by Cat Mann
Chapter 5
The Fourth
“Come on, Ava, get in.”
Ava sat at the pool’s edge with her feet dangling into the cool water. It was hot outside. The rest of us were in the water and had just finished a game of volleyball.
Ava took her foot and splashed water up in my face. She did so playfully but to me the gesture meant war. I grabbed her hands in one quick swoop and began to pull her into the water along with me.
“No, no, sorry, Ari!” She immediately began to scream in protest at what I was about to do.
“Nope, you are learning to swim, Ava, and that’s that.”
I managed to get her into my arms and in the pool and straightaway, she wrapped her body around mine, no easy task with her swollen baby bump keeping the rest of her body at bay, but somehow she managed.
“Calm down, it’s just four feet of water. I'm going to let you go now. You can touch here.” I let go of her but she remained suction cupped to me, whimpering in my ear.
“Ava, listen to me, you need to learn to be comfortable in the water. You need to learn to swim. We have Max and we have a baby on the way. If you are home alone and one of them, God forbid, falls in the water then what will you do? How will you save our children?”
Ava released her grip at my words and her feet, for the first time ever, touched the bottom of the pool. She had a very sober look in her eyes.
Ava is stubborn and tenacious, but she will do absolutely anything for Max and for the little baby on its way. If learning to swim will keep her kids safe, Ava will be able to swim like a fish in no time.
I took her hands in mine. “Alright are you ready? I am going to take this nice and slow.” She nodded, a bit scared, but also finally determined to learn.
Ava gave in to my swim lesson for an hour or so and slowly, she began to relax. She listened carefully and did exactly what I said.
The pool emptied and everyone lounged around the sidelines in chairs. Lauren sat flipping through magazines.
“OMG, Cameron Gallo’s a total hotty Mchotterson.”
Her friend leaned across the lounge chair to glance at my sister’s reading material, “Adorbs.” She bobbed her head enthusiastically. “That hair! I love the honey blonde curls.”
“For sure, and those baby blue eyes … cutes-pa-tutes.”
Lauren gave her own eager nod. “For sure, I know, right? I cannot believe he cheated on Dove. I mean, wow, she is gorgeous.”
“She’s pretty, but he is too good to be true. He’s like a god or something. Wow.”
“Wow.”
My eyebrow rose at Ava in question.
“Apparently he’s handsome,” she remarked with a barely straight face.
“Did you ever tell your friends I was a hotty Mchotterson?”
“For sure, I must have doodled “Ari Alexander” on every page in my diary.”
“Really?”
“No, Ari. Not really. But I did you think you were hot. Still do, actually.”
“Mmm,” I took Ava’s hands and glided her with me back to the shallow end of the pool, pulling her in close to my chest. “You think I’m hot?”
“Sometimes.” She shrugged, giving her best attempt at nonchalance.
“I sometimes think you’re hot, too. Especially when you do that one little dance move when you think no one is watching.”
“I don’t do any little dance move!” She argued.
“Yeah, uh huh, Ava, you do too. The one that goes like this,” I mimicked her little half twirl, head bob combo.
“I don’t dance like that!” She splashed pool water up in my face again and I gave her a warning look.
“Don’t think I won’t dunk you, because I will. And yes, you do too dance like that.” I pulled her in closer and spoke into her ear, “Like I said, it’s cute. Makes me smile.” Her cheek pressed against mine and the heat from her blush warmed my skin.
Beads of water ran from Ava’s hair, down her neck and then maneuvered over the curves of her chest, glistening against her creamy tan skin. The hot sun dried her nearly as fast as the drips ran. With my finger, I pulled ever so slightly at the string between her chest that held her little triangle shaped bikini to her body.
“There are some major advantages to having you in the pool with me.” My finger slipped beneath the fabric of her swimsuit and caressed the lower curve of her full breast. Ava’s skin flashed hot and my lips began to nip at her ear lobe. Her head cocked to the side granting me access to her neck and I pecked and sucked my way down to the dip of her shoulder and then back up again to her mouth. Ava’s tongue slid into my mouth, her hands ran up my back to my head where she gripped fistfuls of my wet hair. Her body pushed against mine, the water splashed at our sides from the quick displacement. I smiled with my kisses, knowing that Ava had let her guard down by accident and had forgotten where we were and that we were not alone. Born without a shred of modesty, I didn’t care if a hundred people watched on and I cupped her bottom tightly and squeezed.
