by Alison Cole
"Marcus, my mum wants me to go over for a big celebration, but as soon as they see me, they'll know what's up," I tell him.
"Will they be upset?"
"My dad will. My mum and siblings will be happy," I respond.
"Let's do this. Set up a date and I'll go with you. Deflect your dad's feelings. Let them know that we are engaged," he says with a soft smile.
We make dinner and enjoy eating in the solitude of my own kitchen. After we wash up, we cuddle in my living room.
"So, let's talk about a possible wedding date. Do you want to be Mrs. Hadley before our little one makes his or her appearance?"
"That's what I was thinking - get married before I get much bigger. I'm sure I can find a wedding wait! I 'll just wear one of my maternity concert dresses," I suggest to Marcus.
"I was sort of thinking of seeing you in a fluffy wedding dress," Marcus says.
"Hmmm... I'll look like our wedding cake. Actually, why not wear one of my concert dresses? I won't get much use out of them before our little Hadley's born and the dresses aren't so fancy that they wouldn't pass for a non-traditional wedding dress," I say. Getting up, I go to my garment bag and carefully extract each dress. I spread them out on the bed in my room.
Marcus follows me to my room and we look at each dress.
"If we go with your suggestion I'd love to see you wearing this one," he says, pointing to a light champagne, shimmery dress that falls in several simple layers from my breasts to the ground. It's a simple-yet-elegant dress with one wide strap. When I wear this, one of my shoulders is exposed. "Why don't you put this one on?"
I strip down and slip into the dress and look at myself in my full-length cheval mirror. I like what I see! Looking at Marcus, I see a strong glint of appreciation in his eyes. He runs a finger down the shimmery fabric and it shivers and dances over the front of my body.
"I think you're onto something here," he says. "It's a light color and you don't look pregnant. I would love it if your family would be there, so I think we should tell them soon that they're going to be grandparents and aunties and uncles."
I swallow and take a deep breath.
"Okay. I'll set up dinner with them and we can let them know, although my clothing will give everything away," I say.
That night, Marcus stays at my place. We'll be keeping our own flats until I move into his - or we move into a larger place after we get married. Our lovemaking is spirited. I'm feeling much better being back on English soil. I have energy to spare, so I tell Marcus not to hold back.
When he hears that, his hands, tongue and lips are everywhere on my body. He tongues my clit and brings me to a strong and throbbing orgasm. I lick and suck on him and, before he comes, he signals me to stop. He enters me and we finish, bringing each other to hot orgasms that send heat curling through every inch of our bodies. We sleep.
The next day, he tells me he needs to meet with a potential new client. "Once I'm done, I'll pick you up and we'll go eat out, then we'll stay at my place," he promises.
I drive to the studio and practice with the band. It's a good session - now that I have more energy and I'm not feeling sick all the time, I'm feeling back to normal. Marcus picks me up and we go to a wonderful Mediterranean restaurant, Ali Baba's, where I order a chicken kebab, a Greek salad and their rice. Marcus orders a huge gyro with a salad.
"I talked to my mum and we're set to go to their place this Friday," I tell him.
"Good. I want to meet them. I know your dad will be upset with me, so I want to let him know just how much I love you and want to be your husband."
After we take a slow after-dinner walk, we drive to Marcus' flat. I'm surprised when I see a flashy, nubile young woman walk into his small front yard.
The other woman gives Marcus a flirtatious smile and, as he gets out of his car, she runs her fingers up his chest. I'm stunned. I see him take her hand and push it away from him. Because he's outside his car, I don't see his expression. I get out of the car and loop my purse strap over my shoulder.
"I've told you...I am not interested in you in that way!" he says.
The young woman gives him what she thinks is a winsome pout - she actually looks like she has duck lips when she does that. I know - I'm being uncharitable and all that, but he's my fiance.
"Marcus, who's the young...woman?" I ask him sweetly.
"My neighbor. Now that she knows I'm back in England, she's trying to get my attention. Lisa, this is my fiancee, Johanna Williams."
"Oh, well she's only your fiancee because she's knocked up with your kid," says Lisa crudely.
