"C'mon, Hil! We're going to be late," Tyson called, rapping on the bathroom door in slight irritation.
The BBA was having a banquet tonight in honor of Mr. Dickenson's birthday and the Bladebreaker's were supposed to be making a presentation. They'd been preparing for it for months now, since before Hilary had started staying at the dojo.
"I'm not coming," her tremulous voice came through the door.
Tyson scowled, not registering the fact that there were tears in Hilary's voice.
"What do you mean you're not coming? You've been looking forward to this for ages."
"Yeah, w-well, I changed my mind. Th-there's no point in me going anyway." There was a pause in which he heard something that sounded suspiciously like a loud sniffle. "It's not like anyone would miss me there anyway."
Tyson looked around with wide eyes, hoping in vain that Max or Ray would walk by; they were much better at handling Hilary's tears and mood swings than he was. Just the other night Hilary had made dinner for everyone and had gotten all offended when Tyson added salt to his food, asking if it was really gross or something. He'd shrugged, took a bite and told her it wasn't gross, just a little bland. She'd burst into tears and fled the room.
It had taken Max and Ray nearly an hour to talk her out of the locked bathroom.
But Max and Ray were not going to come to his rescue this time. They'd left two hours earlier to help set up for the party with Kai. He would have gone with them too, but Hilary had been taking forever to get ready.
"That's not true, Hilary," he said slowly, hoping he was saying the right thing. "I'd miss you."
There was another loud sniffle and then a snort.
"I mean no one important would miss me," she said.
Ouch. That hurt.
"Gee, thanks a lot," he grumbled. "But seriously, what's wrong Hilary? You went out and got a fancy dress for this and everything." He motioned to the tux he was wearing, even though he knew she couldn't see it. "You even made me get a suit to match your dress. Why don't you want to go anymore?"
She was silent for so long Tyson thought he'd have to repeat himself when he heard her muffled voice again: "It doesn't fit right."
Tyson blinked in surprise. Why wouldn't the dress fit? She'd just gotten it refitted last week or the week before.
"Because I'm three months pregnant, you idiot!" She snapped when he voiced his thoughts.
"Well, yeah, but you can't even tell."
It was true. They'd just started going to a pregnancy support class and a lot the women had stated how jealous they were of the fact that Hilary hadn't "popped" yet.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the bathroom door flew open and Tyson's jaw nearly hit the floor at the sight before him.
"See, I can't go to the party like this," she told him miserably.
It wasn't that the dress didn't really fit anymore. It was still flat over her stomach, it was just that it was tight around her hips, and her breasts were all but falling out of the dress. It was the latter that Tyson couldn't seem to look away from.
When had Hilary's boobs gotten so big? He saw her everyday—heck, he lived with her—shouldn't he have noticed that she'd gone up a cup size, if not more?
"I kind of like it," he told her with a sly grin.
She rolled puffy red eyes and cracked a small smile.
"Of course you do. You always were a boob guy." She crossed her arms beneath her overflowing cleavage, pushing them up even further, and shook her head.
Tyson watched in slight wonder as Hilary breastfed their daughter. It was really quite amazing.
She was sitting in his desk chair, facing him and talking a mile a minute, while he sat cross-legged on his bed watching his daughter eat and completely ignoring whatever it was that Hilary was saying.
It wasn't until he realized that he couldn't hear the dull sound of her voice that he looked up to find his girlfriend giving him one of her most ferocious glares.
"Were you even listening to me, Tyson?" she demanded as she switched Tyler to her other breast.
He gave a sheepish laugh and scratched the back of his head.
"Sorry, Hil. I guess I was just distracted."
"Well then get un-distracted," she snapped. "This is important."
Tyson, whose eyes had gravitated back towards his feeding daughter, snapped his eyes back to Hilary's at the sharp tone of her voice.
His brow furrowed. "What is it?"
She let out a soft sigh, glanced quickly at Tyler, before connecting eyes with Tyson again. "I go back to school at the beginning of next week. I was asking if you had everything set up with the daycare."
He stared at her dumbly for few moments, trying to remember what she was talking about before the information clicked in his head and he rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"Yes, Hil. I already told you—like fifty times—that everything is set up. Stop stressing about it."
