Two Pieces

“Merry Christmas, Mom. . . and Dad,” Rylee greeted through the phone, trying to conceal the bitterness she still had towards her father, but obviously failing from the deep sigh he gave.

“Merry Christmas, Rylee.”

Rylee ran a hand through her hair. If things weren’t awkward enough with her parents over the phone, imagine having dinner with them, which was what she and Matt was scheduled to do later on.

“What time do you want Matt and I to arrive,” she asked, emphasizing her husbands name for her father’s sake.

“I have the turkey in the oven now. So dinner should be ready around 5 o’clock.”

“Okay, sounds good. We’ll be there.”

“See ya later, sweetie.”

Rylee couldn’t help but feel a little hurt after ending the call. Her dad hadn’t said anything to her during that entire two-minute conversation. Not that it surprised her, considering things were still raw between them, but she hoped he would at least be considerate on Christmas.

She took a deep breath to stop the tears from building any further, pushing the negative thoughts from her mind. She was supposed to be happy; after all, it was Christmas morning.

She had just given Matt his Christmas gift, a name-brand golf set, something he’s been talking about for a while now. She never thought of him as the golfer type, but ever since he was introduced to the sport while on tour, he can’t seem to stop playing. So to say he was happy with his gift was an understatement.

Rylee shifted around uncomfortably in the chair, searching for a position that was comfortable. She’d been doing a lot of this lately. Sitting. Lying down. And then more sitting. Her doctor had made it clear during her last appointment that she needed to rest. And while she hated being on bed rest, she knew it was important at this stage of pregnancy. She was basically at the end, now in her ninth month, and the baby could arrive at anytime.

She huffed impatiently for Matt to return back to the living room. He went to go get her gift “ready”. That was fifteen minutes ago.

“Matt. What are you doing?”

She could hear him rustling around near the garage door and the kitchen.

“Matt?” she called again, a bit louder.

Still no response from him.

She groaned and shifted her self forward, so she could rise up out of the chair. But her actions were to no avail as the front half of her body weighed her down immensely, making her efforts useless. The struggle only fueled her impatient attitude.

“MATT!”

She relaxed back into her chair upon hearing his shoes scrape against the floor as he barged into the room.

“What? Is it time? What’s wrong?”

She cracked a smile at his panicked state. He visibly relaxed seeing it and ran a hand over his head.

“Don’t yell like that. ‘Bout gave me a fuckin’ heart attack.”

“So you’re saying when the time actually comes that you’ll die on me? What kind of shit is that?” she smirked, obviously joking around.

“Course not, babe. I’ll be here every step of the way.”

He motioned for her to hold out her hands for him to grasp. When she obliged, he pulled her up to her feet, keeping a hand on her lower back.

“So, where’s my gift,” she asked though a strained voice as she stretched.

“Come with me and you shall receive.”

“Why do I get the notion that you went all out with my gift?” Matt led her out the front door and down the steps before blindfolding her with a piece of cloth. Rylee gasped and tugged at the silk material.

“What the hell?”

Matt laughed and pulled the cloth back in place. “Just trust me.”

She gave in, loosening up enough for him to maneuver her. He walked her carefully over to the driveway. Once they arrived, he spun her around so that she was facing him and removed the blindfold. She quickly glanced around, taking things in.

Matt took her face in his hands, preventing her from looking behind her. “Just focus on me for a second.”

She gave a nod.

“So I know how much you really love your Corvette. And that’s fine but now that we are starting a family, you can’t rely on a car with no back seat.”

“Matt. . . are you saying what I think you’re saying..?”

“Merry Christmas, Ryles!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, revealing them to her with a dimpled grin.

Rylee could feel her heart hammer excitedly against her chest. She couldn’t believe it. He had bought her a car. Yeah, she knew he could easily afford one, but she was expecting something along the lines of gardening supplies. Not a brand new set of wheels. And brand spanking new it was. She sucked in a breath at the sight of it. It was a light blue, almost metallic looking four door SUV. It was definitely a mom car. No doubt about that. But it was what she needed. She could drive Geneva around without worry.

“Do you like it?” he asked, worried.

He wasn’t sure if her tears were from joy or disappointment.

“Yes. I love it.” She reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him on his cheeks before planting one on his lips.

He couldn't help but laugh at her excitement.

With the click of a button, she unlocked the doors and hurriedly opened the driver’s side.

“Oh my . . .it’s so modern. So chic.”

“Check out the back seat.”

“Ah, you put the car seat in!”

Matt chuckles, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“Yup. Only took 3 beers and two phone calls. Some stupid LATCH system bullshit . . .was confusing as hell.”

Rylee closed the door and went over to give him another hug.

“Thank You. For all of this. I wouldn’t know what to do without you, honestly.”

*****

A few hours later they were in the new car headed to Rylee’s parents house. Matt was driving, since she couldn't fit behind the wheel.

Her palms were beginning to sweat as they neared closer to their destination. All she wished for was a drama free dinner. But she had a feeling her father had a lot to say, considering it would be the first time he’d see Matt since before tour started.

“Honey? Don’t worry.”

Rylee met Matt’s concerned gaze.

“It’ll be fine. Okay?”

She still wasn’t convinced. “He’s going to provoke you. I know it,” she rubbed her stomach nervously, “and I know how you get when provoked. It won’t end well.”

Matt let out a deep sigh. She was right. It would be difficult for him to back down if her father provoked him.

“Baby, I’ll try my best to keep my temper under control. Just please stop worrying and try to enjoy yourself?”

Rylee grabbed his free hand, his warmth soothing her, and gave it a light squeeze.

“I’ll try.”

