George - Chapter Twenty: New Beginnings

****Some possible NSFW pics. ****

****George****

I stood in the bathroom and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I didn’t usually stress over what to wear, but today was a big day; it was my first day of work at the hospital. I had always tried to dress professionally when I worked at my practice in Appaloosa, but I could have dressed however I liked since it was my own. With now working for someone and meeting with patients who didn’t know me, I felt I needed to make sure I was presentable. I was finally satisfied with the image that stared back at me and I opened the bathroom door. The sight I saw made me smile; Steph had woken up and was cooking us breakfast.

“You don’t have to cook breakfast.” I tried to reason with her.

“Nonsense! It’s your first day! You can’t go to work hungry.” She argued. 

“But you worked last night.” 

“So.” She stopped what she was doing and turned around. “You can stop trying to convince me to not make you breakfast, it’s not going to work.” She said and smiled at me.

I laughed and decided to make us some tea while she finished cooking. 

“Are you nervous?” She asked as we sat down to eat.

“A little.” I admitted. “But also excited.” 

“You’ll be great!” She enthused.

It felt like my heart was being lightly squeezed; she was always saying things that encouraged me and I wondered if she knew how much it touched me that she did. I stopped eating and stood up, causing her to look confused and she started to say something but before she could, I pulled her out of her seat and kissed her. Her arms were soon around my neck and our kisses became more passionate ones. I eventually pulled away right before I was sure I would lose consciousness from the lack of oxygen and smiled down at her. “If we don’t stop now, I’m going to be late on my first day of work.”

She chuckled. “Well then, I guess we’ll just have to continue what we started, later.” She looked at me seductively and I felt every muscle in my body tighten. 

“When I get home tonight, you’re going to be in trouble.” I smiled mischievously at her.

She pressed her body against mine and leaned in to whisper into my ear. “You’ll have to catch me first. . .Tiger.” She slowly backed away from me and sat back down, eating her breakfast for several moments. She eventually looked at me and smiled sweetly. “You might want to eat your breakfast before it gets cold.” She advised.

I shook my head as I chuckled and sat back down to finish my breakfast. Once we were finished I double checked my bag to make sure I had everything. I had taken most of my things to the office the week before but there were certain items I needed for work that day.

“Do you have everything?” She asked me as she walked out of the bedroom.

I smiled as I walked up to her and pulled her closer. “I sure do.” I said and kissed her.

She shook her head and pointed to my bag. “I meant for work. . .” She smirked.

“I knew what you meant, but how can I think of anything else when you look as beautiful as you do.”

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me. “You’re sweet, but you should get going.” She suggested.

“Again, how can I when I’m tempted by you standing in front of me.”

She playfully narrowed her eyes. “If this is going to be a repeated problem, maybe we should rethink this whole living together thing.” She joked.

I put both of my hands up to her face. “I’m not going anywhere, Sunshine.” I said and leaned down to kiss her again.

She playfully pushed me away. “You...need...to...go.” She said exaggerating every word.

“I’m guessing I’ll be back after five. I’ll call you and let you know as I get closer to leaving.” I told her as she was practically pushing me out the door.

“That’s fine. Now go.” She insisted. I turned around one last time and kissed her before finally turning to walk to my car.

It didn’t take me long to pull into the hospital parking garage and to find my spot. I felt myself smile as I parked and looked at the sign with my name on it thinking how it was funny how something as small as that could make me feel more confident. I quickly exited the car and rode the elevator up to the sixth floor where mine and the other two doctors’ offices were. There was a main lobby area where the receptionist sat and our three offices were off of that. Mine was on the left and as I entered the door, I found myself smiling again, happy with the how the office looked. I had again wanted to make sure that this office, like the Appaloosa one was, was warm and relaxing.

I placed my bag down next to my desk and turned on my computer before hearing a knock on my door. I looked up as the door was opening and saw Dr. Stewart enter.

“Hey, George. Do you have everything you need?” Ron asked me.

“I’m good. I’m looking forward to getting started.”

“Excellent! Hey, Bob and I usually order lunch and eat it in the conference room, sometime around noon. I’ll make sure Rita asks you for your order.”

“Thanks!”

“If you need anything, Bob and I are more than willing to help, but I don’t think you’ll need much help.” He said and smiled. “See you at lunch!” He waved and walked back to his office.

I was about to log on to my computer when Bob knocked on my door. “Hi George. Ron said he already stopped by, but I wanted to welcome you and let you know that we’re happy that you’re here.”

“Thank you!” 

“See you in a while.” He said and left.

If there was one thing that I felt at that moment, it was welcomed. I sat in my chair and logged on to my computer. The receptionist, Rita entered in all of our appointments into a calendar and we were able to access it online. I looked over my schedule for the day and was thankful for this planning/paperwork time at the beginning. Every day we each had an hour to get ready for the remainder of the day. I had given myself thirty minutes in Appaloosa and had almost felt it was too little, I was glad to have the extra thirty minutes here.

I looked back at my appointments for the day. I didn’t have a full patient load yet; the patients of the previous psychologist had been reassigned to other hospitals and as of my first morning, I had five patients and only one scheduled that morning. I looked at the bin next to the computer and saw the file for the patient that I was seeing that morning. It was a woman who had lost her husband to cancer two weeks prior. The hospital usually suggested to individuals that they take some time before starting therapy and I was surprised that she was wanting to start so soon. She had been married to her husband for 20 years and they had no children. I immediately found myself thinking of Steph and what I would do if something happened to her or what she would do if something happened to me. 

