Hey guys! I'm back with Chapter 11! Hope you guys like it... this is pretty much just a comedy chapter, so I hope I get a few laughs out of all of you. Just wanted to say a big 'Hello!' to the new readers, and the old readers... and lurkers too!! Thank you to everyone for the FB, I'm loving ever little bit of it!!
On with your feature presentation...
Chapter 11
“Are we there yet?” I whine, flopping my head onto Maria’s shoulder.
“You asked that ten minutes ago, Lizzie.” My father announces from the driver seat, sounding rather annoyed about the whole thing.
“Yeah, so? We weren’t there then, so I’m asking now.” I justify my question, squirming around in my seat.
“We’re about five minutes away, can you manage that long?” My mom asks, turning to regard me from the passenger seat. “If you’re that sick of being in the car, you can get out and walk the rest of the way.”
After that I keep fairly quiet, not really in the mood to walk to the mall, especially in Albuquerque. That’s correct, folks. Today is the big shopping extravaganza. Woo-hoo. It’s actually turned into a rather big outing. We have a whole caravan of cars just to go shopping. And before you even start wondering…yes, I can use caravan in that context. I know it’s a vehicle designed to be towed behind a large truck and to be lived in but it’s also a historical group of people traveling together across the desert in Asia or North Africa.
There it is. I’m right. I can mock you all now. Of course, I know we’re not traveling across Asia or North Africa...but we did travel across the desert…and we’re in NORTH America...so I figure it’s close enough.
Anyway, once word of the big shopping trip got out, everyone and their Uncle Larry wanted to come with us. It’s really not that many of us...just ten actually. Maria and I are riding with my parents in their car, Isabel and Tess are following behind us in Isabel’s Escalade, and Max, Michael, Kyle, and Alex are following behind them in Max’s Denali.
Isabel and my mom have already made a list of all the good stores we need to go to, and all the most important things to get first, so she insisted on coming along. Tess would never pass up the opportunity to go shopping, no matter what it was for. Max wants to be involved in everything, so he came. Michael only came because I’m pretty sure Maria threatened him with bloodshed if he didn’t put forth the effort to be nice to me and be involved with the group. Alex came because as long as I can remember, he’s had a major jones for Isabel, who is either blind or dumb, and he’s trying to make up for all the time we spent not being friends because of the Max fiasco. Kyle is...well, I’m not really sure why Kyle tagged along. I’ll let you go ahead and deduce your own conclusion as to why he came. Personally, I’m leaning towards either the fact that he didn’t want to be left out, or he has a thing for Tess. They’re both looking like really good options.
So here we all are. Ten people, three cars, three and a half hours...just to go shopping. What can I say? It’s the heat down here in New Mexico…makes us all crazy.
“Are we shopping for baby furniture or baby clothes first?” Maria asks, pulling her hair into a knot on the top of her head. It’s like a million degrees outside and my dad doesn’t want to waste more gas by turning on the AC, so we’re all sweating buckets in this car. Yes, we have the windows down, but that’s doing nothing more than blowing hot air around the car. I’m riding home with someone else. This heat is making me cranky.
“I believe Isabel and I agreed we should shop for furniture first.” My mom says after taking a long drink of her water.
“Any rhyme or reason behind that?” I ask.
“What do you mean?” My mom turns around, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
“I mean, is there any particular reason you thought it would be better to shop for furniture first then clothes? What made you guys decide that? Did you flip a coin? Take a poll?” That comment probably isn’t gonna go over too well.
“It was just what we decided. Does it really matter why we decided it? You’re very combative today, Lizzie.”
“Hot weather does that to me.” I grumble, trying to peel my leg off the car seat.
“Oh, for Heavens sake, Jeffery.” My mom finally loses it. “I know you’re trying to save a little money here, but on the way back you’re going to loosen the grip on your wallet and we are turning on the AC. I don’t care what you say…you don’t get a vote in the matter.”
“After this, I won’t have any money left in my wallet to hold on to.” My father throws back. “All the credit cards will probably be worn to nothing as well.”
“Nancy. Jeffrey.” I mock scold leaning up between their seats and looking back and forth between them. “You children behave yourselves or you get no say on the crib your grandchild sleeps in.”
They ignore my comment, and my mom goes back to looking out the window, while my dad continues on the never-ending drive from hell. Oh wait...that was the drive from New York. This one comes in a close second though.
Twenty minutes and three wrong turns later, which resulted in my parents getting into one of those fights that has the line ‘Do you wanna drive the damn car?’ in it…we finally get to our destination, and somehow find three parking spots close to each other.
“That was interesting.” Maria says, unable to hold back a smile as she gets out of the car and stretches.
“What was interesting?” Alex asks, wandering over from where the guys parked. He looks up just as Isabel comes around the car and gets that goofy smile on his face. “Hi, Isabel.”
“Hey, Alex.” She smiles, painfully unaware of what she’s doing to poor, love-sick Alex. I’ll have to talk to her later. “Something was interesting?” She asks, looking from me to Maria.
“What was interesting?” Tess, Kyle, and Max all say at the exact same time, and then look at each other before pretending it didn’t happen.
“Well, I’m sure if you all shut up for two seconds, we might actually find that out.” Michael grumbles, coming to stand with the group.
“Liz, are you about to make fun of your parents?” My dad gives me a look, as he and my mom join the group.
“Why is it that I automatically get blamed?” I balk. “Maria was the one that said ‘that was interesting’ in reference to the childish argument you two had in the car after that second wrong turn dad took.”
“Hey! They should’ve labeled that damn street better! You never know where the hell you’re going around here! Someone needs to do something about that!” My dad yells, waving his arms in front of him.
“Whoa, calm down, Mr. P.” Maria pats his arm, trying to calm him. “There’s no need to blow a gasket over it. So it took us a little longer to get here…just made the drive more scenic, right?” She smiles, turning my dad toward the entrance of the mall. “Besides, if you think getting here was a trying experience, wait until all us girls get in that mall.”
My dad groans, before turning to my mom and proceeding to babble on and on about how there is to be no excessive buying, only the essentials. Yeah, Dad. Hang onto that dream.
“So, I hear you had an interesting drive up here.” Max jokes, jogging a little to fall into step next to me.
I can’t stop myself from smiling, something that’s been happening more and more in Max’s company lately. “Yeah, that’s the word on the street. I’m sure the drive would have been more comfortable if my dad would have let us have the AC on, but...”
“You drove all the way up here without the AC? And somehow you all managed to make it alive?” He shakes his head. “Miracles do happen everyday, don’t they?”
“Ok.” Isabel stops us all before we even make it to the entrance. “We have a lot of stuff to do today, and not a lot of time to do it all in. Many, many things need to get purchased today, so if any of you are going to be bitching, moaning, or complaining...by the way, I’m directing this to all of you.” Isabel looks pointedly at all the guys. “You go off and do your own thing. If, at any time, anyone breaks off from the group, please take someone with you, and please let someone else know you two are leaving.” Isabel is in Nazi mode, God help us all. “We’ll all rendevous at the food court in three hours. Got it?” When everyone nods, Isabel seems satisfied. “Ok, then. Let’s do some shopping!”
Isabel and my mom lead the group through the mall, talking animatedly to each other, frightening people enough to make them step out of the way. They’re woman on a mission. I pity the fool who don’t move in time.
Everyone decided to try to stick out shopping with us. Of course that’ll probably last for a whole ten minutes before the guys run away to find something masculine to do. Actually, Maria and I made a wager on how long it’ll take the men to run away. She’s the one who said ten minutes, I said they’d last one store. I’m thinking I really over-shot how long they’re gonna last. Oh well, it’s not like we bet a hundred bucks or anything. Loser buys the winner lunch.
Isabel and my mom make a sharp right into a store, screeching and hollering about the cute stuff before we even make it in the door.
“One Stop Baby Shop.” Kyle announces, looking at the brightly lit sign over the entrance of the store. “Doesn’t that sound peachy...”
We follow the crazy women inside the store, although I’m sure we should’ve run while we had the chance. I don’t make it all the way in the store before Max and I are grabbed and shuffled from one side of the store to the other and back again. We’re asked our opinions on cribs, bassinets, playpens, stuffed animals, dressers, bibs, booties, bottles, rattles, pacifiers...basically every baby thing imaginable. Although, it seems that our opinion rarely matters, my mom and Isabel generally pick whichever of the items is going to go with the motif of the nursery.
I kid you not…two and a half hours later, everyone walks out of the store with at least four bags in their hands. That’s not including all the large furniture and bigger items that are being delivered to my apartment tomorrow. The guys decide that they don’t think they came manage any more girly shopping without likely causing someone physical harm, so they take the bags off our hands to put them in the cars and go to...do whatever it is that guys do.
“Now what?” I ask, dragging my feet behind Isabel. “We can’t possibly have more stuff to buy.”
“Are you kidding?” She stops suddenly, making me almost run into her as she spins around to regard me. “That was little more than a fourth of the stuff on the list.”
“Are you kidding?” I repeat her previous statement. A little more than a fourth? This is ridiculous! Babies should NOT need this much stuff! I don’t even have this much stuff, and I’m a grown woman! “We just went to the ‘One Stop Baby Shop’, which insinuates that it’s the only place you need to stop to buy baby things. If we didn’t get everything there that seems completely ridiculous.”
“How about we go shopping for you now?” Tess throws out.
“For me? Why shop for me? I thought we were buying baby things.” I reason with them. As much as I would absolutely love to go shopping for me, there’s no way in hell I can afford to just blow a ton of money on clothes, or shoes, or purses...or anything, for that matter. All the money I have saved up is going to making sure my child has everything it needs.
“You need maternity clothes, don’t you?” Isabel asks, smiling like a Cheshire cat.
I don’t get a chance to respond before I’m being dragged into a maternity store and having clothes thrown at me from every angle. After about ten minutes of that, I just sit down in a chair by the dressing rooms and let them bring the clothes over to me. No matter what I say about the clothes, whether I love them or think they need to be burned immediately, they set them on the floor in front of me. When she’s not looking I take the really ugly things my mom thinks are cute and quickly shove them on the closest rack before she notices.
I off-handedly look down at my watch, amazed at how much these women shop, then do a double take when I see what time it is. “Mom, Isabel, Maria, Tess!” I yell, and almost immediately they appear from different parts of the store. “We’re supposed to be meeting the guys at the food court five minutes ago.”
Isabel glances at her watch. “I can’t believe it’s time for lunch already! I had at least two other stores penciled into my planner to get to before lunch! Where did the time go, I ask?” She flips through her planner before bringing her hand up and snapping. A few seconds later, a sales clerk appears at her side. “We have a lunch appointment. Hold these clothes for us, we’ll be back in an hour, last name is Evans. Don’t loose anything or it’s your job.” Isabel announces to the now quaking clerk, never looking up from her planner before turning on her heel and walking toward the exit. “C’mon girls, we’re late for lunch.”
My mom follows after her, quickly getting into a conversation about possibly cutting a few stores off the list as Maria, Tess, and I stand in awe. “My God, she IS her mother’s daughter.” I manage, linking arms with Maria and Tess and walking toward the escalator to get to the food court. “So, how long before Isabel notices that Alex is following her around like a puppy in heat?” I ask, deciding to think about anything else but shopping.
Tess looks at her watch. “Quarter to never?” She supplies, causing us all to laugh.
“It’s so sad that she’s that blind.” Maria shakes her head. “I mean, this thing has been going on since Isabel and Max moved to town our freshman year. I guess we should look on the bright side of things…Isabel’s never been mean to him, always been really nice, just really blind.”
“Yeah.” Tess and I agree.
“So.” I start, looking over at Tess. “What’s up with you and Kyle?”
“K-Kyle?” Tess stutters. “Kyle Valenti?”
“How many other Kyles do we hang out with?” Maria asks.
Tess scoffs. “Nothing is going on with me and Kyle. That’s ludicrous that you would even think that. I was engaged to Kyle’s best friend…it would be morally wrong to even think about it.” She goes on.
“Don’t pop a blood vessel, geez.” I hold my hands up in surrender. “First of all, yes you may have been engaged to his best friend, but said best friend wasn’t in love with you so I don’t think the same rules apply in this case. Secondly, you can’t lie and tell us nothing’s going on because it’s totally obvious that you two have a thing for each other.”
“How is it obvious?” Tess immediately asks. “What gives it away?”
“So, you do have a thing for Kyle?” Maria puts her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing at how eager Tess is for the answer.
Tess sighs. “Yes! Ok?! Are you happy?! Yes, I like Kyle, and Kyle likes me! He keeps asking me out, and even though I want to say yes, I can’t! I know that what Max and I had was nothing, because he was still in love with you,” she turns to look at me, “but I still feel guilty about it. It feels wrong. Shouldn’t it feel wrong?”
“No, it shouldn’t feel wrong. If you and Kyle like each other, it should feel really good.” Maria teases, trying to lighten the mood again. “Seriously though…I think you and Kyle would work together. It’s obvious you like him and if he’s asking you out, he must like you. Just talk to Max about it. Explain what’s going on and make sure you include the fact that even though it’s ridiculous that you feel you should have to talk to him first, you feel as though you should. Max would never stand in the way of seeing his friends happy. It’s just not him...despite what he did to Liz.”
Just as Maria finishes her long-winded advice to Tess, we make it to the food court. I look around, and see that everyone is there...except Max. I double-check, looking around the food court in case he’s already in line. When I see no sign of him, I look back at his posse. “Hey guys, where’s Max?”
They look at each other before Michael finally blurts out “We lost him.”
I stand there, completely dumbfounded for a minute before I manage to speak again. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you right, can you repeat that?”
“We lost him.” Michael says again. “We don’t know where he is.”
“You lost him?” I cross my arms over my chest, raising my eyebrows. “How do you lose Max? It’s not as if he’s a set of car keys, is it?”
“Whose not a set of car keys?”
I whirl around at the sound of Max’s voice as he walks up to us like he hasn’t a care in the world. “Where were you?”
“What do you mean?” He asks, completely unaware that someone might worry over the fact that someone is missing.
“I mean, where were you? Michael said they lost you, and then I asked how that was possible since you weren’t a set of a car keys, and then you walked up and asked who wasn’t a set of car keys, so in answer to that question, you. You are not a set of car keys, so how did they manage to lose you?”
He raises his eyebrows after I ramble out all of that and simple says. “I wasn’t lost, I knew where I was.”
“Hey now!” Maria quickly interjects before I have a chance to respond to that stupid statement. “Look at that! Food! Look at all the food places! How about we get some lunch, do some more shopping, and then go home? How’s that sound? Everyone on board?” When we all nod, she lets out a sigh of relief. “Thank God. Let’s do it!”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“People like him shouldn’t be allowed to breed.” I announce to Maria as we sit on my couch the day after the big shopping trip, watching The Animal Planet. You all know you get sucked into watching it too. That damn Steve Irwin is like a wreck on the highway, you don’t wanna look, but you just got to.
“Amen, sister.” Maria agrees, raising her glass of iced tea.
I lift mine and click it against hers, never once taking my eyes off the screen in fear of missing something. You really can’t look away once you’ve started looking.
“DAMN IT!”
Max and Michael have been upstairs for the last hour trying to assemble the crib, and it doesn’t sound like they’re winning the war. Maria and I look up at the ceiling, then at each other, and shake our heads before turning our eyes back to the screen, riveted as Steve jumps on the back of yet another crocodile.
“I don’t get it.” Maria blurts out. “What is that?” She shakes her hand at the screen. “Is it, like, some kind of sick game until the crocodile guesses who you are?”
“I dunno, but it’s entertaining.” I grab a handful of popcorn out the bowl sitting in between us.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!”
We glance up at the ceiling again before looking back at each other. “Should we go see if they’ve severely injured themselves yet?” I ask her.
“Probably...but then we’ll have to walk away from The Crocodile Hunter. I don’t think I’m strong enough to do it.” She admits.
“Me either.” I agree. I glance at the remote sitting on the armrest of the couch. I quickly grab it, hitting the power button. The TV turns off, earning a yell in protest from Maria. “It’s the only way, Maria. We have to walk away…it’s becoming dangerous.”
She sighs. “Fine. Let’s go check on the progress.”
We force ourselves off the couch where we’ve been sitting all day. It’s not that we’re lazy...well, we are...but shopping is very draining. At least when Isabel is involved, and today for us is a day of rest. Max and Michael don’t get that luxury because Isabel is coming over in about two hours to inspect the room and begin decorating and arranging all the furniture and stuff.
We trudge up the stairs, groaning the whole way about how bad our legs hurt, before finally making it to the door of the nursery. I turn the doorknob, pushing the door open. Maria and I both gasp at the sight in front of us.
Max and Michael are both sitting in the middle of the floor, pieces of wood, different tools, screws, and pieces of paper scattered all around them. They don’t look so good themselves. Both of them have taken off their shirts and are sweating really badly, hair in every direction. Actually, Max looks pretty damn good...
“Are you guys putting the crib together?” Maria asks, causing me to snap out of my ‘staring at Max’ spell.
“No, we’re up here playing with ourselves.” Michael sarcastically retorts, throwing her a ‘get the hell out of here before I throw you out’ look. I still have no idea how these two have managed to stay together for as long as they have without one of them ending up dead, the other in prison for murder.
“Well, it wouldn’t surprise me.” She throws back, stepping fully into the room and taking in the mess. “You guys have been up here for an hour. Not one thing is put together. You had to have been doing something other than working, cause no work has been accomplished.”
“I’d really like to see you put one of these things together, DeLuca! It’s not as easy as it looks!” He yells, running his hands through his hair, making it look even more ridiculous then it did when he first came over. Michael has resorted back to his ‘pincushion’ days, as Alex and I call them. Back in high school Michael’s hair was always spiked up, then after graduation he grew it out and it looked semi-normal. Now, the pincushion has returned, resurrecting old jokes about his hair long since forgotten.
“Did the thing come with instructions?” She asks, tilting her head to the side. When he nods, she goes on. “Are they written in English?” He nods again. “Well, then what the fuck? I know that being a guy, you think you can figure it out on your own, but for the love of God, read the damn instructions! A baby has to sleep in that thing, and I highly doubt Liz is gonna be thrilled if two days after she brings the baby home, the damn thing up and falls apart on her.”
Before Michael has the chance to respond, thus continuing the argument that Max and I are both finding very amusing, Isabel breezes into the room, planner in hand. Uh-Oh. Things are not looking good for the guys right about now.
She stops abruptly upon seeing the room in total shambles. She does a quick once over before her eyes land on the guys, narrowing in annoyance. “What the hell is going on in here?”
“They say they’re putting the crib together.” Maria offers, childishly sticking her tongue out at Michael when he scowls at her.
“How long have they been up here?” She pinches the bridge of her nose, ready for a full-on freak out.
“Not long.” I quickly throw out, causing all eyes in the room to rivet my direction. “They actually just came up here about ten minutes ago. We weren’t expecting you for another two hours, so they figured they’d have plenty of time to put the crib together before you got here. They were gonna get started on it earlier, but we all got sucked into The Animal Planet.” Maria looks utterly confused as to why I just covered for the guys, and the guys look so relieved that I think they might kiss my feet later.
“Crocodile Hunter?” Isabel asks, nodding slightly. “Yeah, I was going to come over half an hour ago because one of my clients canceled on their appointment at the last minute. Then I sat down at home to have a soda and a granola bar before I came over and that damn show was on. Took me forever to turn the TV off. They need to put a warning label on that show.”
“Which client cancelled?” Maria asks, once again turning the conversation far, far away from why nothing has been accomplished.
“The Hoffmann’s.” Isabel rolls her eyes at the mention of them. “I’m planning their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary party, and I can honestly say I have no clue how they made it this long. They disagree on everything and bicker more than you and Michael.” She sighs. “Oh well, saved me from a headache today.” She smiles, closing her planner and putting it in her purse before taking a hair tie out. “Since I’m here, I might as well help you guys figure this thing out.”
