by G. Bailey
“Hello sis, hello little devils,” Todd shouts when he walks in and I follow, shutting the door behind me. The corridor is small with two doors on either side and the stairs straight in front with what looks like a cupboard under the stairs.
“Uncle T!” a little boy shouts excitedly as he runs down the stairs and jumps into Todd’s arms.
“What did I tell you about jumping off the stairs?” Todd says as he balances the boy on his shoulder. The boy looks about five with a mess of dark brown hair and a cute face.
“Not to?” the boy asks and Todd laughs. It surprises me because his laugh is deep and sexy. I end up having to clear my throat to distract myself and it gets the boys attention.
“Did you bring a girl?” he asks in a whisper.
“This is Ellie, Ellie this is my nephew, Harry,” Todd says, turning to look at me and letting the boy slide to the floor.
“Uncle T!” another little voice says before a little girl comes running into the room. The girl looks the same age as Harry, with matching dark curly hair that flows around her shoulders.
“Hey, Daisy,” Todd says as he picks her up and she wraps her little arms around his neck as she hugs him. It’s clear they are twins when I look between them.
“Will you make pancakes? The ones with the heart shapes?” she asks quickly.
“Maybe we should let uncle Todd and his friend into the house first before we demand he makes pancakes, Daisy,” a woman says coming into the room. I can see the resemblance to Todd straight away, in fact they look very alike. She has dyed blonde hair that’s up in a messy bun and has a tight smart dress on. It’s their faces that are similar and they have the same eyes.
“Ellie, this is my twin sister, Jude. Jude this is-”
“-Ellie, I got that,” she interrupts him and walks over to me. She offers me her hand and I smile.
“Nice to meet you, Jude,” I say and she smiles.
“You too, Ellie,” she says and let’s go. Harry runs over and takes my hand.
“I want to show Ellie my toys,” he says to his mum as he pulls my hand.
“I don’t think,” Jude gets out but I interrupt this time.
“It’s alright,” I say and she smiles.
“I have to go to work now. So be good for uncle Todd and Ellie,” she tells them. They both give her cheeky grins before Harry pulls on my hand again.
“Be careful with Ellie, Harry. She has a baby in her stomach,” Jude says, as Harry pulls me towards the stairs.
“Ok,” he shouts back and gives me a cheeky grin.
“I’m coming too!” I hear Daisy shout behind me as I let Harry pull me up the stairs. For a little boy, he is damn strong.
“No, Ellie is all mine!” Harry shouts.
“Guys you can share Ellie!” Jude shouts and I hear her laugh at the same time I hear Todd’s deep laugh.
The upstairs is two bedrooms and a bathroom in the middle, the left room is where Harry takes me and it’s full of toys. The room has a bunkbed and two small wardrobes. There is a large wooden toy box at the end of the bed and toys are scattered all over the floor. The walls are a neutral cream colour and the floor has a cream carpeted floor.
“This is my room, want to play cars?” he asks me.
“No, this is my room too, and she is a girl, she wants to play Barbie’s with me.” Daisy says in a sarcastic tone, that makes me chuckle as she sounds older than she is. Who knew five years could be sarcastic?
“How about you two play toys while I make pancakes with Ellie? Then we can all eat and watch a movie?” Todd says coming into the room.
“Yay, pancakes and we have to watch Despicable Me!” Daisy says jumping up and down. Holy ducks, where does she get the energy from?
“Okay!” Harry shouts and lets me go. Clearly food and a movie is the way to bribe these kids. Todd nods his head in the direction of the stairs. I follow him out and down the stairs. The left of the stairs is a large kitchen with brown cabinets and wooden floors. I watch as Todd starts opening cupboards to find things.
“So, you make heart shaped pancakes for five-year olds?” I ask him because I’m in shock. This is not what I expected from him. When Andre told me that he was a gentle giant sometimes, I think he was right.
“I also make smiley faces,” Todd tells me and I chuckle. I move closer and lean against one of the wooden counters.
“They love you,” I say referring to the twins.
