Mornings and Love Part 19
Sam's clothes were starting to get too tight, so a few days later she ventured into the wild unknowns of the baby stores.
The first place she visited was the Baby Emporium, just to see what was out there. Everything took her by surprise, even though it normally wouldn't. The clothes ranged from itty bitty baby socks to maternity pants the size of clown suit bottoms. And there were so many toys! Books, puzzles, dolls, you name it. Mechanical swings, rocking chairs, cribs…
"Seems like the one thing they DON'T have is a buy-a-baby section," Sam murmured, and a woman next to her snickered, covering her mouth and shaking with laughter. Another woman shot Sam a disgusted look and walked away. Sam looked at the laughing woman and she shrugged. Sam shrugged, too.
"Who put a stick up her butt?" Sam said under her breath to the woman.
"Her ex-husband," the woman replied. "I was talking to her earlier. The jerk's also the father."
Sam winced. "Ouch," she said thoughtfully. And to think I might've been in the exact same position…
"Oh, I'm sorry?" the woman said. Sam shot her a puzzled look. "You – erm, said you were in the exact same position…?"
"Oh!" Oh! "No, I was almost, though. I got lucky. My baby's got a great dad," she said fondly, rubbing her belly, which was starting to stick out just a smudge. "I can honestly and happily say my ex-boyfriend wasn't…REALLY a bad man. Not totally. He was the puppy dog wannabe though."
"Oh, I get it. Lemme guess, came around four or five times after your breakup to plead for a second chance?"
"Something like that," Sam said. She suddenly felt somewhat uncomfortable. "I – I've got to go. Nice talking to you." She smiled at her.
The woman smiled back. "Yeah, nice talking to you too. See you later…?"
"Maybe," Sam agreed, and put back the maternity info books and left.
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Sam was in another baby shop in the local mall half an hour later, admiring the tiny baby clothes. She was just wondering what gender her baby was when she heard a sickeningly familiar voice.
"Sam!"
Sam whirled around to see Pete hurry into the store. Outside she saw a very frustrated, flustered woman stare at him angrily as people passed around her. Ends clicked in Sam's mind and she realized Pete had moved on from her – until seeing her in the store, that was.
Pete came to a halt a few feet in front of her. "Sam, why are you…?" He gestured around the baby store.
She swallowed past a lump in her throat, and she slowly put back the toddler dress she'd been looking at, and walked toward the maternity section, knowing Pete would follow.
He did.
"I'm here," she said, "because I need bigger pants." True. Her shirts were still stretchy enough, though she may need bigger bras soon…
"You're…you're…?" he said, resembling a goldfish. She nodded, and watched a large grin spread across his face.
OH no. Please tell me he doesn't think…
"That's great! When's he due? Gosh, why didn't you –"
Of course he thinks the baby's his.
"Wait, I know why you didn't tell me."
THAT stopped her in her tracks. "You do?" she asked slowly.
He smiled and put his hands on her shoulders. "Babe, you don't have to feel ashamed that you dumped me," he said in a sickly-soothing voice. "That's all in our past, now."
Grief… Mom's Rules on Relationships # –
Wait. Her mom didn't give her any advice on how to tell her ex-boyfriend her baby wasn't his.
And there was no Jack this time, either. No Jack to pry Pete's hands off her and curl his hands comfortingly on her shoulders instead. No Jack to whisper in her ear when she felt horrible for hurting Pete. No Jack to kiss her neck and tell her he loved her.
She was going to have to tell Pete on her own.
"Pete," she began, shrugging his hands off her shoulders. Huh. Those hands were solid on her shoulders still. Not cool. She grasped his wrists and pulled. No dice. "Pete!" she said, frustrated. "Get your hands off. Now."
Startled, Pete slowly removed them.
Sam smiled to try and calm down, though she knew she was looking flustered. She felt flustered. "Pete, there's no good way to tell you this, but the baby – the baby isn't yours."
He laughed. "Of course it –" He paused. "Wait, say what?"
"The baby isn't yours," she repeated.
Pete stared at her. "That can't be," he said, clearly uncomfortable.