The guys quickly make it seem like they knew what they were doing before she got there, handing her over the instructions, and moving about various tools and pieces of wood. I hope Isabel can figure it out, cause Maria has a damn good point. I have to put my child in that thing. With that in mind...why the hell did I let Max and Michael attempt it? Not that they would do anything intentionally to harm my child...but as seen earlier, they hardly ever have a clue what the hell they’re doing.
“Ok, well, do you guys think you have it under control?” I ask. “I’m still wiped from yesterday, so I’d like to go back downstairs and veg on the couch.”
“Everything is more than under control…go relax.” Isabel insists, already having figured out more about putting that crib together in the last three minutes than the guys did in an hour.
“Alright, bang on the floor if you need us.” Maria adds, already heading out the door.
Just as I’m about to follow her out the door and downstairs to the awaiting comfort of my couch, Isabel calls after us.
“What are you guys doing for dinner tonight?” She asks, never once looking up as she screws something together. Thank God she arrived when she did! We both look at each other before simply shrugging our shoulders and telling her we have no idea. “Well, you guys all wanna go out to Senor Chows tonight and get something to eat? Tess called me right before I came over here, told me to ask you guys if you wanted to go with us.”
“Sounds good.” Maria nods. “We can call Alex and Kyle and invite them too. Might as well make a party out of it.”
“Hey, what if we had plans tonight?” Michael randomly chimes in, motioning between him and Max.
“You two didn’t have plans tonight, don’t front like you did.” Maria flippantly replies before heading down the stairs to call Alex and Tess.
Two hours later, we’re all seated in a big round booth at Senor Chows. Eating chips and salsa, and pretending to listen to Isabel ramble on and on about things we still need to get for the nursery and everything she plans to do to it. Well...everyone else might be listening, but I’m way too into this salsa right now...this stuff is so damn good. I’m probably gonna be full by the time the waiter comes back over to take our order.
“Liz, do you have any chap stick?” Maria’s voice suddenly grabs my attention.
“I don’t think so.” I rummage through my purse, but there’s none in there. “No, I don’t. Sorry.”
“It’s ok. Anyone else have any?” She asks. Tess and Isabel start looking through their purses, finding nothing before Michael finally speaks up.
“There’s some in the glove box. It’s that nasty watermelon kind you always wear. I found it under the seat the other day when I was cleaning out the truck.” He hands her over the keys, and she excuses herself to run out there.
“When do you guys wanna go back up to Albuquerque?” I look up at Isabel like she’s insane, and all she can do is smile and swirl her straw around in her margarita.
“Never.” I reply, happily popping another chip in my mouth. “If there’s any baby stuff you absolutely have to get me in Albuquerque...then you can take Max up there. There’s no way I could make it through all that again.”
“Me?” Max whips his head my direction. “Why do I have to go?”
“Because I’m the one having the baby. When the situation gets reversed and you’re pregnant...then I’ll go shopping with Isabel.” I smile at him, taking a long drink of my water.
“Sucks to be you doesn’t it, Max?” Kyle laughs, before Tess not so discreetly elbows him. “What?” He asks, confused before he shrugs and takes another swig of his beer.
Out of nowhere, Maria walks back up to the table and stands next to her seat, looking down at Michael. He must be in trouble, cause she looks really pissed. He must notice the death glare he’s receiving and recognizes it, because he moves away from her slightly. “What?”
“These yours?” She asks, pulling a pack of cigarettes from behind her back and holding them in front of his face. He’s totally busted and he knows it. His face pails, and his mouth works like a fish trying to come up with something to say to her. He really should just quit...God knows it would shut Maria up for a minute.
He sighs, dropping his head forward. “Yeah, they’re mine.” He admits, going for the ‘honesty is the best policy’ bit.
“You told me you quit.” She raises an eyebrow. “If you’re lying to me about smoking, how do I know you’re not sleeping with other women?”
“Danger Will Robinson!” Alex chimes in. I glance over at Michael, who looks completely dumbfounded.
“What?!” He screeches. Yeah...screeches! That was not a manly sound that just came out of his mouth. “Are you crazy, women?! Evil Kanevil couldn’t have made that leap!”
“Guys!” Isabel hisses at them. “People are staring! Sit down, shut up, and deal with this when you get home!”
Maria doesn’t look happy about it, but she finally relents, sitting down next to Michael, every so often randomly smacking him upside the head and cussing at him in Spanish. Jose, the cook at the Crashdown, taught us all the bad phrases in Spanish back in high school, and Maria’s using every single one of them on Michael.
We somehow manage to make it through dinner, even though everyone can feel the tension hanging over the table.
The waiter finally brings us the checks and we all walk out to the parking lot. Isabel, Tess, and Maria inform me they’ll be over tomorrow to try to make more progress on the nursery. I don’t know what the huge rush is...they have like five months until I need it to be ready.
Max and I get in his SUV and start heading home. “That was fun.” He finally says, before we both start cracking up laughing. “I feel bad for Michael though...he’s gonna be on house arrest for the next four years.”
“Never a dull moment with those two around.” I giggle, leaning my seat back and closing my eyes. I hate that I’m so tired today.
“Shopping yesterday was fun, too.” Max adds, out of the blue.
“Yeah, right.” I reply sarcastically.
“No, really.” He sounds so serious is makes me look over at him. “I’m serious, Liz. I had a lot of fun yesterday. Thank you for letting me be apart of it.”
I sit my seat back up, still looking at him. “I already told you that you were gonna be apart of all this…you know that.”
“Yeah, I know.” Max pauses. “You’re going to the doctor next week, right?”
“Yup.” I nod. “Should be a blast.”
“Can...Can I come with?” He hesitantly asks me.
“Of course.” I reply, not having to think twice about it.
Max’s face lights up like a Christmas tree. I reach over and grab his hand before looking back out the window. I still don’t know how things are gonna end up between us...but the way things are going now...we’re gonna be fine.
TBC...
All's Fair In Love And War (AU,M/L,Mature-Adult) (Complete)
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LittleHottie510
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LittleHottie510
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Hey guys! I'm back!!! Surprisingly on time, despite all the chaos that's been going on around here lately!! I went to a small Tyler Hilton concert on Monday (he plays Chris Kellar on 'One Tree Hill') and got to meet him, get a picture with him, and have him autograph my CD! Then... for the better part of Tuesday, my cable internet was down. But... no worries! I'm here now!!
As always, thank you guys so, so much for the FB, it means everything! I have a rough draft of how the end of this fic is gonna play out... if things go according to what I'm planning... there are only a few more parts left, five I think, believe it or not. Don't be sad though, I have more than one fic waiting in the wings to come to life!
One more thing: I re-worked a few parts of this fic after it was beta-ed... so there might be a few mistakes, sorry about that!
Also, the next part might be a little late, as my lovely, wonderful beta(who happens to be one of my best friends) Melyssa (SafireSkye) is in the hospital with Pneumonia. I'll do my best to keep it on time, but I'm making no promises with this one.
Last thing, I promise!! Bill Engvall was pretty much my comedy muse for this part!.. just givin the man his due.
Ok, I'm shutting up now! *lol* You didn't come to see me babble! On we go, then...
Chapter 12
I wander through my living room, looking around at all the stuff scattered all over the coffee table, the couch, and the floor. I wander past the laundry room and look at the loads of clothes that have taken over the entire room. I wander into the kitchen and look at all the dishes in the sink, on the counter, and on the table.
I think I need to clean my apartment, what do you think? Keep in mind that I only described the disarray of the downstairs. You don’t even wanna know what my bedroom looks like. It ain’t pretty.
The last thing I want to do today is spend my entire morning trying to clean the apartment, but I know that I have to. So, I suck it up and start cleaning.
I load the washing machine with the first load, and then go into the kitchen. I shove all the dishes in the dishwasher in any way they’ll fit, before I go into the living room and start picking up.
I clean for about half an hour before I’m sitting on the couch, looking around at all the shit that I still need to pick up. This sucks!
Just as I’m about to totally give up and just sit on the couch and watch TV, the doorbell rings. I sit for a minute, just staring at the door. It’s the middle of the day...a weekday. Everyone who lives around here that I hang out with is at work.
Finally, curiosity takes over and I get off the couch and go open the front door. I’m shocked, to say the least, to see Alex standing there. Alex and I have been trying to work back to what we had. We talk on the phone for at least half an hour a day, and we hang out every now and then...but he never just comes over.
“Alex.” I state the obvious, the surprise evident in my voice. “What are you doing here?”
“I was sitting at home earlier getting ready to go to work, and I started thinking about you. I wondered ‘What is that Liz Parker doing right now?’ so...I called in sick, and here I am!” Alex says, crossing his arms over his chest, flashing me that four thousand watt smile of his.
“You called in sick? Alex, you’re your own boss.” My eyebrows crease together in confusion.
“Yeah...” Alex looks up, staring off into space as if he’s trying to solve a ridiculous math problem. “It was an interesting conversation.” He shakes his head and looks back down at me. “Can I come in?”
“Oh! I’m sorry!” I quickly move out of the way, opening the door further so he can step inside.
He takes two steps into the apartment before he stops dead in his tracks. “Did we have a tornado in town last night that only hit your apartment? I really need to watch the news more often.” He asks, looking around my apartment.
“Haha, very funny.” I reply, closing the front door and stepping around him to go plop back down on the couch. “I know the place is a total disaster. I tried cleaning it earlier.”
“And then you mysteriously became allergic to cleaning and had to stop?” He asks, making his way over to the couch, sidestepping the shoes and other things scattered on the floor.
“No, I just got really overwhelmed.” I drop my head back, resting it on the back of the couch, and then look over at Alex. “I started with the laundry, which, I swear is reproducing in that room all by itself! I got one load in before I shoved all the dishes in the dishwasher in some random, haphazard manner, and then I started picking up in here. Then, I went to the bedroom and tried to pick it up a little bit...I just started getting all stressed because there was so much.” I sigh. “I need a housekeeper.”
“No…you need help.” Alex says, still taking in the mess.
“A housekeeper is considered help, Alex.”
He sighs, rolling his eyes at me. “Let me clarify then...you need help that isn’t going to cost you twelve bucks an hour.” He sits silent for a minute before he looks down at himself, jumping slightly. “Oh, geez! Look at that!”
I sit up, looking over at him, slightly concerned. “What? Did the mess attack you?”
Alex laughs. “No, look!” He sweeps his arms in front of him. “Help! Someone who is willing to help you find the floor of your apartment, who won’t cost twelve bucks an hour, who is simply here for the pleasure of your company.”
“No, Alex.” I shake my head. “There’s no way I’m making you clean my apartment on your day off…that just ain’t right.”
“Call me crazy, but I believe I volunteered to help you…and I wouldn’t be cleaning the whole apartment by myself, you’d be helping me.” He smiles at me. “Think about it, would you rather me help you, or wait until I leave to do all this yourself?”
I sigh. I know he’s right. It’d be stupid of me not to accept his offer to help me out. “Alright, let’s do this.”
He stands up and offers me his hand to help me up off the couch. “Let’s start in the laundry room, shall we?” He makes his way to the laundry room, then takes a step back once he sees all of it. “Holy hell, I arrived just in time. This laundry was about to stage a revolt and kill you in your sleep!”
“You’re just Mr. Funny today, aren’t ya?” I ask, making my way into the laundry room with him.
“Ok, you know how to do this, right?” He asks, stepping over a pile of towels.
“It’s laundry, Alex...not rocket science.” I start separating the clothes into piles: whites, darks, towels, and delicates. Alex does his best to dodge picking up any thongs or bras, sticking to jeans, shirts, and towels. After five minutes, all the laundry is separated, and I put the first load of towels into the dryer before grabbing the pile of delicates.
I set the dials on the washer, and put in some laundry soap before putting in the clothes.
“Wait a second.” Alex picks up an armload of darks. “That thing isn’t even close to being full. You can put more in there.”
“That’s all the delicate things I have. Those,” I point to the clothes in his arms, “are darks. They go in a totally separate pile, for a totally separate cycle.”
He looks helplessly lost as he drops the darks back into the pile. “So...you can’t put jeans and stuff in with your thongs?” I shake my head no. “Because they’re delicate?” I nod, seemingly only making him more confused about the whole thing. “Heaven forbid the jeans and thongs end up together. The jeans’ll just slap the thongs around the whole cycle and hurt their feelings...they’re delicate. Right. Ok, I don’t get it, but let’s move on to the dishes.”
I stifle my laugher as I follow Alex into the kitchen. “And here you were asking me if I knew how to do laundry. You do know they all belong on separate temperature settings, right?”
“Huh?” Alex asks, opening the dishwasher to unload the clean dishes.
“Whites go in the hot water, darks go in the cold water.” I clarify.
“Warm is the one in the middle, that’s where all things should get washed at. This is all ridiculous!” He bitches, pulling the bottom rack out and looking at it. “Are you kidding me with this?”
I look at Alex, and then back at the rack of dishes. “What?”
“There’s supposed to be an order to this. You put the plate, and all his buddies in a row, then the brotherhood of bowls...you gotta put...” He sighs, rubbing his hands down his face. “Ya know what? Just go clean your room. I’ll handle this.”
I stand and gawk at him for a minute over his outburst about the dishwasher before I turn and leave the kitchen to head upstairs.
“Oh, and just so you know, those dishes in the dishwasher are clean!” I scream back into the kitchen.
“If you say so.” Alex’s voice drifts down the hallway.
I simply shrug and head upstairs to clean my bedroom.
An hour later the apartment is clean, and the laundry is well under control. Alex and I are kicked back on the couch, trying to find something on TV other than soap operas.
“You have a doctors appointment today, don’t ya?” Alex asks, munching on some chips.
“Yeah, at 3:30.” I confirm, glancing at the clock on the wall, which tells me it’s almost one o’ clock. “I should probably call Max and remind him.”
“Probably a good idea.” Alex nods, grabbing the phone off the coffee table next to him and handing it to me. He rattles off Max’s work number, since I have yet to attempt to memorize it or program it in the speed dial.
I dial the number and wait as it rings. A few minutes later, someone finally answers. “E, G, and V Automotive.”
“Hi. Can I talk to Max Evans please?” I ask.
“Alright, I don’t know how many times I’ve had to go over this, but this is a business, not the Max Evans personal dating line. I’ll make it simple for ya…if you two already went out, he won’t want to go out with you again. That’s the way he is. If you’re calling to ask him out, don’t bother. He’s head over heels in love with his ex-wife, who is back in town, and pregnant with his child. Ok? Confusing, I know, but all you need to know is that you don’t have a snowballs chance in hell. Have a nice day.”
I pull the phone away from my ear and stare at it. “He hung up on me!” I say in disbelief.
I quickly relay what was said to Alex, who just nods. “Yeah, that was Michael. He has a tendency to do that when girls call over there.”
“Well, that’s rude.” I pout.
“Have you not met Michael?” Alex asks. “He’s just rude, it’s the way he is. The way he sees it, Max doesn’t really need a job there since his parents are loaded. Michael, on the other hand, takes it very seriously, not saying Max doesn’t...but you know.”
“Right...” I look at him for a minute longer. “If Max wasn’t serious about it, why would he be 1/3 of the name of the business? I mean, it’s Evans, Guerin, and Valenti Automotive.”
“Don’t ask me. I don’t even pretend to understand why Michael is the way he is.” He grabs the phone and presses the redial button. “Try again.”
I take the phone from him and cradle it between my ear and shoulder. “E, G, and V Automotive.”
“Hi, is this Michael?” I ask, deciding to try to figure out who I’m talking to before I get hung up on again.
“Yeah, whose this?” Michael grumbles before yelling something at Kyle.
“This is Liz. I just called there about five seconds ago, and asked to talk to Max, to remind him that I have a doctors appointment today at 3:30 and you yelled at me and hung up on me.” I explain.
“Oh.” Is all he has to say at the moment. He must have thought back to everything he said because he started stammering. “So...you, uhm...you heard everything I said?”
“Oh, yeah. Absolutely everything.”
“Bloody hell.” He lets out a string of curses. “Max is gonna shoot me.”
“Well, how about we just forget this ever happened and you put Max on the phone?” I suggest.
“Yeah, that would be awesome. We’ll just forget we had this conversation and I’ll go get Max. It might take a minute. He’s underneath a car trying to fix the brake lines, but he’ll be over in a minute.” He tells me to hold on and then goes in search of Max.
“How’s it goin?” Alex says, in a stage whisper, laughing. He had his ear pressed up to the phone the whole time, so he already knows…he’s just in a weird mood today.
“Super.” I play along, laughing with him.
I hear the phone being shuffled around on the other end. “Evans.” Max announces.
“Hey, Cowboy.” I tease into the phone, causing Alex to roll his eyes and refocus on finding something to watch on TV.
“Liz?” He asks.
“No, this is Muffin, we went out the other night. I had a great time.” I try to hold in my laughter, the bit wouldn’t work if I burst out into a fit of giggles in the middle of it.
“Oh, now I remember.” Max plays along. “What’s up?”
“I have a doctors appointment today...”
“At 3:30, I know.” Max interrupts. “I’m almost done with these brake lines, it should only take me about half an hour. Then I’m going home, showering, and coming to get you.”
“Ok, just wanted to make sure you knew.” I smile. Is it just me or is he getting cuter and cuter by the day?
“I know, and I will be there.” He promises.
“Ok, well I’m gonna go. Alex and I are hanging out and watching TV, and then I gotta get in the shower. I’ll see you later, Max.”
“Yeah, see you later. Oh, hey. Can you tell Muffin to meet me at my place later?” He teases.
I can’t help but laugh. “Bye, Max.” I hang up, unable to do anything but smile.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can’t believe I’m doing this! I’m an idiot! Why couldn’t I have just left well enough alone? I raise my hand, knocking quickly on the door before I lose my nerve and run away.
I hear shuffling inside before the large wooden doors open, revealing a very surprised Diane Evans.
Yes, people, I’m a glutton for punishment. I have a doctor’s appointment in an hour, which is going to be unpleasant enough, because going to the doctor always is, and I’m taking on Diane Evans before I go. I really think I’m crazy.
“Elizabeth.” Diane says, shocked beyond words to find me, of all people, standing on her front doorstep. “What are you doing here?”
“I just wanted to drop by really quick and have a word or two with you. Are you busy?” I ask, trying my best to be polite.
“Actually, I’m getting ready to go out. You should have called first.” She says. Oh geez She can’t, just this one time, make my life easy, can she?
“Well, I don’t plan on staying long. I have to be back at the apartment soon to meet Max.”
“You’re meeting Max? For what?” She asks.
“I have a doctors appointment at 3:30.” I explain. “May I come in, please?” She doesn’t say anything, and makes no move to let me in the house for a minute. Finally, she opens the door and motions me inside. “Thank you.” I step inside the foyer, waiting for her to close the door and turn back to me.
“Would you like to come in and sit down?” She asks.
“No, that’s not necessary. There were just a few things I wanted to say, and then I’ll be on my way.” She simply nods, so I take that as my cue to continue. “For whatever reason, you and I have never gotten along. That’s no secret, everyone knows about it, and I’ve taken it for as long as I can remember. I just wanted you to know that I’m not taking it anymore. Whether you choose to believe it or not, I’m having your grandchild, and Max will be there when it happens. He will be a part of his child’s life. No matter how much you put me down, yell at him, or try to convince him that this isn’t his baby…it is, and he will be there.”
I stop, momentarily gauging her reaction to what I’m saying. However, she’s worse than Isabel when it comes to hiding her feelings. She never lets on as to what she’s thinking, and her face never shows any emotion.
