----
I run my hand down Lacey’s cheek, not wanting to wake her. She looks exhausted and I know she needs rest for the baby, but she also needs to eat. I play with her hair, rubbing her scalp and hear her whimper.
“You ain’t playin’ fair, Hulk, you’re hittin’ me when I’m weak,” she says smiling turning to face me.
“I didn’t want to wake you, but you need to eat.”
She nods and sits up, unbuckling her seatbelt.
“I told Heather we’d be coming, so she’s making sure the crawfish is cooked to perfection for you. I googled it and you’re allowed to have it. Just has to be cooked right and Heather will make sure it is.”
She stops moving and looks at me, her hand on the door knob.
“You’ve been readin’ up on this?” she whispers.
“Of course I have. We...should probably do some baby shopping tomorrow after the doctor when we know what the sex is. You’re almost six months, the nursery should be set up soon. You’ll start to nest I think around eight months.”
“You just said...nest?” she says smiling.
“That’s what it’s called I’m pretty sure, no?”
“Yeah it...okay. We can shop tomorrow.”
She gets out of the car and her and Heather gush about babies as I look over the menu. My brother, Maxwell and Heather are due to welcome their little boy any day now, so it will be cool to have another nephew.
My own parents are thrilled, not so much with our situation, but Maxwell and Heather are married so they did it “the right way.”
My mother keeps bugging me to come have dinner with them and bring Lacey so they can sit down and have a chat. She’s only met her briefly at Bella and Damon’s wedding and then Maxwell and Heather’s. I keep pushing it off because Lacey and I are still trying to work through things, she doesn’t need to worry about my mother on her ass too.
------
After lunch I drive Lacey home, with plans to pick her up tomorrow morning for the doctor’s appointment.
I drive down to the studio to touch base with Miguel and smile at the sight before me.
Alessandra’s son Peter has gloves on all the way up to his shoulders and Miguel is helping him punch the bag. Alessandra is off to the side sitting on the mat in workout clothes, covered in sweat. From the looks of it, she’s been having a workout for herself and I wonder it’s just from the heavy bag.
“Hey guys,” I say walking further into the studio.
“Hey man. Pete’s got a mean hook right here, come and check it out,” Miguel laughs.
“Hey Ali.”
“Hey Nico,” she smiles getting to her feet and walks over to Peter and Miguel.
“I’m gonna go take him up for a bath. You guys can talk in peace.”
She reaches for Peter and Miguel helps take off his gloves.
“Want me to order something?” Miguel asks.
“I can cook. I’ll keep it warm for you. Bye Nico,” Alessandra says smiling.
A look passes between the two of them but then it’s gone as she walks towards the back of the studio and up the stairs to Miguel’s apartment.
“Well, well, well. ‘Nah man, that kid better not keep me awake. House guests, come on’,” I imitate.
“Shut the hell up,” Miguel laughs. “We’re just...I’m helping her out.”
“I’m sure you are.”
Miguel shakes his head and motions for me to follow him to the back towards his office.
“I followed up with Ali’s description and sent it over to my guys at the precinct. They had their sketcher work something up. I ran it through and believe it or not, I didn’t see the connection, but Normani filled in the blanks. You’ll never guess who your guy is.”
“Who?”
“Weston Parker.”
My fists ball at my sides and I grit my teeth.
“Are you serious?”
He nods. “I showed Ali his picture and she confirmed it. Of course she doesn’t follow sports or any social shit so she had no idea. I’m surprised he even flew under the radar that well, but that place is known for big names. He probably blended in and being you’re both athletes, no one thought anything seeing you two together. It’s kind of the ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ in there, huh?”
“Seems like it. Alright thanks. What’s the plan? Give me one, otherwise I’ll go to his house and beat the shit out of him again right now,” I growl.
“Don’t do that, please. I’m on it. We’ll figure out why he did this and the rest of the story, okay?”
“Thanks man, I really appreciate this.”
“No worries. Take it easy and I’ll keep you up to date.”
“Sure thing.”
I drive home seething from anger, but it slowly disappears when I feel my phone vibrate and look down at the name.
Lacey: Thank you for being there for me today. I can’t wait for tomorrow. Baby Hulk is lucky to have a daddy like you.
I look up at the roof of my car, letting out a breath. She’s so close. So damn close. Don’t give up, Nico.
----
At exactly eight o'clock on the dot, I ring Lacey’s doorbell.
She comes to the door a minute later and swings it open, her hair a mess, her t-shirt way too big for her body and sweatpants. Her eyes are covered by sunglasses and she brushes past me after she locks the door.
“What’s the matter?” I ask walking up to her side.
