by Violet Paige
Well played, Mother. Acting like a grieving widow was always a reliable out.
“Oh of course. We are so sorry about Eric. I’m sure it’s hard for you to be here without him. It has to bring up a lot of memories.” Lucinda Rossi was a much kinder woman on every level. “I’ll find Marco for you. I’ll be right back.”
Evie’s mom hurried away.
“Nicely done.” I nodded. “You can slither back to the mansion now and no one will realize what a complete first-class bitch you are. Your secret is safe for another day.”
“I don’t slither,” she hissed. Her back straightened when the Rossis appeared.
“Marco, thank you for the lovely party.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek.
“These two gave us a big shock.” He slapped me on the back. “But your son is a special man. I think they’re going to be ok.”
I didn’t know how I earned Marco Rossi’s approval, but I was damn proud I had. There was a lot of work to do, including some more time drinking Italian wines and learning how to use a wood router, but I could do that. We could golf. We could find things in common. After all, we both loved Evie.
The same couldn’t be said for my mother.
“Lovely.” She pressed her lips together. The band made an announcement for Evie and me to rejoin the dancers.
“We need to go.” I led Evie to the dance floor without turning back. I didn’t owe my mother anything.
We fell into a quiet rhythm during the slow song.
“Why do I feel like that could have been much worse?” she asked.
“Because it could have. I don’t know why she was here.”
“Probably because my parents backed her into a corner.” She paused. “She’s not going to drop the lawsuit, is she? She’s going to fight us.”
“Of course she will. She has all the money she could possibly spend, and that’s not enough. She’s coming for ours.”
Evie looped her hands together behind my neck. “She can try, but we are a team.”
I laughed. “Everything in my life comes back to sports. I hope you know that.”
“I’m starting to see it very clearly. I’m even talking like I know what half this stuff means.”
We swayed until the last song played.
“I have to get out of these shoes,” Evie whined as the band started to pack up. Her friends had left, and Frannie and Marcus had to get home to pay the sitter.
“I have to get you out of that dress.”
“Take me home?”
“Finally.”
We found our coats and I helped Evie into hers. The snow was thick outside. It was eerily similar to our first night together under this roof.
I was trying to race her out the door, when the Rossis stepped in front of us.
“Leaving, honey?” Her mom pulled her in for a kiss.
“It was a great party, Mama. Thank you. I’ll call Frannie before we leave tomorrow and thank her again. The whole weekend was great.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Rossi, thank you. This was a nice celebration.”
“We’re glad you’re in the family, son.” I was shocked into silence when Marco pulled me into a bear hug.
“Uh. M-me too.”
Evie giggled. I knew exactly what she was thinking.
“Come here. Come here.” Lucinda reached up on her tiptoes to hug me.
“Good night,” we called as we walked to the car.
“No more interruptions for the night. Agreed?”
Evie nodded. “Agreed. Wedding night 2.0 has begun.”
Our driver had the car running. I opened the door for Evie before walking around to the other side. As soon as I was in, I pulled her onto my lap.
“This is what you’ve done to me all night,” I growled, letting her grind into my cock.
“I won’t apologize for that,” she teased. “This is what you’ve done to me.” She led my fingers under her dress and I grazed the edge of her panties. She was soaking wet. I moved the fabric and she moaned through her teeth.
I couldn’t believe how hot and ready she was. I would fuck her in the car, except it was only a five-minute drive. We needed this night. I knew we did.
A lot had happened since we returned to Newton Hills. I’d never been through intense emotional shit like I had with Evie. It fucking terrified me to think I could destroy her. It scared me more to try to live without her. Tonight was about putting everything back together. It was about defining who we were now.
“I need you tonight, Jer,” she whispered in my ear. Her pussy called to my fingers. I pushed them inside her. “Oh God,” she groaned. “Yes.”
I smiled. My wife was so fucking perfect.
I saw the driver’s eyes dart to the mirror. Evie was ripe with lust. It was spilling from her body. I wanted to devour her. I kissed her roughly, while she clenched my fingers with her powerful walls. Fuck. She was going to be needy tonight. That was ok. I was in an overly generous mood. I wanted to make her more satisfied than she had ever been. I wanted her to wake up feeling like I had filled her so completely, she’d never forget our night together.
“You’re not waking up a virgin,” I whispered in her ear.
“I know.” She bit my lip.
The car came to a halt. The upstairs lights were on in the townhouse.
I tipped the driver. “Thanks, man.”
I pulled Evie from the car and we walked inside. I kicked the boxes out of our way as we tore up the stairs. I threw my tie on the banister and my vest somewhere on the floor. Evie kicked off her high heels and shimmied the panties down her legs.
She stopped in front of the bed. “I need help with the zipper.” She breathed.
I shook my head. “Oh no.” I curled my hand under the beading, cupping her wet heat. “I take it off, when I want it off.”
She bit her lip. “I think I need more wine,” she whimpered.
“I bought a bottle of Malbec just for this. You know how much I loved drinking it from your pussy.”
“Will you?” she whispered.
“I’ll be right back with the wine. We don’t need glasses.” I jogged down the stairs.
