Despite his alleged long list of lovers, he genuinely seemed in awe. She felt his heart pounding against her temple as his body struggled to find its equilibrium. Sweat was dripping from his face onto her hair. “Are you okay?” he finally asked.
“Yes,” Leah said no louder than a whisper. “I...I've never been fucked like that before...”
She lifted her head just in time to see the dimples reappear. He smiled at her, still too weak to formulate a complex sentence. “I wasn't expecting it either...but I just kept wanting more and more of you...,” he finally explained after a few deep, calming breaths had stabilized his heart rate.
She didn't have time to respond before he suggested that they retire to his bedroom. Glory and Keeper reluctantly repositioned themselves at the foot of the bed as Cap pulled back the quilt and sheet, ushering her in. The bed was crisp and cold but his body next to her was warm and moist, still sweaty from their romp. He pulled her into his arms again so that her head lay on his chest. “I think you've worn me out, Sugar,” he said, kissing her on top of her head.
“Likewise,” she whispered. “Merry Christmas.”
“Best Christmas ever,” he qualified and then in a few fleeting moments, they both surrendered to sleep, visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads.
TEN
Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” -Genesis 3:16 (NLT)
Like a thief in the night. Every Christian has read the scripture describing how the second coming will begin. First Thessalonians 5:3 even compares it to the onset of labor pains. And so it was. Leah awoke to her phone buzzing on the nightstand next to Cap's bed. She scrambled for it just as Glory reacted to the sound with a piercing staccato bark. Cap didn't stir as Leah squeaked out a hoarse “Hello?”
“On my way to the hospital!” Aimee announced, seemingly through clenched teeth.
“Wow, really?” Leah was suddenly very, very awake. Glory hopped onto the bed next to her owner as if she was patiently waiting for instructions. Cap rolled over onto his side and was still snoozing away, the plaid flannel sheets bunched at his waist. Leah observed the way the moonlight streaming between the blinds carved out the impressions and hollows of his back. She imagined those muscles being built from years and years of pulling ropes, reeling in huge fish and hoisting them into the boat. She'd never been with an older man before, nor one who made his living doing physical labor. Years of work had shaped and molded Captain Chris Sheldon in a very distinct and perceptible way; he was hewn by his craft.
Those thoughts flitted in and out of her mind in the slip of time it took Aimee to catch her breath before another contraction ripped through her body. “Yeah, I'm at five minutes apart. Tony's driving as fast as he can. Thank God there's not much traffic on Christmas morning so it's not bad.”
“How far is it to the hospital?” Leah asked, trying to keep her excitement from amping her voice up several decibels.
“Usually 20-30 minutes. We've got about four more miles I think. Looks like I'm going to have a Christmas baby! Isn't that exciting?!”
Leah could tell that her friend's pain had subsided momentarily, long enough for her to sound happy and anxious to meet her new little one. “Well, then, I'm on my way!” Leah announced, her brain starting to spin with the plans it needed to enact, starting with finding her clothes. Then she realized she'd have to call Bob and see if there was any way he could cover her shift at The Pearl's front desk.
“You can come later if you want. Go back to sleep for a few hours maybe? What are you going to do with Glory?” Aimee's breath was starting to quicken by the end of her last question.
“I'm not at home actually...I'm going to have to run home and get Glory's things. Can I drop her off at your house before I come to the hospital?” Leah asked, not sure if her friend would be capable of answering due to the low growl that was beginning to escalate on the other end of the phone.
Just then, Cap sat up in the bed and grabbed Leah's hand. “Are you okay? What's going on?” he demanded gruffly, as if he had skipped the mumbly, groggy state of early morning lucidity and went straight into crisis management mode.
“What?!” Aimee shrieked as soon as the waves of pain began to subside. “What do you mean you're not home at 4 AM? Who is that talking? Who are you with?” Then she let out a huge, loud groan that rang in Leah's ears.
