Life As We Know It

“BABE! LEX! COME HERE!” I hear as I am relaxing in the bath and jump out of the tub. I wrap a towel around myself and rush downstairs.

“What!? What is going on?” I ask as I almost break my ankle running into the room to see James holding up Austin.

“Hang on” he says and sets him down. Austin pushes himself up like he has for a week now and pushes himself. He starts crawling and I honestly tear up.

“Oh my god!” I say and wipe my eyes. “He is growing up so fast” I say then shake from being wet and it is making me cold. “Let me go wash off and I will be back down soon”

“I don’t know I like you in this” he says looking me up and down with a smirk.

I pull open the towel and flash him before sprinting up the stairs, laughing the whole way. I hear him yelling that flashing him was not fair. After getting dressed, I head back down stairs to find Austin crawling around. “He is really doing it, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he is” he says and I sit down on the ground.

“Austin, come here. Come to sissy” I say and put my arms out towards him.

“Sissy?” James asks

I shrug my shoulders, “I know he is going to start talking soon and if I start calling myself sissy now then maybe that will his first word” I say as I watch him crawl over to me with a huge smile on his face. “You are so cute; you are going to have all the girls swooning”

“He must get it from me” James says and I don’t have to turn around to know he is smirking. I just roll my eyes and pick up Austin when he is close enough.

“Who’s a big boy?” I ask him and he cackles and blows spit bubbles. “Yeah, you are”

“You know when I was in the mall yesterday I ran into a sports store and I bought some stuff” James says and pulls a big bag from beside the couch.

“Is there anything left in the store?” I ask him

“Ha ha” he says with a straight face. “I got some things for Austin for the future, when he comes to games.” He says as he pulls out a tiny jersey with Neal on the back and all this Penguins stuff in all different sizes.

“Did anyone ask you why you were buying baby clothes?” I asked

“A lady looked at me weird and I said it was for a nephew” he says with a shrug.

“So you lied about me, us?”

“That’s not what I meant. I just don’t want to drag you guys into the media. It will be a PR nightmare”

“We are a nightmare?” I ask getting more upset.

“You are twisting my words around!”

“What are you trying to say James?” I ask and calm myself down enough to listen to him.

“I don’t want you in the media. I don’t want people invading our privacy. I don’t want people talking about your mom and step dad. I don’t want people to dig into your past and expose every little secret you have. I don’t want to share you.” He finishes with his hands in his hair.

“I don’t want to hide and be a secret” I say taking a seat on the couch.

“You are not a secret I just don’t want a big neon sign saying you are my girlfriend and you are in an unusual situation.”

“Okay” I say

“Okay?”

“Yeah I don’t want to be stalked or anything so we will keep to ourselves as much as we can. We won’t outright flaunt but we won’t become recluses either” I say and narrow my eyes at him.

“Deal”

“I still want my date night at least once a month”

“If not more” he says with a smile and sitting next to me.

“I’m sorry I overreacted” I whisper and lean in. “It is probably me PMS-ing”

“I’m sorry I made you angry” he says and closes the distance between us and gives me a kiss.

“I love you” I whisper

“I love you too, both of you” he says and kisses the top of Austin’s head. “I am going to head to the gym and won’t be back for a couple of hours”

“Okay I was thinking of using that good stroller in the garage and going on a run with Austin”

“Sounds fun so I will see you for dinner?” he asks as he gets up.

“Yeah, call me when you are on your way”

“I will. Be careful and take your phone with you”

“I will” I say walking him to the door.

“Okay, I love you” he says pecking a kiss on Austin’s head then one to my lips.

“Love you too” I say and shut the door behind him.

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“Well that was a great run” I say breathlessly to Austin as I lift him out of the stroller. “But I need a shower now, I smell gross”

I walk inside and put Austin in his walker and went to see what I could make for dinner. My cooking skills have improved in the months that I have been living here. I decided that I will make spaghetti, one that I am a pro at. Just as I get everything out my phone rings.

“Hey babe, I’m thinking spaghetti tonight” I say when I answer

“Sounds good, I am on my way home. How was your run?” he says

“It was good, refreshing. I liked getting out of the house and getting fresh air”

“That’s good, well I am about to go into the tunnel so I will see you when I get home”

“Okay see you soon, bye”

“Bye” he says and we hang up.

I have dinner on the table and James isn’t home yet. Thinking he might have stopped somewhere I give him ten more minutes before calling him. It rings and rings then goes to voicemail. I try again and it goes to voicemail again. I start to get knots in my stomach and check his driveway for his car, maybe he is in the shower next door. His car isn’t there and no answer on his home phone either. I am starting to freak out but before a full blown panic attack occurs the phone rings.

“James? Hello?” I ask

“Hello, this is the number I have for emergencies for James Neal.” I hear and I almost collapse, “This is Officer Jones and I am here at the hospital with James. Can you come down here?” he asks.

“Yes, I will be there as soon as I can. Which hospital?” I ask and not long after I have Austin strapped in and on my way to the hospital. They wouldn’t give me any details on the phone and that is scaring the shit out of me. I pull into the first parking spot I find and we make our way inside. I ask the nurse at the desk for James’ room and make my way there. I knock on the door softly before opening it to see James sitting on the bed.

“I told them not to call you, I knew you were going to freak out” he says with a sigh.

“I have a good reason to freak out” I say and just then an officer walks into the room with a doctor.

“Are you Alexis Carter?” the officer asks.

“Yes that’s me” I say and shake his hand. “What happened?” I ask looking between him and James.

