Foul Ball -
Chapter 34: Macey
It took us no time at all to change into our wedding clothes: a black suit for Jayce and the same aqua blue gown I'd worn to the spring dance for me. I curled my hair a bit and added some makeup, even though I almost never wore makeup. "Well look at you," Jayce said, leaning up against the door frame to look at me. "Every time I think you couldn't get any more beautiful, you turn around and do it again."
"You don't look too bad yourself," I said with a wink, crossing the bathroom floor to straighten Jayce's tie. "Be careful, I wouldn't want Bernice leaving her groom for the likes of you."
"What can I say, it's a curse." With a grin Jayce pulled me into him and kissed me, sending a shiver of desire down my back.
"Okay, sir," I said, turning back to the mirror to fix the lip gloss he'd smeared. "Are you ready to go?"
"Sure. Do you think your dad is awake yet?"
"Probably not," I said with a sigh, gathering up my jacket from the bed. "He's always kind of been like that." Taking his hand, I led him back down the stairs to where my mom was just packing up the last of the cupcakes for the wedding. She spotted us and smiled, something I wasn't sure I would see her do during this trip.
"You both look very nice," she said politely. "Can you help me load these into the car?"
"Sure, Mom," I said, and we gathered up multiple cake carriers filled with cupcakes to take out to the car. We put them in the trunk, and on our way back in we ran into my dad.
"Hi, sugar," he said with a yawn, drawing me in for a kiss on the head. "You should have woke me."
"You hate being woken up," I said, gripping Jayce's hand to pull him up to my side. "Dad, this is Jayce. Jayce, this is my father, Dan."
"It's very nice to meet you, sir," he said politely, taking my dad's hand. "Thank you for having me."
"Sure, sure," my dad said, waving his hand. "Glad you could be here." He turned to me. "I smell cupcakes. Is mom baking?"
"She's done baking and they're loaded in the car, Dad," I said. "Go get dressed so we can go, otherwise we'll be late."
My dad nodded and mumbled something under his breath before walking out of the room to go get changed. Jayce turned to me, squeezing my hand.
"Your dad seems nice," he told me, lowering his voice. "Maybe even more so than your mom."
I grinned. "My mom has always had the attitude between the two of them, but my dad's no better most of the time. He goes beyond my mother by not caring about much of anything at all. Sleep, eat, snore, repeat." "I imagine if I knew my father, he'd be about the same way."
"Well, since you don't have your own, we can share." I stood up on my toes to kiss him, lingering there against his body for a moment that seemed to freeze time and go on forever. That is, until we were interrupted.
"It's time to go," my mom said, bustling out of the back room. She, too, had changed into nicer clothes for the wedding; a flower-printed blouse and a black skirt that squeezed her plump frame.
"You like nice, Mom," I said kindly, and my mom grunted.
"I couldn't find my good dress, so this will have to do," she said, passing us in the living-room to go back out to the garage where the car was. Jayce and I loaded up into the back seat, and a moment later my dad came out. He wore a button up shirt tucked into jeans, and shoes that once upon a time probably looked nice, but had been dinged up and dulled out after years of use.
"Here we go," I whispered to Jayce. "We just have to get through this wedding and then we're home free."
~ ~
The wedding wasn't half as bad as I'd been expecting. My cousin, Bernice, was another plump woman who looked dazzling in her dress and had a nice smile that could dig deep into a person's soul.
"I'm so glad you're here," Bernice said, wrapping me in a hug. "I know you've got your life there in Colorado, but it means a lot that you came."
I smiled, a bit caught off guard. "I wasn't sure if you'd even want me here," I said. "I know you and Melanie were really close."
"Family is family," Bernice said, turning to Jayce. "Now, tell me about this handsome stud you brought to my wedding. Is he yours?"
"This is Jayce," I said with a laugh. He held out his hand for her to take, but Bernice ignored it and wrapped him in a massive bear hug instead.
"Nice to meet you," Jayce said, trying not to mess up the perfect hairdo on the bride. "Thank you for having us."
The ceremony was quick and easy to listen to, and it was worth it to stay for the reception, because an open bar and an enormous layout of home-cooked food was available.