I stop on my side of the car. Marcus steps around Lisa and comes to my side. His eyes are communicating something to me. I want to be angry, go home and throw things, but first, I need to read his message.
"Johanna, you have nothing at all to worry about. Lisa is nothing to me. She's never been significant to me."
I give him a look that asks "Why does she think she has a shot at you?"
As he reads the question in my eyes, Marcus takes my arm and draws me close to him. "Lisa, I fell in love with Johanna several months ago. I've asked her to marry me. My message to you today is just the same as it was five months ago - I am not interested in you. I will never be interested in you, so your efforts are wasted on me. Go now, please."
Hearing this, I relax and lean against Marcus with a smile.
"No, you just knocked her up and you're feeling guilty!" Lisa shouts.
"Lisa, if you don't go, I'll call the police. You have five seconds," says Marcus, pulling his phone out of his pants pocket.
Lisa, seeing Marcus following through on his words, clamps her mouth shut tightly. She turns on her stiletto heels and attempts to march out of Marcus' lawn, but the heels sink into the soft ground. Instead, she wobbles and stumbles and I am hard-pressed not to break out into rude, loud laughter.
Marcus retrieves my overnight bag and walks into his flat with me. Inside, he closes his blinds, looking for any sign of Lisa.
"So, how long has she had the hots for you?" I ask him.
"One year. And I've told her every time that I'm not interested in her, at all. She tries every so often. Johanna, she's the personification of insanity - trying to do the same thing every time and hoping for different results every time," says Marcus.
"Well...okay. But if she keeps trying, I'm going to let her have it," I promise him.
"If you have better results than me, have at her!" Marcus suggests.
"Let's see what happens," I say. "I don't want to borrow trouble."
We cuddle with each other on Marcus' long, leather couch. We're lying together, talking and playing with each other's skin when someone knocks at his door.
Marcus gives me a quizzical look. "I'm not expecting anyone. Stay here."
At the door, I hear Lisa's distinctive, nasally voice. Getting up, I join Marcus at the door and take the time to position my left hand on Marcus' chest. My engagement ring glitters in the fading light of day.
"Oy, Lisa. Take a look at this. Marcus presented this to me in the United States and asked me to marry him. We've pledged our love to each other. I've been in love with him since before I got pregnant. He's a good, honest man and he doesn't need to be dragged down by the likes of you. He told you what he thinks of you a few hours ago. If you don't leave - and, if you come back one more time - I'm pressing charges against..."
"D'you know that we slept together just two months ago?" Lisa asks with a look of greed in her eyes.
This stops me. Two months ago - we were on tour and Marcus was still here in England.
I look at him. He's stunned. Do I believe her? Or him? I decide to test her.
"Name something he has on his body that nobody else has," I tell her.
I breathe out a quiet sigh of relief - she's fumbling, trying to think of something that he has on his body. Of course, I'm thinking of the tattooed griffin on his chest.
"Uh...well...he has a mole to the side of his cock," she
says triumphantly.
I laugh raucously. "You'll need to do better! He has no such marking on his body."
Meantime, poor Marcus is getting redder and redder.
"Oy, Lisa, just get the fuck off my stoop and don't come back!" Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he dials the number quickly.
Lisa waits, ready to call his bluff.
"Yes, ma'am, I need to report a nuisance at my residence. My name is Marcus Hadley, and I live at..." After he gives his address and the specifics of the situation, he smiles, waiting.
Sure enough, three minutes later, a police vehicle pulls up.
Lisa goes ghostly pale and she turns on Marcus.
"You bastard! I...I loved you!" She wails as the police motion for her to leave the front stoop of Marcus' flat. When she doesn't leave, the stocky policewoman approaches and takes Lisa's arm. Lisa resists, leading to her wrists being placed into handcuffs. Both the female officer and a large, muscular male officer place their hands around both of Lisa's arms and escort her to the police cruiser. Once she is inside, they drive off, taking her to jail.
Marcus sighs. "Thank you."