“Don't worry about it,” Leah answered. “I'll be there in a little bit. Just breathe, sweetie! I know you'll do great!”
“What was that about?” Cap asked as Leah laid her phone back down on the nightstand with trembling fingers. The adrenaline was coursing through her body like it did when there was a problem at work and she had to spring into action.
“My best friend just went into labor!” she explained, with more volume than she needed, but her voice was fueled by excited nerves. She pulled back the sheets and found the cold floor with her bare feet. She had already forgotten that she was completely nude and suddenly felt exposed, even in the dim moonlight. “I've gotta get to Philly.”
“What about Glory?” he asked.
Leah had already stumbled into the living room scanning the floor for the clothes she'd worn the night before. She located her bra and slung it around her ribcage, fastened it, and slid it into place, pulling her breasts up into the cups so that her nipples were pointed in the right direction. She stepped into her pants, buttoned them, then slipped her shirt on, fumbling with the tiny buttons as she hurried.
She didn't notice that Cap had entered the room, the sheets wrapped around him like a toga. “Do you want to leave Glory here?” he asked, which startled Leah so badly she almost tripped over her heels as she struggled to get them on her feet. She was trembling from cold, from nerves, and from the reality of what had happened the night before, which was slowly but surely sinking into each of her wakening brain cells.
“I really don't mind,” Cap pressed. “How long will you be gone?”
“Uh, I don't know, a few days at least,” she responded, sliding her arms into the cashmere cardigan she'd worn in lieu of a proper coat. “If I can get someone to cover for me at work.” I thought I had another week to get things settled and to pack, she thought, realizing suddenly that her heart was racing and her head was beginning to pound from the increased blood supply.
“Let me help, Leah, please? It'll be a lot easier for you if you don't have to worry about your little girl. You can't take her to the hospital with you, you know.” Cap grinned his dimpled smile, the one with the power to persuade a nun to go to bed with him.
Leah did not like the slight tone of patronization dripping off his tongue like honey. She hated being talked down to; she loathed being treated like a child, as if she didn't always consider all the contingencies in advance. But she didn't feel like arguing with him, and naturally, she did trust him to take good care of Glory. She'd be a lot happier here with him and Keeper than caged up in Aimee and Anthony's tiny house, she conceded. “Alright, fine. If you're sure. I can run home and get her kennel and some food if you want.”
“Don't be ridiculous,” he chided her. “Just go to your friend and don't worry about us. We'll be just fine, won't we?” he asked, reaching down to run his fingers up Glory's neck to her chin. She shook her little hind end and wagged her tail in agreement with him.
“Okay. I'll call and check on her tonight,” Leah promised. She retrieved her purse from the coffee table and made her way toward the door at the back of the room, making a mental list of everyone from work she could call to cover her shift.
“What, I don't even get a kiss goodbye?” Cap asked, not even bothering to hide his dejection.
She sighed and met him where the kitchen transitioned into the living room. He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her tight to his body. “Thanks for last night,” he whispered into her ear just before planting his lips on top
of hers and lingering there for a moment, the membranes of their mouths touching just enough to create a wave of electricity between them.
“Thank you,” was all Leah said, and she turned to head out the door without even saying goodbye to Glory.
She sat in her Jeep for two whole minutes before deciding what to do. She was paralyzed by the thoughts that had stormed in and trumped her initiative to rush to her laboring friend's bedside. She knew she needed to turn the key in the ignition, that it was cold, and she could see her breath filling up the space between her and the windshield. She urged her brain to give the order to put her vehicle in drive and head north toward her apartment so she could stop and get some clothes before navigating to Philly, but its paralysis had left her fingers numb and her knees locked into position.
What the hell did I just do? she asked herself. She couldn't help but envision the proverbial angel and devil sitting on opposite shoulders, poised to debate the issue with each other. She hated all things cliché, but the dichotomy of her Good Girl and Bad Girl selves going head to head was just too perfect an analogy not to portray them as an angel and devil in her imagination. The angel looked defeated, sitting with crossed arms hugged tight to her body. “What would your parents think of you, Miss Miller?” she asked, blinking back tears.
