“Everything’s going to be fine, Baby. I promise.”
He put my head under the flow of the water and rinsed the soap away. I opened my eyes and saw him looking down at me. He was staring through me. “Make love to me.”
His lips found mine and I got ready for him to take me to our room and emotionally fill the void I was feeling, but instead he pulled away and grabbed me a towel. He wrapped me up and helped me step out of the shower. “I need to get some sleep. Rain check?”
I wanted to chalk this up to my pregnant hormones, because I have no other reason why tears started running down my cheeks. I loved rough sex, especially with Ty, but earlier we weren’t connected and I didn’t like it. Something was missing. Something was off.
I had a terrible time sleeping, and when I heard my brother coming in, I met him in the living room. “Hey.”
He sat his keys down on the table and gave me a funny look. “You alright?”
I shrugged my shoulder and hugged a pillow on the couch. Conner sat down next to me and seemed genuinely concerned. I could tell from his face that he had been drinking. “Are you drunk?”
He smiled. “Maybe a little. Your mother in law makes some good bourbon slushes.”
I traced the baseball on Ty’s pajama pants I was wearing. “How was the date?”
Conner sat back and ran his hand through his hair. “She’s alright. Nothin’ to write home about. Seems like she’s a little needy.”
“Well you stayed over there for a while.”
“She left around nine. I was watchin’ a huntin’ video.” I am sure my mother in law loved that.
“Thanks for goin’.”
He placed his hand on my leg and looked directly at me. “Randa, tell me what’s wrong.”
I turned so that I was facing him more. “I don’t know. Ty’s just been actin’ weird. Maybe it’s just me overreacting.”
“You need to keep in mind that right now he is scared of losin’ his bond to that little girl. He loves you. As much as I wished he didn’t years ago, I know that it’s true.”
I leaned over and kissed my brother on the cheek before he stood up and headed in the direction of his room. I wanted Conner to be right about Ty.
After getting myself all upset, I climbed back into bed. Ty was lightly snoring and I cuddled my body up against him. One of his hands reached down and connected with me. Our fingers became entangled and I fell fast asleep.
Our morning routine was always hectic and I had little time to even say a single word before I climbed in the car with Ty and Bella. He dropped me off first like every morning and then took Bella to get her juice and donut before school. I got my normal goodbye kiss and a smile before climbing out of the car.
Amy was already in the salon, doing some paperwork when I walked in. “Hey girl. How’s those little boys treating you?”
“They are making me lose sleep.”
“Too bad you can’t have some real coffee,” she teased.
“You suck!”
“So Stacy called out and asked if you could take two of her clients today. You have a Chelsea at nine and a Beth at eleven. I tried to give you room for your other appointments.” She closed the schedule and started walking toward me. “I think your belly is growing every day. You know I won’t hold it against you if you want to stop working for awhile. Your station isn’t going to go anywhere.”
I smiled and sat down in my chair. “Thanks. It won’t be much longer before I can’t take it. My feet kill me at night.”
“Why don’t you just finish out this month and clear your schedule. Your clients all know you are having twins. They aren’t going to judge you for it.”
“Ty will be happy if I do that. He keeps fussin’ at me to stop workin’. So how are things for you? Did anything bad happen last night?”
“Nothing that I can’t handle, little lady.”
Amy walked away without me being able to reply. I was sure he was beating her. She kept wearing shirts that covered her arms and wearing pants instead of the skirts that she used to wear every day. I hadn’t told Amy about what happened during our last visit to Kentucky. I think she knew something was off, but with her own life being such a mess, I wasn’t exactly her first concern.
I hadn’t even realized that it was already noon, but when Ty walked in to pick me up for lunch, I felt relieved. I had packed us lunch, so we went outside and sat at a picnic table. “You think on your way home you could get some of those meatballs from the store that I like? I was thinking that Iz and I could make spaghetti and meatballs tonight.”
“You’re goin’ to cook?” He liked to cook, but I was usually the one that did it.
