I rolled my eyes. “Dynassy! I think I’d know. Nick’s the only guy I’ve been with in the last year. More than a year, actually.”
Dynassy tilted her chin down. “I’m sorry, Eden. I should be congratulating you.” She glanced up through a veil of false lashes. “Right? I mean, you are happy about this, huh?”
“I am. I certainly didn’t plan for it to happen like this, but I have always wanted to be a mom.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“So, you’re planning on keeping it?”
“Yes, I’m growing rather attached to the little guy or girl, even though he or she is only the size of a lima bean right now.”
“A lima bean?” She giggled.
“Yeah. Though she’s probably cuter than a lima bean…” I laughed.
Dynassy nodded. “She is a Barnes,” she teased.
I balled up the paper straw wrapper on the table and threw it at her. “Half a Barnes.”
We snickered for a few minutes, and the waitress tucked our check under my plate.
“It’s going to be difficult for me not to tell my brother,” she whined. “You’ve put me in a tough place, Eden. He is the dad!”
“I know, and I’m sorry. Just give me a little time, Dynassy. All I’m asking for is time.”
She sighed. “All right, but I hope you know what you’re doing. If I were him, and I found out you were hiding this from me I’d be pissed.”
I nodded. She was right.
“Fuck, that means he’s going to be pissed at me too.”
I got up to pay the bill at the cashier’s station.
“Are you sure I can’t get that?” Dynassy asked.
“Sure. You drove.”
“All right. I’ll go pull the car around if you’ve got this.”
As I watched her sashay through the restaurant, turning heads as she marched out in her thigh-high boots and faux fur vest, I wondered—would she really keep my secret from Nick?
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Nick
As difficult as it was to keep losing night after night in Fresno, I had to admit it was pretty amazing how excited the people of Fresno were about my arrival. Every other team I’d been on had at least one other big-name player, and in Austin there had been two. But here in Fresno, they handed out t-shirts with my likeness on them at the games, the area radio hosts called me the Barnestormer, and they even organized a parade to celebrate the team’s first victory once I arrived.
My signing bonus was pretty sweet too, but the best thing that happened was when I was named to the All-Star team for the West. I made the first-team as a forward, and I was really looking forward to the game. This year it would be held in Las Vegas, and it was highly debated as to whether it was such a good idea to send the players into the land of temptation and then expect them to perform at peak capacity.
Temptation wouldn’t be much of a problem for me. I stayed far away from drugs, and rarely drank alcohol when I was playing. I wasn't a big drinker, and the only woman I was interested in seemed to have been losing interest in me for quite a while.
Ever since I was traded to Fresno Fever, Eden had been avoiding me, or at least that’s what it felt like. At the beginning, she returned my texts, and we talked about getting together, but every time we got close to making actual plans, something went wrong.
Lately, she hadn't even been answering my texts.
As much as I hated to do it, I realized it was time for me to let her go. She clearly didn’t return my feelings.
If I'd never been traded, things might have turned out differently, but I was in Fresno now and there wasn’t much I could do about it until the end of the season.
Sometimes, when I was on a plane going to another city for another game, I wondered if I’d imagined the connection she and I had, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that wasn’t the case. Eden and I were incredibly close. I had fallen in love with her. Even in hindsight, I believe she fell in love with me too. But long-distance relationships were difficult and Eden needed someone who could be there for her more than I could. She was an amazing woman—beautiful, brilliant, kind—the kind of girl any man would be grateful to have in his life. She deserved someone who would be there for her every night to give her the love and affection that I couldn't.
My job was playing basketball. And it was a job I had wanted ever since I was a little kid. I sacrificed for this opportunity from the time I was thirteen years old. Before that I just loved to play the game. But one day my mother sat me down to talk with me about my future. I remember it like it was yesterday.
"Nick," she said. "You have a lot of talent, and if you want playing basketball to be your job one day it's time for you to start working on it."
"What do you mean?" I asked. “I do work on it.”
"There are thousands of young men your age with talent like yours who want to play basketball professionally. Some of them will go off the rails and get into trouble. Some will never have the height or body structure needed for the game, and the majority of them will not put in the work that’s necessary. They will mistakenly think that their talent alone will take them to the next level, and 99.9% of those kids will be wrong. Less than 1% of college basketball players will play professionally. And less than 1% of high school starters will get a college scholarship. Now your father left you with enough resources that you don't need a scholarship financially, however, if you don't get a college scholarship to a Division I school you won’t be considered for the pros."
I remember feeling a determination I'd never experienced before. In my mind, I questioned some of her statistics, the way teenagers question everything their parents tell them, but I knew enough to know she was right. I nodded and said simply, "What do I need to do?"
From that day on succeeding in basketball had been my mission. Lucinda hired various coaches and trainers for me. I had a strength and conditioning coach as well as a developmental skills coach. I played basketball for any league we could find. The sport became my life.