"See," Jayce said later on as we sat together at an empty table scattered with rose petals and candles. "We got free food and drinks. That counts, right?"
I giggled, taking another drink from my glass of wine. "As long as my mother is too busy fretting over things to get after me, I'm happy." I set down my glass and leaned into him, resting my head on his shoulder. "You survived," I said quietly. "You survived my mother. How can I ever thank you?"
"Don't thank me," he said softly. "Just let me be with you, Macey."
~ ~
The rest of the trip went smoothly, and while I was still happy to escape and go home, it hadn't turned out as horribly as I figured it would.
"Welcome home," Jayce said as we got off the plane in Denver. "It's good to be back."
I took his hand and we left the airport, walking to the car he'd left in the parking lot. We drove home, too exhausted to talk much, but we were happy. Tired, but happy.
"Stay at my place tonight?" Jayce asked, and I nodded. It was late Sunday night, and we both had school in the morning. Practice for Jayce. Even better, despite the weekend we'd spent in a high-stress environment, I still wanted to be with him. Every second of every day, I wanted to be with him.
"I'm so tired," I moaned when we finally got back to Jayce's apartment. I fell into his bed without taking my shoes off, feeling like I could sleep for a thousand years. Jayce jumped in the shower and I was just about to sleep when he spoke, coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his midsection.
"I want you to meet my mother," he said, his eyes scanning my face for a hint of reservation as he stopped and stood at the foot of the bed. With a groan I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"Your mother?" I repeated, feeling the mild panic bubble in my throat. "You want me to meet your mother?"
"Yes, Mace," Jayce said with a teasing laugh. "Did I stutter?"
"Jayce," I said patiently. "I don't know if I'm ready to meet your parents."
"Parent," he corrected me. "And seriously? I just endured your parents for an entire weekend and survived. Now it's your turn. And she's great, I promise. She's...really great, in fact."
"Of course you think she's great, you're her precious little boy. She probably won't think that I'm as great." I hugged one of the pillows to my chest, wishing we could have held off having this conversation until I'd caught up on my sleep. "She will," Jayce insisted. "Because I do."
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I sighed again, but he had already won and we both knew it. "When exactly is this going to happen?"
"Tomorrow night," Jayce said, and I shook my head vehemently.
"That's too soon, Jayce, I don't even have time to mentally prepare."
"She knows we just got back from Michigan, Mace, and she's anxious to meet you." Jayce sat down on the edge of the bed and took my hand, pleading with his eyes. "Can you do this for me?"
I sighed, more irritated with the fact that I was still so tired than I really was about meeting his mom. "Fine," I said. "I'll do this for you because you did it for me. Now please...can we sleep?"
Laughing, Jayce reached for the shoes still on my feet and pulled them off, tossing them aside so I could climb under the covers. He dropped the towel from his midsection and crawled into bed naked, pulling me close to him. "We can sleep," he said softly, curling into me. "We can sleep as long as you want, baby."
~ ~
Classes dragged on and on the next day it felt like, and by the end of the day, I felt even more tired than I had last night. I tried to stay peppy for Jayce, knowing that we had dinner with his mom, so when evening came and it was finally time to go and meet her, I glued a smile to my face and hoped I wouldn't fall asleep at the dinner table.
"She's on her way," Jayce said, ordering drinks for the table. We were at the cute Mexican restaurant on campus, a favorite of the students here, and Jayce's mom had agreed to meet us there for dinner. After five minutes or so, the front door opened and the bell chimed. Jayce hurried from the table to meet her, and I watched as he hugged her, tight, and she kissed him on the cheek before they wandered back to the table.
"Mom, this is my girlfriend, Macey," Jayce said. "Mace, this is my mom, Melissa."
I glanced up and caught my breath, recognizing my sweet nurse from Eagle River Medical at once; the nurse practitioner who had taken my samples. I slid out of the booth to shake her hand officially, and Melissa's eyes lit up. "Macey, hi," Melissa said with an easygoing smile, and I could tell she recognized me, but I could also tell that she didn't want to say anything that I may have not yet mentioned to Jayce.
