Dakota, Are You in Love With Me Too?

“O’Callaghan, wake up.” I ordered my Fiancé as I shook his motionless body, trying to wake him but all I got out of him was a low grunt before he rolled over and buried his head into the pillows.

Placing a hand on my hip, I stared at him then looked around my room seeing his clothes from last night throw about. John came back to my Dad’s place around four this morning, not completely piss drunk stupid but pretty damn close. He barely made it into my room, out of his clothes and onto the bed before he passed out from the alcohol and exhaustion.

“John, wake up I want you to come to the airport with me,” I whined stubbornly, “You have an hour to get up, showered and dressed. Let’s go.”

“Dakota Mae, if you don’t shut up I’m gonna have to shut you up,” He said simply, his voice muffled by my pillows.

“And how are you gonna do that?” I questioned, “Huh? ‘Cause I’d really like to know.”

John peeked out from the pillows at me with a cute, sleepy smile on his face, “I have my ways,” He insisted, “Well you won’t be totally shut up, but the sounds you’ll be making will be a hell of a lot more enjoyable than your nagging me to get up.”

I laughed as I grabbed a pillow and hit him with it, “John!” I exclaimed loudly, “You fucking perverted asshole, get up!”

“Ok!” He yelled back as he sat up slowly and squinted his eyes, “Holy shit, Dakota Mae … you don’t have to be so fucking loud.” He growled harshly before he reached up and rubbed the side of his head, “God damn.”

Raising my eyebrow, I smiled with amusement, finding humor in his hangover, “That’s what you get for staying out so late,” I said simply.

“I called you multiple times last night, asking you if you wanted me to come home and you said no. Don’t go there with me, Dakota.” He carefully stood to his feet and wobbled a bit, gaining his balance, “And I couldn’t just leave, I had to wait for Delaney … she was off being miss gossip.” He added as he turned his head to me, “Last night was fun, you should’ve joined me.”

“I had my own problems to take care of, thank you very much.”

“… Annie.” He said her name simply.

“Yes, she’s downstairs.”

John looked at me oddly then he started towards my bedroom door, “Why?”

“Because she didn’t want to go home, she didn’t want to go to the lake to face Garrett, so I said she could come back here and crash in the spare room.” I shrugged my shoulders, “She isn’t so bad,”

“Why did you two hang out?” John asked as he walked out of my room.

“Because,” I answered as I followed John to the bathroom. In the bathroom, I shut the door and locked it before pulling myself up onto the counter, “If I tell you, you have to promise not to say a single word to anyone else, ok?” I asked as I grabbed my mouthwash bottle and read the directions for use on the back as John peed.

Looking over his shoulder at me briefly, he looked back down at the toilet bowl to concentrate on his aim, “I promise,” John said softly.

“Mean it?”

“Fuck, I’m too hungover to play that game, if I didn’t mean I wouldn’t have said it, Dakota Mae.”

“She’s pregnant, John.”

John flushed the toilet then looked at me before heading to the shower. Opening the shower door, he reached in and started it before he glanced at me once more, “Did you already shower?” He mumbled.

I nodded my head, “Yep,”

He made a face then dropped his underwear to the floor before getting in, shutting the door after he was in, “Pregnant?” He questioned.

“Yes,” I answered, “Pregnant.”

“She hasn’t told Garrett?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“She’s scared and she doesn’t want him to worry about her and the unborn child while he’s focusing on the band, schoolwork and his part time job at wherever the fuck he works.”

“Starbucks,” John said from behind the glass door, “And she needs to tell him before it’s too late for him to change his mind about the band.”

“That’s why she doesn’t want to tell him, Babe.”

John opened the door and looked out at me with a look of disbelief, “So she’d rather him be fucking miserable out on the road while his fiancé and child are at home?”

I rolled my eyes, “You’re such a boy,” I shook my head a bit, “So you’re telling me if I were pregnant you’d quit the band for me and the baby?”

“No,” He shook his head, “I wouldn’t but Dakota Mae, you have a strong support system. Your family is close, my family adores you, and you have your friends back in California … Annie just has Garrett,” He pointed out then closed the door once more, “I would worry about you but I wouldn’t be worried to the point where it was effect my work, you know?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “But she doesn’t want Garrett to quit the band.”

“It’s not her choice to make, it’s Garrett’s.”

“Well, it’s her choice if she doesn’t tell him.”

“Oh, you’re gonna get on my nerves today, I can tell.” John said openly, not hiding it.

“Good,” I huffed.

