Meet My Dedication

Our first night in Texas was amazing, and it was nice to tell someone that Austin and I were expecting, and be a positive response.
I wasn’t going to worry about anything while we were on this trip; not my parents, or Daniel, or anyone. It was all about spending time and getting to know Austin’s father. So far, he seemed like a pretty wonderful guy who had an equally as wonderful son.
I never wanted to bring up his mother in any conversation, though. I felt as though it would still be a sore subject for the Carlile boys, and I wanted to respect that.
I stayed in bed for a good two hours reading my kindle and checking emails while Austin and Robert went out to get breakfast together and catch up. It had been a while since he had seen his father, and I felt partially responsible. I hadn’t heard from Daniel in months, but that still didn’t stop Austin from worrying. Even my mother has tried to talk to me about making amends with my father, saying that none of this would have happened if I had just stayed with Daniel, which was never going to happen.
I thought the woman had gone completely mad when I heard her say that in the voicemail she left me.
I still hadn’t called her back, as far as my parents were concerned I was no longer a part of that family. The only ones I had were Milly, Gavin, Austin, his father, and our unborn child; they were all I needed.

“You’re still in bed?” Austin chuckled, crawling in next to me, kissing my cheek.
“Of course I am, I’m still tired from the plane ride and all the excitement from dinner. How are you not?” I smiled, putting my Kindle away.
“Probably because I’m not a pregnant woman,” he shrugged, “but that’s just a theory.”
We laughed as we just lay there, holding hands and feeling content with our lives.
“Mikey, what do we do about Warped Tour? I don’t want to let the guys down, or the fans, but I don’t want to miss out on anything with you.” I could tell he was concerned, and I was trying hard not to think about him leaving for three months, with me alone. I still didn’t know many people in our area, but it was going to be Summer soon, and I thought about visiting Milly and Gavin.
“I think you should definitely go, you love Warped and I know how much it would mean to everyone if you went on this tour.” I looked at him, with a big smile on my face, only to see concern and guilt on his. “I’ll be fine, I promise, and it’s not for another three months, anyways. Me and the munchkin will be fine, I can stay with Milly and Gavin, or even here, and preoccupy my time with things.”
“I don’t know, Mike...”
I rolled my eyes and kissed his cheek, “you worry too much.” I got out of bed and headed into the bathroom to shower.
“Only because I care,” I heard him yell as I closed the bedroom door behind me. I ran into Robert staring at one of the family photos on the wall in the hallway. I made my way over to him and stood next to him, staring at the one person I knew he’d be looking at.
“She’s beautiful,” I whispered. “Austin has her eyes.”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything. We stood there in silence for a while, until I started to head to the bathroom. He stopped me by grabbing my hand.
“She would have loved you, you know. She loved Austin more than anything in the entire world, and I know she would have seen just how happy you make Austin, just like I have.” His voice sounded strained, as if to keep from crying. It had been almost ten years since her untimely death, and I could tell it still felt fresh to him.
I looked back at him, feeling the tears coming on rather quickly. “The greatest people are usually taken much too early, I think all of us know that firsthand.”
With that he let go, and I locked myself into the bathroom, turning the hot water on and crying to myself.

Notes

Sorry for the short chapter, guys. I'm just super tired from working.