grimaces. “Oh, sorry.”
Yeah, I’m that soulless human.
“What are you talkin’ about? You gotta let the boy grow some balls.” Easton waltzes in with a cocky smile on his face.
He gets a swift slap to the chest from Rose. “Fuck off. Definitely not having kids with you if that’s your outlook on parenting.”
He rolls his eyes. “I’ll knock your ass up tonight and you won’t say a thing about it.”
Her lip curls back. “Try me.”
“Okay, guys. As much as I’ve always enjoyed listening to you guys bicker, what’re you doing here?”
Easton looks over at me with a huge smile on his face. “I got something for you, bro.”
“A beezy I hope.”
Easton laughs. “Nah, hold up.” He walks outside, and then a small humming noise gets louder moments before a motorized chair glides through my front door, Easton sitting in it.
“What is this?” Cara asks, jaw dropped in awe.
“Holy shit, man.” I’ve seen what these things cost, and we might not be tight on money by any means, but this shit is still expensive as hell.
“Picked this out with Hugo the other night. You like it?” He parks right next to me and stands up, offering the chair to me.
“But, why?” I’ve already got a chair and it works just fine. Since I’ve slowly been getting my mobility back in my upper half, I’ve been able to somewhat maneuver the chair around when need be. Physical therapy has been beneficial now that I have some feeling. My upper body has been getting stronger by the day.
Still not a lick of feeling in my bottom half. Dr. Peterson tries to hide his discouraging look every time my test results come back. I know there’s no improvement. I’m still working on it though. I’m not going to give up hope.
That sad, depressing kid who left the hospital has been smashed up and thrown in the trash can. The old Jackson is back, and I’m not going to let it hold me back from doing what I need to do.
“This shit is sleek. The battery power is great and will last you hours. You can only do so much with a manual wheelchair. You need this.”
I smile at him. A genuine one. “Thanks, man.”
“Wanna try it out? I’ve got a meeting, if you want to come.” He lifts his eyebrows, and gratitude shoots into my chest like an arrow. A feeling of somewhat normalcy floats over me and there’s nothing I want more than to go to one of our meetings.
I used to go to them multiple times a week. It’s been months since I’ve been to one.
I need this.
“Yeah, let's go.” Easton helps me into my chair. Laurie was already over this morning and helped me in getting ready. Now that I can move somewhat, I’m able to do some stuff myself, but I still need her help for a majority of it.
Cara walks over with Wesley in her arms. She leans him down, and I gift him a kiss on the cheek. “Keep working on that tummy time, and don’t let your mom baby you too much.”
I smirk up at Cara, and she scowls at me. “He is a baby.”
“I know.”
“I hate you sometimes.” She growls.
“I know that, too.”
“It is a really nice chair.” She looks it over as I sit in it. It’s really comfortable, a lot more so than my other one.
“Feels good.”
“I’ll see you in a little bit.” She says, leaning forward to give me a kiss on the cheek.
She looks like she wants to say more. I know she wants to say the three words that will epically change our relationship. I know she said them in the hospital, but she was high on emotions then. I think she’s worried I won’t say them back.
Honestly, I’m a little worried I won’t be able to say them, either. It’s not that they aren’t true, because they are. I do love Cara. I love her, and I love Wesley, and I love this little family we’ve been building. It’s been slow, but I think we need slow right now.
I’m cautious because love has done us both dirty our entire lives, and this is the time it counts the most. I can’t fuck it up.
“Let’s go.” Easton says, giving a still grumpy looking Rose a kiss on the cheek.
I look down at the controls, and after testing a few out, I figure out how to turn the chair around, and I start moving.
I’m moving by myself.
I can barely explain how good it