I could feel my stomach rebelling at the thought, but it was coffee, so I’d make do. “Cross my heart.”
Nodding, he turned to make me a dishwater coffee and then plated up our breakfasts.
Here’s where my pregnancy made itself known, violently. Tate had said he made bomb-ass waffles, eggs, and bacon, so I’d taken him up on the offer. While he’d been cooking, he’d asked me if I liked syrup on my waffles and ketchup with the rest, which I did so long as the two never met. I wasn’t a mixing my sweet with my savory type of girl – you kept that shit far apart unless you were a psycho. That might be a bit harsh, but I really didn’t mix the two.
When he placed it down in front of me, it turned out he’d used two plates, bless his heart. On one were the waffles, drenched in syrup. On the other, were fluffy scrambled eggs, perfectly cooked bacon… and ketchup. The sight of the sauce triggered a memory of how it tasted, and then I got a waft of the smell of it which all mixed together made my stomach rebel.
I only had seconds to get to a place where I could toss my cookies – which wasn’t enough to get me to the bathroom and throwing up in the kitchen sink was just bad manners. So, I covered my mouth and headed to the front door, opened it and ran across the porch to the railing, and then puked over it into the rose bushes – yes, rose bushes – that surrounded the house.
“What the fuck?” A voice cried in front of me and then started gagging.
Still throwing up, I looked up into the horrified face of Levi, who had one foot on the bottom step of the stairs leading up to Tate’s porch, a grand total of two feet away from what I was doing. I learned a lesson though – it’s not possible to smile at someone as either a hello or apology when you’ve got vomit leaving your body at tsunami speed. Well, at least not without looking like something out of a horror movie written by a freaky psycho that was.
When he hung his head over the banister of the steps and joined me, I had a moment to mourn the fact I wasn’t going to be eating any of the food Tate had cooked, rejoiced over not drinking the dishwater coffee, and resigned myself to the fact I wouldn’t be eating ketchup again ever. It was a confusing mix of emotions and thoughts, and sadly, it wouldn’t be the last time that it happened to me.
Pregnancy – it’s fucking awesome. That was the book I was going to write about it when it was over. Obviously it would be sponsored by sarcasm, humiliation and include a ton of FMLs.
Tate
After seeing her reaction to ketchup, I knew that I was going to have to start a spreadsheet on what food to avoid for the next nine months. Noah and Madix had all had one, and I remembered them telling me it changed from day-to-day, so they were constantly adding and updating it. Seeing Lily’s reaction to a simple thing like ketchup made me wonder what would be next.
The recovery had been insane too, and no one had warned me about that side of it. One second she was puking her guts up in the rose bushes, the next she was inside eating waffles. In the meantime, both me and Levi were waiting for her head to spin in circles with chunks of waffles flying everywhere, while our guts retreated back into their normal spaces in our bodies.
Deciding to test the water, I asked, “Um, is there anything else just now that’s making you feel… unwell?”
“Tell me you burned the sauce,” Levi muttered out the corner of his mouth, his eyes not leaving Lily.
It was gone, long gone. So gone that it was now sitting in the grass somewhere between my house and my sisters where I’d lobbed it before Lily came back in. I’d also put the eggs and bacon on a new plate, rinsed off the old ones, Febreeze’d the fuck out of the kitchen, and shoved the old plates in the dishwasher. No sense in wasting eggs and bacon, but the rest I wasn’t taking any chances with. She’d sorted herself out in the bathroom and had then gone straight for the waffles like nothing had happened.
Thinking it over, she shrugged and shoved another mouthful in, waiting until she’d finished chewing and swallowing before she answered the question. “Not that I’m aware of,” she hummed and then took a mouthful of the coffee I’d made her. The look of revulsion and body shudder made me and Levi stiffen up waiting for another tidal wave. “Although, that might change if I have to keep drinking my coffee like this.”
“It’s only until we see the doctor,” I reminded her, as Levi walked over and looked in her mug.
