here and drags your ass out there,” Zander stated. “She will make you get to know her and Val.”

“Alright,” I said taking a deep breath. “I can do this.”

“I know you can,” Zander said as the door opened and my father looked at us with a smile.

Zander released me and grabbed my hand tightly as he pulled me out of the room. Dad quickly gave me a hug and tried to reassure me that everything was going to be alright. Both men pulled me into the sitting area where two new faces smiled at me. Slowly I smiled back at them before I was pulled into a tight hug from the young one. Before I knew what was happening I was pulled into a conversation with the girls and all of the guys were ignored. Jamie and Val were amazing and I felt bad for thinking differently before. Both of them were excited about the baby that I was carrying and offered to help with anything that I needed. Val said she would start taking me to appointments if I did not want dad to come with me anymore and I told her that I would think about it. He may be male but my father is the one here that I trust the most. Well, besides Braden and the MCR guys that is.

“So,” Jamie said as she looked back and forth between Zander and I. “Is there something going on here?”

“Yeah Jamie, so you better be nice to my girlfriend,” Zander said as he pushed his way in between us and pulled me tightly to him.

“And when did this happen?” Zacky asked his son suddenly interested in our conversation.

“Last night,” Zander said proudly.

“Good for you man,” Zacky stated.

“Thanks dad,” Zander said.

“Does Brian know?” his father asked him.

“Yeah, he knows and told me to take care of her,” Zander stated.

“You had better,” Zacky said. “I raised you right.”

“Dad, I’m going to take care of her and her child,” Zander said as he smiled down at me.

This boy really was going to make me fall hard for him. One of these days I’m going to realize that I am deathly in love with him and there is nothing that I will be able to do about it. Despite this knowledge usually scaring me, I found myself quiet content. He is the one that I want and I don’t want anyone else.