Like any other time I thought of her, my heart reacted but unlike the joyful feeling it had earlier, this time there was a pain in my heart. I sighed and tried to concentrate again on the patient file, pushing the unpleasant thoughts out of my head. I began reading how the woman was a teacher and at that time was on a leave of absence. Then I saw something that caused me to lean forward in my chair; she had been born in Appaloosa. I didn’t recognize her name but I couldn’t help but think how crazy it was that my very first patient was from Appaloosa and how it really was a small world.

I put the file down and felt my phone buzz. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw that it was a text from the hospital. As I read it, I walked out of my office and into the lobby area where I noticed a couple of people sitting. Ron and Bob came out of their offices and we met in front of Ron’s office door. “For the first week, we’ll all get a text, after that they’ll just assign one of us to a patient.” Ron explained. “One of us can take this one if you’d prefer, we do have patients waiting, though.”

“I don’t mind to go.” I offered.

They both nodded. “If you need anything, let us know.” Bob added.

“Absolutely.” I said and as they went back into their offices I looked again at the text.  There was a patient who had just been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. I asked Rita how to get to the oncology floor and once I got there, identified myself at the nurses’ station and asked for the patient file. After reading his file I learned that he was 43 years old, had been diagnosed as terminal on Friday, wasn’t married, and had no kids. I looked at my watch and saw that I had 40 minutes until I was to meet my first patient. Quickly flipping through the paperwork until I reached the page where one of us was supposed to sign as having received the request to provide counsel for the patient, I signed my name and walked down the hall to the patient’s room. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. 

“What?!” I heard a man ask from the other side of the door and as I entered the room I identified myself.

“Oh great! Now I get to talk to a shrink! Can’t you people leave me alone?!” He asked.

This was a completely new experience for me. Some of my previous patients had been somewhat reluctant at first to open up, but never this hostile.

“Yeah, I guess I’m not the most popular doctor.” I admitted as I sat down. He had the TV on and I noticed that he was watching ESPN and they started talking about Trev.

“Oh man, that guy is messed up! They say he got help but, geez, what a way to throw a career away.” I felt sad that people thought that about Trev and at first I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to disagree with him and tell him that I thought he was wrong. . .I all of a sudden had an idea.

“Yeah, I told him when we were little that he was a pain in the ass. He didn’t listen.”

“What?”

“He’s my brother.” I admitted and I noticed him look at my name tag and then back at the TV.

“NO SHIT?! What’s it like growing up with a pro football player?” He asked and I smiled slightly thinking I had just found a way to get him to talk.

I spent thirty five minutes talking to the patient. During the last ten, we had switched from football to talking about his diagnosis. He was still somewhat reluctant to talk about it but I was hopeful that he would open up more the next time I saw him. I was getting ready to walk out of his room when he yelled after me. 

“Hey, Dr. Davila!” I turned back to face him. “Tell that brother of yours to keep his head up. He’s a damn good ball player; he’ll make it back up to the top.” I smiled and nodded.

“I may be a little biased, but I think you’re right.” I closed the door and returned the file to the nurses’ station before making my way back to my office. I noticed several new people sitting in the waiting room and after several minutes of writing notes down about the patient I had just seen, my office phone rang and Rita was informing me that my patient was there. I asked her to send her in and I placed the patient’s folder on my desk. As she entered the room I stood up and introduced myself, offering my hand. She timidly shook it and I motioned for her to sit in the chair across from me. She looked around nervously as she tapped her foot on the floor and I soon realized that there was no way she was going to start a conversation. The only thing I had to go on was the information in her folder and I drew on the one thing that I thought would get her to start talking.

“I noticed from your information that you were born in Appaloosa.”

“That’s right.” She quietly admitted.

“Did you grow up there?”

She nodded. “My parents and I moved here when I was sixteen.” She looked somewhat confused.

“Was Mr. Whiffle teaching economics when you were there?”

Her eyes got huge. “How do you know Mr. Whiffle?”

I smiled as I admitted. “I had him. He retired about five years ago.”

“You’re from there?”

I nodded and she began to talk about places that she remembered and I interjected some updates about the town. After several minutes of talking about Appaloosa she appeared to be trying to remember something.

“Davila. . .There was a guy older than me that went to high school there with the last name Davila. . .Carson! Are you related to him.”

I sighed a little. “He’s my Dad.” I admitted.

“Really? Wow, how crazy. How’s he doing?”

I once again felt a small pain in my heart. “He died almost ten years ago in a car accident.” I admitted and I watched as her face turned from somewhat happy to devastated. She began to cry and I offered her a tissue thinking how this was the hardest part of grief counseling; watching the patient feel the overpowering feelings of devastation that happened at the beginning. She eventually stopped crying and looked up at me with pleading eyes.

“How did you get past it?” She asked.

“The same way you will.” I admitted. “It takes time and the path to accepting it is different for everyone. What worked for me, might not work for you.”

She nodded. “I just don’t know how I’m supposed to go on without him. Every day, everything I do, I’m reminded that he’s not here. We would get up in the morning and have breakfast together every morning. Every morning since then, I wake up and the thought of eating breakfast makes me cry, some days for almost an hour.”

I nodded. “That’s okay.”

“Is it? Is it normal? I swear I’m losing it, that I’m slipping so far into grief that I’m slipping into a hole that I’m never going to get out of.”

“What do you do when you start to feel that way?” I asked her.

