Giving Up

Chapter 10 part 2

James was released from the hospital with a broken arm, leg, collar bone, and three fractured ribs. Lillie stayed with him to take care of him, since he couldn't walk. She cleaned his entire house, cooked for him, gave him bed baths, and sat by his side while he tried to ignore the pain. They hadn't really talked much about their situation, and James knew they needed to. They needed to start communicating about everything, even if it was uncomfortable or hard to talk about. They needed to trust each other enough to be vulnerable with each other.

"Lillie, I hope you know how much I love you. I am so glad you are here with me. I wish I hadn't have gotten wasted and hurt myself but, either way, I am glad you are here. We need to talk about the future. I need to know that you aren't going to leave me every time something gets a little tough. I will love you through every situation, and leaving me will never be the answer." He reached into his bedside stand and pulled out a small box. He turned to Lillie who was lying on the bed with him. "I wanted to be more romantic, but there's not a whole lot I can do with all these broken bones. Lillie, spend your life with me. Please say you will marry me."

Lillie got tears in her eyes as James opened the ring box. Inside was a beautiful ring with a sapphire in the middle and a diamond on each side. It was the most gorgeous ring she had ever had the pleasure of owning. She nodded her head several times before choking out a verbal response. "I would love to marry you." She meant it deep down to her soul, she just hoped that they weren't rushing their relationship or moving too fast. 

Weeks passed by with Lillie and her friends taking care of James. She wanted to stay with him every day, but one of them had to be working to pay the bills. She was struggling to pay for the house and the apartment without James having any income. She sat down with him after work one day, took his hand, and started crying. She had been working really hard to always be open about how she was feeling and to always be willing to talk about things with James so that she didn't push him away or start to resent him when the feelings started to feel big and scary.

"These pregnancy hormones are really getting to me. I cry all the time and, most of the time, there is no real reason. I am stressed honey. I'm trying to finish my classes so I don't have to drop out of school, work full time and pick up over time in other departments.  Plus I'm trying to take care of you and myself. I can't afford to keep paying my half of the bills at the apartment, and pay the bills here. It isn't fair to Kay if I stop paying them though and I just don't know what to do anymore."

James took Lillie by the hand. "I was actually thinking about that earlier today. We have the two bedrooms on the main level, ours and one for the baby. Then, we have the two bedrooms downstairs. There is a bathroom and living area down there too. Why don't we have Kay and Seth both move in here? They can each have their own room and share the living space down there, and we can all share the kitchen and eat together. Seth hates where he is living, and then we can split the bills four ways. My mortgage is only $680.00 a month so we would each be responsible for $170.00 a month. Plus splitting the electric and cable, no one would pay more than $250.00 a month. We would all save a lot of money." He smiled at her.

"I love you Jamie. That is a great idea! I am going to go ask them!" She smiled wide and skipped out the door. She came back to him about a half hour later. "They are starting to pack! I will have to go help Kay pack up the apartment one of these days. We can move my furniture into the empty rooms downstairs. No one will have to buy anything. This is perfect!" James could tell that she was happy, and he loved it when his girl was happy.

The district attorney called Lillie and informed her that they offered her attacker a plea bargain, and he accepted it. He was going to spend seven years in prison. She was happy to know that he wasn't going to be bothering her for a while. As the weeks passed by, Lillie was starting to gain shape in her belly. James touched her belly all the time, and at night he would read to it. Jamie's parents had already started buying them a bunch of baby supplies. Lillie's mom had sent her a few things as well, but she wasn't nearly as happy or supportive about the pregnancy.

After six weeks, James had his casts removed and started physical therapy to strengthen his leg so he could walk properly. He conned Seth into helping him with a project. They went and bought a crib, a dresser, a changing table, and a rocking chair. They hid everything in Jackson's storage unit. James couldn't wait to find out the sex of the baby so the men could paint the furniture and the nursery.

Lillie couldn't believe how fast time was flying. It had been eight weeks since James had his casts removed, and she was already half way through her pregnancy. She and Kay had spent hours trying to plan their wedding, and now she was able to go find out more about the baby she had growing inside of her. She was still terrified of becoming a mom and worried about how she was going to feel about her child, but each day she was getting more and more excited and getting more used to the idea.

The ultrasound technician put a warm gooey substance on Lillie's abdomen and starting rolling around the wand. "If I am able to see the sex, do you want to know?" She smiled at Lillie and James and saw the excitement in their eyes. They were both smiling at each other, and then at the ultrasound tech.

"Absolutely, I can't wait to find out!" James was sitting holding Lillie's hand and staring at the monitor. He watched as the tech pressed buttons, snapped pictures, and took measurements. After what seemed like forever, she paused in one spot and turned the screen so they could see it more clearly. The screen was zoomed in, and at first it just looked line a bunch of black and gray matter.

"Do you see this spot right here? That is baby's thighs. The legs are open just right, and I can tell you that you are definitely having a little girl." She smiled at the couple as she watched them look at each other with happiness. She saw both parents get tears in their eyes, and grip each other's hands.

After the ultrasound, they went out to eat and discussed baby names. James laughed at Lillie because for someone who had such a hard time eating before, she was eating the weirdest things. She ate potato chips with chocolate ice cream almost every night. She ate mayo on pretty much every type of meat, and her favorite was onion rings. They couldn't go out to eat somewhere unless they had onion rings.

James and Lillie had gone to Jackson's restaurant because Kay was working and they wanted to share the good news. They also went because they had huge orders of onion rings. James sent Jackson a text as they were leaving the hospital. "We're on our way there to eat. Please surprise Lil with biggest order of onion rings possible, thanks".

When Lillie walked into the restaurant, she saw Kay standing by the register. She ran up to her friend and gave her a hug. "Hey Auntie Kay, guess what we're having?" Kay smiled back at her best friend. She had been telling Lillie from the beginning that it was a girl. "You were right. We are having a girl."

Kay seated Lillie and James and went to find Jackson. As he walked out of the kitchen to find his brother and soon to be sister in law, he carried two huge baskets of onion rings to the table. "These are for you Lillie. Don't share with my brother; I am making him cheese curds." He smiled at Lillie and rubbed her belly. "So, are you going to make me wait to find out until you give birth? Am I going to have a niece to spoil, or a nephew to take hunting?" He was excited about having a baby in the family again.

After the news was shared about the baby, Jackson sat with Lillie and James to eat with them. "Lillie, I need to ask you something." He paused, took a deep breath and continued. "Do you think it would be totally unprofessional to ask Kay to go on a date with me? I know I am her boss, but she drives me crazy every time she walks past me and flashes me that smile of hers. I don't know how many times I have had to contain myself so I didn't drag her into my office and have my way with her."

Lillie knew that Kay had been having the same feelings about Jackson, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "You better surprise her and be romantic pretty boy. She knows how good your brother is to me, and she will be likely to compare notes." She laughed as Jackson smiled at her comment. She knew that he was very sweet, if not just a little bit jaded, and that he had a lot to offer her best friend. "Jackson, all you can do it ask."