Neither one of them discussed it any further. They were parked in the driveway not long after. The typical southern California, Spanish style home was decorated with red and green lights. A blowup figurine of Santa Clause on a surfboard stood in the front yard, next to a miniature, Charlie Brown esque, Christmas tree. The familiar sight brought comfort to Rylee.

She held on to Matt’s hand tightly as he rang the doorbell. He gave her reassuring squeezes in return, hoping to keep her calm. They were met with Mrs. Moreno’s smiling face as she quickly opened the door to invite them in.

“Aw, my baby is ready to pop,” she exclaimed, wrapping Rylee into a warm hug.

“Nice to see you, Matt,” she said, giving him a hug as well.

Seeing her mom welcome Matt made her relax a bit. At least one parent was considerate.

They were then led to the dining room where the table was set with food and festive décor. Rylee made her way around the table, hugging family members. When it came to her Dad, he stood up and hugged her properly. Different from the apprehensive hug she had planned to give him.

“How are you, baby girl?” he muttered, as he gave her stomach some attention.

“I’m alright . . .ready to pop soon.”

“I can see that. Gonna have to keep an eye on ya-”

“Hello, Mr. Moreno,” Matt greeted respectfully.

Mr. Moreno eyed him up and down for a second before meeting his daughter’s glare. He reached his hand out hesitantly, “Hello, Matthew. I see you decided to come home and take responsibility.”

Rylee stared at their connected hands; waiting to see whose hand would break first from the tight grip they were giving each other. She rolled her eyes at their competitive stance before grabbing Matt’s arm.

“Let’s go sit.”

He all but snatched his hand from his father-in-laws, sending him a warning glace before following Rylee to their seats.

Once everyone was sat and ready, Rylee’s grandmother said Grace before the feast commenced.

“Can you pass me the mashed potatoes and gravy?” she asked Matt.

“Sure, baby.”

She piled the potatoes on her plate and then smothered them in gravy, followed by turkey, stuffing, a bread roll and sweet potatoes. The sound of small talk and the clattering of forks surround her as she focused on scarfing down the delicious contents. Her appetite has been off and on lately. Today, it was in beast mode.

“So, Rylee? Do you have a back-up plan?”

Rylee swallowed the last bit of her apple juice before clearing her throat to question her father.

“What do you mean?”

“Just In case you two don’t work out. . “

His eyes roamed over to her side, glaring at Matt. Without giving her a chance to respond, Matt cut in.

“We’ll work out. No doubt about that.”

The rest of her family wore confused expressions, deciding if they should ask questions or not. When no one said anything, it was apparent that they decided to stay out of it.

“Yeah, we’ll see how long that’ll last, rock star.”

Rylee could see Matt trying to hold his tongue. She could also see his hazel eyes cloud over with anger. She knew that look all to well. It wouldn’t be long before he cracked.

When the tension seemed to diffuse a bit, Rylee returned to her plate of food. She took a few more bites before pushing it away. Just like that, her appetite was gone.

“You okay, sweetie?” asked her mom.

Rylee nodded, “Yeah, just full is all.”

She nodded and continued her conversation with Rylee’s aunt.

Rylee grabbed her empty cup, needing to quench her thirst.

“I’m gonna go get some water from the kitchen,” she told Matt.

“I can get it.”

“No, let me. I need to walk around a bit.”

He gave in and helped her up from her seat.

She found it a lot easier to catch her breath now since all the pressure was no longer on her rib cage. Instead, it moved down to her pelvis, which pretty much made everything uncomfortable. Sitting and standing. But she was feeling restless and needed to move around.

She made her way to the kitchen, eyeing the dessert that sat on the counter. Seeing the cheesecake made her appetite re-appear.

She flipped up the tap and filled her glass with cold water. Then she leaned against the counter for a bit, taking slow sips. The urge to sneak a bit of cheesecake was strong, so she decided to make her way back to the dining room.

As soon as she took a step, she felt a rush of warm liquid gush out from between her legs and splash onto the tile floor. She stood there speechless for a few seconds as her brain tried to piece together what had just happened. But then it hit her. Her water just broke. A strong contraction followed soon after, making her drop the glass of water to the floor. Her hand flew down to her lower stomach where the dull ache was felt.

Matt was the first person to barge into the kitchen, followed by her mother, father and the rest of her family.

“Matt?” she whined.

“Your water broke! Oh my God,” her mother yelled.

Matt stood there briefly, glancing back and forth between her and the puddle of liquid on the floor beneath her. Her loud cry snapped him out of his daze and he moved into action.

“C’mon, Ryles. Let’s get you to the hospital.”

Rylee grabbed his hand as he quickly led her out to the car. Luckily her hospital bag was already in the car. She tried to control her breathing while he rounded the other side of the car, jumping in and starting it.

“Matt! It fucking hurts!!”

He winced at the pained look on her face. He couldn’t stand to see her like this.

Rylee could feel the pressure get heavier and heavier with each contraction.

“Hang in there, babe. Almost there, okay?”

She nodded and continued to breathe as practiced. Matt quickly called Jimmy to inform him so he could inform the others’. Then he called his parents.

Once they arrived, Rylee was crying her heart out. Wondering out loud if they were ready. If they were even prepared enough. With each contraction came more and more doubt. She even cursed him out for all the shit he put her though. He handled that like a champ, 'cause he knew he deserved it. But hearing her question their preparedness got to him. He thought he’d done a good job reassuring her over the past month or so that they would be just fine. Then he thought back to all the pamphlets and shit that he read here and there and realized she was talking out of fear. He had to admit he was also scared. However, he needed to be brave for Rylee and he needed to be brave for his little girl, as she would soon need her daddy.