"Did you sleep with her?" I ask standing still next to him. If I move...and if he says he did...I shall break apart into a million tiny pieces.
"No. Never. I've never been attracted to her and I wouldn't lead her on," says Marcus. His serious eyes communicate the same message. He's telling me the truth.
I melt into his arms and he pulls me close to him. I hear his heart hammering in his chest.
"Let's go inside. Forget the wacky Lisas of the world," he suggests.
Inside, we resume our cuddle on his long sofa. I fall asleep in Marcus' arms and feel myself being carried to his bedroom. Stretching out on his comfortable bed, I feel Marcus removing my clothing. He joins me on the other side of his bed and we both sleep.
The next morning, I am feeling energetic again. We make love, touching each other's bodies and arousing each other to the point of no return. My pussy is throbbing and I feel hot droplets leaking out as I play Marcus' body like the finest violin. Groaning, Marcus returns the favor. He licks and suckles my tender and very sensitive nipples. This sends me shooting off his bed and I come immediately. Marcus pulls me to the foot of his bed so that my legs are dangling off the edge. He starts kissing and sucking me down there and my hips begin moving sensuously as I try to relieve the growing pressure. I reach for him, but he shakes his head.
"Your turn," he says, and then he begins lashing my sensitive clit rapidly with his tongue.
"Agghhh! Oh, my God, Marcus!" My eyes close and I see bright, shooting lights as I come again. When I come back down to earth, I am panting heavily. I open my eyes and tell him, "Now, it's your turn. Lie down."
He obeys me.
I turn my eyes to his huge erection, smiling as I see it throbbing and growing even bigger. I clasp his shaft in one hand and his balls in the other, playing gently with both and sending his arousal even higher. His hips buck and he moans low in his throat.
"Johanna! Please!"
Hearing the entreaty in his voice, I give him what he's asking for. I encircle his shaft with my mouth and begin sucking at him. Soon, he tells me, "Get on top of me!"
I do so and I sink down onto his shaft. Oh, my God, it feels so good! I feel the ripples beginning deep inside my body. My orgasm is a shimmering presence that envelopes the two of us and I whimper at the sweet, hot sensations flooding through my body.
Marcus' eyes are opened and fastened on mine as we both come. I feel him throbbing and jerking deep inside me as his body sends his semen deep into me.
"Ah, God, Johanna! You are...my...ah! I love you!" he says.
"I...I...love...you, too!" I say in a trembling voice. I'm still coming. Our bodies move against each other as we feel the shocks reverberating through our bodies. We collapse against each other. Soon, too soon, I find I have to visit the loo. After I go to the bathroom, I clean up and join Marcus in bed again.
"I called my mum and she wants us to go round their house for dinner this Friday. Is that good for you?" I ask Marcus.
He checks his planner. "It's good for me. Nervous?" he asks.
"Yeah. Not so much about my mum. My dad though, he'll roar and fuss about. Then the excitement of a second grandchild will overcome him and he'll determine that he needs to accept the situation for what it is."
"Which is that we're meant to be together," says Marcus. "I hope he'll see how much I love you."
"I think he will," I say with a gentle smile.
That day, at practice, we talk about the possibility of recording a CD for international release.
"We're becoming very well-known," Tim says. "Nigel tells me that our U.S. fans are demanding a CD, so I've been looking at some of our current material, including some of the newer compositions. We have enough to make a CD with, say, fifteen or sixteen selections. What do you think?"
I raise my hand. "I'd love to do it, if we can get started as soon as possible. I'd like to have as much of this done as we can before the littlest Hadley makes his or her appearance."
Tim grins from ear to ear. Proud uncle, him! "Linny? Laslow?"
"Let's do it. We're ready and we've been ready for a damned long time," Linny says.
"I'm in. I agree with Johanna - the sooner the better. The bigger she gets, the more tired she'll get and it'll affect her voice."
I nod, knowing he's right.
"Right, then. I'll have Nigel book time at the recording studio. He will work on all the details with a graphic designer for the CD cover, graphics and art. Nigel and I will discuss the tracks and, when we're ready, distribution details throughout both the U.K. and the U.S."