“I was in the tunnel and some jackass behind me didn’t see me braking because of traffic and smashed my bumper, which caused me to hit the car in front of me. I’m fine, really” he says but I look at the doctor.

“Other than mild whiplash and a bump on the forehead he is fine. I just wanted someone to drive him home, just in case.”

“Of course” I say and hand Austin over the James because he was squirming for him.

“If you have any pain out of the ordinary, call me” the doctor says to James and hands him his card.

“I will, thank you”

“Go home with your family and get some rest” he says before making his way out of the room.

“Did you need any more questions answered?” James asks the officer.

“No that should do it. Your car has been impounded and you can pick it up in the morning. Thank you for being so cooperative today, you guys have a nice night” he says before leaving.

“I am going to get dressed” James says and grabs his clothes from the end of the bed.

“Nice gown” I say watching him walk to the bathroom in his open backed hospital gown.

“Hush” he says as he closes the door.

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“So is your car totaled?” I ask as we exit the highway.

“Just the bumpers are messed up; I will have to take it to a shop in the morning”

“Oh! I know a shop and they are really reasonable, I am friends with the owner” I say and pull into our neighborhood.

“That is perfect” he says.

“I made dinner but it is probably cold and nasty now”

“Isn’t that what microwaves are for?” he says and gets Austin out of the car after we pull in the driveway.

“I guess you can use that until you get your car back” I say pointing to my mom’s car packed on one side of the garage.

“Are you sure? I can figure something else out”

“No, that is a perfectly good car you can use.” I say and grab the keys off the hook for it. “Let me see if it starts” I unlock it and open the door. As soon as I sit down I am hit with her perfume; I sit there a few minutes before I feel a hand on my shoulder.

“It’s okay” James says and wipes a tear that I didn’t even know was there away.

“I’m sorry, that just snuck up on me” I say and take a deep breath before turning the car on. It sounded normal so I shut it off. I looked up and saw pictures on the sun visor I pulled it down to see a picture of Austin after he was born and a picture of me from my senior year.

“It’s fine baby, let’s go inside and have some dinner” he says.

We sit down to dinner after heating it up and I can tell something is on his mind.

“I can hear the wheels turning from here.” I say with a smile

“I was, um, I wanted to talk to you about something” he says sounding unsure and nervous.

“You can talk to me about anything”

“Well, um, did you know I was renting my house? Well I got a call from my realtor today and she said my lease is expiring in a month and asked if I wanted to renew it?”

“Is there a question in there James?” I asked him with a smirk on my face.

“I was wondering, hoping that we could move in together? Well I would be moving in here technically” he says

“You want to move in?” I ask

“Would that be horrible?” he asks

“You practically live here anyway” I say with a smile

“Is that a yes?”

“That is a yes” I say. After putting Austin to bed we spend the rest of the night reacquainting our bodies.

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“Hey, I called my friend and we can bring your car there today” I say to James as we eat breakfast.

“Okay, we will go after we finish eating” he says and I disappear upstairs to get ready. After getting ready we drive to the impound lot where his car is and then we are on our way to the shop. We pull into the parking lot and enter the shop’s office.

“Hey I’m looking for Rick” I say to the receptionist.

“Hang on” she says and disappears through the back door, I hear her yelling then two people walk back through.

“Lexi Carter” Rick says with a huge smile before coming around the desk and picking me up in a huge bear hug. I hear James clear his throat and I tap Ricks back to put me down. “And James Neal? Wow girl you are moving up in the world” he says with a smirk.

“Shut it Ricky, James this is Rick” I say and they shake hands. “Rick is an old friend from high school, Ricky this is James my boyfriend”

“A lot has changed since then.” Rick says and looks at Austin “Yours?” he asks

“No, my brother” I say and I see the sadness wash over him.

“I heard what happened to your mom and stepdad, I tried calling but I think I had an old number” he says.

“Probably, I changed it a while back” I say with a shrug. “Well, will you come out and look at James’ car?” I say and take Austin from James.

“Anything for you” he says with a wink and I know it is harmless flirting but I can see James is tense; I grab his hand as we walk out and give it a squeeze. “This should be an easy fix. I can have it ready in a couple of days”

“That’s great news” I say and turn to James “Right babe?”

“Yeah, that is great. Do you know how much it will cost?”

“Um, not for sure but it would be in the ballpark of 800- 1000” Rick says

“That sounds good” James says

“Okay, I will just need some information. It will just take a minute” Rick says

“Okay, I’m going to put Austin in his car seat. Meet you out here” I say and they walk inside together. After getting situated and about 5 minutes later James comes out but looks upset.

I decided that I would let him tell me what is wrong but after a couple minutes of driving I gave up. “What up?”

“He thinks he knows what is best for you and that he can threaten me”

“What did he say?”

“Oh you know the usual ‘if you hurt her, I will kill you’ stuff” he says “What is your history with him? Did you date in high school?”

“Me and Ricky? No! Never! Strictly friends more like a brother, I actually dated his brother” I said with a laugh but all I got back was a blank/glare look. “Sorry but I grew up here and I dated before I met you. There are a couple of ex’s floating around the city. Just like I am sure there are a couple of your ex’s here too” I say

“I never really dated” he says

“Fine, hook up’s” I say with a sigh. “Everyone has a past James and I hope you don’t judge me on mine because I don’t judge you on yours” I say

“No, I’m not judging. I feel like there is still so much I don’t know about you.”

“I know and the same with you, I guess we will just have to figure it out as we go” I say with a smile and clasp his hand in mine.

He brings my hand up and kisses the back, “I love you”

“I love you too” I say and kiss his hand back. That night we went through a whole bottle of wine while talking until 2 AM.