“I just think that she should tell him,” John insisted, “Whether she does or not isn’t my business but it’s just how I feel.”

“Ok, now that we’ve got that out there, let’s change the subject please. I don’t wanna fight today, O’Callaghan.” I admitted, “Today is a happy day, Lilly, Michelle and Dane are gonna be here so soon and I want you all to get along.”

John opened the door showing me my shampoo bottle that had no label on it because the bottle it was in originally broke so I put it into a plain plastic bottle I got from the store, “Shampoo, right?” He questioned.

I nodded my head simply.

“Ok,” He mumbled then shut the door. Through the door I watched the blurred image of my fiancé as he started to wash his hair, “They’ll like me, right?” John asked.

“Hopefully,” I laughed, “No, they’ll love you. Trust me. Dane may be a little … harder to get to know than Lilly and Michelle. Dane is like a third brother to me; very protective.”

“Great,” John grumbled.

“He’ll love you,” I paused, “He’s married too,” I added.

“Is he?”

“Yep, married his high school sweetheart before they even graduated high school, but Dani isn’t coming.” I paused, “She has school and work.”

“Oh,”

I fell quiet as I continued to watch John shower through the frosted glass before he shut the shower off and opened the door, looking around now noticing he forgot to get a towel from the cabinet before he got in, “Can you get me a towel, please?” He asked politely.

“I suppose, even though this view is ten times better than it would be if you were in a towel,” I insisted as I hopped off of the counter and walked to the cabinet, pulling out a folded towel. I walked over to John and handed it to him but pulled it away quickly just as he went to grab it.

“Dakota Mae,” John laughed softly as he sighed softly, “Give me the damn towel,”

“Say please,”

“I already said please!”

“Oh yeah, well then … kiss me first.” I mumbled as I took a step towards him and pouted my lips.

He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine, kissing me passionately before he wrapped his arms around me, engulfing me in a tight hug against his wet body, “John!?” I squealed as I jumped away from him and threw his towel at him, “I’m wet now!”

Unfolding the towel, John raised just one eyebrow and gave me a sly smile, “Really now?”

“You are such a slut,” I laughed as I looked at my clothes that I’ll have to change now, “John, look at me!” I whined.

John eyed me as he finally stepped out of the shower, his body now dry and the towel wrapped his waist, “I am, you’re gorgeous.”

“Asshole,” I huffed as I opened the bathroom door and stormed to my bedroom in a dramatic way, even though I wasn’t mad at all.

John followed me quietly with one hand holding onto his towel and the other carrying his underwear. Once we were both in my room, John shut the door before walking to his bag for some clean clothes. As I changed my own clothes, I could feel John staring at me intently but I chose to not say anything, I simply just took my time, teasing him because he knows he can’t have me right now.

“Your socks don’t match,” John mumbled.

“Yeah, like that’s what you’re really looking at,” I laughed as I turned around to him then looked down to see that both of my socks were black but they were different styles; one was an ankle sock the other was a no-show sock, “Oh,” I whispered.

John grinned as he walked over wearing a pair of skinny jeans that he hadn’t buttoned or zipped up yet, exposing his clean pair of black boxer briefs underneath his jeans. Once he reached me, he ran his hand through my short brown hair and tugged my head back so I was looking up at him, “I really wish you wouldn’t have cut your hair so short,” He complained shyly, “It’s cute and all but … I don’t know.” He shrugged his shoulders, “Is it weird not being able to put it back into a pony tail?”

“Sorta,” I answered as he moved his hand from my hair, “But I needed a change,” I said as I shook my head, letting my hair fly about before it landed carelessly wherever it had stopped, “It’s cute though, yeah?”

“Yeah,” He admitted before he reached down my body with both hands and suddenly picked me up, much to my surprise.

Giggling like a school girl, I wrapped my legs around his body and took his face between my hands, “I love you,” I said simply before kissing his lips, “A lot, a lot.” I added.

He laughed at me then shook his head before kissing me once more. The kiss was slow and passionate as John slowly backed up to my bed and sat down carefully, making sure never to break the kiss. Once he was seated with me on his lap, he lightly traced my spine as he made a trail of kisses from my lips down to my collar bone then back up to my neck.

I smiled as I played with the back of his wet hair while he went about with his tender kisses.

“I have a confession,” John mumbled as he pulled away from me and stared into my eyes.

“What?” I smiled.

“I want four or more kids,” He said simply with a cute smile on his face.

“Really now?”

He nodded, “I’ve always wanted a big family,” He blushed a little, “And if it’s alright with you, I want our first boy to be John Cornelius O’Callaghan the sixth.”