Hilary glared at Tyson.
"I'm not stressing about anything. I just want to make sure everything is ready."
He leaned back so that he was resting against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.
"We'll drop her off on the way to school and pick her up on the way back," he said with a disinterested shrug. "I still don't understand why we can't let Grandpa watch her, or your parents. Dawn keeps leaving hints about how much she'd love to have her there during the day."
"I don't want to become dependent on anyone. Yes, they're willing to help us watch her, but if we rely too heavily on them they'll also think they have a say in how she's raised. I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that." She readjusted the three month old so she could burp her and tucked herself back into her clothes. "Besides, I'm still not sure if I trust my parents and this daycare is a good place."
Tyson didn't know what to say to that, so he chose not to say anything. Felix and Dawn had been good about stopping by at least twice a week to visit with Hilary and their granddaughter, and Hilary, Tyson and Tyler had dinner at the Tatibana household twice a month since the youngest Granger's birth. And while things seemed to be going well, there was still a bit of tension and animosity between the group, mostly between Hilary and her father.
The man did not try to hide his dislike for Tyson, or his and Hilary's living situation, having tried to talk Hilary into moving back into his home on multiple occasions. He also didn't like the circumstances surrounding Tyler's birth, but his love for his daughter and his granddaughter kept him from speaking out about that. Tacked onto the fact that he and Hilary had never really spoken about the fallout they'd had which caused her to leave home, and the fact that he'd never apologized for the very hurtful words he'd said to her on that day, left an unresolved animosity and uneasiness between the two.
Tyson was jolted from his thoughts when there was a knock on the door and Max came bounding into the room before Hilary or Tyson could invite him in just as Tyler released a tiny burp for which Hilary beamed proudly and offered the baby a bit of praise.
Tyson couldn't help but smile at that. If he burped after eating, Hilary would have a conniption.
"What's up, Maxie?" he asked, tearing his eyes and thoughts away from his little family as the blond flopped onto his bed.
"Nothing much. Just thought I'd come see one of my favorite girls," he said, holding his arms out expectantly for his goddaughter.
Hilary handed her over, reminding Max to be careful of her head despite the fact that he had been holding her every day for the last three months. The words were just second nature to her by now, Tyson knew, and he was sure Max and the others did too. She was such a worrywart.
Max leaned back against the wall so he could settle the baby more carefully in his arms, and Tyson took the opportunity to brush his daughter's chubby little cheek. She blinked up at him with her dark brown eyes that Hilary was certain would lighten to the chocolate brown of his own, and offered him a gummy smile and a happy little coo. Tyson felt his heart constrict.
He couldn't blame Felix for hating him. Not now that he had a daughter of his own and had an understanding of what the man was going through. If someone knocked up his little girl, he'd probably kill him though, not invite him to dinner every other week.
Tyson was ripped from his thoughts when Tyler started whining. Her face was scrunched up and had started turn red.
"She probably needs to be changed," Hilary said, holding her hands out to take the baby from Max.
Max pulled Tyler closer to chest though, patting her bottom. "I can change her. You know I don't mind," he added when Hilary started to protest.
"Okay. Thanks, Max," Hilary said slowly as Tyler released another angry cry.
"Don't look so worried, Hilary," Max laughed as he scooted off the bed and headed towards the door. "We're just going to be across the hall. I promise to bring her right back."
Hilary's lips were drawn down in a worried frown as she nodded. It was the same look she got whenever anyone offered to do something for Tyler without her around. He wondered how she would do when they dropped her off at daycare on Monday.
"Actually," Tyson found himself saying, "why don't you put her down for nap too, Maxie. It's getting close to that time, anyway."
Hilary whipped her head around so quickly to send Tyson an incredulous look he heard her neck pop. "Tyson…"
He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "C'mon, Hil. It'll be fine. They'll be just across the hall, like Max said. Besides, it's not like he's never put her down for a nap before."
"Well, yeah," Hilary said hesitantly, glancing at where Max stood in the doorway, bouncing Tyler in his arms to try to quiet her cries. "I guess it's okay."
Max beamed. "Okay, great. You can count on me."
