Staal

Jordan, Nicole, and I walked back in to the reception hall. Jordan kept holding my hand - he had lost me once tonight, he didn't want it to happen again. Thankfully, I didn't wear a lot of make-up tonight, so I didn't need to touch it up.

"I'm gonna go find Jared. After seeing what happened with you guys - I just want him to hold me." Nicole said.

"Ok. You've been an awesome substitute fiancee, Nic. Thank you for looking after him tonight." I said giving her a hug.

She smiled and walked away. Al slow song stated to play and I felt Jordan squeeze my hand.

"Dance with me?" I nodded and walked out on the dance floor with him.

I knew that I was meant to stand in his arms. I fit perfectly. Jordan was my rock, my shield against everything bad in the world. He was my baby, my lover, my best friend. I had been so stupid earlier tonight. If he really wanted to cheat on me, he probably would have been cheating on me for the past three years.

"Charli?" Jordan asked breaking me out of my trance. "How long is it going to take for you to trust me again?"

"I don't know Jordan. Were you cheating on me in Pittsburgh?"

"Charli, how could you think that? You know that I'm nothing but faithful to you." Jordan said, holding me closer to him.

"I know. But, I saw you with Heather tonight."

"Heather wasn't invited to the wedding."

"What?"

"She wasn't. She just showed up to talk to me. Said she wanted to apologize."

"That's what Eric said."

"See. I told you."

I nodded. "It's not that I don't trust you. Jordan, you're my rock. I love you too much to throw away what we've worked so hard to get."

"I know."

"I don't trust Heather. I think I need to hear her side of the story before I make any conclusions. I want you to tell me the story tonight when we get home."

"I plan on it. Do you want to leave?"

"Jordan, you can't just leave. You're Marc's best man."

"And he already said that he's cool with us leaving early."

"Ok. Can I tell Danni first?" Jordan nodded and we walked over to where Marc and Danielle were.

"Hey guys. Heading home?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah. Listen, I'm so sorry this had to happen. This was your night."

"Oh stop! I'm ready to punch Heather right now. Stay longer?"

"I can't . I want to have this cleared up before I go to sleep. I have a conference call with the team in the morning."

"Ok. Listen to Jordan. He would never lie to you." Danielle said, hugging me goodbye.

I hugged Marc and Jordan and I went out to the car. The drive back to the farm was quiet - almost too quiet. Jordan opened my door and helped me out of the car when we arrived. We walked upstairs to Jordan's room and sat down on the bed.

"You ready to tell me about it?" I asked, watching Jordan get out of his tux.

"Heather came and said she wanted to talk to me. Said that she wanted to apologize so I thought I was being polite and I let her talk to me. I should have known that she was going to pull something like this. I tried to push her off but she cornered me against the railing - and you know that I'd never hit a woman. I'm so sorry, Charli. I really am." He said, breaking into tears again.

"Oh, Jordan." I said, taking him in my arms. "I know, Sweetheart. That's exactly what Eric told me. Hearing it from you makes me know that it's true. I'm sorry that I ever doubted you. It scared me to see you kissing her."

"I know. And you know that it will never happen again. I've got too much to loose this time." Jordan said, lightly placing his hand on my stomach.

"This time?" I asked, laying my hand on top of his.

"Before I met you, I would cheat. I hated doing it, but it was what I did. I cheated on Heather but she would always say that I was drunk. When I caught her cheating on me, I promised myself that I would never do that ever again."

"Really?"

"And then I met you. From the first time I held you, I knew that you were special. You stuck by me through everything and I love you so much. You changed me. I was a jerk and you brought me back to my old self."

I smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too." He smiled and kissed me.

"Jordan?" I heard Linda call.

"Go see what your mom wants. I'll be here when you get back."

He stood and left the room. I got up off the bed and got ready for bed. Sitting down on the bed, I suddenly felt exhausted. I knew that I should stay up and waited for Jordan to get back, but I could barely keep my eyes open. Laying back in bed, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke up to find the room still dark and the house silent. I rolled over, thinking I'd cuddle into Jordan, but he wasn't there. I sat up in bed and found Jordan sleeping in the chair in the corner of the room. I got out of bed and went to sit on his lap.

"Jordan? Babe, wake up." I said, gently kissing his face.

"Mhm, what time is it?" He asked, opening his eyes.

"3 am. Jordan, what are you doing sleeping in the chair?"

"I didn't know if you wanted me to sleep with you or not." Jordan said, looking down at his hands.

