My phone rings from the coffee table in front of me. I carefully lean over to grab it. Nowadays, it’s becoming harder and harder each day to move. I’m thirty-six weeks pregnant today, and so that means I only have one more week before the doctor is okay with me delivering.
“Hello?” I ask, struggling to catch my breath. Damn, this kid is literally knocking the wind out of me.
“Hey, girl. How are you feeling?” Claire asks from the other end. She’s been calling almost every day since I was put on bedrest, even though Sierra and her boys are now staying with her. She’s somehow found a way to make sure I don’t go completely insane being locked up in the house.
“Oh, you know. Like I’ve got a tiny human inside of me, trying to kick her way through me.” I’ve always been a smart ass, but I must say, being as pregnant as a whale has made me even more of one.
She chuckles. “I’m so glad you’re doing good.”
I roll my eyes even though she can’t see me.
“What are you doing? How are my niece and nephew?”
“They’re good.” She gives me a short answer, which has me wondering what’s going on.
“What’s wrong?”
She sighs. “Sierra just told me that her and the boys are moving to Carolina Beach to live with her grandma.” I hear her sniffling. “I know we kind of expected this, but I don’t want her to go.”
“Oh, my God.” Sierra quickly became one of my best friends, along with Claire, so the thought of her leaving breaks my heart. “When are they leaving?”
“This weekend. She’s already got their plane tickets, so she’s pretty much ready to go.”
“She’s flying across the country with a toddler and newborn by herself?” The thought makes me cringe. I’m scared to death to only have one. I can’t imagine trying to handle more than that, by myself, nonetheless.
“Yeah. Me and Ryke offered to drive them out there, but she said she’d be fine traveling on her own with the boys.”
I rest my head on the back of the couch.
“God. I’m gonna miss her.” I sigh. “I know it has to be painful for her to be here without Miles.”
“At least she won’t have to work for a while. Miles made sure she was taken care of in case anything happened to him overseas. Nobody ever considered something like this happening to him instead.”
“Yeah, that’s good.”
Sierra doesn’t have a lot of family around anymore. Her dad abandoned her mom, her, and her two younger brothers when she was eight. A few years after that, her mom went off the deep end and left Sierra, Clay, and Owen with their grandmother. She raised the three of them, but after Sierra graduated from high school and her grandfather died, her grandmother decided to move to Carolina Beach. She, of course, stayed behind because of Miles, but now I can’t imagine how hard it is to be here.
“I know you’re on bedrest, but I want to do something, just the three of us, before she leaves.”
“Yeah, definitely. I know Evan won’t let me leave the house, but you girls can come over here if you want. We could order Chinese and watch stupid comedies or something.”
She laughs. “That sounds perfect.” She pauses. “I just can’t imagine not having her around anymore, you know? I wish things were different.”
“Me too. Who knows? Maybe she’ll come back after taking a break from Phoenix for a bit.” I think being around her grandma could be good for her. Plus, I’m sure she’ll like being close to her brothers again, and it’ll be good for her boys to have their uncles to do some of the things that Miles would have done with them.
After talking for a few minutes, we hang up so Claire can take care of Brady and Aria. The thought of not having Sierra and her boys around anymore makes me sad. I was really hoping that the three of us could all raise our kids together. But now that won’t be possible, with her being clear across the country.
“Hey,” Evan says as he walks into the living room, donned in a slate grey suit and black dress shoes. The man is sexy as sin.
“Hey.” I try to stand from the couch, but then flop back in defeat when I realize that it’s too much work.
“Rough day?” he asks as he takes the seat next to me and pulls me into his arms. “Is our princess treating her mommy good today?” He rubs at my stomach, which seems to be one of his favorite things to do these days.
“No. I’m pretty convinced that she already hates me, and she’s not even born yet.”
He chuckles. “Nah. I’ve heard that doesn’t happen until at least the teen years.”
“Well then, she needs to start being nicer to me.” I laugh. “I just got off the phone with Claire.”
“Oh, yeah? What’d she want?” He strokes my ponytail that desperately needs to be washed. Damn. A shower sounds wonderful about now, but the thought of having to stand for any amount of time, makes me quickly change my mind.
“Sierra and the boys are moving to her grandma’s in North Carolina.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Really? I mean, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised, but damn.”
“I know. I think it’ll be good for her to start over after everything, but I’m going to miss her like crazy.”
“Well, maybe we can all make a trip out there this summer.” This is another reason I love this man.
“Really? That would be awesome.” I smile up at him. “Hey, you think you could help me get in the shower? I smell like hell, but I don’t think I can do it by myself.”
He gives me a Cheshire grin, and I roll my eyes at him.
“Have I ever denied you when you offered to be naked in front of me?”
“Evan! I’m thirty-six weeks pregnant and bigger than a house. Tell junior to calm the hell down.” I smirk at him, knowing he’s going to lecture me for the nickname I just gave his dick.
