Chapter 44 Make me smile

'It's good to have a whole six-pack for myself', Alex said pleased, opening one of the bottles. They sat on the bench on the veranda. Stevie glared at his bottle, wishing she could have one. 'I'm sick of this juice. It's even worse than Tess' weird fruity drinks.' Alex smiled, looking at her. 'It won't surprise me if she send some over from Argentina. Just to be sure you drink something healthy.' 'I bet she drunk nothing else when she was pregnant. Yuk!'

The girls were inside and a bit spying on the couple. 'This is already the third time within two weeks Alex is visiting', Regan concluded pleased. 'And I'm glad he does', Moira threw in her thoughts followed by Kate. 'I thinks it's good, and cute. They are so careful around each other.' 'No wonder', Regan mumbled.

'We should have a bet about the gender of the baby', Tayler said, already thinking of a way to earn money. Kate took another bite of her cookie, mumbling while eating: 'I bet it's gonna be a boy'. Regan glared at her. 'Why that?' 'I dunno, I think Alex is a kind of man that gets a son. You know, real men get sons', she said with a low voice, thinking of the way most of her Italian family thought. 'Oh come on, Alex is a big softy. I bet it will be a girl. If you look how he handles Charlotte. He's made to be father of a daughter.' 'Okay, let's make a bet', Kate said offering her hand.

There was a slight breeze covering the evening. Alex and Stevie just enjoyed their time together. They felt they were getting closer to their old friendship and started to feel more comfortable around the other with every minute that passed. 'So do you have any weird cravings?' Stevie laughed. 'I'll eat anything with chocolate ... and I mean really anything. The chocolate Gods won't approve on many things I eat.' Alex smirked, looking at her. He loved the way she looked. That beautiful smile covering her face made him feel weak inside.

Alex had never stopped falling in love with her and he was relieved things went better between them. If he was honest he wanted nothing more than being with her, holding her, kissing her, loving her. But he knew they still had a long road to go, though he could see in her eyes she hadn't lost that feeling for him either. But the slow way would be good, surely thinking of their baby. Once again it gave Alex a warm feeling inside. Their baby.

'And do you have picked up some other strange habits during your pregnancy?' Stevie had just tried to take a sip of her juice, when she smiled in herself. He noticed the sparkle in her eyes, which obviously avoided his stare. She tried to hold in her laugh, thinking of another dream she had this week. It had been the weirdest and she wasn't sure what exactly it was about, but she knew it had contained Alex and chocolate.

'Can I join in the fun?', Alex asked poking her softly. She looked aside, her glass still half before her mouth, like it could hold back her smile. 'It's nothing.' 'Really?' he said, totally not convinced, raising his eyebrows. 'Nope nothing', she looked in front of her, trying to keep a straight face. Alex shook his head. 'You're even stranger now your pregnant. You know that do you?' She nodded heavy and when she saw his 'totally not being aware of whatever was crossing her mind' look on his face she couldn't suppress her laugh any longer.

Alex rolled his eyes, glaring at her. Stevie's laughter was also hearable inside the house, which made the girls look odd at each other. 'Wow, haven't heard that one for months', Kate said.

'I even start to wonder if I wanna know why.' Stevie stared at him, still amused. 'Sorry Alex. It's just ... uhm ... you don't wanna know.' 'Righto', he said a bit annoyed. 'Anyway I will leave you here laughing in yourself, cause I have a hard day of work waiting for me.'

She saw him leaving, and she even wondered for a moment if he felt a bit shut out with her outburst. But she still couldn't suppress that smile on her face. She rubbed her belly softly. 'Guess your dad is a bit annoyed with me', she mumbled. She slowly had started to enjoy her pregnancy and the prospect of having another child. She was kinda surprised how easy she was feeling around Alex this quick. She could feel she was starting to forgive him for his actions, though she knew it would be forgiven, not forgotten.

She stood up and made her way inside. The girls stared at her immediately. 'What?' 'You sounded like you had a fun evening', Moira said with a smile. 'Yeah I had', Stevie nodded to herself. 'It's time to go to bed. I'm pretty tired now.'