Careless Mistake
by Kelli
Part 72
September 2006.......
"I know, Fe, I just don't want a big deal made about the donation we made to the neurology department at the hospital," Britney said as she propped the phone between her chin and shoulder.
"Well, you're going to get recognized whether you're at the dinner or not, so it would be nice if you and Justin were there," Fe explained.
Britney sighed. "I'll talk it over with Justin. We should have just done this anonymously," she said, looking over at Mackenzie who was playing with her blocks on the floor.
"Just think of it this way, you're making people aware of the seriousness of spinal injuries."
"I'll talk to Justin," she repeated. "I can't even think about getting dress up and going out right now."
"You just don't want to leave Chase with anyone."
"Well, who would know how to take care of him? There's a certain way he likes to be held," Britney snapped.
"Brit," Fe said calmly.
"I'm sorry," Britney said, rubbing her forehead. "I'm feeling a little housebound and going stir crazy."
"You better be careful or you'll close people off. Do you treat Justin like this too?" Fe asked sarcastically.
"I don't know. We're fine."
"Maybe you should ask him that. Look, you two discuss it and let me know by tomorrow, they want an answer."
"Okay. Bye Fe."
"Bye."
Britney hung up the phone and thought about what Fe said.
It had been a few weeks since they brought Chase home and it took up a lot of Britney's time to take care of him. She wanted to make sure he was getting the proper attention so his therapy would go smoothly and she wanted to make sure that Mackenzie didn't feel left out. It was exhausting her. She still had the cast on and that didn't make things any easier.
"Mommy, can you get this off?" Mackenzie asked, bringing a bucket of crayons over to her.
"I'll try," Britney said, holding the bucket between her legs and trying to pry the lid off with her right hand.
She'd get one side of the lid off but when she tried the other side, it would snap back shut.
"I can't get it," Britney said, getting frustrated with herself.
Justin walked into the room, carefully carrying Chase.
"Daddy, will you get the lid off?" Mackenzie asked him as she tried to pry the bucket from Britney's legs.
Britney tried to hold onto it so that Mackenzie wouldn't fall when it got loose, but it happened too fast and she couldn't stop it or Mackenzie from falling back and almost hitting her head on the coffee table.
"Oh God," Britney said, covering her mouth.
Justin, who still had Chase, couldn't do anything until he put the baby down.
Mackenzie started to cry as she laid on the floor with the bucket laying on top of her.
"Come here, you're okay," Britney said, holding her hand out.
Mackenzie started to kick her feet and shake her head.
"No," she cried.
Britney took deep breaths to calm herself. She was really loosing patience with everything.
"Mackenzie," she snapped.
Justin was setting Chase in a special chair made for him so that he could sit with his brace on and he got up and picked Mackenzie up once Chase was okay.
"Did you hurt your head?" Justin asked as he rubbed the back of her head and sat down next to Britney.
"Want me to kiss it?" Britney asked.
Mackenzie stuck her lower lip out and shook her head, moving away from Britney's hand.
"No," she said.
This was the last straw for Britney's nerves at this point so she stood up and left the room.
"Brit," Justin said.
He looked back at Mackenzie who just stared at him.
"You upset mommy," he said.
She didn't say anything.
"You need to go say you're sorry," he told her.
"No," she said, shaking her head and folding her arms across her chest.
"Yes, Mackenzie."
She wiggled off of his lap and left the room.
He sat there, feeling helpless because he had Chase in the room with him and he didn't want to leave him alone.
"Women," he whispered to Chase. "It's just you and me, buddy."
Chase smiled at him and giggled. Justin couldn't help but smile back at him. His little miracle.
When the doorbell rang Justin quickly got up and answered it.
"Hey Nicole," he said, greeting the physical therapist.
"Hi Justin. How's Chase doing today?" she asked.
"He seems to be doing fine, it's the women of the house I'm worried about," he said, glancing up the stairs.
"Ugh, that can happen sometimes. Did you get all the exercises done?" she asked as she entered the family room where Chase was still sitting.
"Yeah, I've got the chart somewhere," he said, looking around. "It must be in the kitchen."
He ran into the kitchen and came back with it.
"Here, looks like Britney finished them up last night," he said handing her the chart of the exercises that Chase was to do on their own time.
"Good. We're going to have you crawling in no time, little guy," Nicole said as she took Chase out of his seat and laid him on a pad she laid out on the floor.
She took his brace off and started to gently work with his legs, bending them different ways.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find Mackenzie and make sure she's okay," Justin said.