She chuckled with a disgusted look on her face. “I cry even more. That seems to be all I do and if I’m not, I feel bad that I’m not; that I’m a horrible wife because I’m not crying every moment I’m awake. Am I crazy?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s normal to feel guilty about grieving, either way, whether it’s feeling guilty about grieving too much, or not enough.” She sighed and looked somewhat relieved. “You mentioned that there are certain things that remind you that he’s not here, what else besides breakfast does that?” I cautiously asked and during the rest of our session she opened up more about those occurrences and how they made her feel. As our time ended, the clock made a soft chime and as she finished talking I gently closed the notebook I had taken some notes in and looked at her. “Our time appears to up.” I said.

“Really? It went by so fast. I feel like I could talk for another hour.” She admitted.

“I can understand that. If this time works for you, we can continue to meet at this time every week.” I suggested.

She nodded. “Yes, that would work for me.”

I smiled as I stood up and she followed my lead as I walked over to the door. “Rita will help you with making our next appointment. It was nice to meet you.” I said to her as she walked out of my office into the lobby.

“Thank you Dr. Davila.”

I nodded. “See you next week.”

I was called to one other room after lunch to assist a patient who had been in a car accident and had lost their spouse in the same car crash; he was still in the hospital recovering from his injuries. That situation hit a little close to home, but I was able to put my feelings aside and listened to him for about 40 minutes. After I returned back to my office I noticed that it was getting close to five o’clock and I called Steph to let her know that I would be leaving soon. I made some last minute notes about the sessions I had that day, looked at my schedule for the next day, and then got my things together. I was walking out of my office and ran into Ron and Bob leaving. 

“How’d the rest of the day go, George?” Ron asked.

“Went well. Had one more patient this afternoon.”

“Glad to hear it went well. I think you’re going to fit in well here.” Bob said.

“Thanks. It’s what I’ve wanted to do for a long time.” I admitted.

We walked out to our cars and I made the short trip back to Steph’s apartment. I was somewhat surprised that she didn’t fling the door open when I got to the door. She had done it so many times in the past that it was surprising that she didn’t.

I unlocked the door and saw that on the counter were candles, two plates of food, and two glasses of wine. I smiled as I peeked around the corner into the kitchen expecting to see her but she wasn’t there. I went into the living room and then the study trying to peer around the boxes that were starting to pile up. 

“Look behind you. . .” I slowly turned around and she was standing there holding a wrapped box. She had been packing that day and she had pulled her hair up on top of her head which showed off her bare neck and she was wearing a pair of shorts that revealed her toned running legs. 

“What’s in the box?” I asked as I walked closer to her.

“I guess you’ll have to open it and find out.” She said as she handed it to me. I had a brief flashback to my birthday party and smiled as I gently took the box from her and began to unwrap the paper. She offered to hold the paper while I opened the box and after taking the lid off and seeing what was inside I looked at her.

“You had said that you wanted a picture of me to put in your office at work, and while I hate having pictures taken of me, I thought one of us together from my birthday might be okay for you to have.”

I put the box down on one of the packing boxes and took the paper out of her hands before pulling her against me. “Thank you.” I said and then kissed her. I soon moved my kisses down her neck taking full advantage of the fact that her neck was completely exposed from her hair being pulled up. As I continued to lightly kiss her neck, I breathed in and savored the floral scent that was always present from her hair. She started to run her fingers gently through mine and her breathing became more rapid as I started to nibble on her ear. 

“What about dinner?” She asked breathlessly.

“Dinner can wait.” I whispered in her ear. We continued to kiss as we removed each other’s clothes and I began to back her up against the couch. Once her legs made contact with it, she lay down and I lowered myself on top of her and smiled as I whispered in her ear. “I told you that you were in trouble when I got home.” She gave me one of her many playful looks and wrapped her legs around my waist.

“Maybe I lured you here and you’re the one in trouble. . .” She whispered huskily back. I forcefully lowered my lips on hers and felt myself melt into her. I started to lose myself in our kisses and touching and they all started to blend together. I somehow had enough sense to stop long enough to place protection on and then continued to get lost in her again. We both soon felt the release we both yearned for and she eventually looked up at me and smiled. 

“So. . .how was work?”

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “How about we put our clothes back on and I’ll tell you over dinner?” I suggested and helped her stand back up. I changed into some other clothes and joined her at the counter holding her chair out for her as she sat down and then took my own seat. “Thank you for making dinner.” I said.

“You’re welcome. I wanted to do something special with it being your first day.” She smiled at me. “So. . .”

I nodded. “It. . .it’s hard to describe. It was good, better than I thought it would be; not because I thought it would be bad, but. . .I had wanted to do what I’m doing now for so long, that now that I’m doing it, it’s actually better than I envisioned. I didn’t realize how stressed I was before and a lot of it was because I was doing it on my own. I was able to talk to two other people, doing the exact same job as me, and get their opinion. It wasn’t just up to me and I was surprised at how relieved I felt by that.” She reached over and held my hand, smiling as she squeezed it.

“I’m so happy for you.” She said. I squeezed her hand back and we continued to eat dinner; talking about our days and about how excited we were to be moving into our new apartment later in the week. As we sat there, I kept thinking about how I had never thought I could be as happy as I was at that moment or as in love.

The next two days went by quickly with me working and Steph packing. I helped her pack at night, but she was ending up doing most of it herself. We had agreed to meet Trev at Charlotte and Ethan’s for dinner on Wednesday night and it ended up being a good thing since we had packed most of the kitchen items. Once we were all seated at the table, the conversation soon turned to our new apartment.

 “So, you move in Friday?” Trev asked.

“We do. The decorator has had access to all of our things and she’s going to put everything together tomorrow and Friday. We’re supposed to go over Friday night and see the big reveal.” I said.

