Baby Fever

by Landish, Lauren

  “Don’t pretend to act like a goody-two shoes, Stefan. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

  “No, Dad, I don’t.”

  “Stefan, we’re men,” Dad said as if that explained everything. “Young, pretty women are our weakness.”

  “No, Dad, that is your weakness,” I argued. “And you should've never let that weakness get the best of you. Fuck, I thought you were jacking off to porn, not Skyping with another woman!”

  Dad stared at me, and I saw anger and shame in his eyes. I felt a surge of satisfaction. Finally, the emotion I’d been hoping for. “Is that what you’ve come into my office for?” he demanded angrily. “To badger me about my mistake when I already feel like shit? Trust me, Evelyn has already let me hear it. I don't need it from you too.”

  I shook my head. “No. I came to tell you that I’m moving out.”

  Surprise registered on Dad’s face. “What? What for? Are you planning to go back to school?”

  “Not right now,” I replied.

  “Then why are you moving out?”

  “To give you guys space. We're just going to complicate everything even more.”

  Dad sat back in his chair. “Why in the world would you want to leave at a time like this? I’m going to need all the help I can get to keep Evelyn from divorcing me and taking me for all that I’m worth.”

  “Dad, she's just pissed. She'll get over it. It was just some online thing, for crying out loud. And I’m taking Bella with me,” I added boldly, not giving him a chance to respond.

  “What? Why?”

  “She’s been through a lot in the past few months. She doesn’t need to be here while you two work this out.”

  “I really don’t understand much of any of this, Stefan. Why would Bella want to move some place with you? Doesn’t she have plans to go back to school? And how the hell are you going to support yourself?”

  These were all valid questions, but of course, I couldn’t answer them.

  “You said I'm one of your hardest workers,” I explained. “I hope to still work for you to support myself.”

  I hated my job working for my father, but it would do until I found something else that could support Bella and me. Although Bella wasn’t too far along yet, I didn’t want her to have to get a temporary job too. Besides, I wanted to be in control and provide for us both. It made me feel . . . powerful.

  My dad let out a derisive snort. “Why the hell should I help you when you're being so difficult?”

  “Because you know what you did wasn't my fault. You need to clean this up yourself. You taught me that a man cleans up his own shit.”

  Dad gaped at me. “Son, my company is at stake here. If Evelyn divorces me, I stand to lose everything. Everything. That means no construction company, no job, no paycheck, nothing! How the hell would I be able to pay you a salary? Huh?”

  My dad shook his head. “No, what you’re going to do is stay here and do everything in your power to convince Evelyn that divorcing me is a bad idea. With your and Bella’s help, Evelyn should see reason.”

  I glowered at my dad. This was exactly what I hadn’t wanted from the beginning—being used as pawns by our parents.

  “We are a family unit, Stefan,” my dad continued. “I'm sorry, but I need some support. If you and Bella don't help me on this, don't expect financial help from me in getting your own place. If you do that, you're on your own.”

  Silence filled the space between us and I studied my father. I could help him, of course, but I didn’t want to. Yes, Veronica had been the woman, and she wouldn’t have approached Dad if it weren’t for me and Bella. But did it matter? He still had a choice. He could have just ignored her. Either way, he’d just given me an ultimatum, and my pride demanded that I rebel just out of spite.

  “Like I said, we're moving out,” I growled.

  Without another word, I turned and walked out of his office, slamming the door behind me.

  Bella

  “How’s the baby coming along, Bella?” Mother asked.

  My mother smiled as she looked at me and I smiled back. The joy reflected in her eyes made my heart sing with elation, filling me with happiness.

  We were sitting around a table out on the deck in the backyard with a group of women, all family members and close friends, enjoying a cup of cold, fresh lemonade. It was a warm, sunny day, with clear blue skies and soft breezes that felt soothing against my skin. The perfect day.

  I rubbed my swollen belly. I was wearing a bright, yellow sundress that matched the beautiful summer day. “My little one is coming along just fine.” I glanced down at my stomach, smiling sunrises as I felt the baby kicking inside me. “Any day now.”