“What the fuck is that?”
“He’s making me drink weak coffee,” Lily told him, nodding at him with big eyes when he took a sharp breath in.
“But why?”
When he followed it by shooting a look of disgust in my direction, I glared at him and mouthed, “Shut the fuck up.”
“That’s not right, man. She’s carrying your baby, at least give her decent fucking coffee. Do you know what’s gonna happen to her…” he pointed at his crotch, “in nine months?”
The glare that Lily shot at me made my balls scream and try hiding inside my crotch for the second time today.
“Why are you here?” I snapped.
Levi frowned and then thought it over. “I can’t remember now. I think it was to see how you were after last night, apologize for being a dick to your girl, and also see if you knew where Rich was, but none of that seems important anymore. Well, aside from the apology,” he glanced down at Lily and winced. “Sorry, girl. We knew he was crushing on you, but the baby news came outta the blue.”
Sighing, she pushed her empty plate away so she could lean her elbows on the table as she answered him. “It’s cool, I actually expected that reaction from him,” she pointed at me with her thumb. “But for some reason he’s being cool and happy about it. Thank you for the apology, though.”
“Okay, lemme just interrupt this little thing going on here,” I waved between the two of them. “I’m being cool because I’m not dumb – I just know you’re not that girl. You wouldn’t be saying it if you didn’t know for sure. I also know you’re not… uh,” I tried to think of a word that wasn’t insulting. I might be saying she wasn’t one, but at the same time she might find the word screaming in my head insulting. Fucking millennial thinking and all that.
“A slut?” Levi offered, not having the same worries that I did.
“A loose bitch?” she suggested.
“A dick bunny?”
“Streetwalker?”
“Hooker?”
“Cum dumpster?”
“Oh, that one’s nasty,” Levi shuddered. “Clitoromaniac?”
“Love it,” she snorted. “Blowsabella?”
“Cock chafer?”
“Would the two of you stop now,” I snapped before she could throw another one out there. Glaring at both of them as they stared at me with big eyes, I finished what I was saying before they so rudely interrupted. “All of those things you’re not. The baby was a surprise, but it’s a great surprise.” Her face softened as I said it all, and you’d have had to be blind not to see the relief she was feeling. “A friend of our cousins almost lost his woman and kid while we were there, and seeing it all it put what I felt for you in perspective for me, and that was only after one night together.”
“Huh, I knew you were different while we were away,” Levi muttered, reminding us he was here for this crucial conversation. How we’d forgotten, I didn’t know, but we both jumped and looked at him in shock.
Seeing our reactions, he mimed zipping his lips up and walked backwards so he could jump up on the countertop.
Whatever!
“But why are you so sure it’s yours?” Lily pressed, pointing at her stomach. “I mean, I know it is, but y’all can’t be blind to the fact that bitches are bitches, and they lie about shit like this all the time.”
“Some women also tell the truth,” Levi reminded her. “Can’t be lumping everyone in together, even though it’s easy to do.”
For some, this might seem like an almost redundant comment. After his reaction last night, it would also confuse people. For me, it was fucking awesome. It meant that in the time since he’d foun
d out, regardless of what we’d all said to him, he’d made up his own mind based on what he’d seen of her and knew about her. He’d taken it all and had realized what me and our parents knew immediately – Lily James wouldn’t lie about this. It also showed me he trusted my judgement on the situation too, and that in his mind the baby was a Townsend.
Again, our intuition about people was rarely that wrong, even if it took us a minute to figure it out.
Lily stared at him open-mouthed, obviously remembering his reaction last night too, and blinked rapidly.
“Lily,” I called, getting her attention again. “The whole time I was away, I felt like shit in case you thought I’d just used you for one night. You’re not a one-night stand for me. Hell, even if the baby wasn’t a factor, I’d be begging you to let me make it up to you, and also asking you to give me a chance to get to know you so we can try and make us an actual us.” Jesus, I hoped that made sense to her. “I know we need to take it slowly and get to know each other, but I’d really like it if you could give me a chance.”