“I’m the only male figure in their life’s, other than my friends sometimes. It’s been difficult for them and Jude.” He says as he moves around the kitchen. It’s clear he does this a lot as he knows where everything is in the kitchen, from the electric whisk to the saucepans.
“Where is their dad? If you don’t mind me asking,” I say and he pours all the ingredients into a bowl before he answers.
“He walked out on them. He was a piece of shit anyway,” he shrugs as he roughly chucks ingredients into the bowl. He doesn’t even measure the milk or flour, he just knows how much to put in.
“I’m sorry and he is missing out, they seem like lovely kids.” I say and he shakes his head.
“Nothing to be sorry for because he didn’t deserve them,” Todd says.
“I noticed you have an American accent, but your sister doesn’t,” I say and he tenses a little but he does turn to answer me.
“I lived with my father in Texas until I was sixteen. I moved back in with my mother and my three sisters because my father was travelling a lot. I struggled to support them all until Eric met me and offered me a job.”
“Why did you have to support your sisters?” I ask.
“My mother died a month after I moved to England, a car accident. My dad had a new wife and only I was his child. My sisters have different dads but for different reasons they weren’t around all the time and none of them wanted to live with their dads. I wasn’t going to force them out their home after they lost mum.” He tells me and I don’t reply as he turns on the electric whisk. I don’t know why I do it but I walk over and wrap my arms around his waist as I rest my head on his back. He tightens up but I don’t move for a second as he turns the whisk off.
“El, you shouldn’t be near me,” Todd says as his hands cover mine on his stomach and hold them tight. His words contradict his actions but I don’t say a word. As I press my forehead into his back, I realise how nice he smells. It must be his aftershave.
“Thanks for telling me that and bringing me here Todd,” I say against his back, my words seem loud in the quiet kitchen. I let go and step back as Todd turns around. I don’t move as he wraps an arm around my waist and presses his forehead to mine.
“You’re Andre’s girl,” he says, our mouths too close and I don’t respond to him. Am I?
“I’m no one’s girl,” I say, the words seem true to me because Andre has never said he wants a relationship with me. Kaiden hasn’t said a word to me since the kiss that I can’t stop thinking about and that was two days ago.
“You couldn’t be more wrong, Ellie,” Todd says and kisses my forehead.
“Ew, can you stop kissing Ellie, so you can do my pancakes?” Daisy says, making us both laugh.
Todd gets back to the pancakes while Daisy and Harry show me where the Tv is and how to put the movie on.
It’s a fun day and yet Todd’s last words to me flitter around my mind all day.
Todd
“Night, El,” I mutter to her as she smiles at me and walks up the stairs. Fucking hell, I nearly kissed the woman my friend has gotten pregnant. How fucked up is that? I can’t even ignore how she’s making me feel for her.
I don’t feel anything for women, never have before and yet, this kind, pretty woman walks into my life and I can’t stop fucking thinking about her. I have no idea why I thought it would be a good idea to introduce her to my sister. Let alone my niece and nephew, who would never forgive me if I pissed her off and never brought back their ‘favourite’ Ellie to see them. Today was a bad idea from the off-
start but the minute I saw her tucked up on the sofa, licking a spoon like it was made of gold, I lost my mind.
“Fuck,” I draw out the word as I finally get the balls to go and talk to Andre. I find him in the conservatory, lifting weights and nod at him.
“We need to talk and you’re going to punch me,” I tell him and he puts the weights down as he sits up.
“Why would I punch you?” Andre asks, as he wipes the sweat of him with a towel.
“I almost kissed Ellie today and fuck, I can’t pretend I don’t like her,” I say and Andre’s eyes narrow as he drops the towel. I know he didn’t expect me to say that, fucking hell I didn’t expect that to happen.
“Hey man, I can’t work Friday, can you swap?” Kaiden says as he comes into the room.
“Yeah,” I say keeping eye contact with Andre as he comes over to stand right in front of me.
“What the fuck?” Kaiden says.
“You can’t fucking like her, find another woman,” Andre spits out and I shake my head.
