Play Nice

by L. P. Maxa

  When McClintock got himself involved in the huge mud pit fight Jacks leaned his head back to look at us. “So what happens now? Do we need to find Lex a doctor?”

  I nodded. “I have one that’s going to meet us next week in Florida. We have a couple of days there at a hotel so I figured that would be better than them trying to do everything on the bus.”

  Lexi turned in my arms. “You called a doctor already? What if it would have been negative?”

  I bit my lip to keep from smiling. “Then I would’ve had the doctor tell us what to do different the next month so that I would have for sure knocked you up.”

  “Will we be able to see the baby at that appointment or is it too soon?” Smith had paused the movie. I knew his favorite line was coming up and he didn’t want to miss it.

  Lexi pursed her lips. “I think it’ll be too early to see the baby. They’ll probably just do a blood test and give me some prenatal vitamins.”

  Luke put his hand on Lexi’s shin. “Should we get a doctor to travel with us?”

  I brushed his hand off her leg. “I figured if she liked this doc then we could ask them if they would be willing to meet up with us when it was time for our next appointment.”

  “We should get a nutritionist too. Help us figure out how to eat better on the road. We need to make sure the baby gets what it needs.” Jacks scowled at the bag of Oreos sitting on Lexi’s stomach.

  She put her hand on top of them and sent Jacks an “I dare you” look.

  Smith cocked his head to the side, thinking. “Maybe we should get a trainer too. Prenatal yoga is supposed to be really good for both us and the baby.”

  I nodded. “You’re right. Okay, I’ll ask around and see who I can find. We’ll probably need to add another bus.”

  Lexi sat up. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m hearing a lot of ‘we’s’ and ‘us’s’ here, guys. I’m pregnant. I’m cooking this kid. I decide what the baby needs.”

  I put my hand on Lexi’s head, turning her towards me. “Uh, don’t you mean we decide? I put it in there.”

  She kissed my neck, but otherwise ignored my question.

  Jacks chuckled, “You may be Dash’s whole world, Lex, but you’re the center of our universe. We would be a mess without you. And that baby? It’s part of all of us. We all love it. Hell, most of us heard it being conceived…. You know the rules on the bus—majority vote wins. And you’re really out numbered.”

  Lexi scoffed, “Since when has that been the rule on the bus?”

  Jacks raised his hand. “All in favor of making a new rule that states majority vote wins, say ‘Aye.’”

  Smith, Luke and Jacks all said “Aye.”

  Jacks grabbed the Oreos off Lexi’s stomach and laughed, “Motion passed.”

  ***

  I woke up still sitting on the couch in front of the TV. Lexi was curled up against my chest. Luke had fallen over and had his head on her thigh. I resisted the urge to push him off the couch. Barely. Jacks, Smith, and Dagger were sleeping in a pile on the floor. Getting Lex out of here and into bed was going to be difficult. I picked her up, Luke slid down to the couch, and I weaved my way through bodies and pillows and empty chip bags. When I got us to our room, I got Lexi dressed for bed. Which meant I took off all her clothes. I'd be damned if the night I told her I loved her for the first time and found that we were having a baby, would be the first night we didn't have sex. I gazed down at her beautiful body. I knew her breasts had been hurting her for a few days now. When we were in bed she kind of rushed me past foreplay, she never did that before. Her normally flat stomach was hard as a rock—even when she was just lying down relaxing. If Lexi thought I hadn't noticed these things, she was crazy. I knew her body. I'd spent countless hours memorizing every inch of her. The smallest difference would always be apparent to me. I looked up at her face to make sure she was still asleep before leaning down and putting my head by her stomach. I whispered, “Hey little…one, I’m your daddy. So, you’ll be hearing my voice a lot. I promise to talk you through all of this. You’ll also be hearing a lot from your uncles. They seem pretty hell bent on being part of this experience. You see, we all just love you so much, and we want to make sure that you are always safe and happy. I need you to know that from the moment we knew you were a real possibility, you were wanted. Your mommy is the most amazing girl I’ve ever met. We are so lucky to have her. I know that a lot of this isn’t under your control, but if you could try to take it easy on her in there, I’d really appreciate it.” I kissed her stomach. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, little one. Sweet dreams.”