I smiled more, “Keep the name going?”

“Yes,” He nodded.

“It’s fine with me, but we need to find something to call him,” I pointed out.

He laughed and nodded once more, “Yeah, I guess we do. We’ll nickname him when and if he arrives.”

“If?” I questioned.

“We may end up with all girls,” John muttered.

“That would be hell for you,”

“Eh, not until the teenage years.” He laughed cutely then he kissed my nose lightly, “We should finish getting ready,”

“Probably,” I agreed but neither one of us made the motion to move.

Looking down at my stomach, John lightly ran his fingers over my skin just above my panties before he looked back up into my eyes, “How many kids do you want?”

“I want to start with one,” I answered, “I don’t know how many I want, I just know that I want to start with one.”

He laughed, “At least two.”

I thought for a second then I rolled my eyes, “Ok, two … I’m not promising no more kids.”

John laughed then he looked back down at my stomach as he circled my belly button repeated with his index finger, “Annie is still here, right?”

“Yeah, she’s hanging out with Nathaniel downstairs.”

“How’s your dress coming along?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t gotten a call from the guy or my Mom.” I tilted my head, “What’s up, babe?”

He shrugged his shoulders as he looked back up into my eyes, “Just talkin’, we haven’t had a moment to ourselves in a week where we didn’t have to do anything except talk, since the whole deal with my brother …” He mumbled, “I like talkin’ with you,”

I smiled.

“After your friends leave for California, can we go somewhere so it’s just the two of us and just talk?”

“John, I’m going home with them.” I pointed out.

“You are?”

“I told you that already.” I raised my eyebrows, “Do you not remember?”

“No,” He shook his head then he lowered it, “How long are they gonna be out here?”

“Well, Dane leaves on Monday morning because he needs to be home because his in-laws are flying in from Maryland, but Lilly and Michelle are staying until Wednesday.”

“Four days until you leave?” John’s voice was sad as he spoke those words slowly, “How long until you come back?”

“I don’t know,” I made a face, “John, you can come see me, it’s not like we’re never going to see each other again.”

He looked up at me frowned, “Don’t say that,” He demanded, “You never know,”

I bit my lip then kissed him softly, “Well, that’s four days from now, let’s just have fun ok?” I climbed off of him then went back to getting dressed as he sluggishly stood to his feet and finished dressing himself as well.

After we were both dressed, I walked down the stairs holding onto John’s hand as I led the way. I have never been one to hold hands, it just isn’t me but John is definitely a hand holder so when he’s feeling down or just … not himself I push my dislike of hand holding to the side to comfort him.

Looking up from the couch, Annie smiled at the sight of us then she laughed a little, “Your brother is fucking hilarious.” She told me.

“Oh, I bet he is,” I said as I narrowed my eyes on my brother then pointed my finger at him, “She’s taken, asshole.”

Nathaniel rolled his eyes, “Me too.”

I shook my head then looked at Annie, “Do you want me to give you a ride home or over to Garrett’s?” I asked, “I have to head up to the airport, or you can stay here if you want.”

“I’ll give her a ride,” Nathaniel insisted, “If she wants to leave,” He looked at me then at her.

“That’ll be fine,” Annie agreed.

“Alright,” I mumbled as I tightened my hand around John’s a bit before I walked over to my purse, “We have to go,” I said softly, grabbing my purse.

Once outside, John looked over at me before speaking softly, “Want me to drive?”

I looked at him, “Are you up to it, Mr. Party animal?”

He laughed, “Yeah,”

“Ok,” I handed my keys over to him then climbed into my car.

As John got in, he looked over at me once more, “You’re gonna change your last name, right?”

“Yes,” I answered, “O’Callaghan it will be.”

He smiled to himself then fell quiet. The ride to the airport was silent but wasn’t awkward. At the airport, I found out the flight had been delayed back in LA and wouldn’t be arriving for another hour so John and I decided on lunch at a little café in the airport.

Seated across from John, I watched him as he read the menu with tired eyes and I frowned to myself, wondering what was going through his head. I know the distance between us when I go home to California isn’t the best, but there’s no way around it. I also know that the only reason John is this depressed is because he hates the thought of not being able to see me again if something did happen to me. Since Peyton’s death, he’s been like that and there’s really nothing to cure that fear because it’s a legit fear.

I could step on that plane to take me home on Wednesday and never see John again, God forbid it, but it could very well happen and that scares John to death.

The truth is … it scares me too.