BMB: Version 3-3

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, and it was created solely by me as the author. Any similarities to characters, businesses, places, or things are all happenstance, though my appreciation to those who have inspired my works is immense.

Author's Note: This entire series is based on the same characters, places, and general situations, but will be shared in the form of five different versions. I'm hoping you'll appreciate the various approaches as they are posted. And be aware, some versions go into certain details more than others, so remaining calm and awaiting the next installment may be necessary, but I assure you, it'll be worth it. Questions and comments are welcome. I hope everyone will be kind.

And this story will make little to no sense if you haven't read Version 3-1 and 3-2. For my avid readers, I've included a bonus recap. ENJOY!

Recap: Before he could say anything, I walked away. I got into my car and drove out of the parking lot. It wasn't until I'd parked in my garage, turned off my car, and closed the door that I began to sob. Then I began to wail. My heart hurt, yes, but my stomach hurt more. Out of nowhere. What was happening? I was about to get out of the car, but things began to swim all around me. My hands grew numb, and my sight grew dizzy until I didn't remember anything more.

BMB: Version 3-3

"Where is she?" I asked again and looked out the window. I couldn't wait to see her face and see if she had run into Tom and maybe (hopefully) hear that they had talked.

"We were trying to set them up, Jen," Dougie reminded me. "Maybe things went better than we thought they would." Dougie's phone rang so I returned my attention to the TV. "Hello?" Dougie paused and then laughed. "Alright, you got us. But she's with you now, right? What? No, I don't think so. Hold on," he told Tom and then turned to me. "Did she pull up?"

I got up and looked through the window to look at the garage where she always parked her car. "Well, the light's off, but maybe I missed it. It's weird that she hasn't come in," I told him and grabbed my coat to walk out to the car to see what was up. If the meet-up at the store hadn't gone so well, would she be crying in the car? I didn't need to answer that. My best friend was many things, but the one thing she was most of all was emotional.

"Trin?" I called when I got to the garage. I didn't want to startle her by just barging in on one of her sob fests. "Trin, honey. What's up?" When she didn't answer, I figured that since I'd announced myself already, I was in the clear to enter. Then I screamed. "Trin! Trin? What's wrong, sweetheart? Trinny! Wake up. Wake up!" I exclaimed and then turned to yell out the door as I hovered over my friend. "Doug! Doug, come out here!"

I carefully pulled Trin from the car of which she was halfway out already. I checked her pulse which was really fast and then noticed she was hot to the touch. Oh, no! She's pregnant! She'd had an ectopic pregnancy between her two girls and presented in the same way. Oh no! Was she going to lose her chance of having more kids entirely now? "Doug!"

"I'm here, I'm here," he said quickly and saw that I was on the floor with Trin. "What happened?"

"Have Tom meet us at the hospital," I instructed. "Get your car and pull up so we can put her in the back to bring here there. We don't have time to wait."

"Tommy, head to the hospital," Dougie told his brother. "No, I don't have time to explain. Just be there. I'll see you in a few minutes."

I heard Dougie running toward the house to get his keys. I set Trin down carefully and got up to open the large garage door so we could take her out to his car to set her in the backseat.

"Hold on, Trinny," I told her and held her to my body. "We're going to take you to the hospital and get you fixed, sweetheart. No matter what happens," I whispered, "I'm here for you."

We carefully got Trin into his car and sped to the hospital. Doug handed me the file and the journal to put in my purse. Since we were heading to the hospital, we had plenty of time to get Tom up to speed. It was safe to do it there, and it was time. Tom met us at the entrance and picked up Trin effortlessly to carry her into the building.

"What the hell is going on?" Tom hissed at me.

"We'll explain once she gets taken back," I told him calmly and put my hand on his arm. "Tom, let's get things situated with her, and then we'll talk, alright? I don't know what happened, but between the two of us, we can get her checked in and then sit and discuss while we wait."

"I need a stretcher," Tom told the receptionist. "She's not waking up, she's really hot to the touch, and her heartrate is through the roof." Even as Tom was talking, a nurse came up and motioned for him to set her down so he could take her back.

