“Please tell Juliet hello from me and enjoy your turkey.”
Mariss lifted the paper closer to her face, unable to believe the words scrawled at the bottom just before his signature. “What does that say?” she said.
“Wow.” Juliet's voice was filled with awe.
“I miss you,” Mariss read quietly. “Did he say…”
“Yeah…he said that. That really just happened.”
She shook her head and ran a finger over his elegant handwriting. Leave it to Sebastian to steal the show without even being present.
Mariss let B into her apartment and closed the door. The Thanksgiving dinner had turned into a baby shower, thanks to Brit and Juliet. B lugged the last bag of baby stuff inside and set it on the table behind the sofa.
“What are you doing for Christmas?” B asked, switching gears suddenly.
Mariss noted that his tone was expectant rather than inquiring.
“I don't know,” she admitted. “Holden was supposed to take me somewhere tropical this year.” She shook her head against the tears that threatened.
“Why don't you come spend it with me and my family so you don't have to be alone? Mom would love to have you. Unless you have plans with Sebastian.”
“No. No plans.” Mariss rubbed her distended belly and yawned. “I hope you don't intend to mess around tonight. I'm so tired I could sleep on the floor.”
“You go to bed,” he chuckled. “I'll stay down here.”
Mariss turned and frowned.
“Do you remember when your dog died our junior year of high school?” he asked
She nodded. “Of course.”
“You kept her dog bed and all of her toys in a bag under your bed for a year so that when you missed her you could pull them out and remember her.” B pulled her against his chest and hugged her. “I imagine your bedroom is going to be like that for a while.” He placed a kiss on her forehead. “I'll sleep down here on the sofa.”
“Don't be ridiculous,” she said. “There's a sofa up in the loft.” Mariss smirked and shoved him away. “I'll see you in the morning.”
She went up to her room and changed clothes, but she didn't go to sleep right away. Laying on her back, staring up at the ceiling she reflected on what a long day it had been. Being pregnant really exhausted her. Last Thanksgiving hadn't been near as busy and she hadn't been this tired.
Thinking of the year before made her miss Holden. A few tears slipped from her eyes to her pillow.
A cramp seized Mariss' abdomen and she muttered a soft cry. It didn't last long, just a sharp tightening across her stomach that stole her breath and left her with the intense need to use the restroom. She pushed herself out of bed and went to relieve herself.
Glancing down, Mariss noticed spots of red in her panties.
“B!” she screamed as she stared in horror. “Not again. Please not after I've come this far.”
B crashed through the bedroom door and stumbled into the bathroom. “What is it?” he asked, his eyes wild. “What's wrong?”
“I need to go to the hospital. I need to go right now. My cell is on the dresser. Call Brit and call Juliet.”
“Right. Right.” B turned around in a circle to get his bearings.
“And call my mother. Call her last.”
Mariss pulled up her underwear and pajamas. She grabbed her phone from the dresser and tossed it to B, then found her keys and her wallet.
“We'll take Holden's truck.”
B didn't answer as he explained to Brit what was going on.
Preterm labor was what the doctors were saying, not miscarriage. And they were able to stop the contractions. Mariss fought to keep from crying with relief as she lay in the hospital bed. Brit sat by her side, sound asleep. B and Juliet had wandered down the hall looking for coffee.
The room phone rang, startling Brit awake. She answered it quickly before Mariss could.
“Hello?” she said groggily. There was a long silence as she listened to whoever was on the other end. “Yeah, okay. For you, Mare.”
Mariss took the phone from her. Brit snuggled back down into her seat and closed her eyes.
“Hello?”
“Hello, May.” Sebastian's voice was calm, holding no hint of worry. Mariss was surprised at how comforting it was. “I spoke with Juliet. Is everything okay? Do I need to come home?”
“Your home is in London,” she reminded him. “And I'm fine. They stopped the prelabor. I'm going to be on bedrest for a while.”
“You should have called me.”
“Why? You don't want anything to do with my baby. Why would I call you?” There was more acid in her tone than she'd expected.
Sebastian sighed. “I don't want to argue with you.”
“Well, I want to argue with you.”
“Fine. Say what you need to say. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I'm fine. The baby and I are fine and I'll be well taken care of.” B and Juliet walked back in the room. Mariss shot her friend an angry scowl, but Juliet was nonplussed. “I have to go. Have fun on your shoots.”
“Mariss-”
“I'll be fine, Sebastian. I have to go.”
Sebastian hung up without saying goodbye. Mariss knew he was angry, but she couldn't do anything about it at the moment.
“Was that Bassy Bear?” Juliet asked.
Mariss nodded with a scowl on her face.
“He would have been pissed if he didn't know,” she defended.
“Well, he's pissed now anyway, so it didn't do any good.”
“Is Brit asleep?” Juliet asked, ignoring her.
“I hope so. I'm not in the mood to be bitched at by both of you. I want to go home.”
“The doctor will let you go soon,” B said. “In the meantime, maybe you should consider finding someone to stay with since you're supposed to be on bedrest.”
“Oh yeah?” Mariss asked. “Like who? Not these two. I'd be more stressed out than I already am.”