He leans into my ear. “Avery Porter, there’s nothing junior about my dick, and I don’t give a fuck how big you think you are. I’ll always find you sexy as hell.” He bites down on my earlobe, which has me yelping, and then he pecks me on the cheek before standing from the couch to help me up.
He holds his hand out to me. “Come on. Let’s go shower.” He looks at me, obviously expecting me to argue with him. “Don’t argue, because you won’t win, Av. I want to see you naked.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me.
“You’re insatiable.” I mumble under my breath as he pulls me to stand.
“Don’t you forget it.”
He swats at my ass as we walk to the bathroom.
“Mr. Porter, it’s going to be at least a couple months before I can have sex again, but if you’d like to make it longer, keep that shit up.”
“Fine. I’ll be good.” He huffs and rolls his eyes at me.
I smirk at him, and then we make our way to the shower.
* * *
The next night, Claire and Sierra come over so we can hang out one last time.
“Damn, I’m going to miss you.” I lean my head against Sierra’s shoulder.
“I’ll miss you guys too. I really hate leaving, but I just feel like I need to start somewhere fresh without all the memories. You know?”
I turn to look at her, now feeling like a bitch for making her feel bad.
“I completely understand, Sier. I can’t imagine how you feel right now. You need to be with your family. But you better believe that we’re going to bug the hell out of you by visiting way too much.
“Hell yes!” Claire chimes in, which has me and Sierra laughing. She never used to talk like this until she moved to Phoenix. I know, I’m a terrible influence.
“I hope you guys do. My grandma is right on a private beach, which is so amazing because hardly anyone else hangs out on it. Only about ten houses have access to it.”
“That does sound amazing.”
“I’m sorry I won’t be here when the baby is born.” I look over at her, and her eyes glisten with unshed tears.
“Girl, don’t you dare apologize. As soon as she’s here, we’ll FaceTime
so you can see her.”
“Okay.” She nods. “I just feel bad because you all have been here so much for me, and now, I feel like I’m bailing on you guys.”
Claire chimes in, “Sierra Greene, stop that right now. You are not bailing on us.”
We order take-out and find an old movie on Netflix that stars Nicolas Cage and Cher. It’s ridiculously cheesy, but has Sierra laughing, so I’m happy.
“Promise me that you’ll text one of us as soon as you land, so we know you made it okay,” I say as I hug Sierra one last time before her and Claire leave to go back to her house.
“I promise.” She squeezes me tight. The sadness still radiates off of her, but I’m glad that she was at least able to have a little bit of fun tonight. We were all in desperate need of a girls’ night.
“We’ll start looking for hotels along the beach to come visit this summer,” Claire says, and I nod my head in agreement.
“I can’t wait. And I’m guessing by then I’ll want to stay in a hotel with all of you because Grandma Rose is probably going to be getting on my last nerves.” She laughs, which has me and Claire laughing right along with her.
“Love you, girl,” I say as they walk out of the front door. “Everything is going to be great in NC, I promise.”
She gives me a big, forced smile, but I’ll take it. There was a time where she wasn’t even able to pretend she was happy.
8
Evan
“Love you. Have a good day.” I kiss Avery’s forehead before making my way out of our bedroom. I still don’t feel comfortable leaving her on her own, but thankfully, my sister checks in on her when she can.
“You too.” I hear her grumble, and I chuckle. My girl is definitely not a morning person.
I fill my to-go mug with coffee and then head to work. I got a call last night from Flynn telling me that we were having an office meeting first thing this morning. I don’t know why he felt the need to tell me, instead of letting me find out with everyone else today. His odd behavior hasn’t gone unnoticed over the last couple weeks. Typically, he takes on any and all clients, but recently, he’s been turning more and more down. I know we’ve been busy, but it’s unusual for him to deny anyone.
I pull into my reserved spot and then shoot Avery a quick text, telling her I love her again. What can I say? That woman has turned me into a pussy.
Avery: Love you;) Chinese tonight?
I chuckle to myself, because all she’s wanted to eat lately is greasy egg rolls, but I can’t deny her anything, even if I wanted to.
Me: Sounds good. Take care of my princess and call if you need anything.
I leave my phone on, not wanting to miss a call from her if she needs me.
“Good morning, Mr. Porter.” Hilary greets from behind the front desk. She’s in her early sixties, so I find it strange when she acts so formal around me.
“Hilary, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Evan?” I wink at her as I walk by, and she laughs.
“You know, Evan, I don’t think your wife would appreciate you flirting with me all the time.”
I turn back toward her. “She doesn’t think I’m as charming as you do.” I wink again for good measure and then walk toward my office, but I’m halted by Mallory.
She tries to grab my arm, but I keep walking.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, my back now toward her.
“Flynn said we’re having a meeting, and it sounds pretty serious.” I already knew this, but I don’t tell her that.
“Where’s it being held?” I ask her as I continue for my office.
“It’s in conference room A. Most everyone is in there already.”
When I get to my desk, I drape my suit jacket on my chair.
“I just need to send a quick email, and then I’ll be in. Tell Flynn I’ll only be a minute.”