“I’m sure you’re expecting an apology for the way I acted the other night and the things that I said. I really wish that I could apologize to you. That we could just forget about the whole thing and move past it, but I can’t do that. I finally said everything that I’ve wanted to say to you for as long as I’ve been with Max, and I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t feel good to do it. However,”
I take a deep breath, my damn hormones are flaring up again and I can feel the tears starting to form in my eyes. “My child deserves two parents, which he or she will have, because Max isn’t going anywhere, but my child also needs two sets of grandparents. I know that you don’t believe that Max is the father, but he is. There’s absolutely no way that he couldn’t be.”
I reach inside my purse, pulling out a folded piece of paper. “This is Steven’s number.” I say, handing her the piece of paper. “I know you’re thinking that he’s the father, but he’s not…he can’t be. You can call him and talk to him if you’d like. I already asked him if it would be all right if you did, and he doesn’t mind explaining everything to you himself. I could do it, but I have no doubt that it wouldn’t make a difference.” She takes the piece of paper, glancing at it momentarily.
“I don’t want to take up much more of your time, I just wanted to stop by really quick. I know I had some more things to say, because I practiced this whole big speech the whole way over here, but I can’t think half of it now. I just...” I sigh, looking down at my shoes before looking up and locking eyes with Diane. “I want you to be there. I want my baby to know you and Mr. Evans. I know you don’t like me, but can’t you just get over that? This is your first grandchild. My parents are beyond excited and that makes me so happy. I know it kills Max that you’re not excited too.”
I take a deep breath, then just nod when she doesn’t say anything. “Ok, I’m gonna go. Thank you for your time.” I walk to the front door, opening it, stepping out, and pulling the door behind me. I glance back when I don’t hear the door close, finding Diane standing in the doorway. She looks like she wants to say something, but doesn’t. “Mrs. Evans?” I ask.
“Congratulations, Elizabeth.”
To say that I’m shocked would be way too much of an understatement. All I can do is smile back at her, one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever directed at Diane Evans that wasn’t fake. “Thank you.”
I turn and walk back to my car, unsure as to how to process what just happened. I decide to just be happy, and go back home to wait for Max.
When I pull up to the apartment complex, I’m surprised to see that Max’s motorcycle is already parked outside his apartment. He must have gotten off early to make sure he was able to take a shower and get me to the doctor on time.
I park my car in front of my apartment and get out. I notice that Alex’s red Chevy S10 is still parked a few spots down, so I know he’s still at my place…right where I left him. He got sucked into the Animal Planet. I honestly believe that channel needs a damn warning label
**Warning! You WILL get sucked into watching this, and become unable to get off the couch to do so much as go pee! Do not attempt to watch if you have plans anytime soon, because you will not make it!**
I giggle to myself as I push open my front door. Alex is still kicked back on the couch. I can tell he’s still watching the Animal Planet, because I can hear Steve Irwin going on and on about what a beautiful snake he’s screwing with. God, that guy’s a dumbass.
The only thing different is the fact that Max seems to have been sucked into the abyss also. He must have gotten home immediately after I left, because he’s freshly showered, dressed up in a blue polo shirt, nice jeans, and tennis shoes...and oh, holy hell...does he look gorgeous
I slam the front door, causing both of the guys to jump almost three feet off the couch. I can’t help but laugh at them. “What’s up?”
“Steve’s at it again.” Alex informs me, looking back at the TV.
“Well, good for Steve.” I smile as Alex merely nods in response to the fact that I’ve opened my mouth, before I look over at Max who’s staring at me. What the hell is that about? “What?” I ask, wondering if I have something in my teeth.
“What?” He asks, his eyes snapping up. Yeah, UP! I dunno where they were focused before, but it was somewhere south of my face.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” I drop my purse next to the front door, and hook my keys on the nail right by the front door, as to avoid having to search for them later.
“I wasn’t staring.” He denies, knowing that he’s already given himself away, because he’s blushing all the way to the tips of his ears. “I was just wondering why you were dressed like that.”
I glance down at my outfit, which I find nothing wrong with. I’m wearing a light blue boy beater, a pair of white velour pants, and a pair of old converse sneakers. I’m not showing an access amount of skin, but I guess the pants do hang kinda low on my hips, and due to the slight bulge of my stomach now, the shirt does ride up a little, showing off a little bit of my stomach. It’s not like I’m wearing Daisy Dukes or anything. Oh, and for those who aren’t in the know yet...those white tank tops guys wear are called wife beaters, but when girls wear them, they’re called boy beaters. Just a little FYI for ya “Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“No...I just wish there was a little more of it.” Max says, looking me up and down.
“You want me to be wearing more clothes?” I ask, confused as hell. He nods. “Ok, so...it’s August. It’s over a hundred degrees outside, I’m five months pregnant...and you want me to put on more clothes?”
“Yeah...” Max answers, his voice shaking slightly. Alex’s eyes suddenly snap from the television over our way. He must have realized we might end up being more entertaining then Steve.
“Are you stupid? ” I screech. “I’d like to think you’ve gotten off pretty easy with this whole pregnancy thing. I haven’t made you worry about my morning sickness, I haven’t taken any of my mood swings out on you, and I haven’t been very hormonal around you! The fatter I’m getting, the harder and harder it is to be anything resembling comfortable, and now that I am, you want me to change?!”
Alex mumbles his new favorite phrase, ‘Danger Will Robinson,’ before making it appear as though he’s totally enthralled with what’s happening on the television. Max sits, totally bewildered, his mouth moving like a fish.
“Ya know what?” I finally say. “I’m not changing. You’re just gonna deal with it. Let’s go or we’re gonna be late.” I grab my keys and my purse before flinging the door open and stalking back to my car.
Max scurries out the door behind me, in fear of being left behind. He hops in the car before I throw it in reverse and peel out, heading toward the doctor’s office.
I check in and sit down in one of those stupid wooden chairs with the plastic covered cushion that your ass always gets stuck to. Max and I haven’t said one word to each other yet. I’m scared to talk for fear of killing him. He’s scared to talk for fear of being killed. And if he isn’t scared...he should be.
They call my name and I stand up, causing Max to stand up too. I sigh, glancing over at him. “Stay here.”
He gets another one of those totally bewildered looks on his face before stuttering out. “But you said I could come.”
“Yes, I did. However, I’m gonna go in there, and they’re gonna weigh me, make me pee in a cup, take some blood, make me put on one of those stupid gowns, and do a pelvic exam, which I don’t wish you to be present for. I’ll have the nurse come get you before any of the good stuff happens, ok?”
He pouts slightly, but finally agrees and sits back down. I follow the nurse back and we go through all the stuff that I already told Max was gonna go on.
I ask them to let me change before Max comes in, partly because I don’t feel like wearing this ugly gown anymore, and partly because I don’t want to be covered up by a piece of paper anymore. Not like it’s anything Max hasn’t seen before, but you get what I’m saying.
Max knocks on the door right as I’m pulling my tank top on, and I tell him to come in.
I lay back on the bed, waiting for the doctor to come in, as Max looks around the room. “So...why haven’t you bothered me about the pregnancy?”
“Do you really want to get into this right now?” I groan, not wanting to either snap on him or start bawling in the doctor’s office.
“Yes.” He shortly replies, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning against the wall. “How long have you had morning sickness?”
“The entire time I’ve been pregnant.”
“Isn’t that supposed to go away?” He asks.
“After the first trimester, yes. I’m well into my second trimester now, and I still have it though.” Max gets a scared look on his face. “Don’t worry about it. Everyone’s pregnancy is different…there’s nothing abnormal about me still having it.”
Dr. Byler finally makes an appearance, saving me from answering anymore of Max’s questions, because he’s now animatedly in a discussion with her about it.
I think I’ll just lay here and relax while I can...ya know, before they start strapping stuff to my stomach and putting cold icky jelly stuff all over me.
I’m apparently not listening when they finish their conversation, because before I know it, I have a heart machine on my stomach, and the nurse is getting out the jelly and the ultrasound machine.
My breath stops when the room suddenly becomes filled with a whirling sound. I hear Max ask the doctor, “Is that the baby’s heartbeat?” And she says that it is, and that it sounds nice and strong…healthy.
Max reaches down and grabs my hand, holding it between his. I look up at him, and the tears in my eyes are mirrored in his. We’re listening to our child’s heartbeat. I knew before that the pregnancy was real, and that there was a person growing inside me, but this just made it so much more real.
Max reaches over and swipes away the tears that have leaked out of the corners of my eyes, before placing a kiss on the back of my hand.
The nurse switches on the ultrasound machine as the doctor applies the jelly to my stomach and moves the wand-thing over my stomach.
Max and I have our eyes glued to the screen as the image becomes clearer. It’s hard to make out anything at first, but suddenly I can just see it. I can see my baby on that screen.
“Can you tell the sex yet?” I ask. I don’t know how the hell I got my voice to work, because I’m crying like a little baby, but I somehow accomplished it.
“If the baby cooperates we can. Do you want to know?” She asks, moving the wand all over my stomach, apparently looking for confirmation about what we’re having.
I look up at Max, who’s trying to hide the fact that he’s also crying like a baby. I grab his hand away from his eyes, silently telling him that it doesn’t make him a wuss if he’s crying. “Do we want to know?”
“I think it would be in our best interest to find out, don’t you? With Isabel and your mother teamed up to do this nursery, they’ll kill us if we don’t give them a hint as to what color to paint the room.” He laughs.
“Ok.” I laugh along with him, then look back at the doctor. “Yeah, we want to know.”
“It’s a girl” She immediately replies, glancing over at us. “Congratulations.”
Max starts babbling on and on about how he knows nothing about little girls, and about how this is gonna prompt more trips to the mall for small poofy dresses, but all I can do is sit there, with my mouth wide open.
Ohmigod, I’m having a little girl.
I look over at Max, who is still babbling to himself about little dresses, and tights and bows. I give his hand a quick squeeze, causing him to put his conversation with himself on hold. He looks down at me, giving me the biggest smile before he leans down and softly kisses me on the lips.
He rests his forehead against mine, looking deep into my eyes. “We’re gonna be ok. We’ll get through it together.” I reassure him.
“Yeah.” He smiles. “We’re gonna be ok.”
TBC...
As always, thank you guys so, so much for the FB, it means everything! I have a rough draft of how the end of this fic is gonna play out... if things go according to what I'm planning... there are only a few more parts left, five I think, believe it or not. Don't be sad though, I have more than one fic waiting in the wings to come to life!
One more thing: I re-worked a few parts of this fic after it was beta-ed... so there might be a few mistakes, sorry about that!
Also, the next part might be a little late, as my lovely, wonderful beta(who happens to be one of my best friends) Melyssa (SafireSkye) is in the hospital with Pneumonia. I'll do my best to keep it on time, but I'm making no promises with this one.
Last thing, I promise!! Bill Engvall was pretty much my comedy muse for this part!.. just givin the man his due.
Ok, I'm shutting up now! *lol* You didn't come to see me babble! On we go, then...
Chapter 12
I wander through my living room, looking around at all the stuff scattered all over the coffee table, the couch, and the floor. I wander past the laundry room and look at the loads of clothes that have taken over the entire room. I wander into the kitchen and look at all the dishes in the sink, on the counter, and on the table.
I think I need to clean my apartment, what do you think? Keep in mind that I only described the disarray of the downstairs. You don’t even wanna know what my bedroom looks like. It ain’t pretty.
The last thing I want to do today is spend my entire morning trying to clean the apartment, but I know that I have to. So, I suck it up and start cleaning.
I load the washing machine with the first load, and then go into the kitchen. I shove all the dishes in the dishwasher in any way they’ll fit, before I go into the living room and start picking up.
I clean for about half an hour before I’m sitting on the couch, looking around at all the shit that I still need to pick up. This sucks!
Just as I’m about to totally give up and just sit on the couch and watch TV, the doorbell rings. I sit for a minute, just staring at the door. It’s the middle of the day...a weekday. Everyone who lives around here that I hang out with is at work.
Finally, curiosity takes over and I get off the couch and go open the front door. I’m shocked, to say the least, to see Alex standing there. Alex and I have been trying to work back to what we had. We talk on the phone for at least half an hour a day, and we hang out every now and then...but he never just comes over.
“Alex.” I state the obvious, the surprise evident in my voice. “What are you doing here?”
“I was sitting at home earlier getting ready to go to work, and I started thinking about you. I wondered ‘What is that Liz Parker doing right now?’ so...I called in sick, and here I am!” Alex says, crossing his arms over his chest, flashing me that four thousand watt smile of his.
“You called in sick? Alex, you’re your own boss.” My eyebrows crease together in confusion.
“Yeah...” Alex looks up, staring off into space as if he’s trying to solve a ridiculous math problem. “It was an interesting conversation.” He shakes his head and looks back down at me. “Can I come in?”
“Oh! I’m sorry!” I quickly move out of the way, opening the door further so he can step inside.
He takes two steps into the apartment before he stops dead in his tracks. “Did we have a tornado in town last night that only hit your apartment? I really need to watch the news more often.” He asks, looking around my apartment.
“Haha, very funny.” I reply, closing the front door and stepping around him to go plop back down on the couch. “I know the place is a total disaster. I tried cleaning it earlier.”
“And then you mysteriously became allergic to cleaning and had to stop?” He asks, making his way over to the couch, sidestepping the shoes and other things scattered on the floor.
“No, I just got really overwhelmed.” I drop my head back, resting it on the back of the couch, and then look over at Alex. “I started with the laundry, which, I swear is reproducing in that room all by itself! I got one load in before I shoved all the dishes in the dishwasher in some random, haphazard manner, and then I started picking up in here. Then, I went to the bedroom and tried to pick it up a little bit...I just started getting all stressed because there was so much.” I sigh. “I need a housekeeper.”
“No…you need help.” Alex says, still taking in the mess.
“A housekeeper is considered help, Alex.”
He sighs, rolling his eyes at me. “Let me clarify then...you need help that isn’t going to cost you twelve bucks an hour.” He sits silent for a minute before he looks down at himself, jumping slightly. “Oh, geez! Look at that!”
I sit up, looking over at him, slightly concerned. “What? Did the mess attack you?”
Alex laughs. “No, look!” He sweeps his arms in front of him. “Help! Someone who is willing to help you find the floor of your apartment, who won’t cost twelve bucks an hour, who is simply here for the pleasure of your company.”
“No, Alex.” I shake my head. “There’s no way I’m making you clean my apartment on your day off…that just ain’t right.”
“Call me crazy, but I believe I volunteered to help you…and I wouldn’t be cleaning the whole apartment by myself, you’d be helping me.” He smiles at me. “Think about it, would you rather me help you, or wait until I leave to do all this yourself?”
I sigh. I know he’s right. It’d be stupid of me not to accept his offer to help me out. “Alright, let’s do this.”
He stands up and offers me his hand to help me up off the couch. “Let’s start in the laundry room, shall we?” He makes his way to the laundry room, then takes a step back once he sees all of it. “Holy hell, I arrived just in time. This laundry was about to stage a revolt and kill you in your sleep!”
“You’re just Mr. Funny today, aren’t ya?” I ask, making my way into the laundry room with him.
“Ok, you know how to do this, right?” He asks, stepping over a pile of towels.
“It’s laundry, Alex...not rocket science.” I start separating the clothes into piles: whites, darks, towels, and delicates. Alex does his best to dodge picking up any thongs or bras, sticking to jeans, shirts, and towels. After five minutes, all the laundry is separated, and I put the first load of towels into the dryer before grabbing the pile of delicates.
I set the dials on the washer, and put in some laundry soap before putting in the clothes.
“Wait a second.” Alex picks up an armload of darks. “That thing isn’t even close to being full. You can put more in there.”
“That’s all the delicate things I have. Those,” I point to the clothes in his arms, “are darks. They go in a totally separate pile, for a totally separate cycle.”
He looks helplessly lost as he drops the darks back into the pile. “So...you can’t put jeans and stuff in with your thongs?” I shake my head no. “Because they’re delicate?” I nod, seemingly only making him more confused about the whole thing. “Heaven forbid the jeans and thongs end up together. The jeans’ll just slap the thongs around the whole cycle and hurt their feelings...they’re delicate. Right. Ok, I don’t get it, but let’s move on to the dishes.”
I stifle my laugher as I follow Alex into the kitchen. “And here you were asking me if I knew how to do laundry. You do know they all belong on separate temperature settings, right?”
“Huh?” Alex asks, opening the dishwasher to unload the clean dishes.
“Whites go in the hot water, darks go in the cold water.” I clarify.
“Warm is the one in the middle, that’s where all things should get washed at. This is all ridiculous!” He bitches, pulling the bottom rack out and looking at it. “Are you kidding me with this?”
I look at Alex, and then back at the rack of dishes. “What?”
“There’s supposed to be an order to this. You put the plate, and all his buddies in a row, then the brotherhood of bowls...you gotta put...” He sighs, rubbing his hands down his face. “Ya know what? Just go clean your room. I’ll handle this.”
I stand and gawk at him for a minute over his outburst about the dishwasher before I turn and leave the kitchen to head upstairs.
“Oh, and just so you know, those dishes in the dishwasher are clean!” I scream back into the kitchen.
“If you say so.” Alex’s voice drifts down the hallway.
I simply shrug and head upstairs to clean my bedroom.
An hour later the apartment is clean, and the laundry is well under control. Alex and I are kicked back on the couch, trying to find something on TV other than soap operas.
“You have a doctors appointment today, don’t ya?” Alex asks, munching on some chips.
“Yeah, at 3:30.” I confirm, glancing at the clock on the wall, which tells me it’s almost one o’ clock. “I should probably call Max and remind him.”
“Probably a good idea.” Alex nods, grabbing the phone off the coffee table next to him and handing it to me. He rattles off Max’s work number, since I have yet to attempt to memorize it or program it in the speed dial.
I dial the number and wait as it rings. A few minutes later, someone finally answers. “E, G, and V Automotive.”
“Hi. Can I talk to Max Evans please?” I ask.
“Alright, I don’t know how many times I’ve had to go over this, but this is a business, not the Max Evans personal dating line. I’ll make it simple for ya…if you two already went out, he won’t want to go out with you again. That’s the way he is. If you’re calling to ask him out, don’t bother. He’s head over heels in love with his ex-wife, who is back in town, and pregnant with his child. Ok? Confusing, I know, but all you need to know is that you don’t have a snowballs chance in hell. Have a nice day.”
I pull the phone away from my ear and stare at it. “He hung up on me!” I say in disbelief.
I quickly relay what was said to Alex, who just nods. “Yeah, that was Michael. He has a tendency to do that when girls call over there.”
“Well, that’s rude.” I pout.
“Have you not met Michael?” Alex asks. “He’s just rude, it’s the way he is. The way he sees it, Max doesn’t really need a job there since his parents are loaded. Michael, on the other hand, takes it very seriously, not saying Max doesn’t...but you know.”
“Right...” I look at him for a minute longer. “If Max wasn’t serious about it, why would he be 1/3 of the name of the business? I mean, it’s Evans, Guerin, and Valenti Automotive.”
“Don’t ask me. I don’t even pretend to understand why Michael is the way he is.” He grabs the phone and presses the redial button. “Try again.”
I take the phone from him and cradle it between my ear and shoulder. “E, G, and V Automotive.”
“Hi, is this Michael?” I ask, deciding to try to figure out who I’m talking to before I get hung up on again.
“Yeah, whose this?” Michael grumbles before yelling something at Kyle.
“This is Liz. I just called there about five seconds ago, and asked to talk to Max, to remind him that I have a doctors appointment today at 3:30 and you yelled at me and hung up on me.” I explain.
“Oh.” Is all he has to say at the moment. He must have thought back to everything he said because he started stammering. “So...you, uhm...you heard everything I said?”
“Oh, yeah. Absolutely everything.”
“Bloody hell.” He lets out a string of curses. “Max is gonna shoot me.”
