Live In Position

by Sadie Grubor

  Her face was smug, but seemed different. I suppose it was the fact that she had straightened her normally curly red hair. Her makeup was still perfection, like always, and I began to feel a bit under dressed. The inferior thoughts were swept from my mind as she pulled her coat from of her normally thin body.

  Where her flat stomach had been now resided a small but noticeable bump. Could she really be? I mean a full sized lunch could possibly cause bloating on the poster child for anorexia. This was different. It was surely a baby bump.

  The shoving of her coat in my direction brought my eyes from her abdomen to her face. She had one brow raised at me. I quickly took the coat and began to hang it up.

  "Just ask it," she said in an annoyed tone.

  "Ask what?" I feigned stupidity and hung the coat.

  She remained silent. I turned back to her. There was a small smirk on her face.

  "Are you truly going to pretend that you didn't notice my stomach?" Her long manicured nails ran through her shiny straight locks.

  "It's none of my business if you are," I paused. "Shall we?" I motioned toward the living room.

  "Pregnant," she stated.

  "Excuse me?"

  "The word you were avoiding is pregnant and yes, I'm pregnant." She smiled like she had won a contest.

  "Well, congratulations," I mumbled, motioning again to the living room.

  Who in the hell was she pregnant to and why would she have another child? She barely thought about her first born.

  "Afraid it's Collins?" Her snide remark set something off inside of me.

  "No, I'm quite sure where he spends his time, especially his nights," I quipped and then gestured once more with my left hand to the living room.

  "Hm," she snorted. "I guess that it's real."

  My eyes followed her glare to my left hand. I dropped the hand back to my side and walked into the living room. She could follow or stand out there in the hall for all I care.

  "I thought it was just some ploy he schemed up," she sighed out as she sat her boney ass in the high back leather chair across from me. "I guess he's lowered his standards when it comes to woman; though, perhaps in this case, since you're the help it's as high as the standards can be."

  The smugness on her face was eating away at me. I wanted to slap it from her face.

  Do not hit a pregnant woman…do not hit a pregnant woman. I took a deep calming breath just as my subconscious spoke to me. Her face isn't pregnant, slap that boney slut. Another deep breath was necessary, along with a slap to my subconscious.

  Do not hit a pregnant woman.

  Now I'm not sure when I got so mean or where it came from, but she brought out the evil in me. Perhaps it was Collin's influence. I mean, after all, I am engaged to the antichrist.

  "So, does this child have a father?" Her eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. "I mean, I hope someone is there when you get bored with this child as well." I forced a fake smile.

  "How dare –" Victoria's arrival cut off her angered words. Grace swiftly stood and held her arms open to her.

  "Oh baby," she cooed.

  Victoria's face bunched up for a second with reluctance before she stepped into her arms.

  "Grace," she mumbled her greeting.

  "What is this Grace nonsense?" Grace tightened her embrace around Victoria. "You know that I am your mommy." She pulled back. Victoria pulled from Grace's arms.

  "I'd rather call you Grace," she mumbled before walking and taking a seat next to me.

  With a light clearing of her throat, Grace took her seat again, across from us.

  "I see," her voice reflected her embarrassment and discomfort.

  "Why don't I get some Iced Tea and snacks for you?" I patted Victoria's knee before I stood and exited the living room.

  Once in the kitchen I released the built up tension with one large puff of breath and set about gathering things onto a tray. I was placing a fruit and cheese plate on the tray when Mrs. Baker startled me.

  "Is that Grace?" she whispered from behind me.

  I nodded and caught my breath.

  "Sorry," she apologized before continuing. "Did I notice what I think I noticed?"

  I wrinkled my brow at her confusing question. She motioned a large belly over hers.

  "Oh," I nodded, "yes."

  "What in the world is she having another child for?" Mrs. Baker complained. "She didn't bother to take care of the first one." Hard lines formed on her face.

  I nodded in agreement with a sigh. Mrs. Baker left the kitchen mumbling un-pleasantries in regards to Grace's newly discovered condition.

