Part of Me: Friendship, Texas #3

by Magan Vernon

  He reached down and took both of my hands, lacing our fingers. “But you know what? I need to try. I need to try harder because I’m not giving up on us. All of us,” he said, his thumb grazing over my stomach.

  “Then you have to talk to me instead of just running off to the pool when you’re upset,” I said, trying to keep my face stern, but the guy was making me melt.

  “Are you going to make me sit down and have family meetings with you?” he asked, a small smile spreading across his face.

  “Maybe. If that’s what it takes.”

  He leaned in and placed a small kiss on my lips. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  I didn’t want sweet or small, so I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, running my tongue across his bottom lip before kissing him.

  He continued to kiss me, his hands roaming my body and wet swimsuit. I stood on my tippy-toes as he slid off my bottoms, his hands cupping my butt before lifting me up as I wrapped my legs around his waist.

  Breaking the kiss slightly, his lips went to my jawline then down my neck. Being held in his strong arms and kissing him was enough, but feeling him against me made all parts of my body tingle with anticipation.

  “Think you’d shower with me now?” he whispered, huskily, his face moving toward my tankini top before he nudged the material aside with his nose then swirled his tongue around my nipple.

  I arched my core into him, moaning. “I’m willing to try.”

  Johnny grinned, wrapping an arm around my waist and using his other hand to open the glass door of the shower and carrying us both inside. He barely turned the water on before the door slammed behind us, and his lips were on mine, kissing me fiercely.

  Pushing my back against the wall, he held my hips and pressed against me. If I wasn’t on his lap, I had no idea how else we’d fit in the tiny shower.

  “You’re so wet already,” he murmured, his hand sliding down between us.

  “Well, we are in a shower. You aren’t going to drop me are you?” I asked, serious.

  He grinned before palming his member in his hand then slowly inching himself inside me. I moaned, biting down on my bottom lip as he filled me completely.

  “I told you, baby. I got you,” he whispered.

  ***

  After FINALLY having sex for the first time since we found out I was pregnant, we both showered. I was standing in the mirror, brushing my hair when Johnny emerged from the steamy shower in a towel. “Um, can you help me with something?” he asked.

  “We literally just got done, but if you want a handy, I can warm up to it,” I said to his reflection, trying to get the knots out of my curls with his man comb. I needed to maybe pack a bag when I came to his place or buy a brush to keep here.

  “As nice as that sounds, I need help with something else first,” he said, putting his hands on my shoulders and kissing the top of my head.

  “Okay, shoot.”

  He laughed. “Okay, this is really weird and feel free to say no...”

  Leaning over, he opened the medicine cabinet near the bathroom mirror and pulled out a can of shaving cream and a razor. “Will you shave my back?”

  “What?” I asked, not sure I heard him as I turned toward him, looking back and forth between the razor and his face.

  “Sometimes, I have Speedy do this or I get it waxed, but since I have that meet next week in Italy, I thought maybe you could help.”

  “Um, I guess?” I said, taking the shaving cream and razor. I might have said no, but if I told him that, then he could have gone next door to Emily. No way in hell was I giving her a chance to be alone with my half-naked boyfriend outside the pool.

  “You really don’t have to. I can find a place to get it waxed before I leave.”

  I shook my head and moved behind him, shaking the shaving cream can. “Nope. This is what you need to do, and I’m the good girlfriend who’s going to shave your back. Who knows, I may need you to shave my legs when I’m too big to reach them.”

  He laughed as I slathered the shaving cream on his back.

  “Is this the best formula to use? Maybe you should use a shave gel? Or an electric razor?” I asked, spreading the white goop.

  “This is the stuff I’ve been using since high school. It’s the cheapest stuff, but it gets the job done,” he said over his shoulder.

  I wet the razor in the sink then put it on his back, scraping away the white goo and the little hairs before rinsing it off in the sink. “I think there has to be a better way to do this. Maybe even Nair?”

  “What’s Nair?” he asked.

  I laughed. “It’s supposed to be this cream you put on then it removes the hair after you rinse it off. I don’t actually know if it works.”

