Hand of Thorns

by Ashley Beale

  "It certainly was." With a pause, he adds in, "Your pussy is so damn tight."

  Nobody has ever talked to me that way, and as much as it should embarrass me, it does the opposite. I almost feel inspired. Desirable even. I want more of Leon already.

  "Does this mean we can make love more often?" I make sure to throw in the words he swears he never does, but to me, that is exactly what we just did. It was romantic, and sweet, and he made sure that I felt alright. He wasn't rough or rude. There was no kink to it. It was simple, sweet, and... I loved it. I loved the man I did it with. Why wouldn't I call it making love?

  Placing a tender kiss to my forehead, he starts to move from the bed. "I told you, I don't do that." He pauses when he gets from the bed, glancing over at me with a quirky smile. "But yes, we can definitely do that more."

  "Thank you," I whisper.

  "For?"

  "Everything. Tonight. This was the best birthday I could have ever imagined."

  He flashes a grin in my direction, leaving me even more spent. "You deserved everything and more."

  We finished the evening by eating the snacks that were left at the hot tub, while cozied up inside a large blanket wrapped around the two of us. We sat in front of a fake fireplace that still blows out warm air, and I ended up falling asleep against Leon's shoulder. He awakened me when we were docked, but I ended up falling back asleep in the car.

  When we arrived back at Sumner's beach home, he woke me up once more, this time with several kisses along my shoulder. At that point, I didn't want to wake, but he promised we'd see each other again soon.

  Sumner and the girls didn't allow me to fall back asleep because they were too busy asking for details. Thankfully I trust them enough to keep it between us four, so I go on and on about what happened with Leon, while Rochelle drools, Penelope seems indifferent, and Sumner seems truly happy for me. That is all I need- the support. Nothing more or less.

  Although I'm past exhaustion, Sumner convinces me to still do our birthday tradition. The four of us pile into Sumner's car and we drive down the block, rounding the corner to a different road where the homes are equally as elegant but with less land, which means easier access to the backyard pools. The adrenaline wakes me up, and I'm prepared to end the most incredible birthday with something traditionally exciting.

  Sumner pulls up to a curb and cuts the engine, making sure the lights are off. We wait a few minutes before opening the doors and climbing out. There is a far stretch of bushes, and on the opposite end is a long driveway with a pool off to the side of it. We get to the beginning of the driveway where Sumner suddenly pulls her tee-shirt off then slides her underwear down, wearing nothing else. "You're really doing this naked?" I ask.

  "Yeah, come on."

  Rochelle strips quickly too, tossing her bathing suit over to the bushes. "Yeah, come on, it'll be fun."

  Penelope and I stare at each other. She shrugs, surprising me when she gets out of her bikini. "Next year I'll have stretch marks and saggy skin, I may as well do it now."

  "You guys suck." I let into peer pressure, taking off my bikini as well, looking around while I do it to make sure no one is watching. "Then let's hurry."

  Trying to hold in the giggles, the four of us scammer across the extensive amount of lawn to the pool. Being as quiet as possible, we all slide into the water. Suddenly flood lights come on, shining on us. "Fuck," Penelope squeaks, hiding herself under the water.

  The remaining three of us look to one another. Rochelle quickly climbs out and races back to the car. "Do we go too?" I ask.

  Sumner bites on her lip, looking around. When we hearing barking, then a loud scream from Rochelle, we realize we're fucked regardless if we run or not.

  "Oh my God, I hope she's okay," Sumner laughs. It's hard not to laugh at the thought of Rochelle being chased down the road by a dog while she's butt ass naked.

  "Who is out there?" We hear a man’s voice echo.

  Penelope rises from the water. "Where's Rochelle?" she whispers. I place my finger over my lip to indicate to be quiet. We swim to the edge and press our bodies against the side of the pool, hoping we're hidden well. Then we hear another yelp from Rochelle. "The doors are locked," she screams. "The. Doors. Are. Locked!"

  "Rosemary, call the police," the man's voice states loudly. "I think we have an intruder or two."

  I glare at Sumner. I don't think I'd care if not for the fact of being naked. She continues to bite on her lip nervously.

