Georgia On My Mind-Book Four

Chapter 16 - Sleepover

The next morning I'm awakened by a hand on my arm. It startles me as I jerk myself awake. I look up to find Scarlett standing next to me. She jumps back. "Mommy, did you have a sleepover with Daddy?"

I turn to find John Luke looking up at her with a surprised look on his face. I divert my attention back towards her, "Yes, but let's keep it a secret, okay?"

She lowers her head. "Uh, oh..."

I sit up. "What is it, Scarlett?

"Your phone was ringing, so I picked it up." She says quietly.

"Who was it, baby?" I ask.

"It was Aunt Brie looking for John Luke."

"Oh my gosh, what did you tell her?" John Luke asks.

"I'm sorry, Daddy." She responds with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"No, baby, you aren't in trouble. We just want to know what you told her." He says reassuringly.

"I told her that you are having a sleepover with Momma." She replies innocently.

He and I begin howling with laughter. "Well, if that doesn't get the wheels turning, I don't know what will!!" I tell him.

"Right!" he says with a chuckle.

"I'm not in trouble?" Scarlett asks.

"No, baby, you aren't in trouble. You did nothing wrong." I assure her.

She smiles and excitedly jumps on my abdomen, nearly knocking the wind from me, "Listen, why don't you go pick out a pretty dress to wear today, and Momma will get in the shower, and we can go over to Uncle Sef and Aunt Brie's house and see them for a bit? Would you like to see Harper and Rhett too?"

"Yay! I am so excited!" she squeals as she leaps off me and runs to her room.

"I'm going to get dressed and use the bathroom and meet you over there. Where's your cell phone Georgia? I'm going to give you my new phone number." He says.

I reach over and grab it, and I type in his new number as he reads it off to me. "I'm sending you a text, so you have mine, too," I tell him.

"Alright, baby girl. See you there." He says as he leans down, kisses my forehead, and rolls off the bed.

I watch in awe how sexy and perfect his body is as he gathers his clothes from the floor and quickly gets dressed. I cross my legs to calm the storm arising between them while admiring him and how effortlessly he moves about. He notices that I'm checking him out and flashes a sexy, seductive smile. "Don't look at me like that unless you want me to jump you again." He warns.

My cheeks flush, so I yank the covers over my eyes. I can hear him snicker as he struts towards the bathroom. Feeling content, I smile ear to ear. I can't imagine it gets any better than this.

Moments later, he stalks towards the bed, reaching out his hand to mine, "Call me when you leave. We will do this together today. Everyone will know, and they will have to learn to live with it or f**k off. It's going to be okay."

I place my hand in his, "Okay, I'll call you."

"Bye, sweetheart."

"Bye, John Luke."

After he closes the door behind him, I roll over and climb out of bed to get myself primped and ready for the day. I slip on a navy blue low-cut maxi dress with a brown belt and brown wedges. Afterward, I dress Scarlett in a cute little yellow sundress and white sandals that she picked out. Once we are ready, I call John Luke as we pull out of the parking lot to let him know we are on our way.

After a few minutes, Scarlett and I pull up at Brie and Seth's house. We walk up the steps to the front porch and knock. Harper opens the door. "Hey, Georgia, what's up, hot momma?"

"Hey, pretty girl. We came for a visit."

"Sure, come in. Everyone is in the living room."

We walk inside, through the entry, and into the living room. Scarlett runs in and makes a beeline for Rhett on the sofa, she tackles him, "Ummpphhh! Hey, little stinker!" he says playfully.

"Hey, Rhett! Can we play with your video games?" she asks excitedly.

"Awww, look at that little face. How can I say no to that?" He takes her hand as he leads her to his room.

John Luke's eyes scan the length of my body before I plop down next to him on the sofa. He places his hand on my thigh, squeezing gently as I cuddle close to him. His parents eye us suspiciously. Our body language should say it all, I'm certain of it, "Okay, you two! Spill the beans. What is going on?" Brie blurts out.

"Listen, Mom, we have a lot we need to talk about." John Luke says.

"You are damn right; you do!" She replies. 

Turning to me for direction, "Where do I begin?" He asks.

I shrug my shoulders in response.

"Okay, so you know Georgia and I have been friends forever? Well, when we were teenagers, we were more than friends. We dated secretly on and off since we were fourteen and fifteen years old." He says.

Seth and Brie look at each other in shock. "Wow... okay," Seth says.

John Luke continues. "So, there's a lot more. We felt like we couldn't say anything because of her Father. You guys know how he is."

Brie and Seth place their head in their hands.

"Christ! I knew it! I just knew it!" Brie cries out.

"You knew what, Mom?" John Luke asks.

"Scarlett is yours, isn't she?" she asks John Luke.

John Luke and I look at each other before answering. "Yes, she is." He confesses.

Seth stands up. "s**t! What the f**k, guys?!" he yells.

"Georgia...sweetheart...what were you thinking telling everyone you didn't know who the Father was? Don't you think we had a right to know she was our grandbaby? We could have helped you out." Brie asks with tears pooling in her eyes.

"Brie, I could tell that you sensed something was up with the way you looked at Scarlett. I was just waiting for the day when you would ask me, and you never did. I know this is all my fault. I am so sorry."

"Don't take the blame for this, Georgia. I understand your reasons for doing what you did." John Luke chimes in.