  “Maybe I’ll have you experiment with a strip of each hair removal technique on my back.”

  “Sounds like a very romantic date,” I said, shaving another strip.

  Chapter 14

  I never needed a man in my life, but with Johnny gone to Italy for the week and Dad out of the house, I was suddenly very lonely.

  The whole Conti family was in Italy with Lia and Jay for the meet. They closed the restaurant for the week, so I couldn’t even pick up hours, which meant if I wasn’t at school, I was at home, sitting in my yoga pants and sports bra eating ice cream out of the container while watching documentaries.

  I had always wanted to be an actress and spent much of my high school years watching old royalty documentaries so I could practice a 1700s queen voice.

  I still had dreams of going to Hollywood and trying out for a toothpaste commercial, or hell, even something off-off-off Broadway in Dallas. But that was before the little swimmer in my stomach made his appearance.

  “You know, you’re kinda changing my life here, kid,” I said, looking down at my stomach. “I didn’t know what I was going to do after graduating next spring, and now, I really have no idea. I don’t even know if I’ll finish school,” I muttered, spooning a big chunk of mint chocolate chip in my mouth.

  Mid-mouthful, my phone vibrated on the couch next to me. Trying to avoid a brain freeze, I sucked down the rest of the ice cream in my mouth then put my thumb on the roof of my mouth and used my free hand to pick up my phone.

  FaceTime call from Lia Conti appeared across the bottom of my screen with accept or deny below it.

  “What is she doing FaceTiming while she’s in Italy?” I looked up at the clock above the TV. It was three in the afternoon, so about nine in Italy from a rough calculation.

  I guessed the meet was over, and maybe she was calling to talk about Jay’s results and to tease me about Johnny. I hadn’t exactly told her Johnny and I were dating, or you know, having a kid together.

  I swiped answer, and Lia’s very smiley face was on the screen. Way too smiley from the usually solemn Sicilian girl.

  “Sofie! It took you forever to answer! For a minute, I thought I’d have to really make my parents mad and do an international call.”

  I angled the phone so Lia couldn’t see I wasn’t wearing a shirt. She leaned against a white wall with her dark hair in long waves framing her olive face. There was a lot of background noise, so I guessed she was still wherever the meet was.

  “Yeah. Sorry. I was, uh...”

  Lia laughed. “Watching documentaries and eating ice cream in just your yoga pants?”

  “It’s a glam life, my friend,” I said, waving my spoon.

  “Well, not as glam as mine!” She held up her left hand where a gorgeous and giant sparkly diamond sat.

  “Holy! Are you...?”

  “Yes!” She squealed. “It was totally romantic. I went to go see Jay after he got his medal, and he pulled me over the rail then got down on one knee.”

  “Sounds totally sweet,” I said, forcing a smile. Way sweeter than a guy saying, “Oh shit,” and making a ring out of a paper straw wrapper because he thought he had to do that for the pregnant lady across from him. So technically not even a real proposal.

>   “And I was thinking,” Lia continued, practically bouncing into the phone, her smile wider than I’d ever seen it. “We both turn twenty-one next month, and since your dad usually has all that Easter brunch stuff going on at the hotel, you could fly here Easter weekend, and we can celebrate both of our birthdays, and go look at bridesmaid dresses because you know my maid of honor will get first pick! Oh and maybe Johnny can come in too. A repeat of Christmas without your dad walking in!”

  She kept talking, but I couldn’t focus on what she was saying.

  None of those things would happen. My twenty-first birthday would be spent pregnant, and while she’d be bridesmaid dress shopping, I’d be waddling behind her, hoping not to throw up or pee.

  “Are you even listening to me, Sofie?” Lia finally asked.

  “Yeah. No. Sorry just tired,” I said honestly.

  “Tired from what? Don’t tell me since I’ve left all you’ve done is sit at home and eat ice cream. I saw Johnny tagged you in a post about shaving his back. I know you’re having fun.”

  “Yeah, too much fun,” I muttered.

  “What was that?” Lia asked.

