Point taken. Cole, did you tell her?
Me
The lot of you make me stressed. Of course I did
Nate
Be nice to me. I’m almost done with the surprise
Arch
Surprise? I love surprises! What surprise is it?
I click out of the chat, trusting that Cas can help me with Ted-the-prick. I’m leaving everything in the hands of others for the first time ever. I used to live for work and the various projects I took on. I didn’t mind working all hours. Now? Now, I can’t wait to finish and get back to Lacey. I just hope she likes everything we have all been working on. I put my phone in the lockerprovided and change into my swim shorts. It’s time to enjoy our babymoon.
I dip into the room and softly close the door behind me. Lacey is sitting in a reclined position with her feet in a bowl. Her eyes are closed, and I take a moment to drink in my fill. She looks serene, and for a moment, I imagine there is no Ted and the impending doom he carries around with him. It’s only us and Peanut.
Maybe we shouldn’t go home?
“It’s rude to stare, Cole. Not to mention creepy.” Her voice is laced with amusement.
“Can’t help it. The cat’s out of the bag now, so I can stare all I like.” I move over to join her, taking a seat next to her. I look down, and my stomach turns. “Lacey!” I whisper-shout.
“Yes, Cole?” She sounds like she’s about to burst out laughing.
“Why are there fucking fish in the foot bowl?” Panic rises. I can’t have fish crawling all over me.
She cracks one eye open and side-eyes me before letting out a guffaw. “Oh, come on. Don’t tell me that in all of these years of knowing you, you were afraid of fish?”
I reel back. “I’m not afraid of fish. I just don’t want their beady little eyes and fish mouths all over me.” I shrug like it isn’t a big deal, but deep down, I start to sweat. I fucking hate fish.
“Okay. Put your feet in then. Come on, this was your idea, your surprise for me. You can’t have me doing this by myself.” She bats her eyelids at me.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I take a deep breath in and hold it before lifting my feet. My toe touches the water just as she shouts, “Stop! I was only joking! It’s sweet that you would let the little fishes near your feet, but you don’t have to!” This woman is wicked.
“You can be mean, you know that?” I try my best to give her a stern look, and she blows me a kiss. “Where would you like to go after here?”
She closes her eyes once more and lets out a soft sigh. “I don’t mind as long as I’m with you.”
I smile at her words as warmth spreads in my chest. “Well, if you’re not too tired, I have something else planned.”
**********
At fifteen, my school year and the one below me, which was Lacey’s year, had a joint residential trip planned. Lacey and I had already planned to go. That weekend, I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend. One of the places we would visit on the trip was Grands Fair. The place was over a hundred years old and still had some of the original attractions, one of them being the carousel. Lacey went on about it for weeks; it was the one thing she was looking forward to the most.
On the day of the trip, there were two coaches, one for each year group. My Mum, Dad and brothers came to see me off, and I boarded the coach. It was only when I had gotten to Pattington Hall, our home for the weekend, that I realised Lacey had never gotten on the coach. Her dad had gone off on one of his benders again.
That weekend was one I would never forget, and it was not a good memory. I never made it to the fair. Our first trip was white water rafting, something I didn’t even want to do, but Mr Phillips insisted everyone had to participate. We were going too fast down the river, our instructor lost control of some broken tree branches that were sticking up out of the water, the spray concealing them. We flipped and fell into the water.
The current was so strong, I couldn’t tell which way was up. My arms flailed as I tried and failed to grab hold of anything to slow myself.
Then everything happened at once.
My hands found branches, but they were too slippery to hold onto. My head finally broke the surface of the water, but not before I saw the mass of half a fallen tree in the river, its branches sticking out at odd angles.
My body slammed into them, and pain radiated everywhere. In the distance, I could see people running on the shore, waving their arms about. I tried to move, but I was stuck. The last thought I had was that I would never get to ask Lacey to be my girlfriend, then darkness swam around my eyes until I couldn’t see or feel anymore.
When I finally came to, I saw the worried faces of my mum and dad. They were sitting in the corner of the room, talking in hushed tones. That was when I learned the trauma caused to my testicles was too extensive – those were the words used by the doctor as he explained I’d likely never conceive my own children.