"Stay here and fill out paperwork while we assess her," the male nurse told Tom. "I'll be out shortly to get some information."

Between Tom and me, though mostly him, we were able to fill out all the forms. I handed them in at the receptionist's desk and walked back over to sit with Dougie and Tom.

"Tom, while we wait, we think you should look at this," I told him and took the journal out of my purse. "Oh, um, what happened when you guys met up at the store?"

"Yeah, thanks for that," Tom told me and rolled his eyes. "What were you guys thinking? That she was going to suddenly drop everything and come running at me to tell me she'd made the most awful mistake and to beg me to take her back?"

"Would you have taken her back?" Dougie asked.

"Of course, I would have!" Tom answered in a loud whisper. "But that's not the point. Do you realize what you had us getting you?" He looked back and forth at Doug and me and then shook his head. "Emergency tampons and condoms at the same time? Really?" Tom suddenly gasped and covered his mouth. "Oh, freaking A."

"What?" I asked him and tilted my head.

"When she saw the condoms in my hand initially, she thought they were for me," he told us and closed his eyes. "She said, 'Oh, good for you.' It didn't occur to me that she'd said that until now because I had noticed her holding tampons and commented on that. Thank God I clarified it in the parking lot. Thank God I caught up to her."

"So, you guys talked?" Dougie asked.

"Yeah, she reiterated how sorry she was, especially about work, and went on and on about how there was someone out there who once had my heart and deserved her chance to be with me so we could be truly happy. She keeps talking about how I deserve someone who doesn't have a past history already. She literally told me to go have a great life and enjoy marriage and having babies for the first time like I deserve to." He teared up suddenly and put his head in his hands after wiping aggressively at his eyes. "I don't want someone else. Anyone else! I want her! I want to do those things with her!"

"Trinity Powers?" the male nurse called out and then spotted us.

"I'm going to be telling him something that will probably shock you, Tom," I whispered quickly. "Don't freak out. Promise me," I demanded. Tom gave me a concerned look and then nodded.

"OK, we have her on an IV and know there's an infection," the nurse told us. "Does she have any conditions we need to know about? What can you tell us that will help us narrow down the source?"

"She's pregnant," I told him and grabbed Tom's hand before he could say anything. "She found out on Tuesday. She had an ectopic pregnancy in between two live births a few years ago. She lost the fallopian tube. She has been using Natural Family Planning as well as an ovulation checker. Every other month, she's determined that she is infertile.

"She shouldn't have been able to get pregnant in September, but she thinks it might have to do with some side effects that come with ectopic pregnancies. Could this be another one? Or is it possible that she is having a different type of miscarriage? She doesn't feel pregnant which is why it took her two months to go to the doctor. She spotted in October, but she didn't think anything of it. When she was 'late' again this month, she called and managed to get in on Tuesday as a last-minute appointment."

"Are you the father?" the nurse asked Dougie. All three of us looked up at the nurse with wide eyes.

"What?" Dougie asked.

"No, that would be Tom," I clarified. "He didn't know. That's why I'm holding his hand. I'm her best friend. Tom's her boyfriend."

"Oh, OK, well, um, we'll go do an ultrasound to assess the situation, and I'll be out to keep you posted. Thank you, um..."

"Oh, Jen," I informed him.

"Jen, thank you for your information," he said and nodded. "She's lucky to have you." He walked quickly back through the doors and left us alone again.

"She's pregnant?" Tom asked in a nearly inaudible whisper.

"Tom, before you get worked up over this, keep in mind that Trin has difficulty with some pregnancies. She didn't share this with you, I have to believe, because she told me I would be the only one to know, but she was pregnant again when Mark and the girls were killed." Tom closed his eyes and shook his head as he covered his face with his hands.

"She ended up miscarrying, but it wasn't caused by stress or anything like that. She had a molar pregnancy. They created it in the usual way, but no baby was formed. It would have happened if Mark and the girls had lived. It happens sometimes when someone has an ectopic pregnancy. It can happen for someone who hasn't had them either.