I searched the kitchen for a wine opener. All the utensils were packed, and I didn’t have time to search the boxes. My cock was hard as steel. I wasn’t about to break the end of the bottle off and risk shards of glass ruining the wine. Fuck. I looked around, opening and closing drawers.
I remembered Evie kept candles in the hall bath. Maybe she had something I could use for the cork. I flipped on the light and looked under the sink. I pulled on the drawer. It was stupid, but could I burn the cork off? She had at least five lighters in here.
And then my heart stopped. It fucking stopped beating in my chest.
I dropped the Malbec. It rolled on the rug next to my feet.
“Evie!” I shouted.
I ran. I sprinted up the stairs. I took them two and three at a time.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” She sat on the edge of the bed.
I swallowed hard. My heart hammered. I could hear my pulse thumping in my ears.
I held the white stick toward her.
“Evie, you’re pregnant.”
15
Evie
Jeremy shoved the stick in my face. It was so close I couldn’t distinguish one pink line from the other. All I knew was that there was pink on that stick.
“Let me have that.” I tugged it from his hand and held it farther from my eyes.
The two pink lines were clear. They weren’t faded. There was no question they were there.
I looked at Jeremy. “How? Where was this? I don’t understand.”
“I left it on the bathroom counter last night after you ran upstairs. I meant to throw it in the trash but I never went back in there. I was looking for something to open the wine. And there it was. Like that. Two pink lines. Two. You’re pregnant, Evie.”
I shook my head. I wanted him to stop saying that. “I don’t believe it. Something is obv
iously wrong with the test. This isn’t supposed to happen.”
“Then take another one.” Jeremy ran out of the room before I could protest. He jogged back up the stairs, carrying the plastic bag from the pharmacy. “Here. Take another one. Take all of them.”
I stared at him. “No. I can’t.”
“You have to.” He tore into one of the boxes, shredding the cardboard into pieces on my bedroom floor. He was ready to rip the plastic wrapping. “Let’s try a different brand. The digital ones look cool. I think I trust a computer screen more than a sheet of litmus paper.”
“Stop.” I thought I sounded like a wild animal. I blinked. “Tonight has been so much fun. It was almost magical. This will ruin everything. I’m going to look back on our party and remember a second failed pregnancy test instead of a night dancing with you. I can’t go through it again. I just can’t.”
“I know you’re pregnant.”
“No you don’t,” I argued. I looked at the positive test in my lap. I tried to come up with reasons that it would have produced two pink lines after I read it yesterday.
“We went to the party believing you weren’t pregnant. We came home with that same belief. So what if it’s negative again? We are no different than we were five minutes ago. We just move on to what our plan was for the night.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Either way it’s going to be an incredible night together.” His current state of sexiness was infuriating.
“You are trying to be logical. There is no logic during those minutes we have to wait. For three minutes I have hope. I go through every scenario. Telling my parents. Decorating a nursery. Registering for a baby shower. Buying maternity clothes. Eating ice cream at 3 am. Birth classes. Holding my baby. All of that happens in three minutes.”
“I can’t make you take the test. But I’m asking you. Please. Evie, please will you take it? For me?”
Well holy shit.
“And when I start crying again?” I rose from the bed.
“I’ll make you laugh.”
“And when I want to drink that entire bottle of Malbec?” I took the wrapper from him.
“I’ll pour as many glasses as you want.”
I pressed my lips together, pausing in front of the bathroom door.
He looked excited. He looked anxious. He was my partner in this. I wasn’t alone trying to get pregnant and Jeremy had reminded me of that.
“Go ahead and pour a glass for me. I’ll be out soon.” I locked the door behind me before I could back out.
I’m not pregnant. I’m not pregnant. I’m not pregnant. I repeated it on a loop. I had to do this for Jeremy. We could put the faulty test behind us once he saw the results on this one. This would prove what I already knew—there was something very wrong with me. The doctors in Atlanta hadn’t been able to find anything, but I knew it had to be there. A lazy ovary. Not enough estrogen or testosterone. Maybe too much of both. An uninhabitable uterus. Or Frannie was right. I drank way too much caffeine and too much alcohol. Not enough yoga or meditation. I was either on my feet too much as a waitress or too sedentary as a writer. Which one was it? I was willing to try cleaner eating, but I knew it wouldn’t change anything. My thirty-year-old body didn’t want to get pregnant. It had officially revolted against everything my heart wanted.
I exhaled and placed the cap on the test. I washed my hands. I was still wearing the beaded gown from the party. My makeup was worn off and the lipgloss had been kissed away in the back of the car.
“I have two glasses for you when you’re ready.” Jeremy knocked on the door.
“Thanks.” I unlocked the knob and walked into the bedroom.
“Should I set the timer?” he asked, handing me a glass. He stood in his black boxer briefs. Maybe I should pass the time counting his ab muscles.
“I don’t want you to be disappointed.” The positive test was on the bed where I left it. “That test is broken. I don’t want tonight to be ruined because you think you found something that’s really a false positive. Tests don’t work like that, Jer.”