"Oh sure, we'll be fine."
He ran upstairs and noticed that Mackenzie's door was slightly open. When he went in there he noticed she was lying on the floor, next to her bed, sleeping. He lifted her up and set her in her bed.
His next mission was to find his wife so he started with their room. He walked in there and didn't see any signs of her so he checked the bathroom. Nope. He glanced outside and noticed that she was sitting on the side of the pool with her feet dangling in the water. She was staring out into the water.
He ran back downstairs and went outside. She heard him approach but didn't turn.
"Is Nicole here?" she asked.
"Yeah. What happened in there? What happened with Mackenzie isn't the thing that sent you out here...." He crouched down next to her.
"I need a break," she said, sounding more stressed.
"From what?"
"From everything," she said in an exasperated tone.
"I'm sorry....I didn't realize it was all getting to you like this," he mumbled.
She kicked at the water.
"I want this fucking cast to come off," she said, lifting her left arm up a little.
"Hopefully it will be off in a few days...."
"Fe wants us to go to a dinner so that we can be recognized for our donation to the hospital...."
"Damn, we should have made the donation anonymous," he said.
"That's what I said, but she made a good point."
"What was that?" he asked as he sat down next to her.
"That we can raise more awareness about spinal injuries if we show up," she shrugged.
"When is it?"
"Next week."
"And you don't want to go?" he asked.
"Who's going to be with Chase?" she asked, finally looking at him.
"Anyone.....I mean my mom or Bryan will be in town next week....."
She rolled her eyes.
"What was that for?"
"No one can take care of him like we can."
He waited.
"Are you serious?"
"He has special needs!"
"He has a brace that you have to be careful with. My mom knows how to hold him and make sure he's sitting the right way or laying the right way with the brace on. We can show Bryan if that's the way we go."
He was getting annoyed.
"I don't know," she said, looking the other way.
"Britney, you're right. You need a break.....hell, I need a break. This might be the perfect opportunity. If it makes you feel better, maybe we can ask Nicole to do it."
She thought about it for a minute. "No, you're right, your mom can do it," she said softly.
"I'm going to go back in with Nicole. Mackenzie's taking a nap," Justin said as he stood up.
Britney nodded.
He went back into the house and rejoined Nicole and Chase.
"His leg muscles are getting stronger, I can feel it," Nicole said. "He can push a little bit."
"That's great," Justin said, sitting down on the floor next to them. "He seems to move them more on his own now. Once in awhile I'll see him kicking, even if it's just like a little twitch."
Nicole nodded.
"He's a determined little guy, aren't you?" Nicole asked Chase as she tickled his stomach.
He let out a giggle and continued to watch her as she worked with his legs.
Eventually the therapy started to get annoying to him and his legs were getting sore so he started to get fussy. Britney walked back into the house right when he started to cry. She stood in the doorway and watched as Justin sat there watching Nicole and Chase. She started to bite her nail. Right now, this was the last thing she needed so she went upstairs and started to run the hot water in the bathtub. Before she undressed she poked her head in on Mackenzie, who was still sleeping.
After Nicole left, Justin got Mackenzie up and started to get dinner ready.
"Chase hungwy daddy," Mackenzie said as she stood by his chair.
"He is? Well that's good, because I'm making his favorite." He picked up a jar and looked at the label. "Cooked strained carrots, yum."
"You can have some of my gwilled cheece," Mackenzie told Chase, which made Justin chuckle.
"Go stand at the bottom of the steps and yell for mommy."
Mackenzie ran to the steps and stood there, looking up. "Mooommmmyyyy!" she yelled.
No answer.
"Moooommmyyyyyy!" she yelled again.
Chase started to get fussy so Justin got a bottle out and handed it to him. He took it readily and began to drink it.
"She not coming," Mackenzie said when she returned to the kitchen. She held her arms out.
"Okay. We tried," he smiled at her. "Ready for your grilled cheese?" he asked as he cut the crust off.
"Yes," she said, sitting in her booster seat. "Miwk pease."
"Okay, here's your grilled cheese and I'll get your milk," he said, getting a sippy cup down and filling it with milk. "There you go, anything else?"
"Chips pease."
"Chips, right." He grabbed a handful of potato chips and put them on her plate. "Perfect."
"Pewfect," she repeated before picking up a chip and eating it.
"Careful, the sandwich is hot, okay? Blow on it before you take a bite," he said over his shoulder.
