Almost Maybes

Party for Two: Part 2

Connie’s POV:
The auditorium at the elementary school was the first place that Chase and Hadley ever met. Even all these years later, I still remembered that day as if it was yesterday. Maybe because even then, I knew deep down those two would end up being together, that I would one day call her my daughter. I pretty well thought of her in that way already, but there was just something about being able to say that she was my daughter in law, that she tamed my baby boy and turned him into a man, that just warmed my heart. Plus there was the added bonus of her carrying my grandchild. Lord knows I would have preferred that they had been married when that happened, but the lord works in mysterious ways. And as a woman walking the lord's path, who am I to question his plans for His children. 

That memory was why the minute Chase had suggested a private listening party, I knew that it had to be done at the place where it all started for them. But it was so much more than that. Chase wanted to play her his CD and that just wasn't going to cut it. If that son of mine wanted to make this special, he was going to have to sing every song on that record, in person, and pour every ounce of his heart into it. No woman on this earth could refuse a man when she strummed a guitar and sang songs to her. Heaven knows that’s how Daniel had convinced me that I should take a chance on a farm boy who had moved to Florida chasing what he thought he wanted out of life, only to realize that there was no place like home. And for him, North Carolina had been home.

I sighed, thinking about my late husband. He loved Hadley as if she was the daughter he never had. And when he had passed away, it had been Hadley who had been there for Chase. Lord knows he had spiraled out after Daniel died, him and his brother coming to blows over something that neither of them even remembered now. If it hadn't been for Hadley, there is really no telling what would have become of Chase. Which was why I had to make sure that this thing was planned perfectly. Sure, those two had some things to figure out, but maybe the pregnancy and him spilling his feelings for her is enough to move them along in the right direction.    

With a whispered ‘I love you’ towards heaven, I grabbed my phone and started making the required calls. Glancing at my watch, I smiled to myself. I knew I would have time to make this special for both Hadley and Chase. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Hadley’s house would be the first stop he would make as soon as he made it to town. Wouldn't surprise me if he didn’t come home at all.  

Hadley’s POV:
Funny how facing the facts about why I had been sick had worked wonders for how I felt today. For the first time in a week, I actually felt like I was human. While I still didn't have much energy, and smells seemed to wreak havoc on my stomach, I actually felt well enough to shower without the fear of face planting in the shower. And lord knows I needed it. After a week of puking my guts out every five seconds, my hair was in desperate need of a good washing. 

Standing under the spray of the warm shower, I let the water cascade off of me, warming me and washing away all the nastiness from the past few days. As I stood there, I placed the palm of my right hand low on my belly and looked down. Before I knew it, I wouldn't be able to see my toes while standing. That thought both excited and terrified me all at once, mostly because even though Connie had said that Chase would be excited to know I was pregnant, there was the fact that he and I had conceived this child together, with no label on just what the hell we were. I knew what I wanted us to be and according to Mama Connie, Chase wanted the same thing. But skirting those feelings had done nothing but get us where we are today. Me too chicken to pick up the phone and call him, and him, well, I didn't know why he hadn't called. I’d be lying if I said that didn't sting just a little bit. But then again, I was mostly to blame for that after the way I had tried to act at Christmas, avoiding him at all costs and only speaking to him when others were around.