Wedding Bells

Chapter 22

"Wow, I guess we really had a lot more to talk about than I thought we did," I looked down at the ground, the words echoing through my mind. The entire time we were in there it was like I was learning something new about my husband, something I never would have thought of. Though things were still a little on edge by the end of it, I felt like it had helped us more than it would have hurt us.

Carter held my hand squeezing it as we walked back to the car. Daydreaming as he looked around to all of the trees. It really was a beautiful Friday afternoon.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Carter turns to me. A little excitement growing in his voice as he grabs both of my hands. I chuckle slightly as my purse whips around and smacks him in the butt. He was still carrying it for me.

"No, I mean...I don't know, what are you thinking?" I stumble over my words, the thought of him getting attacked by my purse still lingering in my thoughts. Of course I wasn't thinking the same thing as him, that would be crazy.

"I'm thinking we should redo our honeymoon, this weekend." He smiled, and it grew across his face as if he had nothing else to smile about in the entire world.

"What are you insane, we can't go to Scotland in a weekend. Especially not this weekend," I begin to panic, thinking of the cost of plane tickets and how close the baby was to coming. If it wasn't this weekend what weekend would we do it?

"Erin, no, listen up. Let's just go on a little road trip up the coast, we can travel to Maine and find a nice little shack and hide out on the beach for the weekend."

Carter was speaking my language, and the more I thought about it the more it seemed like fun. We could just drive, so no expensive plane ticket, we would have to leave pretty soon though to get an actual weekend out of it. Maine wasn't too far away but it was a few states over.

"We could leave right now, let's run home and pack up our gear, you can call your mom on the way. Erin we need to do this. We need to keep working through these problems we are having and I think this is the best way to do it." Carter was so sure, his heart so pure, his plan so flawless in his glazed over eyes. The more I thought about it the, the more I realized nothing was holding us back from doing this. We could go. We could very easily go and have a little trip before the baby comes. Actually we probably should. Before I could even figure out what was happening, I realized that I was talking myself into it.

Carter had put the idea in my head and I was running with it. Working out all the Things that could go wrong in my head. Would my mother be concerned? Would she worry about us while we were away? Better yet, would I be able to get over my worry for her. Sure she was cancer free and her doctor said she didn't have to come in anymore, I still worry that it would come back. Possibly while we were gone this weekend.

It was almost as if Carter read my mind, since he leaned forward, kissing my forehead before whispering.

"Your mother will be fine, let's run home and pack." that was what we did. That was enough to convince me that we needed to go. He knew exactly what to say. I'd never seen him drive home so fast in my life. Neither of us had anything to do this weekend, and without this trip it probably would have just been spent at home, working on the nursery for when our child comes. I glanced down at my stomach looking at the large round surface. I wasn't sure what name we were going to pick yet, or even what gender you were. But once we got back from this trip I'd be able to focus on the baby shower, and my little one. But this trip, this was for me.

~*~

We were on our way. The music was blaring, and Carter was speeding down the interstate. Within six hours we would be at our destination. I couldn't help but smile. The window rolled down as it whips through out hair, leaving streaks of tangle that I would be annoyed with later tonight but for right now, they were not a care on my mind.

My mother was fine with the trip, she actually tried to rush me, saying Carter and I needed a break before the baby. My heart sank in my chest leaving her though, but as we drive down the interstate, the worries seemed to all wash away. Eventually I would have to be able to get back out on the street.

I would have to be able to run on my own again. Not worry about what was going on around me. I was a grown woman, married and pregnant. I needed to make sure my life was being lived to the fullest, with my husband by my side. I shook my head singing along to every word that billows through the stereo.

I was so happy we were doing this. My heart racing almost as fast as the car. There were only 400 miles of open roads dividing us from our sweet destination.

Carter and I were a little insane though, we didn't have to drive this far to find a hotel room on the ocean. But Carter insisted that we had one that was on the water instead. Not just kissing the sand, but floating all on it's own little island. So that was the plan. To get in the car and jet ourselves towards the floating island that was coaxing Carter for miles.

Carter reached forward to turn to music down, causing me to stop mid sentence to look at him.

