A month has passed since I went down to the courthouse with Scott. I had all my paperwork together, everything in line, and now I'm just waiting for it all to go through.
I was in the kitchen making a bunch of salad for mine and Scott's lunch. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts about the baby that I didn't hear Scott come into the room from the garage. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, making me jump a little.
"You have no idea how good this looks." He said kissing just below my ear. It sent a little shiver throughout me.
"I thought you'd be annoyed we're eating salads again." I've been trying to eat really healthy for the baby. The doctor said the more greens I eat, the better. He kept kissing my neck, making me smile.
"I wasn't talking about the salad." He whispered in my ear. I felt a chill run down my spine.
"Oh, what were you talking about then?" I asked playing dumb. I've held my ground till now, its fun to watch him squirm. He ran his hand up my sides seductively. I felt my breath quicken.
"One sexy hot tamale with a shirt that's very unfair." I smiled.
"Why is it unfair?" I asked as I turned my head to the side, giving him better access to my neck. He took advantage of it. this is one thing I haven't minded lately, by holding out on him, he's very aware of what I have a weak spot for and treating me very well.
"Because you're teasing me." He said nibbling at my collar bone. I closed my eyes with a little moan. "It's been two months since you've let me truly appreciate this piece of work God's created, and you wear an outfit that looks like this." He said running one of his hands across my stomach. I thought about the baby he was running his hand over. The baby he still doesn't know about…
"So what is it you want to do?" I asked as I tried to not think about the baby right now.
"Depends on what you'll let me do." He kissed me just under my jaw were he knows it drives me nuts. I turned around and he pressed us together without hesitating. Just to tease me as much as I've been teasing him. It's working…
"Do your worst." I said right at his lips. I can play hardball too. He smiled.
"You can't handle my worst." He challenged. I laughed a little.
"You haven't seen mine either babe." I said running one finger from his collarbone down to his belt, then back up real slow. He looked like he was about to lose his ever loving mind. He lifted my chin suddenly and started all down my neck. My breath caught in my throat at how amazing it felt. I felt him laugh against my throat before leaving one more kiss there.
"I can be just as clever as you." He said with his smug little smile. I cocked my jaw to the side as I shook my head.
"You aren't going to get very far with an attitude like that." I warned. He just laughed at me.
"I've gotten further with you in the last ten minutes than I have in two months." I didn't know what to say because it's true.
"Well, why don't you go meet me upstairs?" I said quietly. I don't know what made me decide it but as soon as the words left my mouth I was ready to race him up there.
"Why don't I take you with me?" He said pulling me by the belt loop toward him. I shook my head with a lot of force.
"Lori Anne said she was going to drop by. I'll get rid of her so we'll have all afternoon." I said as I held onto his collar seductively. He looked like he was ready to fall apart. I haven't acted like this with him in a long time. Even I was loving this.
"I'll meet you upstairs then." I smiled as I gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"Go." I said pushing him away a little. As he started walking away I slapped his butt, making him jump about three feet in the air. I laughed as he looked at me in shock before practically running up the stairs. I wanted to be up there with him so much right now. Lori Anne better hurry the heck up…
About ten minutes later Lori Anne came walking into the kitchen. I ate a small salad to distract myself and feed my always starving child and was currently putting my plate in the dishwasher.
"Here's your stuff Reba." She said setting a bag of vitamins my doctor suggested for me on the counter. I smiled.
"Thank you, so I'll see you tomorrow." I said opening the door.
"How about right now?" she said not moving. She looked at me like I was crazy. I sighed as I thought about Scott up there waiting for me.
"I have… things, to attend too." I said carefully.
"Things? What kind of things?" I sighed as she crossed her arms.
"Scott's waiting for me upstairs, I can't take it anymore." I said frustrated.
"What do you mean you can't take it anymore?" she seemed confused.
"These hormones." I said in a hushed voice. "I can't tell him no anymore, I am in like, sex withdrawal overdrive!" I said frustrated. She laughed.
You mean you haven't yet?" I shook my head.
"I wasn't going to for a while, but I forgot how strong my hormones get. So if you wouldn't mind, I'm about to lose my mind." I said gesturing at the open door. She laughed.
"Well you have fun." She said leaving. I slammed the door and practically sprinted up the stairs.
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I collapsed on top of Scott in a pant. He was breathing just as hard as I was. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself some.
"I love you." He said between breaths. I smiled as I looked up at him.
"I love you." I said kissing him. He held my chin and deepened it. I pulled back with a little force.
"What, you don't want to go for another round?" he said with that smile. I laughed.
"You mean another one? We've only been through about a million rounds already." I felt exhausted.
"We've only done it five rounds Reba, but if you want to try for that million I wouldn't object to that either." He said with a smile. I laughed as I rolled my eyes.
"How are you not dead tired?"
"I've gone without this for way too long, I want as much of you as I can get." He said rolling us over, pining me underneath him. He started kissing my neck again, making me laugh.
"Can we at least take a quick nap? Maybe eat a little something?" I asked trying to fight the feeling. He looked at me.
