by J A Fielding
“Tell me about it,” she said just seconds before she gasped. She pulled away and sat up, panting as she held her tummy. Axel felt a shiver run down his spine.
“What? What is it?” Axel asked. “What happened?”
“I don’t know…I think…” Her voice trailed off when she moved her hand over her tummy again.
“Trina, I am freaking out here.”
She smiled and leaned back.
“I think I just felt the babies move,” she said with her eyes closed.
“Are you sure?”
“I think so.” Trina pulled her shirt up and looked down at her protruding belly. “I read that you can actually see it happen.”
“Really?” he asked.
“Yeah. Let’s just wait for it and see…. there, right there,” she said excitedly.
“Holy shit,” Axel said in a whisper when she saw her tummy make small wavelike movements. “That is both awesome and weird at the same time.”
He put his hand on her and laughed when he felt the same wavelike movement again. He got lower on the bed so that his head could be right next to her belly.
“Hey, babies,” he started as she held her. “It’s your dad.”
He looked up at her and frowned.
“Do you think they can hear me?” he asked and she nodded.
“Yeah, studies have shown that babies can recognize voices as early as fifteen weeks.”
“Maybe we should start introducing some music to them.”
She shrugged.
“I have already introduced them to Enya, The Weeknd, Nickelback…almost everything I like.”
He shook his head.
“I still don’t understand your taste in music. It’s all so confused.”
“I like to think of it as vast rather than confused.”
He smiled and gently ran his hand on her again.
“This is amazing,” he said in a whisper. “I can’t wait to meet you guys.”
She bit her lower lip and closed her eyes again as she felt the light feathery movements inside her.
“I was beginning to get concerned when I hadn’t felt them move, but it happens at different times for different people. And I guess, this is my time,” she said.
“And I am so happy it happened when I was here to witness it,” Axel pointed out. “You know, this is the best gift you could ever give me.”
She smiled and gently ran her fingers through his hair, gently caressing his scalp.
“Can’t we just stay in and enjoy this?”
She laughed.
“You do realize that it doesn’t happen all day long, right?” she asked and he shrugged.
“Well, a man can dream, can’t he?”
She laughed as she went on running her fingers through his hair. He was right. That moment was perfect. At that moment, she did not even feel nauseated or wondering how and when her body would bounce back. All she knew at that moment, all she cared about was that she loved being pregnant. Feeling her babies move inside her. Feeling the connection that she’d heard so many women talk about.
Trina and Axel had stayed in bed all day after the ‘gender reveal’ party but even after a daylong rest, they still felt exhausted. The plan had been for them to work from home for the entire week but with what Trina had said would be the last meeting with Lucas, she had no choice but to go to the office. After all, it was just going to be for a few hours.
Axel was a little skeptical about letting Trina drive to the office by herself, but she was stubborn. He had tried everything he could think of but even then, she wouldn’t budge.
“If you want to get out of the house so badly, you take some time and go to the office or something,” Trina had said.
“But we were supposed to finish up the nursery today,” he had pointed out in protest.
“The nursery is done.”
“Well, not really. I still have the new curtains to set up.”
“It takes ten minutes to get the curtains and sheers up,” Trina said. “Everything else is done.”
“Fine. And I still do not understand why we couldn’t do blue and pink,” he said and she shook her head.
“Blue and pink is cliché. Green is gender fluid and it was a perfect blend to the chocolate brown furniture.”
He shook his head.
“The room looks like a mint chocolate bar.”
“A, only one wall is green. The rest of the room is hazelnut and B, the room looks more like a mint leaf on a foamy latte. And that is exactly the look I was going for.”
He smiled.
“You really don’t like the whole idea of the blue and pink. Do you?” he asked and she shrugged.
“Like I said, it is a bit too cliché. And that would have meant me having white cribs. I like the chocolate theme I have going on. It’s perfect and when the kids are older, it will be so much easier transform that room into a normal bedroom rather than working with a traditionally painted pink and blue room.”
He helped her into the wraparound dress she had in her hands.
“So, we are done with this whole idea of you driving me to work?” she asked as he shook his head.
“I am not convinced, but I don’t want to push you either,” he said and she smiled.
“Good. Why don’t you take the day and do something for you?” she suggested.
He looked at her and exhaled loudly.
“It’s fine. I have a few things to take care of at the office anyway.”
She nodded.
“Good. And I will only be gone for a couple of hours anyway.” She smiled as she held his face in her hands and gently kissed his cheek. “See you in a few hours, okay? I’ll help you put up the curtains when I get back.”
“By helping me, do you mean you are going to sit down and play director as I put them up?” he asked and Trina laughed.
“You know me too well,” she said.
