Booze, Boys, and Buses

“Matt I want an explanation now! I want to know why you went out with her and why you didn’t explain it to me in the first place before I get really pissed off.” I said to Matt as he walked through the door of the house.

“Babe, just relax okay?” Matt asked, resting his hands on my arms.

I pushed him off and glared at him. “She hasn’t been in her room yet.” Kacie said to Matt.

“What do you mean?” I asked, walking up the stairs in a storm.

I threw open my door and looked around. The whole room was filled with vases full of beautiful red roses. I heard a small bark and stared in awe at the small puppy coming toward me. I bent down and patted his black and white fur. He licked my cheek and then I stood up again.

“Matt this is…” I began, but couldn’t finish.

“Unexpected?” He guessed, walking up behind me and wrapping his arms around my middle.

“Yeah, to say the least.” I said, smiling and kissing his cheek.

“Happy birthday.” He said, pressing his lips to mine and throwing my brain into a meltdown.

“I forgot all about it!” I shouted, jumping back. “I’ve been so preoccupied with the baby and Max that I forgot my own birthday!”

Matt laughed and kissed me on the cheek again. He bent over and picked up the little dog running around at his ankles. I laughed slightly and then backed up.

“Let me get this straight though, you expect me to take care of Max, a puppy, and not throw up, for the whole two months you’re gone?” I asked, glaring at him again.

“Jesus Cass, do we have to talk about that right now? I worked hard to get all this nice stuff for you so you would be happy. Would you please just wait until tomorrow to talk to me about that?” He begged, pulling me into his arms.

“Fine, but you need to tell me everything that’s going on. The day you’ll be leaving, the day that you’re coming…”

Matt pressed his lips to mine causing my insides to turn to jelly. I gasped and pulled away. He laughed a little and then pressed his lips back.

“I’m just going to leave now.” Kacie said, walking out of the room.

Matt pushed me back on to the bed and hovered over me. He and I began getting more intense with our kiss as we threw our tongues into it. Never in my life had I felt more safe. I pulled at his shirt to get him closer to me, even though it was physically impossible, I wanted him to be even closer.

“Hold on Matt. Your parents are going to be here soon.” I reminded him. He got off of me and sighed. I stood up and pressed my lips to his. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Uh, I’m going to go get Max, you can just stay here.” He walked out the door and slammed it.

I began to cry. I was so happy with everything that was going on. I didn’t want Matt to leave, I didn’t want to be so emotional. I wasn’t even in the mood to have sex with him anymore, and I knew this pissed him off. What was I supposed to do though? I was weak and pregnant. He had to understand. I got off the bed and wiped my tears. My feet took me to the hall where of course, I saw our little husky peeing on the floor.

“Fuckin’ a.” I said, walking over and grabbing him by the collar. “No!”

I threw his face in it. I felt bad scolding him like that, but it’s the only way that they learn. He ran off and I stood there taking in a deep breath. I walked downstairs and then went into the kitchen. I picked some carpet cleaner up and then grabbed a paper towel. I walked back up to the hallway and cleaned up the mess. Just as I finished, the phone rang. I went to my bedroom and answered it.

“Hello?” I asked, sitting down on the bed.

“Hey Cass, it’s Val.”

My heart sunk to the floor. Matt still hadn’t explained anything to me. Maybe I could get some answers out of her.

“Hi.” I didn’t say anything else. After all, she was the one calling me.

“So I wanted to apologize about when we fought at Zack’s house. I know it was immature of me to fight you like that and I’m sorry.” She said with the utmost sincerity in her voice.

“Oh, well, I’m sorry too. I was a bit immature as well.” I said, gritting my teeth.

I wasn’t exactly as sorry as I’d stated. I was still going to hold a grudge against her. Just knowing that she would take Matt back in a heartbeat sent my head into a tizzy.

“What was Matt doing with your number in his pocket?” I asked her straight up. I didn’t want any more secrets going on behind my back.