  "I thought the same thing," I breathed out to the empty room.

  Gathering up the tray, I walked back to the living room. When I entered, my attention was drawn to the horrible look on Victoria's face.

  "You're having another baby?" She choked out.

  "Yes," Grace beamed, "isn't it exciting? You'll be a big sister."

  I set the tray down and stepped back. Victoria thought I was leaving again.

  "Don't leave me mommy," she cried out and unwrapped her arms around my legs. Her cast bit into the side of my thigh.

  "Mommy?!" Grace stood from the chair with an anger flushed face. "You are not her mother. I am!"

  I opened my mouth, but Victoria unburied her head from my body and turned on Grace.

  "No you aren't!" She cried. "Sophia is the best mommy I could ever ask for! Why don't you just go be with your new baby and leave me alone?"

  In a flash of red hair, Victoria ran from the room. The sound of her running feet and slam of her bedroom door floated down to the room around us. Grace cleared her throat, which brought my attention back to her.

  "I suppose I should go." She walked to the closet and retrieved her coat. She was slipping into it when she spoke again. "Tell Collin I'll call him to discuss visiting our daughter next Friday."

  "Next Friday will be fine," I forced a smile.

  "Hmm, yes, well I would much rather discuss it with Collin. You know, parent to parent," she smirked.

  "Yes, well I can assure you that Collin will agree with my approval for next Friday." I pulled open the door for her to leave.

  Just when I thought I would be rid of her she turned around in the doorway.

  "Tell Collin, I'll call him later." She smiled wide and then finally left.

  I slammed the door and screamed. Once that was taken care of, I climbed the stairs to check on Victoria.

  Collin called five times while he was away. I couldn't stomach talking about Grace with him, so I told him the edited version with a promise to discuss it in more detail when he came back on Tuesday.

  Tuesday afternoon, as I drove Victoria to her dance class, my phone rang. Victoria pulled it out of my purse for me and answered.

  "Mommy's phone," she giggled. I laughed and shook my head. "Hi daddy," she squealed out happily. "Uh huh, yep, we're on our way to dance class," she groaned out the last two words. "Okay, hold on," she extended her arm with the phone in her hand, "daddy wants to talk to you."

  I brought the phone to my ear and held it with my shoulder.

  "Hello?"

  "I've missed the sound of your voice."

  "You just spoke with me last night," I laughed lightly.

  "So?" He challenged. "When will the two of you be home?"

  "Um, we are just pulling up to the studio and her lesson lasts about an hour, so I would say no longer than an hour and a half."

  He groaned.

  "What?"

  "That's too long. I miss you." His voice dropped to a husky whisper.

  "I missed you too." Victoria made gagging sounds from behind me and I had to fight from laughing. "We'll have time together after dinner and –"

  "After dinner?" he grumbled. "I don't want to wait that long."

  "Sorry, but it must be handled." I pulled into a spot and parked the car. "Hey, we're here, so I need to get her inside and dressed. I will let you know when we are leaving, okay?"

&
nbsp; "Okay. Sophia?"

  "Yes?"

  "I love you."

  "I love you too." The smile on my face was wide and not going anywhere for awhile.

  We hung up. I scrambled to get Victoria out of the car. Once inside I had to fight with her leotard sleeve to get it over her cast.

  "My arm is itchy," she whined.

  "I know, I'm sorry. You won't have the cast for too much longer."

  She groaned and hurried off to the studio room. I took a seat in the waiting area and read over the book contract for the third time. I only had two more days before it had to be returned to the publisher. My nerves felt like there were firecrackers exploding at the ends.

  Victoria's lesson seemed to go by quickly, having been distracted by all the legal terms in the contract. Even with the legal dictionary I bought, I still wasn't positive about a few things. I shoved the contract into my purse, deciding to call Mr. Stark and get clarification.

  "My arm is still itchy," Victoria whined from the back seat.

  "We'll try to figure something out, okay?"

  She nodded and blew out a frustrated sigh. She stared out the window at the passing scenery. When we arrived home, she hopped down from the car and ran to the door.