"What did you do that for?" I question. He shakes his head before turning to look at me for just a moment.

"I'm sorry I haven't allowed myself to fully trust in you, I think that's where a lot of my fear come in with the baby, not so much me being a good father or not, but more so, me not being around because I can't handle my own stupid problems." He flicked his turn signal on, before switching lanes to pass a semi that was holding us back. The tiny engine of our car working to pull ahead.

"I love you Carter," I whispered. Not sure what else to say. I didn't know How I was really supposed to help him with all of his fears.

"I love you too, junebug," he smiled towards my belly as well. Turning back to the road to bring the car back into the slower lane. I watched carefully keeping my eye out for any reckless drivers.

New York wasn't known for having the best drivers. Driver out here were aggressive and a pain in the butt to deal with. But Carter managed fine.

"I'm excited that we are finally getting somewhere, out of town, out of the rush of the big city, and ready to slow down with just the two of us." Carter must have really liked what I said, his hand shooting to my thigh as he squeezes it gently.

A couple hours go by and as the miles tick down on the map, our excitement get higher and higher. The roads were longer stretches now between towns. People eager to get to their next destination flying past us as we take the next exit into a smaller town.

We needed to fill up with gas.

Carter was known to run his vehicles out, so as soon as the car hit a quarter tank I was on his case, about how I wouldn't be walking with my pregnancy belly. He found it amusing rolling his eyes as he finally take the exit I've been bugging him about for miles.

We slowed down rather quickly lurching myself forward before Carter finally stopped at the stop sign taking a right for the gas station. I hadn't realized before, but I needed to pee. My body begging for him to pull over finally so I could get out.

I run inside as soon as the car comes to a stop and I can get out. My body working against me as I tried my best to stumble my way into the bathroom. It had come on quickly but I was almost in full panic mode by the time I finally reached the toilet. My heart racing from all the adrenaline.

I was really sick of being pregnant.

The seventh month has been worse than any of the ones before it. Normal everyday tasks were growing so hard to do. But here I was practically eight months pregnant. My body telling me I needed to take more breaks. My mind responding with anger. Carter wouldn't be happy if I needed more breaks. We still have four hours to go.

I washed up once I was finished and head back outside to greet Carter filling the car up. He smiles, waving at me as I make my way across the parking lot.

Once he was finished pumping the gas he replaced the nozzle and hopped in the drivers set. I followed suit, stretching my shorter legs out in the passenger seat. He started the car, pulling it up to the store and parking it once again.

"I'm going to run in and go to the bathroom real quick as well, do you need anything?" I shook my head pulling my phone out to check my emails. "Alright, I'll leave the car running for you so you can use the air conditioner," With that he was gone. He closed the driver side door and left to head into the gas station. Searching just as I had for the bathroom sign.

My emails were enough to keep me distracted.

So distracted that I never even noticed the car idling softly in the background before it cut out. The car had shut itself off, while I scrolled away looking at wedding dress samples, and the new line to hit runways this year.

I was going to miss out on a bunch of shows due to having the baby, my mother and Clara would be the lucky ones that got to travel this time, while I stay and run the shop.

I responded to a couple more emails before glancing up to check for Carter. He'd been gone for a few minutes now, but nothing that was too long to be normal, so I opened up a game on my phone. pressing away at all the different colors.

When Carter returned he hopped into the driver's seat of the car, slamming the door behind him before setting a couple snacks down on the floor next to my feet.

"What are those for?" I question, still preoccupied with my game. I turned to look at him for a moment before glancing back at my screen.

"Just a few little snacks to keep me going in a straight line on the road," He teased grabbing the keys of the car realizing they were still in the on position of the car. "Didn't I leave this running?" I glanced up once more finally passing the level I was on.

"Actually yeah, I think you did." I perched my eyebrows looking at the car somewhat confused. I hadn't even noticed it shut up. I must have been so focused on my games and emails that I didn't notice.

"That's really strange," Carter mumbles to himself turning the key to the off position before trying to turn it back on. Nothing happened. A few more attempts with the same outcome left me feeling a little nervous. We had stopped at one of the smallest towns on the map. There wasn't a hotel around her, and possibly not a garage that was open and able to take our car in.