"Well, here's the thing, I lied to everyone and said I hooked up with some random guy at a frat party one night. The truth is, I never hooked up with anyone but John Luke. We hooked up the night before he left for the Marines. He snuck out that night and climbed into my window, and well...Surprise! I got pregnant!" I confess to them.

Brie and Seth look at us in shock.

Harper enters the living room toting her drink, sits down slowly, and quietly watches everyone's reaction.

I lower my eyes to my lap attempting to avoid everyone's stare. "I'm sorry, everybody. I never meant to hurt anyone with the lie. I realize now the lie was worse than the truth and hurt a lot of people. I was just trying to protect everyone from the truth, but I just made a mess of things." I say tearfully.

John Luke grabs my hand. "I tried to call John Luke and tell him about the baby. I felt like he should be the first one to know, but his phone was disconnected." I sob.

Brie hands me a tissue. John Luke interrupts. "I was very bitter when you guys sent me off. That's why I didn't write to you to let you know that there was a mix-up with my pay, and my phone got disconnected. I wrote to Georgia, though. I wrote to her every week for a year." He mentions.

"Why didn't you tell us he wrote to you, Georgia?" Seth asks.

"Wait, why didn't you tell John Luke about Scarlett that way?" Brie asks curiously.

"I never got them. I never knew he wrote to me." I reply

"AHHHHH, I know Dylan had a hand in this! I'm going to kill that son of a b***h!" Brie yells as she throws her hands up.

"Wait, Mom, settle down, please." John Luke says as he stands and puts up his hands to attempt to calm her.

"I can't! He's caused too much damage; I just know it! He's the reason why you guys had to hide your relationship. He's the reason why we never knew how to contact you. He's the reason why we didn't know we had a granddaughter! Hell, he was why your dad and I were apart for four years!" she yells.

"Now, don't be pointing all the blame to him. You two sent me away. I'm not even sure Dylan had anything to do with not giving my letters to Georgia. Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt." He says calmly.

"Son, we were trying to help you. You were going down the wrong path with Wyatt Vance." Seth says defensively.

"So I smoked a couple of joints, and I deserve a possible death sentence? I know you all had beef with Wyatt's Mom and Dad, but I wasn't friends with them. I was friends with Wyatt. He had a rough life, but he was a good guy. Sure, he made bad decisions, but we all do when we are young. I haven't even spoken to him since I left anyway. Do you realize how hard it was in Afghanistan? Not once but twice! I could get sent back there again or somewhere worse within the next four years! I would never have done this to myself. You all forced me into it! I could have been home with my girl and my daughter, and I wouldn't be playing catch up four years later!" John Luke yells.

Brie begins to sob, and Seth hangs his head. John Luke sits down on the sofa next to me, pulling me to him, "The truth is, we all suck! We all had a hand in this mess! We have to take responsibility for our part in this and start thinking about Scarlett's best interest! She's the only one that matters now." He says sternly.

I place my hand on his knee and squeeze tightly. He's already talking like a parent, and I love it. Scarlett is fortunate to have him as her Daddy, and I'm so happy to have him back. Seth leans forward with his head in his hands, "I'm so sorry, son. I never knew that you guys were more than friends. I would have never sent you off. I know how that s**t feels to not be with the one you love."

"Did you know I was going to ask her to marry me and have her move in with me on base? I mean f**k! I still love her God, Damn it!" he barks.

My entire body tenses and I begin to tremble. "You were? You do?" I ask tearfully.

"Yes! It was all in the letters. Nothing I said in those letters is any different now. I know you never got to read them, but I still feel all those things for you, baby!" He confides in me.

I lean over and begin sobbing. Brie walks over to sit down on the arm of the sofa and wraps her arms around me. "Georgia, sweetie. I'm so sorry about everything. I think it's wonderful you guys are together." She assures me.

"Oh well, we haven't talked about that. I don't even know what we are, to be honest. I'm just glad he's back home."

"You guys aren't together? Well, what are you doing having sleepovers, huh?" she asks while playfully poking John Luke in the abdomen.

I look over at John Luke, and he flashes me a sly grin. "She is kind of seeing someone right now, Mom," John Luke reminds her.

"Well, s**t! Get rid of him. You two need to be together. If you have been like this since High School and you come back into town one day and already having sleepovers, not to mention you have a child together, then what are you waiting for?" Brie asks.

"I umm... I think you are right." I tell her.

"Yeah, I vote to ditch Mitch." Seth chimes in.

We begin howling with laughter.

"I feel awful because he is a good guy, but something is off! He's more of a friend than anything, so it's for the best." I confess.

"He's gay anyway," John Luke gloats.

"Oh my God, you are so ate up!" I say as I playfully smack his arm.

He leans over, planting a kiss on my lips, and the room erupts in cheer. My face gets red, and I hide my embarrassment with my hands. John Luke wraps his arms around me. "You are the best; you know that?"

"You too," I tell him shyly.

"Oh, God, stop it or go get a room, you two!" Brie says, covering her face.

Seth laughs hysterically while shaking his head at us. "I remember a time when you two couldn't be in the same room together without arguing. Now, look at you."

I throw my hands up. "Well, then I guess that's that... now we need to go tell my parents."

"We are all going over there because I need answers," Brie says.

"Alright, well, let's all go get this over with." John Luke responds. We get up and walk towards the door. "Harper, can you watch Scarlett for us?" John Luke asks.

"Yep, Rhett and I will stay with her. Do what you need to do. She will be fine." She assures us.

I gather my purse and keys as Brie, Seth, John Luke, and I take off for my parent's house in my SUV.