by Amy Marie
“So, that’s true?” He glances at me in disbelief. “Women shit on the table?”
“Oh. My. God! Can we not talk about this? YES! They do. The baby is pushing on all of your intestines and so unintentional pooping can occur.” Maybe no one should be in the room when the baby is born.
Walker and Noelle break out in a chorus of laughter inciting my anger.
“You know what? Screw the two of you! My mom can be in the room and you both can sit out in the waiting area.” My arms cross over my chest like a toddler.
Apparently they find that even funnier because the laughing gets louder.
“Baby.” Walker’s hand reaches over uncrossing my arms and lays his hand on my thigh. “Don’t be mad. We’re just playing around. Isn’t it nice to see your best friend and fiancé getting along?”
“What?” Noelle and I both yell out simultaneously.
“Fiancé? Are you insane?” I turn my head to look out the window stifling a giggle of my own. So damn pushy.
“Only when it comes to you, Erin, and whatever happens during the birth of our baby, I don’t care. I just want to be there for their first breath...so I’m one of the first faces they see.” He pulls me up and I feel his lips graze my knuckles as my guarded heart opens up a smidge more.
“Okay, you two are going to have to clean up my vomit with that fluffy shit. Knock it off and turn here, baby daddy.” Noelle fake gags from the back seat while pointing Walker in the direction of my mom’s street.
“One day, Noelle,” Walker states making the turn. “You are going to find the love of your life when you least expect it. You are going to be walking around minding your own business, just going on your merry way and SMACK! Love is going to knock you on your ass.”
“It doesn’t happen that fast, Walker. You need to work on love and trust before it can wrap you up so much you can’t see straight,” she counters.
His double squeeze of my hand has me turning back to face his emerald eyes. “I’m proof that it does, indeed, happen that fucking fast.”
Speechless.
I point out my mom’s house and he pulls the truck into the driveway. I spot Trent in the doorway just like last time. I’m getting used to seeing him in my father’s place and it’s helping me heal over his loss. The look on his face is anything but soothing though. His dark brown eyes zoned in on the driver side of the truck...Walker.
“He looks pissed,” Noelle states the obvious. “And hot! Erin, seriously, why don’t you tell me how much hotter he gets each day? I can’t believe that bitch dropped him and that cute ass baby of his.”
Walker looks at me for explanation, and I give him a slight shrug hoping he drops it until I fill him in on my crazy family history.
The walk up the steps is thick with tension, Walker’s eyes not leaving Trent’s. The screen door opens and Trent’s eyes flash to Noelle’s, changing his demeanor from hard ass to just not happy. To my surprise, Trent’s hand comes out to shake Walker’s. “Trent Decker, Erin’s brother.”
“Walker Prescott, Erin’s boyfriend.” He shakes firmly and earns me a questioning look from Trent.
“Boyfriend?” My mother’s voice carries over my brother’s broad shoulders. “Well, if you would return my phone calls, I would know that you two have brought your relationship to the next level.”
“Well,” Noelle says pushing past us all and bringing my mother in for a quick hug. “In the car they were engaged, so I would say they brought it down a notch since.” She winks at me and then shamelessly rubs her hand over Trent’s shirt. “Wow! Fatherhood looks sexy on you.”
My little brother’s eyes follow Noelle’s ass down the hallway as she makes herself at home. After my mom pokes Trent in his side, she introduces herself jokingly to Walker as his future mother in law. I’m shocked as she leaves me hugless, kissless and without a greeting. She puts her arm through his and pulls him the way Noelle went.
“You brought Noelle?” Trent’s harsh whisper pulls me from the sight of my mother and my baby’s father so cozy with each other. “You know how I feel about her.”
“You really need to tell her Trent. Having a child won’t determine if she dates you or not. She loves Jason. If you want to be with her, let her know before some other guy comes along and tries to sweep her off her perfectly pedicured feet.” I pat his shoulder leaving him in the door.