“I feel like ass today. This baby has both our stubbornness, I swear. We are so fucked when it’s a teenager. I’m gonna just retire as a parent when it’s like thirteen,” she groans rubbing in between her eyes, laying her head back against the seat.
“It’ll be okay, what’s wrong? Did you eat? You can’t let yourself have an empty stomach. I have ginger ale in the backseat if you want some. I also got these lollipops, they’re supposed to be good for nausea. There’s ginger, lemon-”
She cuts me off with a kiss, her hand around the back of my head and I lean forward, putting my hand on her cheek. Our lips dancing against each other, a rhythm we’re so familiar with but haven’t indulged in so long.
She pulls back, searching my face and smiles.
“You’re cute when you ramble, Hulk. Thank you for everything, but...I just want quiet, okay?”
She sits back in her seat, putting her sunglasses on and buckles herself back up.
“Did you...you just made out with me to shut me up?”
She drops her head back against the seat again as I start the car.
“I’m pregnant, Hulk, I crave things I can’t explain. I wanted your lips at the moment, so I took them. Now shhh.”
I smile and shake my head as we drive to the doctor’s office. We pull into the parking lot and I cut the engine, walking around to the other side to open Lacey’s door. We link hands as we walk into the building and ride the elevator to the third floor. She signs us in, and we wait. A couple minutes later the nurse calls us to the back and Lacey sits up on the table, pulling her shirt up over her belly.
My eyes lock on her belly and I stand not realizing that I’m doing it. I put my hand on her and rub and I feel my eyes start to water.
“You got...you have a belly,” I say my voice hoarse.
“I...yeah it kind of popped,” Lacey says breathlessly.
I look over at her and her eyes are hooded watching me.
“I miss your body, Lacey. I should be in your bed every night, rubbing you like this. It shouldn’t be a shock to me that you have a belly. I should be there every morning watching you get dressed for work, watching it get bigger with my baby. That’s where I belong, Blondie,” I say my hand going up to her cheek.
She closes her eyes leaning her head into my hand and there’s a knock on the door breaking the spell.
“Y’all ready to find out what this baby is?” the doctor says excitedly.
I nod and sit back down next to the bed as Lacey opens her eyes and wipes them.
“Yes, we’re
ready,” she says smiling looking at me.
“We are,” I confirm, giving her the message that I’m so damn ready and she better be too.
The doctor moves the wand around, showing us the baby’s arms, legs, feet, hands, fingers, all the different organs and the head. It’s measuring a little bigger than normal, I mean look at its father. The doctor is worried that Lacey won’t be able to push it out because of how tiny she is, so they’re going to keep an eye on it but are discussing c-section options. Hearing them talk about cutting open the woman I love makes me panic. I know it’s been done thousands and thousands of times and it’s safe, but it still scares the shit out of me.
“Well last but not least, let’s check this baby out. Y’all takin’ bets on what it is?” asks the doctor.
I see Lacey flinch and I shake my head.
“No bets. Definitely no more bets. As long as it’s healthy, it doesn’t matter,” I say.
I squeeze Lacey’s hand and the nurse looks over at us.
“Well daddy, I hope you got your shotgun ready because you’re gonna have a little girl. If she looks anything like her mama, y’all are gonna have your hands full. Congratulations!”
Lacey starts crying and I smile, pulling her hand up to kiss her knuckles.
“Oh Blondie, we are so in trouble,” I laugh.
Lacey nods, laughing through the tears and puts her hand over her belly again.
“A little girl,” she whispers.
“A little girl,” I say leaning down to kiss her lips.
Chapter 11
Nico
“Did you take off work today?” I ask looking over to Lacey in the front seat.
“I did, yeah. I just needed a break. People are fuckin’ incompetent and I might kill someone before this little girl is born. This belly in an orange jumpsuit ain’t a pretty look.”
I laugh and turn onto the highway.
“Yeah, please don’t kill anyone. Leave the dirty work to me.”
“Where are we goin’?” she asks.
“Baby store. Now that we know we got a mini Lacey on our hands, we gotta get her some goods.”
We pull into a spot at the store and I grab Lacey’s hand in mine before she can protest. She looks down and smiles shaking her head.
“You’re pushin’ it, Hulk. I’ll take that kiss at the doctor’s because it was a happy moment but this…”
“Just pretend for the next couple hours, Blondie. Just pretend,” I say cupping her cheek.
She closes her eyes and nods and we walk into the store to the registry section. The woman explains the gun system and gives us a bag of goodies as we walk around the store.
“Are you gonna breastfeed?” I ask walking us to the feeding section.
“I wanna try, yeah.”
“I’ll have to share these, huh?” I say reaching for her.
She slaps my hand away shaking her head.