“Try telling my head that,” I say and his eyes narrow a second before he grabs my shirt and I let him throw me into the wall. Kaiden moves in front of me, what the hell is he doing?
“Don’t be an idiot by fighting and if this is about Ellie, we all need to talk.” Dom says coming into the room and putting a hand on Andre’s shoulder.
“I kissed her and she kissed me back,” Kaiden says, shocking us all in silence, all of us other than Dominic who nods.
“What the fuck?” Andre says, shaking off Dominic’s hand and walking away from us all.
“Why don’t we all date her?” Kaiden says and I look at him in visible shock.
“Look, we’ve all shared women before and it’s never been an issue. I’m not saying this should be forever but if we make an agreement to just see who she chooses? It’s not up to us.” Kaiden says and I catch Andre’s eyes. He’s thinking about it. Could it work?
It’s better to let her choose.
“I don’t think Ellie will agree to this.” I finally say and I know I’m going to do everything I can to make her choose me.
“I’ll ask her tomorrow, we have the baby scan.” Andre says, basically agreeing to this plan.
“I want a picture,” I say, choosing not to explain why.
“I’ll get a load of them and anyone that wants one, can have one,” Andre says rubbing the back of his neck.
“If she doesn’t choose me, I’ll still have to see her every day because of our baby. Has no one thought about this?” Andre says.
“A bridge we can cross eventually. At the end of the day, we don’t know her well and she doesn’t know us that well. Let’s just get to know Ellie first before going any further with this,” Kaiden says and I really think he has no plan of making her choose. I don’t know how to cope with the jealously that’s going to appear when I see Ellie with any of them.
“What do you think, Dom?” I ask him as he is silent.
“That I can’t stay away from her and I’ve been trying,” he says and I nod my head, understanding him completely.
“If any of us can say we can walk away from her, then this won’t work.” Kaiden says and none of us say a word.
“Then for now, we have an agreement.” Kaiden says and pats me on the shoulder as he walks out.
Let’s hope this agreement doesn’t blow up in our fucking faces when Ellie finds out.
Ellie
“That’s our baby,” Andre says and he holds my hand tightly in his as we watch the little alien- looking foetus moving around. It’s strange to think this is my baby, a baby I will have in my arms in a couple of months. I pull my eyes away and look up at Andre as he leans slightly over the bed, staring at the screen.
“Everything is looking healthy and we will book you in for your twenty-week scan,” the woman tells me as she pulls away the scanner from my stomach. She gives me some towels to wipe away the gel.
“Can we buy photos?” Andre asks, getting out his wallet.
“How many?” the woman asks.
“Five copies.” He replies and looks down at me as I give him a questioning look.
“The guys all want one,” he says and I ignore the guilt I feel when he mentions them. I need to tell him about my feeling for Kaiden and Todd. Dominic isn’t speaking to me and every time we’re in the same room he just walks out. I don’t want to admit how much that is pissing me off. Holy ducks, I just want to throw something at him and hope that stops him avoiding me like the plague. Ever since he saw Kaiden and me kissing, he won’t look at me. I wonder if he is disgusted with me?
“Well now, we know where you’re living, we will send appointments in the post. These photos are free but you will have to pay at the next scan. We might even be able to find out the sex if you wish.” the midwife tells me as I accept the folder of notes she hands me. The midwife explained to me about looking after myself and a lot of numbers I can call if there are any issues. Andre said he would drive me to my appointments with my local midwife every month, where they will check my blood pressure among other things. Andre takes the photos and I see him put a ten-pound note in a charity box on the desk. The little gesture is sweet.
“Are you still meeting your friend?” Andre asks and I shake my head.
“No, she messaged to say she was busy,” I say and he smiles.
“Well I want to take you somewhere,” he places his hand on my lower back as we walk out. I glance at him as he moves to hold the door open for me. Andre looks amazing as usual today and I don’t know if it’s my hormones but all I want to do is kiss him. I shouldn’t because I’ve done enough kissing recently and I’m not that kind of girl. I never wanted to be two- timing anyone, yet here we are.
