by Stacy Borel
As quickly as I was crawling across the table, I was hoisted in the air and being tightly held against a warm hard chest.
“Easy.” Camden’s voice tried to soothe.
“When your brother lets me go, I’m going to kill you.”
Dodger had the audacity to roll his eyes.
“You know what, Macie? Fine. We are going to talk about it in front of everyone.” He walked around the table and stood in front of me. “You want to hit me after I talk, whatever. I’ll take it.” He bent a little and looked me in the eyes. “I wanted that house just as much as you did. From the moment you told me to turn and really look at the house objectively, I saw it too. I saw our future there. I saw you. I saw me coming home to you every night, or you coming home and kicking your feet up on my lap so I could rub them. I saw you being my wife and us cooking meals together. I saw our things that you’d strategically place because you’re secretly a perfectionist and you’d move them over and over until they were just right. I saw us raising this baby in a happy home. I saw the day we brought him or her home from the hospital, and long nights. I saw it all and I want everything. Ever little ounce of crazy, and fun, and fights. I wanted it and I wanted it in that house.”
I shook my head and wiped my eyes. “But you bought it even though I was already doing that. Why?”
He dropped his head, incapable of showing me his hurt. “Because you bought that house, it and everything in it would have been yours. Just yours. You haven’t let me in yet, Mace. And if you got a place for you and the baby all by yourself, you’d take that independence and run away with it and I’d be left behind still begging for the crumbs you give me. If I bought it, I would make sure that it was something for the three of us.”
Holy shit. When he put it that way, I understood. And he was right. I force my independence. I would have constantly thrown in his face that the house was mine and he had no right to it. I could pick and choose when I’d allow him in. I would still be living with keeping one of Dodger’s feet outside the door.
I wiggled a little. Camden squeezed. I glanced back at him and gave him a look that said, it was okay. I wasn’t going to hurt his brother. He loosened his arms and I stepped away from him, and into Dodger. I hated seeing him look so broken. That maybe I’d been cruel versus hard to get.
I placed my fingers under his chin. “So it’s ours?” I asked him hopefully. “We have a house?” Placing the emphasis on the “we.”
Dodger tilted forward and put his forehead against mine. “We do.”
I quietly laughed and felt a few more tears fall from my cheeks. “Oh man, I have a ton of furniture to buy.”
His beautiful crooked smile tipped up since the argument started and it was a relief to see it. “One room at a time, Mace.”
He kissed my forehead and I sighed in contentment. Being in Macie/Dodger world, I completely disregarded the fact that we’d had an audience the entire time. That was until someone cleared their throat. We pulled away from each other to look and see that Donna was bawling happy tears, and she was holding Paul’s hand.
“A baby?” she asked, almost scared the words would make it disappear.
Dodger shrugged bashfully. “Huh, yeah.” His hand rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry you found out this way. We were going to tell you today, just not like this.”
A loud gleeful scream came from Donna’s mouth, and I was pulled into a crushing hug by Paul. Donna was holding Dodger and crying like a baby speaking words that made no sense. I couldn’t help the laugh that came from my throat. Jesus, this family was crazy. Would have been nice to have had the same reaction from my family, but it occurred to me, that it was okay. This was my family. The Brooks opened their hearts and home to me and I’ve been a part of them for a couple of years now.
Donna slapped at Paul to move. She embraced me warmly.
“I’m planning the baby shower,” she stated firmly.
“No problem.”
“Excuse me!” Keegan interrupted. “I’m doing that planning with you.”
Donna nodded. “Absolutely! It will be the baby shower of all baby showers.”
I pulled back. “Don’t go overboard, ladies. It’s really not a big deal.”
Paul scoffed. “Do you know who you’re talking to? Everything with this woman is a big deal.”
“You hush.” Her southern twang scolded.