He continued to fix spaghetti for he and Britney.
Once the kids ate he let them play for a little bit before getting them both in bed, Britney still hadn't come down yet but he had kept the spaghetti in the oven on low. He made a tray with two plates of spaghetti and poured a couple of glasses of wine and took it upstairs.
He pushed the door all the way open with his back and set the tray on the bed.
"Brit?" he said, looking toward the bathroom.
"Justin, can you help me?" she asked with a weak voice.
He walked quickly to the bathroom and his heart fell to his feet when he saw the blood on the sink and the floor.
"Oh my God, what happened?" he asked, looking up at her.
"I tried to shave my legs," she said and started to cry.
She was sitting on the lid of the toilet with a towel wrapped around her leg.
"Oh baby....why did you do that? You know I would have helped you," he said as he knelt down next to her and carefully unwrapped the towel.
"I'm tired of having to ask you for help all the time," she said, wiping the tears from her face.
"I know, but that's why I'm here."
"You'd be the same way," she said, looking at the top of his head as he studied her nicks and cuts.
"Let me get some medicine on this, the shaving cream won't be good on this," he said, getting a wet cloth and wiping her legs down.
She sucked in her breath and watched.
"Sometimes I forget how lucky I am...." she said softly.
"For what?" he asked, not really paying attention to what she was saying.
"To have you.....to have you love me."
He looked up at her and smiled.
"Good because that's not going to change," he said, giving her a quick kiss as he stood up to get some ointment.
Once he patched up her leg he helped her to the bedroom.
"It's probably cold now," he said, nodding toward the spaghetti.
"Ohhhh," she said, covering her mouth with her hand. "You made us dinner," she pouted.
"Here," he said, putting the plate of spaghetti on her lap. "Here's your glass of wine. I'll be back."
He quickly cleaned up the mess in the bathroom and then joined her on the bed so he could eat his plate of cold spaghetti.
She leaned over and kissed his cheek.
"I love you," she whispered to him.
"Just don't forget that when you get your cast taken off and I make you wait on me hand and foot," he said, winking at her.
She chuckled.
He set their half empty plates and wine glasses and set them next to the door. He didn't feel like going downstairs again. Britney stretched out and carefully arranged her leg so that he couldn't bump it. He snuggled up next to her and splayed his fingers across her stomach.
"You used vanilla in the bathwater," he said, smelling her skin.
She ran her free hand through his hair. "I always do, it's just been a long time since I've taken a bath. It's hard to do with one hand."
He started to kiss her neck while his hands began to explore her body. It had been too long since they had been together and his body was missing hers. He lifted her nightgown up and began to explore her stomach with his mouth. Britney just laid there and let him kiss her. She kept her cast by her side and kept her other hand in his hair. He began to remove her panties and then his mouth worked it's way back up to her neck. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back a little so he had better access. He started to kneed her skin, usually her body reacted to this and suddenly he realized it wasn't so he lifted his head and looked at her.
She hadn't realized that he stopped until he was staring at her for a few seconds. She slowly opened her eyes to see his not far away.
"Is this uncomfortable for you?" he asked.
She touched his lips with her fingers and shrugged.
"You're not sure?" he asked, leaning back a little.
"I know it's been awhile and you have your needs......"
He rolled off of her and rested on his side, staring at her.
"I have my needs?"
"I mean, you could have kept going, Justin....I wasn't going to stop you," she said shyly.
"It's not that, Brit. I only want to make love with you if you want to make love. I'm not going to force you - "
She stopped him before he could finish his sentence. "You weren't forcing me!"
"You were just laying there...." he said with a movement of his hand.
"I.....it's just that I don't feel very romantic when I have a cast on my arm and bandages all up and down my leg."
"Then why didn't you tell me that I was hurting you?"
"But you weren't hurting me...."
He rubbed his forehead. "I'll wait for when it's comfortable for you."
"Don't get upset, Justin. I was going to let you continue...."
"I'm not upset.....about that. I'm upset that you were going to let me....." he waved his hand, "keep going even though it's not what you were in the mood for right now."
She touched his face. His consideration of her never ceased to amaze her.
"Maybe once I get this cast off and I won't feel like I'm going to clock you over the head with it," she softly smiled at him.
He chuckled and kissed the palm of her hand. "Deal."
He leaned up, gave her a quick kiss, rubbed his nose against hers and then rested his head on her chest as his eyes closed. She started to run her fingers through his hair and closed her eyes as well.