“Aren’t you nervous about giving control over to someone else?” Charlotte teased. “I just can’t see you giving up control that easily.”

“No, We’ve been very involved in the process so we won’t be surprised really. She’s just putting it all together.”

Steph glanced over at me after I finished. “We should have everyone over for dinner Saturday night.” She suggested.

“I think that’s a great idea.” I admitted. “Are you all available Saturday night? I asked. “Do either of you work?” I asked Charlotte and Ethan.

Charlotte looked down at the table and then over at Steph. “Actually, after we get married, I won’t be working at the club anymore.” She said and I looked over at Steph. She was completely shocked. “And I won’t be working much between now and the wedding.”

Steph shifted in her seat and I reached under the table to hold her hand. “What are you going to do?” Steph quietly asked.

“I actually did a demo about a month ago. I didn’t want to tell anyone since I didn’t know what would happen with it. A producer contacted me two weeks ago and asked if I would be interested in singing background vocals for studio songs. Basically I’d be a studio recording artist.”

Steph nodded and I looked over at Charlotte urging her with my eyes to continue. “I know it seems like I’m pulling my old tricks by not telling any of you, but I really didn’t think much was going to come from it so I just didn’t mention it. I’ve been going back and forth about what to do, but this is what I’ve wanted to do since I was a teenager. Yesterday I decided to finally accept the offer. I had planned on telling everyone tonight, but not exactly like this. . .”

Steph looked up from the table. “You don’t have to explain, Charlotte. I know this is something that you’ve wanted to do for a long time.” She smiled at her. “When do you start?”

“When we get back from Paradise Island.”

Steph put on a good act the rest of the night, but I could tell that she was upset. 

“Steph, I know you’re upset.” I stated as we walked into the apartment.

She sat down on the couch and curled into a ball. “I just, I don’t know. . .It’s like everyone’s getting a new beginning; you’ve got a new job you love, Trev’s better and getting to play football, Charlotte’s getting ready to do something that she’s dreamed of doing. . .Then there’s me.”

I put my hand on her back. “What about you?”

She turned her head to look at me. “I’m just still working at the club; now without Charlotte. I don’t know. . .I’m happy for everyone, I really am. . .it’s just that everyone doing what they’ve always wanted has made me really think about what I want to do.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I’m not sure, but I know that I don’t want to work at the club the rest of my life. But I’m not qualified to do anything.”

“What about your dream?” I asked her.

“What? My catering dream?” She asked skeptically and I nodded. 

“It’s a dream, George. I just don’t see how it’s even possible for me to do that. Like I said before, I don’t have the money or time.”

“What if money wasn’t an issue?” I asked and she annoyingly looked at me.

“How would it not be an issue?”

“What if there was a way for you to get the money, would you pursue your dream?” I continued to push her.

“I. . .I guess it would depend on how I got the money.” She admitted.

“Let’s say that you had some long lost relative that died and left you enough money to start a catering business; would you do it?”

She thought about it for a minute before responding. “I guess so. See it’s not just about the money, it terrifies me to think about doing it. What if it didn’t work out?”

“You’ll never know until you try.” I tried to reason with her.

“Well it doesn’t matter anyway since I don’t have any long lost relatives.” She added.

“What if you got the money a different way?” I asked and she slowly looked at me.

“What do you mean?”

I held my  breath as I made my suggestion. “What if I gave you the money?” Any expression left her face and she sat up straight.

“That’s silly, George.”

“Why is it silly?”

“You can’t just give someone money like that?”

“Why not?”

“You just. . .can’t, okay?” She said and stood up to walk away.

“If I had the money, why couldn’t I do that?” She wasn’t making any sense to me.

She stopped walking and whirled around. “It doesn’t really have to do with whether or not you have or had the money, I wouldn’t accept it either way.” She said and turned back around.

“Why not?”

“Because it wouldn’t be right.” She said without turning around.

I walked in front of her but she refused to look at me. “Steph, I’m trying to understand this, I really am.” I said trying to stay calm. “Why wouldn’t it be right? If I love you and have the money to help you realize your dream, why would it be wrong for you to accept the money?”

She tried to walk away but I blocked her way. “Steph. . .”

“What?! How can you not understand this, George?! I have nothing, maybe a couple thousand saved in the bank and it took me forever to save that! You’ve already paid for our apartment and now you’re trying to get me to agree to take money from you to start a business?! I can’t do that!” She yelled and turned around again.

I stood there trying to think of what to say. “I’ve told you before, that I don’t look at it that way. I love you and I want to help you see your dream become a reality.”

“Why?” She asked without turning around.

“I just told you why, because I love you.”

“Damn it.” She whispered. “Why are you making it sound so easy?”

“Why are you making it sound so complicated?” 

She flung around and looked at me. “Because it is. Did you go to college, earn degrees and work to get your dream?” 

 

“Yes.”

“George, if you give me the money, then I haven’t earned anything. It’s been handed to me, and while that’s a nice sentiment, I just couldn’t live with myself if that happened. The apartment is one thing, but this, this is something completely different.”

“You look at it as charity.” I stated.

“Isn’t that what it would be?”