"Real quick snack, then a half hour nap. That's about all I can handle." I laughed as I slapped his chest playfully.
"You got to get of me first." He smiled and laid his head on my shoulder.
"But I'm so comfortable." I laughed a little bit.
"I guess we're done for today then." I said running my fingers through his crazy hair. I was so content just being here with him. He rolled off me after a minute of thought.
"Please hurry." He said holding my hands as I put my robe on. I leaned down and gave him a kiss.
"I will." I headed downstairs and shoved so much food in my face I feel like a garbage disposal. After a few minutes I stopped to pace myself. I looked at the clock, 7:13. My eyebrows went up. We went upstairs at around 11am.
After I finished eating I just left my dished by the sink, I'll just do them later. I headed for the stairs, so ready for that nap. When my foot touched the first step the doorbell rang. I let out an annoyed sigh as I turned to open it. When I did I regretted it, it was Brock.
"What do you want Brock." I asked as I ran a hand down my face.
"Well hello to you too sunshine." He said sarcastically, which only caused me to roll my eyes.
"What do you want Brock?" I repeated.
"You weren't answering your phone; I wanted to know if you wanted to go grab a bite to eat."
"I already ate Brock. And I don't even know where my phone is right now." I said honestly. I looked in the living room and saw it on the coffee table. "There it is." I said going and picking it up.
"How did you not know where it was? It was right there." I rolled my eyes.
"I was busy, now don't you have somewhere else to be?"
"No, I thought we were going to go eat." He said stubbornly.
"I never agreed to that Brock." I said sternly as I walked back to the door.
"Why are you in your robe?" he asked suddenly.
"I was about to get in the shower Brock, not that it's any of your business." I said annoyed.
"His car's here." He stated more to himself than to me. "All makes sense." He said walking for the door.
"Brock, don't be like this." I said angrily. "You barge in here and then get mad at what you find, I'm tired of it." he stared at me.
"I'd say you need to pick between us but I already know what your answer would be." I rolled my eyes.
"Isn't that a little elementary?"
"You'd pick him over me any day wouldn't you?" I didn't answer him, I'm not feeding into his little temper tantrum. "I'm right aren't I?" he said a little louder. My temper snapped.
"Yes, you're probably right. I'd rather be with him than you." I snapped.
"I miss my bestfriend. If she ever comes back around here would you let her know?" he started to leave.
"I've had a lot to deal with Brock. Losing Hailey, fighting what feels like the world to get her back, trying to figure everything out with the-" I clamped my hand over my mouth before I could say the word baby.
"With the what?" he asked confused. I shook my head.
"Never mind, you wouldn't understand." I said shutting the door before either of us could say anything else. That was way to close on my end.
"Would I understand?" I jumped at the sound of Scott's voice coming from the middle of the stairs.
"I don't know." I said quietly. I didn't want to tell him about the baby just yet. He hasn't been around long enough to truly trust.
"Try me." He said coming down to hold my hands in his. I was leaning up against the door for stability. I couldn't meet his eyes. "Reba, I'm right here." He said softly. I took a deep breath and forced myself to meet his eyes. I could feel mine were full of tears. His were soft and understanding.
"I can't say right now." I said in a whisper. "Please just wait." He let go of one of my hands to catch my tears. He pulled me into a protective hug.
"I'll wait as long as you promise me you're okay." He said into my hair. I buried my face in his neck and cried a little. This all feels so much more real now that he knows about the baby in an indirect way.
"I'm fine, I just need you to wait till I'm ready." He squeezed me a little.
"Then that's just what I'll do." He said kissing the top of my head.
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As I came back into consciousness, I felt very satisfied. I soon came to realize it was because there was a hand running all over my torso gently as a set of lips kissed from my elbow to my ear over and over again, lingering on my collar bone. I smiled.
"What are you doing?" I asked not opening my eyes.
"Trying to wake up my sexy girlfriend." He said against my neck. I tried to laugh a little but I hated the word 'girlfriend', it made it just that much more clear how he could get up and run at any given moment.
"Is that so?" I said trying to sound normal. I kind of just want to punch him at the moment though. He looked up at me, not buying my normal act for a second.
"What's wrong?" I shook my head and pulled him into a kiss, hoping to distract him. He went with it for a minute but then broke us apart. "Talk to my babe." He said a little more demanding but just as soft as before.
"You could get up right now and leave if you wanted too. There's no stability to us. We're just that dating couple." I said rolling my eyes. He laughed.
"Because we're not married?" he seemed a little taken aback by this. I shook my head.
"It's not just that, it's the fact that you can leave so easily, like you've done before and all I can do is sit here." His eyes were huge.
"Well I thought it was a little soon for any of that, I mean you just let me back in your bed completely." I could feel his heart rate go through the roof. He stays every night, just with all our clothes on. He keeps my nightmares away. Last night was the first time we removed the clothes.
"I'm not saying I want to get married." I said trying to defend myself, which only confused him more.
"You don't want to marry me?"