"I didn't know your mom was a nurse," I said, smiling at Jayce. "She took my blood last week."
Looking relieved that I had nothing to hide, Melissa shrugged off her jacket and slid into the seat on the other side of the table, looking positively giddy. I was taken with this woman already, a mother so different than my own, so bubby and happy and loving. I could see at once where Jayce got it.
"What a small world," Melissa said, reaching across the table to take my hand for a fond squeeze. "The moment I met you all I could think about was my son someday having a sweet woman in his life like you."
"Mom," Jayce said. "Can we not?"
"Oh, but we must," I teased, and Melissa laughed. The server came over to deliver drinks and take our order, and I settled into the seat, allowing Jayce to hold my hand in his as Melissa and I talked. It felt good. It felt really good.
"How was the trip to Michigan?" Melissa asked, reaching for a nacho from a shared plate for the table. "Jayce said you were nervous to go, Macey, but that everything worked out okay."
"It wasn't as bad as I'd expected," I said. "It was nice to see the rest of my family, too. My mother can be...difficult at times."
"Your mom was fine," Jayce assured me, but something lurked under his expression. Concern? Worry?
"Mothers can be tough," said Melissa. "I'm sure Jayce bitches about me all the time."
Before I could refute that, Jayce spoke up, cutting me off.
"So, mom," Jayce said, twirling some cheese around his fork. "You were Macey's nurse. Did the tests come back okay?"
"Jayce," Melissa scolded him. "That's none of your concern, and it's inappropriate that you asked."
"It's alright, Ms. Gregory," I said quickly. "Jayce is the one who convinced me to go. He was just worried." I leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek, letting my lips linger for a second longer than necessary. That's all it took to bring a small smile to his lips. I squeezed his hand.
"Unfortunately, Macey, the results aren't in yet," Melissa said, reaching for the hot sauce. "Or if they are, the doctor hasn't seen them yet. But you'll know this week, probably tomorrow."
"It's whatever," I said with a shrug, rolling a French fry between my fingers. "I'm sure it's nothing, anyway."
Next to me, I felt Jayce tense up a bit, but he said nothing to this statement. He was a worry wart, that's all this was, and I wasn't about to let him terrify me, too. Not until we knew for sure. Other than the fatigue, I felt fine.
After dinner, Melissa drew me into a hug that not even my own mother could have beat, holding me to her for a second longer than necessary.
"Thank you," she said softly in my ear. "Thank you for being there for Jayce."
"Don't thank me," I said, turning to look at Jayce who was watching us from where he stood by the car, smiling. "I should be thanking him. He's...everything to me."
"He needs someone like you," she said, and I shrugged.
"I think I need someone like him."
After bidding Melissa goodnight, Jayce drove me to my apartment so I could get some fresh clothes. Kylie was there, tangled in the arms of a new guy I didn't recognize on the couch, but I didn't care. It was nice staying with Jayce, knowing that it was just him and me in our perfect little world.
"How was the trip?" Kylie called as I made my way upstairs.
"Not bad at all," I answered, then grabbed an empty backpack and stuffed it with clothes and toiletries. On the way back down, I spoke again. "Staying at Jayce's tonight. Have fun, you guys." I waggled my eyebrows at her until Kylie laughed, then headed back out to Jayce's car, tossing the backpack into the backseat.
"Macey," Jayce said as we drove to campus. "Are you really attached to that apartment?"
"I used to be," I said, sticking my hands up against the heater vent to warm them. "But it's different with a roommate. It doesn't feel like mine anymore."
Jayce reached over and took my free hand between his, squeezing it. "Would you like to move in with me?" he asked.
For a moment the words met only silence as a million and one reasons as to why we shouldn't move in together infested my mind.
"You don't have to," he said quickly. "But the apartment is plenty big for the both of us. Might be easier with school?"
"Let me think on it," I said, bringing his hand up to kiss the back of it. "What happens if we break up? I'm the one who would have to find a new place to live." "Don't be silly," Jayce said. "Why would we break up?"
"Oh, Jayce." With a smile I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. "Life should be so easy, huh?"
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