“I kind of wanted to talk you about something,” I tell him and he smiles at me. Andre doesn’t respond as he pays for the hospital parking and we get into the car. He hums to the radio music as he drives us out of York and towards the village.
“I thought you wanted to show me something?” I ask Andre as he pulls into the driveway of our house.
“It’s here,” he tells me and gets out of the car. I undo my seat as he opens my door. I slide my hand into his open one and let him help me out. I shut the door but Andre keeps my hand in his as we walk into the house and he leads me up the stairs. He opens the first door on the left as he lets go of my hand and waves me in. I walk into a large bedroom, half of it is wood work shop and not what I expected to see in Andre’s bedroom. In the far corner by the two windows is a large wooden table with tools and bits of shaped wood all over it. The other side of the room has his double bed with blue sheets. It’s low on the ground and made from wood with an impressive wooden headboard. There is a large wardrobe and a ensuite that I can see as the door is open. I’m surprised how tidy the room is.
“If you brought me up here to see your bed, then holy ducks, I seriously underestimated how cocky you are,” I say and it makes him laugh as he shakes his head.
“I got you back to my bed once, didn’t I?” he asks me as he puts his wallet, phone and the pictures on his bed.
“That was different,” I say and he walks over to me.
“Why was it?” he asks me but just winks at me as he walks around me and towards the wooden table. I cross my arms as I watch him open a drawer and pull out a fist- sized elephant made from wood.
“I made this for the baby, for when he or she is older, anyway,” he says and I let my arms drop in shock a little when I look back at the table and recognise that most the shapes are animal- like.
“Here,” he offers me the elephant. The wood is smooth and looks like a toy you would buy in a store.
“I’m going to paint it but I had to order some proper, baby safe paint. I know babies chew on things,” he says and I have to wipe my eyes as the tears fall. This is so sweet.
“Shit, do you hate it?” he asks me and moves closer as I shake my head.
“No, it’s perfect and I’m sorry,” I say and he moves
his hands down my arms before he takes the statue out of my hands.
“Why are you sorry?” he asks me and my mind comes up with a million answers. I’m sorry I moved into your house and kissed one of your friends. Sorry that I hugged another one and I like the other. Sorry that I’m clearly a total bitch.
“I kissed Kaiden, and I wanted to kiss Todd. I like Dominic even if he clearly hates me and I have feelings for you. I want to blame it all on my hormones but I don’t think it’s just that,” I say quickly, stumbling over my words.
“I just- “ I get out before Andre presses his lips to mine. I don’t expect it but I don’t push him away as he pulls me closer and deepens the kiss. I run my hands into his hair as he kisses me more and his hands slide under my top, pushing it up as he goes.
The doorbell rings, and we ignore it as he walks us back towards his bed. The doorbell rings again and Andre pulls away with a groan.
“I should get it,” he says and I shake my head.
“I will, I wanted to get a drink anyway,” I tell him honestly, I’m always thirsty. I’m blaming the pregnancy and the hot men in this house. I’m not sure it’s any of their fault, but still.
“Come back up and we need to talk.” He tells me and gently kisses me again. I have no idea why he would kiss me after I admitted everything that has happened recently. I know our conversation is going to be a long one. The doorbell rings again and Andre lets me go. I walk down the stairs as the doorbell goes again. Wow, this person must want something.
I pull the door open and the smile on my face dies instantly as I see the cold blue eyes of the man standing on the porch. The man who is dressed in the same perfect suits as I was used to seeing and the same nearly white short hair, that is always gelled perfectly straight. Drew, my ex-husband looks up and down my body before he slowly smirks.
“So, not only are you a god-damned pregnant bitch but you’re living with four guys?” he says with a laugh and every part of me feels cold as he laughs. A large hand on Drew’s shoulder is the first thing I see before Drew is pulled back and a fist is slammed into his face. My eyes widen as Drew falls to the ground with the force of the punch and I look up at Dominic as he stares down at him.