Her head dropped to look down at her hands in her lap, leaving me (and Levi) waiting for an answer. I started to sweat a little when she didn’t give me one immediately, glancing at my brother who was watching her too.
I forgot one of the most valuable and true sayings in the history of mankind though – that all good things come to those who wait.
“I did think you’d just wanted a one-night stand with me,” she sighed, lifting her head back up to look at me. “I know our parents know each other, and I know the kind of family you all are, but I just didn’t know what to think. Then, the baby,” she waved her hand and turned to look out of the window behind Levi. “I figured I had nine months to find how to break the news to you…”
“He might look dumb,” Levi interrupted, “but he’s not. He’d have seen the bump.”
When both of us turned to look at him, he shrugged unrepentantly.
“Why are you still here?” I snapped.
Jumping down from the counter, he picked up his mug and made his way toward the door. “I smelled the waffles, and you make good food. I also wanted to apologize to Lily about last night. Hearing the conversation going on, I’m now feeling like I need to go and do something that reminds me I have a dick.”
He was so full of shit. The thing few people realized about my brother was – he was softer than silk. He’d most likely not slept all night after saying what he had last night and had wanted to find a way to apologize to Lily. He’d also wanted to make sure I was ok, and that I was also ok with him.
I’d keep his little soft as shit secret though, for now.
That all changed when he yelled his parting piece as he walked down the steps of my porch.
“Also heard she snapped your dick in half and wanted to see what a dude looked like after it happened. Consider me disappointed!”
I could have let all of his secrets out – like the time he cried for two days because he hit a bird when he was driving, or the fact he spent an hour at an animal sanctuary every morning before he went to work to help out. That was no fun though, and Lily would probably appreciate the latter part. Plus, seeing him reveal his vagina himself was much more satisfying.
So…
“Lily has a pet squirrel, and she’s getting a baby fox that was saved from smugglers who were going to make it into a purse!” I yelled, embellishing the story slightly.
His scream was perfect, as were the excited footsteps as he ran back up the stairs. Knowing I had seconds to say what I needed to say, I looked back over at her and asked, “Will you give me a chance?”
Turns out I hadn’t needed to ask, because while I’d been distracted by my brother, she’d walked over to stand beside me and was in the process of throwing her arms around me. Still, her mumbled ‘yes’ was good to hear as I wrapped my arms around her, both of us watching Levi as he raced toward where we were standing.
It was going to be a case of slowly, slowly, catchy monkey for us, but at least we’d gotten past this part. Sadly, I could do what I wanted to do with my dick still screaming and trying to hide itself in my abdomen somewhere and the resolution I’d made this morning, but that just meant we could work on the non-sexual side of us for a while.
“I really wish I hadn’t broken your penis,” she sighed, somehow reading my thoughts.
“Forget about his wiener,” Levi scoffed, running past us and picking up Lily’s purse. “We gotta go. When are you getting the fox cub? How old is it? Have you got what you need? Has he had his shots? What about rabies? Do you need someone to help out?”
Shit, I hadn’t thought about any of this. Could she look after animals when she was pregnant? Weren’t pregnant women supposed to stay away from cat shit? Did foxes have the same thing in theirs? What if it was a cat they wanted her to foster?
This was going to be like the whole coffee problem all over again, I could feel it.
“What are you calling it?” Levi asked her as he pulled us both toward the door.
I winced thinking about the names she’d given her pets already. Poor little fox!
“I’m not bringing it home, Levi,” she told him, more than likely breaking his heart. “Texas laws prohibit pet foxes. He was rescued and is being kept at a shelter so I’m going to help with it. There were other animals seized, though, and they might need a new home.”
“What kind of animals?”