Saying Trent has a crush on Noelle is a huge understatement. Last year when Alex left him with little Jason, he decided to really take a look at his life. The construction business he was starting with his friend Colin had just taken off and he was dealing with the unexpected load of being a single parent. I helped him out since I was off all summer, to Robert’s dismay. Every time Trent came to pick up Jason, if Noelle was home, he seemed to fall more and more for her snarky attitude and love for his son.
She was his type. Beautiful, smart, and despite how anal retentive she is about certain things, when it comes to Jason, she treated him (and his messes) like her own. So, a year later Trent is still quietly admiring her from afar, even though he hasn’t seen her in almost two months. He has sworn me to secrecy, but I am constantly telling him that he needs to get off his ass and tell her.
Loud giggling carries through the house leading me to the family room where I find the sexiest thing I have ever seen. Walker is in the middle of the area rug, laughing, with all five of my nieces and nephews while they use him as a wrestling buddy. Body slam after body slam he takes a serious beating from each of them. Two year old Nick delivering the below the belt blow that brings tears to Walker’s eyes and an end to the fun.
“Alright, kids,” Nicole yells over the chaos. “Let Uncle Walker up so he can grab some frozen peas.”
Uncle Walker? I leave him alone for two minutes and my sister is calling him their uncle?
The kids peel themselves off one by one and run down to the basement screaming of sword fights. Grunting, Walker stands up and limps to my side. Without thinking, I wrap my arm around his waist. “Are you okay? That looked like it hurt.”
“I’m fine.” He mimics the hold I have on him and lowers his head to my ear so no one can hear. “Good thing you are pregnant because they might have just rendered me infertile. You can tend to it later if you want.”
I want.
Placing a chaste kiss on my lips, he swats my behind and walks to the kitchen. “Let’s go, baby.” I obviously was too distracted to hear my mother call us for dinner.
The dinner is no less than crazy. Brad, having to work at the hospital today, has Nicole taking care of the kiddos on her own again and they are in rare form, throwing things across the table and refusing to eat. I am a bit horrified, though Walker is amused by it all.
“I want at least three, but it looks like four would be a blast,” he confesses and my stomach drops.
The look on my face must be priceless and he pushes my chin up to close my gaping mouth and laughs. I can’t imagine four little Walkers running around.
After we’re all done my mom decides a movie would keep the kids calm while the adults talk. Gathering in the family room, we sit for what I am sure is an interrogation for Walker.
“Walker,” my mom starts. “Why don’t you start by telling us about yourself?”
With his arm around my shoulders, he pulls me closer and rubs my arms. “Well, I just graduated this past May from college and am lucky enough to be working at Hudson along with Erin. Most of my family lives here, in Northbrook, except my parents who moved out to Michigan.”
“What did they say when you told them about the baby?” Trent’s question has the calmness I was experiencing from Walker’s touch quickly fading. I guess I should have asked him that too. How selfish of me not to think about him dealing with that.
“I haven’t told them yet. I want to tell them face to face, and for them to meet my beautiful girl, so we’re going to be doing that this weekend when we head up to visit.” He must be a mind reader because his hold tightens just as I try t
o push him away.
“I don’t recall the conversation where you asked me to go with you to visit.” The harshness that comes from my mouth embarrasses me. I shouldn’t react like this in front of my family, but unless he asked when I was sleeping, I don’t remember ever agreeing.
“Our date. You said you were free all weekend for Labor Day. I figured it could just be a sixty hour date.” He winks like it’s supposed to cure the anger boiling beneath my skin and continues, essentially dropping the subject. “So, I have a sister Deliah. I’m twenty three, rent an apartment close to Erin and Noelle and am a huge Bears and Cubs fan.”
“Okay, quit the bullshit, Walker. Are you with my sister because she is a sure thing now that she is stuck with you? What happens when the baby is here? Are you going to just drop her like she is nothing and leave her vulnerable and dejected?” Gasps from everyone fill the room and my hold on his arm is like a vise, stunning me silent. If I was embarrassed before, this takes the cake.