She hugged me again then looked at me like she was seeing me through new eyes. It was a little awkward and uncomfortable, but I understood. I don’t know why I would have expected anything less from Donna and Paul. They would be thrilled to be grandparents no matter how it happened. They loved kids.
“You doing okay? Morning sickness and all that under control? Have you seen the doctor? How far along are you?”
“Mom, slow down with the questions.” Dodger grinned at Donna.
“I don’t believe I was asking you, mister.”
He rolled his eyes. “Just oblige the crazy lady,” he said to me.
“Morning sickness has been a real pain in the butt. I couldn’t keep anything down except popsicles. I’m about twelve weeks, and we just saw the doctor. So far so good.”
She clapped her hands like she couldn’t contain herself.
“Not to sound insensitive or anything but can we talk about something else that’s equally cool and fun?” Camden made the most comical face.
“What’s that?” Dodger asked.
“Baseball, dipshit. Congrats and all that, I’ve already expressed my happiness, but I really don’t want to hear about Macie’s puking schedule.”
“You really are an ass sometimes,” Keegan grumbled.
“Yep. And if you’re a good girl, I’ll let you touch my ass later.” He slapped her butt as she walked past him. She let out a yelp.
Donna clucked her tongue at her son’s crude behavior. The banter always made me smile.
“We can play, but no baseball for you, Missy.” Paul pointed at me.
“Oh my lanta, it’s not like I’m crippled. I’m pregnant.”
“I’m with my dad. No ball.”
Good lord, it was a conspiracy to make me either crazy or completely incapable of doing anything. I knew they meant well, so I didn’t complain. However, if they kept that crap up the whole pregnancy I’d be putting a few Brooks men in their places. I was good for the time being, simply basking in the happiness of how everyone was with the baby news, the fact that Dodger and I got our home, and things seemed to be going better than I could have ever imagined. Sure to some, Dodger and me moving in together seemed like a jump considering we weren’t even together a month ago. But we had history, and now a family was being created. I was going to give it a real shot. I wanted it to work. And as long as I remained positive, positive things would happen. Right?
Right?
Chapter Nine
ALL WAS RIGHT IN Macie Land for the last two months. I was slowly starting to grow a little belly, we closed on the house, and morning sickness was definitely a thing of the past. I’d had two doctor’s appointments, which went completely uneventful. It amazed me listening to my unborn baby’s heartbeat. I was on track with growth and weight gain. I was pleased that the “pudge” phase didn’t last too long. For a while there, I looked like I’d over eaten at the China Buffet or something. Then it was like one morning I woke up and boom, there was an actual baby belly there. I’d stared at myself entirely too long in the mirror, deciding whether I liked it or not. My usual thin, in-shape-self wanted to revolt against these new lush curves. Not only had my stomach grown, so had my boobs and butt. Nobody told me everything would expand. But when I allowed myself to move past the extra pounds being put on, and the new sizes I was now having to wear, I really embraced the life that was growing inside of me. Crazy that a woman’s body grew a person. Like baking a freaking cake. Throw together a little lovin’, some baby batter, some moans and groans, and voila! You have a human. Okay, maybe it’s not that simple, but whatever. The explanation worke
d for me, and humored me at the same time.
A month after we’d learned about getting the house, and all of the papers were signed, Dodger and I wasted no time moving in. That was a crazy ass process to deal with, and frankly I’m not exactly sure how Dodger is still alive. The man wouldn’t let me move anything that weighed over five pounds. So basically I was in charge of shoes. He managed though with the help of his dad and Camden. Turner wanted to come home and help, but we said there wasn’t much to do that they couldn’t take care of themselves. Turner and Annabelle were currently doing work as traveling physician and nurse in South America. He wanted to show her different parts of the world, and she only felt okay doing it if she was helping people in the process.