  "Slow down, you'll slip." I grabbed her bags and my purse from the car before following her.

  Entering the house the smell of Italian food filled the air. I furrowed my brow and walked toward the kitchen, dropping the bags next to the stairs along the way. Inside the kitchen there was multiple silver foil containers spread out on the counters.

  "Dinner's ready."

  My head snapped to the small kitchen table. Collin sat with his newspaper at the table set for three. I raised a brow at him.

  "Now you don't have to cook," he winked and stood from his seat.

  I shook my head.

  "You're that impatient?" I teased.

  "I prefer the word anxious." His arms wrapped around my waist and his lips met mine.

  I embraced his broad shoulders and kissed him back. A small giggle pulled us from our musings.

  "Go wash your hands, okay?" I smiled at Victoria.

  She ran off and I pulled myself from Collin's embrace. He reluctantly let go. Grabbing some containers, I began to sort through and serve the food. Victoria returned with freshly washed hands and the three of us sat eating linguini, meatballs, salad, fettuccini, and fresh baked Italian rolls.

  The conversation surrounded Victoria's classes, academic and extracurricular. I was pleased at the effort Collin made in the past months to learn about and be active in his daughter's life.

  At the finish of dinner, Victoria went to take a shower, while I cleaned up the dishes. Collin appeared next to me and was assisting my efforts.

  "So, are you ready to tell me about Grace's visit?"

  I shrugged. "Sure."

  "Well?"

  "Oh, um, well…there was a little tension, of course."

  "Tension?" He placed the white dish I just rinsed off into the dishwasher.

  "Yeah, Victoria isn't too happy about being a big sister. I kind of thought she would be since she was asking for –"

  "A what?!" Collin choked. Oh crap!

  "Ooh, I guess I should've started with 'Grace is pregnant'." I furrowed my brow at the ghostly face he was making.

  I knew it was irrational, but a part of me was hurt that he was so affected by this discovery. Wasn't he completely over Grace?

  "To whom?" he croaked and cleared his throat. He seemed to be acting a little too nonchalant all of a sudden.

  "I don't know," I shrugged, "Though she threw out a jab about it being yours." I awaited his reaction.

  "She what?" he exclaimed and looked at me with his green orbs.

  I nodded and shrugged.

  "You realize that is impossible, right?" The plate in his hand was set on the counter. He stood directly in front of me with his arms around me.

  I nodded again.

  "Sophia?" he eyed me. "You don't look like you believe me."

  "I do, but you seem awfully affected by the fact that she's pregnant." I blurted without thinking.

  He smiled slyly.

  "Are you jealous?" His eyes went from pleading to amusement.

  "No," I spat and tried to pull away to rinse more dishes. He wouldn't let go.

  "I like that you're jealous." His chuckle was almost nonexistent.

  "I'm not jealous," I grumbled the lie.

  He chuckled again and kissed me deeply, which caught me off guard. Too soon, his lips left mine.

  "Please tell me you understand how much you mean to me?" He cupped my face, so I couldn't try to look away from him.

  "I know," I whispered and still attempted to turn my head from his hold.

  "No," his sternness brought my blue eyes intently to his green. "There is no other person, besides Victoria, that has ever meant to me what you do. You are more than I ever knew was out there and I'll never give you up, at least not without one hell of a fight."

  My heart fluttered rapidly and the feeling of butterflies filled my stomach at his words. I had never felt like this. To know how much he loved me, as I did with him, was breathtakingly beautiful.

  I covered his hands, which were still on the sides of my face, with my own and leaned up to kiss him. His phone rang and I hesitated, but he pulled me the rest of the way. The kisses we had shared in the past had ranged from sweet, passionate, intense, and even urgently raw. This kiss was fulfilling.

  Pulling apart was difficult to do, but I needed to check on Victoria and get her ready for bed. With a promise to hurry back to him, I left the kitchen. He finished the dishes for me.

  Victoria was already in her pajamas when I arrived with her backpack and dance bag. Her hair was brushed and she had a ruler stuck down inside her cast.