  I sighed. “Nothing. I’m sorry to be a bitch. I don’t want to spoil your happy moment.”

  “Sofie, what’s going on? You’re supposed to be the positive one here.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “Tell me. Come on, Sofie. You’re my best friend, and I want to know what’s wrong,” she pleaded.

  I sucked in a deep breath then let it out. “I can’t come in for Easter because I have an ultrasound that week.”

  “An ultrasound? Oh my god, don’t tell me it’s cancer! Sofie, oh my god, why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Lia’s eyes teared up, and she covered her mouth with her free hand.

  I shook my head. Geez, that said a lot about my sex life if that was what she went to first.

  “No. An ultrasound to find out the sex of my baby. I’m pregnant.”

  “What?” she screeched. “Does Johnny know about this?”

  “Uh, yeah, he’s sort of, well, he’s the baby daddy?”

  “WHAT?” Lia screeched even louder.

  “Um...well...I’m pregnant with his child. Surprise!” I threw a hand up in a jazz hand.

  “When did this happen? When were you going to tell me? What the hell, Sofie?”

  I shrugged. “I didn’t know when would be a good time, so I guess now is. Don’t plan your wedding before the end of September. I don’t want to be a pregnant bridesmaid.”

  Lia blinked once then twice before letting out a deep breath. “Holy hell, Sofie. This is crazy.”

  “Tell me about it,” I muttered.

  “Who knows about this?” she asked.

  “Not many people right now. I don’t know if Jay knows and definitely not your family. My dad knows and, oh yeah, his new girlfriend, who happens to be Abbey Dillinger’s mom.”

  Lia’s eyes widened. “I leave Friendship for a few months, and all of this happens? Holy hell, Sofie!”

  A muffled voice came from the other side of the phone then Sonny’s tan face appeared next to Lia. “Ey, Sofie! Ready to walk down the aisle with me? I assume I’ll be Jay’s best man, and you know how good I look in a tux.”

  Lia shoved Sonny’s shoulder. “Get out of the way, Sonny.”

  “What? I came to tell you we’re supposed to go with Johnny and some other people for dinner. Wanna bring Sofie with? Girl could stand to put on a few pounds. Maybe she’ll gain it staring at our pasta.”

  “She doesn’t need to gain a few pounds. She’s pregnant,” Lia blurted.

  Sonny’s eyes widened. “Holy shit, really?”

  “Lia!” I yelled.

  “Sonny! Language!” a low, thick accent had said before a burly hand smacked the back of Sonny’s head.

  “Sorry, Pops, that was totally needed. Lia just told me Sofie’s pregnant.”

  “What?” Mama Conti’s voice rang through the screen then she was right next to Lia. “You’re having a bambina, Sofie?”

  “Uh...”

  “Jaybird!” Sonny yelled off camera. “Did you know Sofie’s knocked up? Think your swimmer did that against our goat pen?”

  “This cannot be happening,” I muttered.

  “Hey, Sofie, let me FaceTime you later, okay? Thinking we definitely need to catch up,” Lia said, trying to push away from her family.

  “Yeah. I’ll talk to you later,” I said before Lia disconnected the call.

  “Well, that was fun and definitely not the way I wanted to tell Lia. Maybe I should have gone the Pinterest route and posted a picture of my stomach and a bottle of spaghetti sauce.”

  I tossed my phone next to me on the couch and decided if I was going to be a little down anyway, I might as well finish the pint of ice cream.

  Just as I got the last spoonful out, my phone rang with a FaceTime call again. I expected it to be Lia calling back, but when I picked up my phone to see my green-mustached reflection, Johnny was the one calling.

  I wiped my mouth then quickly answered, his face filling the screen but lacking his trademark smile. “Hey, Sofie, glad you’re still up.”

  I looked at the clock. “Um. It’s six o’clock. I may be pregnant, but I’m not that old.”

  He ran his hand over his face. “Right. Forgot we’re seven hours ahead here.”

  “How was the meet?” I asked, knowing that probably wasn’t why he called.

