“After she’d had a ten minute rest on the chairs.”
We both burst into laughter again.
“God, I’m so bad, I didn’t mean to hurt her,” I say, covering my eyes with my hands before looking back at Aubrey.
“I know, and don’t worry, she knows too. You just weren’t made for line dancing.” Aubrey smiles.
I wrinkle my nose at her. “I think the only thing I can do is the shuffle around the room.”
“Shuffle around the room?” she questions.
“Yeah, you know, imagine high school prom. That’s about my limit,” I concede.
“Well, one day you’ll need to dance at your wedding.”
I stare at her, unable to speak as images of Kato in a tux barrel through my mind.
“He’s the one, isn’t he?” she murmurs.
Any words I think about saying, get stuck in my throat.
Is he?
I do love what he does to me, how he makes me feel and I miss him when he’s gone. Is that love?
“Is he good in bed?” Aubrey whispers, like someone is listening.
“He’s…” I stop and think about us together. Flashes of skin, lust and moans, ripple through my body and I want to close my eyes and groan. But I’m with Aubrey and she would totally slap me upside the head if I did. There are some things your best friend doesn’t want to share.
“Well?” Aubrey encourages.
“I’ve never experienced anything like it before. The things he does, the way he makes me feel, and the orgasms, oh my God… the orgasms.”
“Okay, and that’s enough,” she orders, holding her hand to my face.
I giggle at her. “He’s been non-stop for…” I blink as my mind whirrs.
“What?”
It can’t be possible.
“Nola.”
There’s absolutely no way.
“Nola!” Aubrey snaps, giving me a little shake. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m late,” I whisper.
“Late for wha… oh.”
“Yeah oh… Oh shit,” I whimper.
“It will be fine. Let’s go get a test,” Aubrey reassures me softly.
“A test, yes mm-hmm,” I nod my head eagerly. “Or fifty tests, you know in case the first one is wrong,” I say wide eyed.
Aubrey smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes and I can see the worry behind it. “First things first,” she tells me. “Let’s find out whether you’re pregnant or not, then we can deal with the rest.”
I nod lamely, unable to form any more words as I wonder whether I’m pregnant and if I am, what the hell I’m going to do.
Chapter Sixteen
NOLA
Pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant.
It doesn’t matter how many times I repeat it in my head, it doesn’t change the outcome. A baby is growing inside me. A baby. I can barely look after Blanche and myself.
“Shit,” I snap.
I swore Aubrey to silence. As much as she wanted to tell Chance, I couldn’t risk him talking to Kato before I have a chance to. Now it’s Friday night and Kato will be here soon. I’ve practically made a hole in the floor from pacing back and forth.
“Hey,” Kato calls as he opens my front door and walks in. “What..?” he pauses, as he notices my anxious strides. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He eases the door shut and makes his way toward me.
I hold up my hand and he halts immediately, a muscle in his jaw jumps and I can see he just wants to get to me.
“I’m…” I wait a beat, knowing this is absolutely not the right way to tell him, but also aware that if I don’t just bite the bullet, I won’t say anything until I’m forced to. “I’m pregnant.” I whisper the words out like they might get me in trouble.
Kato stares at me for a moment, then when a tear slips from my eye and trails down my cheek, he takes the two strides toward me and wraps me in his arms. My shoulders sag as his arms comfort me and my cheek rests against his chest.
“Everything will be okay,” he soothes and I wonder how he can be so sure.
“I can’t look after a baby,” I wail, “the only reason Blanche is still alive is because she refuses to die.” My eyes find the cat and I narrow them on her, “Plus she’s a demon, so she’ll probably live forever.”
Kato chuckles and the vibration tickles my skin, warming the worry away. “You’ll be fine and the cat loves you.”
“Well, I guess she did bring me in a dead mouse earlier, so that was nice,” I reply sarcastically.
Kato kisses the top of my head, ignoring my complaint. “You haven’t greeted me properly yet.”