  "Oh my God, this is ridiculous," Penelope states. She turns and pops her head up enough to show herself. "Excuse me," she hollers. "Yeah, hi."

  "Rosemary, I found one of them," the man yells. He sounds pretty close and my heart races at the thought of him seeing me this way. "Who are you and why are you in my pool?" He asks, much closer this time.

  "I'm a pregnant teenager whose life is about to end in a few months, and I wanted one last night of fun skinny dipping with my friends. We apologize greatly, and it won't happen again."

  There is a pause before he says, "How many of you are there?"

  "Four of us, but my friend is already at the car. Naked. With the doors locked."

  "Rascal," he hollers. "Come here, boy. Come on." With a much quieter voice he surprises me. "Fine. Leave. All four of you, and don't come back. But hurry, if my wife see's you, she'll probably faint."

  "Thank you." She waits for a second before swimming over to the ladder and climbs out. I'm assuming he must be gone, because I doubt she'd climb out if he were still here. I swim over too, looking over to make sure he is in fact gone before I climb out.

  We all race to the car but freeze in our tracks when we get there. I keel over in laughter with both Sumner and Penelope. Rochelle is on the roof of the car, holding herself in the fetal position. "Your fucking doors are locked," she hisses at Sumner. "Who does that?!"

  Sumner grabs her clothes, walking around the car as she throws her tee-shirt over her head, and reaches under the car where her magnet box is where she leaves the spare key. "Good thing I have this."

  Rochelle glares. "That could have come in handy to know." Sliding from the car, she hops off, and we quickly get dressed, climbing into the car to get the hell out of here.

  It was definitely an eventful way to end an extraordinary day.

  Chapter Eleven

  October 5th

  Glancing over at the clock I realize that I'm so insanely late for first period. I jump from the bed to find clothes to quickly put on, then I head into the bathroom to brush through the knots and add deodorant under my pits. Today is not the day to be late, but it also isn't the day to look like utter shit. It's an important day I've been waiting on for several reasons.

  I have to stop by the cafe to grab a coffee, but thankfully the line is short, and by the time I get into class I'm only twenty two minutes late. I probably shouldn't have drove as fast as I did, but the test in Microbiology takes up almost half of our grade for the semester. I've been studying nonstop for the last two weeks, completely ripping apart my entire social life.

  Not that I haven't seen or talked with my friends or Leon, because I have, but not as much as I'd like. Leon has met with me twice, both times were nothing special, but at least I was able to kiss him when I saw him. Sumner has an insane amount going on, but we did lunch last week. Rochelle is working a second job, so her time has been consumed and I've only talked with her once in the last month because of it. Penelope, however, I've see multiple times. She practically spends her evenings with me because William has been working late, and they still haven't found an apartment of their own.

  A few people look up at me as I rush in, but I ignore them to make it to the teacher's desk. "I'm so sorry I'm late. Can I still take the test?"

  Ms. Jacoby gives me a disapproving look. "You have twenty minutes to finish."

  "Thanks." I pull the stapled sheets of paper from her hand and walk over to the desk. The questions aren't as horrible as I imagined them being, it is more the leng
th of the answer. So I write most of them sloppy, but at least I get them done. In fact, I only have one remaining when she asks us to hand in the tests, for those of us still working on them.

  When I hand her the test, she asks me to stand back a moment. Once everyone leaves the room, she points to the front seat. "Mind taking a seat for a second?"

  Glancing at the clock, I only have one hour before my doctor’s appointment, which is a thirty five minute drive with light traffic. "I have a little bit. Is everything okay?"

  "Actually, yes. You started the year off a little distracted, but you've increasingly improved. Today was kind of an extra test for you, and I was sad you weren't in on time, however you proved yourself to be serious about the actual test once you showed up. Do you know Doctor Marx that teaches classes here on Thursdays?"

  "I have heard of him, yes."

  "Well he needs a personal hand with a project next semester. I know you must be due sometime during that time, but I have spoken with him and highly recommended you. He is willing to accept you into his program even with the days you're going to miss for maternity leave. Is this something you'd be interested in?"