  “Do you think it will be like it’s father?” one of the women asked, a sour-looking old woman who was dressed in a gaudy dress, topped by a stylish hat with a feather sticking out of it.

  I held in a frown. The way the woman had said ‘it’s’ rubbed me the wrong way, but I brushed the feeling away. Perhaps she hadn’t meant any offense by it. “I think that it’s a he, and yes, I think he will be just like Stefan.”

  The woman smiled at me, but it only made me feel more uneasy. “That is wonderful, Bella. But I have one question.”

  The nausea I felt inside intensified. “Yes?”

  The woman’s face became a mask of black anger. “What kind of slut fucks her stepbrother and then ends up pregnant with his bastard?”

  * * *

  “Bella, calm down! You’re going to wake up your mother!”

  I gasped as I came awake in my darkened bedroom, my forehead and entire body covered by sweat. A dark silhouette stood over my bed. Crying out in fear, I lashed out. The shadow was quick, though, and caught my hand.

  “Bella, it’s me,” said a familiar voice. “Stefan.”

  “No,” I moaned softly, struggling to break free of the powerful grip. “You lie.”

  I felt strong arms wrap around me, restraining me from fighting back. “Calm down, Bella. It’s me, Stefan.”

  Feeling his warm flesh pressed against mine brought me back to the present. “Stefan,” I sobbed with relief into his shoulder. “I had the most terrible dream.”

  Stefan pulled back and studied my face in the dark. To my surprise, he still had on his expensive clothing from the party, but now the front of his dress shirt was unbuttoned even further, teasing that beautiful chest and washboard abs of his. “Would you like to talk about it?”

  I wiped away the tears flowing down my cheeks as images of being taunted and shunned slowly faded into the darkness. “No,” I said finally. “I’m just glad it’s over.”

  Stefan stared carefully at me for a moment before saying, “Okay. But once you feel better, I want to know what it was all about.”

  “All right.” I peered closely at him, trying to keep my eyes on his face and not his chest. “Why are you in here this late? Was I that loud?” The last time I saw Stefan was just before Terry had come back downstairs from arguing with my mom, looking absolutely defeated. Stefan said he was going to speak with his dad for a moment before going to bed. He refused to tell me what he was going to talk about, but I could only assume it had something to do with the plan he had for the both of us.

  “It's not that late. But yeah, you were really starting to wail as I came in.”

  “What did you say?” I asked immediately, thirsty for details. “To your dad, I mean.”

  “Well, first, I told him that he should be ashamed for having an online relationship with some chick half his age, and then . . . I told him we’re going to move out together.”

  Stefan went on to tell me about how Terry wanted us both to stay and help him convince my mom not to leave him.

  I gaped in disbelief when Stefan was done with his story. “What? Why in the world would you tell him that? We're only going to draw more attention to ourselves.”

  “Well, we're going to have to come clean eventually. At this point, I'm just concerned with getting you out of a
ny stressful situations.”

  I shook my head. “I still don’t understand. Why don’t we just help him? We know exactly why Veronica stalked Terry and did what she did. Knowing that, I have no problem with trying to convince Mom that a divorce would be a bad idea, especially when that’s exactly what Veronica would want.”

  I just couldn’t understand why Stefan was being so hard on Terry about the whole situation. Even knowing Veronica orchestrated the whole thing, and given the fact that Veronica was a young, hot babe—God, I hated to admit it—why couldn’t he give his dad a break?

  Stefan sure is riding on the moral high horse, I thought, while I’m sitting here with his baby growing inside me.

  “Growing up, Dad always told me to take responsibility for my actions. And you know what? I listened. That’s why I’m trying to get us out of this mess. I’ve created a problem, and I intend to deal with it. Whether Veronica planned it or not, Dad created his problem, and I'm sure he'll get himself out of it.”

  The way Stefan said problem when he was referring to our situation struck a chord inside me. Is that what he thought of me and the baby? As a problem?