I blink and pull away from him, gazing into his eyes. I expect to see concern, fear or even anger, but all I see is love.
“You love me,” I blurt, my filter once again not working.
He smiles, his dimple popping out. “Well, this wasn’t how I wanted to tell you, but yeah, I do.”
“Wow,” I breathe.
He presses his lips against mine and kisses me. It’s slow, sensual and I feel the girls come to life, practically stabbing him in the chest.
“Wow again,” I murmur as we pull apart.
He chuckles, leading me into the kitchen. I sit down and Kato offers Blanche a quick scratch of the head, before sitting opposite me. “So, pregnant huh?” he says running his hand through his hair.
“I… it wasn’t planned, I didn’t try to get pregnant,” I plead.
“Hey,” he hushes me, “I know you didn’t, it didn’t even cross my mind, but I do have to ask you something.”
I brace myself, knowing he’s going to ask if it’s his. “Go on,” I demand.
“What do you want to do? I mean,” he murmurs, “I know it’s really up to both of us to decide, but it’s your body, so let’s work out what you want to do first and go from there.” He slides his hand over mine and squeezes, offering me comfort.
I’m struck speechless for once in my life. I really don’t know what to say. He didn’t question who the baby belonged to, he only asked what I wanted to do. We’ve been having sex for a couple of months now, but I’ve never been one hundred percent sure of our relationship status, so I expected his anger, his questions, his disbelief. This… this, I didn’t expect and I don’t know what to do with it.
“Did you not even consider the fact that this baby might not be yours?” I snap the words out as an attack and the moment I do, Kato’s soft smile drops. I want to punch myself in the face for hurting him. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, only that I’m angry and scared.
He pulls his hand away from me. “No, I didn’t consider an alternative, because while I’ve been quietly falling in love with you, trying to give you time to trust me, you clearly haven’t been doing the same thing.” He stands, pulls his keys from his pocket and walks out. And I just let him.
“So, let me get this straight. He didn’t freak out, but you did. He told you he loved you and asked what you wanted to do about the baby and you basically told him it might not be his.”
I shrug, thoroughly annoyed at myself. “It’s his,” I whisper.
“I know,” Aubrey counters.
“How?”
She looks at me sadly, “You never loved Lance, you hardly ever had sex and you went years without getting pregnant. You’re on birth control and I know you, you’re meticulous about taking it. If Lance hadn’t ever got you pregnant before now, then it had to be Kato’s baby.”
“I haven’t slept with Lance for months,” I admit. “And I always used a condom with him. With Kato I didn’t, I thought I was covered.”
“You know you need to tell him.”
“I’m not sure I can face him right now.”
“This is your mistake, you have to make it right, Nola.” Her words are encouraging, but I can hear the disappointment in her voice and it kills me.
“Do you have his address?” I ask her.
“You don’t know where he lives?”
I shake my head, “No, he’s never taken
me there.”
She frowns, “Erm, no, I don’t actually know his address as he always comes to our house. But Chance mentioned there was a job that he was supposed to go to today, but Kato called him first thing and asked to do the job. That’s why I came over,” she explains, “because I knew something was wrong. There is no way he only came back last night and wouldn’t be with you today. To be honest, I thought maybe he hadn’t taken the pregnancy well and I was ready to go kick his ass,” she tells me smiling sadly.
“Instead you find out your friend is a maniac.”
Aubrey giggles, “I’ve always known you’re part of the maniac community.”
“Like you’re not,” I snort.
She giggles and so do I, but my giggles are strained and they turn into tears.
“Shh, hey it will be okay,” she says, crouching down beside me and giving me a hug.
“It’s these stupid hormones,” I say, waving my hands around.
“Go use them on something worthwhile. Do you know what job he’s on?”
I nod, “Yeah, I need something first though.”
I straighten up from the chair and Aubrey stands with me. I wipe my face and pull up my metaphorical big girl panties, although being pregnant they won’t be metaphorical soon. I sweep out of the room and into my spare bedroom, pulling things out and searching for what I need.