We cheer, knowing we're soon going to be working on a second CD.
Marcus picks me up at my flat. I'm so nervous, I'm practically vibrating. I've chosen to wear a maternity duo that doesn't look like a maternity outfit. The top skims my breasts, which are now slightly larger; beneath my breasts, the top falls down over my hips and slowly growing belly. The pants are a sleek not-quite-form-fitting pair. From my hips, they fall to the ground, making my waist look tiny. I'm wearing a pair of low-heeled boots. Already, my center of gravity has begun to change and I find that lower-heeled shoes are more comfortable and, indeed, safer for me to wear.
I am carrying the family gifts that I found and bought during our U.S. tour. The closer and closer we get to my parents' house, the stronger my heart begins hammering. It will be all right. Daddy will yell, but, in the end, he'll accept this baby with love.
"Mum, dad, I'd like to introduce my fiance, Marcus Hadley, to you," I say, smiling.
"Fiance? How long have you been dating?" my dad asks.
"Since last March," I tell him. "I bought gifts for everyone. Mum, here is yours. Dad..." I hand out the gifts and every one oohs and ahhs over them.
"Johanna, are you...expecting?" my mum asks.
I see my dad's head whip around as his eyes go wide.
"Yes. About four-and-a-half months," I say.
Dad's mouth drops open and I wait...but nothing comes out. Then, "I'm going to be a granddad again?" He smiles widely.
I look at him in complete shock. I had expected him to yell! But he's melting! I gaze at my mum. I see her smiling, melting and crying. Oh, my God, they're happy! I have just enough time for this fleeting thought, and then I am enveloped in both of my parents' arms. I begin to cry with happiness as my sisters and brother-in-law whoop and holler.
After this, Marcus and I explain how we met and started dating. Let's keep this G-rated!
"So, Marcus, what line of work are you in?" my dad asks.
"I'm a technical writer, sir. I freelance." Marcus says.
"You work from home? How does that work for you?"
"Very well, actually. I'm able to set my schedule and accept as much work as I'm able to handle. Any funds I earn over my immediate needs, I bank for future needs," says Marcus.
Oh, he's just endeared
himself to my dad! I am so happy.
"Johanna, when is your baby due?" my sister asks. Her baby was born right before we left on our U.S. tour. He's now nearly three months old and getting so big!
"January next," I say.
Eventually, we sit down to my mum's delicious dinner. Marcus is sitting next to me, fielding questions from my entire family. He's explaining the kind of technical writing he does as my brother asks him questions. Meanwhile, my mum, sisters and I talk about my hopes for the baby.
"I just want this little one to be healthy. I suffered from altitude sickness in Denver and that, combined with my morning sickness, really scared me," I say.
"Altitude sickness? What is that?" my sister asks.
"Your body needs to get used to higher altitudes. We went from a lower-altitude setting in Dallas, Texas straight to Denver. I had no time to get used to the higher altitude, so I got deathly sick. I was in the emergency room and received an I.V. to rehydrate myself and another to give me medicine to settle my tummy."
By the end of the evening, Marcus is a full-fledged member of the Williams family. Mum and I have discussed my wedding plans. She promises to get in touch with the vicar and we decide that, as soon as Marcus and I ring her up with a wedding date, she'll let the minister know.
At my flat, I sit down, exhausted. "Oh, my God! That went much better than I thought," I say.
"Yes! I was afraid your father would have a go at you - but he cried!" Marcus gathers me into his arms and I nestle into his solid, muscular chest. "Now. A wedding date." His large hand covers my rounded belly. "Soon, I would think."
"Yes, soon. Two or three weeks?"
"I suppose we have to wait, don't we? I'd love to marry you tomorrow!"
I giggle. "My mum needs time to arrange things! The vicar. The church. The reception! Thank God I already have a dress. I need to tell her that."
"Okay, then, two weeks. That gives me time to start working on making space for you in my flat."
I inhale. "I need to give notice for my flat! I'll send the note round to my landlady tomorrow and tell her that I'll give her the keys one month from tomorrow."