He pulls away from me and looks down into my green eyes. “I never thought I would say this Maddy, but no. You heard what the doctor said. Believe me, I would love to be with you tonight, but not until the doctor says it’s okay.” I nod at him; he’s right and I know it, but I still want him.
He carries me up to my room and places me on the small twin-sized bed that’s pushed up against the wall. Rummaging through my drawers he finds me some pajamas. “I’d rather wear your shirt.” I smile coyly at him. Really, I just want to watch him take it off.
“Fine then.” He pulls it up over his head from behind in one smooth motion. “But you’re still not getting laid.” He tosses the shirt at my face and we share a laugh.
He steps into the Jack-and-Jill bathroom that connects mine and Mel’s rooms and calls out, “Pink or purple?” It takes me a minute to realize that he’s asking about my toothbrush. “Reid, don’t be ridiculous. I can stand long enough to brush my teeth!”
He doesn’t even acknowledge my statement. He just repeats his question at which point I toss my hands in the air, giving into his antics. “Pink. Mine’s the pink one.”
He walks back into my room, toothbrush in one hand, upon which sits a dollop of tooth paste, and a cup of water in the other. He shoves the toothbrush in my face playfully. “The doctor said not to walk if you didn’t have to. I’m here so you don’t have to. Brush.” He instructs and I comply.
When he comes back a few minutes later, he smells minty fresh. “You didn’t use Mel’s toothbrush, did you? She’ll have a fit.” He shoots me an “are you kidding glare” and shakes his head no.
Arching an eyebrow in addition to the glare, he says, “My mouth has been all over your body, so I figured borrowing your toothbrush was not a huge issue.”
Thinking of the things he can do with his mouth – and oh lord, that tongue – is enough to silence me. He crawls into bed next to me and I curl around him. It’s almost like a routine – head on his chest, arm around his waist, leg hooked around his.
He starts running his fingertips gently through my hair and in mere minutes, I’m drifting fast asleep.
Through a yawn, I tell him that I love him.
I feel him press his lips to my hair and say, “I love you too, beautiful girl. And I love that you’re having my baby. Now, sleep, Maddy. You need your rest.”
I wake up before Maddy does, so I decide to go out to the kitchen and make us some breakfast. I pull on my jeans and look over at her curled up in her bed, wearing my shirt. I can’t help but think that she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I shake my head at my rather Romeo-like musings and quietly close the door behind me.
The whole mess from yesterday has me thinking about my mom all over again. No matter how much I want to push all thoughts of her from my head, I can’t. I know walking away from her, Joe and Katie wasn’t the right thing to do. It was an asshole move on my part, but I don’t want to deal with the pain. Over the years, I’ve gotten so good at keeping everything and everyone shut out, that the thought of letting them all in scares the shit out of me.
Apparently, I’m also really good at running away too.
Maybe I should call Katie. Maybe I should go back there. Maybe I can at least start to talk about it. I can’t get my fucking head on straight. Dealing with my mom, Maddy and the baby, I’m just a fucking mess.
I know I’m a coward because rather than dealing with my mom, rather than forgiving her like I know I should do, I ran. I know I’ll have to face her soon, but part of me wants to just ignore it for now. I’ve got more important things to worry about anyway.
Pushing thoughts of my past down as far as I can, I make my way to the kitchen in search of something for breakfast. Thank goodness that Momma is away this weekend because walking into a kitchen with some shirtless guy rifling through your cabinets is not exactly a calming start to a Sunday morning. I pull out the eggs and bread. Just as I peek my head out from behind the fridge door, I see Mel leaning up against the door frame snickering at me.
She waves her pointer finger in front of her chest from side to side. “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.” She starts walking to me as she points to the eggs. “Those will make Maddy throw up in about two seconds flat.”
“Oh, shit. I had no idea. Thanks for the heads up.” I turn to place the eggs back in the fridge and hold up the bread. “Toast should be good, then right?”
As she nods, she says, “Yeah, just don’t burn it. That’ll definitely make her throw up.”
Mel busies herself with the coffee pot and I’m suddenly very thankful that she’s awake. Watching Maddy hurl all morning would definitely not have been a good start to the day.
As I’m about to pull two slices of bread out of the bag, Melanie places her hand on top of mine to stop me. “Why don’t you let her sleep a little bit? She’s been worrying herself sick all week about where you were and what would happen to you guys. Add in what happened yesterday and I think she could use as much sleep as she can get.”
She sits down at the small eat-in kitchen table and pats the chair next to her. “Sit down. Let’s chat.” Her words seem innocent enough, but I know that an inquisition is waiting for me.
She leans forward and steeples her hands together in front of her. “So, what gives, Reid? Why did you just up and leave her?”
I huff a small insincere laugh. “Is that what you think happened? You think I just up and left my pregnant girlfriend?” I look at her in disbelief, but a part of me knows that she’s right. Maddy may have pushed, but I didn’t push back.
Her eyes narrow in on my face. “Well, what else am I supposed to think? You were gone for a whole week and you never once tried to get in touch with anyone. No one knew where you were. Maddy was certain that she’d lost you forever and that she was going to be on her own with the baby. So, if you say you didn’t leave her, then please, clarify for me what exactly happened.” Her last words are more than a little sarcastic and snide, but I know Melanie well; she’s just protecting Maddy.
My lips curl at the corners thinking about how much she loves Maddy. I can’t help but agree with her, but I’ll be damned if she’s going to accuse me of not wanting to be with Maddy, of not wanting my baby.
I lean back in my chair and lace my fingers behind my head. Deliberately pausing to gather my thoughts pisses Melanie off something awful. She starts impatiently bouncing her knee up and down shaking the table as she does so. The coffee pot finishes brewing and I stand to make up our cups. I take my sweet ass time too.
I slide Mel’s cup in front of her as I sit back down in my chair. Her glare has intensified and she just looks at me expectantly. “Oh for Christ’s sake, Reid. Will you just start talking already?” She’s nearly yelling, but when she remembers that Maddy is still sleeping, she clamps her hand over her mouth.
