Whole Lot More

Chapter Thirty Five

Chapter Thirty Five

The sticky July air clung to Brynne's skin as she walked into the airport terminal; she wasn't even outside yet and already she could feel the heat.

Her eyes roamed around the airport looking for Martin or Julie. She wasn't sure which one was picking her up, it all depended on if Martin was tied up with something sponsor-related or not.

Conscious of the fact that she was definitely in the way of other passengers, she began to shuffle her way over towards a bank of chairs across the terminal; one of the few places that had open seats.

She took the one lone empty seat next to a girl who rested a magazine on her protruding belly. If she had to guess she'd say the girl had to be pretty close to seven months along.

"How far along are you?" Brynne asked with a smile, "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

The girl looked up and smiled, though it looked a little bit forced to Brynne. But she didn't blame the girl, she'd be acting the same way if some random stranger in the airport started asking her about her baby.

"I have nine weeks left."

"That's what I thought," Brynne nodded, "Are you excited?"

"Oh definitely," the girl said, "It'll be my first baby, so I'm really excited for her to finally arrive."

"On you know it's a girl?"

"I found out last week."

"How about the father? Is he as excited as you are?" Brynne laughed nervously, "I'm sorry for sounding so nosy. I just get so excited when I get around anyone whose having a baby."

"It's alright," she smiled slightly, "As for the father... he was shocked at first but he's starting to come around lately."

"Brynne!"

Brynne looked up and saw Julie crossing the airport towards her with a smile as bright as the sun plastered across her face. That same smile could be found across Brynne's face also. Neither had seen each other in awhile.

"Well that's my friend here to pick me up, it was nice meeting and talking to you."

"You too."

Kaleen watched Brynne and Julie walk away with a smirk on her face. "If only she knew how much I plan to ruin her life this weekend."

*~*

Traffic crawled so slowly Brynne thought she'd go out of her mind if it took any longer to get to the track.

"Why aren't people driving faster? It should not take this long to get from the airport to the track!"

Julie laughed, "It's race weekend in Daytona Brynne! Trust me, this is nothing. Just wait until race day."

"On race day we'll already be at the track so we won't have to worry about the traffic," Brynne teased, "So I could really care less about it then. It's now that it is killing me."

They lapsed into silence except for the radio and the sound of Brynne's foot tapping impatiently against the floor. "Martin was as anxious as you this morning. He tried to convince Bono to let him find someone else to drive the car in practice so he could come pick you up."

Brynne laughed. "I take it Bono didn't go for that?"

"Nope. He smacked Martin upside the head, told him to get his mind back into the car and that he'd be able to see you when you got to the track anyway."

Brynne fake sighed, "Bono just doesn't understand."

Julie laughed. "Oh he understands alright. He understands that the minute you get to the track he's going to lose complete focus of his driver so he might as well try and keep his focus on the car as much as he can at the moment."

"True that!" Brynne agreed, "It was better this way anyway. Now we have time for some girl talk!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Definitely oh yeah!" Brynne screeched, "Throw me a bone here girl! I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to you for more than a minute here or there in almost three weeks. What's going on with you and Junior?"

"Well..."

"Well?! That means there is something going on!"

"Jeez Brynne, you're the one who asked. And if you'd give me more than two seconds in between your outbursts maybe I'd be able to fill you in."

*~*

The Bass Pro Shop hauler had never looked so good to Brynne as it did that day. The nervous anticipation building up inside her to finally see Martin again was almost too much for her to take. She found herself bouncing back on her heels outside the doorway.

She pulled the door open with Julie on her heels, and excitedly vaulted up the stairs... only to be met by silence and an empty hauler.

The air left her lungs in defeat and caused Julie to laugh. "They're out on the track Brynne, can't you hear the cars out on the track?"

Now she could and she nodded. "Yeah I can, but I guess I was so excited to see Martin again that I was paying absolutely no attention to anything around me."

Julie laughed again, "I was the same way." She took a moment to let the sounds and smells of the track overtake her senses before she gestured towards the motor coach lot. "We might as well go wait at the coach for them to get done."

Brynne nodded, "I agree. Plus, it will give you someplace private to tell me what exactly is going on between you and Dale Junior."

"You want to know that badly?"

"Of course I do, I'm your best friend!"

"Well then we better get going, we don't have long before practice is over."

*~*

Martin's mind was not where it should have been, it was nowhere near the race track. It was on Brynne. And the fact that he was finally going to be able to see her once again.

He had been unfocused since the moment his feet hit the floorboards that morning and Bono had noticed and rode his ass the entire day.

"MT next practice is in two hours and you better be ready and focused."

He rolled his eyes, "I will be."

"Go see her and get it out of your system and off your mind. I expect us to be fastest in the final practice."

