by A. D. Ryan
“We did. We had a good time.” I heard Madison stifle a giggle, and I gave her a playful pinch.
Before Mom was able to ask any probing questions regarding our night, the front door opened, announcing Dad’s arrival before his voice did. “Hey, all!” he greeted from the entry before emerging into the family room. “How was the drive?”
“Apparently a little too speedy,” I teased, poking Madison’s side and making her giggle.
Dad sat on the arm of the chair Mom was on, and we visited for a bit before he announced that it was time to start the grill. “I stopped and picked up some ground beef for you, Madison. I figured I’d grill up some burgers.”
Madison hummed. “That sounds fantastic, but I could have made do with a veggie burger. You really didn’t have to go to such trouble.”
“Making sure you’re eating right for that little one isn’t any trouble.” Dad stood from his perch. “Son? Why don’t you come out and give me a hand?”
“What a lovely idea,” Mom agreed. “Madison, darling, would you like to help me prepare a salad in the kitchen?”
Madison and I stood and followed my parents though the house. Having never been here before, Madison took the opportunity to stop and look at family pictures on display, smiling fondly at the ones of Lilah and me in our school photos. “You were so adorable.”
“Were?” I questioned, swatting her ass playfully since my parents were several feet ahead of us.
Madison jumped with a high-pitched giggle, using both hands to cover her backside in an attempt to thwart another attack. “Well, I guess you’re still kind of adorable.” She moved in close, her lips brushing my earlobe and making me tremble. “When you’re not passing out under me …”
“You’re not going to let that go, are you?”
“Not yet.” She turned back to see my folks in the kitchen and nodded toward them. “Come on. I’m famished.”
Mom was just setting the vegetables for the salad next to the sink to be washed when we arrived, and my dad was sliding the patio door open, two beers in-hand. My eyes widened and Madison giggled next to me before stepping up onto her toes and kissing my cheek.
“Don’t get too out of control out there,” she hassled playfully.
Dad looked between us like he missed the punch line. I just shook my head, took the Corona from him and stepped outside. “I’ll explain.”
As expected, Dad thought the story of my over-indulgence hilarious. Naturally, I didn’t tell him about when or where I passed out as it wasn’t really relevant to the story. All he needed to know was that I over-drank, got wasted, and was still slightly hung-over.
After putting the veggie and beef burgers on the grill, Dad and I started talking about Madison.
“She’s a great young woman. I’ve thought so for years.” Dad smiled as he took a swig of his beer. “I had a feeling the two of you might hit it off when you started working there.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m lucky to have found her.” I chanced a glance over my shoulder to see Madison’s back to me as she and my mom stood at the kitchen island preparing the salad. I don’t know what possessed me to say it—maybe the beer was quickly clouding my judgment considering there was probably a little bit in my system still—but the words left my mouth before I could stop them. “I asked her to marry me.”
Dad’s eyes shot up to me, wide and gleaming, his elation obvious. “Son, that’s … wow. Congratula—”
“She didn’t accept.” His eyebrows dropped, showing his confusion. “She didn’t say no …”
“Wait, you’ve lost me.” I went on to explain what happened—once again leaving out the very naked details—and he bobbed his head along in understanding. “Well, while I understand her reasoning for wanting to wait, I can’t say that some people’s perceptions will change much no matter how long you put it off.”
I nodded, taking a long pull from my bottle before continuing. “Yeah, well it wasn’t just that. She’s right about everything happening so soon. I mean, we’ve only been together a few months, and we’re already nine weeks pregnant? I shouldn’t have just proposed like that; we should have discussed it first so I could have gauged where she was at in the relationship.”
“And? Did you at least talk about it afterward?”
“Yeah,” I replied, sipping my beer again. “She wants to get married, she just thinks we should wait a bit. I think she’s right. I’d hate for us to move too fast and have everything blow up in our faces, you know?”