Here’s an obvious fact about my brother – he’s an animal lover. It didn’t matter what kind, he loved them all, even crickets. When he was fourteen, he’d worked with a guy who’d had a small rescue center, looking after injured and abandoned animals. Every week he’d be dropped off to clean out, feed, walk, and play with whatever rescue needed it. He also worked with a canine behavioral specialist who’d taught him about all the different types of dogs and the various nuances of their breeds – Levi’s exact words. As a family with dogs of all types and sizes, this knowledge had come in handy repeatedly. What breeds could you mix together? What were they like with kids? What were the warning signs of behavioral issues? It was all stored in the cavity that his brain was meant to be in.
“Do you think there’ll be raccoons? I love those guys. If you get one, can we call it Bandito?”
I was wrong, any animal either of them named was screwed.
Seven
Lily
With Mom being Rachel James, I’d learned early to not care what people thought of me. No, that was a lie, I’d learned to act like I didn’t care. When people tear your appearance apart, what you’ve done, a photo and things like that, trust me – you cared. It was letting on how much that was your downfall.
So, I’d been able to act blasé and understanding last night when Levi had questioned my honesty, even though I’d understood it seeing as how I was claiming his brother was the father of my baby. But it had still stung and was one of the reasons I’d been holding myself back from Tate. Him apologizing and being how he was now was a relief.
“He’s genuinely excited about this shit,” Tate muttered as we headed into the sanctuary to see the cub.
“You don’t say,” I replied, watching as Levi pulled open the door of the building and waved at us to hurry. “When he tried getting it three collars and two hundred bucks worth of toys at the pet store, I kind of figured that out.”
That was low balling the figure. He’d tried adding in so much shit to the cart after insisting we go to the store, that we’d abandoned it and started all over again. Yes, it was a fox cub, but there were no lactating vixens in the area to take it on as theirs. Mom’s friend had already told me how tame it was, acting more like a puppy or kitten, so they were waiting on an assessment to be carried out on it to see if they could rehabilitate it to be released back into the wild. Because of this, Levi had decided it would need something to play with and stuff to make it comfortable, so that’s what we’d gone looking for.
One thing we knew – it was healthy. They’d run a ton of tests on t
he poor thing so we had those answers. It had also been vaccinated, wormed and whatever else, so I didn’t have to worry about rabies or diseases if it came near me.
All of this flew out the water when we were led through into the office and saw a tiny little fox playing with a squeaky toy.
“Jesus, that’s cute!” Tate chuckled as he got down on his knees on the floor beside it, keeping a safe distance.
Immediately, the cub dropped the toy and waddled over to where he was, sitting down and staring back up at him.
Not wanting to be left out, Levi copied Tate’s position behind the cub and scratched the floor. It turned and looked at him, squeaked and looked back at Tate.
“Oh, lordy, looks like it’s chosen its human,” Barb, Mom’s friend, whispered.
My snort caught its attention though, and it walked up to me and sniffed my foot, making it impossible for me not to squat down and lift my hand to scratch the top of its head. “Hey, little baby.”
It was blatantly clear how tame it was by how it approached us, but so I didn’t scare it, I kept all of my movements to a slow speed and my voice quiet. It didn’t even blink as I rubbed it behind its ear, instead choosing to fall back and give me its tummy. This was a heartbreaking move – a wild animal rarely did this because it was a show of submission and opened up a weak place on its body. Sure, cubs played, but this had happened with just a rub on its ear from someone it didn’t know.
“Can I pick it up?” I knew I shouldn’t, but I just had to.
“Sure can,” Barb reassured me, sighing and smiling sadly. “That baby would let you carry it around rather than walk even one step.”
Damn, that was bad, too.
“Is it a boy or a girl,” Tate asked, watching closely as I lifted the baby up and scratched its belly.
“It’s a boy, and we think he’s around five weeks old,” she replied. “Our contact at the police says the men admitted to taking it two weeks ago. It was still reliant on being nursed, so one of their girlfriends put it in with her cat who’d just had kittens.”
Tainted Gold: Providence Gold Series Book Three Page 9