He smiled. “It’s not ruined, baby.” He brushed his lips over mine. His mouth was distracting. I tried to focus on how firm and warm his kisses were. How possessive he was with my body. How I loved his tongue. How he tasted like expensive bourbon. How the heat of his body pressed through the bodice of my gown.
“I’m going to check it,” he announced.
I clutched the wine with both hands. “Whatever. I’m going to drink this entire glass of wine and then have incredible sex with my husband.”
I pivoted in the opposite direction. I touched the glass to my lips.
“Stop, Evie. Don’t drink that.”
Jeremy’s voice made my spine tingle. The fear danced across my skin like prickly needles.
I lowered the glass.
“Jer…” I was afraid to turn around, but I did.
He held the test in the air. I couldn’t read the words on the flashing digital screen. He was too far away. I tiptoed closer. I held my breath.
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
He laughed. “See? I knew it. You are so knocked up.”
16
Jeremy
“Evie, say something.” I took the wine from her hand and replaced it with the flashing test that read pregnant. I gulped the Malbec. I needed it.
“I’m going to take another one.” She threw the test on the floor and disappeared into the bathroom with a different box.
I sat on the bed, drinking wine. If this was what she needed to do, I’d go along with it. But I knew she was going to get the same result every time. My wife was pregnant. My baby was inside her.
It probably wasn’t fair that I was the one who got to drink tonight. A glass of wine would probably help soothe her nerves, but she’d already had her last drink for the next nine months. She hadn’t even realized it. I grinned, gulping the expensive wine. I bought it this morning when she and Frannie had left for the day. I thought it would be a nice way to end the weekend after the hell we had both been through.
I had scared the shit out of her yesterday on her parents’ porch. My lungs seized when I realized how I almost fucked everything up. I exhaled, letting it sink in that I didn’t fuck it up. I didn’t because Evie brought me back from the edge of the cliff. She had enough faith in me. Enough that I believed we could work. I checked my watch. She had been in there ten minutes.
The door opened as I finished off the wine. She stepped into the room.
“So?” I cocked my head to the side.
“I took all of them.”
“Ok. All?”
She nodded. “Two per box, so that was eight total.”
I was not in the mood for math equations. I wanted her to say what I already knew. I wanted to hear those words on her lips. I wanted her to confirm that everything we had worked for was finally happening. We were going to have a baby.
“And?”
“They all said the same thing. All eight tests.”
“Evie.” I stepped toward her. Her shoulders were shaking. I held them steady.
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered.
I pulled her into my arms. I could crush her with kisses. I wanted to hold her while she cried. I didn’t recognize the man I was. The man who had become a husband. The man who was going to be someone’s dad.
She gasped for air. “You were right.” She smiled.
“Don’t forget that,” I teased.
I reached for the zipper on the side of her dress. She stood still while I yanked it to the top of her thigh. The heavy dress fell to a heap on the floor. My gorgeous wife stood in front of me, naked and pregnant.
“Do you have any idea how fucking sexy you are to me?”
She shook her head.
I lifted her in my arms and carried her to the bed. “There’s a slight change of plans for tonight.”
“Are you scared to have sex with me now?” Her eyes widened. “Don’t be worried. You can’t hurt the baby.” She giggled. “Di
d you hear that? I said the baby.”
My palms slid over her tits and rested on her flat stomach. My fingers inched between her legs as she parted them for me.
“Are you kidding me? I’ve never wanted to fuck you more than I do right now. It’s so hot knowing my baby is inside you. But we’re going to take things easier from now on.”
She pouted as her hips jerked, rotating and rocking for more fingers. I pushed one inside her to give her a brief second of satisfaction. Her body was driving me crazy. She’d never looked this beautiful. This seductive. This alluring.
“We made a baby, Jer,” she whispered.
“Yes we did.” I grinned. I spread her legs, watching my fingers pump in and out of her. Every time I pulled them out, they glistened with her honey. She was so wet. I lowered my mouth to her clit and flicked it with my tongue before kissing her stomach.
“Ohh,” she whimpered. “Do that again,” she begged. “Please.”
I grinned. She got everything she wanted tonight. Well, almost everything.
I arranged her legs in a butterfly position, exposing her sweet pussy. I dove between her velvet folds, drinking from her while she writhed against my mouth. My licks grew stronger and more intense as her body fought the first signs of her climax. I knew with every lash of my tongue I was luring it to the surface. Her body quivered and exploded as she screamed my name.
“Jer. Oh fuck. I want you. I need you inside me.” Her eyes opened. “Now.”
I grinned. I shirked the boxer briefs off my legs. My cock was ready to be buried inside her orgasming pussy. I groaned as it pushed against the vibrating walls of her heat. She clenched and gripped me harder than she ever had.
My biceps tightened as I hovered over Evie. I wanted to watch her eyes when I fucked her. I wanted to look down and see my cock sink between her soft petals. I thought I knew what intimacy was when we tried to make a baby, but this was fucking intimate. Sex with my wife, knowing my seed inside her had started a life. To know her body was ripe with my child. Fuck, there was nothing like it.