I put my hand on his chin and tipped it up so he could look me in the eyes. "Sweetheart, of course I want you to sleep with me. Who's gonna keep the monsters away?" He smiled. "Besides, it's the middle of the season. I'll make you a deal. If we ever fight and I tell you to sleep on the couch, it will be during the off season. Deal?"

"Deal. Now come on, let's go to bed." He picked me up and laid me gently on the bed. He laid beside me and took me in his arms; the soft beating of his heart and his deep breathing lulled me to sleep.

I woke up the second time to my phone ringing beside me. I looked at it to see that I had a conference in an hour. I quickly got out of bed - careful not to disturb Jordan - and got dressed. Sitting back down on the bed, I placed my hand on Jordan's chest and gently shook him.

His eyes cracked open.

"Shh, Babe. You don't have to get up. I'm just letting you know that I've got a phone conference so I'll be in your Dad's office. Go back to sleep." I kissed his forehead and he rolled over onto his stomach. After a few seconds, I heard him snoring. Smiling to myself, I got up and walked out of the room.

I quickly called my mom and told her that Jordan and i were expecting as I made my coffee. To say that she was excited was putting it lightly.

I sad through my conference and told everyone that I was pregnant at the end. They were all excited and happy for me. I packed up the phone and left the office, heading back to the house.

Linda rushed me with a hug. "I'm so sorry about what happened last night." She said.

"Sorry about what? Heather kissing Jordan or that I'm pregnant?" I asked, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Heather kissing Jordan. Wait, you're pregnant?"

"Yep. I found out when Danielle did on Thursday."

A big smile appeared on her face and tears started to rush down her cheeks. "I'm getting grand-babies at the same time? Thank you."

"You're welcome." I laughed. "Is Jordan up yet?"

"He is. I asked him to go and pick up some stuff for this afternoon."

"What's this afternoon?"

"Danielle and Marc are opening their gifts."

"Oh, I totally forgot about that. How many people are coming?"

"About thirty or so. It's nothing extravagant, just the families getting together for a meal and gift opening."

I got up and went to shower. When I came back, Jordan was unpacking groceries and Danielle was sitting at the kitchen table. I smirked at Danielle and walked over to Jordan, wrapping my arms around his middle and kissing the spot between his shoulder blades.

"Well, hello to you too." He said, turning around and kissing me. "How was the conference?"

"Boring as usual. Some new trades are bouncing around, but nothing is set."

"Hey Charli? Do you want to announce your pregnancy with me tonight?" Danielle asked.

I looked at Jordan. "Do you?"

He nodded.

"Then it's settled. I'll announce mine with you."

"Oh, I forgot to tell Linda, but Heather is going to be here tonight."

"What?'

"Yea. Her mom is really good friends with my mom and Linda. She's coming with her."

"Charli, we don't have to stay." Jordan said.

"No. I want to hear her side of the story If we leave, she'll win."

I spent the rest of the afternoon with Danielle. We went and had massages, and got our hair and make up done.

We got back to the house and changed. I wore a pair of jeans and a dressy top; Danielle wore a sweater dress a leggings.

"You look gorgeous. The both of you do." Marc said when we entered the living room.

"Thanks. Do you know where Jordan is?"

"Yep. He's in the kitchen with Mom and Heather. Careful Charli, don't explode."

"I won't. It's Jordan that I'm worried about exploding." I smiled and walked over to the kitchen.

"Hey Heather? Could I have a word in private?" I asked.

She nodded and followed me to the den. I motioned for Jordan to follow me and he did. The three of us walked into the room and Jordan closed the door behind him.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Heather asked.

"I wanted to know what happened between you and Jordan last night. I want to know the truth."

"Alright, I'll give you the truth. But, why is Jordan here? I thought you wanted to talk to me in private."

"I asked him to come. It happened between the two of you so I thought..."

Jordan cut me off. "I came so that you wouldn't attack Charli and to make sure that you told the truth. Because we both know what the truth is."

She just looked down at the floor.

"So, tell me what happened. What did I really see when I saw you two?"

"Well, Jordan came over to me and he was practically begging to talk to..."

I looked at Jordan and his eyes were full of rage. He shot Heather a look and she developed a total look of defeat.

"Heather?" I asked.

"I can't lie to you. At least not with Jordan around I can't."

I guess that it was a good thing that I asked Jordan to come.

"You better not lie, Heather." He said.

"So, what happened?"

"Well, I went up to Jordan and told him that we needed to talk. He started talking to me and I told him you were waiting outside so I could apologize to the both of you. Thing is, I had never spoken to you before hand."

"Ok, go on."