  "Seriously? Absolutely!" Working with Doctor Marx is a huge honor from what I hear, and he also is well known, so when you prove yourself to him he puts in a good word for you when it comes time to apply for careers.

  Ms. Jacoby smiles with delight. "I'm happy to hear. I'll extend the acceptance to him, and get the papers in order so you can go over the requirements and schedule. Congratulations."

  I stand to shake her hand. "Thank you for this. I promise you won't regret it."

  "I am certain I won't. When are you due anyways?"

  "March twenty first. I'm sixteen weeks today, and about to find out the sex."

  "Incredible. And is the father still involved? If you don't mind me asking."

  I realize as she asks that she doesn't know that I'm not actually keeping the baby. I forget that people who don't know the story or know me personally aren't going to know the truth about why I'm pregnant. "Well, he is involved, but the baby actually isn't mine," I admit.

  "Oh. Well, adoption is a wonderful thing. I'm sure it'll all work out."

  "I'm actually surrogating for a couple."

  "Really?" She nods her head impressively. "That is admirable of you to do. I'm sure they are beyond thankful for your selflessness. If that tells me anything, it's that you'll do great in medicine. Not that I had any doubts."

  For the first time in a while, I truly feel great about my decisions and where life is going. I've been up and down a lot since it all started, with mixed conversations with my friends, the void of conversation with Mom, and the relationship that isn't much of a relationship at all with Leon. To hear what Ms. Jacoby says, and to be informed of a possibly phenomenal future that I've been working hard for, I know that despite the frustrating days, it's all going to be alright.

  "Thank you, that truly means a lot to me."

  "Have a good day, and good luck with the ultrasound."

  Traffic ends up being a little heavier than normal, meaning I show up to the doctor’s appointment with less than five minutes to spare, and I still haven't had a chance to eat today. Marney is already sitting with Ellie and Leon when I arrive. My stomach flips at seeing them together, but I try to ignore that fact while taking a seat on the opposite side of Marney.

  "You don't look like you're feeling so well," Ellie states. It'd probably be meaningful if she said it with concern, but she doesn't. Instead it's in her snappy, judgmental way. "Is everything going alright?"

  "I overslept and had an important test this morning, so I had to rush. Then this was immediately after, but I had to stay behind to speak with my teacher. It's just been a long morning, but I'm feeling fine."

  "Oh, did you fail? Is that why you stayed behind?" I swear she is always trying to embarrass me. I never know if to take it personal or not, because maybe that's simply her personality. She could be the kind of mean girl that says things to make herself feel better.

  The more she tries to bring me down, the more I try to make myself feel better. Especially in front of Leon, because I can admit that I hate being embarrassed in front of him. "Actually, just the opposite. I'm doing amazing, and they have an incredible career opportunity for me starting next semester."

  "Oh, wonderful," Marney adds. "May I ask what it is?" I explain about working with Doctor Marx and the things I've heard, but also admit that I'm not positive on the details yet. Marney nods her head while I talk, giving me her undivided attention, and seemingly happy for me. "Great!" she expresses. "I know Doctor Marx personally, he is a wonderful man. You'll love working alongside him."

  "I thought you wanted to be just a nurse?" Ellie asked. Just a nurse. I want to roll my eyes.

  "I do," I answer. "I love nurses. They're understaffed, overworked, underappreciated, but the most loved by patients. I'm not doing it for the money, I'm doing it because it's a field that I believe is important. My dad was a doctor, and he swore by the fact that if not for nurses, no medical institution could run."

  Ellie tightens her lips as she smiles at me. "Very true." And I'm grateful when she adds nothing more. I glance over to Leon and he's staring at me as well, but drops his eyes immediately.

  "Good morning," Doctor Wallace chimes when he walks in. "Who is ready to see if this little one is a boy or girl?"

  Ellie squeals with excitement. "I already have all the furniture purchased, now I can color the nursery and start buying clothes."

  "You making her do all the hard work?" Doctor Wallace jokes to Leon.

