Everything would be okay. We were starting our next phase.
I held my belly and looked down at the baby. “Daddy will be home soon. And then we can get you something to eat. I am craving strawberry jam, and I have a feeling that’s all you. It has nothing to do with me.”
I yawned, shook my head, and then lay down on the couch. The movers would be here in a week to finish everything, and this couch was mine--one that would go to my new home with Tanner. First, though, it would go to a storage unit. We had all decided that if we were able, we would use storage units for some of our stuff because it would be a little ridiculous to try and fit everything into Pacey’s house, regardless of how big it was.
I yawned again, lay my head on a pillow, and was out before I knew it, images of Tanner on my mind.
I woke coughing, my eyes burning, wondering what the hell was going on.
I sat up and looked around, choking on a scream. Smoke billowed from the kitchen area where the fuse box was, and I held back a shout.
There hadn’t been a storm. Lightning didn’t trip the fuse box again. But there was a fire. An actual fire.
I saw flames from the other side of the house and dropped to my hands and knees, the smoke far too thick above me. I remembered that as long as I stayed low, I could make it out. I needed to make it out. My phone was still in my hand, and I shook, knowing I needed to call 911, to call Tanner, to do something.
I needed to get out. Only I couldn’t think. The smoke was too thick, and I kept coughing. A shadow moved towards me, and I shrieked, wondering if I was seeing things.
Only it wasn’t just a shadow.
Jared hovered over me, grinning even as he coughed.
“Stupid bitch. You should have left us alone, just like that little asshole of yours.”
This was Jared. Had he started the fire? What was he doing here? Was this all a dream? I couldn’t think. He kept talking, and then there was a grunt and a shout and the sound of something hitting the floor. I couldn’t figure out what was going on, and I couldn’t focus on Jared. I needed to get out of the house.
I tried to crawl away. My baby needed to be okay.
I coughed again as strong arms lifted me. I tried to reach out, tried to tell whoever held me that I needed to save my baby. The person carried me out of the house, and I tried to cover my mouth, to protect my lungs and my child.
The baby. The baby had to be okay.
“You’re fine. You’re going to be fine. The ambulance is on its way,” Tanner whispered from my side, and I looked up at him as he fell to the ground, holding me in his arms. I wept.
“Tanner.” My throat hurt, my eyes burned, but this was Tanner. My Tanner. He had me.
“I’m fine.”
I saw a burn on his cheek, his beautiful skin marred, and there was soot on his ear and his chin.
“Can you breathe?”
I coughed but nodded. “I can breathe.”
“Good, I love you so fucking much.”
“How? How did you get here? What happened?”
“Don’t speak. Save your throat.”
I gave him a pleading look, and he sighed, holding me close. “I was coming over to get you. I saw the flames and ran inside to find you.”
I scowled at him.
“I know it was stupid, but the paramedics weren’t here yet. Nor were the firefighters.”
As the sirens got louder, I looked up, and everyone started moving all at once as soon as they parked near us.
“You saved us,” I whispered, my hands on him and on my belly.
“I’m so sorry,” he replied. I looked over to see that a firefighters had run in and pulled out another body. Jared lay shaking, coughing into his hands. It seemed he had almost died from his own fire—if that’s truly what’d happened. I couldn’t rationalize it all right now.
Maybe one day it would make sense. But for now, I just let the paramedics give me oxygen, monitor my vitals, check the baby, and hoped everything would be okay.
As Tanner held me, I looked over my shoulder and saw the firefighters spraying down half the house.
It had been old, rickety, and still held a lot of our things.
Now, it was broken.
Everything was broken.
I wasn’t sure what to think, so I didn’t.
I told myself I would think later and just let Tanner hold me, praying that the baby would be okay.
Twenty-Two
Tanner
The sun shone through the blinds of my bedroom, and unlike the previous morning, I wasn’t thinking of how nice everything felt against me. Instead, I clung to Natalie and never wanted to let go.
She had finally fallen asleep only a couple of hours prior, the sun just rising. We had spent most of the day yesterday at the hospital, checking her vitals and those of the baby. They both seemed healthy and would be fine. And while that’s what they told us, I hadn’t actually come to believe it yet. It felt as if I had almost lost the love of my life again. We’d almost lost our baby. Natalie had gone to the floor quickly, had moved fast, and hadn’t breathed in as much smoke as she thought. She had panicked while trying to get out, though. That was why she had gotten dizzy; not because of the smoke.
She would be fine. We would all be fine. Even if it took me longer than I cared to admit to finally let her go at the hospital the day before.
“You’re grumbling,” she muttered against me, and I froze, the baby kicking my hand.
“Sorry, did I wake you?”
“No, I couldn’t sleep. And we’re hungry.”
I kissed the back of her neck and rolled out of bed, walking around to help her up.
“I forgot how high your bed was,” she said as she sat on the edge of the mattress and traced her fingers along my jaw. I had a bandage on my face. The numbing cream made it so it didn’t hurt that much, but I knew it would soon. My cheekbone had gotten burned slightly, and I would probably carry the scar for the rest of my life, but that was fine. It would be a reminder of what I could’ve lost. What we could’ve lost. And I thought I needed the reminder.
“I could’ve lost you,” Natalie whispered.
I shook my head. “That’s what I was thinking.”
“We didn’t lose each other. That’s all that matters.”
“I can’t believe Jared came back to try to hurt you,” I grumbled.
I helped her out of bed, and we both rushed downstairs in our pajamas. I noticed the others were already up before she could say anything back.
“Oh, good, none of us is sleeping,” Nessa said as she scooted closer to Miles on the couch. I sat down, Natalie on my lap, and the eight of us just rested, none of us speaking for a moment as we tried to come to terms with what had happened.
“The insurance person, the fire inspector, and other people will be at the house today,” Mackenzie said after a moment, looking down at her phone. “The landlord isn’t coming. I don’t think they care. They’re going to get money out of the deal anyway.”
“And it looks like we’re out a few of our things,” Elise said before she looked over at us there. “Not that it matters. The important paperwork is all safe, as are a lot of our memory things. We mostly just lost everything from the kitchen and anything we had boxed up in the mudroom. That’s what the water hit most because the fire didn’t get the other side of the house.”