by LK Collins
I roll my eyes and pull on my pajamas then rush to the bathroom to tame my hair and brush my teeth. He walks in and smacks me on the ass, kissing me on the cheek. After Darrell came here yesterday, we both agreed to let it go. Which is a hard thing to do as the fear seems to always be in the back of my mind, but looking at Latch’s smile, I find the serenity that I need to push forward. He will keep me safe, just like he did last night.
“I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“What? You can’t wait for me?”
“Why? I’m hungry and you’re getting all done up.”
I look at the pink lipstick in my hand and set it down. Grabbing a hair tie from inside my makeup bag, I pull my long hair back in a ponytail. Latch is watching me through the mirror.
“I’m ready.”
“Are you nervous?” he asks as we walk out of the bedroom.
I nod and he laughs, walking down the stairs that lead into the kitchen as he holds my hand. Really? I tell him that I’m nervous and all he can do to calm me down is to laugh at me?
“Morning. What’s so funny?” his grandmother asks and a gorgeous, older, spunky woman comes into view. She’s dressed in hot pink capris with her gray hair braided over one shoulder and her flowery cardigan looks like she stole it off someone from the cruise ship.
“Abby’s nervous,” Latch says, kissing his grandma on the cheek, and I about slap him on the back of his head.
She smiles, looking at the two of us. “Well, you have nothing to be nervous for, my dear. I don’t bite. And from what Latch tells me, he thinks the world of you, so…so do I.”
She takes my hand in hers and Latch says, “See? Nothing to worry about. Abby, this is my grandma, Maris, and Grandma, this is Abby.” His nose drives him to the food. Maris looks at me with the biggest and most interested hazel eyes ever.
“You are beautiful.” I blush a shade of crimson that I never knew a woman was capable of making me turn into.
“Thank you.”
“It’s a pleasure to have you here and…” she trails off, her eyes moving to my stomach as she settles a hand over it.
The gesture catches me off guard. Thankfully, Latch comes to save the day. “Don’t scare her away.”
“Sorry, I’m just very excited to be a great-grandmother. I never thought this day would happen.” She pats my hand and then goes to the oven and pulls out a quiche. Latch kisses my cheek and sticks a piece of bacon in my mouth. “Oh my God, it’s delicious.”
“Right?” he says. “She cooks it in syrup. See? I told you everything would be okay,” he whispers into my ear.
And as I look into his eyes, I believe him. Everything that has happened up until now has been to put Latch and I together, on the path towards a future. A future that might not be ideal for some, but for me it’s the future that I want.
21
Latch
“Come on, Abby, we’re gonna be late,” I yell into the bathroom, checking my watch. It’s ten ‘til one and our appointment with Dr. Rosland is at one fifteen.
She doesn’t respond and worry sets in. Normally she’d jab back at me, but the eerie silence doesn’t settle well, so I open the door to her on her knees in front of the toilet. “Oh, baby.” My heart breaks as she rests her head on the seat.
“I thought you were feeling better today.”
“I was,” she whispers rocking her head back and forth. “But I’m all out of medicine and Darrell texted me.”
Her phone is on the floor next to her and I grab it to see what he said that upset her so badly.
If you think I’m going to let you just walk away, you’re dead fucking wrong! You and that tattooed piece of shit are going to pay.
“He can’t do shit to hurt us. He can say whatever he wants, but it’s not gonna make a difference. Babe, please do not let him get into your head. It’s not healthy for you or the baby.” She nods lifting her head from the seat and I pull her against my chest. Small sobs reel through her core and it hurts so fucking bad that he’s doing this to her. I could fucking kill him…
“I don’t want you worrying, okay? Today is a good day. Let’s go and see our healthy baby, all right?”
“Okay.” She gives me a small smile that melts my heart and makes my cock twitch all at the same time. Jesus, the control that this woman has over me is un-fuckin’ real.
Standing up, I reach down to her and help her stand. “You okay?”
