Plus One. How to Catch a Cloud - xii

Georgia sat in the kitchen stewing over the day. She should be over the moon and excited for all the change that would happen six months from now. Why then did she feel this pang of anxiety.

Questions kept popping in and out of her mind, but she had no answers to them. Mainly of her capabilities as a woman, wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend. She shook her head to dislodge the cobwebs forming in every nook and cranny of her mind. She and Phoenix had a quiet afternoon on the living room sofa whispering little nothings, some things and other things. They're as ready as they'll ever be, Phoenix told her. One day at a time, no matter what happens, he still loves me, she repeated Phoenix's words to herself.

Caught in the middle of a 'sigh', she noticed Charlie standing in the doorway.
"Hi, what's up?"
"Nothing much."
"Your face shows more than, 'nothing much'."
He raised a brow, "it does?"
"Is she giving you a hard time?"
He groaned, "I don't know. She's a tough cookie."
Georgia chuckled, "What makes you say?"
"One minute we're having a great time, the next she's telling me we can't be friends."
"Hmm..."
"Oh dear, that sounds dangerous," he commented on her pensiveness.
"Give me a minute... She wouldn't have made such a comment if she didn't have basis, you know."
"You can say our swords have crossed a time or two..."
"But you two have also been quite comfortable with each other. No one is blind to hand-holding or hugging."
For what was possibly the first time ever in his entire life, Charlie blushed.

"I've noticed lately you've changed a fair bit, Chuck. Has someone caught our eye, I wonder?" Georgia teased.
"You're good, Chickie. I've been thinking a lot about what I want out of life. It sounds kinda cheesy to say it, but I want more out of the life I built. I've been trying to start fresh, but..."
"But sometimes old bad habits overshadow the real you?" she offered.
"Yeah, that's how I feel. When I'm with Ara -on a good day - I feel like I'm the man I want to be. Then when it goes bad, I feel like there's no hope for me to shed the ugliness. I'll always be the Chuck that everyone's afraid will hit on them," he confessed.
"So you're afraid to fall for the angel, lest you taint her wings?"
"Yes... She's too good for me," he replied.
"You can't be the judge of that. You have a good heart Charlie, remember that. What you need is someone who can bring that out of you."
"I woke up one day thinking maybe I too could deserve the good things that are coming Phoenix's way. I told myself to stop shutting out the possibilities of having a family life, but if I can't sway one person to believe I could be a good person, what are the chances someone will fall in love with me?"

Georgia's heart strings were tugged in different directions.
This was definitely a different side of Charlie she had ever seen. She had been one of those people who couldn't stand having a conversation with him for fear that he would make a pass at her. She felt so guilty, especially since he revealed his deeper thoughts to her.

"You're wrong, Charlie. You have convinced me that you want something more out of life. At least one person believes in you, remember that. Oh, make that two, since I've got a partner in crime inside of me. You're going to be an uncle, cheer up!"
She gave him a big bear hug.

Later when she was left alone again to her thoughts, she realized she did feel comfortable around him. She found herself wishing he would find someone who believed he had a shot at having a future filled with love, joy and family.

Everyone deserved a chance at finding some kind of fulfilling future. Heck, she found hers with Phoenix. Sigh. Everyone should be just as lucky.