“I do.” Dad flipped the burgers on the grill before smiling up at me. “Well, when you do finally decide that the time is right, make sure you make it memorable. Most women only get proposed to once.”
I laughed dryly before finishing my beer. “Funny. Look, I’m going to go and grab a glass of water. You want another beer?”
“Sure, thanks.”
Upon sliding the patio door open, I heard light sobbing and was stunned to see Madison crying into my mom’s shoulder. “What the hell is going on in here?”
Seeming startled, Madison and Mom released one another, wiping the tears from their cheeks as they turned to face me. Just seeing her eyes so red and blotchy concerned me, especially since the last time I had seen her really cry was when we fought. Thinking that maybe it was me she was upset with, I set the two empty beer bottles on the counter and crossed the room to her.
“I’m fine,” she whispered as Mom placed a hand on her shoulder, passing us and heading for the patio where my father was still working hard on dinner.
“Are you sure?” I cupped her face and wiped the last few tears from her cheeks.
Smiling, she placed her hands over mine. “Yeah. They’re happy tears. I’m just really emotional right now, and your mom and I were talking, and I just couldn’t help it. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“All right!” Dad exclaimed. “Dinner is ready.”
Madison and I turned to him as he and Mom came back into the house, a plate full of burgers in his right hand and the cooking utensils clutched in his left. Madison grabbed the salad from the island, and Mom grabbed all the condiments before leading the way to the formal dining room.
Dinner conversation was light, revolving mostly around the upcoming plans for the baby. Dad asked about the doctor we had and Madison assured him that he was one of the best. Then, Mom asked about the plans for the nursery, which Madison said weren’t set in stone since we didn’t know the sex of the baby. This segued into a discussion on guesses and old wives tales on how to determine the sex throughout the pregnancy. It was all nonsense, of course, but I watched as Madison told my mother that she had the strong feeling that the baby was a girl. This, as usual, led me to counter with my teasing and tell her she was wrong. I didn’t necessarily believe it. In truth, I didn’t have any inklings whatsoever—but I’d be damned if I was going to tell her that all her suspicions of it being a girl had me secretly hoping she was right.
“You know, Madison. We’ve got a few books about pregnancy and what you can expect in the study. Janet’s had a few pregnant patients, and they apparently found them quite useful. They’re yours, if you’d like,” my dad offered as we all finished eating.
“That would be great, thanks.”
Standing up, I took Madison’s plate from her. “Why don’t the two of you go on? Mom and I will take care of clean up.”
“Yeah?” I nodded and Madison smiled at Dad, who led her toward the study as Mom and I cleared the table.
Stepping up to the sink next to her, I grabbed the dishtowel and picked up the first of several clean dishes to dry them. Ever since I was young, this was our routine after dinner: Dad and Lilah would clear the table while Mom and I would clean the kitchen and do the dishes. Clearly, with neither of us living here, that routine was lost years ago, but whenever we were here, we made sure to indulge Mom as much as possible.
“Thanks for dinner, Mom. It was fantastic—as always,” I told her, stacking the third plate onto the counter before reach
ing for the fourth.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.” Through my periphery, I saw her smile before she spoke again. Placing the last few pieces of cutlery into the rack, she pulled the plug from the basin and turned to me, taking the end of my towel to dry her hands off. “Actually, dinner’s not the only reason I invited you here, Jensen. I wanted to give you something.”
I finished drying the dishes, tossing the dishtowel onto the counter before turning to find her opening one of the drawers in the island and digging for something in the back. Having grown up in this house, I knew the only things that drawer contained were candles, toothpicks, and napkin rings amongst other random things, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Smiling, Mom turned around with a small velvet box in her hands, and all I could do was stare because I would recognize it anywhere. There was a soft click when she opened the black box, revealing a slender ring with a single square-cut diamond. “Mom?”