“Yeah, I want you to go home and relax. Your feet are starting to swell. I don’t mind and Iz likes to help.” He finished his sandwich and stuck his trash in the bag. “So are you going to pick me up at five?”
“Of course. You ready to head back to work?” His phone caught us both off guard when it started ringing. Conner had a specific ring on Ty’s phone so he knew to always answer and this wasn’t any ring I recognized. “Who is it?”
Ty ignored me and started to get up and walk away as he answered it. As quick as he walked away, he started heading back in my direction. I just sat there waiting for him to explain why he had to walk away. “Sorry bout that, Baby.”
“Who was that?” I’d never been so up in his shit before and I didn’t even care if he didn’t like it.
“It was just work. There was a bunch of noise and I couldn’t hear good.” I could tell from the way he wouldn’t look at me that he was lying.
He leaned over to kiss me and I reached in his pocket and grabbed the phone. Before he could argue, I looked at the last number. It was a cell number, but no name was by it.
“Miranda, what the fuck is your problem?” He pulled the phone out of my hand.
My Ty didn’t keep secrets from me. He left his phone out and didn’t care who was calling him when he was with me. “You just lied to me.” It was almost a whisper as it came out of my mouth. I grabbed the car keys and started walking toward the car.
“Baby, wait! Please.” He jumped in front of the car door preventing me from getting in. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I swear to God it isn’t.”
“Then why can’t you tell me?”
He jingled change in his pockets. “Because it has to do with Izzy and because what I’m doing is illegal, I didn’t want you involved. The person called with the appointment. Conner and I go in next Thursday for the test.”
I tried to push him out of the way, but he stood still and grabbed my arms. “Baby, I swear it was about Izzy. I am telling you the truth.”
I did believe him, but I hated that he felt like he had to keep it from me. I wanted to be involved. She was my daughter too. “I’ll pick up Bella and get your meatballs before I come to pick you up.”
“You’re going to make me walk back to work?”
“It’s two blocks Ty.”
He grabbed my waist and pulled it into him. “Please don’t be like this. I can’t stand it.”
“You promised no secrets. I’m not your girlfriend, I’m your wife, Ty. I’m almost six months pregnant and I can’t take this stress right now. I’m scared too. Don’t you get that? This just isn’t tearin’ you up inside, I’m feelin’ it too. I can’t stand that you’re shuttin’ me out.” Of course I got myself all upset and started to cry into his chest. “You lied and said it was your work and then you expect me to believe you. You can’t lie to me Ty.”
“I’m just trying to protect you, I swear.”
I looked up at him. My eyes burned from the tears. “Don’t! Don’t you dare protect me from somethin’ that directly involves me.”
He scrunched up his face like he was in pain and kissed my forehead. “Alright.” He climbed into the passenger side and I drove him back to his shop. When he leaned over to kiss me goodbye, I didn’t react to his lips. He hurt me. For two and a half years we had no secrets. E
ven if it only involved Bella, he had no reason to hide it from me. I wanted to wring his neck.
I went home and ate a whole quart of ice cream and then spent the afternoon throwing it up. When it was time to get Bella and Ty, I felt awful. Bella came running out with a book bag full of artwork and papers. She climbed in the car and immediately began talking. “We need to get meatballs.”
“How about a ‘hi Mom’ first.”
“Sorry, but Daddy says we need meatballs.”
“They are in the bag next to you. I went right before I got here.” I looked in the rear view mirror to spy on my daughter making sure I bought her father’s favorite kind. She got a smile on her face as she closed the bag.
Ty was leaning against the building as we pulled up. He smiled at Bella before climbing into his seat. “Hey ladies. Are you ready for a fancy dinner?”
“YES!” Bella couldn’t contain herself.
Ty reached over the seat and grabbed my leg. “Are we okay?”
I gave him a quick smile and started on our venture home. I wanted more than anything for us to be okay, but I was honestly still a little pissed at him. I didn’t understand why he would lie to me. I was a big girl. I could handle it.