She nods, looking so gorgeous and I squeeze her ass. She grabs the mouthwash taking a swig and swishes it around. “Ready?” I ask, and we head out of the bathroom.
“Good luck you two,” my grandmother says, peeking up from a crossword that she is doing on the couch.
“Thanks!”
“Text me afterwards,” she stands and hugs both of us.
Walking out, Abby and I get lucky as the neighbor is getting out of a taxi so we don’t have to walk down to the main intersection to catch one. “You mind if we snag your cab?” I ask him.
“Not at all.”
“To 10th Street and 5th Avenue, please.”
The cabby flips the meter on and we begin the trip uptown. Abby’s hand is in mine and she is really quiet. She hasn’t said much since she and I were in the bathroom. “What’s bothering you?”
“I know we talked about letting it go, but I’m worried about what Darrell is going to do.”
“Why, because he showed up yesterday and acted tough?”
“No, because he has a lot of money and resources to ruin us.”
I roll my eyes at her. “Let him try. It doesn’t make one difference to me.”
“Come on, Latch, if it was that easy for him to find us when he didn’t even know your name, it’s only a matter of time until he figures out what you used to do for a living and he’ll use that against me when I file for divorce.”
“Do you think I care if he knows? It wasn’t a secret, and it will have no impact on your divorce, trust me.”
“But it was illegal.”
“I can’t get in trouble unless I am caught in the act, and I don’t plan on ever going back to that life again.” She gives me a small smile, but I need more. “Will you stop getting ahead of yourself? He’s pulling at anything he can right now because he lost you and that kills him. This is what he wants; don’t let him do this to you. If he wants to hire a private investigator and then go to the cops when he finds out, let him, because nothing he can do will separate you and me.”
She blinks a few times and looks out the window deep in thought. I watch her eyes as they scan all of the buildings and the people. I can see how scared she really is.
Maybe I need to shut Darrell up in order to make him understand who he’s fuckin’ with. Because seeing Abby like this is really pissing me off. Her mind is drifting to all sorts of crazy places.
“Here you are,” the cab driver says, surprising me that we made is so quickly. I pay him and then help Abby out. The walk to the office is a short distance and before we enter the front doors to the building, I stop and ask, “Ready, beautiful?”
“Absolutely,” she responds in the reassuring way that I am used to.
Maybe it’s being here and knowing that we are about to see our child for the first time that has changed the mood, but there’s a positive vibe coming from her, which is what I need. She has her hand held tightly around mine, and I know in the back of my mind that I’ll do anything to keep her fears at bay.
“Are you excited?” I ask her.
“Yeah, you?”
“Very.”
The office is on the first floor. I’ve been here so many times to meet my grandma for lunch, but walking in, it looks completely different. I tell the receptionist who is eating her lunch at her desk, “Teracino, for Dr. Rosland.”
She looks at the computer with her eyes squinted and then Dr. Rosland peeks his head out of his office and says, “Hey, Latch, good to see you. They aren’t in the computer, Francine. Could you have them wait in room two?”
He
waves to us and the woman says, “Right this way.” She opens a door for Abby and I to walk through.
Francine ushers us into the exam room and I look at Abby. “Are you sure he’s the best?” she whispers.
“I promise.”
In the hallway, I can hear Dr. Rosland and the receptionist speaking, then he knocks on the door once before coming in. “Latch,” he exclaims and I stand to shake his hand. “And you must be, Abby.” He shakes her hand and sits on a stool across from the chairs that we are in.
“Thank you for seeing us,” I tell him.
“Are you kidding me? I’d do anything for Maris.”
We all laugh and he asks her, “So, Abby, how are you feeling?”
“I’ve been better.” She pulls the empty bottle of pills from her purse that the hospital gave her. “I ran out of these. They really helped with the nausea.”
He looks at the bottle and then says, “I can get you more of them.”
