“Okay.”
I texted Julian and asked him to tell my parents what had happened, and all he could reply was, “Fuck, man. I’m sorry.”
Kinley held my hand the entire drive to her mom’s house which was about an hour away. After we finally got her into bed, Kinley didn’t want to leave her, and I understood why. She was worried she’d go right back to drinking again, given the chance.
“Go back to the party, Christian. Your family is waiting for you.”
I pulled her into my arms, knowing she needed me now more than ever. “You’re my family, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Christian…”
“I know, babe. I wish I could take your pain away. The only thing I can do is be here for you in any way I can. We can try to get her into rehab or something if she agrees, but we can’t make her, Kinley.”
“I can’t believe this is happening again. I really thought that part of our lives was over. I don’t understand why she decided to ruin all the work she’s put in at getting her life back together. Nine years to just fall off the wagon. Why? Please make me understand.”
“I can’t answer that question for you, only she can.”
“I’m so sorry about earli—”
“You don’t have to apologize. I’m the one who should be apologizing to you. I shouldn’t have said anything. I feel horrible now that I did.”
“How did you know?”
“I guess I could just tell. She went from being heavily involved in your life to barely seeing you at all. It was like she was trying to hide the truth from you.”
“How did I not see it?”
“Love is blind, Kinley.”
For the next hour, we cleaned up her house, finding empty bottles of vodka stashed everywhere, on top of unopened ones filling her cabinets. She’d definitely relapsed, and from the looks of it, she’d been drinking for a while. Her meds were on the counter, untouched. Standing at attention.
Kinley didn’t say a word, but I could tell she was trying not to break down. Her disappointment was evident as she cried silent tears. Every couple of seconds, I heard her sniffle and breathe deeply in and out.
Once we were done getting rid of all the alcohol she hadn’t opened, it was well after one in the morning. We laid down on the couch, and I pulled Kinley into the side of my body with her head on my chest. I played with her hair, trying to get her to fall asleep. I was fully aware she was mentally exhausted from the night’s unexpected events.
“Christian…”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Do you think she’s going to keep drinking?”
I didn’t want to lie to her. All I could do was promise I’d be there for her. Although, I knew that night was the beginning of the end for her mom and her sobriety.
I just prayed she wouldn’t take Kinley down with her.
Chapter 23
Christian
Now
Another month and a half had come and gone. The day we were most excited for was finally here, and we’d find out the gender of our baby. The nurses in my office knew what we were having, and they’d let Autumn know. She was adamant on throwing us a reveal party at our house.
She took care of everything: the caterer, the decorations, the invitations. There wasn’t anything missing, or that she hadn’t already thought of. Kinley didn’t have to lift a finger. It was her day, and my sister made sure of it.
The party was better than I could have ever imagined. The theme was pirates and mermaids for our new boat and adventures. The whole house was decked to the nines. My sister had thought of every last detail that would be important in this celebration.
All our friends and family were in attendance. The house was filled with our loved ones.
The expression on my parents’ faces when we told them we were pregnant was a memory I’d take to my grave. I handed them both their gifts one night when we were eating dinner at their house.
“It’s not our anniversary or birthday,” Mom acknowledged. “What is this?”
“Open it and find out.”
She eyed me skeptically before they both unwrapped their presents. The second my mom saw her necklace with a charm that read “grandma” and my dad saw his watch that was engraved with “grandpa,” they both broke out in a fit of tears.
I’d never seen my father cry before, and it was quite a sight. He was such a strong man, so to see him fall apart was heartwarming,
“Oh, Christian, Kinley!” Mom wailed, pulling us both into a tight embrace with my dad quickly following.
We stayed there for several minutes, just enjoying this celebration for as long as we could.
Kinley looked fucking radiant, glowing from the inside out. Pregnancy truly agreed with my girl. She’d never looked better, constantly taking my breath away with her beauty and swollen belly.
Her pregnancy was good to her, and in turn she was good to me. Her hormones had made my already horny wife to incessantly crave my cock.
Mouth.
Tongue.
Fingers.
Anything with my touch, begging me to make her come. I’d never deny her the pleasure of sitting on my face, loving the taste and feel of her against my mouth. We hadn’t made love again. My fear of hurting them was still alive and present in our daily life. Though my balls ached to be inside of her, I’d have to wait until the baby was born.
My touch wasn’t the only thing she couldn’t get enough of, eating all sorts of weird-ass cravings at all hours of the night. I didn’t know where the fuck the food was going other than in her round bump. You couldn’t tell she was pregnant unless she turned to the side.
I wrapped my arms around her waist from behind her, knowing how much she loved it when my tattooed chest piece was against her back. I did it now more than ever, cherishing the fact that I was holding her and our baby in my arms.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look today?”
“Once or twice, but you can totally tell me again.”
I chuckled, kissing the side of her neck.
I didn’t waste any more time with her. The days of coming home late were over. I was home early every night to be with her, wanting to end that chapter of our lives when she wasn’t my first priority. Her and the baby were the only things that were number one in my world now, the way it should have always been.
Things were good.
We were happy.
Slowly but surely, we were letting go of the past and looking forward to the future as a family. I couldn’t begin to tell you how much things had changed between us. We weren’t fighting or bickering over the stupidest shit anymore. We were still seeing our therapist, trying to work out any issues that might be lingering in our marriage.
Our communication was open, honest, no longer built on resentment or guilt for the things we couldn’t change. That hopeless feeling was gone, and it was replaced with a hopefulness of battling our own demons. It was easy to fall back into the love we’d always had for each other.
I focused on learning how to actually listen to what she was saying to me, making sure her needs and wants were met were my priority.
She was the love of my life, then, now, and always.