“Well, how about we just forget this ever happened and you put Max on the phone?” I suggest.
“Yeah, that would be awesome. We’ll just forget we had this conversation and I’ll go get Max. It might take a minute. He’s underneath a car trying to fix the brake lines, but he’ll be over in a minute.” He tells me to hold on and then goes in search of Max.
“How’s it goin?” Alex says, in a stage whisper, laughing. He had his ear pressed up to the phone the whole time, so he already knows…he’s just in a weird mood today.
“Super.” I play along, laughing with him.
I hear the phone being shuffled around on the other end. “Evans.” Max announces.
“Hey, Cowboy.” I tease into the phone, causing Alex to roll his eyes and refocus on finding something to watch on TV.
“Liz?” He asks.
“No, this is Muffin, we went out the other night. I had a great time.” I try to hold in my laughter, the bit wouldn’t work if I burst out into a fit of giggles in the middle of it.
“Oh, now I remember.” Max plays along. “What’s up?”
“I have a doctors appointment today...”
“At 3:30, I know.” Max interrupts. “I’m almost done with these brake lines, it should only take me about half an hour. Then I’m going home, showering, and coming to get you.”
“Ok, just wanted to make sure you knew.” I smile. Is it just me or is he getting cuter and cuter by the day?
“I know, and I will be there.” He promises.
“Ok, well I’m gonna go. Alex and I are hanging out and watching TV, and then I gotta get in the shower. I’ll see you later, Max.”
“Yeah, see you later. Oh, hey. Can you tell Muffin to meet me at my place later?” He teases.
I can’t help but laugh. “Bye, Max.” I hang up, unable to do anything but smile.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can’t believe I’m doing this! I’m an idiot! Why couldn’t I have just left well enough alone? I raise my hand, knocking quickly on the door before I lose my nerve and run away.
I hear shuffling inside before the large wooden doors open, revealing a very surprised Diane Evans.
Yes, people, I’m a glutton for punishment. I have a doctor’s appointment in an hour, which is going to be unpleasant enough, because going to the doctor always is, and I’m taking on Diane Evans before I go. I really think I’m crazy.
“Elizabeth.” Diane says, shocked beyond words to find me, of all people, standing on her front doorstep. “What are you doing here?”
“I just wanted to drop by really quick and have a word or two with you. Are you busy?” I ask, trying my best to be polite.
“Actually, I’m getting ready to go out. You should have called first.” She says. Oh geez She can’t, just this one time, make my life easy, can she?
“Well, I don’t plan on staying long. I have to be back at the apartment soon to meet Max.”
“You’re meeting Max? For what?” She asks.
“I have a doctors appointment at 3:30.” I explain. “May I come in, please?” She doesn’t say anything, and makes no move to let me in the house for a minute. Finally, she opens the door and motions me inside. “Thank you.” I step inside the foyer, waiting for her to close the door and turn back to me.
“Would you like to come in and sit down?” She asks.
“No, that’s not necessary. There were just a few things I wanted to say, and then I’ll be on my way.” She simply nods, so I take that as my cue to continue. “For whatever reason, you and I have never gotten along. That’s no secret, everyone knows about it, and I’ve taken it for as long as I can remember. I just wanted you to know that I’m not taking it anymore. Whether you choose to believe it or not, I’m having your grandchild, and Max will be there when it happens. He will be a part of his child’s life. No matter how much you put me down, yell at him, or try to convince him that this isn’t his baby…it is, and he will be there.”
I stop, momentarily gauging her reaction to what I’m saying. However, she’s worse than Isabel when it comes to hiding her feelings. She never lets on as to what she’s thinking, and her face never shows any emotion.
“I’m sure you’re expecting an apology for the way I acted the other night and the things that I said. I really wish that I could apologize to you. That we could just forget about the whole thing and move past it, but I can’t do that. I finally said everything that I’ve wanted to say to you for as long as I’ve been with Max, and I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t feel good to do it. However,”
I take a deep breath, my damn hormones are flaring up again and I can feel the tears starting to form in my eyes. “My child deserves two parents, which he or she will have, because Max isn’t going anywhere, but my child also needs two sets of grandparents. I know that you don’t believe that Max is the father, but he is. There’s absolutely no way that he couldn’t be.”
I reach inside my purse, pulling out a folded piece of paper. “This is Steven’s number.” I say, handing her the piece of paper. “I know you’re thinking that he’s the father, but he’s not…he can’t be. You can call him and talk to him if you’d like. I already asked him if it would be all right if you did, and he doesn’t mind explaining everything to you himself. I could do it, but I have no doubt that it wouldn’t make a difference.” She takes the piece of paper, glancing at it momentarily.
“I don’t want to take up much more of your time, I just wanted to stop by really quick. I know I had some more things to say, because I practiced this whole big speech the whole way over here, but I can’t think half of it now. I just...” I sigh, looking down at my shoes before looking up and locking eyes with Diane. “I want you to be there. I want my baby to know you and Mr. Evans. I know you don’t like me, but can’t you just get over that? This is your first grandchild. My parents are beyond excited and that makes me so happy. I know it kills Max that you’re not excited too.”
I take a deep breath, then just nod when she doesn’t say anything. “Ok, I’m gonna go. Thank you for your time.” I walk to the front door, opening it, stepping out, and pulling the door behind me. I glance back when I don’t hear the door close, finding Diane standing in the doorway. She looks like she wants to say something, but doesn’t. “Mrs. Evans?” I ask.
“Congratulations, Elizabeth.”
To say that I’m shocked would be way too much of an understatement. All I can do is smile back at her, one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever directed at Diane Evans that wasn’t fake. “Thank you.”
I turn and walk back to my car, unsure as to how to process what just happened. I decide to just be happy, and go back home to wait for Max.
When I pull up to the apartment complex, I’m surprised to see that Max’s motorcycle is already parked outside his apartment. He must have gotten off early to make sure he was able to take a shower and get me to the doctor on time.
I park my car in front of my apartment and get out. I notice that Alex’s red Chevy S10 is still parked a few spots down, so I know he’s still at my place…right where I left him. He got sucked into the Animal Planet. I honestly believe that channel needs a damn warning label
**Warning! You WILL get sucked into watching this, and become unable to get off the couch to do so much as go pee! Do not attempt to watch if you have plans anytime soon, because you will not make it!**
I giggle to myself as I push open my front door. Alex is still kicked back on the couch. I can tell he’s still watching the Animal Planet, because I can hear Steve Irwin going on and on about what a beautiful snake he’s screwing with. God, that guy’s a dumbass.
The only thing different is the fact that Max seems to have been sucked into the abyss also. He must have gotten home immediately after I left, because he’s freshly showered, dressed up in a blue polo shirt, nice jeans, and tennis shoes...and oh, holy hell...does he look gorgeous
I slam the front door, causing both of the guys to jump almost three feet off the couch. I can’t help but laugh at them. “What’s up?”
“Steve’s at it again.” Alex informs me, looking back at the TV.
“Well, good for Steve.” I smile as Alex merely nods in response to the fact that I’ve opened my mouth, before I look over at Max who’s staring at me. What the hell is that about? “What?” I ask, wondering if I have something in my teeth.
“What?” He asks, his eyes snapping up. Yeah, UP! I dunno where they were focused before, but it was somewhere south of my face.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” I drop my purse next to the front door, and hook my keys on the nail right by the front door, as to avoid having to search for them later.
“I wasn’t staring.” He denies, knowing that he’s already given himself away, because he’s blushing all the way to the tips of his ears. “I was just wondering why you were dressed like that.”
I glance down at my outfit, which I find nothing wrong with. I’m wearing a light blue boy beater, a pair of white velour pants, and a pair of old converse sneakers. I’m not showing an access amount of skin, but I guess the pants do hang kinda low on my hips, and due to the slight bulge of my stomach now, the shirt does ride up a little, showing off a little bit of my stomach. It’s not like I’m wearing Daisy Dukes or anything. Oh, and for those who aren’t in the know yet...those white tank tops guys wear are called wife beaters, but when girls wear them, they’re called boy beaters. Just a little FYI for ya “Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“No...I just wish there was a little more of it.” Max says, looking me up and down.
“You want me to be wearing more clothes?” I ask, confused as hell. He nods. “Ok, so...it’s August. It’s over a hundred degrees outside, I’m five months pregnant...and you want me to put on more clothes?”
“Yeah...” Max answers, his voice shaking slightly. Alex’s eyes suddenly snap from the television over our way. He must have realized we might end up being more entertaining then Steve.
“Are you stupid? ” I screech. “I’d like to think you’ve gotten off pretty easy with this whole pregnancy thing. I haven’t made you worry about my morning sickness, I haven’t taken any of my mood swings out on you, and I haven’t been very hormonal around you! The fatter I’m getting, the harder and harder it is to be anything resembling comfortable, and now that I am, you want me to change?!”
Alex mumbles his new favorite phrase, ‘Danger Will Robinson,’ before making it appear as though he’s totally enthralled with what’s happening on the television. Max sits, totally bewildered, his mouth moving like a fish.
“Ya know what?” I finally say. “I’m not changing. You’re just gonna deal with it. Let’s go or we’re gonna be late.” I grab my keys and my purse before flinging the door open and stalking back to my car.
Max scurries out the door behind me, in fear of being left behind. He hops in the car before I throw it in reverse and peel out, heading toward the doctor’s office.
I check in and sit down in one of those stupid wooden chairs with the plastic covered cushion that your ass always gets stuck to. Max and I haven’t said one word to each other yet. I’m scared to talk for fear of killing him. He’s scared to talk for fear of being killed. And if he isn’t scared...he should be.
They call my name and I stand up, causing Max to stand up too. I sigh, glancing over at him. “Stay here.”
He gets another one of those totally bewildered looks on his face before stuttering out. “But you said I could come.”
“Yes, I did. However, I’m gonna go in there, and they’re gonna weigh me, make me pee in a cup, take some blood, make me put on one of those stupid gowns, and do a pelvic exam, which I don’t wish you to be present for. I’ll have the nurse come get you before any of the good stuff happens, ok?”
He pouts slightly, but finally agrees and sits back down. I follow the nurse back and we go through all the stuff that I already told Max was gonna go on.
I ask them to let me change before Max comes in, partly because I don’t feel like wearing this ugly gown anymore, and partly because I don’t want to be covered up by a piece of paper anymore. Not like it’s anything Max hasn’t seen before, but you get what I’m saying.
Max knocks on the door right as I’m pulling my tank top on, and I tell him to come in.
I lay back on the bed, waiting for the doctor to come in, as Max looks around the room. “So...why haven’t you bothered me about the pregnancy?”
“Do you really want to get into this right now?” I groan, not wanting to either snap on him or start bawling in the doctor’s office.
“Yes.” He shortly replies, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning against the wall. “How long have you had morning sickness?”
“The entire time I’ve been pregnant.”
“Isn’t that supposed to go away?” He asks.
“After the first trimester, yes. I’m well into my second trimester now, and I still have it though.” Max gets a scared look on his face. “Don’t worry about it. Everyone’s pregnancy is different…there’s nothing abnormal about me still having it.”
Dr. Byler finally makes an appearance, saving me from answering anymore of Max’s questions, because he’s now animatedly in a discussion with her about it.
I think I’ll just lay here and relax while I can...ya know, before they start strapping stuff to my stomach and putting cold icky jelly stuff all over me.
I’m apparently not listening when they finish their conversation, because before I know it, I have a heart machine on my stomach, and the nurse is getting out the jelly and the ultrasound machine.
My breath stops when the room suddenly becomes filled with a whirling sound. I hear Max ask the doctor, “Is that the baby’s heartbeat?” And she says that it is, and that it sounds nice and strong…healthy.
Max reaches down and grabs my hand, holding it between his. I look up at him, and the tears in my eyes are mirrored in his. We’re listening to our child’s heartbeat. I knew before that the pregnancy was real, and that there was a person growing inside me, but this just made it so much more real.
Max reaches over and swipes away the tears that have leaked out of the corners of my eyes, before placing a kiss on the back of my hand.
The nurse switches on the ultrasound machine as the doctor applies the jelly to my stomach and moves the wand-thing over my stomach.
Max and I have our eyes glued to the screen as the image becomes clearer. It’s hard to make out anything at first, but suddenly I can just see it. I can see my baby on that screen.
“Can you tell the sex yet?” I ask. I don’t know how the hell I got my voice to work, because I’m crying like a little baby, but I somehow accomplished it.
“If the baby cooperates we can. Do you want to know?” She asks, moving the wand all over my stomach, apparently looking for confirmation about what we’re having.
I look up at Max, who’s trying to hide the fact that he’s also crying like a baby. I grab his hand away from his eyes, silently telling him that it doesn’t make him a wuss if he’s crying. “Do we want to know?”
“I think it would be in our best interest to find out, don’t you? With Isabel and your mother teamed up to do this nursery, they’ll kill us if we don’t give them a hint as to what color to paint the room.” He laughs.
“Ok.” I laugh along with him, then look back at the doctor. “Yeah, we want to know.”
“It’s a girl” She immediately replies, glancing over at us. “Congratulations.”
Max starts babbling on and on about how he knows nothing about little girls, and about how this is gonna prompt more trips to the mall for small poofy dresses, but all I can do is sit there, with my mouth wide open.
Ohmigod, I’m having a little girl.
I look over at Max, who is still babbling to himself about little dresses, and tights and bows. I give his hand a quick squeeze, causing him to put his conversation with himself on hold. He looks down at me, giving me the biggest smile before he leans down and softly kisses me on the lips.
He rests his forehead against mine, looking deep into my eyes. “We’re gonna be ok. We’ll get through it together.” I reassure him.
“Yeah.” He smiles. “We’re gonna be ok.”
TBC...
<center>S&M-*Twinkie* -n- *Twin*</center>
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LittleHottie510
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Ok, not much to say before this chapter.... just hope ya'll like it. I haven't actually finished the next chapter yet, I'm usually REALLY far ahead with my writing... but I haven't gotten around to the next chapter yet, I'm working on another fic, in addition to this one. More info about it when I finish this one. But... I'm sure that I'll be back next Wednesday, on time.
Anyway.... On with the story...
Chapter 13
I squeeze my eyes closed, trying to hold onto the wonderful dream I was having, but unfortunately, I’m awake now.
I snuggle deeper into the pillow, throwing the blanket over my face, hoping to fall back asleep. After five minutes, I give up, and pull the covers back off my face.
I glance over, and Max is still soundly asleep on the other side of the King-sized bed. I quietly slip from the bed, stopping at the mini fridge to get a bottle of water before I walk out onto the balcony and sit down in one of the chairs.
I bet you’re probably wondering what the hell is going on, and why Max and I are in bed together, right?
Well, here’s the story…
After my doctor’s appointment, Max and I got back to my apartment, and everyone was there. By everyone, I mean EVERYONE! Even Diane and Philip were there, which was just plain weird to me, even in light of the conversation I’d had with Diane just a few hours prior.
I let Max tell everyone that we were having a girl…it just felt like the right thing for me to do. Everyone was ecstatic, until Isabel, Diane, and Mom started talking about all the little accessories that girls need and started planning another trip to the mall.
We all sat around talking, like it was a normal thing, even though it was as far from normal as you could get. Diane and Philip actually ended up cornering me in the kitchen. Diane apologized, if you can believe that, and Philip went on and on about how he was so excited that this happened, and that we all had a chance to forget about our past mistakes, move past it and become a family again.
Philip went as far as to tell me that he was so glad that Max had found someone like me, a beautiful, strong, intelligent woman to put him in his place and make him happy. Needless to say, I was bawling my eyes out after that.
After all the things that Diane has said about me in the past, to hear her actually voice, out loud, that she agreed with Philip...I lost it.
So anyway…we were all sitting around talking and I noticed Max and Maria try to slip upstairs unnoticed, which obviously didn’t work. Twenty minutes later, they both came back downstairs, each of them wielding a suitcase. Max gave the suitcase he was carrying to Michael, who followed Maria outside.
Max told me that he had planned to take me on a vacation because he knew that I’d been through a lot of stuff in the last year, and he thought I could use a break from everything, a time to just relax.
So, we hopped in his SUV and headed to a resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, and here we are. We’ve been here for three days. Today’s gonna be our fourth day, and we’re leaving tomorrow. I’ve had the absolute best time! Most of the vacation has been spent in the room, as opposed to going out and shopping or something like that.
Now, before you go and put your mind in the gutter...nothing has happened between Max and I on this trip. Despite the fact that the room we got only has one bed – Max booked us in a room with two beds, but they gave it to someone else, so they ended up giving us a better room for the same price, so I’m not complaining– we’ve done nothing but lay in bed, watch movies, and order room service.
However, I think today is gonna be a little different. As much as I love the room we’re staying in, you can only stare at that same stupid picture on the wall for so long before you’re about to go crazy and just throw the damn thing out the window…so I’m gonna make Max take me shopping.
Ah, speak of the devil...
As if on cue, Max pads out onto the balcony, stretching his arms over his head, and squinting against the sun. He looks so damn cute in the morning with his hair sticking up all over the place.
I glance up at him, looking at his hair for a minute, and chewing on the inside of my lip to keep myself from laughing at him.
“You know you wanna laugh, don’t hold back on my account.” He says, his voice rough with sleep. He yawns, and drops down into the other chair, reaching inside his boxers to adjust himself.
“Do you have to do that? I mean, I can see you, ya know?” I say, slightly annoyed.
“Yeah, because it’s something you’ve never seen before?” He questions, raising an eyebrow at me.
I roll my eyes at him before getting up out of my chair and looking down at him. “I want to go shopping, so we’re going shopping. I’m getting in the shower, so be ready when I get out.”
“I’m not allowed to take a shower?”
“Max, you took a shower last night before you went to bed. I was here, I can confirm that. You didn’t get dirty since then, and you don’t smell bad…you’ll be fine.” I explain, moving to go inside and get ready, but Max grabs my wrist, preventing me from going anywhere.
“Forget something?” He whines, giving me puppy-dog eyes.
I sigh. “This is getting ridiculous.” I walk back over and stand on the side of his chair. He leans forward, framing my stomach with his hands before he kisses my stomach and says good morning to the baby. “Can I shower now?” I ask once he’s done, even though I’m already making my way back inside toward the bathroom.
“Wait a minute.” He calls over his shoulder, getting up off the chair and stepping in from the balcony. “Why do you wanna go shopping?”
“Because...we haven’t gone shopping since we’ve been here, and I’m sick of looking at the walls.” I say.
“Ok, but is there anything in particular you wanted to buy?” He continues on with these questions.
Honestly, you have one simple request...
“Not really. I just thought that maybe we could go window-shopping. Maybe if we saw something cute for the baby...” I trail off.
“You could have just said you wanted to go baby shopping.” Max deadpans.
“Ok, I want to go baby shopping.” I repeat. “Can I go get in the shower now?”
“Yeah, I guess.” He grumbles, dropping down on the bed.
I nod, and then take off in the direction of the bathroom, yelling over my shoulder at him to be sure he’s ready when I’m done. Once I’m safely locked in the bathroom, I lean back against the door, releasing a long breath. The farther into this pregnancy I get, the crazier my hormones are getting. To put it as bluntly as possible, because tact just ain’t my thing...I’m horny. It’s not helping matters that Max is constantly prancing around the hotel room in nothing but a pair of boxers, and doing cute little things like talking to my stomach. It takes every ounce of willpower I posses to not leap into his lap and maul him when he does that.
I quickly turn on the shower and strip down before stepping in, letting the water wash away all thoughts of Max, because thoughts of Max are dangerous. I don’t let myself think of anything, I simply enjoy my shower.
Fifteen minutes later, I emerge from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around me, and I head over to my suitcase. I glance over at Max, whose kicked back in bed watching an episode of Jerry Springer. He glances over at me, and then does a double take.