“And they are safe for the baby?” I ask.
“Absolutely.”
“Do you know how far along you are?”
“No, I was in the hospital because the nausea was so bad, and they just told me I was pregnant and to schedule something with my OB.”
“Well, that’s why you’re here. So tell me, when was your last period?” he asks.
“Uhh, I’m not sure. My periods have always been really irregular; I can go months without one.”
“All right, I’ll start with your vitals,” he says and reluctantly she lets go of my hand when he gestures her to have a seat on the exam table. She sits there, so beautiful, as he begins the process, taking her temperature, checking her oxygen levels, and then blood pressure.
“Your blood pressure is really high, 265/110. Have you been under a lot of stress?”
She nods, feeling terrible. “Like I told you on the phone, our situation is complicated. Abby’s ex has been making things really hard on her.”
He stops what he is doing, powering up the ultrasound machine and looks her in the eye. “You have to keep your stress to a minimum. At this stage, high blood pressure can cause a lot of complications for both you and the baby. Latch, I trust that you can make sure this stress stops.”
“Definitely, Doc.”
“Good, now let’s have a look at this little one. Latch will you turn the lights off?” I stand while she unzips her jeans.
“They won’t button anymore.”
“We’ll try this way first because I know the transvaginal ultrasound can be a little uncomfortable and you’re probably far enough along if your clothes aren’t fitting.”
He squeezes some blue gel on her soft, white skin. She flinches when the cold goop touches her and he says, “Sorry, it’s a little cold.” The screen on the monitor is blank and all of our eyes are on it as he moves around over her stomach. Then he stops, and on it is a black circle with the small outline of a tiny baby inside.
“There’s your baby.” He points to the screen and I watch in amazement as our child is shown to us for the first time.
“It’s okay?” Abby asks.
“So far, looks good. See this flutter right here?” And he shows us on the screen, then pushes something on the key board and the room is filled with a whooshing. “That’s your baby’s heartbeat.”
Tears fill my eyes as I listen to the new life that we have created. Abby looks at me and a stray tear falls off of my cheek landing on our hands. “Oh God, that’s our baby, Latch.” She has the same tears in her eyes and I squeeze her hand. Then look back at the screen.
Going forward, my life will never be the same. Seeing the baby makes everything a true reality. Yeah, I might not have the first clue how to raise a child, but I am going to do my damnedest to protect it with everything I have.
22
Abby
“February 14th, could you imagine delivering the baby on Valentine’s Day?” I ask.
“I can’t even believe that this little thing is gonna grow into something big enough for us to hold.”
Latch is looking at the picture with me, and I pass it to him as we lie on the bed. “Do you want a boy or girl?” I ask.
“Doesn’t matter to me. You?”
“Me neither, just healthy.”
He sets the photo down and I’m so thankful that my stomach has settled. Dr. Rosland refilled my prescription and since getting back to Maris’s, Latch has made sure that I haven’t had to lift a finger. Scooting closer to him, I lay my head on his chest and rest my free hand on his face. He leans into my touch, closing his eyes and then says, “I don’t want you to think I’m putting off calling my clients, ‘cause I’m not. I’ve just been worried about you and that has my mind preoccupied.”
“I know you will. Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Why did you become an escort to begin with?”
He looks at me a little perplexed. “You sure you wanna talk about this right now?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to stress you.”
“It won’t,” I tell him honestly.
“Some girl from the gym I work out at hired me for a bachelorette party probably five years ago. I was broke and needed the money. I guess the bride was into tattooed guys.” He blinks a few times going back to that time and asks me again, “Are you sure you wanna talk about this?”
“Yes, I wanna know everything about you! I feel fine, so please stop worrying.”
“Okay, well, one thing led to another and the party got out of control. The girls wanted more than just dancing and stripping. I’d never done anything like that before, and they offered to pay me for sex, so I took their money.” A ping of jealousy ripples through my soul, imagining Latch with other women.