Hilary still looked unsure as she watched him carry her daughter from the room.
They were late to the party, just like Tyson said they would be. But not because Hilary had locked herself in the bathroom to cry over the fact that her breasts seemed to have gone up two cup sizes overnight. They were late because they'd had a miniature fight about whether or not Hilary could go that somehow ended with Tyson lifting Hilary onto the bathroom counter so that he could kiss her better. They'd been making out for fifteen minutes, Tyson having kissed his way down her neck and worked the straps of her dress down so that her breasts were almost fully exposed, when he felt his phone vibrating in his suit pants.
Groaning, he pulled his lips away from the pulse point on her neck and pulled out his phone. He clicked on the screen and saw that he had a text message from Max demanding where he and Hilary were with an up close photo of the seats they were supposed to be in.
Tyson looked up from his phone to where his flushed girlfriend was readjusting her dress. Her lips were swollen, her chest heaving as she tried to gasp air back into her lungs, and she was refusing to meet his eyes.
Since the night she'd gotten pregnant, they hadn't really done much physically besides the occasional peck and hand-holding. Sure, they made out a few times, but with the whole team staying at the dojo, they rarely had a chance to be alone long enough for anything to happen. There'd been even less of that since they'd found out she was pregnant and she'd moved into the dojo.
Hilary almost seemed afraid to be left alone with him for long periods of time, and the guys and his grandfather seemed to be against it too. It was frustrating because while Tyson loved Hilary and was fine just hanging out with her without doing anything physical, he was also extremely attracted to her, and sometimes he just wanted to be able to express that. But he could understand why they were rarely alone.
Tyson was sure there was a part of Hilary who was ashamed of what they had done and the fact that she was pregnant because of the reaction from her father. He knew her well enough to know that there was at least a small part of her that was trying to hold fast to the girl her father wanted and expected her to be.
And he knew the others were reluctant to leave the two of them alone because they were all just so protective of Hilary. He knew none of them would ever say it, but he suspected they all thought he took advantage of her in some way. Coming to that conclusion hurt, but he could also understand why they would think that. Hilary was also so careful and reserved. Tyson was the one who was rash and often acted without thinking. The thought had crossed his mind a few times too. Had he taken advantage of Hilary? He was a little older than her, after all. Had she slept with him because she felt like she had to?
He shook the thought from his mind as he watched Hilary put her arms back through the straps of her dress. He wished she would look at him.
"Are you okay?" he asked, placing his hand on her knee where he'd pushed her dress up so he could stand between her legs.
"I'm fine," she murmured. "Who was that?"
He looked at his phone again. "Just Maxie wondering where we are."
She pulled on the fabric meant to cover her breasts in an attempt to make herself more presentable. "You should go without me. I really don't think I can go looking like this."
He ran his hand up her exposed leg and gave her a wolfish grin when he felt the shiver that ran through her body. "Or, I could just stay here with you and we could continue what we started before the interruption."
She smirked even as her cheeks turned a bright red, removing his hand from her body and finally looking him in the eye. "Tyson, you have to be there. We've been planning this for weeks."
He pouted. "Fine. But you have to come. You're part of the presentation too."
"Tyson," she sighed. "In a few months, everyone is going to know I'm pregnant. And when they find out, they'll be saying all kinds of terrible things about me, I'm sure. I don't want to go to this party with my breasts hanging out of my dress so that they can use it as further ammo to drag my name through the mud."
He nodded at that. It did make sense. But he didn't want to go without Hilary. She had really been the driving force behind the party, and to go without her seemed wrong. He was just about to tell her this when a thought crossed his mind. "Hold on a second."
Tyson sprinted from the bathroom and down the hall to Grandpa's room and over to the closet. Grandpa had been tasked with keeping Mr. Dickenson distracted and then bringing him to where the party was being held.
As he threw open the closet door, Tyson began rifling through the clothes on the far right. They were his grandmother's clothes. Grandpa had never been able to throw them out even though she'd passed away ten years before. It was in the very back of the closet that he found what he was looking for. He pulled the black silk shawl off the hanger with a triumphant "Ha!" and dashed back out of the room.