“It was your grandmother’s,” she told me, reaching out for my hand and placing the ring in it. I knew whose it was, in fact, I was stunned she was even giving it to me; she hadn’t even offered when she heard I planned to propose to Kaylie—which, in hindsight, made sense.
Bringing me out of my state of shock, she continued. “I know you and Madison probably haven’t even discussed marriage yet as you’ve only just begun dating, but I thought you could give this to her when you decide it’s time … If you want it.”
“Y-yeah,” I stammered, imagining the small, antique ring on Madison’s dainty finger. “Thank you.”
Chapter 10. Sense and Sensitivity
The over-sized study was filled with wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, most of which were stocked with newer edition books as well as some older, more delicate looking tomes. Upon first glance, while Henry searched for the books he and Janet wanted to give me, I noticed quite a few medical books, some classic literature, books on poetry … I could’ve spent hours in there.
When Henry handed me the pregnancy books, I headed to the leather sofa in the center of the room, knowing that we likely had a few minutes while Jensen and his mom spent some quality time together. Pulling my legs up and sitting with them crisscrossed in front of me, I flipped through the pages, excitedly skimming the words and glancing briefly at the pictures before moving onto the next. As I browsed through the book, I picked up little bits of new information as well as some I already knew.
Don’t eat fish high in mercury. Check.
No sushi or deli meats. Check.
Get plenty of exercise. Check.
Sex during pregnancy is fine. Double check—well, except for last night.
Unable to contain my smile as I remembered the tranquil look on Jensen’s face as he fell asleep after he came, I buried my nose in the book and pretended to be reading something. I still couldn’t believe it happened; one minute he was so forceful, guiding my hips above him, and the next? Out like a light. The worst part was that I was thisfuckingclose. What the hell was I supposed to do, though? Keep going? No. That would’ve been wrong on so many levels. Plus, it wasn’t like I went without an orgasm entirely—he had gotten me off in Brandon’s car when we first left the club.
So, feeling only slightly ungratified, I slid off of him and headed to the washroom to clean myself up, promising that I would find a way to have him make it up to me. Being vindictive had never been in my nature, so withholding sex wasn’t likely to happen—why the hell would I punish myself further? Not to mention, I found the whole “no sex” thing manipulative, and I would never use my sexuality against anyone in that way.
“You find something particularly interesting?” Henry asked, pulling me from my scheming thoughts.
“Hmmm?” I glanced up from the page I was staring so intently at and blinked a few times. “Oh, I was just reading about”—I looked down again and cringed slightly—“the mucous plug? That’s … graphic.”
Henry chuckled as I shook my head and closed the book, resting it in my folded legs and looking at him as he sat on the opposite end of the couch. “So, how are you feeling?”
“I’m good. Really good, actually,” I told him, smiling.
His bright blue eyes searched mine for a minute, and I could sense that he wanted to say something, but seemed nervous. We’d known each other for years, and had never had a problem maintaining a conversation. Maybe that was because we usually spoke about the health of the horses on the ranch.
The silence continued to swell between us, growing slightly more awkward, and I found myself tucking my hair behind my ear and clearing my throat. “Um, thanks for the books. I think they’ll really help me out as the weeks pass in case I have a question and can’t get a hold of my doctor.”
“You know that if you have questions, I’m sure Janet would be more than happy to answer them, too,” Henry offered.
While the offer was sweet, I couldn’t help but think there was some stuff that I couldn’t bear them knowing. I mean, it would have been awkward to ask about sexual stuff with the mother of the man I was sleeping with, right? While she obviously knew how we wound up in this situation, I was sure she didn’t need details. Yeah, it was probably best for my humility to keep that sort of thing between Jensen, Dr. Smith, and me. “Uh, thanks. I’ll keep it in mind.”
Jensen popped his head through the doorway, saving me from stumbling into an awkward conversation. “Hey, you two. The kitchen’s clean and, as much as I hate to say it, it’s getting late, and we should hit the road.”