“No, no it wouldn’t be, Steph. It would be that if it came from someone else. That’s what you’re not seeing. You’re not looking at this from the viewpoint that I’m not just anyone. I’m the man who wants to make a home with you and would do anything to make you happy; no matter what the cost whether it be emotionally, physically, or financially. I completely understand about wanting to work for something but even if you got the money without saving it yourself, you would still be working hard to realize your dream, because even if I gave you the money, it would be you having to build the business from the ground up. You would be finding patrons, you would be making the food, you would be scheduling appointments, it would all be you. You think that if I give you the money it wouldn’t be yours, that someone else would have claim to it and that scares you. When in reality, all I want to do is give you the financial means to do what you want to do. You wouldn’t owe me, I wouldn’t owe you. It would just be me, the man that loves you helping you.” I sighed and looked at the floor. The truth was, I was okay with her not taking the money, it was the reason why she didn’t that bothered me and the more I thought about it, the more hurt I felt. I turned and started to walk away.

“Where are you going?” She asked.

“I’m going outside. I need some air.” I quietly said and walked out to the balcony. I stood there, with my hands on the rail looking out at the city and trying to figure out what had just happened. One minute we were talking about her dream and the next we were arguing about me giving her money.

****Steph****

He walked out onto the balcony and I stood there in complete shock. We had never argued before, we had disagreed, but never argued. And as much as I hated to admit it, I had found myself waiting for him to hit me at some point. I hated that I had thought that for a split second, but I had. Instead, he had calmly tried to explain what he felt and thought and I had been the one that had gotten emotional and angry.

I shut my eyes and thought about what he had said to me. He was right; I felt that anyone giving me money was charity. Hell, it went beyond money, anyone giving me anything felt like charity. It had happened so rarely in my life that when anyone gave me anything, I couldn’t think of any other reason for someone to do it. Why else would they? I hadn’t had anyone that loved me or cared about me, unless you counted friends, and that was completely different than what this was all about. 

I looked over at him standing on the balcony and I wanted to run out there and try to make him understand how scared I was right now. It seemed so easy for him; it was as if he made up his mind and that was it, he wasn’t looking back. He had decided that he wanted to be with me and he had given up everything for me. He left his home, most of his family, his job. . .and it seemed like it was the easiest thing for him. For me, it was the complete opposite; I had hardly given up anything and yet I was the one that was scared. I didn’t want to be, but I was. 

I didn’t understand this kind of love, I had hoped I would find it someday, but I never thought I would have trouble grasping it if I ever was lucky enough to find it. To love someone enough that you would so willingly give them anything to make them happy was a completely foreign concept to me. I didn’t doubt the truth of what he said; I knew he would do anything to make me happy, that he would go to any lengths. I just didn’t understand how he could do that without fear.

I was so tired and worn out that my brain was too foggy to think rationally about anything. I wanted to talk to him, but it probably wouldn’t do any good at that point. I looked one last time at the balcony and decided to get ready for bed. I left one light in the bedroom on so when he came to bed he could see.

I woke up around seven the next morning and noticed that the light I had left on for George was still on. I sat up and looked at the other side of the bed and felt my heart sink as I saw that he had never come to bed. I jumped up and rushed into the living room. He wasn’t there but I could tell by the pillow on the couch that he had slept there. His work bag was gone and I realized that he had left for work. I sat down on the couch and closed my eyes. He hadn’t slept in the bed, he hadn’t even said goodbye to me before leaving for work. I had such a sense of dread at that moment thinking about how hurt he had to have felt to not even want to do either.

I sighed and slowly made my way into the kitchen. I saw his tea mug sitting on the counter and thought about how every morning since he had moved there we had eaten breakfast together and how much I looked forward to it every morning. He hadn’t been there long, but it felt like he had been there forever and I couldn’t imagine him not being there. I made myself some tea and ate some toast, not really all that hungry but knowing that I should eat something.

I eventually walked into the bathroom and got cleaned up, once again pulling my hair up since I was supposed to clean the apartment. The decorator had already taken most of my belongings and now that the apartment was pretty bare, I figured it was a good time to start cleaning it. I spent the remainder of the morning cleaning and thinking about what had happened the night before and how much I missed George.

I worked through lunch and poured myself into cleaning the apartment, not knowing what else to do until he came home. When the clock struck five I realized he hadn’t called to tell me that he was on his way home. I started to feel the sense of dread that I had felt that morning and sat down on the couch, waiting for a call or the sound of the keys in the door. By six o’clock, I couldn’t take it anymore. I picked up my phone and called his cell. It rang and rang but he didn’t answer; when it went to his voice mail, I hung up, not knowing what to say. I sat back down with the phone still in my hand and was surprised that I soon felt it vibrate. I looked down and saw that it was George’s number and I jumped up off the couch.

“George?”

“Umm. . .no. Do you know the person that this phone belongs to?” The man asked. 

“Yes, he’s my boyfriend.”

“He was in a car accident and the phone was left here at the scene. He was taken to a hospital. . .”

“Which one?!” I interrupted him.

“Mercy West, but he’s. . .”

I hung up before they could tell me more and I hurriedly grabbed my things. The hospital was only ten blocks away and I knew I could run faster than it would take me to get a cab. It seemed like it took forever for me to run the ten blocks and when I finally got to the hospital I stopped suddenly outside the doors.  

What if he was seriously injured? What if he needed surgery? What if. . .? I couldn’t continue with the thought. I started to feel sick and thought my heart had stopped beating. I never would be able to forgive myself if the last thing that we had said to each other was us arguing over money; not I love you, not you mean everything to me, not I need you. . .no it would have been me basically saying I don’t want your charity.

“Ma’am, are you okay?” A man asked as he was leaving.

“I just found out that my boyfriend was in a car accident.” I told him, not really sure why I did.

He looked shocked for a moment and looked at my face. “You’re Steph. . .” I looked up at him and he didn’t look familiar to me. “I’m Ron, Ron Stewart, I work with George.”