  “Good. Silver in both 100M and 200M backstroke and gold in the 200M relay.”

  “Awesome.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, but I definitely deserve a medal after surviving dinner. I’m pretty sure Lia’s family was all planning to cut off my balls and ask the cook if they could fry them and serve it up with our pasta.”

  I whistled. “That bad?”

  Johnny leaned back against some pillows. “Well, most of it was in Italian, but from what I got in English, yeah, pretty bad, but I guess not as brutal as my mom. Their concern was more for me not hurting you than me ruining my life.”

  “I don’t think your mom thinks you’re ruining your life. She’s just worried about you. It’s a mom thing. That’s what they do,” I said, leaning back on the couch and absently putting my hand on my belly that now definitely had a food baby in it on top of a regular baby.

  “Do you already feel like a mom and worry?” Johnny asked honestly.

  I shrugged. “It hasn’t fully kicked in yet. I mean I have moments I’m like ‘holy shit, there’s something with a heartbeat in my stomach,’ and then there are times I’m like ‘this isn’t real. You’ll wake up soon.’”

  “At least you’re honest about it,” he replied.

  “I have nothing to lie about.”

  We sat in silence for a few moments before I asked. “Are you being honest about all of this?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know what you’re asking.”

  I shifted, sitting up slightly, so my back was against the arm of the couch. “Are you really ready for all of this? Sure you don’t want to just go back to Arizona and send me a check every month?”

  “I’m not a quitter. I’m an Olympian.” He laughed.

  “I’m serious. Why stay around? And don’t just say it’s because of Lia and Jay or because you grew up without a father figure. There has to be more to it than that.”

  He sucked in a breath and let it out. “Okay, if we’re being completely honest, then it’s because of you.”

  “Me?” I asked, pointing at myself.

  He smiled. “Yes, you. I like you. You’re funny, smart, sexy, and you’re willing to shave my back. You give me shit when I need it and don’t mind when I give it right back to you. If we’re being completely honest, I think I’m sort of, kind of falling for you, Sofie.”

  “Sort of, kind of?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  He laughed, shaking his head. “Well, I’m not about to throw out the L-word just yet, but how about we go with like? I’m in like you with, Sofie.”
<
br />   I felt a blush creep in my cheeks as I whispered, “I think I’m in like with you too.”

  Chapter 15

  With Johnny back from Italy and my first semester finally ending, I was feeling like a human again. Sort of.

  “Happy end of the first trimester,” a familiar voice sang, wrapping his arms around my waist.

  I’d picked up a shift at Conti’s, trying to waitress, and didn’t expect Johnny to show up, especially since I was sure I’d heard Mama Conti refer to him in some really not nice terms in Italian.

  “What are you doing here? I thought you had some late-night swim thing or whatever,” I said, turning around to see Johnny’s smiling face.

  “I convinced Coach to move it up to this afternoon, so I’m free tonight. And I brought you a present,” he sang, holding a little blue gift bag with a stork on it.

  “You got me a baby gift? We don’t even know what we’re having,” I said but couldn’t hide the glee in my voice as I took the bag, pushing aside the glittery tissue paper.

  Pulling out the big block of paper, I peeled it back to reveal a blue book with an ocean scene of seaweed and a mama and baby whale. The words “My Baby Keepsake Journal” on the front. “What is this?” I asked, running my fingers over the embossed letters.

  “I stopped at Barnes and Noble to get a coffee today and thought I’d look around for a bit. I ended up in the baby section, and, well, what’s a better way to track all of your pregnancy and our baby’s first year than a book of swimming animals?”

  Thumbing through the pages, I looked at the pages of cartoon fish alongside little bubbles with questions like “What was Mommy craving during pregnancy? What did Daddy say when he found out Mommy was having you?”

  “This is really cute,” I said honestly. Tears stung my eyes as I looked up at the smiling Johnny.

  “Oh, crap, you hate it, don’t you? Is that why you’re crying?” Johnny leaned over, putting his hand on my shoulder before he put his other hand over his face. “Shit. I knew I messed up.”