  Lexi’s fingers ran through my hair. “You are going to be the best daddy.”

  I looked up with tears in my eyes to see her already crying. “I love you so much, Kitten. Both of you. I never knew I could feel this much.”

  She smiled and tugged me up to the pillows next to her. “I know. It’s so surreal and so…I don’t know, so wonderful.”

  I climbed on top of her positioning myself between her legs. I entered her in one practiced motion. She closed her eyes and arched her neck moaning quietly. “Look at me, Lexi.” I wanted this time to be different. I wanted her to watch me love her, watch the emotion behind what I was doing to her with my body. It was the most intense sex I’ve ever had. Every thrust threatened to make me come. Every moan out of her mouth made chills shoot down my back. “I love you. God baby, I love you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Lexi

  The hotel where we were staying in Florida was breathtaking. We could walk out the door and instantly have our feet in the powder-soft sand; a few more steps and we’d be in the ocean. It was fall, so it was a little too cold for us to get in the water. Dagger on the other hand jumped in any chance he got. We had gotten a big four-bedroom suite that had a kitchen and living area in the middle. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get the guys out of the suite before my doctor’s appointment. I attempted to set up an offshore fishing trip; they canceled it. I tried to get Chase to move their radio appearance up a couple of hours; he said, “No, Lexi, majority rules.” And then the guys just happened to reschedule it for the next day. It’s not that I wanted to hide anything from them or keep them from this process. But a big part of me wanted to be selfish and keep all these appointments between Dash and I. When I told him how I felt, he promised me that our first sonogram would just be the two of us. I was sitting on the couch, eating an apple since all my cookies had suddenly disappeared, when there was a knock at the door.

  I stood to answer it but Smith beat me to it. “Hi, you must be Dr. Solomon. I’m Smith. It’s nice to meet you.”

  A very pretty woman walked into the room carrying a medical bag. She must have been in her fifties. She smiled when she saw me. “I’m guessing you’re Lexi? I’m Dr. Solomon.”

  I took her out stretched hand. “I am. Thank you so much for coming.”

  “My pleasure, sweetheart.” She had kind eyes and warm hands. She looked behind her at Smith. “Are you the father?”

  He shook his head, “No…no, no, no.”

  I rolled my eyes and sat back down on the couch, motioning for Dr. Solomon to join me. When we had both sat, Jacks and Luke walked in. “Guys, this is Dr. Solomon.” I pointed to each one in turn. “The blond with the baby face is Luke and the dark haired devil is Jacks.”

  She smiled. “Hello.” She turned to me and dropped her voice. “Uh, is one of them the father?”

  I laughed, “No.” Thankfully Dash picked that moment to walk in. When he came and sat down next to me, resting his hand on my thigh, I smiled. “This is the baby’s father, Dash.”

  He took her hand in his. “Thank you so much for coming. I know these are unusual circumstances, but with the reporters and paparazzi and touring…” he trailed off.

  “It’s okay Mr. Conner, I understand.” Dr. Solomon looked around the room; all the guys were sitting around us. “Uh, is everyone going to be joining us for this appointment?”

  I nodded, “Yes,
for this appointment, everyone will be joining us.” Dash leaned in and placed a kiss on my neck. Dr. Solomon asked when my last period was and when we thought we had conceived. Embarrassingly enough Jacks answered that last question.

  She took some blood and gave me samples of some prenatal vitamins. “Start with these. If they make you feel sick call my office and we can see about switching you to something else. I’ll call you tomorrow with the results of the blood work. You’re next check should be in about five weeks, ten weeks is when we can usually get the baby’s heartbeat on the sonogram.”

  “Like I said, we’re touring.” Dash rubbed his hands up and down my arms, “Would you, or anyone you work with be willing to travel for those appointments?”