Ty and Bella talked about her day at school, while I drove home in silence. He knew I was still angry at him and I appreciated that he didn’t push my buttons with our daughter in the car.
When I put the car in park and got out to go inside, he ran around to my side and stopped me. Bella had the bag of meatballs in her hand and turned around to wait for us. “Go ahead inside Iz, I need to talk to Mommy real quick.”
She did as she was told and went right into the house. Ty put one hand on either side of me and pinned me against the car. He stared directly into my eyes. “Don’t do this, Baby.”
I wasn’t going to give him his way. “Do what, Ty? Give a shit about your feelin’s? Be mad at you for lyin’ to me?”
“You know this whole thing has me all messed up. Everything I’m doing is for our family. I said I was sorry, Miranda. I can’t have you mad at me. I can’t stand it. I got nothing done all afternoon because all I could think about was you.” I could see the pain in his eyes. He never looked away from me.
“You hurt me today. It broke my heart knowing you lied to me.”
His body came closer and soon I felt him completely pressed against me. “I love you.” As fast as he said it he pulled away and walked into the house. I waited a couple minutes just to be a bitch about it. Maybe I was overreacting, but I didn’t want him lying to me to become a habit. He needed to know he was wrong.
Bella was standing on a chair filling a pot with water, while her father was opening the bag of meatballs and pouring them and a jar of sauce into another pot. He put the lid on it and turned on the other burner to boil the water for the noodles. “I’m going to grab a five minute shower while all of this is cooking. Can you throw in the noodles if it starts to boil before I’m out?”
I nodded as he ran by and headed toward our bedroom. Bella was setting the table with paper plates and plastic forks. When she and Daddy did the cooking, they also did the dishes. Buying them paper plates just made it easier on all of us.
Before the water began to boil, Ty came walking out in a pair of pajama pants and no shirt. I was trying to get comfortable on the couch on account of the two little ones in my belly causing a commotion. When I saw my husband and smelled his body wash, I almost needed to fan myself. His wet hair was disheveled on his head and he gave me a wink as he walked by.
I loved that man.
I was crazy about him.
I followed him with my eyes, only to get caught and share a moment with him before he gave our daughter his attention. In that moment I had forgiven him completely. Life was too short to dwell on little things. Ty had never given me a reason to not trust him. I knew this was all taking a toll on him and he just was doing the best he could to get through it.
Chapter 12
Tyler
I was digging myself into a hole that I wasn’t sure I knew how to get out of. Instead of just telling my wife the truth, I had hid it from her. Now she had discovered that I lied to her. To make matters twenty times worse, I was still keeping something from her; something that could be construed as the wrong thing.
I knew that I wanted nothing to do with Heather, but my daughter’s fate was in her hands. That call today had been about my appointment, but I didn’t want Miranda to hear a female’s voice talking to me. I wanted to be able to say I could get all of this taken care of without Miranda ever knowing who I had to call, but as the time went by I feared it was going to be harder than I thought.
Miranda seemed better after dinner. She came up and hugged me around my waist and when we watched television, she cuddled her body against me. Being close to her made me so happy. She was so cute when she was pregnant. Sometimes I couldn’t believe that someone so beautiful could love me.
She was perfect.
Just like every night since she’d gotten pregnant, I grabbed the bottle of cocoa butter and started rubbing her feet. She got herself comfortable and smiled at me while I massaged them. I worked my way up her legs and finally got to her belly. I took the lotion and wrote “I love you” on her stomach. Miranda looked down and smiled. It was so cool how the twins would react to touch. The more my hands moved around, it stimulated them, causing them to bounce and kick up a storm.
I could tell it was making Miranda uncomfortable, but touching her skin, especially after feeling like she hated me; well of course I got turned on. When our eyes met, I couldn’t hide the passion that I was feeling for her. She bit down on her lip and I could sense that she felt it too.
