Chapter 19-North Carolina

                                    

                                          
"For real? You could that easily uproot your entire life to follow me on my insanely crazy one?" Ryan asked in awe. 
                          
"Baby, I'd follow you anywhere. Don't you know that by now? Besides, how else would I be your wife and baby mama if we didn't even live together?" 
                          
"True. I just didn't expect it to be so easy." He wrapped me in a hug, and I could sense his relief. I could tell he was stressed out by everything else, and that broke my heart because he was such an easygoing guy. I would love to be able to tell him not to overthink things, but I couldn't. This was his career we were talking about, and I was at the root of it all. The least I could do was be supportive in any and every way possible. To be honest, this was not that big of a deal for me. My place was with him. I meant it when I said I would follow him anywhere. 
                          
"Well, at least one thing about us was easy." I joked. 
                          
"Wrong. Loving you is extremely easy." My heart just freaking melted at those words. How did I get so damn lucky?
                          
*****
                          
It only took a few days to pack up my apartment. It would have gone even faster if Ryan had allowed me to do more. All of the furniture and appliances were staying with the apartment, it was just my personal items. Not really enough to hire a moving van, but too much to load into my Mustang. In the end, Ryan loaded everything that could fit into my car, then we made arrangements to have the rest shipped to North Carolina. I was so excited to start my new life.
                          
We still had the potential fallout looming. Ryan was convinced that he would take the heat, but I felt otherwise. He was a NASCAR sweetheart, one of their golden boys. I worried I would end up looking like the gold digging pit lizard who seduced him, got knocked up and forced him to marry her. 
                          
I somehow managed to convince Tracy to buy out my half of the salon. It was hard to leave her and our little business, but I had a new life awaiting me. 
                          
"You've got a lot of clients that are really going to miss you." She said tearfully.
                          
"Nah. They'll be fine. If they saw my husband, not only would they understand, they would be giving me atta girls." I joked, trying to lighten the moment.
                          
"Okay. I'm going to really miss you. You have been my ride or die since we were seven."
                          
"And I'll still be your ride or die. I'm moving to another state, but I'm not completely disappearing from your life." I reassured her. 
                          
We shared tearful hugs and goodbyes, and it was time for me to be on my way. 
                          
******
                          
Ryan thought it would be best to speak to his parents alone, and I had to agree. It was already going to be awkward, but to just spring me on them an say "this is my wife" would make it that much more so. 
                          
I waited patiently for him to arrive back home, praying the took the news well, and that the shock was not too much for them. 
                          
I used the downtime to unpack some things, surveying my surroundings with a smile. As someone who had lived their entire life in an apartment near the beach, the large, two story house with the open floor plan, on acres upon acres of land out in the middle of nowhere came as a bit of culture shock for me. The closest neighbors were cows. There were plenty of trees and a large deck in the back of the house. I freaking loved it. This was an incredible place to raise kids. Wide open spaces, fresh air, and despite the fact that we we in the middle of nowhere, we were still only minutes from town. It truly was the best of both worlds. 
                          
Ryan finally arrived home. I took his smile as a sign that all had went well. 
                          
"They were shocked as expected. I laid quite a bombshell on them. A few bombshells actually, but they handled it surprisingly well. They are excited to get another grandchild and even more excited to meet you. They are coming for lunch tomorrow." He explained. 
                          
I was glad all went as well as could be expected, but was nervous about meeting my in-laws. So nervous in fact, that it took me a moment to notice the dog. Where did the dog come from.
                          
"This is Sturgill. He's been staying with my mom and dad. I hope you like dogs." He grinned sheepishly.
                          
Okay, so he never mentioned he had a dog. No big deal. There was still a lot we were learning about each other. 
                          
"I've never had a dog, or any pets before. I wanted one though, it just wasn't practical to have one locked up in an apartment all day while I was working." The dog Sturgill looked friendly enough, so I tentatively reached my hand out to him and was rewarded with a lick.
                          
"He's very friendly. Well trained and extremely laid back. Ryan assured me.
                          
It only took a few minutes for Sturgill to warm up to me, and for me to fall in love with him. He was without a doubt the sweetest dog in the world and I could tell Ryan was pleased that we had bonded. However, I could tell that something was on his mind. 
                          
"What's going on babe?" I asked, seeing the look of stress in his eyes.
                          
"Tomorrow morning I have a conference call with Mr. Penske and my PR guy Doug. We are going back racing in two weeks, and I need to tell them something, but I'm not sure how into detail I want to get into."
                          
No wonder he was so stressed. It was difficult enough for him to break the news to his parents, now to his boss and PR. I wish I knew what to tell him, but just didn't. Some information could probably be omitted, like the drunk part. A baby on the way could probably wait. Wasn't it customary to wait until the first trimester was over to announce the pregnancy anyway? I just knew I hated seeing him like this. 
                          
I began rubbing his shoulders trying to ease some of the tension. He sighed in relief, but went back to talking and tensed up again. 
                          
I climbed into his lap and turned his head to face me.
                          
"Ryannn." I cooed against his lips.
                          
"Hmmm." He murmured. 
                          
"Shut up." I grinned and pressed my lips to his. I then kissed along his jawline, down to the creamy column of his throat.
                          
"Are you trying to distract me?" He asked. 
                          
"Uh huh. Is it working?"
                          
"Yes. I think I'm going to need a lot more distracting though." 


                          
A/N: Sorry for the short, rather boring chapter. I've hit a wall and I'm trying to push through, so please bear with me.