I stood there blinking, trying to take in what he said to me. “George is in the ER, but he’s fine. He got a little banged up but the officer on the scene wanted to make sure he was okay and they convinced him to come to the ER to get checked out. Let me take you to him.” He offered. I followed him down several hallways until we reached the ER and we walked past the waiting room and through a set of doors where someone looked at me funny and Ron informed them that I was with him. He led me to a room and I immediately saw George.

“Look who I found outside.” He said to George. George turned his head and looked at me and I rushed over to him; grabbing his face and kissing him all over it.

I heard Ron laugh. “I’ll leave you two alone. See you tomorrow, George.”

I kept kissing him, so relieved that he was okay. “I’m so sorry! I was stupid and I’m so sorry.” I said as I started to cry.

He looked completely confused. “Why. . .What happened?”

“I woke up and you hadn’t come to bed and then I saw that you ate breakfast without me and I realized that I can’t have breakfast without you. And I cleaned all day and all I kept thinking about was how I wanted to see you, to be with you, but you were here. Then you didn’t call to tell me you were on your way home and I started to think that you might have changed your mind about being with me and so I called you, but you didn’t answer. Someone called me back and told me you were in a car accident and I thought the worst. And I started to think how the last thing we said to each other wasn’t ‘I love you’ or ‘you mean everything to me’ or ‘I need you;’ it was arguing about money and I thought I was going to be sick. And I didn’t know how I would go on without you. . .” I couldn’t continue. I was sobbing at that point and no more words would come out.

He pulled me close to him and I cried and cried until the tears couldn’t fall anymore and he gently wiped the tears off of my cheeks. “First of all, I’m sorry that I didn’t come to bed last night. I knew you were upset and I thought that maybe it was better if I slept on the couch. I’ll never make that mistake again. The same with breakfast, if we’re both home, we will eat breakfast together every morning. Even if both of us are sick in bed, we’ll drink our broth together.” I chuckled a little at the thought of us both sick as a dog lying in bed and drinking broth together. “Second, from now on, I will call you every day and tell you when I’m on my way home. I’m sorry, I. . .was being an ass.” He held my face in his hands and looked into my eyes. “I want you to listen to me. . .” He said gently. “I will never, ever change my mind about being with you. No matter what we say, what we do. . .never.” He said with tears in his eyes. “Do you believe me?” I nodded and he let out a sigh of relief. “As for the money, it’s your dream and you should reach it the way you want to. I will help you in any way I can and any way that you let me, but it’s completely up to you.” He started to hug me again and I squeezed him, not wanting to ever let go of him.

“Dr. Davila?” I heard a woman say behind me. I stopped hugging him and turned around to see a nurse. “The x-ray of your ribs didn’t show any breakage, but they’re probably going to be sore for several days, you’ll want to take it easy and restrict movement.”

I watched as George nodded and I realized that a good portion of the time that I had been in the room with him, I had been squeezing his ribs. She left the room and I looked up at George. “Why didn’t you tell me I was hurting you?”

“It didn’t hurt too bad.” He lied horribly and I sadly smiled at him. He grabbed my hand and started walking out the door. “Let’s go home.” He suggested and I followed.

The next night George came home from work and we both got ready to head to the new apartment. After we had packed the last couple of boxes in his car we stood in my apartment and like we had done at his house, we looked around one last time.

“Are you going to miss it?” He asked as he wrapped his arms around me.

“No.” I admitted. “It’s not home anymore.”

He kissed my cheek and we each grabbed a cat carrier. “They are going to be so confused.” I told George. “They had just started to get used to my apartment and now we’re moving them to a completely different place.”

“I know. I think they’ll be okay though.” We placed the carriers in the rental car, since George’s was in the shop being fixed and drove the one block to the new apartment. We took the cats in with us and after we got off the elevator, we let them out of the carriers. George opened up the front glass door and the cats ran in as George and I stood in looking in shock at the apartment. Ginger, the designer came up to us as we started to take everything in.

 

“Welcome home.” She said “Why don’t we start in the kitchen.” She suggested. We followed her into the kitchen. “There wasn’t much to do in here, but as you know, when they went to go put new drywall on, they found this magnificent brick that you decided to expose; which I think was a fabulous idea.” She looked down at the floor. “And then there’s the new wood flooring throughout. The other wood flooring was okay, but this is just more aesthetically pleasing.” 

She walked into the dining area and we followed. “And here we have your dining area. I love the table you picked out Steph! It looks like an old table that has been passed down from generation to generation and the chairs you picked out, George, even though they look new, they still go with the table. For someone who said their favorite color was white, you sure have come a long way.” She stated and I chuckled thinking about the first time I had seen his white house in Appaloosa.

We walked into the living area. “I have no idea why there were walls separating these two rooms. But now that their gone, it opens the space up and allows you to enjoy the view of the city and water from any area in the dining area and living area, even the kitchen. I did decide to use one of your bookcases, Steph to help define the two areas. And of course we have more of the exposed brick in here. Why don’t we go out to the terrace?”

George held the door open for both Ginger and I and we stood there looking around. “With a view like this, you don’t need to do much out here. Some greenery, some seating, and that’s about it.” I knew where we were heading next and I smiled at Ginger as we walked to the door off the terrace that led to George’s office. I had helped Ginger decorate it and even picked out a couple things for it. He again held the door open for both Ginger and I and as he walked in behind us I saw how surprised he was. “I had a little help with this room.” Ginger admitted and George looked at me.