  Was that all I was to him, some problem to deal with?

  Stefan must have seen my worried expression. “Bella, what’s wrong?”

  “Should have never done it,” I whispered, black depression washing over me.

  “Should have never done what?”

  “Any of this,” I replied. “That stupid contest, the Sacrifice. Look at everything that’s happened. We’re hiding a secret from our parents and Mom is threatening to divorce Terry. Jesus, Stefan, Terry is going to hate my guts when he finds out the truth behind all of this.”

  “Don’t say that,” Stefan pleaded. “Haven’t I told you before to stop being so hard on yourself? No matter what reason Veronica came after Dad, whether we caused it or not, his actions are his own. It could just have easily been some other girl. He has no one to blame but himself, you hear me? Himself.”

  But I still couldn't get over the feeling that we were responsible. “Fuck her,” I hissed angrily. “And fuck this whole, fucked-up situation!”

  Stefan placed a hand on my arm. “Stop it, Bella. You’re losing control.”

  I brushed Stefan’s hand away. “No! I’m tired of all of this shit!”

  Stefan remained calm in the face of my fury. “Bella, you’re getting too loud. You’re going to wake Evelyn.”

  “I don’t care! I doubt she's asleep anyway,” I snapped.

  Stefan gripped me by both arms firmly and stared me straight in the eye. “But I do. Get a hold of yourself and stop this nonsense now.”

  After defiantly staring him in the eye for a moment, I looked away with a sigh. He’d won. “I’m sorry,” I said softly. “I’m just so stressed about this whole situation and I’m feeling overwhelmed by it all.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m trying to get you out of here.”

  “I just wish there were some other way . . .” my words trailed off as my eyes drifted down to the opening of Stefan’s shirt, where his powerful chest was on display.

  I ran my fingers down the opening of his dress shirt, enjoying the feel of his flesh against my fingertips. Hungry, I continued all the way down until I hit the waistband of his dress pants.

  Stefan looked at me with confusion. “Bella? What are you doing?”

  My nightmare had shaken me to the core. All of my fears were haunting me, and the lies we were telling our parents were starting to get to me. I needed to feel something, anything.

  Stefan placed his hand over mine, halting me at his zipper. “Bella, we can’t do this now.”

  Unheeding, I shoved his hand away and began unbuttoning his pants anyway. It took me nearly thirty seconds to unzip them—I swear the expensive material had a safety lock on it—and then I managed to pull his pants and underwear down slightly.

  I was disappointed to see that he wasn’t rock-hard and ready when his cock came out, but my breath caught in my throat anyway.

  Even flaccid, it was a wonder to behold, with the perfect-shaped mushroom head that looked juicy and oh, so succulent.

  I grabbed ahold of it, relishing how it felt in my hands. It was warm. Hot. A jolt ran up my fingers as his cock twitched and blood began pumping through it.

  A desperate note had entered Stefan’s voice. “Bella . . .”

  I ignored him, daring him to stop me. For some reason, I felt powerful holding his dick in my hands, feeling the blood plump through it.

  Some say a man’s dick was an extension of his ego, and for Stefan and his nearly 8-inch cock, it had to be a major source of his confidence. It thrilled me to be holding his symbol of pride in my hands, having him completely at my mercy.

  Swiftly, it grew inside my grip until his luscious head was fat and swollen.

  I squeezed the shaft of his cock and waited expectantly. Sure enough, a large drop of precum came out of the eye, and I rubbed it all over his head and down his shaft, lubricating him.

  “Bella . . .” Stefan was moaning now. I knew I had him.

  Disregarding his feeble protests, I began jerking him off, stroking from the top of his head down to the bottom of his shaft. While I stroked him, images from my dream assailed me. Gripped by fear, this only made me stroke him harder.

  “Fuck,” Stefan cursed as I paused stroking to squeeze his cock to get more precum to come out. He’d gone slightly dry.

