Where She Least Expects It

Chapter 21

Tom was feeling victorious.  On the flight, he had talked with Becky's parents about where she should stay while recovering.  She was sleeping while they sorted it out, or it probably would have been a fight.  He told them that his house was more open concept, which meant that Becky could get around easily.  Anyone was welcome anytime.  When she needed quiet to rest, it wouldn't put anyone out.  He would be on-call for her all day, every day.  Somehow, he thought they understood what he was feeling. 

He hadn't told them this, but just the thought of her not being in the same place as him was giving him anxiety.  He hadn't told his parents yet about the baby.  He wasn't really sure why, but he wanted to do it in person.  He figured maybe they could come over after she got settled in and have supper.

He went and woke her up when it was time to land. The pain pills that she was on did a good job of knocking her out. He explained to her that he really wanted her to stay at his house.

"Tom, no! I can't put you out any more. You've already done so much. I can't." She was so concerned about taking too much from him.

He chuckled, "You will. I talked to your parents about it. There will be so much more open room for you to move, there's no steps, when you want to be alone, you can just kick everyone out. Please stay."

"Let me think about."

He sighed a little but gave in, "ok." He helped her out to the main room and sat through landing.

They were getting off the plane, when she looked at him. "Ok, I'll stay."

He was a little surprised.  "Good."  He leaned down and kissed her.  He knew that she would be happy there, and, if he played his cards right, maybe she would never leave again. 

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Becky was beginning to wonder what was going on in her life. She was pregnant, so her emotions were all over the place. Couple that with a broken leg and beat up body, she was having a hard time grasping all of the changes in her life.

She held it together the best that she could, but when she was alone at night, tears escaped. Tom had been sleeping on the couch.  He said he hadn't slept in their bed since she left.  There were little things that he would reveal about when she was gone that led her to believe that he was miserable.  She kept asking herself why he was miserable.  She knew she loved him, but did he feel the same?  If he did, why hadn't he told her?

She had mentioned it to Alli, who just smiled and told her to be patient.  Every time she asked Tom about their relationship, he insisted that there was plenty of time to sort it out.  Time...patience...Becky was going to die with those words repeating in her brain.

Her parents were still there, so she was enjoying having them around.  Her dad was helping at the riding school in her absence.  Her mom checked in on her every day.  Nobody said much about Tom or the baby.  This also annoyed the hell out of her.  She was beginning to think that the smartest thing she could do would be to chop off her damned broken leg...maybe then everybody would quit focusing on it and talk about the other elephants in the room!

So that was the cycle, mad to sad to happy when people were around.  Pregnancy hormones are a real rollercoaster! 

After a month, the doctor was so happy with her progress that she was able to go exclusively to her crutches.  During one of her mad phases, she had decided that when she could be on crutches all the time that she would move back to her apartment. 

So she set about getting her stuff together the following day so she could go back home.  Alli wasn't happy about it but had agreed to drive her there.  She left a note for Tom and got in the truck.  She hoped that she would be back...this house had started to feel more like home than her apartment.  For now, though, she had to get a handle on her life. 

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Tom was at the project house. He had been spending a fair amount of time there. Becky had family over a lot, and he preferred to stay out of the way. He was also having a hard one staying away from her. He missed her so much and seeing but not being able to touch was getting increasingly harder. He knew she wanted to talk about their relationship, but he knew that the best thing for her and the baby was to focus on her rehabilitation.

Brandon walked in and found him in a bathroom, laying tile. "Hey man, how's it going?" He handed him a cup of coffee.

"It's going. Making progress."

"How about Beck? You still avoiding her?"

"What makes you say that?"

He chuckled, "You spent two weeks in New York, never leaving her side. Now that you're back, you're gone more than you're there. Something's going on, so what is it?"

Tom finally stopped what he was doing and walked out to the front porch and sat down with Brandon following. "I don't know man. She wants to talk about us, and I don't want to scare her. She needs to focus on her leg. And I don't know if I can be around her without touching her. What kind of boyfriend can't keep his hands off his injured girlfriend?"

"The kind that loves her...I doubt I could if it was Alli. Have you talked to her about it?"

He shook his head, "I just said I don't want to scare her."

"How well do you know Becky?"

"Pretty well."

"So you should know she doesn't scare easily."

"She got pregnant and up and flew to New York!"

"Anomaly. What does Becky do when she gets pissed?"

"She broods and then yells."

"So do you think she hasn't noticed that you're avoiding her?"

He sat there and thought about it. "Probably."

"So she's probably..."

"Brooding."

"And she's on the verge of..."

"Yelling. Shit!"

"You need to fix it. Tell her how you feel once and for all. Quit worrying about hurting her. If you're just honest with her, it can't end badly."

"Alright. Thanks man." He left and went straight to his house. When he walked in, he knew there wasn't anyone there. He was about to call Becky when he saw a piece of paper on the table with his name on it.

Tom,
I'm sorry for this. I didn't think you would listen if I tried to tell you. I've got to go home. I'm tired of putting you out and keeping you away from your house. When you're ready to talk, find me. I know that we will do whatever's best for the baby in the end. Don't worry about me, the doctor says I'm doing great.
Bye,
Becky

Tom dropped the letter and walked out of the house before he could punch a hole in the wall. That girl can be so dense sometimes!

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