“It’s. . .It reminds me of Appaloosa.” He admitted and I was glad. That was my intent when we started to decorate the room. “These are even my bookcases that I had in the foyer at the house.”

I nodded. “They’ve been painted.” I told him and he nodded.

“Why don’t we make our way upstairs?” Ginger again led the way and we followed her. “So we left one bedroom empty. . .something you can figure out what to do with later. . .” She smiled at us and I felt myself blush a little. “The guest room we had decided on a cooler palette and I think it will be a nice place for someone to sleep when they come stay. Although, they may not want to leave since it’s so nice.”

“We walked back out to the top of the stairs and looked at the reading nook. “I love that you both decided to embrace the English heritage of George’s family when we started decorating this space. Just gives it a little more personality.”

“And finally, the master bedroom.” She opened up the door and motioned for us to walk in ahead of her. We walked in and I couldn’t believe that this was our bedroom. “I like that you chose to do a warmer palette in this room. I think it gives it a romantic feeling.” I had been pretty speechless the whole time but I finally found my voice.

“Thank you.” I said and hugged her.

“You’re more than welcome. It’s always worth it when I see my clients reaction at the end.” She shook George’s hand and started to excuse herself. “I think you both can look at the bathrooms and the balcony out there without me. I’m going to see myself out. Enjoy your new home.” She said.

We thanked her one last time and I turned to look back out the windows. I felt tears start to stream down my face and then George’s arms around my waist. “Welcome home, Sunshine.” I leaned back into him and marveled at how we were finally home.

I woke up later that night, startled for a minute and trying to remember where I was. I looked over at George and smiled as I sat there staring at him for a while wondering how I had become so fortunate. I contently sighed and looked out of the windows at the other buildings for a while before I realized that I was thirsty. I put on a robe and snuck out of the room to head downstairs. As I walked from the living room, through the dining room and then eventually into the kitchen, I glanced out the windows and shook my head in disbelief. How could this be my home and how could the man upstairs be mine? 

I sighed contently as I got myself a glass of water and decided to go out on the balcony for a moment and as I opened the door I felt a slight breeze. The nights still had a little chill to them since it was still spring but that night it was pleasant. I stood at the railing and looked at the city, still trying to believe that this was our home when I suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around me and I smiled.

“I tried not to wake you up.” I admitted.

“I wasn’t really sleeping.” He said.

 “So you laid there and pretended to be asleep while I watched you?” I amusingly asked.

“Yup, and then I watched you sit there and look out the windows.” He admitted as he kissed my neck.

I closed my eyes as he continued with his kisses. I almost protested when he stopped but he turned me around so fast that I was stunned into silence. “You know, there are several things that I’ve dreamed about doing once we moved here.” He said as he looked down at me.

 “Really?” I asked breathlessly knowing the look he had in his eyes.

He nodded and slowly started to undo the belt on my robe. “One of them is to make love to you out here underneath the stars. . .” He whispered in my ear and my robe fell to the ground. 

“Won’t that hurt your ribs?” I worried.

His kisses had slowly been making their way down my neck and then to one of my shoulders before he slowly made his way back up to my ear to respond. “Then we’ll just have to go very…slowly.” He whispered before we continued to make slow, passionate love to each other under the stars.

Over the next two weeks, George recovered from his accident and we settled into the new apartment and a new routine. The only problem was that many times, our routines were opposite of each other. He worked days and I worked nights, he ran usually at night, I ran in the mornings. After a week of not seeing each other much, I was at my breaking point. I sat George down and told him that I was going to stop working at the club and find another job; one that had daytime hours. He had been more than supportive and right before Ethan and Charlotte’s wedding, I stopped working at the club. I had no idea what I was going to do, but with helping Charlotte get ready for the wedding, I knew I wouldn’t be able to figure anything out until it had passed.

The morning of Charlotte and Ethan’s wedding arrived and George and I decided to go for a morning run together. We ran down to the indoor park where the wedding was to take place and caught a glimpse of the set up crew rushing around. After returning to the apartment I took a quick shower and pulled part of my hair back. I was meeting Charlotte, Bridge, and the other bridesmaid at the salon to have our hair and nails done. I quickly made my way down the stairs and saw George in the living room.

“So I don’t even get a peek at your dress before the wedding?” He complained.

“No; it only seems fair since I don’t get to see you in your tux.”

“I have no problem going and putting it on. . .” He kidded.

I laughed and kissed him. “As tempting as that is, I need to get going. I guess you’re just going to have to wait.”

“I guess if I have to. . .” He kissed me and I hurriedly grabbed my dress and ran out the door.

The morning flew by and before we knew it, there was a little less than an hour to the wedding. I was helping Charlotte with some creases in her dress when Bridge came over to talk to her.

“I often wondered what Mom was thinking and feeling as she watched the four of us get married; and while I’ve watched Will get married. . .there’s just something different about a daughter.” Bridge said to her.

“Mom, you’re going to make me cry and my makeup will run everywhere.” Charlotte complained.

Bridge chuckled. “I remember saying something very similar to Grandma.” She got very serious and held both of Charlotte’s hands. “I’m so happy for you Charlotte. Ethan is a wonderful man and I know that your Dad would be so happy for you and he would love Ethan too.” 