I stare at him for a minute before I finally say something. “What?”
“Huh?” He squeaks, before clearing his throat and returning his gaze to the television. “Nothing.” He mumbles.
I hold in a giggle as I sort through my suitcase for something to wear. I grab a light blue sundress before opening my other suitcase to pull out a pair of flip-flops that match it. I grab everything else I’ll need to finish getting ready and head back into the bathroom.
Once I’m all dressed, I grab a hair tie and throw my still damp hair into a ponytail. I put on mascara and powder before brushing my teeth and head out of the bathroom.
Max is now perched on the edge of the bed, his arms resting on his thighs, looking down at the ground. I clear my throat, and his eyes snap up, settling on me. I give him a small smile as he rises from the bed and walks over to me. “You look beautiful.” He whispers, giving me a big smile.
“I feel fat.” I mutter, looking down and fidgeting with the hem of my dress.
He grabs my hands and makes me put my arms around his waist and his arms circle around me. He drops a soft kiss on the top of my head before he leans back so that I’ll look up at him. “You’re not fat, you’re beautiful. Why would I lie? I ain’t gotta lie to make friends, you already like me.” I laugh, ready to respond with a witty comeback when he puts his finger over my lips. “Shh, don’t deny it. I see right through you, Parker.”
“If you say so, Evans.” I giggle, turning out of his grasp and walking over to the dresser to grab my purse. “Ready to go shopping?” I ask, turning around and giving him a huge smile.
He groans. “The sooner we start, the sooner the torture is over, so let’s just go.” He pouts, but walks to the door and opens it for me anyway.
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Four hours later, I open the door to our hotel room and Max staggers in after me, his arms loaded down with shopping bags.
He drops them all on the floor by our suitcases in a huge pile, before turning to me and glaring. “I hate you.”
I give him the sweetest smile I have. “I love you, too.” He falls, stomach first, onto the bed, looking as if he plans on staying there for days. I sit down on the bed, leaning back against the headboard. “It really wasn’t that bad.” I try to reason with him.
He lifts himself up, supporting his upper body weight on his elbows. “Which part wasn’t that bad? The part where you maxed out two of my credit cards? Or the part where you called that old woman in the store a bitch?”
“Alright, first of all, last night when your mom called, she told me to make you take me shopping, and she said that she’d handle all the expenses, so you can stop bitching about that right now.” I kick my flip-flops off and they sail across the room before I continue. “Secondly, that woman was not that old...”
“Liz, she had to have been like…seventy.” He interrupts.
“And if she hadn’t given me that pompous, condescending look when I was looking at those little baby dresses, I wouldn’t have called her a bitch.” I go on. “It’s not like it’s any of her business that you knocked me up. It’s not like since she disapproved I would suddenly be un-pregnant.”
“You’re babbling.” Max interrupts again.
“So?” I balk. “I’m emotional. Babbling happens every now and then…learn to deal with it.” I cross my arms over my chest, pouting.
“Don’t pout.” Max whines, crawling up the bed, and leaning against the headboard next to me before pulling me over to rest my head on his chest as he puts his arms around me. “I hate when you pout.”
“Then don’t be mean to me.” I mumble into his shirt.
“Ok, you’re right. I’m sorry.” Max apologizes, even though he did absolutely nothing wrong. I think it’s funny that I’m half his size, and yet lately whenever I get upset or mad, you can see him start shaking and the look of utter terror that crosses his face...funny stuff. “Ok, how about this? I’ll order us something to eat, then hop in the shower. You change into your pajamas and order a movie and then we’ll just lay in bed and relax all night, ok?”
I nod, and we instantly spring into action. He grabs the phone to call the front desk, and I go to my suitcase to get my pajamas.
Once I’m changed, I crawl into the bed, grabbing the remote and checking out the movies we could get. As I’m going through them I realize that all the ones worth seeing, we’ve already seen...some of them we’ve even seen twice.
I sit for a moment, weighing my options. We can either pay an outrageous amount of money to see a stupid movie, or we can sit here. As absurd as this might sound...the second one sounds like the more appealing option.
I toss the remote onto the nightstand, and it crashes into the lamp, and then tumbles noisily to the floor. Oops...I didn’t mean to be that loud about it.
Max comes flying around the corner not two seconds after the ruckus happens. “What happened? Are you ok? Is it the baby?!” He rushes out in a panic, literally jumping up onto the bed, standing over me.
I raise my eyebrows, staring at his feet, which have sunken down into the mattress, then trail my eyes up his body before looking into his eyes. “What in the hell are you doing?”
He looks around the room. “What was that noise? I heard a noise and I thought something was wrong.”
I roll my eyes. “The only thing that was wrong was the fact that there are no good movies left to rent, so once I noticed that, I tossed the remote onto the night stand, it hit the lamp, and then fell on the floor, causing the aforementioned noise. Now, the only thing wrong is the fact that your nasty, dirty shoes are on the bed.” I scold, swatting at his legs.
He jumps down from the bed, glaring at me. “Don’t scare me like that.”
My mouth drops open. “I didn’t do anything!”
He stares at me for another minute. “I’m getting in the shower. The food should be here pretty soon, so listen for the knocking, ok?”
I nod and watch as he walks towards the bathroom, mumbling to himself the whole way. I stretch, wiggling deeper into the blankets, sighing contently.
I must have nodded off for a minute, because the next thing I know, Max is shaking me awake, and there’s food. Aww, he got me a hamburger. Points for Max!
He stretches out on the bed next to me, and we sit in comfortable silence, enjoying our meals. The more and more I sit here, the more and more I want to finally clear everything up between us.
Finally, I can’t take it anymore. I have to say something. “Max?”
“Yeah?” He glances over at me, shoving another french fry into his mouth.
“We need to talk.” I say, finishing off my hamburger, and getting to work on my fries.
“Why are you making it sound like you’re breaking up with me?” He jokes. I raise an eyebrow at him. “Sorry, apparently we’re not joking right now.” He clears his throat. “Ok, let’s talk. What do you want to talk about?”
“Us.” I clip out.
Max stops, a few fries halfway to his mouth with his mouth wide open as he turns to regard me. “Us? Is there an ‘us’ now? Did I miss that? You’re gonna have to send me memos about stuff like this, Liz.” I sigh, shaking my head. “Ok, I’m sorry. I won’t joke anymore, I promise.” He gets up from bed, taking our dishes with him, and placing them on the table. Then, he comes back in and flops onto the bed, leaning his cheek against his fist to look at me. “I’m all ears.”
“Yes, you are.” I can’t resist replying. I burst out laughing when he turns beat red and his jaw drops. After a few minutes, my laugher subsides. “Ok, we’re being serious now. There are just a few things that...I just need to know some stuff, ok?” He nods, so I let out a deep breath and ask a question that I’ve been dying to know the answer to for over a year. “Why did you just leave? I mean, I know you left New York because I shut you out, but you didn’t even put a fight. I need to know why.”
He looks down at the bedspread, tracing the design with his fingertip before he looks up, his eyes piercing into mine. “Because I know you. You’re one of the most stubborn people I’ve ever met. When you shut me out, I knew that there was nothing I could have done to make you open back up to me again. I could have told you that I wouldn’t eat until you told me what was wrong, and you would have let me starve. I’m not putting it like that to make you out to be a big bitch or anything, it’s just the way you are, Liz. You don’t do something unless you want to, and once you’ve made up your mind, no one can change it…except you.”
I look down at my hands, which are clasped in my lap, knowing that what he’s saying is true. “Ok.”
“I regret it everyday.” He blurts out, causing my eyes to shoot back to his.
“What?” I ask.
“I regret, everyday of my life, that I didn’t stay...that I didn’t fight harder for you. As I packed up all my stuff, as I arranged for Susie to be brought back here, as I got on that plane to leave New York...the entire time, every synapse in my brain was screaming at me not to do it. Not to walk away from you...not to give up on us...but I left anyway.”
I feel my chin start trembling, and tears sting at me eyes. All this time, I thought he’d just stopped caring...once again, I was wrong. Max reaches up, swiping at a few of the tears that leak from my eyes. “I’m sorry I shut you out.” My voice cracks, despite my efforts to not start blubbering.
“I’m sorry I lied to you in the first place. I should’ve just been honest with you about where I was going, and none of this would have happened.”
I scoff at him. “Are you kidding me? If you would have told me you were going to The Grind with Shannon I would’ve killed you.”
We look at each other for a moment before we start laughing. He resituates himself on the bed, scooting up to lean on the headboard, pulling my head down into his lap and running his fingers through my hair, like he used to love to do.
“I have a question.” Max says, some time later. I open my eyes, which somehow drifted shut while Max was playing with my hair, and look up to regard him. “Did you really like that Steven guy?” He asks, his nose scrunching up.
I snort a laugh. “He’s not that bad, Max.”
“Oh, yeah.” Max sarcastically retorts. “Those rich, snobby, pretty boys are just the best.”
“You’re one to talk about being a rich, snobby, pretty boy, Maxwell Evans.” I point out.
“You think I’m pretty?” He asks, flashing me a bright smile.
I slap him playfully on the arm. “Shut up. Seriously though, Steven is a great guy. He’s handsome, he’s funny, he’s smart...” I trail off, realizing a little too late that Max probably doesn’t want to be hearing this. “Any girl would be lucky to have him.” I turn my head to look at Max. He looks...upset. I don’t know why that surprises me, after all that praise I just gave Steven he probably feels about an inch tall. I grab his chin, making him look at me. “But he’s not for me.”
“Oh, really?” He spats. “Saint Steven ain’t for you? How sad for you both.”
“There was one major thing about him that prevented me from being able to fall in love with him.” I pause, knowing that Max is listening intently. “He wasn’t you. I couldn’t love him because...I was still in love with you.”
“Was...” Max repeats sadly.
“Maybe I still am. I mean...I might be.” I try to explain. I take a deep breath. “We’ve been through a lot of shit lately, Max. I still have feelings for you. I’m not going to deny that, because that would just be stupid, but I don’t know exactly what those feelings are. Everything’s still so confusing, you know?”
He nods, twirling a strand of my hair around his finger. “Yeah.” We both just sit for a moment before Max speaks again. “Let’s just take it one day at a time, ok? No expectations.Whatever happens…happens.”
“Sounds good.” I agree, following that statement with a wide yawn.
“We’ve had a long day…let’s go to bed.” Max says, already pulling me up to get me in the right position to go to bed.
I glance over at the clock. “Max, it’s only seven o’clock.” I try to reason with him.
“Yeah, well. I don’t care, I’m tired, you’re tired, we’re lazy, we’re driving home tomorrow, we’re going to bed.” He says, kicking his jeans onto the floor before sliding under the covers, pulling me in next to him.
I rest my head on his chest, listening to the steady thumping of his heart. “Max?” I sleepily ask.
“Yeah, Angel?”
“One more question. That morning that I was at your apartment...after the night we had sex...you said you loved me, right?”
I hear nothing but silence for a minute before he responds. “I don’t know if I actually voiced it out loud, but yeah, I was still in love with you then. I’m still in love with you now. Why?”
“If that’s true...what were you doing with that blonde girl at the club? The one that slapped you.”
“First of all, thank you for bringing that up again.” He grumbles. “But, in answer to your question. I was hitting on her to make you jealous. Did it work?”
I smile. “I dunno, maybe.”
He chuckles. “Ok, whatever you say.” He places a kiss on top of my head. “Night, baby.”
“Night, Max.” I snuggle into his shoulder more, putting my arm across his stomach, holding onto him tightly.
I’ve heard that the farther along you get in your pregnancy, the worse it gets. Fuck that. The farther along I get in my pregnancy...the better and better things are getting.
TBC...
Anyway.... On with the story...
Chapter 13
I squeeze my eyes closed, trying to hold onto the wonderful dream I was having, but unfortunately, I’m awake now.
I snuggle deeper into the pillow, throwing the blanket over my face, hoping to fall back asleep. After five minutes, I give up, and pull the covers back off my face.
I glance over, and Max is still soundly asleep on the other side of the King-sized bed. I quietly slip from the bed, stopping at the mini fridge to get a bottle of water before I walk out onto the balcony and sit down in one of the chairs.
I bet you’re probably wondering what the hell is going on, and why Max and I are in bed together, right?
Well, here’s the story…
After my doctor’s appointment, Max and I got back to my apartment, and everyone was there. By everyone, I mean EVERYONE! Even Diane and Philip were there, which was just plain weird to me, even in light of the conversation I’d had with Diane just a few hours prior.
I let Max tell everyone that we were having a girl…it just felt like the right thing for me to do. Everyone was ecstatic, until Isabel, Diane, and Mom started talking about all the little accessories that girls need and started planning another trip to the mall.
We all sat around talking, like it was a normal thing, even though it was as far from normal as you could get. Diane and Philip actually ended up cornering me in the kitchen. Diane apologized, if you can believe that, and Philip went on and on about how he was so excited that this happened, and that we all had a chance to forget about our past mistakes, move past it and become a family again.
Philip went as far as to tell me that he was so glad that Max had found someone like me, a beautiful, strong, intelligent woman to put him in his place and make him happy. Needless to say, I was bawling my eyes out after that.
After all the things that Diane has said about me in the past, to hear her actually voice, out loud, that she agreed with Philip...I lost it.
So anyway…we were all sitting around talking and I noticed Max and Maria try to slip upstairs unnoticed, which obviously didn’t work. Twenty minutes later, they both came back downstairs, each of them wielding a suitcase. Max gave the suitcase he was carrying to Michael, who followed Maria outside.
Max told me that he had planned to take me on a vacation because he knew that I’d been through a lot of stuff in the last year, and he thought I could use a break from everything, a time to just relax.
So, we hopped in his SUV and headed to a resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, and here we are. We’ve been here for three days. Today’s gonna be our fourth day, and we’re leaving tomorrow. I’ve had the absolute best time! Most of the vacation has been spent in the room, as opposed to going out and shopping or something like that.
Now, before you go and put your mind in the gutter...nothing has happened between Max and I on this trip. Despite the fact that the room we got only has one bed – Max booked us in a room with two beds, but they gave it to someone else, so they ended up giving us a better room for the same price, so I’m not complaining– we’ve done nothing but lay in bed, watch movies, and order room service.
However, I think today is gonna be a little different. As much as I love the room we’re staying in, you can only stare at that same stupid picture on the wall for so long before you’re about to go crazy and just throw the damn thing out the window…so I’m gonna make Max take me shopping.
Ah, speak of the devil...
As if on cue, Max pads out onto the balcony, stretching his arms over his head, and squinting against the sun. He looks so damn cute in the morning with his hair sticking up all over the place.
I glance up at him, looking at his hair for a minute, and chewing on the inside of my lip to keep myself from laughing at him.
“You know you wanna laugh, don’t hold back on my account.” He says, his voice rough with sleep. He yawns, and drops down into the other chair, reaching inside his boxers to adjust himself.
“Do you have to do that? I mean, I can see you, ya know?” I say, slightly annoyed.
“Yeah, because it’s something you’ve never seen before?” He questions, raising an eyebrow at me.
I roll my eyes at him before getting up out of my chair and looking down at him. “I want to go shopping, so we’re going shopping. I’m getting in the shower, so be ready when I get out.”
“I’m not allowed to take a shower?”
“Max, you took a shower last night before you went to bed. I was here, I can confirm that. You didn’t get dirty since then, and you don’t smell bad…you’ll be fine.” I explain, moving to go inside and get ready, but Max grabs my wrist, preventing me from going anywhere.
“Forget something?” He whines, giving me puppy-dog eyes.
I sigh. “This is getting ridiculous.” I walk back over and stand on the side of his chair. He leans forward, framing my stomach with his hands before he kisses my stomach and says good morning to the baby. “Can I shower now?” I ask once he’s done, even though I’m already making my way back inside toward the bathroom.
“Wait a minute.” He calls over his shoulder, getting up off the chair and stepping in from the balcony. “Why do you wanna go shopping?”
“Because...we haven’t gone shopping since we’ve been here, and I’m sick of looking at the walls.” I say.
“Ok, but is there anything in particular you wanted to buy?” He continues on with these questions.
Honestly, you have one simple request...
“Not really. I just thought that maybe we could go window-shopping. Maybe if we saw something cute for the baby...” I trail off.
“You could have just said you wanted to go baby shopping.” Max deadpans.
“Ok, I want to go baby shopping.” I repeat. “Can I go get in the shower now?”
“Yeah, I guess.” He grumbles, dropping down on the bed.
I nod, and then take off in the direction of the bathroom, yelling over my shoulder at him to be sure he’s ready when I’m done. Once I’m safely locked in the bathroom, I lean back against the door, releasing a long breath. The farther into this pregnancy I get, the crazier my hormones are getting. To put it as bluntly as possible, because tact just ain’t my thing...I’m horny. It’s not helping matters that Max is constantly prancing around the hotel room in nothing but a pair of boxers, and doing cute little things like talking to my stomach. It takes every ounce of willpower I posses to not leap into his lap and maul him when he does that.
I quickly turn on the shower and strip down before stepping in, letting the water wash away all thoughts of Max, because thoughts of Max are dangerous. I don’t let myself think of anything, I simply enjoy my shower.
Fifteen minutes later, I emerge from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around me, and I head over to my suitcase. I glance over at Max, whose kicked back in bed watching an episode of Jerry Springer. He glances over at me, and then does a double take.
I stare at him for a minute before I finally say something. “What?”
“Huh?” He squeaks, before clearing his throat and returning his gaze to the television. “Nothing.” He mumbles.
I hold in a giggle as I sort through my suitcase for something to wear. I grab a light blue sundress before opening my other suitcase to pull out a pair of flip-flops that match it. I grab everything else I’ll need to finish getting ready and head back into the bathroom.
Once I’m all dressed, I grab a hair tie and throw my still damp hair into a ponytail. I put on mascara and powder before brushing my teeth and head out of the bathroom.
Max is now perched on the edge of the bed, his arms resting on his thighs, looking down at the ground. I clear my throat, and his eyes snap up, settling on me. I give him a small smile as he rises from the bed and walks over to me. “You look beautiful.” He whispers, giving me a big smile.
“I feel fat.” I mutter, looking down and fidgeting with the hem of my dress.
He grabs my hands and makes me put my arms around his waist and his arms circle around me. He drops a soft kiss on the top of my head before he leans back so that I’ll look up at him. “You’re not fat, you’re beautiful. Why would I lie? I ain’t gotta lie to make friends, you already like me.” I laugh, ready to respond with a witty comeback when he puts his finger over my lips. “Shh, don’t deny it. I see right through you, Parker.”
“If you say so, Evans.” I giggle, turning out of his grasp and walking over to the dresser to grab my purse. “Ready to go shopping?” I ask, turning around and giving him a huge smile.
He groans. “The sooner we start, the sooner the torture is over, so let’s just go.” He pouts, but walks to the door and opens it for me anyway.
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Four hours later, I open the door to our hotel room and Max staggers in after me, his arms loaded down with shopping bags.
He drops them all on the floor by our suitcases in a huge pile, before turning to me and glaring. “I hate you.”
I give him the sweetest smile I have. “I love you, too.” He falls, stomach first, onto the bed, looking as if he plans on staying there for days. I sit down on the bed, leaning back against the headboard. “It really wasn’t that bad.” I try to reason with him.
He lifts himself up, supporting his upper body weight on his elbows. “Which part wasn’t that bad? The part where you maxed out two of my credit cards? Or the part where you called that old woman in the store a bitch?”
“Alright, first of all, last night when your mom called, she told me to make you take me shopping, and she said that she’d handle all the expenses, so you can stop bitching about that right now.” I kick my flip-flops off and they sail across the room before I continue. “Secondly, that woman was not that old...”
“Liz, she had to have been like…seventy.” He interrupts.