“What the hell are you doing?” Aubrey questions when I climb up on a chair and try to reach for a box on top of the cabinet. “You’re going to kill yourself before you fix things. Gah!” she complains throwing her hands up in the air.
I smile at her, then turn back to the task in hand, feeling around until I locate what I want. “A-ha!” I cry out, pulling it toward me and stepping down from the chair.
Aubrey peers inside the box. “What the hell do you need that for?”
I smile, walk away to collect some batteries from the kitchen, search out the tape and rush out of the house, leaving Aubrey standing in my spare room confused.
I get weird stares from people as I walk down the road with a boombox in my hands, especially when I get to the road I’m looking for. Kato is working on a house in an expensive area, and as I look down and note the black flip flops, purple yoga pants, black Harley tank and a dusty boombox, I realize I look like someone trying to sell drugs to kids. Great.
When I get to the house, his truck is parked outside. The back gate is open and although I can’t see him, I can hear him and his team. I shake out my whole body and at this point, I’m sure the neighbors think I’m coming down from a trip or something. Placing the boombox on the floor I press play and turn the volume up full blast. Of course, the bloody thing is about twenty years old, so the tinny, pop music sound that comes out, is barely audible.
“Ugh! Why is this stuff so much easier in the movies?” I complain to the sky.
“Um, are you okay, dear?” A middle-aged woman comes out of her house. Her blond hair is in a neat bob and the pants and blouse combo is set off with a string of pearls. If I could have imagined what a woman in this neighborhood looked like, it would have been this woman in front of me. The only notable difference is that she’s not calling the cops. Yet.
“There’s a guy on your landscaping crew whom I love. I should have told him last night, but I didn’t, as I was too busy telling him I was pregnant, then I added that it might not be his… even though it totally is. I wanted to come here and play this song, you know, like in those eighties movies. But now I’m just going to be fat and alone,” I whine.
She bites her lips, seeming like she’s stifling a smile. “Come on, dear, I have an idea. I’m Valerie by the way.”
“Hi, Valerie,” I sniff, “I’m Nola.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nola.”
“I bet your neighbors think I’m going to steal your valuables, I’m sure I saw some curtains twitching,” I tell her.
“You let me worry about the neighbors, and you worry about this boy of yours.” I smile at her, not commenting that he is definitely not a boy.
“Why are you helping me?” I can’t help but question.
She stops and turns to me, gripping my upper arms gently. “You remind me of myself when I was younger. You aren’t the first girl to serenade a guy.”
“You did this?” I ask, grinning.
“That I did, but we don’t talk about it as it wasn’t my husband I serenaded.” She winks as she walks away and my mouth drops open as I follow her through the house.
“Now, my son insisted that we have this,” she says, ushering me into a room with glass doors, which backs onto the garden. I notice the stereo system she’s pointing at. “We like to entertain, you see, that’s why the garden is getting a makeover,” she tells me, nodding toward the men working. I can’t see Kato, not yet, but I know he must be there. “There are speakers in the garden area.”
I look between the garden and Valerie, and smile, “Thank you.”
She grabs my shoulder and squeezes. “You’re most welcome.”
She glides out of the room and I turn to the huge stereo, trying to work out how to turn it on and what all the buttons mean. Thankfully, I manage to slip the tape in to its deck and press play. The first few notes to U2’s With or Without You rumble low from the speakers, so I spin the volume, making sure everyone including the neighbors can hear. Then, with a single deep breath in and out, I push open the doors and step out.
Everyone stares at me, confusion etched across their faces as Bono sings the words I need to say to Kato. And there, in the middle of the garden, with no top and sweat slathered across his perfect body, is the man I love.
But now I’m here, I have no idea what to do, so I stand there awkwardly, watching him watching me.