I quickly stood up and moved away, not wanting to impose on their alone time. I had figured that even with this being a happy day for Charlotte, that there would be some sadness too since her dad wasn’t there. I continued to watch them from several feet away and tried to imagine what I would feel like on my wedding day. Like Charlotte, I wouldn’t have a dad to walk me down the aisle but unlike Charlotte, I wouldn’t even have the chance to have a conversation with my mother. I hadn’t really thought about it before and now that I did, I had no idea what I would do if that day ever came. I thought about George and about the wish I had made the night of my birthday as I blew out the candles on my cake. I still hadn’t told him what I wished for; that I had wished for this; that I was the one wearing the wedding dress and he was the one wearing a tux and waiting at the end of the aisle.  I would have continued my daydream of that day but was interrupted by Grandpa Chuck walking over.

“Oh my, Charlotte. You look beautiful!” He exclaimed before looking around at the rest of us. “As do all of you ladies.”

“Thank you so much Granddad for walking me down the aisle.”

“My pleasure; although it’s been awhile since I last did this. I hope I remember my part.” He slightly joked and smiled.

We were somewhat startled by someone walking around the corner and I was flabbergasted by what I saw. George had come over to tell everyone that it was almost time to start and he stopped for a moment when he saw me. He sweetly smiled at me before walking over to Charlotte and they stood looking at each other for a moment; not saying a word but it was obvious that both of them were thinking about their dad. They hugged and after telling her how beautiful she looked he made his way over to where I was standing.

He offered me his arm and as I placed mine through his I couldn’t help but ask. “So, was it worth the wait?” I asked referring to my dress.

He looked deep into my eyes. “You have most definitely been worth the wait.” Before I had a chance to respond, we were being ushered closer to where the aisle was. The music started and George and I watched as the first two couples walked down the aisle and as we began our own trek down it, I started thinking about how I was walking down the aisle with the man I loved. I had no idea what he was thinking at that moment, but I was having visions of what our wedding would look like.

***George***

As we walked down the aisle, I wondered what she was thinking about; if the thought of us getting married had crossed her mind. It was all I had thought about all day long and for most of the last several weeks now that we were situated in our new home. There were many times that I had almost given in and proposed but I wanted to make sure that when I did, that even though I was sure that she wouldn’t want anything over the top, I still wanted it to be special. 

We walked to opposite sides and I found myself wishing that we could have stayed together and I once again thought that if this had been our wedding, we could of. We watched Charlotte and Granddad walk down the aisle and as Charlotte joined Ethan, I looked over at Steph. She was watching Charlotte with tears in her eyes until the minster started talking and then she looked over at me and that’s when I knew, she was thinking about us. It was the craziest thing, I had never been able to read someone as well as I could her, which was the complete opposite of how it had been when we first met. There was a time when if you had asked me what was going on in Steph’s head I would have had almost no clue; She had been a perplexing puzzle. Now, all I had to do was look in her eyes and I knew almost instantly what she was thinking.

I smiled at her which caused her to blush slightly and it wasn’t until Charlotte and Ethan started to exchange vows that we centered our attention back on them.

I was surprised at how fast the ceremony went and soon the minister was pronouncing Ethan and Charlotte as man and wife. Everyone cheered as they kissed and made their way back up the aisle and I was more than happy to have Steph back on my arm.  As people started to make their way to tables for the reception, I pulled Steph over to the side and looked into her rich hazel eyes. “I love you.” I said as I stroked her cheek.

She smiled big at me. “I love you too.”

I kissed her and wished that we could have been alone so I could have showed her how much I loved her, but instead, we were gathered with the rest of the wedding party and family to take pictures. 

 

Afterwards, Charlotte and Ethan went to have a moment to themselves while everyone else made their way towards the tables.

 “God, I can’t believe she’s married. . .” Trev said to me.

I nodded. “And to Ethan. . .Never would have guessed five months ago that would have happened.”

“It’s too bad Emily couldn’t come.” Trev said.

“Yeah, well, it’s just too hard to travel with Brooke right now. But she’s excited to see all of you in a little over a week.”

We were interrupted by the announcement of Ethan and Charlotte and after they sat down we continued our conversation. “So. . . I don’t think I’ve ever seen Lottie that happy.” Will admitted.

“Yeah, and you don’t know him, but Ethan is a good guy.” Trev said and Steph and I nodded.

We talked more about our upcoming family get-together at the beach while we ate and then watched Charlotte and Ethan cut their cake. Eventually they made their way to the dance floor that had been placed in the park and after they had their dance, Steph looked at me.

“So. . .you told me during my birthday weekend that if I asked you to dance again. . .” She hinted.

“That I wouldn’t be able to resist. . .” I finished and she nodded as I looked down at her. “I still wouldn’t” I admitted as I led her to the dance floor and we started dancing among the other couples that had made their way to onto the floor. We danced in silence for a little while before she spoke.

“Are you excited about the family vacation?” She wondered.

I nodded. “I am, even though there’s some mixed feelings.”

“Since you all haven’t been back there since your dad passed away?”

“Yeah; But maybe it will finally get rid of the shadow that’s been cast over that place.” She nodded and put her head back on my shoulder and I pulled her even closer. “Are you excited?” 

She lifted her head back up and had a wide smile. “I’ve never been to the beach before.” She admitted and I was surprised.

“You’ve never mentioned that before. . .”

“We’ve been so busy the last several weeks; I just didn’t think to mention it.”

 

“Well then. . .” I started as I looked into her eyes. “We’ll have to make sure that it’s a vacation that you'll always remember.” I finished before kissing her.

*****

- I've updated the family tree again to reflect this wedding. You can find it here.

- Special thank you to Burnt Waffles for the amazing lighting mod!

- George said 2 thing needed to happen before he proposed. . .Trev comes home and Charlotte gets married. . .  :D Game on, folks! LOL!

-Trev's story will be starting soon and I'll post an announcement here when it does.