“And if she hadn’t given me that pompous, condescending look when I was looking at those little baby dresses, I wouldn’t have called her a bitch.” I go on. “It’s not like it’s any of her business that you knocked me up. It’s not like since she disapproved I would suddenly be un-pregnant.”
“You’re babbling.” Max interrupts again.
“So?” I balk. “I’m emotional. Babbling happens every now and then…learn to deal with it.” I cross my arms over my chest, pouting.
“Don’t pout.” Max whines, crawling up the bed, and leaning against the headboard next to me before pulling me over to rest my head on his chest as he puts his arms around me. “I hate when you pout.”
“Then don’t be mean to me.” I mumble into his shirt.
“Ok, you’re right. I’m sorry.” Max apologizes, even though he did absolutely nothing wrong. I think it’s funny that I’m half his size, and yet lately whenever I get upset or mad, you can see him start shaking and the look of utter terror that crosses his face...funny stuff. “Ok, how about this? I’ll order us something to eat, then hop in the shower. You change into your pajamas and order a movie and then we’ll just lay in bed and relax all night, ok?”
I nod, and we instantly spring into action. He grabs the phone to call the front desk, and I go to my suitcase to get my pajamas.
Once I’m changed, I crawl into the bed, grabbing the remote and checking out the movies we could get. As I’m going through them I realize that all the ones worth seeing, we’ve already seen...some of them we’ve even seen twice.
I sit for a moment, weighing my options. We can either pay an outrageous amount of money to see a stupid movie, or we can sit here. As absurd as this might sound...the second one sounds like the more appealing option.
I toss the remote onto the nightstand, and it crashes into the lamp, and then tumbles noisily to the floor. Oops...I didn’t mean to be that loud about it.
Max comes flying around the corner not two seconds after the ruckus happens. “What happened? Are you ok? Is it the baby?!” He rushes out in a panic, literally jumping up onto the bed, standing over me.
I raise my eyebrows, staring at his feet, which have sunken down into the mattress, then trail my eyes up his body before looking into his eyes. “What in the hell are you doing?”
He looks around the room. “What was that noise? I heard a noise and I thought something was wrong.”
I roll my eyes. “The only thing that was wrong was the fact that there are no good movies left to rent, so once I noticed that, I tossed the remote onto the night stand, it hit the lamp, and then fell on the floor, causing the aforementioned noise. Now, the only thing wrong is the fact that your nasty, dirty shoes are on the bed.” I scold, swatting at his legs.
He jumps down from the bed, glaring at me. “Don’t scare me like that.”
My mouth drops open. “I didn’t do anything!”
He stares at me for another minute. “I’m getting in the shower. The food should be here pretty soon, so listen for the knocking, ok?”
I nod and watch as he walks towards the bathroom, mumbling to himself the whole way. I stretch, wiggling deeper into the blankets, sighing contently.
I must have nodded off for a minute, because the next thing I know, Max is shaking me awake, and there’s food. Aww, he got me a hamburger. Points for Max!
He stretches out on the bed next to me, and we sit in comfortable silence, enjoying our meals. The more and more I sit here, the more and more I want to finally clear everything up between us.
Finally, I can’t take it anymore. I have to say something. “Max?”
“Yeah?” He glances over at me, shoving another french fry into his mouth.
“We need to talk.” I say, finishing off my hamburger, and getting to work on my fries.
“Why are you making it sound like you’re breaking up with me?” He jokes. I raise an eyebrow at him. “Sorry, apparently we’re not joking right now.” He clears his throat. “Ok, let’s talk. What do you want to talk about?”
“Us.” I clip out.
Max stops, a few fries halfway to his mouth with his mouth wide open as he turns to regard me. “Us? Is there an ‘us’ now? Did I miss that? You’re gonna have to send me memos about stuff like this, Liz.” I sigh, shaking my head. “Ok, I’m sorry. I won’t joke anymore, I promise.” He gets up from bed, taking our dishes with him, and placing them on the table. Then, he comes back in and flops onto the bed, leaning his cheek against his fist to look at me. “I’m all ears.”
“Yes, you are.” I can’t resist replying. I burst out laughing when he turns beat red and his jaw drops. After a few minutes, my laugher subsides. “Ok, we’re being serious now. There are just a few things that...I just need to know some stuff, ok?” He nods, so I let out a deep breath and ask a question that I’ve been dying to know the answer to for over a year. “Why did you just leave? I mean, I know you left New York because I shut you out, but you didn’t even put a fight. I need to know why.”
He looks down at the bedspread, tracing the design with his fingertip before he looks up, his eyes piercing into mine. “Because I know you. You’re one of the most stubborn people I’ve ever met. When you shut me out, I knew that there was nothing I could have done to make you open back up to me again. I could have told you that I wouldn’t eat until you told me what was wrong, and you would have let me starve. I’m not putting it like that to make you out to be a big bitch or anything, it’s just the way you are, Liz. You don’t do something unless you want to, and once you’ve made up your mind, no one can change it…except you.”
I look down at my hands, which are clasped in my lap, knowing that what he’s saying is true. “Ok.”
“I regret it everyday.” He blurts out, causing my eyes to shoot back to his.
“What?” I ask.
“I regret, everyday of my life, that I didn’t stay...that I didn’t fight harder for you. As I packed up all my stuff, as I arranged for Susie to be brought back here, as I got on that plane to leave New York...the entire time, every synapse in my brain was screaming at me not to do it. Not to walk away from you...not to give up on us...but I left anyway.”
I feel my chin start trembling, and tears sting at me eyes. All this time, I thought he’d just stopped caring...once again, I was wrong. Max reaches up, swiping at a few of the tears that leak from my eyes. “I’m sorry I shut you out.” My voice cracks, despite my efforts to not start blubbering.
“I’m sorry I lied to you in the first place. I should’ve just been honest with you about where I was going, and none of this would have happened.”
I scoff at him. “Are you kidding me? If you would have told me you were going to The Grind with Shannon I would’ve killed you.”
We look at each other for a moment before we start laughing. He resituates himself on the bed, scooting up to lean on the headboard, pulling my head down into his lap and running his fingers through my hair, like he used to love to do.
“I have a question.” Max says, some time later. I open my eyes, which somehow drifted shut while Max was playing with my hair, and look up to regard him. “Did you really like that Steven guy?” He asks, his nose scrunching up.
I snort a laugh. “He’s not that bad, Max.”
“Oh, yeah.” Max sarcastically retorts. “Those rich, snobby, pretty boys are just the best.”
“You’re one to talk about being a rich, snobby, pretty boy, Maxwell Evans.” I point out.
“You think I’m pretty?” He asks, flashing me a bright smile.
I slap him playfully on the arm. “Shut up. Seriously though, Steven is a great guy. He’s handsome, he’s funny, he’s smart...” I trail off, realizing a little too late that Max probably doesn’t want to be hearing this. “Any girl would be lucky to have him.” I turn my head to look at Max. He looks...upset. I don’t know why that surprises me, after all that praise I just gave Steven he probably feels about an inch tall. I grab his chin, making him look at me. “But he’s not for me.”
“Oh, really?” He spats. “Saint Steven ain’t for you? How sad for you both.”
“There was one major thing about him that prevented me from being able to fall in love with him.” I pause, knowing that Max is listening intently. “He wasn’t you. I couldn’t love him because...I was still in love with you.”
“Was...” Max repeats sadly.
“Maybe I still am. I mean...I might be.” I try to explain. I take a deep breath. “We’ve been through a lot of shit lately, Max. I still have feelings for you. I’m not going to deny that, because that would just be stupid, but I don’t know exactly what those feelings are. Everything’s still so confusing, you know?”
He nods, twirling a strand of my hair around his finger. “Yeah.” We both just sit for a moment before Max speaks again. “Let’s just take it one day at a time, ok? No expectations.Whatever happens…happens.”
“Sounds good.” I agree, following that statement with a wide yawn.
“We’ve had a long day…let’s go to bed.” Max says, already pulling me up to get me in the right position to go to bed.
I glance over at the clock. “Max, it’s only seven o’clock.” I try to reason with him.
“Yeah, well. I don’t care, I’m tired, you’re tired, we’re lazy, we’re driving home tomorrow, we’re going to bed.” He says, kicking his jeans onto the floor before sliding under the covers, pulling me in next to him.
I rest my head on his chest, listening to the steady thumping of his heart. “Max?” I sleepily ask.
“Yeah, Angel?”
“One more question. That morning that I was at your apartment...after the night we had sex...you said you loved me, right?”
I hear nothing but silence for a minute before he responds. “I don’t know if I actually voiced it out loud, but yeah, I was still in love with you then. I’m still in love with you now. Why?”
“If that’s true...what were you doing with that blonde girl at the club? The one that slapped you.”
“First of all, thank you for bringing that up again.” He grumbles. “But, in answer to your question. I was hitting on her to make you jealous. Did it work?”
I smile. “I dunno, maybe.”
He chuckles. “Ok, whatever you say.” He places a kiss on top of my head. “Night, baby.”
“Night, Max.” I snuggle into his shoulder more, putting my arm across his stomach, holding onto him tightly.
I’ve heard that the farther along you get in your pregnancy, the worse it gets. Fuck that. The farther along I get in my pregnancy...the better and better things are getting.
TBC...
<center>S&M-*Twinkie* -n- *Twin*</center>
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LittleHottie510
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I'm back for your usual Wed. update! As always, thank you for your amazing FB, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Special thanks to my *twin*, Tanya, for being my beta for this part... Love you!!! *muah*
Chapter 14
“Are you sure you wanna eat this?” Max asks, walking back into the living room with a plate of dill pickle slices and ranch dressing. Before you write that off as a weird pregnancy craving, I used to eat that before I got pregnant. Also, don’t knock it before you try it, its very good.
“Yes, I want to eat that. Gimme my plate.” I whine, reaching out for the plate, but making no actual move to lean forward and attempt to take it away from him.
Max simply shrugs before sitting down next to me on the couch and handing me the plate. “Ok, but if it makes you sick, I warned you.”
“Noted.” I reply, already happily crunching into a pickle. I turn my attention back to ‘Thelma and Louise’, which is playing on the television screen.
Max and I have been back from our mini vacation for almost a month now. We’re not back together, sorry to break your hearts, but we’re getting there. Max comes over everyday to hang out with me, and take care of me. I’ve had to physically remove him from my apartment a time or two, because he’d simply refused to leave. A woman needs a little quiet time every now and then, people.
On the pregnancy front, I’m fat. I know, I know... don’t even give me the whole ‘you’re not fat, you’re pregnant’ spiel, I’ve heard it a million times, and its not making me feel any better, ok?
My attention is torn away from the movie when the phone starts ringing. Max picks it up off the end table next to him, glancing at the caller ID. Why is it that my phone always ends up on the other side of the couch, next to someone who doesn’t live here?
“Hey, nosey. Stop checkin up on my calls and hand me the phone.” I grab the phone out of his hand, before checking the caller ID, a big smile spreading across my face. I click the phone on before bringing it up to my ear. “Hey there, stranger! Thought you’d forgotten all about me!”
“Me? Forget about you? Never!” Steven replies, laughing. “How are you doing?”
“I’m doing just fine, how are you?”
“Same shit, different day.” He says. “How’s the pregnancy coming along? How far along are you? When are you due? Gimme something to work with here.”
“The pregnancy is just fine. I’m about six months along, meaning we’ll be having a baby in about three months.” I tell him, glancing over at Max, who just looks at me, questioningly. “Steven.” I say, letting Max know whose on the phone. His jaw clenches, and steam practically starts pouring out his ears. Oh, geez, I shouldn’t have told him. Now he’s gonna act like a girl all day.
“What?” Steven asks. It takes me a minute to realize that he’s saying ‘what’ because I said his name.
“Oh, nothing. Max just gave me that look, the one when you want to know who someone is talking on the phone to, so I told him I was talking to you, and then you thought I was talking to you.” I explain.
“Oh, so... Max is over there?” Oh, Lord. Not him too.
“Yes, Max is sitting next to me on the couch. We were watching 'Thelma and Louise'.”
“That’s nice.” Steven says, shocking the hell outta me. “I’m glad that he’s there, and he’s not going to do what most guys do... get the girl pregnant, deny the whole thing and head for the hills.”
“Uhm... yeah.” Is all I can get out of my mouth. Did Hell just freeze over? Steven saying nice things about Max? Well, even if it didn’t freeze over, the temperature just dropped quite a bit.
“Is the nursery all set up and everything?” He asks, completely ignorant that he’s shocked the shit outta me.
“Yeah, pretty much. All the furniture is in there and everything. Got a cute little dresser for all the babies clothes, a changing table, the crib. We just need to get stuff to fill up the changing table, and sheets and stuff for the crib. It’s all painted and everything.” I say, smiling at the mental image of the nursery in my head.
“You painted the nursery?” Steven balks.
“Yeah. Well, actually, I didn’t paint it. Max and I went on a little vacation about a month ago, and while we were gone, Isabel and my parents came over and painted it and finished putting together the furniture that Max and Michael couldn’t figure out.” I giggle as Max shoots a glare my direction. Hey, its not my fault him and Michael aren’t that bright and couldn’t figure out the crib. We didn’t let them attempt anything else.
“That was nice of them.” Steven says, before yelling over his shoulder at someone. “Are you having a baby shower, or anything?”
“Well, since my birthday is, like, a month before the baby is due, we’re gonna have a combination birthday party/baby shower at the Crashdown. At least, I think that’s the plan. We still have quite a wait until that happens, so nothing has been finalized yet.” I explain.
“That sounds really nice.” I hear him sigh a little bit. “You sound really happy, Beth.”
I glance over at Max, who is picking at a string on one of the throw pillows. I hold in a giggle before looking away. “Yeah, I am.”
“I’m glad. If anyone deserves it, it’s you.” He informs me. “Hey, will you do me a favor?”
“Hmm.... maybe. Depends on the favor.” I mess with him. He knows I’d do anything for him.
“I’m not going to ask you to have phone sex with me or anything nasty like that.” He says, laughing. “But... will you give Max the phone? I want to talk to him.”
“I’m sorry, my ears must not be working well today, you want me to what?” I ask, in complete shock. Why does he want to talk to Max? I can’t say I’m not intrigued.
“C’mon, babe, it’s not anything bad, I’m not going to start shit with him or anything, just let me talk to him for a minute, will ya?” He whines.
“Uhm, yeah. Sure, ok.... hold on.” I take the phone away from my ear before looking over at Max. He looks away from the pillow and over at me. “Steven... he uhm, he wants to talk to you.” I say in disbelief, handing Max the phone. Max takes it from me, but doesn’t bring it to his ear. He just stares at it in his hand. “You gotta put it up to your ear.” I explain, demonstrating to him how to use the phone, my hand acting as a phone.
He tilts his head, giving me a look that says “I’m not that dumb” before bringing the phone up to his ear. “Yeah?” He clips out.
I slap his arm. “Be nice!” I scold.
He pouts slightly but goes back to talking. “Yeah. Probably.” He says into the receiver before glancing at me. “Ok...” He gives me another odd look before getting up from the couch and walking into the kitchen.
What’s that shit? I can’t even eavesdrop now? That sucks. I want to know what’s going on!
I push myself off the couch, ready to walk into the kitchen and pretend to be getting something to drink in order to hear at least part of the conversation when someone knocks on the door. “Damn.” I mutter, glancing down the hallway that leads to the kitchen, seeing Max pace by doorway before turning around and pacing back the other direction.
Whoever it is knocks again, a little louder and more forceful this time. I sigh, knowing that I’ll never know what the boys are talking about now before walking to the door and opening it.
“Hello, Elizabeth.” Mrs. Evans greets before walking into the apartment, Isabel trailing behind her, holding a black garment bag. This can’t be good....
Isabel gives me a kiss on the cheek before following her mom into the living room, where they both take a seat on the couch. “Hey guys, what’s going on?”
“Just thought we’d stop by.” Isabel says, smiling. She has that... ‘I know something you don’t know’ look in her eyes, this really can’t be good.
“Is Max here?” Diane asks, looking around.
“Yeah, he’s in the kitchen talking to Steven on the phone.” I explain, dropping back into one of the recliners.
“Steven from New York?” Diane asks, picking up the remote and turning off the television, so she knows that she has everyone’s full attention.
“The one and only.” I confirm.
“You know, despite the horrible thing that happened between him and Max at the Crashdown all those months ago, he seems like a very nice gentleman. He was very polite when I talked to him.” Diane says, crossing her ankles and clasping her hands in her lap. When she talked to him? Oh, yeah. I gave her Stevens number back in the day because she didn’t believe Max was the father, that’s right.
“Ok, no offense intended, Mrs. Evans...”
“Elizabeth, I’ve told you time and time again, it’s Diane now. I’d like to think we’ve became rather close lately, and I refuse to have you refer to me as if you don’t know me.” She interrupts.
“Right. Sorry.” I clear my throat. “Ok, but still... no offense, but is your family on drugs? Because there’s been a lot of crazy shit going on lately, and drugs is the only way I can explain it.”
“Watch your language, Elizabeth. A lady never curses.” She reprimands. Not in a condescending way, in the way she scolds Isabel... like a mother would. I’ll tell you what, this whole... Diane actually liking me thing, is getting kinda creepy.
“Sorry.” I apologize again. “Ya know what, lets just forget about all that. What brings you by?” I ask.
“Well, as you may or may not be aware, tomorrow night, Philip and I are having a party to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.” Diane starts, a smile playing on her lips.
“I am aware. Congratulations.” I tell her.
“Thank you.” She glances over at Isabel, both of them smile before looking at me. Oh shit, what’s going on?? “Well, Philip and I are going to be presented, and will walk down the staircase together for all our guests to see us. It will be slightly similar to being presented at a debutante ball.” Oh, I’ve heard bad things about those balls. This is going to suck, I can feel it. “Anyway,” She continues. “After Philip and I are presented, they’re going to present our children. Isabel is being escorted by Alex Whitman.” My head snaps over in Isabel’s direction and she blushes slightly. Holy hell, people. She might have finally gotten her act together about Alex. Cross your fingers and hope she did!
“Well, that’s great.” I say, smiling at Isabel. She owes me a big explanation as to why I didn’t know about this sooner. My smile falls as I realize why they’re here. If the children are being presented, Max has to be presented too. Since Isabel has an escort... oh, hell. I have to walk down the stairs with Max! I sigh. “Let me guess, you want me to walk with Max?”
Diane smiles, a big, bright smile. “Yes, I do.” She stands up, grabbing Isabel by the elbow, making her stand too. “I picked out a dress for you to wear, I know that I got it way too big, but I just want to make sure it looks good on you first. My seamstress with alter it as needed.”
Isabel walks over, grabbing my hand and helping me up off the chair. I reluctantly stand, and she gives me a little nudge towards the stairs.
“You just go try it on, and then come back and let me see.” Diane says, sitting back down on the couch.
I know there’s no getting out of this, so I trudge up the stairs, Isabel and dress in tow. Isabel helps me into the dress once we’re in my bedroom.
I stand in front of the mirror, just staring at the dress for a moment. It’s beautiful. It’s a wine colored, spaghetti strap dress. There is excessive fabric around the neckline, so it gathers, but still shows a hint of cleavage, which I now have, thanks to being pregnant. The dress is way too big, but I absolutely love it. There is a slight train to the back of the dress, but the front kisses the floor just right, as to avoid me tripping over it.
A few moments later, Diane knocks on the door. Isabel lets her in and she literally gasps when she sees me. “Oh, Elizabeth. You look absolutely stunning.”
I dip my head a little. “Thank you.”
Another woman suddenly sweeps into the room, introduces herself as Diane’s seamstress and begins pinning the dress where its too big. I quickly let her know that I don’t want this thing to be skintight, and she assures me that it won’t be spandex, but it will be taken-in in a few places.