The devil just laughed, “So she finally did something for herself, something she enjoyed with someone she likes and is getting to know. What the hell is wrong with that?”
The angel sobbed into her hands which now covered her tiny golden face. “You haven't forgotten what happened in college, have you, Leah? The way you felt so empty and ashamed and used?”
“It's not being used if she enjoyed it,” the devil flicked her forked tongue out to lick her lips lasciviously. “And you did enjoy it, didn't you, Leah?”
Leah's inner thighs were burning where Cap had been the night before. She felt a soreness permeating her groin, but it was a delicious soreness that painted her memory with visions of his silhouetted frame against the Christmas tree lights as he sunk into her, filling her with his throbbing manhood. You know what? she decided as she finally turned the key in the ignition, I'm not going to feel bad about this. I don't know if I will do it again, but I am not going to beat myself up. It felt amazing...he felt amazing...and I don't think I did anything wrong. The little she-devil perched on her shoulder was grinning victoriously.
The hospital room's curtains were drawn, blocking out the bright Christmas sun that shone over Philadelphia. There was music playing in the background, but not the soothing melodies one would expect to hear in a laboring woman's quarters. Aimee was headbanging to heavy metal as Leah rushed into the room. Her husband Anthony was propped up in the corner, relaxing in a cushy-looking recliner, his feet on a peach and sage-colored ottoman. He wore headphones and had an iPad open on his lap, but his eyes were closed and he appeared to be sleeping. “Some support he is, huh?” Aimee rolled her eyes.
“Why are you listening to such loud, clanging music?” Leah asked, covering her ears and searching for the source of the cacophony.
“What, you don't like Slayer?” she gasped with fake disbelief.
Leah smirked. “So, you must have had drugs, right? You seem really calm and relaxed.”
Aimee grinned and pointed to the monitor next to her, “See those mountains? Those are contractions, and I haven't felt nary a one since I've been here. Not bad, huh?”
“Epidural?” Leah inquired and her friend nodded. “Well, good. I don't know what I was expecting...I guess that Hollywood portrayal with the mom all sweaty, her hair in a ponytail and matted to her face, huffing and puffing as she tries to push the baby out.”
“Yeah, we're not quite there yet,” Aimee assured her. “I'm only dilated to six.”
“Oh, okay, so I guess we just wait then? You have to get to ten, right?” Leah confirmed.
“Huh, you know more about this than I thought!” Aimee teased her. “Is that cause you grew up on a farm?” She laughed so hard that a nurse came in to readjust the monitors on her stomach; the pressure from the laughing had made the readings go haywire.
“I didn't grow up on a farm and you know it,” Leah retorted. “Although I did have to take Ag class in eighth grade. Wow, that was a trip! I can tell you a bunch of different breeds of hogs and dairy cattle but I assure you that's not where I learned about human gestation!”
Anthony's eyelids slowly fluttered open. His dark eyes looked glassy and not quite capable of focusing. “Is it time yet?” he mumbled.
“No, not yet. Hold your horses,” Aimee complained. “Gee whiz, I guess we're not getting this done fast enough for your Daddy,” she said to the baby, patting her belly. “Apparently he's got more important things to do like play endless games of Tetris on his i-Pad.”
“Hi, Leah,” he offered, ignoring his wife as he finally recognized they had a visitor in the room. “Can I get you anything? Soda? Water? Earplugs for when our families get here?”
Leah giggled. “Oh, I think I'm just fine. I was going to ask if I can get either of you anything.”
“Oh, hey,” Aimee interrupted them. “Leah, spill the beans about last night. What were you doing out on Christmas Eve, you little vixen?”
“I was working,” Leah lied. “It's no big deal.”