And that was how the argument of whether or not he was going to accompany her to the office ended. He did not have much of a choice except to watch her get dressed and it took everything for him not to simply reach out to her and ripping her clothes off. He could not help himself. She was just so sexy…and he had been feeling that way lately. Her breasts were so much fuller and her curves a whole lot sexier…lately, it felt like he wanted to rip her clothes off every few minutes. He was not sure if what he was feeling was normal. He had heard of some people out there who had some crazy fetishes and who knew, maybe this was him finding out that he had one of those fetishes.
He gently pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly.
“I’ll make you beef fried rice for lunch,” he said when he pulled away.
“How about teriyaki beef instead?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Whatever you want, baby. Your wish is my command, my queen.”
She giggled.
“What time are you leaving for the office?”
“I’m headed to the bathroom right now. So maybe in half an hour or so.”
“All right. I will see you soon.”
He kissed her again.
“See you soon,” he said, smiling.
*****
“Mrs. Crews-Anderson,” Darryl said when Trina walked through the front doors of the office. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Daryl, and I thought we were on first name basis by now.”
“I’m sorry but calling my boss by her first name will take some getting used to.”
Trina smiled.
“Well, I am too excited to say anything else.”
“It shows. You are positively glowing,” he said and she shrugged.
“It is a good day.”
Darryl raised an eyebrow as she began walking down the hallway.
“But it is only nine in the morning.”
“Well, a good day usually starts off perfect in the morning,” she called out as she walked on.
She was still smiling as she walked to Victoria’s office.
“Good morning,” she said making Victoria smile as she looked at her.
“Someone’s vibrant.”
Trina shrugged.
“It is a beautiful day. I am about to…I mean, we are about to close a case that will save my client millions and I just felt my babies move for the first time this morning.”
Victoria raised an eyebrow over the other.
“Really?” she asked and Trina nodded.
“Oh, yeah. It was a weird feeling at first, but I just love how perfect and right it felt. I think I have two athletic people in here. Or maybe, footballers.”
“Or basketballers with the best footwork.”
Trina nodded.
“I am African-American. So, that is definitely a possibility.”
Victoria pushed her chair back and grabbed a file that was on her desk.
“So, you are just in time. I just got a call that Sonya and her lawyers are here. We should head to the board room.”
“What about Lucas?” Trina asked as they walked to the door.
“He got here almost twenty minutes ago. I was just waiting for you.”
“Good. This is the only thing I have to take care of here and then I will be back home in pajama pants as I work on the paperwork for the Fashion 101,” Trina said.
“Fashion 101?” Victoria asked looking confused. “Do they have a case or something?”
Trina nodded.
“No. Fashion 101 was all signed to the same firm as Bree Fonseca, and Fashion 101 always follows Fonseca.”
“So, in other words a new client landed in our lap thanks to Bree Fonseca? Is that what you’re saying?” Victoria asked as they approached the board room.
Trina held the door handle and nodded.
“That is exactly what I am saying.”
She opened the door and walked into the board room where Lucas, Al, the firm’s investigator, Sonya, and her lawyers were waiting. It was eerily silent in there and Trina could not help but notice that she could have cut the tension in there with a knife.
“I hope everyone is having a good morning,” she said as she walked to her chair and as she walked past Sonya, she noticed the tight dress that was pushing her breasts a little too high. “She must be freezing,” she thought as she sat down.
“We all just want to settle this and walk away amicably,” Sonya’s lawyer started. “We believe the amount agreed on is practical enough.”
Lucas looked at Trina who was smiling.
“I cannot give her even a small percentage of my company,” he whispered.
“Actually, I don’t think we will be settling today,” she said.
“What?” Sonya asked and her lawyer put a hand on her hers to calm her down.
“You do realize that if this goes to court, your client stands to lose millions, right? I mean, this country does not take racism lightly.”
“Well, I agree with you as far as this country’s policies are concerned, but I have to wonder, what name is your client going to be using once she goes before a judge?” Trina asked and Lucas gave her a confused look.
“What are you talking about?” Sonya asked. “What the hell is this?”
Trina took one of the files from Victoria and slid it across the table to Sonya’s lawyer.
“That is what Al here managed to dig up on Sonya. This is not the first time she has done this, but this is the first time she has used the name Sonya Misalucha. But she has also been Sonya Alvarez, Claire Forbes, Amara Hirst…those are just the ones I could manage to cram before I sat down for this meeting.”
“Wait, what?” Lucas asked, surprised. “What is going on here?”
“Sonya here is a fraud,” Victoria said as she looked at Sonya whose breathing had grown erratic.
Sonya’s lawyer looked at her and then at the file in his hand.
“Sonya?” he asked, but she looked as confused as she was dumbfounded.
“It is safe to say that one, this case is going nowhere so, there will be absolutely no settlement and two, find a way to get your hands on some cash because you cannot depend on your assets anymore. The feds will be freezing your assets and you will be under investigation for fraud.”
“No…” Sonya said as she pushed her seat back and stood up.