“Oh.” I looked over to Henry with a smile and gathered the books in my lap before uncrossing my legs and standing. “Thanks again. For everything.”
“Anytime, dear,” he said, standing and walking with me toward the door.
When we reached the front door, Janet was waiting there holding two Tupperware containers stuffed with leftovers from dinner. “Here you go,” she said, handing the dishes to Jensen after he slipped his shoes on. “It was so nice to have you both over for dinner tonight.”
Once my shoes were on, I hugged Janet. “Thanks for having us. It was wonderful.” I wasn’t just talking about dinner either. “I’ll see you in a few days at the spa?”
“Definitely.” She stepped back and pulled Jensen into her arms. “You drive safe, now.”
Jensen laughed, shooting me a playful glare. “Of course. I’ll talk to you later, all right?”
Janet whispered something to Jensen before releasing him, and he nodded once in response. “You bet.” He glanced at me quickly and then his mother again. It was weird, but before I could question it, we were leaving and heading to the car.
“Do you want me to drive home?” I asked, holding my hand out to Jensen as he fished the keys from his pocket.
“Nah, I’m feeling better. Besides, my mom told us to drive safe.” He snickered and unlocked the doors.
We backed out of the driveway and onto the street while I fiddled with the stereo until I found a station I liked. I had to giggle when the song Jensen and I danced to the night before came on. Looking over at him, I saw him smirk.
“This song is filthy,” he said with a light chuckle, squirming slightly in his seat. I suddenly found myself wondering if maybe he was getting a little hot and bothered as he remembered our very public foreplay on the dance floor.
I reached across the console and placed my hand on his thigh. “Well, if I’m remembering correctly, you quite enjoyed it …” I couldn’t help myself; I had to comment further. “More than me, in fact.”
Groaning, Jensen looked over at me for a brief moment. “God, Madison. I’m so sorry. I’ll spend the rest of our lives making last night up to you, I swear it.”
“That might be a little much,” I said, running my hand up and down his thigh lightly. “I think about ten or twenty years should suffice.”
Jensen and I shared a laugh, and as my hand continued to move up and down the top of his thigh, I felt a bulge. No, not there; in his pocket. My laugh died in my throat as I focuse
d on my discovery for a minute.
“What’s this?” I poked the hard lump.
“Oh, uh …” Jensen cleared his throat and shifted in his seat almost nervously. “It’s, uh, just something my mom gave me before we left.”
“Uh huh?” I waited a beat for him to continue, but he didn’t. What was he hiding?
“Hey,” he said finally, breaking the silence. “Can I ask you something?” I nodded, unsure if he even saw me. He must have, because he continued. “What was it that you and my mom were talking about—you know, when I walked in and found you both crying?”
Yup, he was definitely hiding something. The whole changing of topics made that abundantly clear. He pulled this right around my birthday, too.
“It was really nothing, just hormones,” I tried to explain. “We were just talking and—”
“About?”
Even though there was really no reason for it, my cheeks warmed as I thought back on the entire situation. It wasn’t anything bad, really, so I decided to just tell him about it.
Janet and I were standing at the kitchen island, chopping vegetables for the salad and burger toppings. Every once in a while, I’d look over my shoulder and out the window at Jensen and Henry as they stood over the grill, cooking and laughing. While I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, it made me smile to see Jensen so exuberant.
“I’ve noticed quite a change in him,” Janet said, pulling me from my thoughts. When I turned to look at her quizzically, she grinned. “He was a mess for so long, what with being in prison, and then breaking things off with Kaylie.” I nodded, knowing that what he had gone through had to have been difficult.
“While we had our suspicions about her, we were afraid that what we assumed she had done would stick with him forever. One doesn’t easily come back from such a betrayal, and he was already being forced to deal with so much.” Pausing briefly, she set her knife down and turned to me, taking my hands in hers. “She took a part of him away from us, and we weren’t sure if he’d ever allow himself to find happiness again.