"Pete, you're lying to yourself. It's possible, and it IS. I'm with the father and I'm so incredibly happy. It looks like you had moved on," she glanced outside the window at the angry woman, still standing there, her arms crossed and her foot tapping. Though that too may be over sooner than he thinks, she thought, noting the woman's dark glare. "Go back to her," Sam said quietly. "There's nothing for you with me."
With that, Sam walked past Pete and out of the store.
"Hey!"
Sam turned to see the woman coming toward her. The angry look was replaced by a look of sadness.
"Look, it's probably none of my business, but what's going on here?" the woman asked softly. Pete was staring at the two women from the store's entrance.
Sam looked from Pete to the woman. "Just a little misunderstanding," Sam said softly. "There's nothing going on between him and me."
"How can I know that for sure?" the woman – whimpered.
Sam leaned in and whispered, "Because I'm in love with a man who's the greatest guy I've ever met. And it's not him."
The woman looked at her for a few minutes then nodded. "Okay."
"I'm sorry about this. I hope you two are happy together," Sam said, smiling, and she left. There was only one person she wanted to be with right now.
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When she pulled into Jack's driveway she saw smoke coming from the backyard. Grinning and unworried, she got out of the car and hurried to the gate.
"Hey Jack," she said, grinning and watching the love of her life burn meat.
Jack saw her and put down the fork and beer bottle and rushed to engulf her in a giant hug.
"Sam," he murmured against her neck.
She sighed and felt purrs of happiness erupt in her throat. "Thank you," she whispered.
Her purrs turned to whimpers of want and desire as he trailed kisses and licked up and down her neck, nipping at her throat and ear. "For what?" he mumbled.
"Got a couple 'o hours?" she asked, a smirk twitching at her mouth.
He groaned. "Saaaaam," he said whiningly.
She kissed him soundly. "For being you."
Jack squeezed her. "I could go for that," he whispered.
Sam felt troubled; she didn't want to tell him about her encounter with Pete, but it felt almost…disloyal not to. "Jack," she said, "I – I have something I want to tell you."
He regarded her for a moment, then said, "C'mon, we'll go inside," and led her into his house.
Sam had only been in his house a few times before. It was neat and tidy, just as she'd always known it would be. Jack led her to the living room and they sat on one of the couches. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead, waiting until she was ready to say whatever it was she needed to say.
"I…I saw Pete today," she finally confessed.
Jack froze; "And?" he prompted, somewhat worriedly.
"I was in a baby store. He – he figured out that I'm pregnant and thought the baby was his."
It seemed like an eternity before Jack spoke again: "There's a chance of that?" he asked coolly, barely masking growing hurt and anger.
"There was," she whispered. Jack stood from the couch, almost throwing her on the floor in the process, and paced, running his fingers through his hair.
"Jack, I'm sorry," Sam all but sobbed.
The sadness in her voice seemed to bring Jack out of his anger. He murmured, "Sam…" and swooped down beside her again, cradling her in his arms. When the tears subsided, she sniffed.
"I blame the hormones," she said hoarsely.
He smiled softly and handed her a tissue. She took it warily. "Hey, it's clean!" he protested with a wry grin. She laughed and dabbed at her eyes and blew her nose.
"How'd he take it when you told him the baby wasn't his?" Jack asked.
Sam laughed bitterly. "Forget the kicked puppy look," she said, "try puppy run over by a two-ton truck."
Jack squeezed her. "Hey," he said, touching his lips to hers, "it's going to be okay. Pete knows. Hammond knows. We're allowed to be together. I don't think there's going to be any more bombshells for a while."
She sighed her agreement and pulled his lips back to hers for a deepened kiss. When the kiss ended, he grinned goofily. "Is it time for a little celebration?" he asked suggestively, waggling his eyebrows and eyeing her belt.
Sam laughed and slapped him playfully. "Maybe," she said lifting herself off the couch and pulling away from him teasingly, swaying her hips to add to his torment.
He growled and tugged her back for another kiss.
Mmm…that never gets old, she thought happily.