“Trent!” Nicole scolds, as my mother demands for him to apologize.
“That was an asshole thing to say,” Noelle chimes in.
“No, Ma! I’m not going to apologize. Answer!” Trent pushes and Walker complies.
“I have no problem with his questions. I have a sister and get being protective.” He gently pushes me away from him and scoots to the edge of the loveseat making sure Trent can see him clearly. “Erin has become everything to me. Yes, the way we met was unconventional and I would give everything I own to have been there for the first three months. It kills me that I wasn’t. I thought of her night and day and when I found her, I knew that I would never let her go again. Ever. If she doesn’t want me then I will spend every day for the rest of my life trying to change her mind. I will love her and our child more than my own life. I will give them everything they could want and more, and not just tangible things but love. Protection. Affection. All the things that someone as amazing as your sister deserves, but it may never be enough. She deserves the moon, so I plan on trying to lasso it every single night until it is hers.”
Tears fall down my cheek with his declaration. The walls around my heart that Robert created come crashing to the ground shattering as if they can never be rebuilt. Walker has officially taken over my heart. Wiping the wetness off my face with my fingers, I stand up grabbing his hand.
“We have to go. I’m tired. I think Walker has had enough for one day.” I turn to Noelle. “Ready?”
She agrees and starts to hug everyone goodbye. I do the same and take a few minutes to love on my nieces and nephews before I go.
“I’m sorry, Erin,” Trent says walking us to the door. “I just needed to ask.”
“I understand. I love you,” I say leaving him in the doorway to shake Walker’s hand and repeat his apology to him.
Walker accepts, giving my brother a break.
Noelle uses the bathroom before we leave, so I take Walker outside and show him how much his words affected me. We turn the corner out of sight and I shove him against the garage door and wrap my arms around his neck. “Walker, that was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said about me. Thank you for that.”
“I told you, Erin. I’m not going anywhere and anyone who thinks so will be proved wrong and anyone standing in my way will be dealt with. Family included.”
“Catch me,” I say as I jump up. He does and my lips crash to his, relentless.
His mouth opens slightly and I push my tongue through, hoping to convey every emotion I am feeling. Lust, admiration, even something close to love, for this man.
His massive fingers grip my thighs so tight they start to throb, working me into a frenzy. He spins me so my back is now against the hard metal of the door. Our lips break apart but his move to the curve where my neck meets my chest. Uncontrollable moans escape my lips, and I push my breasts so they are inches from his mouth. All he has to do is lower my tank top just a little...
“Seriously? Can you two wait until we get home?” Noelle interrupts, jumping into the truck, and I’m left wishing she would go the hell away so I can feel his lips everywhere on my body. “I’ll make sure to wear earplugs tonight.”
“Don’t make me go home, Erin. I’m staying the night.” Walker’s mouth covers every inch of my neck. There is no way I can say no.
“Okay,” I agree as he drags my body down his, setting me on my feet.
It’s been six days since our date to Wrigley and five since he met my family. He has practically been a staple at Noelle’s and my house and I’m trying to keep anything below my belly button to myself. We know we have an amazing physical connection, lots of heavy petting since Sunday has proved that, but I’m trying to focus on the other aspects of our relationship. Waking up next to him has been nice and true to his word, he has taken care of me.
School has started and per my begging and pleading we are attempting to keep our relationship under wraps for the moment. I don’t want to begin the new year with a scandal. Teachers at a middle school are worse at gossip than the students. I have yet to tell the Principal about my impending bundle of joy and have a meeting scheduled at the beginning of next week to inform him. In the meantime, I’m trying to find clothes that hide my fifteen weeks and growing belly but don’t make it obvious I’m hiding something.
The door opens before the first bell rings and I don’t have to look up to see who it is. “Hey, Walker. How are you?” I’m still trying to become comfortable calling him babe or baby.
His lack of response has me looking up from my grade book. I find him absently walking down the rows of desk towards mine, nose in a small book. “What is that?” I ask curiously.
His eyes find mine as he lifts the book up so I can see what has him preoccupied.