"Yes master Bono."

"Real funny there MT, get going, you're wasting your time."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

Martin practically took off at a run, pushing his way through the crowds and crowds of people. Everyone cleared out of his path though, realizing he was a man on a mission.

Well, almost everyone.

When one person didn't move, Martin had to slam his heels into the ground almost like his feet were brakes, to keep himself from colliding into the back of the woman.

When the woman turned around though, he almost wished he would have knocked her to the ground.

"Hello, Martin."

"Kaleen," he growled.

"Funny seeing you here."

"Funny, my ass. There's nothing funny about it. You knew exactly where I'd be and when because you're a psychotic stalker."

"That's not a nice way to talk to the mother of your child."

He looked down at her growing stomach and rolled her eyes. "And I told you I won't consider your child mine until I get a paternity test."

"That's fine, but don't worry, this baby is yours and will always be yours."

"Only time will tell." Kaleen rolled her eyes. "Are you done Kaleen? I have places to go and people to see."

"Oh and by that you mean your precious, little girlfriend whose here this weekend." Martin's eyes narrowed. "Oh yes Martin, I know she's here this weekend; in fact, we had a nice conversation at the airport this morning."

"What the fuck did you say to her Kaleen?"

"Obviously I should have said something to her for as defensive as you're getting about the two of us talking. Guess that means you haven't told her about me and the little one yet."

"That's none of your business."

"Oh yes it is my business, and by the end of the weekend it'll be Brynne's business too; I'll make sure of it."

*~*

Martin practically ran to his motor coach after the unfortunate run-in with Kaleen. His heart was beating wildly and he'd never wanted to hit someone of the opposite sex so much before in his life.

But he had gotten himself into this situation, and he knew he needed to get himself out. And time for that was running short.

When Kaleen said she intended to tell Brynne, Martin knew she was serious. She was seriously crazy enough to think she was still in his life and that she had a right to everything... including still being in his bed.

That would soon be fixed.

He knew he had to tell Brynne this weekend; in fact, it couldn't wait until this weekend, he had to do it tonight.

More than likely the conversation wouldn't go the greatest, and that would give him all weekend to make it up to her and to show her just how much he loved and wanted to be with her, and not Kaleen.

Kaleen was still in his life for one reason and one reason only, and that was because of the child she carried.

But even that wasn't enough to keep him as a constant figure in her life, no matter how much she was determined to make that happen.

***

Brynne and Julie's giggles were the first thing he heard when he took the stairs up into his motor coach, and he couldn't help the smile on his face at that sound.

The girls heard the door slam shut and looked up as Martin walked in further. "Well hello ladies."

"Hi Martin," Julie chirped, "That's my cue to leave... not only do the two of you have a lot of time to make up for, but I got a man of my own to go see! Brynne - I will talk to you later!"

Brynne laughed as Julie bolted out of the motor coach before smiling at Martin. "Hi."

"Hey baby."

"How are you?"

"I'd be better if you came over here and gave me a kiss." Brynne giggled but didn't have to be asked twice, as she crossed the kitchen area of the coach and threw her arms around Martin's neck, immediately connecting their lips. After a minute or two they pulled away and Martin grinned, "That's more like it, baby."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too Brynne, more than you'll ever know."

"Oh no," she shook her head, "I think I know, trust me."

"Okay, okay. Let's just agree that we both missed each other the same amount."

"Agreed," Brynne grinned.

"Now, I think it's time to watch a movie, cuddle up on the couch and enjoy the little bit of time we are going to have together this weekend."

"That sounds so good right now Martin, just what I need right now."

"You wouldn't believe how much I need it right now, too. Oh and baby?"

"Yeah?"

"We're going to go out for dinner tonight. Somewhere nice... white table cloth, candles, fancy food and all... just you and me."

"That sounds wonderful," Brynne sighed.

Martin felt like sighing too; if only she knew that before that perfect dinner ended, she'd learn a truth that he only hoped she'd be able to forgive him for.

***

"Are you ready yet Brynne?"

"I'm coming Martin, I swear!"

Martin laughed. He was standing where he had been for the last five minutes; at the top of the stairs. Brynne had told him ten minutes ago she was ready; he'd yet to see that.

She came out of the back bedroom in the little black dress that she thanked herself for remembering to pack before she had left Boston. Otherwise, she would have been out of luck for something to wear.

"See? I told you I was coming!"

"I never doubted you for a minute, baby."

"Liar," she laughed, looping her arm through his as they started to descend the stairs.

Martin's hand grabbed the door handle, and pushed it open, almost knocking someone over who happened to be standing right outside of the door, about to knock.

His eyes settled on the person's face and his jaw tensed.

"Hello Martin."

He was definitely in trouble now.

***