  "What she means is that she does the shopping, I end up putting the furniture together and I'll end up doing the painting while she watches."

  Ellie fixes a strand of hair while she smirks, pleased with Leon's response somehow. "True. I am insanely spoiled." She kisses his cheek and I have to look away before I become sick.

  We make our way into the ultrasound room where I lay on the exam table. The doctor shuts the lights and prepares everything, including the warm gel against my stomach, which over the last month has almost doubled in size. He pushes the wand down on my full bladder and presses in different spots while clicking buttons on the keyboard. "I just have to get some measurements first. This right here is the left arm." He clicks a few more times. "Then the right." He continues to show us different parts of the body, leaving the genitalia to the last. "So, who wants to put in their guesses?"

  "Girl," Ellie chimes in. "I just know it. I already have her name picked out, too."

  "Boy," Leon adds in.

  She pushes his shoulder with a little girl giggle, in an overly joyous way. "Only because I said girl."

  He winks at her and once again, I feel sick. I look forward, watching the flat screen where you can see the heart pattering in the infant’s chest, and it makes my own swell. What a beautiful picture. It's insane seeing a real baby in there rather than a little spud like last time.

  "I'll go with girl as well," Marney states.

  When it goes silent, I look over to the doctor who has his eyebrows pulled. He is waiting for an answer from me. "Oh, me? Um. I'll guess boy."

  "So we're two and two," he chuckles. He moves the wand and clicks another button to freeze the screen a moment, then types in the little letters of, it's a girl! with an arrow pointing to three tiny white lines.

  "I knew it," Ellie shrieks. She throws her arms around Leon and I have to hold back the tears. I should be the one throwing my arms around him. Maybe it's the situation as a whole that makes it hard for me to see it; revealing the gender, seeing a real baby inside of my body, wanting Leon more than twice in a month with all the love I have for him. I can't even call him as I please. It's my own fault, I understand it, but it doesn't make it any easier to experience.

  The room is filled with a positive charge while I lay here mourning. I watch everyone else's excitement and when Marney looks at me with concern, I smile at her first, then over to the co
uple. Ellie has tears running down her face, and I am happy for her, I truly am. So I try my best to let her know. "Congratulations. I'm happy you got your girl."

  "Thank you." She eyes me for a second before looking up to Leon, kissing him once more. "Do you want to know the name I picked out?"

  He gives her a half smile, while swiping away the strand of hair that keeps falling into her face. "Of course I'd like to know, but so help me God if it's something like Apple I'm not signing the birth certificate."

  She slaps his chest playfully. "Oh, don't be ridiculous, you know I'm not that strange."

  "Could have had me fooled." He winks at her once more, causing me to become even more solemn. I try my hardest not to show it though, while we all patiently watch their exchange, waiting to hear the name.

  "Vivienne Grace Delacroix-Owens."

  Surprisingly, I do like it a lot. Leon, however, doesn't look too keen on the name. "Vivienne is my grandmother's name, and why do you want it hyphenated?" His voice is definitely impartial to the name.

  Ellie loses the confidence she had in the name. "I love your grandmother and her name, and because we're not married, that's why. Marry me like we discussed the other day, and maybe."

  That is when I can't hold in the emotions anymore. I have to get out of here before I start to cry. "Excuse me, I need to use the restroom."

  Doctor Wallace hands me a specimen cup. "Okay, you know the deal. I need your name written on this, and place it into the slot."

  "Thank you." I take the cup and exit the room, trying to go unnoticed.

  Before I reach the bathroom tears start rolling down my face. He wants to marry her? He discussed marrying her after everything we've accomplished together, after making love the way we did, and all the tender kisses we've shared? My heart constricts at the thought. I may be a mistress, but I don't want to feel downright used. I assumed he had feelings for me, too. I assumed we had a chance at a future together.

  Closing the door to the bathroom, I try to be quick with peeing, only to focus on something other than the thoughts racing through my head. Labeling the container, I then put it into the slot before washing my hands. I take an extra few minutes to wash my hands, and as I stare at the running water, I try to convince myself that I don't need Leon to be happy- even though I don't believe it.