At first, I was surprised how much I needed to work. I had a great shot, but I had a long way to go. I had to learn to be able to defend guys bigger and quicker than me. I had to learn footwork, and I had to build and shape my body for the sport. The body I inhabit today is not the body I was born with. This body took years of sculpting, hard work, and sacrifice to obtain.
I’m a product of 30% talent, and 70% hard work. There were guys who had more talent than me, but I consistently outworked them, and now that work ethic is what sets me apart.
I’ve come a long way, and even though it occurred to me that I could take a mediocre job that had me settled in one place so that I could be with Eden, that’s just not in my plan. As incredible as she is, I’ve worked too hard to get where I am.
Basketball is everything to me.
And I’m starting to think my best hope is that Eden might still be available after I retire in about ten years. The chances were slim with a woman as incredible as she was, but I’d seen stories about elderly couples reuniting with their high school sweethearts in their eighties. So, it could happen.
But losing Eden did not make me more inclined to indulge in gratuitous pussy in Las Vegas. If anything, I was less interested in women than ever. Since that baby scare a year and a half ago, I steered clear of females as much as possible.
I’d have a chance to hang out with Legion again in Vegas next month. We’d bring the squad to the sports book at Caesar’s, do some betting. I was looking forward to a few days of “R and R”, spa services, impressing the crowd at the All-Star game. My goal was to be the MVP, but that was the sort of thing you could never really plan on.
As I contemplated a pleasant, controlled trip, I had no idea my life was going to change forever.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Eden
I spent the rest of my first trimester going back and forth from my mom's ranch to my apartment in Austin. I went to the gym several days a we
ek, but other than that I took it easy. It amazed me how much a person can sleep while gestating.
I stocked my eReader with every pregnancy book I could find, and as I made my way through them, I filled my brain with information about my changing body and the developing fetus it housed. The doctor in me was fascinated with the medical side of pregnancy, and I shopped around until I found an OB/GYN I really liked.
Visiting the ranch was therapeutic, and I soon fell into mom's routine, helping feed the animals and doing chores. I was particularly fond of the mother alpaca and her baby, who had been born since my last visit. I loved watching it run around, following after its mother. His mother would graze, and he’d pick at the ground, not really eating, but practicing for when he grew older and needed to eat grass too. If he wandered too far, his mother would make a clucking sound to bring him back. His ears would perk up and he’d come back to her. She’d stop eating for a moment, touch noses with him, give a little hum, and go back to her business.
There was something special about being steeped in the mother-child bond as I prepared to become a mother myself. When it came time for my twelve-week ultrasound, Mary Lou had a neighbor keep an eye on the ranch for her so she could come back to Austin with me.
"Mom I can do this by myself," I told her.
"You don't think I would miss getting the first glimpse of my grandchild, do you?"
She insisted on going with me, and I was secretly glad. I’d been afraid I would become emotional that Nick wasn't there. I knew that if I told him he would do his best to be a stand-up guy and be available whenever he could be, but that would be a short-term thing. It wouldn’t last. Couldn’t last.
His job wouldn’t allow for it.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Eden
It wasn’t like me to indulge myself, but when Dynassy offered to take me away for an all girls’ spa weekend I took her up on it. Mostly because I was bored, but also because I knew that in a few short months I would be a very busy single mom, and my days of pampering myself would be behind me.
But when Dynassy said we were going to Vegas I balked. A city known for partying, drinking, and crazy behavior didn't really seem like the best place for a pregnant woman.
“The last thing I need to do is get wild. You know I can’t drink or stay out late,” I told her.
“You’re not a grandma yet, Eden. What you’re forgetting is Las Vegas has everything! I’m taking you to the Cosmopolitan because I hear they have great spa services for mommies-to-be. Like those massage tables where you can lie on your tummy and your baby bump can poke through. It’s the perfect location for a babymoon.”
“A babymoon, really? Isn’t that where you and your child’s father go on one last trip just before the baby is born?”
“So, you’ll go with me. Trust me, girl. I’ve got this. I’m taking care of you, Boo.”
I let her convince me, and yesterday, lying on my stomach, my protruding belly coming through the cut-out spot in the table, I was glad I did. The hands of the masseuse were like magic, rubbing all my stress away and leaving me completely relaxed.
It also reminded me how nice it could be to experience human touch. Ever since I’d let things with Nick grow cold, the only touching I experienced were hugs from my mother. It was great having her around, but it was nothing like having a partner to keep you warm at night. I pushed that thought out of my head. It wouldn’t be long before I’d have all the human touch I needed when my child was born. I could snuggle with my baby all day long if I wanted.
It had been several weeks since my ultrasound, and I didn’t know the sex of the baby yet. The ultrasound technician did tell me the baby looked healthy and had a strong heartbeat. It was such a relief to know the baby was doing well in there. As for me, my morning sickness was improving, and I’d started to show, which really made me feel pregnant. The first trimester had been weird because I’d felt like such crap, but looked so normal. Now that I was feeling a bit better, I was starting to look pregnant. It felt like that worked backward from the way it should, but I had no power over the process.