Since being in the house, there has been a different set of hardships. It wasn’t so much that Dodger and I weren’t getting along. In fact, it was the opposite. While he was adhering to my self-imposed rules like a flipping champ, I was struggling to “keep it in my pants.” I knew the pregnancy hormones would make me hornier than I normally was, but I had no idea that it would make me feel like this. Dodger was sticking true to his word and not touching me, while I looked like a puppy in heat. If I wasn’t humping him, I’d gladly hump the nearest pillow to just make myself feel good. I needed the dick and I needed it now. I just wasn’t sure how I could seduce him enough to make him slip me the D. I was about to negotiate with him over it and say we could just do it once, and then we wouldn’t even have to talk about it. No matter how strong I wanted to be on the matter, I knew it was going to be me that would fold like a wet paper towel.
I was currently putting the finishing touches on my make-up, adding some gloss to my pregnant glow, and was heading out the door. Today was a big day. It was ultrasound day. The day we would find out if this little nugget was a boy or a girl. I had my own feeling what it was, but I’d kept it to myself. After reading those stupid Chinese calendars, and old wives tales, I was pretty sure it was a girl, but at this point, it was anybody’s guess. Paul and Keegan had a Brooks family pool going, which made me laugh. And I was shocked to find out that my dad put in on it. My parents were coming around. It took a solid month of news being dropped on them about the baby and the house before it sunk in. My mom has even sent me pictures of baby outfits when she’s been out shopping.
I was just walking in to the gym after the short drive to pick Dodger up so we could go together. Much to my dismay, Dana was still here. He had already told me he couldn’t just fire her because I disliked her, and I understood. But I still hated how she would call him sometimes to remind him about an appointment that I was sure he was aware of himself. Or how every time I came here, she was dressed extra slutty. How Camden felt her work attire was appropriate was beyond me. I’d bitched to Keegan about it, and she wasn’t happy either. But neither man said she was doing anything against the rules. Camden said she was polite to the gym patrons, kept the books up, and did the job better than anyone that he’d had working in her position. The one time I tried to convince him she was bad for the gym, he tossed back at me all of the “positive” things about her, to which I only heard Charlie Brown’s teacher coming out of his mouth.
And there she was, sitting at the front desk like she owned the place. She had a cleavage revealing V-cut black shirt that exposed her tattoos among other things. Dana’s attempt at a welcoming smile looked more like a how I pictured what a Great White would look like grinning at prey. I curled my lip in return.
“Hello, Macie.”
I grunted, giving her my back and leaned against the counter. I sent a text Dodger, not wanting to interrupt his current appointment, to let him know I was here. I might have included to hurry his ass up.
“So how have you been?” she asked.
I twisted around and glared at her. “Why are you talking to me?”
She shrugged. “I’m being polite.”
“You wouldn’t know polite if it bit you in the ass.”
“Yeah, well, I am to everyone that comes in here.”
I huffed a fake laugh. “Because you’re being paid to be. Let’s cut the act while I’m here though, shall we. I don’t like, you don’t like me. No need for niceties. Why don’t you go back to your tippy tapping on the computer and leave me alone?”
It got quiet besides the sound of metal hitting metal. Weights clanked together and music was playing throughout the gym. I impatiently tapped my foot, looking at the time on my cell phone. That man of mine had better hustle.
“Dodger said there was a really good place just outside of town to eat fried catfish.”
“What’s your point?” God, her voice was like a screeching cat.
“Dunno, maybe I should ask him to lunch one day so I make sure I have the right place.”
I was about to snap. “Are you trying to piss me off?”
“No. Just fun getting a reaction from you. You’re so jealous.” She smiled.
“Listen you little tramp. That man back there is taken. You so much as talk to him I’ll rip limb from limb.”
“He’s my boss. Pretty sure that means I have to talk to him.”
I was going to lose my shit. She had no clue how close to death she was right now. I saw Dodger coming out of his office following behind an older man. He smiled at me, but it was quickly wiped away when he saw my face.
“Not for long.” I grinned.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her nasally voice asked.
I leaned across the counter and said, “We’ll see if your job sticks.”
