Pushing Time

Part 17

Part Seventeen

~Andy~

"Andy, get up here!" Neal yelled from the wheelhouse.

Andy quickly woke up the crew and rushed up the stairs, pushing aside one of the cameramen.

"What is it?" he asked his brother.

"I don't know. The alarms started going off and we lost power. I have Phil down in the engine room. I need to go help."

"Yeah, go. I'll be fine."

The guys were yelling at each other, swearing. Andy had no control. He was completely in the dark.

Neal fixed the issue and within 20 minutes, they had power again. He went up to see if everything was okay in the wheelhouse.

"You okay?" he asked Andy.

"It seems fine. Quick work there, good job!"

They breathed a sigh of relief.

"We're coming up on our first set. Let's go!" Andy yelled into the intercom.

The guys were all awake now. They were ready in five minutes. The first few pots had nothing. Andy wasn't in the best of moods. Finally on the 5th pot, Jackpot! Andy was so excited they pulled through all day into the later morning. He told the crew to reset then they would get some more rest and eat.

Five hours later, the guys were inside eating. Neal was cooking. He brought some dinner up to Andy.

"Here you go, brother."

"Thanks Neal," he said, letting out a long sigh. "Hey guys, give us a minute of no filming please."

"Sure thing, Andy," the cameraman said, turning off the camera and leaving them alone.

"What's going on? No cameras? Are John and Tracy? Is she okay?"

"Yeah, we're going to call her now. I didn't think we should do that in front of the cameras considering everything that's going on," he replied.

"You talked to Johnny. How did it go?"

Andy turned and smiled. "Well, the way he put it, he scored more points with Rose than with Tracy."

Neal started laughing. "We could have told him that I suppose."

"Nope, this is all on him. Let's call her to show her she's family."

They called her cell.

~Tracy~

As I was getting into the car, the wind picked up and the snow started coming down heavy. The first thing I did was turn up the heat and put on the radio to The Lumineers "My Eyes". I took a deep breath. What a day, I thought to myself.

My phone rang and I didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" I answered it.

"Hey, stranger! How are you?" It was Andy.

"Hi Andy, I'm good. How are you? Staying safe?"

"Yes. I've got Neal here. We're going to put you on speaker."

The two of them starting to sing Happy Birthday to me. It was the sweetest thing ever. I started to tear up a bit.

"How are you?" Andy asked when they finished. That was a loaded question.

"Hmm, I'm good. It's snowing and windy here."

"How's everything else? This is Neal asking you by the way," Neal said.

I laughed. "Yes, Neal, I know who you are by now. We are all good. You could have told Johnathan I didn't need an extra mouth to feed."

They laughed, knowing what I meant.

"Nope, we wanted him to figure out that one out on his own," Andy said.

"I see. Well, I made him take the puppy with him today until I get the house puppy proofed. Thank you for the phone call. It means a lot to me."

"You and Rose are family," Neal said. "We'll see you at Christmas. We need to go."

We said goodbye and hung up. There was going to be no way I would be able to fly up to Dutch now that I'm this far along in the pregnancy. The doctor wouldn't allow it.

I made it home in time to meet the bus. The snow was coming down good with heavy winds expected and snow. Everyone was excited.

Johnathan called me and asked me what I wanted for my birthday dinner. All I wanted was him and pizza, that summed it up - so that's what I told him.

Johnathan pulled up behind me in time to let the puppy out to meet Rose. She was so excited. We went into the house. After what I thought would turn out to be a crappy birthday, this was turning into a magical day for me. I was actually beginning to think this could work between the two of us.

Johnathan unloaded the puppy supplies - including the puppy bed and chew toys. He had everything covered, and a surprise for Tracy up his sleeve.

We settled in, lighting candles and having dinner. It was perfect, way too perfect. It wouldn't last, I knew it. But I had to chase those nightmares away. I had received so many kind birthday wishes from his family. It made me feel special like I was part of them now.

We let Rose unwind with her iPad while we had music going and the fireplace lit. Rose decided on calling the puppy Copper. It was a perfect name for him. He was snuggled into her on his bed, next to the fireplace.

I was nestled into Johnathan. He had his arm wrapped around my shoulder.

"I have something for you. You left it a few months ago," Johnathan said. He took the engagement ring out of his pocket and slid it on my finger.

I smiled at it, all sparkly and shiny. It felt perfect. I looked up at him. He leaned down and kissed me.

Rose looked up and giggled at us. We both laughed.

"Rose, honey, I have something to tell you. It's pretty big news. I need you to promise me something though, you have to keep this a secret," I told her.

"Sure, mommy, what is it?" she questioned, coming over to sit next to us.

"Johnathan and I are getting married! And we're going to have a baby."

"Wow really? Am I going to be a big sister? Yay!"

She gave me and Johnathan a huge hug and kiss.

"Can I go to bed?" she asked. She was so sleepy after her exciting day.

"Yes, I'll take you up."

"Johnathan," Rose started, looking at him. "You can sleep over if you want. The couch is really comfy. No funny business."

I looked over at him and covered my mouth with my hand, trying not to laugh. Sometimes she was a little kid and at other times she was a young lady.

I went upstairs and tucked Rose in.

"You stay here Copper and keep an eye on Rose," I spoke to the puppy.

The dog whined and snuggled into Rose.

As I was walking into the living room, a small pain shot up my side, leaving me breathless. Johnathan was on his phone texting Scotty when he saw me holding my side.

He rushed over. "You okay? What is it?"

"It's nothing. Just a cramp. It's been a crazy day for me, that's all. I'm not used to all this excitement," I said.

Johnathan wasn't so sure that was it, but he went along with me, not wanting to start an argument.