“I helped him pick out a birthday present for you.” Val said, I could hear some defensiveness in her voice.

“He couldn’t have asked Kacie for help?” I challenged, crossing my arm over my chest.

“Cass, I don’t want there to be anymore tension between us okay? I just want to get along with you and you make it exceedingly difficult.”

“Well forgive me for being a little suspicious when I find a piece of paper in my boyfriend’s pocket with his ex-girlfriend’s number on it!” I shouted, lying back on the bed.

“It’s not like that at all. I’m over Matt now and I’m back with Trevor. I honestly am glad to be rid of him.” Val said, I could hear the truth in her words.

“Alright, I trust you. But Val I swear that if anything sketchy happens between you two, it’s on, and I mean on.” I hoped that she heeded my warning, because I wasn’t kidding.

“Alright. I promise I won’t do anything sketchy.” She said, again sounding defensive.

“Okay, well I have to go, the dog is barking. I’ll talk to you later.” I said, getting up.

“Okay bye.”

We hung up and I walked out to the hallway and down the stairs. The dog was barking at the door indicating that Matt was home with Max. I embraced them both as they walked through the door.

“Hi.” I murmured, not letting go of Matt.

“Hi, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve been crying.” He said, pulling me back and studying my face.

“I know, and I have been.” I admitted, wiping at my eyes trying to be rid of the damn puffy red eyes.

“How come? I didn’t mean to slam the door.” He said, pulling me back into a hug.

“Because I’m just so sick of being…sick. I want to be able to have sex with you, but I just don’t feel up to it anymore.” I said against his chest.

“Cassie it’s fine honestly. I’ll live. Besides, you’re pregnant and you can’t help that and neither can I. We’re just going to have to wait until you feel up to it again. I can wait.” He took my hand in his and kissed my cheek.

“Thanks babe. I’m so glad that you understand.” I kissed his cheek back and wiped a stray tear from my face.

The phone rang and Matt left me to answer it. I picked Max up from his place on the floor and sat down with him on the couch.

“How was your day?” I asked, rubbing his back.

“Mama, I have bottle.” I laughed and hugged him.

“Okay. Hey Matt! While you’re in there could you get Max some milk?” I shouted, bouncing Max on my knee.

“Sure just hold on.” He replied.

I sat there and started stroking Max’s hair. He grinned at me causing me to laugh. I couldn’t wait for my other baby to get here. Matt walked into the room a couple minutes later bearing some milk. He gave it to Max and then sat down next to me.

“My parents aren’t going to be able to make it. My dad says that mom doesn’t feel very well and she doesn’t want to risk getting you or the baby sick.” Matt said, rubbing my back.

“Okay, that stinks then. We’ve been getting the house clean all day for nothing.” I chuckled and laid back on the couch.

“Eh, the house needed it anyway. It was necessary.” He said, lying back with me.

“Yeah it did.”

Silence filled the room and I closed my eyes. I had started to doze off when Matt jumped up.

“Oh I wanted to talk to you about names. I keep on forgetting. I have some in mind.” He said, taking Max from my lap.

“What are you doing with him?” I asked, sitting up.

“He’s starting to look a little tired. I figured that I would go put him in his crib. I’ll be right back down to talk to you.” He said walking off.

I waited a couple minutes for him to return. When he did he was holding on to our puppy.

“Oh, I thought you were talking about our baby.” I said, rubbing my stomach.

“Oh, well we could do names for both.” Matt said, rubbing the dog’s fur.

“Okay, then let’s start with the dog and move on to the baby.” I agreed, shifting so I could hold the puppy.

“I was thinking something like Rayden for the dog.” Matt suggested shrugging.

“You know he looks like a Rayden.” I said, cocking my head. “I like that. We should go with it.”

“Okay, that was easy.” Matt laughed.

The dog leaped from my lap and walked off. “Baby names.” I reminded Matt, knowing he’d already forgotten.

