Loving Cassie

Bonus: She Used To Be Mine

For those of you wondering exactly what happened to Dalton.

Cassie

I was miserable as I waddled down the ice cream aisle at the closest United to the house, but determined as the thought of sweet ice cream and the spectacular taste of avocados combined. I could practically taste it. I'd been having the strangest craving for the duration of this pregnancy but most of the time I tried to pass it off as the twins' fault. The cold winter air clung to my skin like sweat in the summer and the temperature made me grateful that my babies were going to be born in April. Today officially marked that I had only two months left before I was due and I felt like a whale. Walker, my lovely little boy was thrilled to be a big brother again and kept chanting that he was finally going to get a brother and Wylie could really care less. She was content being a daddy's girl. I wasn't certain how she'd react when she wasn't the baby anymore, but had a feeling that Ward and I were in for a bumpy ride.

The low hum of the freezers was the lone sound as I continued down the never ending aisle, a welcome silence compared to the babble of toddlers and The Wiggles. I was slightly surprised at the fact that my overprotective husband had even allowed me out of the house without him. For the last six months I had spent a grand total of about an hour by myself. He was concerned that I would trip, or get stuck, or bump into something and he dreaded going to work for extended periods of time because he had to leave me alone with terror one and two. It was sweet that he was so concerned, but it was also annoying. I was grown and had been pregnant once before. I wasn't completely out of my depth. I couldn't be angry with him, though. Every time he looked at me his silver eyes danced with pride and love and he would leave whatever he was doing and pull me into his arms, whispering words that had my heart beating wildly in my chest. I was a lucky, lucky woman.

Finally, my eyes caught on the ice cream I was looking for -- mint chocolate chip. I debated heavily for a few minutes whether I should just grab one, but finally settled on two just as a familiar voice caused me to jump and drop both pints onto the floor.

"I, uh, never thought I'd see you again."

Dread worked it's way up my spine followed by a white hot anger that threatened to bubble out and I was fearful that I would lash out in at him in the middle of the store.

Lord, help me.

Dalton

She was radiant. Absolutely beyond words, really. Her chocolate brown hair hung in natural curls down her back, swaying with every heavy step she took. Her face was rosy, color flirting with the edges of her tanned skin in a way that caused a man to wonder just how far down that color would go. Her golden eyes danced as she surveyed the large cold case of Blue Bell, her body swaying as she stood there. Though, what shocked me the most was the large protruding bump under her thick sweater. I had heard rumors in town, but I hadn't believed them. A selfish part of me hasn't wanted to. But standing not twenty feet away from her as she moved happily to a tune only she could hear as she picked out multiple cartons of ice cream, eyes darting to her lush tummy, I couldn't deny it any longer.

Cassie was indeed pregnant.

A pain shot through my chest while the acidic tang of vomit crawled up my throat, a vile taste in my mouth. I wanted to speak to her, but what would I say? What could I say? I had been gone for well over a year and made not a single attempt to contact my child-- children. While I had signed away my rights for Carrie's son, I had simply allied them to be taken in court with Cassie. What had been the point of fighting it? The redneck she was cozied up to seemed to have a firm handle on my role, the position I should have been in -- and while I hated that dumb hillbilly with every depth of my being, I also knew that he was going to take better care of them than I ever could.