  “I wouldn’t be able to do that. My patient load is too big. But I do have a PA that works for me that would probably be willing to travel. For routine checks, I’m not really needed. And my PA would call me with any questions or concerns. Just call my office and ask for Dylan.”

  Jacks raised his hand. Lovely. They were treating this poor lady like a teacher. “We had discussed meeting with a nutritionist. Lexi really doesn’t eat all that healthy….” Jacks caught me shooting daggers at him. “What? You don’t.”

  Dr. Solomon grinned. “I always advise my patients to just try and eat as healthy as possible. Lots of fruits and veggies, stay away from sugar, caffeine, and salt, and drink a lot of water.”

  Smith raised his hand, God help me. “Lexi doesn’t really exercise, well, except for the cardio that got her into this condition. We talked about doing some yoga. Is there anything else we can try?”

  “Prenatal yoga is a wonderful idea.” She looked over at me and winked. Good, at least she thought this was funny and not completely twisted.

  Dash raised his hand. I turned and gave him a “what the fuck” look. He just shrugged. “What about sex? Is that safe? I won’t…uh…hurt the baby, will I?”

  I closed my eyes and let my head fall down to my chest.

  Dr. Solomon was full out laughing at this point. “No. No, unless you have a twelve inch penis made out of cement, the baby will be fine.”

  I snorted trying to hold in my giggles. If Dr. Solomon’s PA was anything like her, he’d fit in great around here.

  ***

  The next day I had just come in from a walk on the beach with Dagger when my phone started to ring. I saw that it was Dr. Solomon’s office and my heart began to pound. “Hello?”

  “Lexi? This is Dr. Solomon. I have the results of your blood work here. Is now a good time?”

  “Yes, ma’am, it is. I’ve been waiting for your call. I have to admit, I’m a little nervous.”

  “I understand. First time mommies usually are. Everything looks great though, sweetheart. You’re HCG and progesterone levels are right where they should be.”

  “Oh my gosh. I’m so glad to hear that, thank you.”

  “Dylan told me that Dash called and set up your next appointment?”

  “Yes, we’ll be in Alabama by then. I guess we are renting a portable sonogram machine?”

  “I do think that would be best. It’ll be easier to keep it on the bus than it would be for Dylan to try and travel with it.”

  “Okay, well thank you so much. For everything.”

  “You’re welcome dear. Now, you call me if you have anything questions.”

  “I will, thank you.”

  “Good-bye, Lexi.”

  “Bye.”

  I immediately texted Dash. He and the guys were at the radio interview, but I knew they’d want to know about the blood work.

  Me: Dr. Solomon called. Everything looks great!

  My phone buzzed back immediately

  Dash: I LOVE YOU (BOTH).

  I smiled. Dash had said that to me a hundred times now, and it still took my breath away. My phone buzzed again.

  Dash: The band wanted me to tell you to rub your belly for them and that they love you both too.

  I laughed and placed my hand on my stomach. “Kiddo, your daddy and your uncles wanted me to tell you that they love you.” Tears filled my eyes, for the tenth time today. “I do too. I love you. Please stay safe in there. Just stick with me, okay?”

  I wasn’t all that close with my family. They weren’t bad or mean people. They just weren’t very loving. I’d tell them about the baby, eventually. But there was one person I was dying to tell. I went through my favorites and hit Amy’s name.

  “Lex? Oh my gosh! What the hell?! I haven’t talked to you in weeks.”

  I smiled, typical Amy. “I know, Ams. I’m so sorry. Things here have just been crazy. I have so much to tell you….”

  “Start with Lacey. Please tell me she and Luke aren’t back together. I’ll cut a bitch.”

  “No. They aren’t back together. He did bang her though. I screamed at him. He screamed at me. We made up and she hasn’t been around since.”

  “Okay, good. How are things with Dash? I saw a clip online of him professing his love to you last week. I kept waiting for you to call me!”

  “Yeah, I’ve wanted to call you a hundred times. I just wanted to wait until we were 100% sure….”

  “About what?”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  “Shut. The Fuck. Up.”

