Page 43 of Trusting Trey
I shrugged. “I guess I’m trying to pretend he’s not leaving. I don’t want to find a new doctor who doesn’t understand what happened to me or how it affected me.”
He rubbed my upper arms and shook his head a little. “You won’t find a new doctor. When you have to see him, we’ll road trip to Regions. I don’t care how far away it is, he’s your doctor and you will continue to see him.”
“It doesn’t seem that far away, but traveling there multiple times will get old, fast.”
“It seems like that right now, but the truth is, once you’ve hit the one year mark, you’ll only be seeing him a couple times a year. We can make it work and we will make it work, because I think it’s important for you to trust your doctor, and you trust him with your life.”
I sighed, finally able to let go of one concern I’ve had for days. “I’ll call and have the office transfer my records with him. Thank you,” I said, kissing his lips.
“You don’t have to thank me. It’s what you do for someone you love. Just like you stepped up and helped me with Garrison. In the end, it worked out better than I could have hoped. With the increase in salary--”
“You get a raise?” I interrupted and he nodded.
“Oh yes, more than a significant raise, my dear. I plan to make some modifications to the house so that it’s easier for you to be here alone.”
“I’m fine, Trey. You don’t have to do that. I can go anywhere I want to in the house and garage. I don’t need more than that. I can’t ask you to do more than that.”
He leaned in and kissed me. His whole demeanor was back to the way it was Christmas Eve morning when we made love as though the world didn’t exist. “This is your home, Allie. I want to stay here and live my life with you, which means there are some things I can do to make it easier for you, that is, if you want to stay.”
I hugged him, his warm body melding with mine as I lay against his chest. “There is no place in the world I would rather be than right here in your arms.”
Christmas Morning
Present Day
He took the box from my lap and laid it on the bed. “I planned to give you the book on Orthodox Christmas, but you looked like you needed a distraction.”
I nodded, holding the book to myhest. “I did, that was the longest three minutes of my life.” I held the book out. “I can’t wait to put it on the shelf with the other books you’ve bought me. I know A Christmas Carol was the first one you bought that day in the bookstore when I was frustrated and hated everyone, and you know I always put each book in chronological order, but not this time. This book is going to go before A Christmas Carol. It’s the book that brought us together and that’s where it belongs.”
He took my hand and kissed it. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. When our little one is old enough you can tell him or her the story of us through books.”
I sighed and he stood, pulling me up with him carefully and making sure my feet were solid before he moved.
“It’s been three minutes; I think it’s time to find out if our life is about to change.”
I nodded as he pulled me along to the bathroom and flicked on the light. He turned back to me and held my chin, kissing me tenderly. It felt as if he was kissing me one last time before our lives changed again. When he pulled away he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.
“You know that whatever that test says doesn’t matter, right? Pregnant or not pregnant, I love you with everything I have inside me. I love you as my wife, my best friend, and hopefully someday the mother of my children. If that’s not today, it will be someday, and I can wait, as long as you’re happy.”
I sucked air into my lungs and nodded, my lips pulled up into the start of a smile. “I’m ready to know. I’m still scared, but I think every woman feels that way at first, right?”
He nodded and cupped my face with his hands. “I know I’m scared, and I’m not going to be the one carrying the baby. I would say that’s perfectly normal and expected for both of us. As Franklin Roosevelt said, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself’. I also know that when the test turns positive, whether it’s now or months from now, the fear will be overrun with joy, hope, and love.”
“I love you,” I whispered and he turned me toward the bathroom sink with him to find out if our lives were about to overflow with joy, hope, and love.
Christmas Morning
One Year Later
A wail pierced the silence of the night and I sat up carefully, so I didn’t wake Trey. I slipped my drop foot braces on and went to the nursery down the hall, picking up my three-month-old son from his crib. He was rooting for milk as I sat on the couch next to the Christmas tree, and he latched on immediately. He sighed happily with his needs met and his little hand rested on my other breast. I slipped my finger under it, letting his fingers curl around mine. He and I had done that since the day he was born, September sixth, weighing in at six pounds. Trey Helton Junior, or TJ as we call him, was the light of our lives now. He’s only been with us for a few months, but I can’t remember what our life was like before him. I had quit my job at the library to stay home with him, which was a good thing since I spent the last few months of the pregnancy in my wheelchair. The strain on my back was too much for me to bear, even though Dr. Fatma assured us that my neurological changes were only temporary. He was right, and now that TJ was here, I was able to do anything I wanted again.
I checked the clock across the room and saw that it was nearly three a.m. Since he was nursing now, he would sleep the rest of the night and maybe even sleep in a few extra minutes, though my husband wouldn’t. Trey was over the moon excited to celebrate Christmas for the first time with his son. Not having any family of his own made this Christmas extra special to him. We had taken our annual sleigh ride yesterday to pick out a tree, and then went to Sugar’s for our annual Christmas Eve reading of the Christmas story and carol singing.
As was tradition, we didn’t pick the perfect tree for our living room. We picked a tree with character and strength. When we wound the lights last night, TJ looked in wonderment at the colorful blinking lights. This morning once we were all up, we would put on some Christmas music and I would hold TJ while his daddy wrapped the garland and hung the ornaments. There was a special one for him this year; his first Christmas.
“He sounds happy,” my husband whispered sleepily. He sat by me on the couch and stroked his son’s downy head.
“Merry Christmas, Trey,” I said, and his lips turned up into a smile at the mention of his favorite holiday.