It’s a small blue book with what looks like a pink egg in the center and little sperm figures trying to penetrate it. “My Boys Can Swim?” I laugh hysterically trying to catch my breath.
“What? It’s helpful and hey I’m damn proud! My bad boys broke that condom open and got you with one shot!” His chest puffs up like a proud freaking peacock.
Ignoring his comment I continue writing down the grades for yesterday’s homework knowing that he likes to sit until just before students file in. I’m sure the rumors have already started even though we maintain no physical contact. At school anyways.
I slam the book shut earning his attention once again eyeing the brown bag in his hand. “What’s in the bag?”
The first bell rings notifying us that students will soon enter our rooms. He lifts the bag up shaking it as if to ask ‘this bag?’ and I nod. He reaches in teasingly, but doesn’t pull the contents out.
“So besides that book you just saw I’ve been doing some research and I’m finding such interesting facts about our baby.” His eyebrows rise goading me to question what he found.
“Like?” I ask impatiently. He can’t know more than I do. I’ve been reading every damn baby book possible and even baby name books.
“Since you are officially fifteen weeks today, I read that the little one is the size of an apple,” he says finally pulling a green apple out of the bag. Turning it this way and that he asks, “Can you believe they are already that big?”
Staring at the fruit in his hand, I can believe it. It’s a long way from the bean I saw back in July. He takes the few steps necessary to stand at the front of my desk and places it down in front of me looking at me with seduction. “You look so fucking hot, Erin. I’m having a really hard time keeping my hands off of you right now.”
Turning around, he says goodbye and heads towards the door as the second bell rings. My classroom is still empty and my hormones are on high Walker alert.
“Why a green apple, Walker? Aren’t apples for teachers typically red?” I call out before he hits the doorway.
Without missing a beat he spins around, arms braced on the doorframe, and I’m met with lust filled eyes. His black polo stretching as far as it will go across his heaving chest. “I’ve hear
d green makes you horny.”
“You don’t need anything green to get me horny, Walker. All you have to do is walk into a room,” I state, and by his expression, I can tell he wasn’t expecting that to come out of my mouth.
Pushing off the frame he stalks towards me like a man on a mission. As soon as he is a breath away his palms wrap around my neck pulling his mouth to mine. This kiss is different than the atmosphere. It’s gentle, fueled by passion, and sexy as hell. At any moment we could be caught, but I don’t care. My no touching below the belt rule is killing me and my dreams are getting more and more persistent. I want him, and I want him here. Now.
Dragging himself away from me with a pained look he smiles, and I realize he just doesn’t want to stop. “You surprise me, Erin. At every turn I am taken by surprise and I love it.” He walks backwards and runs his hands through his hair. “I’m falling for you, baby. Hard. Real hard.”
And he’s gone before he can hear me whisper “me too.”
The tips of my fingers run along my lower lip feeling the loss of his. Kids shuffle into the room but I barely notice. Taking their seats, one of the overachieving students yells my name but I’m a goner.
Walker’s reading books, looking things up like an excited father to be. He’s falling for me. Hard. I tried to protect my heart and after only a week, it is now his to guard and I trust him to do it. I trust him.
“Ms. Decker, is something wrong?” My student breaks me out of my trance.
“Oh, no, Sarah. No, everything is just perfect. Thank you,” I reply asking them all to take their seats and open their books.
A small chuckle comes from another girl Liz sitting directly next to Sarah. “Maybe Mr. Prescott’s cute face has her distracted. He just left her room for like the hundredth day in a row,” she whispers.
Shaking my head, it has to be bright red. “Alright, girls. Quit talking and open up your books.”
Yes, his cute face does have me distracted...as well as his smoking hot body.
With each passing period the level of necessity I have for Walker’s touch increases exponentially. In between each class, he enters my classroom with something green. Each time saying, “I walked in the room hoping you were as hot for me as I am for you...but just in case I brought this...” laying down an object on my desk and skimming the tips of his fingers over my lower lip.