"She had to have surgery to remove it, and while she blamed herself for causing it, she knew and finally accepted that it never would have made it to term because it wasn't life. It was a bunch of cells. There is a chance, a high chance actually, that this isn't a viable pregnancy, Tom. Yes, she tested positive, but if it's another molar pregnancy, it's not life, it's not dying or stressed because of what Trin has been going through. It's just cells multiplying and making her test think it's positive.

"Trin knew with each good pregnancy that she was pregnant almost right away. She is amazing when she's having a healthy pregnancy. But with the ectopic one, she was on edge and didn't feel right from the beginning. And after the funeral, she definitely didn't feel right, even with all the emotional turmoil going on. She was almost three months along when she finally realized she hadn't had a period. She went in to see the doctor and was taken right away to have an ultrasound to find out it was a molar one."

"She hasn't felt right with this one?" Tom asked.

"No, honey, I'm gonna go ahead and say she hasn't," I answered honestly and squeezed his hand. "We can't know for sure, but all signs are pointing to this. And Tom, I think that between what's in this journal," I said and grabbed the book in his other hand on which he'd kept his hold, "and with the pregnancy where hormones still go crazy whether it's a good pregnancy or not, a lot will make sense about why she did what she did on Wednesday."

"Read it, bro," Dougie told him and motioned for me to leave him alone so he could process what was written in the book.

* * *

"Dear Brittany,

"Welcome to BMB! I can't wait to work with you and show you the ropes around this place. You're going to love it here. The guys are wonderful, so creative and talented, and fiercely protective. We're like a big family, and I'm excited to have another sister in the mix!

"I know I'm writing this like it's a letter, but someday, I hope to share this journal with you to show you how it has felt to have someone new working here. With all the little interactions and happenings, I plan to write down my thoughts about how things went from the time you began so that next year, on your one-year anniversary, I can gift it to you. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I believe I'll enjoy writing it!

"Good luck and all my best! - Your new work sister, Trinity"

I smiled as I read that first page. That was just like Trin to welcome a new person into the company. She was so warm and loving. God, I missed her something awful.

I did wonder though about what else would be in these pages. I didn't ever see Britt and Trin getting on well at all to be honest. I often kept to my own work out of habit, but when I did see Trin and Brittany interacting, it wasn't overly friendly or anything.

"Day 2 - OK, this is not going the way I thought it would. She is not getting this book, and I'm pretty sure I'll either quit or get fired before this whole thing is over.

"Brittany is the meanest, most horrible human on this planet! She literally approached me today to tell me straight out that she is in love with Tom, that they were engaged at one time, that he didn't even break up with her but just left her, and the icing on the cake: 'At least your husband and children died so you don't have to see him moving on right in front of you.' Seriously? Who says that to a person?

"While she never said the words, she basically told me she intends to get Tom 'back' and will stop at nothing to do so. It's weird. I didn't even notice a recognition in Tom's face when he saw her. She knew stuff about him though that I would think only an old girlfriend would know. That made me feel awkward to say the least. I'm just going to keep this to myself for now. I can't let this get in between Tom and me. What we have is so good. I'm so thankful. I really hope she doesn't mess it up for us. Can you imagine?"

Day 2 was Sunday, October 27. Oh, that long weekend. How many days are in this book? I flipped to the back of the pages with words on them. The print got larger as the days went on. Oh man. Day 26 was the last entry. What had she said at the store earlier? "Until 29 days ago?" Wednesday was Day 26 which was her last day. Thursday, Friday, Saturday... 27, 28, 29. This all had to do with Brittany? What the actual hell?

"Day 3 - The bitch is at it again. This time it was at lunch in the breakroom. She came in with a few charms and tokens from some place. She told me they were from hers and Tom's first date. 'I kept them hoping we'd be together again.' When she saw that I was surprised at her comment, she acted all innocent which made it even more awkward because the look in her eyes was anything but innocent. 'Oh! I know he's your man. I would never mess with him, Trin! Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you feel bad! I'll just sit over here and reminisce.'

"She then took out a picture of what I can only believe to have been of her and Tom from when they were together and stared at it, occasionally touching the picture and smiling. I threw most of my lunch away and walked back to my desk feeling sure I was going to throw up the little I had eaten. I didn't want to worry Tom, so I closed my office door and hid in the small closet to cry until I got it out of my system. Thank God Tom and I are strong in our love together."