“Like me,” B suggested. “Or my mom. She'd be more than happy to have you.”
“Good idea,” Juliet said.
Brit chimed in with a, “Here, here,” but didn't bother to open her eyes.
“I sure don't want to take care of you and your baby bump,” Juliet said with a grin.
Mariss closed her eyes. Too tired to argue, she said, “Fine. Whatever you want.”
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
'ELLO DUCKY
Two days before Christmas, Mariss found herself tucked into bed in the guest room of B's mother's house as the petite, shapely woman bustled about tidying things that weren't out of order. Tomorrow, she would be exactly six months along and hadn't had any trouble since the last scare. Still, Maryanne wouldn't let her out of bed to do anything on her own besides go to the restroom and even that was iffy.
“I'll bring dinner up soon,” Maryanne said. “Would you like that?”
“I'd like to have dinner downstairs with the family,” Mariss grumbled. “I'm tired of being in this room. I'm sure that it's fine for me to come down for dinner.”
She gave Mariss a sympathetic smile. “Of course it is. Bartholemew!”
Mariss snorted. Maryanne was the only one who called B by his real name. She was convinced she did it because she knew how he hated it.
“Yeah, mom?” he said, bounding into the room.
“Help Mariss down to dinner, please.” Maryanne left the room.
“Oh, you get to come out of your cave?” B teased.
“Shut up.”
He scooped her into his arms and she wrapped hers around his neck.
“I thought for sure the next time we saw you there would be a baby in your arms.”
Mariss pouted. “I can walk on my own. I'm not incapable.”
B just laughed and carried her down to the dining room.
The Caroccio family was just like any other Italian family. Big. And they all ate dinner at Mom's house every night. When Mariss had agreed to stay wi
th B's family she hadn't really considered what that meant. Now, it could no longer be ignored.
“Ah! There's the prego!” B's brother Anthony exclaimed.
“Tony!” Maryanne chastised. “That's rude!”
“It's okay, Maryanne,” Mariss said. “I've been called worse.”
“What's wrong? Your legs broke too?” This came from Richard, or Richie as he preferred to be called. He wasn't fond of Mariss since she'd declined his inappropriate advances several years ago with a swift kick to his manhood.
“Shut up, Rich,” B growled.
“I'm just sayin'. She can't walk down the stairs on her own?”
“I told Bartholomew to bring her down. Can we say grace and eat, please?” Maryanne folded her hands on the table and bowed her head like it was supposed to make her wishes come true. “Richie, since you were so rude, you can bless our food and ask forgiveness.”
One of B's sisters snickered. Mariss bowed her head and folded her hands like Maryanne.
“Dear Lord,” Richie started, his thick Brooklyn accent curling over the words. “Thank you for dis food ma was so gracious to provide for us tonight on the Eve of Christmas Eve. Bless the food. Don't let anyone choke on it.”
“Ask forgiveness,” Maryanne added when it sounded like Richie was going to leave that part off.
“And forgive me for bein' rude to Mrs. Red. Amen. Though I don't know why I gotta apologize for askin' a question.”
“Richie-”
“It's okay, Maryanne. Richie's just mad that I married Holden instead of him.”
There were several snickers as Richie tried to protest.
Dinner was a circus that kept Mariss entertained and smiling. By the time they were done, the food was gone. There were hardly ever any leftovers in the Caroccio household, even though Maryanne usually cooked for an army.
Mariss and B sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace as the evening turned into late night. Maryanne went to bed early so Mariss didn't have to deal with her motherly hovering.
“How are you feeling?” B asked. His fingers traced the sleeve of her shirt, tickling her arm.
“Fine. A little tired, but I blame all that food. The baby is happy and full.” She smiled.
“Little Holiss?” B said with a smile. “You know, I think Holden would be proud of you.”
“For what?” she asked. “Surviving?”
“You didn't kill anyone.”
She snorted. “No. I faded a little bit, but Sebastian is good at handling me when I do that.”
“Good. I'm glad someone can.”
Mariss took a deep breath.
“You ready for me to take you up to your room?”
She shook her head. “No. I'm tired of being in that room.”
B chuckled. “We'll stay here a little longer then.”
Mariss rested her head on his shoulder and watched the flames lick gently at the coals.
Lurching out of a deep sleep, Mariss looked around the room trying to remember where she was. She threw off the hands that attempted to hold her down and tried to stand, but something held her fast.
“You're alright,” a voice cut through her confusion. “You're safe, Mariss. It's me. It's B.”
“B?” she asked. Her heart raced in her chest and her hand went instinctively to her belly.
“Yeah. Bartholomew Caroccio? Calm down. Deep breaths. Please don't drop that baby here.”
Mariss blinked up into her friend's gentle brown eyes and finally relaxed. “Sorry,” she murmured. “I still have nightmares of that day.”
“I can only imagine,” he said. “It's time for you to go to bed.”
“Will you stay with me?” she asked as he scooped her up into his arms.
B grinned down at her. “The fearless Mariss Red admitting vulnerability. Of course, I'll stay with you.” He placed a gentle kiss to her hairline that was anything but friendly.
Mariss woke the next morning to familiar, excited squeals. The door to her bedroom flew open and she flinched as two women jumped on the bed.