“Don’t grope me in the baby store, you dog,” she snaps.
“I thought we were pretending. I definitely would have groped you in the baby store and you would have said something like, ‘don’t threaten me with a good time, baby’,” I imitate in my best southern belle accent.
Her mouth drops open in an exasperated smile and she shakes her head.
“Your southern accent is atrocious, never do that again.”
“Alright, alright, you're close. Now just tell me to go fuck myself and we’ll be back to normal,” I smirk.
“Stop it, Nico, I ain’t kiddin’. Let’s focus on the baby, she’ll be naked and sleepin’ on our floor if you don’t quit.”
“Our floor, huh?” I say raising my eyebrows.
“You...you know what I meant,” she says quickly.
“Sure I do. Alright, Blondie, let’s get our sassy shrimp some supplies.”
“You are not callin’ our baby Sassy Shrimp,” she laughs.
“You called her Baby Hulk.”
“Yeah because she’s a big ole chub like her daddy.”
I feign shock, clutching my chest and stumble backwards.
“Lacey Lee Turner, you wound me. I am not chubby. I’ll be happy to strip right here to remind you in case you forgot,” I say reaching for the hem of my shirt.
She puts her hand up quickly circling my wrist.
“Quit it, Nicholas. Don’t you dare,” she says through gritted teeth.
“God, I missed sparring with you, Blondie,” I smile running my thumb down her cheek.
“Crib. Let’s go pick out a crib,” she says turning her face away from me.
I’m a pro at knocking down Lacey’s walls. I’ve done it for the past three years. I know in my heart of hearts I would never cheat on her, now it’s just a matter of convincing her.
-----
As we pull into my driveway, I cut the engine and walk back towards the trunk.
“We can separate everything here and then whatever you want to keep by you I’ll bring over. Is that okay?”
She silently nods, exhaustion all over her face and I walk to the front door, opening it and leading her inside.
“Why don’t you grab a water from the fridge and sit with your feet up. Should only take me one or two trips to bring everything in, okay?” I say to Lacey putting my hands on her shoulders.
She nods again walking to my kitchen as I go back out and bring all the baby stuff inside. We registered for a lot of the big things, I’m sure Savannah will throw her a baby shower, but the baby needs some stuff for us to set up now.
It only takes me one trip and I walk in the living room, seeing her sitting on the couch, staring at the blank TV.
“What’s the matter?” I ask kneeling down in front of her.
She nods to my cell phone on the coffee table and I take it, reading the message from Miguel.
Miguel: Got in touch with one of my guys. The street cameras up by your apartment were working that night, you had a woman in the Uber with you. She didn’t get out of it, but she was there. I ran the plates, getting in touch with the driver as we speak. Just wanted you to know.
“I...Lace, this could be nothing. This could be me just sharing a cab with someone. It doesn’t mean anything. I swear to you, I know nothing-”
She cuts me off with a kiss and I stumble back, confused and turned on at the same time. What the hell is happening?
Lacey
I don’t know what came over me, but I cut him off with my lips, grabbing his face and allowing our mouths to dance together, mold to each other like they always do. I could never get enough of him these past three years together and now even more so because I have so much need pumping through my body.
One last time. I need one last time with him and then I can focus on this baby, focus on trying to raise it together without giving in to forgiveness that he doesn’t deserve. I was so close and now this. This bomb that just pushes us back five steps.
I need it though, we pretended all day, I need to pretend for just a little while longer. Pretend that I didn’t see that text message, pretend that it didn’t slice me, pretend that Nico and I are back to normal, raising this little girl together as a big, happy family.
“Bed,” I pant breaking our kiss. “Take me to your bed.”
“Blondie…”
“Now, Nico,” I demand trying to make my voice hard, devoid of all emotion.
He lifts me up, pulling my legs to wrap around his waist and I kiss up and down his neck, desperately trying to push down my doubts at what this means. I know I’m kidding myself if I think one more time will satisfy this, but I need it to. I need to believe my brain will takeover next time, not my heart, not my hormones.
Even when he breaks my heart, I’m a fool for him. I’m the idiot girl that goes back to something that keeps hurting her. The girl in the romance novel that you just want to throw your Kindle at.
Stop going back to him you fucking idiot!
He carries me down the hall to his bedroom and I graze my lips against him again. He lays me down softly o
n the bed, reaching for his shirt and dragging it off as he unbuttons and pulls down his jeans. I do the same, following his lead until we’re both naked, staring at each other, both of us knowing what this is.
My stupid hormones are trying to push the tears out of my eyes, but I close them, laying down on the bed and focusing on the throbbing between my legs instead.
Walk Off (Double Play Series Book 5) Page 14