He had to pull to a sudden stop when he saw Hilary in the living room so as not to run into her. He held up his find in front of Hilary triumphantly. "If you wear this then you can go, right. It'll cover everything up."
She took the shawl from him and wrapped it around her shoulders. It went nicely with the red and black dress she'd chosen for the occasion and fell in a way that would make her cleavage less noticeable. "I guess it could work," she murmured.
"Great," he grinned, grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the door. "Let's go!"
She pulled back with a laugh. "Hold on, Tyson. I still need to get my shoes!"
This was the first time Tyson could remember being in a room alone with Hilary since the before Tyler was born. At the hospital, nurses and techs were constantly in and out of the room checking on Hilary, and there almost always seemed to be a guest wanting to meet the new baby. And since coming home, Hilary almost always had Tyler with her. She was hesitant to let anyone hold the baby without her around, except for Tyson. And even if she didn't have Tyler with her, one of the guys or Grandpa was always around.
Well actually, they were alone together at night sometimes, but all they did was sleep. Hilary usually slept upstairs in Tyson's bed, while he usually started off downstairs with the rest of the team. But he always wound up coming upstairs after about an hour and crawling into the bed with Hilary, tucking her against his side as they slept. That never lasted long either though, because Tyler only slept for about two hours at a time. At some point, one of them would just bring her into the room with them to either sleep splayed across Tyson's chest or in the bassinette beside the bed.
Tyson took a moment to take a good look at Hilary. Her hair was longer than he'd ever seen it. She had it pulled up in a messy bun because Tyler had recently started grabbing and pulling on it with her tiny fists, crowing with laughter at her mother's pained cries.
Hilary insisted that Tyler got her cruel sense of humor from him.
There were slight bags under her eyes. A testament to the lack of sleep she got from taking care of their daughter, keeping up with her schoolwork, and still trying to manage the Bladebreakers. Sure, Tyson spent as much time with his daughter as he could, and the guys and Grandpa helped out, but he knew Hilary did the brunt of the work. She insisted on it. Sometimes he had to argue with her to let him get up in the middle of the night when Tyler started crying; she used to be able to use the excuse that she was the only one who could feed her, but she'd finally started using the pump her mother got her so it didn't work anymore.
But even with her hair almost always in disarray, the bags under her eyes, and her clothes constantly covered in spit-up, Tyson had to admit that she was still one of the prettiest girls he'd ever seen.
"Why are you staring at me so hard?" Hilary demanded, brow furrowed.
Tyson's face flushed and he looked away. "Um, nothing. I was just thinking you looked pretty is all."
Hilary snorted and looked down at the old, faded t-shirt and hole covered sweatpants she was wearing. "Yeah, okay. I'm a real babe."
"I'm serious, Hil," he said, scooting to the edge of the bed right in front of her, causing their knees to brush. "You're really pretty."
Her cheeks flushed at she sent him a wary look. "Are you feeling okay, Tyson?" She leaned forward a placed her hand on his forehead. "It doesn't feel like you have a fever."
He took her hand from his head and grasped it in his much larger hand, running tiny circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. "I'm fine, Hil. I couldn't remember the last time I told you how pretty you were, so I thought I'd let you know."
Her face flushed even more and she looked at their hands. "Well, thank you for saying that." She peaked up at him from beneath her lashes. "Even if you only ever compliment me when you want something."
"That's not true," Tyson exclaimed, tightening his grip on her hand as she tried to pull away. He gave her a sly grin. "Although, now that you mention it, there is something that I'd like."
She rolled her eyes. "Of course there is." She released a disappointed sigh. "What is it this time?"
He tugged on her hand trying to pull her closer. "Come a little closer so I can tell you. It's a secret."
She stubbornly refused to move. "If it's that big of a deal, then you can come to me."
"Fine," he sighed, standing up so that he towered over her in the chair. He leaned forward as if to whisper in her ear. He blew lightly on it instead.
Hilary jumped and turned to face him, face flaming. "Tyson, what—"
He kissed her, effectively cutting her off by slipping his tongue past her open lips. She stiffened for a moment before relaxing into the kiss. Her tongue moving shyly against his.
Tyson pulls away a few moments later and grins at her. Her eyes are closed and her face is still turned up towards his.
