Afflicted Read online

  “Thank fuck!” I exclaimed, sliding the ring onto her delicate finger before getting to my feet and kissing her passionately. “Okay, you can go sit back down now.” I teased.

  We did the rest of the acoustic set, along with all of our other obligations before wrapping up around 10. I suddenly had a crazy idea and wondered if Piper and the rest of the gang would be up for it. I rounded them all up and put it out there.

  “Soooo, I was thinking that if it’s good with Piper we could get married tonight.”

  She gasped. “What? How?”

  “Vegas isn’t that far from here.” I said. “I don’t want to wait anymore. Before you know it the baby will be here and things will get hectic, even more hectic than they’re going to be with me going on tour. We can have a big wedding after the baby’s born if you want, but I’ve waited almost twenty-eight years waiting for you, that’s long enough. Besides, I want to be married when the baby gets here.”

  “I’m down.” Derek said.

  “Me too!” Aubrey squeaked. “And you’re already wearing white, coincidence I think not.”

  “Alright.” Piper finally said.

  “I’ll call and get a party bus to take you out there.” Brett said, fetching his phone from his suit jacket.

  Taking Piper in my arms I swung her around carefully and waited for the bus to arrive.

  “By the end of the night you’re going to be my wife!” I exclaimed.

  “Forever.” She said.

  “And ever.” I replied.

  “I think I’m gonna go outside and throw up now.” Derek laughed.

  Aubrey had Granny on speakerphone telling her the news.

  “It’s about fucking time the two of you pulled your heads out of your asses.” She yelled. “Go to Vegas and visit Elvis now will ya goddammit!”

  Chuckling into Piper’s hair I looked at her and grinned.

  “Alright Granny, love you.” Aubrey said, hanging up the phone.

  “We’re going to get a head start.” I said, taking Piper’s hand and leading her out to the car.

  As soon as I started the engine Foo Fighter’s ‘Walk’ came through the stereo. I looked over at her and grinned as I stepped down harder on the pedal. She leaned forward and turned it up as loud as it would go. Things were going to be okay as long as we were able to conquer them together.

  Vegas here we come.

  EPILOGUE

  Learning To Walk Again

  Piper

  “Ow! That smarts, Pipe.” Blake said gritting his teeth together.

  “Hold on, I’m almost done.” I said, packing in the last of the white ink around his tattoo.

  Since we rushed down the aisle, and he left for tour shortly after, we didn’t have time to get traditional wedding bands. He was worried about losing his ring or it interfering when he played, so he decided that getting it tattooed would be the best choice. I on the other hand, was rocking a set of giant rocks on my hand that I repeatedly said were too big in the store, but he said it wasn’t big enough. I was only a week, and a half away from my due date and I was beyond ready. The nursery was finished. It was painted bright pink with cheetah print everything, thanks to Aubrey’s decorating skills.

  While Blake was on tour he put me in charge of buying us our own place for when he got back. I chose a colonial style house not too far from Jake and Aubrey. We had a super fast closing that only took three weeks. I spent the rest of the time hiring painters and cleaners, even though I would have rather done it myself. The best part about the house was the massive, three-car garage that we turned part of into a tattoo studio so I could occasionally work from home.

  As I was finishing up the last line I felt a gush. Looking down at the floor I saw that it was wet. I’d been having Braxton-Hicks for a while now, but the pain I was having now was far worse than those.

  Blake looked at me with wide eyes.

  “It’s time!” He said jumping out of his seat.

  “Get back here. I need to wrap it before we do anything.” Taking a deep breath I carefully wrapped the tattoo. After grabbing a couple towels he helped me stand up and put the towels down on the passenger seat of my new Jeep Grand Cherokee. The bags were already in the trunk thanks to Jake’s “balls to the wall” coaching.

  As soon as we were on our way he called everyone to let them know that I was in labor. I was breathing in and out concentrating on the fact that soon we would be meeting our daughter for the first time.

  Pulling up to the hospital Blake went inside and got a wheelchair, wheeling me in before going to park the car. He came back carrying all the bags and let them know that we were here. The contractions were starting to come more frequently. A nurse came and whisked us up to labor and delivery. After changing into a hospital gown the attending came in to tell me that my doctor was on her way.

  She checked my cervix to see how I was progressing.

  “Shit.” She cursed under her breath. “You’re already seven centimeters dilated.”

  “Seven?” Blake asked. “That’s a lot, right?”

  “Yes, she only has three more before she can start pushing.”

  She left the room to get the nurses when I started feeling like I had to push, bad. I yelled at Blake to tell her to come back. She came back into the room with gloves on and nurses on her heels. She told me that I could start pushing on the next contraction. Using all my strength I pushed as hard as I could, squeezing Blake’s hand to the point of pain. After a half an hour of pushing she finally arrived. They placed her on my chest while Blake cut the cord. She had a head of dark, curly hair and a perfect little cherub face.

  “I’m a dad.” Blake said, with tears falling down his face.

  “Does she have a name?” The doctor asked.

  “Harriet Potter.” I said chuckling.

  The doctor laughed and asked again.

  “Waverly Grace Potter.” We said in unison.

  They took her off to get cleaned up when Blake’s phone started going off. It was Jake. He put it on speakerphone so I could listen. “We’re on our way. Aubrey’s in labor.”

  I started laughing hysterically. “It must be a full moon.”

  The nurse came over and handed Waverly to Blake who looked at her in complete awe. It was hard to believe what started out as a fling for both of us ended up in a forever. Through ups and downs, good times, bad times and worse times we came out on the other side stronger. We were a family now, and even though there were going to be trials and tribulations down the road together we could weather any storm.

  Besides, now he had another girl to be afflicted by.

  THE END

  Be on the lookout for Conflicted, Derek’s story coming 2013.

  First, THANK YOU so much for reading! If you enjoyed it please take a moment to leave a review. I love hearing from you guys so feel free to email me @ [email protected] or find me on social networking to connect.

  To see what I’m up to and what I’m working on next follow me on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/sophiemonroewrites

  A special thanks to Chris @ CJC Photography for the awesome cover photo! You can find him on Facebook as well @ www.facebook.com/cjcphotography

  Afflicted Playlist:

  Age of Days- Broken

  Theory of A Deadman- All or Nothing

  Saving Abel- 18 Days

  Skillet- Say Goodbye

  Avril Lavigne- Girlfriend

  Lansdowne- Watch Me Burn

  Hinder- Get Me Away From You

  Local H- Wolf Like Me

  Rhianna- Stay

  Bon Iver- Skinny Love

  Rooster- Get Some

  The Downtown Fiction- I Just Wanna Run

  Angels Fall- Drunk Enough

 

 

 
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