Once she’s done, I take the dress off and hand it to Isabel, who goes back downstairs with it. Once I’m comfortable re-dressed in my velour sweat suit, my new outfit of choice, I now have at least 30 of them; I make my way back downstairs.
Max is sitting on the couch, the movie once again playing. He glances over at me. “Hey, sorry I didn’t tell you about this thing, I forgot.”
“It’s ok. I get to wear a pretty dress that I didn’t pay for, can’t be too upset about that.” I get comfortable on the couch next to him. “So, what’d Steven say?”
“He’d call you back later.” Max says acting too interested in the TV to properly answer the question. It’s alright I’ll get the answer out of him sooner or later.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Liz!” Max yells, walking in the front door.
I walk into the living room from the kitchen, downing the rest of my glass of apple juice before setting the glass down on the coffee table. I look up at Max, who’s all dressed up in a tux. “Well, you clean up pretty nicely.”
He does a little spin, giving me a nice shot of his butt in his tight black pants. He doesn’t have his tux jacket on yet, but he has the rest of the attire on, and he looks freaking sexy! I look down at my blue velour suit, noting that he’s definitely looking better than I am. Yes, I know, I wear these outfits all the time. I’m addicted to these things, but seriously, they’re so damn comfortable.
“You ready to go?” He asks, leaning back against the wall next to the door, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Yeah, I guess.” I say, slipping on some flip-flops before grabbing my purse.
We’re on our way to Philip and Diane’s anniversary party. Before you freak out, my dress and the matching shoes and purse are all over at the Evans’ house waiting for me. Not to mention the fact that Diane insisted that I have her stylist do my hair. So pretty much, my only job is to show up, not trip down the stairs, and not make an ass out of myself. I can’t even promise that I won’t do any of that.
Max helps me into his Denali before walking around and getting into the drivers seat and taking off. We ride in silence, just listening to the radio.
When we get to the Evans house, I’m not the least bit surprised when a valet helps me out of the car before running to the other side of the vehicle and driving away. Max and I just look at one another, rolling our eyes. Philip and Diane are famous for their parties. No expense is spared, and it’s always a good time. When Max and I were younger it was a good time because we’d sneak alcohol, then go upstairs and fool around. I can’t guarantee this particular party is going to be all that fun, seeing as how I can’t drink, but I’ll hope for the best.
Max rings the doorbell, and almost immediately the door opens. Max and I walk in, thanking the woman whose job it is to just stand there opening the door, before we look around at the chaos. I honestly think Diane hired every waiter, maid, cook, and cleaning person in New Mexico. Diane herself isn’t hard to miss; she’s standing in the middle of the formal living room, yelling at someone about how tacky the flower arrangements look. A frightened young man scoops the flowers off the table, promising to fix them right away, before running off to Lord knows where.
Max places his hand on the small of my back, bringing us further into the room before he loudly clears his throat to announce our presence. Diane whirls around and smiles at us. “Max, Elizabeth. So glad you two made it on time.”
Yeah, on time is an hour early, but whatever. She makes her way over to us and Max gives her a kiss on the cheek. “Hello, Mother. It looks wonderful in here.”
“Are you crazy? This place is a mess. No one knows what they’re doing, its all chaos.” She complains, before pointing at a woman organizing the bar in the corner of the room. “What are you doing? The bar does NOT go in the living room. Have you never worked before? That goes in the dining room, get everything moved in there now. I want it all set up in the next fifteen minutes.”
The woman nods, then gathers up as much of her stuff as she can before scurrying out of the room. If anyone can put the fear of God in people, it’s Diane Evans, and she’s at her best today. “Mom, where’s Dad?” Max asks. I look up and see him biting the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing in front of his mom. I have to look down before Diane catches me smiling.
“Your father is in his study, as usual. No matter that its our anniversary, he’s in there working like its just another day.” Diane sighs. “Go on in and say hello to him, Max. I have to take Elizabeth upstairs to get ready.”
Before Max can do so much as sneeze in reply, she pushes him towards Philips office, and grabs me by the arm, practically dragging me up the stairs behind her. I’m sure this looks really graceful; people are probably laughing at me. Thanks a lot, Diane.
She pulls me into Isabel’s old bedroom, plopping me down on a chair. Two women appear next to me, looking down at me and then looking at Diane. She walks over to the closet, pulling out my dress, my shoes and my purse. She hangs the dress on the outside of the closet door, putting the shoes and purse down next to it. “Ok, that’s what she’s wearing. I want you to make sure you leave her hair down. Max likes her hair down, don’t mess it up. Also, light on the make-up, she doesn’t really need any, just make her eyes stand out, Max likes her eyes.” She instructs, before walking towards the door. “I have to go supervise, make sure no one is slacking. I’ll be back in thirty minutes, make me proud.”
The minute Diane leaves the room, I’m attacked. One of the women takes to brushing my hair before beginning to set it in hot rollers, while the other woman pulls out a palette of eye shadows, and gets to work.
I sit for at least 10 minutes before I have to say something, because this one woman is still working with the eye shadow. “Ok, makeup woman? It’s not a costume party, and I’m not dressing as a hooker, can we lay off the eye shadow?”
She pulls the brush away from my eyelid. “I’m not actually using color right now, I’m blending it.” She explains. I open my eyes and she grabs a mirror off the table a few feet away, holding it up for me to examine her work.
Well, holy shit if I don’t look hot! She definitely made my eyes stand out, that’s for sure. She used a mixture of different dark shades, smoking my eyes. “Damn, that’s hot.” I smile at her. “Ok, carry on.” I close my eyes again, before she goes back to work. I’m not quite sure why I felt the need to say something to her; she’s probably one of the best make-up artists in the world, knowing Diane.
I open my eyes, looking up at the ceiling, as per her instruction before she gets to work on eyeliner. The last of my hair gets secured in rollers before it gets a layer with some kind of strawberry smelling stuff sprayed on it.
Isabel breezes into the room not long after. “Hey, beautiful.” She greets, giving me a kiss on the cheek, and then giggles as she wipes off the lipstick mark. “I have to help you into your dress before they can take your hair down. Ready?”
The make-up woman holds us up for another 3 minutes, putting the finishing touches on my mascara, before I’m finally allowed out of the chair. Isabel ushers them both out of the room, before she takes the dress off the hanger, and beings finding her way to the bottom of the dress via the neck hole, so she can control it and not let it mess up my hair.
I take off my zip-up sweatshirt and my tank top. Luckily, I had the foresight to remember that I’d need a strapless bra, so I’m prepared. Before I can take my sweat pants off, Isabel has the dress over my head, and its falling down to the floor. She circles around me zipping it up, and making sure my bra isn’t showing in the back. “There we go.” She smiles, coming back to stand in front of me, her arms crossed as she admires me.
“One problem.” I say, slightly annoyed. “I can’t reach the bottom of this dress to pull it up and locate my pants, which I’m still wearing. So... did you just want me to wear the pants under the dress?”
“Oh, for cryin out loud, Liz.” Isabel shakes her head, reaching under my dress and grabbing the waist of my pants. She gives them a little tug, and they pool around my feet and I step out of them.
“Not even gonna buy me dinner before you take my clothes off?” I tease her.
She simply rolls her eyes, and lets everyone back in the room. They finish my hair and makeup while Isabel helps me put on my shoes. Just as I’m standing up, about to walk across the room to look in the full-length mirror, Diane walks in.
She tells the women to please leave. She apparently needs to talk to me for a moment. Isabel sits down on the bed once they leave, so she must know what Diane needs to talk about.
Once Diane closes the door behind them, I notice that she has two black velvet boxes in her hand. One looks like it’s a ring box, the other is larger, like a necklace, or something.
She looks me up and down, before bringing her eyes back to mine. “You look absolutely stunning.” I dip my head, thanking her. I’m still not used to all these compliments from her... hell, I’m still not quite used to the fact that she can tolerate me. “Ok, Elizabeth, there’s something we need to discuss.” I nod, before sitting down and looking at Diane expectantly. “As you know, most of the people that Philip and I are having at this party are very uptight, rich, snotty people.” My mouth drops open at her bluntness. “We both know its true, so I’m not going to pretend otherwise. The thing with these people is that they expect certain things.”
She walks over towards me, looking down at me. “Before I say this, I just want you to know that I’m not at all ashamed of you, or Max, or my grandchild, ok?” I slowly nod, still unsure of what she’s getting at. “These people don’t take well to having children out of wedlock. They frown upon it greatly, thinking less of people who do this.” I suddenly realize what she’s getting at, and I nod again. Basically, these people are going to hate me. Well, this should be a good time. She opens the larger of the two velvet boxes, which holds a diamond necklace, and matching diamond chandelier earrings. “I thought these might look nice with your dress.” She says, handing me the box.
“Diane, they’re beautiful. Thank you.” I take the necklace out of the box, and Isabel comes over to help me put it on, while I put on the earrings.
“I don’t want you to be put in a position where you’re uncomfortable in any way,” she starts, opening the smaller box towards her before turning it around for me to see it. “So I want you to wear this.”
My mouth drops open and all the air whooshes out of my lungs. Inside that small black velvet box, sits two rings, which are obviously a wedding ring set. The ‘engagement ring’ is a large pear-shaped diamond, with two smaller ones on each side of it. The side ones are sideways, the points of the pear pointing outwards. The main diamond is huge! When I say huge, I mean this thing rivals the size of the iceberg that took down the Titanic. The ‘wedding band’ has diamonds all around it.
She takes out the rings, grabbing my left hand, and slipping the rings on my finger. They fit perfectly, as if they were made for me. I look up at her, confused. “The center diamond is 3 carats, the two on either side of it are half a carat, and there are sixteen half carat diamonds all the way around the band.”
“W– Where did you get this?” I stammer, bringing the ring closer to inspect it. Holy hell, this thing is amazing!
“Philip and I bought it for Max to give to you when he told us he was going to ask you to marry him. When you two were younger.” She explains. My head whips up to look at her. “I know we always acted badly towards you, but we wanted you to have the best. Max refused it, obviously, saying that he wanted to pick out your ring, and buy it on his own; no matter how long it took him to pay for it. We kept this one anyway, I couldn’t bear to get rid of it.”
“Why do I have to wear this?” I ask. I know the reason; I just want to hear it from her.
“Philip and I told everyone that you and Max re-married shortly after your divorce was finalized. We told them that you two had realized just how perfect you were for each other, and so everyone went down to the Bahamas and you two got remarried on the beach.” She says, not sounding all that proud about it. “I did this because I want to protect you and Max from the small-minded that will be here tonight. I couldn’t bear it if something were to happen to upset you.”
I close my eyes, close to tears at this point. I’m not gonna cry and mess up at least half an hour of work on my make-up. No way. I take a deep breath, looking up at Diane. “Thank you. I know that you weren’t doing this to be malicious, or mean. So... thank you.”
She gives me a small smile before there’s a knock at the door. I hear Max on the other side, asking if he can come in. Diane and Isabel excuse themselves, saying that everything is going to be starting in a few minutes.
I make my way to the mirror as they go to the door. I stand in front of the mirror, taking in my appearance. I run my hands down the front of my dress, unable to hide the smile as the light catches the rings on my finger.
Max clears his throat, and I turn around. He looks me up and down, licking his lips. He looks as if he wants to have me for his last meal, and I can’t say that that doesn’t make me smile. “You look amazing.” He says, slowly making his way over to me.
“Thank you.” I smile as he leans forward, placing a kiss on my forehead.
“So, how does it feel to be married again?” He asks, unable to hold back a smile. He holds up his left hand, showing me the white gold band on his ring finger, with several diamonds in the band.
I laugh, holding up my hand. “I think my rings are prettier.” His smile falls when he sees the rings. “I know, they wanted you to give me these, and you didn’t.”
“Yup.” He sighs. “Sometimes, I wish I would’ve taken them up on that. We would have had more money to get an apartment, and pay for stuff... but I couldn’t be indebted to them like that. You understand that, right?”
I nod. “Yeah, you wanted to do it on your own. I think that’s hot.” I tease him.
“Oh, you do, do you?” He asks, stepping a little closer.
The door swings open, revealing Isabel and Alex. “You guys ready? They just presented Mom and Dad; we’re next, then you. Hurry!” They both start running down the hallway.
“They would wait till the last second to tell us, wouldn’t they?” Max mutters, grabbing my hand. We hurry, as best we can since I’m pregnant, down the hallway. We make it to where we’re supposed to wait just as they finish introducing Isabel and Alex and take off down the stairs. “You ready?” Max asks, offering me his arm.
I slip my hand through, holding onto his arm. “Ready as I’ll ever be. Just don’t let me fall, ok?”
“Ditto.” Max winks.
“And finally, Maxwell Philip Evans, and his wife, Elizabeth Louisa Evans.” Whoever is announcing this stuff says.
Max looks at me, and I nod. We walk to the top of the stairs and make our way down. People politely clap for us, as we reach the bottom, making our way to the dance floor. Oh, did I forget to tell you that after we’re paraded around like circus animals, we also have to dance for them? Shame to leave that detail out.
Soft instrumental music begins to play as Max and I walk onto the dance floor. Philip and Diane are dancing together, smiling at each other like two teenagers in love. Isabel and Alex are dancing too, but Alex isn’t smiling. He’s just doing his best to maintain himself, and not step on Isabel’s feet.
Max twirls me, before putting one arm around my waist, and taking my other hand in his, bringing it up to his chest. We dance for about a minute before Max leans down and whispers in my ear. “Hey, you wanna steal a bottle of sparkling grape juice and go upstairs and fool around later?”
I giggle, “Are you coming onto me, Max Evans?”
“Well, you are my wife, after all. I’m allowed to do that.” He says, his eyes sparkling.
“Yeah, yeah.” I roll my eyes at him. Maybe this party won’t be so bad after all.
TBC...
Special thanks to my *twin*, Tanya, for being my beta for this part... Love you!!! *muah*
Chapter 14
“Are you sure you wanna eat this?” Max asks, walking back into the living room with a plate of dill pickle slices and ranch dressing. Before you write that off as a weird pregnancy craving, I used to eat that before I got pregnant. Also, don’t knock it before you try it, its very good.
“Yes, I want to eat that. Gimme my plate.” I whine, reaching out for the plate, but making no actual move to lean forward and attempt to take it away from him.
Max simply shrugs before sitting down next to me on the couch and handing me the plate. “Ok, but if it makes you sick, I warned you.”
“Noted.” I reply, already happily crunching into a pickle. I turn my attention back to ‘Thelma and Louise’, which is playing on the television screen.
Max and I have been back from our mini vacation for almost a month now. We’re not back together, sorry to break your hearts, but we’re getting there. Max comes over everyday to hang out with me, and take care of me. I’ve had to physically remove him from my apartment a time or two, because he’d simply refused to leave. A woman needs a little quiet time every now and then, people.
On the pregnancy front, I’m fat. I know, I know... don’t even give me the whole ‘you’re not fat, you’re pregnant’ spiel, I’ve heard it a million times, and its not making me feel any better, ok?
My attention is torn away from the movie when the phone starts ringing. Max picks it up off the end table next to him, glancing at the caller ID. Why is it that my phone always ends up on the other side of the couch, next to someone who doesn’t live here?
“Hey, nosey. Stop checkin up on my calls and hand me the phone.” I grab the phone out of his hand, before checking the caller ID, a big smile spreading across my face. I click the phone on before bringing it up to my ear. “Hey there, stranger! Thought you’d forgotten all about me!”
“Me? Forget about you? Never!” Steven replies, laughing. “How are you doing?”
“I’m doing just fine, how are you?”
“Same shit, different day.” He says. “How’s the pregnancy coming along? How far along are you? When are you due? Gimme something to work with here.”
“The pregnancy is just fine. I’m about six months along, meaning we’ll be having a baby in about three months.” I tell him, glancing over at Max, who just looks at me, questioningly. “Steven.” I say, letting Max know whose on the phone. His jaw clenches, and steam practically starts pouring out his ears. Oh, geez, I shouldn’t have told him. Now he’s gonna act like a girl all day.
“What?” Steven asks. It takes me a minute to realize that he’s saying ‘what’ because I said his name.
“Oh, nothing. Max just gave me that look, the one when you want to know who someone is talking on the phone to, so I told him I was talking to you, and then you thought I was talking to you.” I explain.
“Oh, so... Max is over there?” Oh, Lord. Not him too.
“Yes, Max is sitting next to me on the couch. We were watching 'Thelma and Louise'.”
“That’s nice.” Steven says, shocking the hell outta me. “I’m glad that he’s there, and he’s not going to do what most guys do... get the girl pregnant, deny the whole thing and head for the hills.”
“Uhm... yeah.” Is all I can get out of my mouth. Did Hell just freeze over? Steven saying nice things about Max? Well, even if it didn’t freeze over, the temperature just dropped quite a bit.
“Is the nursery all set up and everything?” He asks, completely ignorant that he’s shocked the shit outta me.
“Yeah, pretty much. All the furniture is in there and everything. Got a cute little dresser for all the babies clothes, a changing table, the crib. We just need to get stuff to fill up the changing table, and sheets and stuff for the crib. It’s all painted and everything.” I say, smiling at the mental image of the nursery in my head.
“You painted the nursery?” Steven balks.
“Yeah. Well, actually, I didn’t paint it. Max and I went on a little vacation about a month ago, and while we were gone, Isabel and my parents came over and painted it and finished putting together the furniture that Max and Michael couldn’t figure out.” I giggle as Max shoots a glare my direction. Hey, its not my fault him and Michael aren’t that bright and couldn’t figure out the crib. We didn’t let them attempt anything else.
“That was nice of them.” Steven says, before yelling over his shoulder at someone. “Are you having a baby shower, or anything?”
“Well, since my birthday is, like, a month before the baby is due, we’re gonna have a combination birthday party/baby shower at the Crashdown. At least, I think that’s the plan. We still have quite a wait until that happens, so nothing has been finalized yet.” I explain.
“That sounds really nice.” I hear him sigh a little bit. “You sound really happy, Beth.”
I glance over at Max, who is picking at a string on one of the throw pillows. I hold in a giggle before looking away. “Yeah, I am.”
“I’m glad. If anyone deserves it, it’s you.” He informs me. “Hey, will you do me a favor?”
“Hmm.... maybe. Depends on the favor.” I mess with him. He knows I’d do anything for him.
“I’m not going to ask you to have phone sex with me or anything nasty like that.” He says, laughing. “But... will you give Max the phone? I want to talk to him.”
“I’m sorry, my ears must not be working well today, you want me to what?” I ask, in complete shock. Why does he want to talk to Max? I can’t say I’m not intrigued.
“C’mon, babe, it’s not anything bad, I’m not going to start shit with him or anything, just let me talk to him for a minute, will ya?” He whines.
“Uhm, yeah. Sure, ok.... hold on.” I take the phone away from my ear before looking over at Max. He looks away from the pillow and over at me. “Steven... he uhm, he wants to talk to you.” I say in disbelief, handing Max the phone. Max takes it from me, but doesn’t bring it to his ear. He just stares at it in his hand. “You gotta put it up to your ear.” I explain, demonstrating to him how to use the phone, my hand acting as a phone.
He tilts his head, giving me a look that says “I’m not that dumb” before bringing the phone up to his ear. “Yeah?” He clips out.
I slap his arm. “Be nice!” I scold.
He pouts slightly but goes back to talking. “Yeah. Probably.” He says into the receiver before glancing at me. “Ok...” He gives me another odd look before getting up from the couch and walking into the kitchen.
What’s that shit? I can’t even eavesdrop now? That sucks. I want to know what’s going on!
I push myself off the couch, ready to walk into the kitchen and pretend to be getting something to drink in order to hear at least part of the conversation when someone knocks on the door. “Damn.” I mutter, glancing down the hallway that leads to the kitchen, seeing Max pace by doorway before turning around and pacing back the other direction.