“Right. I like the name Lillian for a girl.” I liked his suggestion.

“Okay, well I really want Travis if it’s a boy. It was my father’s name. Travis Matthew Sanders, or Lillian Marie Sanders.” I thought the names through in my head and I loved them both.

“Why Marie?” Matt asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Because it’s a family tradition. My middle name is Marie, my mother’s middle name was Marie, My grandmother’s middle name was Marie, her mother’s name was…”

“Okay babe, I get it. Marie it is. How come it couldn’t be Travis Charles Sanders?” Matt was teasing me and I knew it.

“Because Travis Matthew Sanders sounds better.” I replied, sticking my nose up high.

“You make a very valid point and I’m going to have to agree with you.”

Just then the door slammed open and Kacie ran over to me with a tear stained face. She hugged me tightly and was nowhere near close to letting go.

“Kacie hon, you’re choking me.” I said, trying to make her let go of me.

She couldn’t stop crying for long enough to talk. I let her continue to sob as I rubbed circles around on her back. Matt walked off to the kitchen and returned a moment later with some tissues and a glass of water.

“Here you go.” He said, handing the items to her.

“Th-thank you.” She said, accepting the tissues and water.

She’d calmed down enough to wipe her nose and tears away and take a drink of water. I continued to rub her back as she sat back on the couch.

“What happened?” I asked, looking deep into her eyes.

“Okay listen, I missed my period, so I bought a pregnancy test. It came up positive so I panicked and bought another one to make sure. That one was positive too! So I thought that telling Zack right off would be better than trying to hide it like you had with Matt. He got mad anyway and yelled at me to leave so he could clear his head! I know he’s going to get drunk. I just know it. Do you remember why he and Gena broke up? It was because he wasn’t ready for a kid and she was. I think it’s over between us!” She shouted and then began sobbing again.

“Kacie listen to me. It’s not over. Just let Zack clear his head and then go talk to him. Honestly, that’s the best thing you can do right now. I’m sure you can stay here while you’re waiting for that to happen, right Matt?” I already knew the answer was yes, but I figured I’d let him feel like he had a say in it.

“Of course you can. I’ll go over and get your clothes. Cass can just help you get comfortable in the guest bedroom.” Matt said, grabbing his keys from the kitchen counter and leaving the house.

“Alright come on sweetie. I’m so sorry that he reacted that wait was wrong of him.” I helped her up and we went up the stairs and toward the guest bedroom.

We walked inside and I remembered how I had first started to have feelings for Matt in this room. I helped Kacie sit and then she lay back on the bed.

“So you’re pregnant huh?” I asked smiling.

“Yeah.” She chuckled.

“Has Zack already talked to you about them going on tour?” I questioned, lying back on the bed with her.

“Yep. I was supposed to help take care of you and the dog while they were gone, but looks like I’m going to be pretty useless.” She said, sighing heavily.

“We both are. We’re going to have to spend two months in a hospital because our men can’t take care of us. Oh yeah, do you know when they’re leaving?” I asked, looking over at her.

“Yeah, in a week.”

“In a week?” I shouted, sitting up.

“They’re leaving in a week? How long had they known about this?” I stood up off of the bed.

“A couple months.” She shrugged like it didn’t faze her.

“A couple months? Oh I’m going to kill him when he gets home. We have to find someone to help me with the dog in one week? I’d hate to ask one of the girls to do it. Fuck it this sucks! I hate being pregnant. Oh well. I know I can take care of myself. I don’t need Matt or anyone else.” I walked out of the room in a storm. “Want something to eat?” I shouted from the stairs.

“Nah! I’m not hungry!” She shouted back.

I sat on the couch and waited impatiently for Matt to get home from Kacie and Zack’s house. It didn’t take him long.

“Hey.” He said as he walked through the door.

“Matt when were you planning on telling me that you were leaving in a week?” I asked, standing up so I could almost be eye to eye with him.

