A Romantic Surprise
Chapter 9
By Rachel
2014
After missing our dinner reservation, AJ went to a local Chinese restaurant down the street to pick up some food. I was sitting in front of the fire place waiting for him to return. My stomach was growling.
My cell rang. I figured it was AJ, so I picked it up. “Hello!”
“Hey Red! How’s your vacation? Spent the whole time in bed fucking?” Jade asked with a giggle.
“Really, Willow Jade? That is none of your business.” I groaned into the phone. “What’s going on?”
“Reese had a little accident.” Jade said seriously. My heart fell to the floor.
“Oh my god! Is she okay? What happened?” I started to panic. Fear was running through my body.
“She fell off the balance beam at gymnastics. She broke her leg.”
AJ walked into our suite, carrying a bunch of food. He set it down and stared at me. “Are you okay?” He whispered. I shook my head.
“Oh my! AJ just walked in. Let me put you on speaker.” I turned my attention to my husband. “Reese broke her leg.”
“Jade, is she okay? Where is Reese?” AJ asked calmly. I’m glad he stable, because I was freaking out on the inside. My poor baby was hurt and without her mom and dad.
“We’re still at the hospital. Reese has to get her leg set and casted.” Jade explained. “Nick’s sitting with her. Denise just picked up Calleigh.”
“Can we talk to her?” I asked, wishing I could hug my baby girl.
I heard Jade fiddling with her phone. Nick was singing in the background. AJ grabbed my hand and held it tightly. I felt like the worst mom in the world.
“Hi mommy. Hi daddy.” Reese squeaked out. She sounded so tiny. “I broke my leg.”
“Aunt Jade told us. Are you okay, Reese’s Pieces?” AJ asked concerned.
“I’m okay. I’m just mad that I fell off the beam. I was doing a cartwheel and lost my balance. I hit my leg on the beam as I fell.” She explained dramatically. Nothing seemed to bring her down. She was tough for a seven year old.
“The next time you won’t fall.” I said reassuringly.
“I miss you both.” Reese was getting whiny. I’m sure the pain meds were making her sleepy.
“We miss you, too, baby.” AJ replied. “Did they put your cast on yet?”
“No, we’re still waiting for the doctor to come back. What color should I pick for my cast?” She asked.
“You could always pick your favorite color. Do you know what colors they have?”
“Mommy, I have like four million favorite colors. I don’t think they can make me a rainbow one.” I wanted to laugh at my daughter. She sounded like a teenager at that moment. “They have every color, even ones with glitter in them. Do I want neon pink or neon green?”
“Which one do you like more?” AJ asked.
There was dead air on the phone for about a minute, while Reese was thinking. “I think I’m going to go with neon green daddy.”
“It’s a perfect choice.”
“I hate to cut this short, but the doctor just arrived.” Nick’s voice took over. “We’ll call you when we get home.”
“Please take care of her.” I pleaded to my brother-in-law. Tears started to fall.
“We will. I promise.”
“Bye mommy. Bye daddy. I love you.” Reese was groggy.
“We love you. We’ll be home soon.” Both of us said together.
AJ and I ate dinner quickly. We decided to cut our romantic vacation short. Reese needed us. Now we were sitting at the airport waiting to catch the red eye back to Los Angeles.
“Thank you for the trip, Sweet Cheeks. I really appreciated it.” I lean into him.
“You’re welcome.” He kisses my temple. “I love doing special things with you.”
“We need to spend more time together. I know that sometimes I let things get in the way of us. I need to make more effort.” I admitted honestly.
“Me, too. I’m going to try harder. Sometimes, my focus on work gets out of hand. You need to hit me over the head.”
“I can do that.” We both laughed. “You know you can do the same.”
“Never. I’d never hit you.” His mouth moves to mine. It’s a searing, sensual kiss. The kind of kiss that leads to the bedroom. AJ’s hands were in my hair pushing me closer to him. I moaned against his mouth as I wrapped my arms around his neck. Usually, I wasn’t into public displays of affection, but this is just what I needed at the moment.
“Would you two get a room?” A familiar male voice boomed. AJ and I broke apart. I looked up and saw Jade’s friend Dale and his wife Geri. “Aspen, AJ it’s great to see you. How are you?”
I stood up and gave Dale and Geri a hug. “We’re doing well. We are heading home. Reese broke her leg.”
“Poor Reese. I know Jade has been talking to Geri.” She smacked her husband on the stomach. “What was that for?”
“Doctor patient confidentiality.” Geri sighed.
What was going on with my sister? I thought she told me everything. Maybe she just needed to talk to someone who wasn’t family. I didn’t know what to think. I hoped everything was okay.
“Our flight was just called. It was nice seeing you again.” AJ gave Dale a quick handshake. Then he hugged Geri.
“I’m sure we’ll see each other in the future.” Geri smiled.
AJ took my hand and we walked to our gate. We hurried to our seats in first class. I handed my carry on to my husband. He put it in the overhead with his, as I took my seat. I was still thinking about my sister as he sat down.
“Penny for your thoughts.”
“Just thinking about my sister. I’m worried about Jade. I mean she’s getting counseling again.” I looked out the window.
“Sweetheart, not everyone talks to a counselor because they have problems. Jade probably just needed a friend to talk to.” AJ responded reassuringly.
“But Geri said doctor to patient.” I was going to worry about my sister even if AJ tried to talk me out of it.
“Jade is fine. If there was something really wrong she would tell you. Now we have six hours before we have to deal with reality. I think we need to spend that time focusing on us.” His hand moved slowly up my arm.
“I think that is a perfect idea.” I smiled at him. “Thank you for everything. These past few days have been wonderful. It was nice having time for just you and me. I hope we can do this more often. I love you AJ.” I nestled myself against him, and he quickly wrapped his arm around me.
“I love you, Aspen. Always and Forever.”