She jerked back. “What does that mean?”
I sounded even menacing to myself. Dodger was quickly approaching me. I spoke so only her and I could hear. “It means watch your back. One little slip up and you’re gone.”
“Babe, everything okay?” Dodger said as he looked back and forth between us.
I looked up at him, batting my lashes. “Perfect.”
He knew something was up. “Right.” He glanced at Dana. “You good? I’m out for the rest of the day.”
I stood slightly behind him and mouthed ‘fired’ while using my finger to mimic slashing my throat. Her eyes got wide. Dodger twisted to look at me. My arm dropped and I smiled sweetly. Oh no, I’m not up to anything.
“You’re clear for the day,” she said apprehensively.
Her ass better be nervous. She may think she was mistress of her games, but she had never dealt with me when I wanted something this badly. I was a force to be reckoned with. I watch when no one else watches. She had no clue how bad I wanted her gone.
When we turned to leave, I flipped my long brown hair over my shoulder and made eye contact with her one more time just as Dodger was holding the door open. I winked. Her eyes narrowed, and I knew . . .
Game on.
***
“Macie Rosewood?” An ultrasound tech called my name from a door that led back to the rooms.
Dodger and I stood, and headed toward her. She smiled at us both and led us to our room.
“Hi, I’m Amy. I’ll be doing your ultrasound today.”
“Nice to meet you,” Dodger greeted.
When we got into the room, she instructed me to lay down on the bed and unbutton my pants. She placed a white towel over my slightly extended abdomen and tucked it under my pants’ line. She flipped through some papers and clicked around on her high tech machine entering in my information. I didn’t know much about what her profession did. I only knew a decent amount of what I was looking at when things popped up on the screen.
“Okay, so today your doctor wants us to check the fetus’ growth, make sure all ten fingers and toes are there, and possibly check the sex. Are you guys wanting to know?”
“Yes.” I said way too quickly.
Dodger smiled at my eagerness. “Feels like we’ve been waiting forever.”
Amy smiled. “I know. These week twenty appointments are pretty brutal. Most moms and dads don’t wait and go to those ultrasound places that let you peek early. I know when I w
as pregnant with my youngest, I decided to try one out. I was only fifteen weeks.”
“You can know that early?” Dodger asked.
“Mhmm. Granted it’s not one hundred percent accurate. They can still usually get a decent idea.”
“What in the hell did we wait so long for?” He directed at me.
I rolled my eyes. “We had other things going on. It wasn’t going to kill us to wait. Besides we are here now, and we’ll know soon enough.”
Amy said, “Yes we will.” She squeezed some warm blue gel on my belly. She placed the wand in it and moved it around, spreading it so it coated me. “Okay, so first I’m going to get some measurements of the head, kidneys and placenta.” She clicked on her keyboard while she simultaneously did her work.
Dodger was watching with rapt attention. I knew he had no clue what he was looking at, but the look on his face right now was something I’d remember the rest of my life. It was complete awe and wonderment. He was seeing his child for the first time and he didn’t take his eyes off the screen. Amy explained a few things about what we should be seeing. I should have been watching just like he was, but I was focused on him and how he took in this whole moment. All I saw was pure love in his eyes. I felt myself getting emotional and I swallowed hard.
“Do you guys see this red flashing? I’m currently checking the blood flow through the umbilical cord.”
“Wow.”
“How does it look?” I asked.
“Technically I’m not supposed to tell you anything, but you’re a nurse, you know a lot of the medical jargon. Everything is measuring perfectly. Valves of the heart look great, placenta is in a good location. Baby is already head down, although I’m sure you know baby can still do flips in there, so it may not stay head down.”
“Whoa!” Dodger exclaimed. “Did you feel that?”
Our baby had done some crazy kicking movement. I’d only recently been feeling some slight fluttering movements. I chalked most of it up to gas.
“A little, but I feel more of the wand on my stomach right now.”