  "Hey, hey, no way," I grabbed the ruler and pulled it away.

  "But it's so itchy," she threw herself back onto the bed.

  I thought really fast about when I was twelve and had broken my leg during a dare to climb a tree at the park. Quickly, I remember the trick a nurse had given to me. I retrieved the hair dryer from under Victoria's sink in her room and brought it near her bed. She looked at my curiously when I plugged it in.

  "Are you going to blow dry my hair?" Her fingers were still shoving down in her cast trying to ease the irritation. I shook my head.

  "Come here, we are going to use a trick that worked for me."

  She stood slowly and then picked up the pace to get closer.

  "You broke your arm before too?" Her eyes looked to me with curiosity.

  "Not my arm, my leg. I fell out of tree." I crinkled up my face at the memory. She giggled.

  I turned the hairdryer on and set it on the cool setting. Once I was sure it would stay cool, I used my index finger to pull the cast from her arm so the air could get inside.

  "I don't think it's going to –" she stopped suddenly, her eyes widening, "Oh my gosh, it feels better already!" Her bright white smile met mine.

  Once her arm was taken care of we climbed onto her bed and began reading. We were midway through a chapter when Collin entered her room. I paused from the book, but he motioned for me to continue, so I did. He slipped onto the bed next to us. Victoria yawned once at the end of the chapter and then was asleep by the end of the next. Collin and I quietly stepped from her room and walked to ours.

  Inside our room, Collin wrapped me in his arms and pulled me to the small loveseat in the corner of the room. We sat side by side as he turned on the TV and we began to watch. It didn't take long for his hands to wander and it took less time for me to straddle his lap.

  My hands were buried in his hair while his were gripping my backside, pulling me against the hardness waiting behind the confines of his pants. My lips broke from his so I could remove my shirt. When I was free of the shirt, I tossed it onto the floor. Collin pushed me up to stand and slowly removed my jeans.

  I returned to my straddled position over him and
removed my bra. Leaning back down to kiss him, he pulled his head away. My brow furrowed for a moment, until he smiled.

  "I want to look at you," he whispered and straightened my sitting position.

  My arms instinctively came up to cover my chest. He gripped my wrists and held my arms at my sides. Slowly, but with purpose, his right hand slid up my arm and then over my left breast. I inhaled sharply at the light grazing of my breast. He repeated the action with his other hand and then slid his long pale fingers over my stomach, until he grasped my hips.

  "You're beautiful." He whispered before claiming my left breast with his lips.

  I arched my back, pressing my chest closer to his face. My hands fisted into his hair tightly. It felt so amazing and perfect. The teasing of his tongue on my nipple was driving me mad. My hands found the path to his pants and began to unleash him from the confines.

  After some awkward positioning and removal, along with a couple of snorts and giggles, his pants were around his ankles. There was no wasting time, I needed him.

  With one swift motion I encased him within me. My back arched, head tossed back, and I moaned. He had been away for too long. His mouth recaptured my nipple and I began to rock on him slowly, savoring the feel of being connected.

  His fingertips dug into my skin as he slid his hands up my back. They stopped just as they met my shoulder blades, pulling my body closer to his. His face was eyelevel with my neck and his mouth was doing amazing things to the sensitive skin.

  His hot kisses on my skin encouraged me to raise my body up and down on him. First moving slowly, but it felt so amazing that my motions increased. Soon I was bouncing on him like a pogo stick. Panting and moaning filled the room as the TV played in the background.

  "Ah, Christ Sophia," he growled out and grasped both breast with his hands.

  Grabbing hold of his wrists, I continued to ride him. The friction building inside me was so close to bursting that my head lolled back in anticipation. My mouth hung open with my heavy breaths.

  When he released my right breast I brought my head forward, but then his thumb grazed where we were joined. My head snapped back and my hands clamped onto his knees. My body tensed and exploded around him. Both of Collins hands captured my hips and guided me harder and faster on him. This didn't just prolong the orgasmic aftershocks, but brought him over the edge.