Dynassy had been after me to tell Nick about the baby ever since I told her, and she’d started in on me about it again this morning.
“You’re going to have to tell him. Why don’t you just pick up the phone and do it?” she’d pressed while we sat in our pajamas cross-legged on our beds enjoying overpriced room service breakfast plates.
I knew she was right, but I stalled anyway. “The Fever has a game in Austin next month. I thought I’d tell him then. I’d rather do it in person.” This was only a partial truth. Telling him over the phone seemed horribly impersonal, but no matter how I did it at this point, it was going to be a disaster.
If I would have told him at the beginning it would have been different. Now that I’d hid the pregnancy from him for months, I was afraid that would be the bigger issue. My glaring omission would become more important than our child, and that paralyzed me with anxiety.
The whole mess was my fault, but knowing it didn’t make facing the music any easier.
Dynassy let me get away with that tentative plan for breaking the news to Nick and suggested we go swimming. It was unseasonably warm for February, and the pool was heated.
As weird as it felt to put on a bathing suit with my belly sticking out, that seemed to be the fashion for pregnant ladies these days. Gone were the mumus and bathing suits with skirts or bubble blouses that covered your growing belly. Instead the bump was all the rage. Red carpets and St. Tropez vacation pics were filled with pictures of celebrities showing off their baby bumps. Mine certainly did not qualify for star status, even though the dad was definitely a celebrity. I shuddered to think what Lucinda would try to have me showing on camera if she only knew that I was carrying her grandchild.
Fortunately, I trusted Dynassy to keep it secret.
"Eden luv, I'm going down to get us some of those fluffy bathrobes from the gym area. Those would be perfect to wear down to the pool. It’s still too chilly out to wear any of my usual coverups."
"I'm sure you could get housekeeping to bring us some. You don't need to do that."
"You’re right, but I feel like getting some gum too. How about you? Craving anything from the gift shop?"
“No thanks.” I could go for some Skittles, but I decided to hold off considering Dynassy told me about a place with humongous ice cream sundaes that we planned to go to later."
Throwing on a pair of big sunglasses, a caftan, and some Chanel flip-flops, Dynassy grabbed her bag and headed for the door. "I have my phone so text me if you change your mind and want me to bring you anything," she called.
"Okay."
I put on my bathing suit–a turquoise bandeau top with the same color bikini bottoms, and found a full-length mirror in the bathroom. Studying my reflection, I noticed my breasts were definitely bigger. They were still tender and swollen, but not as sore as they were during the first trimester. My stomach protruded into a round little ball that reminded me of one of Nick's basketballs, only it was starting to take on a more oval shape. I wasn't sure how the other patrons would feel about looking at my pregnant belly, but I decided not to worry about it. If ever there was a time in my life when I didn't have to worry about my weight, and how I looked in a bathing suit this was it. The blue of the suit looked nice with my eyes and I had a healthy glow, whether it was the glow of pregnancy or my self-tanning spray I wasn’t sure.
I was still staring at myself in the mirror, trying to get a look at my backside when I heard the key card in the door.
"Dynassy is that you?"
She didn't answer.
"Wow, that was quick,” I said, walking out of the bathroom, my eyes still locked on the bathroom mirror, trying to see how bad my butt jiggled when I walked.
Not too bad, but definitely more than when I was cheering.
I rounded the corner, and I found myself face to face with not Dynassy, but with her brother.
My knees buckl
ed, and all six foot seven inches of him rushed toward me to keep me from falling over. As I crashed into his arms he looked almost as shocked as I felt. That was when I realized that my belly was out and on display for him to see. There was no covering it up. There was no time to put a pillow in front of it, or even a shirt.
He helped me to the sofa in the living room, and I could tell the way his eyeballs were glued to my midsection that his head was full of questions. I gulped, and suddenly I wanted to disappear.
Desperate, I ripped a page out of the athletics playbook, one with the heading “the best defense is a good offense” and snapped, "What are you doing here?"
It took a minute for Nick to pick his jaw up off the floor. He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple making that long trip up and down his throat.
"Dynassy. She called me to come over."
"So, this whole thing was just a set up?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm here for the All-Star game. My sister just asked me to stop by her room."
The All-Star game! Of course. I should have known, but I’d forced myself to quit following basketball a couple of months ago. It was too painful to watch Nick all the time or news of him if we couldn’t be together. I guess Dynassy had counted on that when she made this plan to get us together. Damn her! And I thought she was my friend. I should have known not to trust a Barnes.
"Eden, are you…?" He stared at my stomach, searching for a considerate way to ask about my noticeable girth.
Even when presented with clear evidence of my condition, it was kinda sweet of Nick not to want to say the words out loud. It could be extremely awkward to label a woman pregnant if she’d merely inhaled too many cookies, but the jig was up. Pretending that I had just given in to all my donut cravings over the last few months would only make matters worse.
I sank back into the cushions. "Pregnant? Yes."
Nick sat on the coffee table only inches away from me. "Is it…?"
The Barnes Family Romances: (Books 1-3) Page 11