“Sonya, what is going on?” her lawyer asked just before she quickly walked out with him following closely. It was all a confusing but entertaining scene for Trina who was just sitting back watching it all unfold.
“Wait. What the hell just happened here?” Lucas asked and Victoria looked at him smiling.
“Your ex-girlfriend over there has been pulling the same scam in twelve states. She is a wanted woman.”
“So, now you can go ahead and list your company without fear of losing your company to her.”
Lucas forced out a laugh.
“Oh, my God…it really is over.”
“Yeah,” Trina said nodding. “It really is.”
“This calls for a celebration and maybe a big fat bonus for us,” Victoria pointed out and Lucas laughed.
“Oh, believe me there is going to be a bonus all right.”
“So, that’s sorted. But how are things at home?” Trina asked and he exhaled loudly.
“Not so good.”
“Did you at least come clean to her?” Victoria asked and he nodded.
“Good,” Trina said. “I know you dodged a bullet here, but things would have been even worse if you hadn’t told her by now. I mean, people like Sonya might be unpredictable in their moves, but a woman scorned is a woman scorned. That outcome is always the same,” she added just as his phone rang. He reached for it and pulled it out of his pocket.
“Speaking of my wife,” he said, waving his phone.
“Go handle that. We will finish up here,” Trina said.
“And send you the bill.”
He gave the two ladies a thumbs up signal before he walked out leaving them in the board room with Al.
“I wish all cases were this straight forward,” Al said as he got up.
“You and me both,” Victoria said as she leaned back in her chair. Trina put up an index finger.
“Me three.”
“If there is nothing else,” Al said standing up.
“Thanks for everything, Al. You really came through for us,” Trina said, smiling.
“It’s part of the job, right?” he asked and walked out of the room.
Trina leaned back and sighed.
“I would kill for an avocado sandwich right now. And maybe an apple bran muffin,” she said. Victoria frowned.
“Together?”
“Well…not necessarily. I would probably have the sandwich first as I wash it down with some strong black coffee and then, I would eat the muffin.”
Victoria shook her head.
“Your cravings are weird…maybe even disgusting to some people.”
Trina shrugged.
“The body wants what the body wants.”
“Weird, Trina. Just weird.”
“Why?”
“Because people either crave for sweets or salty sweets, but you seem to want them together.”
Trina shrugged again.
“And what is wrong with that?” she asked. “I am eating for three. Maybe one wants sweets and the other wants salty sweets.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I don’t know. I just don’t want to make sense of what your taste buds are like right now. It’s just…weird how wide your taste range is.”
“Like I said, I am handling three taste buds here and it is not exactly easy.”
“Victoria nodded.
“As you say.”
“Anyway, I am going to need you to come to that meeting with the Fashion 101 CEO tomorrow. You will be handling most of the work here singlehandedly once I go on maternity leave.”
Victoria shook her head.
“When are you taking your leave anyway?” she asked and Trina rubbed her temple.
“I don’t really
have any intention of being in line with the traditional ‘be active and take the leave a month or a couple of weeks before the babies are here’ thing.”
“You realize there is a reason why the tradition is in place, right?” Victoria asked.
“To keep the masochistic society going strong.”
“Or to make sure you don’t burn out before you get to the delivery room. I mean, you need to take it easy before the babies get here. I know you, and I know you are not going to let Rosa handle everything all by herself.”
Trina frowned.
“Are you accusing me of helicopter parenting?” she asked.
“You already do a helicopter boss thing. And yes, you are already helicopter parenting before the kids are even here.”
Trina shook her head.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Which part?” Victoria asked. “The boss part or parenting part of it?”
“Both.”
“Okay, Victoria started. The boss thing first. Remember when you first started this firm?”
Trina nodded.
“Yes. But what about it?” she asked.
“You wanted to be kept in the loop with every case any and each associate worked on,” Victoria said with a smile.
“That was because I was still on edge with leaving HHM and everything.”
“And what about the way you were always persistent that you be present for the decorating of the nursery?” Victoria pressed. Trina took a long deep breath.
“Well, it is only natural for a mother to do that,” she said as she pushed her chair back and stood up. “And, no. we will not be talking anymore about this.”
Victoria got up and followed her out.
“Yeah, sure,” she said in a soft but cynical voice. Trina looked at her and shook her head.
“Will you keep me posted on any developments…basically anything I need to know, because it is getting harder and harder to get out of bed and I swear my driver’s seat is getting smaller by the day,” Trina said as they walked towards the elevator.
“Don’t worry. We can Skype whenever you want.”
“Good.” Trina smiled at Victoria. “I wouldn’t have asked for a better managing partner, you know that, right?”
Victoria held her hand and gave her a quick hug.
“Take some alone time, okay?” she asked and Trina shrugged when she pulled away.
“That is exactly what I am going to do.”