The Good Side of Me

Chapter Sixteen

Six Weeks Later

The past six weeks have been some of the most hectic weeks of my life. I've been surrounded by people, barely getting a second to collect my own thoughts. My mother has constantly been hounding us about wedding plans and everyone at some point has gotten on each other's nerves.

"Boys! Come here and look at this venue," my mother yells from the kitchen.

"She's driving me insane," I groan and Anthony laughs. I know he feels the same way but he's too polite to admit it. We head out to the kitchen and entertain her for a few minutes until I have to get ready for my last doctor's appointment.

"Hey Anth?" I ask, shyly.

"Yes?"

"Do you have to go back to work as soon as we get home? Or do you think maybe we can go somewhere for a few weeks, just the two of us. We haven't had any time alone in months and it's driving me insane," I say.

"No, I'm sure your dad won't mind. Where were you thinking?" He asks.

"We could go to the Hamptons," I suggest.

"Sure. When do you want to go?" Anthony asks.

"Tomorrow. Mike can drop us off on his way to Toronto. I'll call him and ask him," I say, excited at the thought of having a few weeks alone with Anthony.

"Sounds good to me. Do you want me to book us a place? Do you have a specific place in mind?" He asks.

"Anthony, we own a house down there, have I never told you that?" I say, confused.

"No, but why am I not remotely surprised," Anthony says and chuckles. I call Mike and he says it's not a problem. We finish getting ready and head out into the kitchen.

"You ready to go?" My father asks.

"Yeah. Oh dad, Mike is going to drop us off in the Hamptons tomorrow before he takes you guys to Toronto," I tell him casually.

"Okay bud, no problem," he says.

"Under no circumstance are you going anywhere other than home," my mother says.

"What? I'm sorry, I must have missed the part where I was asking," I say. My father shoots me a look that tells me to watch my tone with her. However, she's even been driving him insane lately, so he doesn't say anything to me about it.

"Blake, you are starting your day program in three weeks, and you need to come home and get settled. You have doctor appointments you can't miss," she demands.

"Yeah, I know, we're only going for two weeks. I'll be home to start this stupid program," I say, dreading it to begin with.

"Don't be so irresponsible Blake, you need to prioritize your recovery," my mother yells.

"I'm not in the mood for this mom. We're going. I think you're forgetting I'm in my thirties, I wasn't asking you I was telling you," I shout. I hate raising my voice at my mother, but she's just been getting on my last nerve lately.

"Anthony, you need to encourage him to go home and get started with his program," my mother says to Anthony. I'm about to turn around and explode but shockingly, my father handles it.

"Kim, don't you dare drag Anthony into this, that isn't fair. You know he has our son's best interest at heart. Blake is old enough to make his own decisions and we need to respect that. There is no problem with them taking a few weeks out to decompress and spend some time together Kim. This has been a stressful few months on all of us, but especially them," my father tells her sternly.

"He's gained no weight in the six weeks we've been here Chris; he needs to go home and focus on that. He's underweight," my mother snaps back.

"Kim, enough. Now. I don't want to hear another word about it. Two more weeks won't hurt him," he tells her in a tone that she knows better than to speak back to. My mother may not voice her displeasure at the situation, but she shows it by slamming the car door when ever the opportunity arises.

The doctor looks over everything and gives me the go ahead to fly. Thank God, I don't know what I'd do if I were to be stuck here much longer. I can feel myself going insane. He's happy with how my incision has healed and he's thrilled that my heartrate hasn't dropped below a sixty seven. We head back to the cottage and spend the rest of the evening packing and visiting Anthony's family.

The next morning we make our way to the airport. My mother feels the need to this time voice her displeasure at least fifteen times before we even step foot on the plane. The flight is boring and filled with absolutely nothing but talk of how sick I am and how Anthony and I are irresponsible because we haven't started planning our wedding yet. Finally, we arrive. I've never been so happy to leave such a confined space before.

"Blake, it's so good to see you, how are you?" Richard asks. He works for my father, living in the guest house at the back of the property. He manages the property year round. My father must have called him to come pick us up. My parents talk with him for a few minutes, and we make our way to the house. When we eventually pull in, Anthony can't believe his eyes.

"Is this some kind of joke?" He asks, laughing to himself.

"We're in the Hamptons, it's nothing but money here," I say, and he rolls his eyes. I lean over and kiss his cheek. We get out and unload our luggage, talk to Richard for a few minutes and then make our way inside.

"Who the hell needs this?" Anthony asks in astonishment. I can't help but laugh. "Where's your room? I'll go put our bags away then come down and make us lunch," he smiles.

"It's upstairs, last bedroom in the hallway to the right," I tell him. Anthony starts heading towards the stairs. "Oh, no, not those stairs. Our room is in the other wing," I say casually. "The stairs are just around the corner," I say pointing him in the right direction.

"I'm sorry, a wing? Did you really just say that? Of course you guys have a house that has wings," he says, and I laugh. I hear him mutter to himself something about rich people and he walks up the stairs and puts our bags away.

Anthony comes back down, and he pulls out some food to make us lunch. Once he's finished cooking we make our way over to the living room couch to eat and watch a movie.

"Babe?" I say halfway through the movie.

"Yeah," Anthony says, pulling me onto his lap.

"Let's get married," I say and smile.

"Well, I thought that was the plan all along," Anthony says and laughs.

"No, I mean let's do it here. Now. I don't want to waste any more time. What if something happens to me before we get married?" I say, knowing I shouldn't have. It's been on my mind lately though. Life is too short; you never know what tomorrow holds.