“Did you feel guilty?”
He looks up at the ceiling before responding, “No, I was raised in a different way. My dad taught me to always take advantage of any situation that benefited me. I never felt bad taking money from any woman, except for you.”
“So since it was easy money that fell into your lap, you just rolled with it?”
“Yeah. I’d recently lost my mom and hadn’t a clue what I was going to do with my life. I was so lost. Maris had me working in her office cleaning, and I hated it. I realized very quickly that sex could mask any pain I was dealing with; it was the best drug in the world. So I built a client list, word of mouth spread, and women kept contacting me.”
I don’t want to say that I can sympathize with him, but we’ve talked about the pain of losing a parent, and I know the feeling better than anyone. I was put up for adoption when I was a baby by my biological parents, just because they were young, and then I lost my mom and dad around the same time Latch lost his mom. So I understand how Latch found relief in something that numbed the pain. For me it had been marrying Darrell that had given me my sense of security back.
“How many women do you think you’ve been with?”
“Don’t ask me that. It doesn’t matter. I was always safe, and I never had a condom break until you. I got tested every three months. I’ve never had an STD. And I’m never going to have another partner, ever again. Only you, baby.” I close my eyes, wondering why I stuck out to Latch, my heart warming as I imagine us spending the rest of our lives together. Out of all the women in the world, billions, why me? I yawn, trying to answer the question myself, but exhaustion takes over. As drowsiness blankets me, I wonder what made me so different, when clearly he could have had anyone?
_____
I wake up what feels like hours later. Being pregnant is definitely exhausting. I must’ve fallen asleep while Latch and I were talking and I feel terrible. Latch probably thinks that I got bored of him. However, he must’ve needed the rest ‘cause he is sleeping too. Resting my head on his chest, I look down at his tattooed body; each one paints a picture of who he is.
Tracing my finger over the compass on his stomach, I wonder why he got it. Latch mumbles a little; he must be dreaming. Sitting up
, I watch him and then see that his cock is rock hard, straining the fabric of his shorts. Taking it in my hand, he pushes it against me. His face is so contorted, almost like he is in pain, but the movements in his hips tell me otherwise.
Watching him like this turns me on, so I get up and lock the door. I need him right now. Stripping naked, I wait for him to wake, wondering if he is really sleeping or not.
Getting back on the bed, he mumbles, “Yes, Abby.” Clearly he’s asleep. A devilish grin takes over as I kneel next to him. He needs me, just as much as I need him.
Running my fingers down the middle of his chest, his nipples harden. I urge him to remove his shorts and he lifts his hips, helping me. He’s still asleep and I can’t help but laugh a little. Scanning his perfect body, my eyes are drawn to his cock and reaching down, I grip it. “Fuck,” he gasps, and I kind of feel bad for taking advantage of him. For like a second.
Slowly, I stroke him, keeping my movements firm while I wait for him to wake up. His head is turned to the left and is tucked into his arm that is stretched above and around his head, resting on his pillow.
He mumbles something else and I can’t take him sleeping any longer. Leaning down, I connect our lips. Invading his mouth with my tongue. He kisses me back as I get lost in this moment, his cock in my hand and our mouths so consumed. He grips the back of my hair as he pours everything into the kiss. I look into his tired eyes and scoot on top of him, sliding his cock inside of me. He nudges himself upwards and I sit up, looking down at him as his hands rest tenderly on the sides of my thighs.
“Hi,” I say and start to move a little, grinding our bodies together.
“Are you taking advantage of me?”
I nod my head and respond, “Is that a problem?”
With a half smirk, he pulls me down to him with one hand, weaving his fingers into the back of my hair. He keeps a good grip on one of my thighs as I bob my ass up and down, stroking his cock high inside of me. He grunts, the noise so sexy that it spins my entire world upside down. I look into his eyes as long as I can, loving the connection we share. The way that we can get so consumed in just a simple look.