“You were only working till midnight. Why weren't you home when I called you this morning at 4?” Aimee pressed.
Leah looked down at the floor, trying to decide if the truth was really in Aimee's best medical interests. Might as well tell her, she decided. She's not going to believe anything else anyway. “Well...Cap made me Christmas dinner...and...I...” She looked up just in time to see Aimee's eyes bulge out with surprise.
“And you spent the night?” she asked expectantly. “Oh, please tell me you spent the night!”
Aimee is more excited about this than I am, Leah smirked, confirming her friend's suspicions with a slight head nod. “Thank God, it really is Christmas! Leah got laid! Glory, glory, hallelujah, it's a Christmas miracle!” she sang.
Leah tilted her head in the direction of Anthony, silently begging her friend to give it a rest. “Yeah it was nice,” she offered by way of description, and that was all she intended to say on the matter. I still don't even know how I feel about all this, she realized. I haven't fully processed it yet. Even though during the three hour drive to Philly she'd been picking apart every detail of the encounter when she wasn't beating herself up for not giving her puppy a proper goodbye.
Moments later, the heavy metal music gave way to its human speech equivalent. The door burst open and over the top of the nurse's pleas for compliance rose the sound of Aimee's mother, Francine Minnelli. She was a small, round, but extraordinarily animated woman whose voice was about seven levels louder than it needed to be at all times. Whether she was happy or angry mattered not, she was just loud. “Spirited” was the euphemism Leah had used to describe Mrs. Minnelli to her parents.
Right behind Mrs. Minnelli were Aimee's two sisters, Carmen and Michelle, and her sister-in-law Gina. The volume that these four women could generate en masse was formidable. Leah suddenly wondered if they'd all get kicked out of the hospital. Wasn't there some sort of limitation on the number of visitors a laboring woman could have in her room? she wondered.
Anthony recognized trouble when he saw it and began slowly backing toward the door. “I'm going to run out and grab something to eat real quick if that's okay,” he announced, but he was halfway out the door before anyone could protest.
“He looks tired,” Mrs. Minnelli observed before he'd made it down the shiny tiled hall.
“Yeah, we've been up all night. The drugs are making me sleepy so I've gotten a little rest, but he hasn't gotten any at all,” Aimee replied. “He's been very supportive though, even when I yell at the nurses.”
“Yell at the nurses?” Leah raised an eyebrow, but it wasn't difficult for her to imagine her feisty friend spitting out some choice words while in pain.
> “When they stuck that huge fucking needle in my back, I just about went ballistic!” Aimee explained, getting worked up enough to appear just a touch animated, despite the drugs which had subdued her a great deal. And she clearly didn't care if she used the F Word in front of her mother. Leah could scarcely imagine employing that type of language in the company of her parents.
“Why are you listening to this trash?!” Aimee's oldest sister Carmen said with disgust as she searched for the off button on the radio. “I listened to classical music when I had Tommy and Zoe. Nothing but the best for my two babies!”
Aimee rolled her eyes. Even Leah knew that Tommy was now a pothead and Zoe dressed like a slut at the ages of 17 and 14 respectively. I guess I could have disappointed my parents more, Leah thought. She mentally slapped herself for that thought with the next breath. Seriously, though, my parents aren't ashamed of me. I've done well for myself. They just wouldn't approve of me cavorting with a swinger, that's all.
“So, Leah was just telling me about her new boyfriend,” Aimee announced to divert the attention from her contractions and the monitors. It was as if her sixth sense had picked up on Leah's mind wandering back to Cap.
“Is that so?” Mrs. Minnelli gushed. “I always wondered why a cute girl like you didn't have a man! What's he like?”
Leah blushed, even though she was fighting the blood rushing to her cheeks with every ounce of strength she could muster. “He's not really my boyfriend; he's just someone I'm getting to know.” She hoped her dismissive tone would impart her desire for privacy on the matter.
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