  “I will not. I’m like five weeks pregnant so it’s really early…but, yeah.”

  “Oh my gosh, Lex! I am so happy for you guys. Is Dash happy? I mean this wasn’t on purpose right?”

  “We like to call it our funny little miracle. And he is, he’s really happy. Everyone is actually. The guys act like we’re all pregnant. They tell me when and what to eat and when and how to work out. They make me nap. It’s insane. But in the best way possible.”

  I heard a bell ring in the background. “Lex, I gotta go, my next class is starting. But I love you so much. Please hug Luke for me. As soon as I can find time, I’m coming to meet up with you guys.”

  “Love you too, Ams. Call you soon.”

  After we hung up, I cried again. I missed my friend. I wanted to see her face so badly.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Dash

  One more week to go and I’d get to see my baby for the first time. Get to hear its heart beating. I was counting down the days. Lexi was doing well. She got queasy around lunch-time every day, but ginger ale and peanut butter crackers were the cure. Either every morning or every night, Lex and Smith would do forty-five minutes of prenatal yoga. They couldn’t do it while the bus was barreling down the highway—they’d learned that the hard way. Luke and Jacks were in charge of meals and grocery shopping. All of us had given up fast food. Hell, I rarely even drank anymore. By the time our shows were over, Lex was exhausted and just wanted to come back to the bus and relax. Smith and Jacks kept all the groupies either backstage or outside. Lex had told them countless times that it didn’t bother her and they could bring girls back to the bus. They said they weren’t doing it for her; they were doing it for the baby. Every single thing about life on the road had changed. And I fucking loved it. I couldn’t get enough of Lexi. I couldn’t seem to touch her enough or kiss her enough. I sang to the baby every night, always something chill and calming. My life was…perfect.

  ***

  I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Jared waiting outside our dressing room door. I hadn’t seen him since we’d kicked him out of the band over a year ago. I hadn’t even heard his voice. It was like seeing a ghost. “Kitten, come back here please.” When I’d stopped walking, she had kept going. She wasn’t even paying attention to her surroundings; she was too busy taking pictures.

  She turned towards me confused. “What?”

  I held my hand out, palm facing up. “Can you just come back to me?”

  Luckily she did what I asked. It was hit and miss these days on whether she took orders or told you to shove it up your ass. She placed her hand in mine. “Dash, what’s going on?”

  By then the other guys had caught up to us. Luke slung his arm aro
und Lexi’s shoulder. “Why are y’all just standing here in the hallway?”

  Jacks and Smith both stopped short just like I had when they spotted Jared. I looked over at Smith. “Did you know he was coming tonight?”

  He shook his head. “No, man. I haven’t talked to him in weeks. I swear.”

  Jacks held his hands up. “I haven’t had anything to do with him since he left rehab, you know that.”

  I took a deep breath, this was the last thing we needed right now. Everyone was getting along; Smith was sober—well soberish. I turned to Luke and whispered, “Get Lex out of here. Just take her to another room, I need to make sure Jared isn’t here to cause trouble.” Luke nodded and grabbed Lexi’s hand

  When he went to walk away, she resisted. “Dash? What’s going on? Is he dangerous? Should we call Chase?”

  I put my hand on her cheek. “It’s fine, Kitten. Jared is just…unstable. Seeing Luke would upset him.” I could tell by the look on her face she didn’t really buy it. But thankfully she let Luke lead her and Dagger away.

  The rest of us walked over to our old band mate. Smith stuck his hand out to Jared. “Hey, man, long time no see. What are you doing here?”

  Jared looked like shit. He was too thin, too pale, too twitchy. We could all see it. “I was in the neighborhood, just thought I’d come catch a show. Check out your new drummer. Who’s the chick?”

  My fists automatically clenched at my sides. Jacks chuckled, “Oh that’s Dash’s latest fling. She used to belong to Luke.” His words made my blood boil. But I understood what he was doing. If Jared thought Lexi was important to any of us, he’d try to use her against us. “So, you’re sticking around for the show then?”