"Everything alright?" I sat carefully trying not to annoy Carter too much. He just needed to think through this a little bit and soon it would all be fine. I watched him carefully search through his brain, checking all the other gauges.

"I don't know," he mumbled hopping out of the car after popping the hood. I stay in my seat though. I didn't want to get in the way at this point.

The baby kicks a few times. Possibly sensing my emotions better than I could. I wasn't sure what Carter and I were going to do if our car decided to not work.

I decided I better jump out. I didn't want to be of no help, so it was better to ask than to hold off and wait.

"Anything I can do, do I need to call roadside assistance?" I knew Carter wouldn't be happy, me having to call. He would want to fix it himself. Show me that he was a man that could take care of me. I respected that from him, honestly I loved it.

"Don't call," he growled, leaning over the motor to check all the basic things it could be. My thoughts were running rampant, so I needed something to calm them down. I decided to keep playing my game as if Carter was still in the gas station.

Pulling my phone out I turned the game on. Swiping my fingers, tapping them as needed, following all of the instructions. Distracting myself the best I could.

Carter would have this figured out in no time.

I probably played my game for a good solid five minutes, listening to Carter complain every once in a while. As I was just about to start the next level my screen went dark. My phone shutting down as it became a lifeless tablet once more. I glanced around, confused to what just happened. Had my phone really died?

I felt a slight panic come over my body. My phone was dead, and our car wasn't working anymore.

"Hey Carter?" I question, shouting out the window to hopefully get his attention. He peeked around the corner of the hood before turning back to work on the motor. I shook my head, trying to plug my phone into the car charger. There was no power.

I shook my head, slightly confused at what was going on here. How were we going to get to Maine? Or an even better question is how are we supposed to get home? Where were we going to sleep tonight?

"Carter, how much phone battery do you have?" I shout one more time, trying to get my husbands attention once again.

"Only like thirty percent why?" My heart jumped into my throat, making me want to puke at the thought of being out here with no cell phones either.

"Save it, mine just died!" I shouted jumping out of the car to rush for his phone. We needed to call a tow service so that we could get home. Carter looked up, reaching for his phone as I rush towards him.

"Erin, calm down, you need to breathe or else you will set on early labor. We will be fine, I will get this figured out," His words were soothing but only slightly. They were enough to coax me back into the car. Maybe we should have just stayed home and worked on the nursery.

Carter shook his head finally slapping his legs with his hand, wiping the grease off of them before pulling his phone out of his pocket. He quickly dialed a number before holding his phone to his ear. He took a few steps away from the car. I tried my best to try to stay calm. My heart racing in my chest as I lean back. Closing my eyes to focus on my breathing.

Carter was right, I needed to calm down. Whatever it would take to not force early labor.

I should trust him anyways, he is about ready to complete his fourth year of medical college.

A few moments later Carter was heading back to the car. He closed the hood then took his seat in the drivers side.

"They are on their way," He let out a sigh.

I reached across the seat trying my best to support him. I knew he wasn't happy about having to call. I'd learned that about him in therapist. He wanted to take care of me. He wanted to be the only one that was able to take care of me. This made him feel like he was needed and that was all he wanted from me. I realized I needed to do more around the house to help support him in his job, and schoolwork, but I needed to make him feel like he was special.

If only he knew how special I really thought he was. Especially because this morning we were at therapy, but here we were hours away from our home, waiting for the tow truck to come save us. We were together, and that was all that mattered to me.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to get us there," Carter whispers as he looks down at his feet. I shake my head wanting to smack him. He didn't need to apologize. I was so madly in love with him.

"Don't apologize, I'm the one who feels bad because you aren't going to get to see your ocean. I wanted this weekend to be special for you, for us, you were so excited to come, and so excited to get there," My heart dropped once again. He seemed so miserable.

We sat in silence for a few moments, waiting for the tow truck driver to arrive, and when he did, Carter jumped out of the car. Helped him load it onto his truck bed, and soon we were off, heading towards our home. Only a few hours after we had left it.

Watching the trees drive by.

Watching the miles tick away as we got closer to our house.