"What was that for?" she breathes after a moment, opening her eyes to blink up at him.
He brushes a strand of hair from her face and tucks it back behind her ear. "Nothing. I just wanted to kiss you. Can't remember the last time I did that either."
She brushes her fingers to her lips and frowns a little. "I can't either," she says slowly. "I forgot how nice it is."
Tyson can't help but laugh. "I can remind you if you want."
Hilary only hesitates for a moment before pulling his face towards her, he has to brace himself on the arms of the chair to keep from falling, and pressing her lips to his. This kiss was less shy than the last one, and Tyson found himself gasping in surprise when Hilary's teeth lightly grazed his bottom lip and her tongue swooped into his mouth. She ran her hands down from his face until she could fist them in his shirt, pulling him closer.
This time when they pulled apart, it was so they could catch their breaths. Tyson took in Hilary's swollen lips, flushed face, and heaving chest and wondered if he looked the same. The way his pulse was racing, he was sure he did.
He picked Hilary up beneath her arms, causing her to release a surprised squeak, and sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling Hilary down so that she was straddling his lap. He pressed his lips to hers again in another searing kiss before moving his lips to her jaw and then down to the pulse point on her neck, causing her to gasp in surprise as she gripped his shirt.
His hands had just slipped beneath her shirt to press against the bare skin of her back when he heard a voice past the blood rushing in his ears.
"I just got her down," Max said happily. "She went down real easy once I—"
Tyson pulled his lips from Hilary's neck and looked towards the doorway. Max was standing at the entrance to his room staring at them with his jaw slack. Hilary had gone stiff in Tyson's arms, and he could see from the corner of his eye that she was refusing to turn around.
"Uh, hey, Max."
Max turned red from his neck to the tips of his ears, the way he always did when he was embarrassed. He stumbled back a few steps, grasping the doorknob as he went. "You could have at least closed the door!" As if to prove how easy it was, he slammed the door closed and Tyson could hear his heavy feat as he ran down the hallway.
After a moment, Hilary groaned and buried her face in his neck. "Oh my God."
Tyson fell backwards onto the bed laughing, wrapping his arms around Hilary to keep her in place.
She slapped him lightly on the chest. "It's not funny, Tyson," she cried.
He laughed harder and kissed the top of her head. After a moment he felt Hilary's shoulders shaking and for a second he thought she might be crying.
But then he heard her tinkling laughter and he knew she was alright.
"That was so embarrassing," she said between gasping laughs after a few moments. She wriggled in his arms until he released her so she could lay beside him on the bed. "I feel like I can never look him in the face again."
Tyson snorted and brushed his thumb across her cheek. "Don't be so dramatic, Hil. It's not like we were really doing anything."
"Yeah, I guess," she said, rolling onto her back. "Still not kissing you again for at least another month, though."
"What? Why not?" He cried, propping himself up on his elbow so he could get a look at her face.
When he saw the teasing smile on her lips he swung his leg over her so that he was straddling her waist and started tickling her sides. "That wasn't funny, Hilary."
She squealed with laughter squirming beneath him in a vain attempt at escape as he slipped his hands beneath her shirt to get better access to her ribs.
"Okay," she laughed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I give. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
He stopped his assault on her sides and leaned down so that his face hovered just inches above her own. "Prove it."
With another light laugh, she lifted her head to brush her lips lightly against his before allowing her head to fall back onto the mattress.
He grinned down at her. "I guess that'll do for now." He bent down and brushed his lips against hers before rolling off of her. "I'm hungry. Let's go see if Ray is finished with lunch."
He had just sat up when Hilary placed her hand on his arm. "Wait, Tyson," she said, a sudden serious in her tone. "We never finished discussing the daycare arrangements for Monday."
Tyson groaned. "Aww, c'mon, Hil. We've gone over that a million times already."
Hilary sat up so she could better look him in the eye. "This is important, Tyson."
He sighed. "Can't it at least wait until after lunch?"
She frowned and Tyson knew she was about to argue, but then her stumble released a loud rumble. Hilary blinked in surprise and placed her hand on her stomach. "I guess we could wait a little longer to discuss it."