“Don't shake the baby!” Juliet cried as Brit jumped up and down on her hands and knees.
“Aren't you a little old to be jumping on the bed?” Mariss asked.
“Nope. Brett loves it when I bounce up and down.”
“I'll just bet he does. Where's B?”
“Downstairs. He called us this morning and said you had cabin fever and needed your girls, so we called Elise and she's going to do your hair and nails and help you relax.” Juliet beamed at the brilliance of her own plan.
“I wish I could take credit for this, but it all goes to her.” Brit extended her arms outward and bowed to Juliet.
“Ladies, if you don't mind,” Elise grunted from the doorway as she lugged her bags in. “The company is paying for this,” Elise said, her eyes full of mirth. “They weren't going to tell you.”
Mariss grinned. “I knew you were a good friend to have. Come in and close the door. And ignore the Caroccio men. They're all a bunch of pigs,” she added as Richie shouted something lewd from downstairs.
“Except for me,” B said. He leaned on the door. “I don't even know why Rich is here.”
“He wants to get some prego booty,” Juliet teased.
“Ew.” Mariss pushed herself out of bed and waddled to the bathroom in her t-shirt and panties.
After a moment, Juliet shouted, “My god! How long are you going to pee?”
“There's a baby sitting on my bladder,” Mariss shouted back. “What the hell do you expect?”
“Oh, I love these three women,” Elise said. Mariss assumed she was talking to B.
“Tell Bartholomew to leave,” Mariss said.
“Aw, Mare, really?”
She chuckled at his disparaging tone. “I thought she needed to know your full name before you tried to chat her up.”
“His mom already told me.”
Mariss finished in the bathroom and joined them in the room. B was gone and the door was closed. Brit and Juliet sat on the bed with their legs crossed.
“B is actually under the bed,” Juliet narced.
“No, he's not,” Mariss said. There was no way she was going to bend down and look. B reached out and grabbed her ankle. Mariss screamed and jumped. Grabbing her stomach, she winked at Juliet. “Oh my god!” she cried as Juliet mouthed, “Play along,” to the other girls. “Oh, god! I think the baby's coming!”
“What?” B shouted. He pushed out from under the bed and was at her side a moment later. “Are you kidding me? I didn't scare you that bad.”
“It doesn't matter,” she said, feigning anger and doing a great job of it. “I'm pregnant! What did you think was going to happen?”
“Breathe, Mare,” Juliet said, coming off the bed to take her arm. “Remember like they showed us in the lamaze classes?”
Mariss almost lost it right there, but she copied Juliet's ridiculous breathing technique. She and B led her to the door. Mariss put her hand on the knob and burst out laughing.
“What the hell is so funny?” B pulled away from her and crossed his arms over his chest.
“I wish we'd gotten that on camera,” Brit said. “Do you know how much money we could make off you?” She thumped B on the arm, but he wasn't laughing.
“That wasn't funny, Mare. You scared the shit out of me.”
“You scared the shit out of me! If I hadn't just gone to the bathroom I would have wet myself!”
B shrugged and pushed past her. He slammed the door with a bang.
“Aw. We hurt his feelings.” Juliet turned away and jumped back on the bed. “Make her gorgeous so he calms down, Elise.”
Elise smiled and held up several bottles of nail polish. “Pick a color,” she said with a grin.
The rest of the day was spent with the four of them swapping stories and laughing until Mariss almost wet herself twice. Her three friends left sometime in the early evening, just before B came up to her room.
“Everyone is about to
head out,” he said. He leaned against the door the way he did when he was relaxed. “Do you want me to cook?” He grinned at his joke.
“You're not going with them?”
He shook his head. “I'm going to stay with you and make sure your little prank this morning doesn't come true.”
“You mean you're still mad at me.” Mariss shrugged. “You shouldn't have scared a pregnant woman like that.”
B came in and sat on the edge of the bed. “Your hair looks great, but then, it always does.” He winked.
“You don't have to babysit me,” Mariss said, her voice soft. She knew B was getting attached. The way he looked at her when he thought he was hiding his emotions was not benign.
“I know I don't have to,” he said with a shrug.
“Actually, I think I'd kind of like some time to myself, if you don't mind. Your family is great, but I need some alone time.”
B nodded, disappointment running through his features. “I get it. Girl time.”
She smiled. “Thank you for inviting the girls over. I'm exhausted now. I'll probably just sleep the rest of the evening.”
“Alright. I'll have my phone with me. Make sure you call me if anything happens. After you call 9-1-1.”
“I promise.”
Once the family was gone, the house was blessedly quiet. Mariss lay back in the bed and listened to nothing. Not being able to work wasn't easy. Fortunately, B had snuck her computer to her so she could work on edits or set up launches and interviews when his mother wasn't lurking. It wasn't easy to get anything past her.
Mariss opened her eyes and listened to the silence. She thought she'd heard someone knocking at the front door, assuming it was B or Maryanne having forgot something, she waddled down the stairs to the door. The trek was tiring and she was huffing by the time she got downstairs, but even before she opened the door, she saw through the frosted glass window pane that no one was there.
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