When Two Become One

Brian’s POV

“Damn it Shads, will you hurry up? This crib ways more then Zacky does!” I said with a heavy grunt.

Kourtney stopped painting for a second so that she could shoot a glare my way. Jesus, can anybody take a joke around here? Smirking at her, I just rolled my eyes and continued to hold one end of the solid oak crib that we were trying to position. From the look on Jimmy’s face, I could tell that he was also tired of following Matt’s inconsistent directions.

“Ok, just a little bit to the right.”

Jimmy and I shuffled over a step and waited for further instructions. Why Zacky had chose to buy two heavy, gigantic, and very expensive cribs was beyond me. Here we are slaving away to get the room done in time for Sierra and Zacky is stuffing his face at his parents house. The small knot that had been forming in my back for a while felt like it was going to rip me in two.

“Actually, that’s too far. A little to the left.” Matt conducted.

We moved back to the spot we had just been in. Jimmy cried out loud and started issuing death threats towards Matt. I couldn’t blame him though. Matt walked around us a few times before smiling to himself.

“Put it there. It’s perfect!” he ordered.

The cumbersome crib came to a crash on the floor as it hopefully found its permanent home. Swinging back and forth quickly, I cracked my back and let out a sigh of relief. Looking down at the floor I watched as Jimmy began making snow angels on the new carpet. Giving him a quizzical look, he mentioned something about being great on the spine. Jimmy was somewhat messed up in the head at times, so I decided not to say anything. Despite Matt being very controlling of the days events, I think it turned out very well. Zacky didn’t want to go all ‘baby blue’ for his kids, so the girls painted the walls a light shade of charcoal gray. Then, they took two different shades of blue and made two stripes down the middle of the walls, which cut the room into a top and a bottom. Both cribs had navy blue sheets and a gray blanket for each child. Val, out of sheer boredom, painstakingly hand painted a border around the top of the walls. The border was a music staff and the notes on it were of a particular song that Zacky loves. Seize the Day would now be a permanent fixture of their sons’ room. Miraculously, Johnny managed to put together the cabinets and bookshelves that also matched the wood from the cribs. We all took a few steps back and admired our work. Jimmy walked forward towards the cribs and added the final touches.

“Jimmy,” Leana sighed, “the room was fine and now you ruined it by putting those stupid stickers up!”

“What? Zacky will love that we added some of his flare to the room. Besides, nothing screams infancy like a sticker of a partially open knife.”

The soft purr of an SUV entered the windows telling us that Zacky had arrived with Sierra. Val quickly ushered us into a spare bedroom and closed the door behind her. Jimmy and Kourtney began to giggle madly as the suspense in the room built. Footsteps on the stairs caused me to cover both of their mouths with my hands. The soft voices of Zacky and Sierra were muffled by the door, but we would know when the right time to come out would be. The room we where in became dead quiet as we waited. Soon enough, we got what we were waiting for.

“Holy shit!” Sierra screamed.

Kourt and Liz led the group out of the room to see her reaction. The first thing that I noticed were the tears streaming down her face. Zacky had both of his arms around her just so that she would fall over. Shakily, she stepped towards the cribs and ran her hands over the smooth wood. It was if she had to touch it to make sure it was really there.

“Thank you,” she said whilst sniffling, “thank you so very much.”

Oddly enough, Matt was the first to start the group hug. I can honestly say that this is the biggest hug that I’ve ever been a part of. The group disbanded leaving Sierra still attached to Zacky. Not wanting to ruin their moment, we slowly left the room. Seeing her reaction to the bedroom of her kids really made all the hassle worth it.

Zacky’s POV

Her bloodshot eyes were beautiful to me. I knew that she was shedding tears of joy, so I had no reason to be concerned. The effect that all this had on her warmed me to the bone. Nothing in this world made me happier then to see the one I love content. She stood up on her toes and placed her lips on mine. I loved the way her tepid lips heated up the harsh metallic feeling of my piercings. Sierra rolled back onto her heels but remained still in the comfort of my arms.

“You are too good to be true Mr. Baker. Every day I wake up and expect to see my old apartment and hear sirens all around. Words cannot express how much I truly love you.” she whispered into my shirt.

I brought her body tighter into mine and just rocked her back and forth. Her feeling was mutual. I never thought that I would ever be the kind of person to settle down. Now look at me. Zacky Vengeance is going to be a father to two boys and a husband to an amazing woman.

“Lets go downstairs Sierra and I’ll make you some tea or something.”

My arm was still around her should as we walked into the kitchen. A red light was flashing on the telephone, indicating a new message. Continuing to walk through, I pressed the button as I passed it. The voice on the other end was not something that I wanted to hear.

“Ms. Sanders, this is the Huntington Beach Police Office.”

Sierra froze in her tracks and stared at the phone as if it was threatening her.

“We are calling to ask if you would still like to testify in the case of California versus Alex Bronwyn. If you chose to do so, call our department and let the detectives know.”

The dial tone echoed throughout the kitchen. Sierra still seemed rooted to her spot. Her face was void of emotion as she gazed at the phone. On the other hand, I was furious. Even in jail that guy was still haunting our lives. There was only one way to fully end this. Walking over to the phone, I grabbed it and held it out to Sierra.

“Babe, this is the only way to get rid of him. Put him where he belongs.” I said in almost a whisper.

She nodded slowly and reluctantly took the phone from me. Sierra knew that in order for her to get rid of Alex, she would have to face him one last time.