"I took him out to the patio and he realized that you weren't there. That's when I told him that he should be with me. I started kissing him and he tried to push me away, but I was too forceful. So, when you came - Jordan was actually pushing me away."

"Thanks for being honest with me. But, why would you do it?" I asked. I was pissed and relieved at the same time. At least I now knew for sure that Jordan wasn't at fault.

"I did it because I was jealous."

"Jealous? Jealous of me, or jealous of me being with Jordan?" I asked.

"Both."

"Why?" I asked in disbelief.

"Because I see the way he looks at you and I wish he would have looked at me like that when we were together. Charli, you're beautiful and sweet and really nice. You don't mess with peoples lives like I do. I guess I'm jealous because I know that I'll never have Jordan. He loves you, not me. I just wanted him to come back to me, so that we could possibly have to same kind of happiness that you two share." She said, practically crying.

"I promise that I will never try to kiss you again, Jordan. So, would you like to go out tomorrow? Just the two of us, as friends?"

Heather was being so nice. She was honest with me and she promised that she wouldn't kiss him. But, why would she want Jordan alone? I know that she said "as friends", but did he even want to be friends with her? This was fishy. Too fishy for my liking. I wonder what Jordan was thinking. Out of nowhere, I heard yelling. I turned to realize that it was Jordan screaming. He never raises his voice.

"Are you freaking serious? NO! You've got to be kidding me right now, Heather. You think that just because you tell the truth for once in your life that I'm gonna reward you and go out with you by myself, without Charli? Heather, come on! We both know that once Charli's out of the picture you're gonna do the same thing as you did last night. Do you think I'm stupid? But you were right about one thing. I don't want you. I never will want you. I'm marrying Charli and we're having a child together. There's no way I'm going to associate myself with you. I never realized how much of a bitch you are until tonight."

I saw Heather's face go white - and she was pale enough to begin with. Jordan was right. How could I even think of trusting her?

"Jordan? Can I see you for a second?" I asked, motioning to a corner.

"Of course, baby. Anything to get away from her."

"Jordan, calm down. It's ok. I'll set her straight."

"But, do you even know why I got so mad in the first place?" He asked.

"Well yea. She pretty much asked you out on a date."

"Yeah, but not only that. She said that she wasn't able to lie when I'm in the room. That means that if you didn't ask me to come in here with you that she was going to lie about what happened."

It hadn't truly hit me until Jordan mentioned it. I actually thought that she was telling me the truth because she wanted to. Turns out she did it for Jordan. There was no way that she was taking my husband-to-be and the father of my child from me.

"Ok. I'm gonna set her straight." I said,

"That's my girl." Jordan said, giving me a kiss for reassurance.

"Heather?"

"Yeah, Bitch!"

Whoa! Where the hell did nice Heather go?

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You whore!" She spat.

"Don't you dare call Charli a whore!" Jordan yelled.

"Easy Baby! I'll take care of this." I said, giving him a peck on the lips to rub it in.

"Listen to me, Charli."

"NO! You listen to me. I'm the pregnant one. I may not be showing, but I've still got the hormones."

"So!"

"Look, I'm going to make you an offer that you can't refuse."

"And what if I refuse?"

"Trust me. You won't refuse. Look, you don't go anywhere near Jordan unless, his brothers, their girlfriends, or I am with him. Trust me - you will be prevented from being alone with him. If I so much as hear that you tried to get near him - then there's a pretty simple solution to that problem."

"And what is that? You're going to tell Linda on me?"

"No, it's called harassment charges from the police department."

"You wouldn't."

"Oh but I would. Heather, we're talking Jordan Staal here. My future husband and the father of my child. So don't mess with myself, Jordan, or us. We're in love, and nothing is going to separate us - no matter how hard you try. Think about it Heather. Had you been a nicer person, you probably would have found someone. But, to try and steal someone's fiancee is low, even lower than you are." I said as I left. Jordan took my hand and we walked away.

"I didn't realize that you mad was so sexy," Jordan said, kissing the spot behind my ear.

"Jay, stop. We're on your parents house and I'm pregnant."

"Oh come on, Charli. You just got me so turned on."

"You're gross." I laughed. "Tell you what. When we get back to Toronto, I'll let you have your way with me."

"Ohhh, so on!" He said kissing me.

We went to the living room and watched as Danielle and Marc opened their gifts. After which, we enjoyed a meal with the families. Danielle and I announced that we were both expecting at the same time. It was a great night.

Jordan and I got up early the next morning and drove back to our home - ready to face our lives without having to worry about Heather.