“I was going to tell you tomorrow. Is it that big of a deal? I’m only going to be gone for two months and I’m sure that not much is going to happen. I’m going to be there for you during the end of your pregnancy. It’s the middle stuff I won’t mind missing out on. You know, the attitude, and the cravings.” He stuck his tongue out in disgust.

“You want attitude? You got it asshole.” I stormed upstairs. I saw a lump of brown in the middle of the hallway and then glared at the dog seated right next to it.

“You fucking dog. We’ve had you for one day and already you’ve shit and pissed all over the fucking place. Matt! We need to find a way to train this son of a bitch! Jesus fucking Christ.” I stepped over the lump of poop and walked into my room.

I suppose that by going to bed I would be doing the world a favor as opposed to me talking to Matt face to face. I knew that that would just cause some problems. That was the last thing that Max needed to see was us fighting. I lay down on my bed and just closed my eyes.

One Week Later

“Thank you Leana for doing this.” I said, showing her to the downstairs guest bedroom.

“Oh it’s fine. Anything for a friend in need.” She said, kissing my cheek.

I walked to the door where Matt stood. I hugged him tightly and kissed him on the lips. In all honesty, my gut was tightened with the thought of him being unsupervised on tour, but I had to trust him. This was his job. He forced his tongue through my lips causing me to remember last night and our heated bodies. I owed him that before he went on tour.

“I love you.” He said, holding me tightly.

“Is Val going with you?” I asked, looking at her sitting out there in the Hummer.

“Yeah, but don’t worry. We’ve come to an agreement.”

“What’s that?” I raised my eyebrow.

“If she tries anything, I’m not holding you back.”

I laughed sinisterly and walked out to the car. I tapped on her window. She rolled it down and smiled at me.

“I’m leaving it to you to keep him away from all the crazy bitches I know he’s going to want to do things with. Okay?” I asked, hugging her.

“Sure thing hon.”

I waved goodbye as I walked back into the house. Max was saying goodbye to Matt and then Matt handed him off to me.

“Alright, I love you.” I said, kissing him one more time.

“Bye honey. If you find out what it is before me, let me know.” He said, walking out of the house.

“I sure will. Goodbye!” I shouted, waving to him.

I closed the door and placed Max on the floor. He waddled around and then plopped down in front of his fire truck. He started rolling it back and forth again. I grinned at him and then Leana walked in.

“I want to get pregnant now. You guys are lucky.” Leana said, holding on to her tummy.

“I have heart burn, I would love a pickle right now, and I’m extremely pissed off over nothing all the time. Trust me, Jimmy will thank you for not wanting one. Besides, Kacie I think lost a relationship over it.” I whispered the last part, not wanting Kacie to hear me.

“Wait, you mean that’s why Zack and her aren’t living together anymore? Jimmy said it was because Kacie was going to be here over their tour and she was just getting comfortable. I had no clue that they were fighting.” She said covering her mouth.

“Keep it down, I don’t want her to…”

“It’s fine, I don’t care.” Kacie said, walking from the stairs to the kitchen.

“I’m sorry Kace, I didn’t want this to happen as much as you didn’t. Maybe when he gets back from tour he’ll be better.” I tried to sound as uplifting as possible.

“That’s what you said a week ago! It worked oh so well. Just enough with the advice alright?” She said, walking back upstairs with a water in her hand.

“Kacie I was just trying to…”

The door slammed and I winced. Leana looked from me to the stairs and back at me again. That was just like a slap in my face. I hadn’t meant any harm in what I’d said.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine by tomorrow.” Leana said, rubbing my back.

“I know, thank you Leana.” I said, walking over and picking Max up off the ground.

“Do you want me to take him so that you can go to bed, or rest or something?” Leana asked, holding her arms out.

“Sure, thanks again.” I handed Max over.

I walked upstairs and into my bedroom. My feet carried me to the bed and that’s where I dropped and soon fell asleep.