"Yes I do."
"But you just said-" he closed his eyes and made a scrunched up face. "What do you want from me Reba? Please just tell me because I'm not understanding." I covered my face and laughed. "Oh, so you find this funny huh?" I shook my head trying to stop laughing. "You're just mean!" he said as he tickled me.
"I am not, stop it!" I said laughing. He was laughing too. I tried fighting off the tickling and eventually managed to get on top of him; pining his arms down at his head. We both knew he let me; otherwise our roles would be reversed. "You're the mean one." I said sticking my tongue out at him. He laughed.
"So will you please explain to me what you're trying to tell me?" he was still laughing which I think is a good sign.
"No matter what you've said, I still feel like you're going to up and leave me again." He opened his mouth to reassure me but I cut him off. "You promised the other times too but you still left. How am I supposed to believe it?" I let go of his wrists and crawled off of him partially.
"Mike won't let me leave again." He said running the side of his thumb down my cheek.
"You haven't gone back to work yet." I said quietly as I studied every emotion in his eyes.
"Mike won't let me come back for another month at least."
"After we've gotten too close." I said softly. He caressed my cheek as I closed my eyes, fighting tears. I hate being pregnant. I cry at everything.
"Look Reba, if I do have to leave again, I won't." I sniffled back tears.
"And how do you plan to do that?" he wiped my tears away again.
"I'll quit. I'll call in right now and tell them I can't do this anymore." I felt a new wave of tears at the offer to give up the only thing he's ever known for me.
"You love your job." I said shaking my head. He shook his right back at me.
"But I love you more. I want to prove that to you." He said reaching over to the nightstand to get his phone. I grabbed his arm.
"If something were to happen, I don't want you to blame me." I said trying to prevent him from doing this. It's just too much.
"I'm not doing it because I have too; I am because I want too."
"Then wait; do it another time. Make sure this is honestly what you want to do, not just because it scares me. Think it all the way through." He laid back down and held me in his arms.
"I'll call another time then." I sniffled again.
"Thank you."
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"Can't we just stay in bed all day?" Scott asked, not willing to let me out of his grasp. I laughed.
"I told you, I have a doctor's appointment today." He grunted, still not opening his eyes.
"You were just at the doctors the other day."
"I told you, they're watching my blood pressure, it's been up and down lately and they just want to make sure it's nothing bad." I lied. Although they were watching that too.
"Fine, but hurry back." He said opening his eyes a little as he let me go. I smiled as I put my robe on.
"I told you that yesterday would catch up with you. You're not 25 anymore." He made a face and shook his head.
"I'm just resting myself for tonight." He said stretching. I laughed as I walked over to my closet to get my clothes out.
"Is that right?" I pulled out a pair of looser jeans, a plain blouse, and an under shirt.
"Yes it is. I plan to drive you crazy all night tonight." I rolled my eyes.
"I hope you mean after dinner at Cheyenne's." I watched him out of the corner of my eye go stiff.
"What? I thought that was tomorrow."
"It was tomorrow; yesterday." He rolled his eyes as he woke up a little more.
"Do I have to go?" I crossed my arms and looked at him.
"Why wouldn't you?" he sighed.
"All the kids hate me right now. Except Kyra and Adam." I rolled my eyes.
"They do not." I took my clothes into the bathroom and came back and sat on the edge of the bed. "Why would you even think that?"
"Because they do." He said like I was stupid. "Did you not see Cheyenne at New Years? How she all but refuses to talk to me since?" I let out a sigh since I couldn't argue with him.
"She's just protective over me."
"Yeah, protective enough to stab me with a fork in the neck." He said oddly. I laughed as I nudged him some.
"She wouldn't. And Van still likes you; he'll show her you're a good guy still." He smiled a little.
"I still can't believe he ever liked me at all. I hurt him before I ever knew him." I laughed too.
"He respects you a lot."
"Really?" he asked in surprise. I nodded.
"He knows all you've done for me, he respects you for it." he just smiled.
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"Looks good Mrs. Hart." My doctor said as she wrote on her notepad.
"Baby's healthy?" I asked smiling.
"Very healthy."
"When will I start to show?" I asked with my hand over my belly.
"Within a few weeks, it's usually around the three month mark, but you may be a little ahead of schedule." My eyebrows went up as I looked at Lori Anne who was wearing a similar look.
"Ahead? How so exactly?"
"You've done everything I had advised, special vitamins, lots of greens, and plenty of rest. These have all helped the baby grow and function a little better than average." I couldn't speak.
"You okay honey?" Lori Anne asked. I nodded.
"There's nothing wrong with that Mrs. Hart." The doctor said to comfort me.
"That's not it, I'm still just not ready to tell him yet." I said quietly.
"Going to have to happen soon honey." Lori Anne said patting my knee.
"I know, I know."
"How about tonight when you two go out?" I shook my head.
"Tonight we go to Cheyenne's for dinner." She looked like she clearly forgot.
"Tell him afterwards. Or when you go home." I nodded with a sigh. He has to know sooner or later…