Days 4-6 were much of the same crap being pulled by Brittany. I couldn't believe what I was reading. Trin must have been so tired of covering this up so that I didn't know it was bothering her. If I knew her, and I was certain I did, she didn't want to let on that anything was wrong so that I didn't try to fix it. She was adamant that her job had nothing to do with me, so if she had told me about it, she would have felt that she was getting family treatment. She was quite strict on that one. I'm pretty sure that's why she was so upset when Dad threw that in her face. Dammit!

Friday would have been the seventh day and we had been off that day, so I couldn't imagine what in the world she'd have to report, but sure enough, there were texts.

"Day 7 - Brittany texted me. God forgive me, but I hate her. HATE. I hate her. She legit wrote, and I'm not kidding: 'Oh, my gosh! Working at the shop can be so annoying sometimes, you know, with the dirty bikes, the long hours, and doing all the stuff our boss has me doing, but I just love working with Tom! Seeing him every day brings the joy into my life that I once had. I just know I'll be good enough at your job by the time you decide to go somewhere else that I'll just move right up into it, no problem! On that note, do you have any prospects? I'm sure you could find something that pays more and isn't full of all the interruptions from me all the time! Have a great day off!'

"Does she know I'm not showing these to Tom? Is she testing me? Does she realize that even if she were to delete the texts on her phone, I could still see them on mine? You know what? I'm a bigger person. I'm not going to stoop to her level. Tom's hanging with Gram today. I'm using the time to decorate my house for Thanksgiving, and I'll be bringing some stuff to the office to decorate there too."

"Attagirl," I said aloud and looked up to see Jen and Dougie looking at me. "Oh, sorry. She just wrote about..."

"Thanksgiving?" they both asked. How did they know?

"You 'll see," Jen answered as if I'd said my thoughts out loud.

Day 8 started the really bad stuff. Brittany saw that nothing being done to Trin was getting reported to anyone, so she took the gloves off and went to work. Each and every day, she made snide comments about how I could do better and mentioned that she remembered me looking so much happier in the times that we were together. Together? With that chick?

And, for instance, when Trin hung her cute Thanksgiving decorations which I remember complimenting her on when she'd hung them that day, Trin wrote that Brittany had told her that since Halloween, she'd been reminiscing about the sex she and I had shared on Halloween was always the fondest memory she'd held on to. She went on to describe in massive detail how I undressed her out of her cute little sailor costume and kissed and licked every single inch of her body. She went into detail, apparently, about how my hands felt on her body and how the orgasms I gave her went on forever.

By the time Trin was done writing in the journal, I noticed that the pen had started to rip the page. Good God. I'd had no idea this was going on. I could not believe Brittany was telling her all this stuff. Didn't Trin have a clue that it couldn't have been real? But then again, how was it that I hadn't noticed how upset Trin was about all these things she was being told? Why hadn't she told me? And where was Brittany getting these details?

I skimmed over the days, noting the day she made sure to write about the fact that per Brittany, Dad had given the go ahead to place that order for the shirts and stuff. She made mention of her hesitation and noticed that when she'd sent the email confirmation to Dad, he didn't respond like he usually did. It was more of the same crap until I got to Day 21. That entry, which had been entered on Friday, November 15, made me realize I was definitely at fault with this whole thing. Not only did I never notice or even ask how things were going, but it was what she wrote that particular day which made me realize, just now, how wrong I was and how gullible I had been.

"Day 21 - Brittany asked for a ride home from Tom, and he, being the good man that he is, told her he'd do it. He'd just come from the breakroom and handed me a cup of freshly made tea. I thanked him and gave him a kiss. They left after Tom told me he'd be back to take me home so we could spend the night together. I watched as she put her arm around his back as they walked out the door.

"About a half hour later, I got a text from Tom telling me he was going to Gram's to help her with something, and could I get a ride from Jen or Dougie? I wrote back that it was fine and looked forward to seeing him that night. He didn't respond. I didn't like the feeling I had because Tom always responds to me, but I was suddenly really tired.