“Knock it off!” Andy shouted at us, startling Ava, causing her to bite down on my tongue, hard.
“Christ!” I yelled at her sharp teeth.
“Oh, my God!” Ava squealed with embarrassment.
“You two need a bedroom,” My dad yelled again.
“We have eight bedrooms over there in our home and they are therefore attached to this pool.”
“Ah, so it isn’t a room that you are lacking then, it's decency?”
“Right.” I smiled a bit too cocky for his liking and I knew the next sentence that was due to come out of his mouth by heart.
“You are my son and I will never stop trying to teach you to do the right thing.”
“Right, right, I’ll do my best to keep my hands off her.”
“Please do. Let’s keep this afternoon rated G, shall we? At least while the rest of us are here and sober.”
“He’s teasing,” I reassured Ava and rubbed my thumb across her blushing red cheeks. “Come on, let’s get out.” Scooping her up, I plucked her out of the water and then sat her upright on the edge of the pool. “You did great. I don’t know what you have been so afraid of, you’re a natural in the water. It won’t take you any time to become a strong swimmer.”
“Well, you are a good teacher.” I eased in between Ava’s legs and she leaned down to kiss me chastely on the lips. I thought about the two of us running inside the house and slamming the bedroom door.
Ava recognized the needy look in my eye and moved to the lounge chair for space. “Don’t even think about it, Ari.”
“It’s too hard not to at least think about it.”
“Then don’t act on it.”
“I’ll try.” I made a weak promise to behave and joined Ava at the pool side chairs.
“OMG!” My sister squealed and Ava shuddered in annoyance. “Ava, you’ve been outed! Ari, look!”
She flopped the magazine open in my wet lap and jabbed repeatedly to a grouping of pictures of Ava, Max and me. They were right next to the story covering Cameron Gallo’s alleged affair.
Ava and I had been successful until now at keeping the news of her pregnancy on a need-to-know basis. Our little secret, boy or girl, was harder to keep with each passing week as Ava's belly grew more round. Media coverage of Ava’s disappearance had simmered down over the course of year but her popularity had only skyrocketed. She is beautiful and rich, baio is hot and she is the only heir of Margaux’s fashion dynasty. She had never uttered a single word to the paparazzi and she had never even remotely considered taking part in any sort of social media venue, yet the press adores her and somehow claims to know everything about her, including but in no way limited to what she likes to eat for breakfast.
“She’s Preggers!” The caption exclaimed and just below was a short cutline about the reporter’s predictions for the baby. According to the journalist, Ava was thirty weeks along in the pregnancy, we
were having a boy and we were still arguing over baby names.
Not entirely incorrect.
“A source close to the couple confirmed the pregnancy and shared that after a few weeks of morning sickness, Ava is doing well and the baby is healthy.”
Ava yanked the magazine off my lap but not before I got a look at the photos. Featured on the glossy page were pictures of us getting out of my SUV, another of us walking hand in hand with Max through the open air market and then a third in which Ava and I were sneaking a quick kiss. My hand was resting on her hidden belly, pressing her baggy, oversized sweater down tight. Just beneath my splayed fingers, was a soccer ball-sized bump for the entire world to see. The hand to her belly proved that she was most certainly expecting.
“I’m so sorry, Baby. I wasn’t thinking. I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t see the cameras.”
“It’s ok.” She smiled and it gave me some relief. “Who wears a sweater in July anyway? I’m getting huge and they were bound to find out at some point. We're just lucky the peace lasted as long as it did.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with all of this?”
“I don’t think I have much of a choice in the matter.”
“Hmm. I really am sorry.”
“Who is their source?”
“I have no idea. Probably no one. I think that’s just something they say so the article seems legit.”
“Really?”
“Sure. I mean there is no way they have a real source. The only people who know are us and them,” I pointed out to our family.
“Margaux knows, and my doctors, and your assistant.”
“Margaux cherishes you. And she had very high hopes of keeping the baby a secret until the fashion show. She wanted to debut your bump along with the new baio babe line. I highly doubt she’s the rat. Your doctors are professionals who are bound by patient confidentially and Fauna respects us and is also bound by a non-disclosure agreement – I trust her completely. I really think the magazine was just making it up. What an easy thing to lie about, just about every pregnant woman has morning sickness.”
“True.”
“Let’s go inside. Max could use a nap…” I winked, she blushed and followed me into the house.