My eyes run over the length of him and when I’ve had my fill they settle on his face. Something works in his eyes, something profound. We stare for what feels like forever. Then, almost like in a dream, he strides forward until he’s mere inches away from me.
“I…”
I don’t finish whatever it was I was going to say, because Kato grabs the back of my neck and slams his mouth on mine and I know, in that beautiful messy moment, that everything will be alright. Kato is my future, he is my everything. I’m finally ready to accept that.
He’s panting when we pull apart, the song is coming to its end and everyone has left the garden.
“You came for me,” he whispers.
“I had no choice, I love you.”
At my words Kato kisses me again then, when he pulls away this time, I still feel his hot breath on me.
“And the baby?”
“Yours,” I admit, hanging my head.
“Hey,” he murmurs, and gripping my chin he pulls my head back up. “That baby was always mine, no matter what. But it’s good to hear it’s me who planted our child in you, gorgeous.”
Tears well in my eyes and I don’t have the strength to stop them.
“You love me,” he smirks, slipping his arm around my back and pulling my body flush to his.
“Cocky.”
“Delightful.” He runs his fingers along the side of my face, his smirk dropping as his eyes burn with love. “You love me,” he repeats in a whisper.
“More than anyone or anything,” I tell him honestly.
“Good, because it’s you and me now, Nola. We’re a forever kind of love.”
My chest aches at the thought of the rest of my life and how Kato has stormed into my world, and turned the color on.
Chapter Seventeen
NOLA
I sit outside Bread Pitt and take a few calming breaths. I want this more than I’ve ever wanted anything for myself, but I have no idea if Mrs. Walters will be willing to sell the place to me.
My house has only been on the market for three days, but someone has already put in an offer. The realtor was thrilled. I’m torn between being excited that I may just be able to buy my own business and desperately sad that I’m losing my house. There’s also
the little issue that I’m pregnant and I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet. Kato and I had a short discussion, but after the way things were on Friday night, we laid off the heavy talk over the weekend. The surprise phone call I received from Mrs. Walters this morning inviting me over to the bakery for a chat, had me re-thinking the lack of a serious discussion. I didn’t tell Kato, Aubrey, or Chance about the call. Instead, I went to work as normal, then instead of walking home when I’d finished, I jumped on the bus and headed into town.
Now, here I am, confused but quietly happy. I steel myself ready to see what she says, after all she may have called me here to tell me I can’t buy it.
“Hi, Mrs. Walters,” I call out as I walk into the bakery.
“Hello, Nola, please take a seat,” she says, sitting at the same table we occupied last time. I smile as I walk over to join her.
“I’m going to get right down to it, Nola. Mr. Walters has agreed for this bakery to be sold and I’d like to offer you first refusal,” she tells me with a grin.
I gasp, throwing my hands over my mouth and can’t help the smile that spreads across my face.
“However, there is still the matter of us getting a fair price.”
I nod, knowing it’s only right, seeing as she’s giving me first refusal.
“I know we weren’t even sure whether to sell in the first place, but the more we thought on it, the more we realized we could sell it and do something else, like move to Florida to be nearer to my sister. So, we spoke to a local realtor and she told us the shop is worth four hundred thousand, therefore, we think three hundred and fifty thousand would be a fair price to sell it for.”
Her words are like a punch in the gut. Not because I don’t have the money, my house is worth four hundred thousand and I’ve already got the offer on it. However, after buying the bakery, I’ll only have enough money left over to make the changes I need to get this place up to spec. I was hoping I’d have enough money left to buy a small house somewhere, or even an apartment. That seems unlikely now, though.
“Listen, dear, we’ll let you think on it,” Mrs. Walters says, patting my hand. “Take a couple of weeks to decide, and if you say no, we’ll sell with the realtors. Either way, Fred and I want to have a little nest egg for the rest of our years. We have no children or grandbabies of our own, so if we move nearer my sister, we can enjoy her extended family. Anyway, we wanted to give you first refusal.”
Cocky Delight: A Hero Club Novel Page 12