“Okay.” She turns on her heels, and I’m left by myself.
I sigh heavily before shooting an email off to one of my clients, confirming an appointment for this week.
I look up from my computer when I hear a knock on my door.
“Evan, can I have a word with you?” Flynn asks as he takes one of the chairs across from my desk.
“Yeah, of course. Sorry, I was about to come to the conference room. I just needed to email Kent Elton to confirm his appointment for Thursday afternoon.”
He shakes his head. “No, it’s fine. I have everyone else in there already, but I kind of wanted to talk to you by yourself first.”
That causes me to panic a bit. He sounds a little worried, which in turn, has me worried.
“Okay,” I say slowly. “Is everything alright?”
I move away from the computer so I can give him my full attention.
“Yeah, everything is fine, but I’m not sure how you’re going to feel about what I’m about to tell you.”
“Shit, Flynn. Are you firing my ass?” I jokingly ask. I know there’s no actual reason for me to lose my job. He’s got a dry sense of humor at times, but I still give him a hard time occasionally. He’s used to it by now.
“No, nothing like that.” He clears his throat. “But,” he pauses, and I kind of want to reach across my desk and strangle the guy for putting me on pins and needles.
“But? You’re freaking me out, Flynn.” My leg bounces under the desk, something I’ve always done when I’m nervous.
“I’ve decided to retire early, so I’ll be closing the firm in June.”
I shake my head. “I’m sorry, what?” I must have misunderstood him because I thought I heard him say he was closing the firm in only six months from now. I had no idea that he was even considering closing it at all.
He nods. “It’s time. Mary wants to move to Cape Cod. There’s nothing really here tying us down besides the firm.”
“I- I don’t understand. Isn’t there someone you could pass it down to. What about your nephew? You said before you’d probably leave it to him. Flynn, man, you can’t leave me without a job only a month before I’m expecting my first child.”
I don’t want to act like an ass, but he’s really freaking me the hell out. I know that technically I have six months to look for a new job, but I’ve been here for so long. I don’t want to fucking work for anyone else.
“No. I can’t leave it to Garret. He’d run this place into the ground in a heartbeat, and I’d rather just close it.”
I’m now seeing red as I grip the edge of the desk like my life depends on it. How the hell am I going to tell Avery about this?
“This is shit.” I shake my head. “I have a baby on the way.”
“I know, and that’s why I wanted to tell you that Gerald’s Texas office already has a job lined up for you. I told them you probably wouldn’t be able to be out there for a few months because of the baby, but that works out because the position you’ll be filling still has someone there until March.”
Gerald Bowman was the Bowman in Howser & Bowman until he decided to move his family to Texas ten years ago and open his own firm. For whatever reason, Flynn never changed our name. It confuses the hell out of people.
“What?” I stare at him like he has suddenly sprouted two heads, not understanding, and then I shake my head. “I can’t move to Texas. There is no way in hell Avery is going to agree to this. Her family is here. I couldn’t pull her away from Phoenix.”
“Well, I don’t need your answer yet, but I’ll need it by the end of the week so I can let Dallas know.” He stands to his feet. “Talk to Avery. Maybe she’ll be on board with it more than you think. This could be a good opportunity for you eventually to move up when Gerald retires.”
Once again, I’m stunned silent. This would be the chance of a lifetime, and it’s definitely something I’ve wanted for a long time, but in Phoenix, not Dallas. Yeah, I have my sister and her family here, but I’m used to not being around family. But Avery is going to be a whole different story.
“I’m going to just turn you down now. I’ll look around myself
, but I appreciate the offer. Good luck, Flynn.”
I see the look of disappointment on his face.
“If that’s all you needed from me, I think I’ll take the rest of the day off.”
He nods and leaves my office.
I look around the small space and sigh, wondering how the hell I’m going to take care of my family now, without a job. I’ve worked my ass off over the years to get to where I am, but now, it feels like it’s all being ripped from me in an instant.
God, how am I going to tell my wife about this?
9
Avery
“Why did they have to kill him?” I blow my nose into a paper towel as I hiccup a cry.
“Oh, my God, Avery! You are so damn hormonal it’s not even funny.” Claire chuckles beside me, and I want to punch her in the face. Holy shit. I am hormonal.
We’ve been watching reruns of Grey’s Anatomy all day. I’ve watched this episode probably fifteen times, but I still can’t get over the fact that McDreamy died. Why? Patrick Dempsey is a fucking sex god, I mean, for an old guy, but his character is one of my all-time favorites.
“Shut up! Poor Meredith.” I wipe at my wet face.
“Av, I cannot wait for this baby to be born so you can do something other than cry over fictional characters.” She shakes her head at me.
“Ugh!” I throw my hands up in the air. “I’ve gone completely insane, haven’t I?”
She moves closer to me on the couch so she can rub at my enormous belly. I’m not due until the first of the year, but my doctor said it would be safe to deliver whenever the baby decides to come. Honestly, if she gets any bigger in there, she’s going to run out of room to move.
Renewed: The Unexpected Series Page 4