“Let’s go to bed,” I suggested.
I stood up and reached out both hands to pull her off the couch. She reached her arms around my waist and held me for a second. Just feeling her embrace me was the best feeling all day. I could never lose her. Losing her would be like dying a slow death.
Miranda had the biggest heart, was a great mother and the best wife. I thanked God every single day for giving her to me to share my life with. My family was beautiful and protecting them always came first.
I wasn’t used to fighting with her; in fact we barely bickered, so the recent outburst of mistrust was hard on both of us. I felt guilty, overwhelmingly guilty.
I was already in bed when Miranda climbed in beside me. She was wearing one of my college t-shirts and her belly filled the whole thing out. She laid down and I pulled the covers up over her legs. From beneath them, I ran my hand up one of her legs and lightly rubbed her panties. I could feel her sweet folds underneath. I’d been so rough with her the night before and I hated myself afterwards. Don’t get me wrong, she used to love it and even more intense shit than that, but now that she was carrying my babies, I needed to be more gentle, more considerate of her fragile body.
“Ty?”
“Yeah Baby?”
She ran her hands through my hair as I rested my head against her belly. “Have you ever thought about cheating on me?”
Holy shit! Why would she ever think that?
“Of course not! Why would you even think something like that? Baby, we own two cars and share a ride to work to be together. On the days you work, I spend my lunch hour with you. When you’re home, I call and talk to you while I am on my lunch break. How could I even think about cheating when you are all I ever think about. You have me so obsessed with you that I’ve never even thought about it. In fact, whenever I see another girl, all I think about is how they don’t even compare to you. I know in the back of your mind you’re worried about that, but Baby, it is never going to happen.”
“Oh my God! I feel like an idiot for askin’ you that. What is wrong with me? I don’t know why I am feelin’ so darn insecure. Ty, you haven’t given me one reason to doubt you.”
I moved my body up even with hers and kissed my wife, holding our mouths together. Her trust meant the world to me and I was lying to h
er. I felt like the biggest piece of shit. I wanted to just tell her that Heather was the person helping us, but I knew she would get all upset over it. I wasn’t interested in that slutty bitch. She had nothing to worry about.
I don’t know whether it was the guilt or just the fact that I was so damn tired, but I went to sleep instead of making love to my wife. Thankfully, she fell asleep while I was rubbing her back, so at least she didn’t feel rejected.
I woke up to her trying to adjust her position, but my hand had been stuck in her hair. I heard her mumble in pain as my hand was jerked away from me. “Sorry.” I felt awful for falling asleep like that. I knew she had a hard time getting comfortable.
Miranda got up to go to the bathroom and as I watched her walk by, I felt a tingle between my legs. She had the sexiest body, even during pregnancy. Her blonde hair was getting so long and it hung down her back. Her belly stretched out my t-shirt but showed off her sexy hips and cute legs.
I walked into the bathroom and stood at the door waiting for her to finish. When she went to walk by, I grabbed her and pushed her against the door frame. She stood there staring at me as I played with the bottom of her shirt. My fingers teased her underwear, before sliding them down slowly. Once I got them to her knees, she shimmied out of them herself.
Miranda took her hand and placed it over my throat, shoving me against the opposite side of the door frame. Her tongue started at my stomach and licked up toward my nipple, while she kept her eyes fixed on me. I watched her tongue circle around one of my nipples. Out of habit, I began licking my lips.
She reached up on her toes and licked my lips before kissing her way back down, further and further. When she released my neck, her hands slowly trickled down my chest, leaving it tingling. Miranda bit the elastic to my boxers and pulled them away from my skin, before letting them snap back hard. I focused on Miranda and not the pain of the snap. Her hands ran up my legs under the fabric to my boxers. On either side, she was so close to touching my arousal. Her little fingers slightly grazed each side of my balls. Instinctively, I took one hand and grabbed her hair, pulling her face back so I could look into her eyes.
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