  This time, I was rewarded with even more fluid, and I relished spreading his juices all over his fat dick. I added a little saliva and resumed jerking him off, pumping his big cock as fast as I could.

  The sound of fleshy friction filled the room as I jacked him furiously. I gripped his head as tightly as I could every time I stroked to the top, adding a slight twist to it and making sure to stimulate the most sensitive part of his head.

  “Fuck, if you keep doing that, I’m gonna come,” Stefan moaned. He lifted his ass off the bed, arching his back a little. Satisfaction rolled through me as I noted the expression on his face, his features twisted in effort as if he was trying to lift a mountain, sweat rolling down his jaw.

  This only made me feel more powerful. I was in control of this strong male specimen who had been a thorn in my side for years because of my attraction to him.

  I pumped as furiously as I could, angrily jerking his huge dick up and down. “Come for me,” I commanded him, looking straight up at him. “Give it to me,” I repeated.

  “Ah, fuck!” Stefan gasped, his face twisted as if he was in agony, his forehead covered in sweat.

  Powerful jolts went through my hands as his dick contracted rapidly, sending squirts of hot liquid all over the place. Stefan must've had a build-up, because it went everywhere—on the bed, my gown, and his dress pants.

  I felt hot liquid roll down my wrist as his cock continued erupting like a volcano. I held on and squeezed, getting every last drop until his dick stopped contracting.

  Stefan let out a huge sigh and lowered his ass back onto the bed when it was over.

  “Fuck, are you happy now?” he demanded as I let go of his dick. He seemed to know that my actions were some sort of power play meant to exert some control over him, but at the same time, it seemed he didn’t want to press the issue, as if he was scared of what my reaction might be.

  He got up from the bed and grabbed tissue from the box of Kleenex sitting on my nightstand and began wiping at his dick and then furiously at his pants. “I hope this washes out. These pants cost 300 bucks.” When he was done, he pulled his pants back up, zipping them closed. Even in the dark, I could see the stains all over them.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll wash them out for you,” I apologized, though I wasn’t really sorry. For some reason, I was in no hurry to wipe his mess from my hands and arm. I wanted to feel a part of him on me.

  Stefan sighed and dropped the tissues in the wastebasket next to the night stand. I would have to empty that before the next morning. I wouldn’t want Mom to come nosi
ng in and wonder why come-encrusted tissue was sitting in my trash bin. “I'm sure it will. But I’m going to need all the nice clothes that I’ve got since I'll probably have to start looking for a job.”

  I stared at him. “So we're really moving out?”

  Stefan nodded and grabbed more tissue. Then he walked over to my bed and began wiping at the mess he’d made on my bedspread. It being dark, I knew he would miss a few spots. But it was okay. I would get them later. “Yes. We’re not staying here.”

  “Why don't we just stay and help Terry?”

  Stefan stopped wiping and turned to look at me. “Look at it this way—even if Evelyn does decide to stay with Dad, what do you think is going to happen when you start to show? I just don't see them happily cheering you on, Bella. And that's assuming they don't know that the baby is mine.” He shook his head. “No way. If you think it’s bad here now, I would hate to see what it would be like then.”

  As much as I hated to admit it, Stefan was right. We couldn't stay here. I had about another month before I would really start to show. Of course, I could just wear big clothing, but even that would only last so long.

  “We have to think about the baby first right now. Besides, they'll have plenty of time to sort it out without us around. We'll just get in the way.” His voice had a note of stone in it.

  “My mom is a very proud woman,” I said flatly. “Even though it was only some online thing, from what your dad said, I don't see her forgiving him easily. I can't just tell her to forgive him without giving her a good reason. She'll just think I’m being sympathetic to him and taking his side.”

  “Just let them deal with it. Maybe we can try to smooth things over later if things aren't looking good. But look at the bright side—we'll have all the time in the world alone.”

  While being alone with him sounded amazing, I also wanted to do everything I could to keep our parents together. I didn't want their split to be any fault of mine, but I was just going to go along with Stefan. “All right. I just won’t say anything then.”