Whole Lot More

Chapter Fifty One

Chapter Fifty One

Brynne sighed. The message from Martin the night before was breaking her down. She'd been debating since the day he had come to New York on whether she wanted to call him, but it always seemed when the right moment came along, something came up or she chickened out.

Today she wasn't going to do that.

She still wasn't sure what exactly she was going to say to Martin or whether she was ready to see him, but if he needed her she was going to be there in some form for him.

Even if it meant only being his friend.

*

It had been a long night.

But with Junior and the boys by his side (and lots of adult beverages) he had made it through. He was still unsure of what was going to happen with Kaleen or the baby or when he was going to see her, but that was a conversation he could have with her today when he took them home.

Last night he had gotten blissfully drunk.

His head pounded this morning, but it had been worth it. He had forgotten everything last night; he hadn't thought about Kaleen or Kinsey or even Brynne.

For one night nothing weighed him down.

Now it was time to face his responsibilities. He walked into the hospital room, not really sure what to say or what kind of mood she would be in this morning, "Hey."

"Hi Martin."

"Are they going to let you guys leave today?"

"Yeah," Kaleen said, "The doctor should be in with the paperwork to release us anytime, they've already came in and checked us over this morning."

"Then what happens?"

"We pack the baby up into the car seat and we take her home. I didn't expect to be having the baby this soon, I don't even have anything put together at home."

"I'll put stuff up for you when we get back to your house if you want. And at some point today I'd like to have a conversation about what we're going to do and when I'll get to see Kinsey."

"We've already talked about this Martin..."

"And I didn't agree with what you were saying Kaleen, she is my daughter too and I would like to see her. And before you say that you offered for me to see her, let me rephrase my sentence – I'd like to see her on my own. I'd like for her to be able to see my life, in my house and see my friends and the people I choose to bring her around."

"Does that mean your little girlfriends?"

"Don't get nasty Kaleen – there's one woman and one woman only that I would ever want to come around my daughter, and right now I'm not sure that's going to be possible. Don't act like I have an open door of women coming in and out – I have more respect for you and for her than that and I will never do that. And I would expect the same from you."

"I don't really want to have this conversation right now, Martin."

"We don't have to continue to talk about it right now, but we will be talking about it today and we will be setting guidelines. This is too important of a conversation for me to keep putting off."

A nurse walked in, paperwork in hand successfully ending the conversation right then and there. She handed the paperwork to Kaleen and smiled at the two of them, acting like she didn't feel the tension radiating between them. "Are you girls ready to go home?"

"I've never been more ready to sleep in my own bed ever before," Kaleen sighed.

The nurse came over and removed Kaleen's IV, "Kinsey is out in the hall and all ready for her trip home. We already put her in the car seat and everything; we're just waiting on you guys." Helping Kaleen out of bed, the nurse smiled at her, "It's been a pleasure, and Kinsey is an absolute beauty."

"Thank you."

"And best of luck in the future." The nurse helped Kaleen get settled in the wheelchair – a hospital requirement for new moms – and Martin grabbed the baby carrier, heading towards the bank of elevators.

She helped Kaleen into Martin's car and Martin secured the baby in the back seat, and then they were off. Silence spanned the car; Martin had nothing to say to her at the moment, and Kaleen sat planning her next move. Through it all, she was not going to stray from her number one goal: to make Martin hers forever.

She was willing to do whatever she had to in order to succeed.

*

She hadn't left the position she was in for over two hours. And she wasn't going to let herself until she made the phone call. The cursor on her phone hovered over Martin's name and number in her contact list, all she had to do was push 'send'.

One button and she would be talking to the man she loved with all her heart and soul; it'd been way too long since she had heard his voice, it was like a drug to her. For lack of a better term, she was going through withdrawals.

Brynne sighed, "It's now or never."

Her finger pressed down and Martin's picture popped up on the screen of her phone.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

*

Martin carried the baby into Kaleen's house, Kaleen following closely behind. "What do you need help with?"

"The crib has to be set up upstairs in the nursery; I don't have the bassinet set up and in my room and the pack-n-play has to be set up down here in the living room. Plus the furniture has to be moved around in the nursery once the crib is set up."

"Well, I guess I'll start with the crib upstairs then. Are you going to stay down here with her?"

"Yeah," Kaleen nodded, "Just call me once the crib is up and I'll come up and show you where I want the furniture to be moved around to. I think I'm going to see if Kins is hungry while you're putting it together."

"Do you have any tools here or do I have to go get the ones out of my truck?"

"I don't have any, I don't think."

He emptied his pockets out on the living room table until he found his keys, and went outside to grab his tool box out of the truck. Various change and his phone was left lying on the table.

Kaleen had to laugh ten minutes later when she heard him cursing from the nursery, obviously putting together a crib was a bit more complicated than he had thought it was going to be.

"This is going to be a long day if the rest of this shit goes together like this stupid thing," he muttered.

Kinsey's bottle was in her mouth and Kaleen was flipping through a magazine when she heard Martin's phone vibrating across the table. She picked it up and looked at the caller display, her mood lightening significantly.

Brynne flashed across the screen at her.

What sense did it make to let it go to voicemail when she was sitting here doing nothing? It made no sense whatsoever to her.

So she answered it. "Hello?"

*

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Brynne was just about to give up and hang up the phone, losing her nerve when she heard the other line pick up. Her breath caught.

"Hello?"

And just like that what nerve she had was gone. She stopped breathing. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she hung up and threw her phone across the room.

So much for him needing her, huh? One day had passed and already he had decided he wanted to be with her.

She didn't know why she'd ever been so gullible to believe that maybe, just maybe something could have worked out in her favor.

*

"Kaleen?" he came bounding down the stairs, "Did I just hear you talking to someone?"

She slid his phone back onto the table where it had been before and shook her head, "What? No. I was just talking to Kinsey is all."

"Oh, I could have sworn I heard you say hi to someone. Anyway, the crib is up, want to come and show me where you want the rest of the furniture now?"

"Sure Martin." With a little pep in her step, she followed him up the stairs with their baby in her arms, knowing she had just taken care of one of the issues that stood between her and being with the man she wanted.

And she wasn't willing to let anything else get in her way.

*

Two days later Brynne had barely left her room. She'd made one trip into town and made sure she was present at all meal times with a big, forced smile on her face. But her parents hadn't seemed to notice yet.

At least that was something.

If they saw a difference they would ask questions, and she really didn't honestly want to get into it with anyone.

Why she had let herself believe that maybe he had changed, that he was the one and maybe they could be together, she wasn't sure. But that was that, she wasn't going to be so easily convinced again.

Her phone vibrated on the table next to her and she looked at the display, seeing Julie's name and number blasting across her phone.

"Hello?"

"Brynne, oh my God! You will never believe this. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. just proposed to me, and I said yes! I'm getting married!"

*
THE END




Okay so listen... please don't kill me.  There is a sequel to this... it's already half written and I'll start posting it next week, okay?  The sequel is called Life at Best and while things may seem super bleak for our main characters right now, never fear... I love Martin and Brynne just as much as you (and despise Kaleen just as much too!!)  So while this may not be where you wanted to see the ending going, I really just had to set it up for the sequel, right?  Let me know what you all think, and be on the look out for Life at Best coming to a computer screen near you soon!!!