The Journey Home(68)
Author: Kelly Elliott

Maddie had her eyes closed and she was holding my hand. I wanted to just look at her before I said anything. When I saw a tear slide down her face, my world about fell apart. Our wedding. I’d fucked up our wedding.

I tried to talk, but nothing came out. Maddie dropped her head onto the bed as she cried. I lifted my fingers some to show her I was awake and could see and hear her.

Nothing.

Swallowing hard, I forced myself to talk. “Maddie…” It came out barely a whisper.

I moved my hand more and she lifted her head and looked at our hands.

“Maddie…” I whispered again. She snapped her head up and looked at me. Tears streamed down her face as she jumped up.

“Cale? Did you say something?”

I nodded. “Maddie,” I whispered, hoarse.

The smile that spread across her face lit up the entire room. “I love you so much.” She started crying harder, but she also laughed. She gently kissed my lips. When she pulled back, her eyes searched my face. “We’re selling the boat.”

I laughed, then quickly stopped and groaned. “Ribs…so sore.”

“Oh, God. I’m so sorry.” She kissed me again before hitting the call button. A few seconds later, a voice spoke.

“May I help you, Ms. Powers?” a nurse said.

She grinned bigger. “He’s awake.”

“I’ll page the doctor now.”

Maddie’s smile faded as she wiped away more tears. “You scared me, Cale.”

I shook my head. “I’m so sorry. I would never do anything on purpose to hurt or scare you. I hate knowing that you’ve been so upset.” I remembered the wedding. “What day is it?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head as if she, too, had lost track of the days. “It’s Tuesday.”

“Tuesday? What? The wedding is in three days. How long…holy shit. I’ve been out since last Thursday?”

She nodded. “Yeah. They had you in an induced coma for a few days so your brain swelling could go down and your body could heal a bit before you began moving around. Your spleen tore, but they repaired that, too.”

Jesus. All the worrying and pain I’d put her through. I hated myself. “My ribs…are they broken?”

She cleared her throat and gave me a sad look. “Yes. Three broken ribs, and the femur in your left leg.”

Son of a bitch. “Yeah. I remember hearing something in my leg crack when it hit the side of the boat.”

She grimaced. “Oh, Cale.” She leaned down and kissed me. “I…love…you…so…much.” She kissed me after every word, then sucked in my lower lip and began kissing me more passionately. When the door opened and a male voice cleared his throat she pulled away.

I smiled and winked. “Well I know one thing that isn’t broken.”

Her face flushed and she stood, taking a few steps back as she continued to look at me with nothing but pure love in her eyes.

I SMILED AS my mother walked in holding a tray. I inhaled the best I could and said, “Oh, man, Mom. That smells good.”

She smiled and set the tray down. There was fresh, cut-up fruit, two whole-wheat rolls, and a huge bowl of chicken and dumplings.

“Well, hell. If I’d known breaking a few bones would get you to cook like this, mom, I’d have done it years ago.”

Mom sneered at me. “Funny. I didn’t make it though. Your bride to be made it.”

I pulled my head back and looked down at the chicken and dumplings. “Maddie made this? My Maddie?”

She giggled as she pulled up the side chair and sat down. She grabbed the remote and put the TV on some stupid reality show. “Yep. Your Maddie.”

I spooned up some of the soup and a dumpling and blew to cool it off. The moment it hit my tongue, I was in heaven. “Damn. Mom, did you have some of this? I had no idea Maddie knew how to make chicken and dumplings.”

She nodded. “Yep, it’s really good.”

“It’s delicious. Where the hell did she learn this? The dumplings are homemade.”

My mother laughed and looked at me. “She’s an amazing woman. She loves you so much, Cale. It practically pours off of her.”

My heart slammed in my chest. “I love her so much, too.” I took another bite. “Hey, Mom, can I ask you something?”

She changed the channel to some show where people were rushing around and making cupcakes. “Or course you can, Cale,” she said. “You can ask me anything.”

“Why do you think Maddie hasn’t gotten pregnant yet?”

She picked up the remote and turned off the TV. She turned her whole body to face me. “Cale, I know how badly you both want a baby. I’m thinking right now it’s probably a good thing Maddie isn’t pregnant. I can’t even imagine what the stress from the last two weeks would have done to her and a baby.”

I nodded. “It’s been five months since we started trying. Five, Mom. Damn. Zoey practically got pregnant the second I touched her. It isn’t fair.”

She narrowed one eye and looked at me. “Do you regret Lily?”

“What? No. My God, I could never, ever regret her. She’s my life.”

She nodded and looked away for a few seconds. “What Maddie needs is to not think about it. She needs to relax, and just know that it will happen when it happens.”

I took another bite of my dumplings. “I think she’s given up.”

“What? Why would you say that?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. She hasn’t talked about it lately. I mean, I know she got busy with planning the wedding, and Lily’s first birthday. But these last few days…she seems so happy. Like she’s content with everything. But I’m far from being content. We should be married now. We should be on our honeymoon right now and working on that baby. Now she’s home, cooking dumplings.”

“Maybe she enjoys this lifestyle. Maybe she likes being home and taking care of you, cooking your favorite things. By the way, she made lemon cheesecake.”

I licked my lips and moaned. Lemon cheesecake was my ultimate favorite thing.

My mother smiled and said, “I’ve never met anyone like Maddison. She’s strong, but willing to lean on others. She’s smart as hell. I swear, though, sometimes the girl lacks common sense.”

I chuckled, trying not to move much.

“She’s probably the best mother I’ve ever seen. Far better than I ever was. I watch her sometimes and wonder why I was never that way with you. I make excuses, of course. I was too young when I had you. I wasn’t really ready to be a mother. I got caught up in a world I really didn’t want or need to belong in—”