Whoever it is knocks again, a little louder and more forceful this time. I sigh, knowing that I’ll never know what the boys are talking about now before walking to the door and opening it.
“Hello, Elizabeth.” Mrs. Evans greets before walking into the apartment, Isabel trailing behind her, holding a black garment bag. This can’t be good....
Isabel gives me a kiss on the cheek before following her mom into the living room, where they both take a seat on the couch. “Hey guys, what’s going on?”
“Just thought we’d stop by.” Isabel says, smiling. She has that... ‘I know something you don’t know’ look in her eyes, this really can’t be good.
“Is Max here?” Diane asks, looking around.
“Yeah, he’s in the kitchen talking to Steven on the phone.” I explain, dropping back into one of the recliners.
“Steven from New York?” Diane asks, picking up the remote and turning off the television, so she knows that she has everyone’s full attention.
“The one and only.” I confirm.
“You know, despite the horrible thing that happened between him and Max at the Crashdown all those months ago, he seems like a very nice gentleman. He was very polite when I talked to him.” Diane says, crossing her ankles and clasping her hands in her lap. When she talked to him? Oh, yeah. I gave her Stevens number back in the day because she didn’t believe Max was the father, that’s right.
“Ok, no offense intended, Mrs. Evans...”
“Elizabeth, I’ve told you time and time again, it’s Diane now. I’d like to think we’ve became rather close lately, and I refuse to have you refer to me as if you don’t know me.” She interrupts.
“Right. Sorry.” I clear my throat. “Ok, but still... no offense, but is your family on drugs? Because there’s been a lot of crazy shit going on lately, and drugs is the only way I can explain it.”
“Watch your language, Elizabeth. A lady never curses.” She reprimands. Not in a condescending way, in the way she scolds Isabel... like a mother would. I’ll tell you what, this whole... Diane actually liking me thing, is getting kinda creepy.
“Sorry.” I apologize again. “Ya know what, lets just forget about all that. What brings you by?” I ask.
“Well, as you may or may not be aware, tomorrow night, Philip and I are having a party to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.” Diane starts, a smile playing on her lips.
“I am aware. Congratulations.” I tell her.
“Thank you.” She glances over at Isabel, both of them smile before looking at me. Oh shit, what’s going on?? “Well, Philip and I are going to be presented, and will walk down the staircase together for all our guests to see us. It will be slightly similar to being presented at a debutante ball.” Oh, I’ve heard bad things about those balls. This is going to suck, I can feel it. “Anyway,” She continues. “After Philip and I are presented, they’re going to present our children. Isabel is being escorted by Alex Whitman.” My head snaps over in Isabel’s direction and she blushes slightly. Holy hell, people. She might have finally gotten her act together about Alex. Cross your fingers and hope she did!
“Well, that’s great.” I say, smiling at Isabel. She owes me a big explanation as to why I didn’t know about this sooner. My smile falls as I realize why they’re here. If the children are being presented, Max has to be presented too. Since Isabel has an escort... oh, hell. I have to walk down the stairs with Max! I sigh. “Let me guess, you want me to walk with Max?”
Diane smiles, a big, bright smile. “Yes, I do.” She stands up, grabbing Isabel by the elbow, making her stand too. “I picked out a dress for you to wear, I know that I got it way too big, but I just want to make sure it looks good on you first. My seamstress with alter it as needed.”
Isabel walks over, grabbing my hand and helping me up off the chair. I reluctantly stand, and she gives me a little nudge towards the stairs.
“You just go try it on, and then come back and let me see.” Diane says, sitting back down on the couch.
I know there’s no getting out of this, so I trudge up the stairs, Isabel and dress in tow. Isabel helps me into the dress once we’re in my bedroom.
I stand in front of the mirror, just staring at the dress for a moment. It’s beautiful. It’s a wine colored, spaghetti strap dress. There is excessive fabric around the neckline, so it gathers, but still shows a hint of cleavage, which I now have, thanks to being pregnant. The dress is way too big, but I absolutely love it. There is a slight train to the back of the dress, but the front kisses the floor just right, as to avoid me tripping over it.
A few moments later, Diane knocks on the door. Isabel lets her in and she literally gasps when she sees me. “Oh, Elizabeth. You look absolutely stunning.”
I dip my head a little. “Thank you.”
Another woman suddenly sweeps into the room, introduces herself as Diane’s seamstress and begins pinning the dress where its too big. I quickly let her know that I don’t want this thing to be skintight, and she assures me that it won’t be spandex, but it will be taken-in in a few places.
Once she’s done, I take the dress off and hand it to Isabel, who goes back downstairs with it. Once I’m comfortable re-dressed in my velour sweat suit, my new outfit of choice, I now have at least 30 of them; I make my way back downstairs.
Max is sitting on the couch, the movie once again playing. He glances over at me. “Hey, sorry I didn’t tell you about this thing, I forgot.”
“It’s ok. I get to wear a pretty dress that I didn’t pay for, can’t be too upset about that.” I get comfortable on the couch next to him. “So, what’d Steven say?”
“He’d call you back later.” Max says acting too interested in the TV to properly answer the question. It’s alright I’ll get the answer out of him sooner or later.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Liz!” Max yells, walking in the front door.
I walk into the living room from the kitchen, downing the rest of my glass of apple juice before setting the glass down on the coffee table. I look up at Max, who’s all dressed up in a tux. “Well, you clean up pretty nicely.”
He does a little spin, giving me a nice shot of his butt in his tight black pants. He doesn’t have his tux jacket on yet, but he has the rest of the attire on, and he looks freaking sexy! I look down at my blue velour suit, noting that he’s definitely looking better than I am. Yes, I know, I wear these outfits all the time. I’m addicted to these things, but seriously, they’re so damn comfortable.
“You ready to go?” He asks, leaning back against the wall next to the door, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Yeah, I guess.” I say, slipping on some flip-flops before grabbing my purse.
We’re on our way to Philip and Diane’s anniversary party. Before you freak out, my dress and the matching shoes and purse are all over at the Evans’ house waiting for me. Not to mention the fact that Diane insisted that I have her stylist do my hair. So pretty much, my only job is to show up, not trip down the stairs, and not make an ass out of myself. I can’t even promise that I won’t do any of that.
Max helps me into his Denali before walking around and getting into the drivers seat and taking off. We ride in silence, just listening to the radio.
When we get to the Evans house, I’m not the least bit surprised when a valet helps me out of the car before running to the other side of the vehicle and driving away. Max and I just look at one another, rolling our eyes. Philip and Diane are famous for their parties. No expense is spared, and it’s always a good time. When Max and I were younger it was a good time because we’d sneak alcohol, then go upstairs and fool around. I can’t guarantee this particular party is going to be all that fun, seeing as how I can’t drink, but I’ll hope for the best.
Max rings the doorbell, and almost immediately the door opens. Max and I walk in, thanking the woman whose job it is to just stand there opening the door, before we look around at the chaos. I honestly think Diane hired every waiter, maid, cook, and cleaning person in New Mexico. Diane herself isn’t hard to miss; she’s standing in the middle of the formal living room, yelling at someone about how tacky the flower arrangements look. A frightened young man scoops the flowers off the table, promising to fix them right away, before running off to Lord knows where.
Max places his hand on the small of my back, bringing us further into the room before he loudly clears his throat to announce our presence. Diane whirls around and smiles at us. “Max, Elizabeth. So glad you two made it on time.”
Yeah, on time is an hour early, but whatever. She makes her way over to us and Max gives her a kiss on the cheek. “Hello, Mother. It looks wonderful in here.”
“Are you crazy? This place is a mess. No one knows what they’re doing, its all chaos.” She complains, before pointing at a woman organizing the bar in the corner of the room. “What are you doing? The bar does NOT go in the living room. Have you never worked before? That goes in the dining room, get everything moved in there now. I want it all set up in the next fifteen minutes.”
The woman nods, then gathers up as much of her stuff as she can before scurrying out of the room. If anyone can put the fear of God in people, it’s Diane Evans, and she’s at her best today. “Mom, where’s Dad?” Max asks. I look up and see him biting the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing in front of his mom. I have to look down before Diane catches me smiling.
“Your father is in his study, as usual. No matter that its our anniversary, he’s in there working like its just another day.” Diane sighs. “Go on in and say hello to him, Max. I have to take Elizabeth upstairs to get ready.”
Before Max can do so much as sneeze in reply, she pushes him towards Philips office, and grabs me by the arm, practically dragging me up the stairs behind her. I’m sure this looks really graceful; people are probably laughing at me. Thanks a lot, Diane.
She pulls me into Isabel’s old bedroom, plopping me down on a chair. Two women appear next to me, looking down at me and then looking at Diane. She walks over to the closet, pulling out my dress, my shoes and my purse. She hangs the dress on the outside of the closet door, putting the shoes and purse down next to it. “Ok, that’s what she’s wearing. I want you to make sure you leave her hair down. Max likes her hair down, don’t mess it up. Also, light on the make-up, she doesn’t really need any, just make her eyes stand out, Max likes her eyes.” She instructs, before walking towards the door. “I have to go supervise, make sure no one is slacking. I’ll be back in thirty minutes, make me proud.”
The minute Diane leaves the room, I’m attacked. One of the women takes to brushing my hair before beginning to set it in hot rollers, while the other woman pulls out a palette of eye shadows, and gets to work.
I sit for at least 10 minutes before I have to say something, because this one woman is still working with the eye shadow. “Ok, makeup woman? It’s not a costume party, and I’m not dressing as a hooker, can we lay off the eye shadow?”
She pulls the brush away from my eyelid. “I’m not actually using color right now, I’m blending it.” She explains. I open my eyes and she grabs a mirror off the table a few feet away, holding it up for me to examine her work.
Well, holy shit if I don’t look hot! She definitely made my eyes stand out, that’s for sure. She used a mixture of different dark shades, smoking my eyes. “Damn, that’s hot.” I smile at her. “Ok, carry on.” I close my eyes again, before she goes back to work. I’m not quite sure why I felt the need to say something to her; she’s probably one of the best make-up artists in the world, knowing Diane.
I open my eyes, looking up at the ceiling, as per her instruction before she gets to work on eyeliner. The last of my hair gets secured in rollers before it gets a layer with some kind of strawberry smelling stuff sprayed on it.
Isabel breezes into the room not long after. “Hey, beautiful.” She greets, giving me a kiss on the cheek, and then giggles as she wipes off the lipstick mark. “I have to help you into your dress before they can take your hair down. Ready?”
The make-up woman holds us up for another 3 minutes, putting the finishing touches on my mascara, before I’m finally allowed out of the chair. Isabel ushers them both out of the room, before she takes the dress off the hanger, and beings finding her way to the bottom of the dress via the neck hole, so she can control it and not let it mess up my hair.
I take off my zip-up sweatshirt and my tank top. Luckily, I had the foresight to remember that I’d need a strapless bra, so I’m prepared. Before I can take my sweat pants off, Isabel has the dress over my head, and its falling down to the floor. She circles around me zipping it up, and making sure my bra isn’t showing in the back. “There we go.” She smiles, coming back to stand in front of me, her arms crossed as she admires me.
“One problem.” I say, slightly annoyed. “I can’t reach the bottom of this dress to pull it up and locate my pants, which I’m still wearing. So... did you just want me to wear the pants under the dress?”
“Oh, for cryin out loud, Liz.” Isabel shakes her head, reaching under my dress and grabbing the waist of my pants. She gives them a little tug, and they pool around my feet and I step out of them.
“Not even gonna buy me dinner before you take my clothes off?” I tease her.
She simply rolls her eyes, and lets everyone back in the room. They finish my hair and makeup while Isabel helps me put on my shoes. Just as I’m standing up, about to walk across the room to look in the full-length mirror, Diane walks in.
She tells the women to please leave. She apparently needs to talk to me for a moment. Isabel sits down on the bed once they leave, so she must know what Diane needs to talk about.
Once Diane closes the door behind them, I notice that she has two black velvet boxes in her hand. One looks like it’s a ring box, the other is larger, like a necklace, or something.
She looks me up and down, before bringing her eyes back to mine. “You look absolutely stunning.” I dip my head, thanking her. I’m still not used to all these compliments from her... hell, I’m still not quite used to the fact that she can tolerate me. “Ok, Elizabeth, there’s something we need to discuss.” I nod, before sitting down and looking at Diane expectantly. “As you know, most of the people that Philip and I are having at this party are very uptight, rich, snotty people.” My mouth drops open at her bluntness. “We both know its true, so I’m not going to pretend otherwise. The thing with these people is that they expect certain things.”
She walks over towards me, looking down at me. “Before I say this, I just want you to know that I’m not at all ashamed of you, or Max, or my grandchild, ok?” I slowly nod, still unsure of what she’s getting at. “These people don’t take well to having children out of wedlock. They frown upon it greatly, thinking less of people who do this.” I suddenly realize what she’s getting at, and I nod again. Basically, these people are going to hate me. Well, this should be a good time. She opens the larger of the two velvet boxes, which holds a diamond necklace, and matching diamond chandelier earrings. “I thought these might look nice with your dress.” She says, handing me the box.
“Diane, they’re beautiful. Thank you.” I take the necklace out of the box, and Isabel comes over to help me put it on, while I put on the earrings.
“I don’t want you to be put in a position where you’re uncomfortable in any way,” she starts, opening the smaller box towards her before turning it around for me to see it. “So I want you to wear this.”
My mouth drops open and all the air whooshes out of my lungs. Inside that small black velvet box, sits two rings, which are obviously a wedding ring set. The ‘engagement ring’ is a large pear-shaped diamond, with two smaller ones on each side of it. The side ones are sideways, the points of the pear pointing outwards. The main diamond is huge! When I say huge, I mean this thing rivals the size of the iceberg that took down the Titanic. The ‘wedding band’ has diamonds all around it.
She takes out the rings, grabbing my left hand, and slipping the rings on my finger. They fit perfectly, as if they were made for me. I look up at her, confused. “The center diamond is 3 carats, the two on either side of it are half a carat, and there are sixteen half carat diamonds all the way around the band.”
“W– Where did you get this?” I stammer, bringing the ring closer to inspect it. Holy hell, this thing is amazing!
“Philip and I bought it for Max to give to you when he told us he was going to ask you to marry him. When you two were younger.” She explains. My head whips up to look at her. “I know we always acted badly towards you, but we wanted you to have the best. Max refused it, obviously, saying that he wanted to pick out your ring, and buy it on his own; no matter how long it took him to pay for it. We kept this one anyway, I couldn’t bear to get rid of it.”
“Why do I have to wear this?” I ask. I know the reason; I just want to hear it from her.
“Philip and I told everyone that you and Max re-married shortly after your divorce was finalized. We told them that you two had realized just how perfect you were for each other, and so everyone went down to the Bahamas and you two got remarried on the beach.” She says, not sounding all that proud about it. “I did this because I want to protect you and Max from the small-minded that will be here tonight. I couldn’t bear it if something were to happen to upset you.”
I close my eyes, close to tears at this point. I’m not gonna cry and mess up at least half an hour of work on my make-up. No way. I take a deep breath, looking up at Diane. “Thank you. I know that you weren’t doing this to be malicious, or mean. So... thank you.”
She gives me a small smile before there’s a knock at the door. I hear Max on the other side, asking if he can come in. Diane and Isabel excuse themselves, saying that everything is going to be starting in a few minutes.
I make my way to the mirror as they go to the door. I stand in front of the mirror, taking in my appearance. I run my hands down the front of my dress, unable to hide the smile as the light catches the rings on my finger.
Max clears his throat, and I turn around. He looks me up and down, licking his lips. He looks as if he wants to have me for his last meal, and I can’t say that that doesn’t make me smile. “You look amazing.” He says, slowly making his way over to me.
“Thank you.” I smile as he leans forward, placing a kiss on my forehead.
“So, how does it feel to be married again?” He asks, unable to hold back a smile. He holds up his left hand, showing me the white gold band on his ring finger, with several diamonds in the band.
I laugh, holding up my hand. “I think my rings are prettier.” His smile falls when he sees the rings. “I know, they wanted you to give me these, and you didn’t.”
“Yup.” He sighs. “Sometimes, I wish I would’ve taken them up on that. We would have had more money to get an apartment, and pay for stuff... but I couldn’t be indebted to them like that. You understand that, right?”
I nod. “Yeah, you wanted to do it on your own. I think that’s hot.” I tease him.
“Oh, you do, do you?” He asks, stepping a little closer.
The door swings open, revealing Isabel and Alex. “You guys ready? They just presented Mom and Dad; we’re next, then you. Hurry!” They both start running down the hallway.
“They would wait till the last second to tell us, wouldn’t they?” Max mutters, grabbing my hand. We hurry, as best we can since I’m pregnant, down the hallway. We make it to where we’re supposed to wait just as they finish introducing Isabel and Alex and take off down the stairs. “You ready?” Max asks, offering me his arm.
I slip my hand through, holding onto his arm. “Ready as I’ll ever be. Just don’t let me fall, ok?”
“Ditto.” Max winks.
“And finally, Maxwell Philip Evans, and his wife, Elizabeth Louisa Evans.” Whoever is announcing this stuff says.
Max looks at me, and I nod. We walk to the top of the stairs and make our way down. People politely clap for us, as we reach the bottom, making our way to the dance floor. Oh, did I forget to tell you that after we’re paraded around like circus animals, we also have to dance for them? Shame to leave that detail out.
Soft instrumental music begins to play as Max and I walk onto the dance floor. Philip and Diane are dancing together, smiling at each other like two teenagers in love. Isabel and Alex are dancing too, but Alex isn’t smiling. He’s just doing his best to maintain himself, and not step on Isabel’s feet.
Max twirls me, before putting one arm around my waist, and taking my other hand in his, bringing it up to his chest. We dance for about a minute before Max leans down and whispers in my ear. “Hey, you wanna steal a bottle of sparkling grape juice and go upstairs and fool around later?”
I giggle, “Are you coming onto me, Max Evans?”
“Well, you are my wife, after all. I’m allowed to do that.” He says, his eyes sparkling.
“Yeah, yeah.” I roll my eyes at him. Maybe this party won’t be so bad after all.
TBC...
<center>S&M-*Twinkie* -n- *Twin*</center>
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LittleHottie510
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Hey guys... just dropping off Chapter 15. Hope you enjoy it!
Tanya-- Thanks for all the help with it... and keep your effin sheep to yourself, I'm tryin to get shit accomplished over here!! *lol* *MUAH!*
As always, I'll be back with a new chapter next Wed.
Chapter 15
Countdown to due date: One month
I. Am. Huge. I hate being pregnant, this sucks! The only good thing is the fact that I have people waiting on me hand and foot, but that’s only a good thing when I’m in a good mood and actually want to deal with people. However, I’m proving to be a very, very grumpy pregnant woman, so it’s not normally a good thing.
Once again, there’s nothing new to report with Max and I. No, we didn’t steal a bottle of sparkling grape juice and fool around at Philip and Diane’s party, sorry to kill your hopes, or dreams, or whatever. As for after the party, he brought me home, gave me a kiss goodnight, and went back to his apartment.
This vertigo that Max and I are stuck in is difficult, to say the least, but I’m still not completely certain that I want to jump back into things with Max. I know, you’re probably freaking out, saying that after everything, we wouldn’t be just ‘jumping back into it’ but we’re still not the same people we were back in high school. There are still new things I learn about Max everyday, and I think he’d say the same about me. However, we’re making it a point to talk about everything. Max is fast becoming one of my best friends.
I guess the only thing is... I’m still scared. I don’t know what I’m scared of, but... the thought of being back with Max just scares the shit out of me.
I don’t know. I’m all turned around, I really just need to figure out what I want, and go for it. Which, as with everything, it a lot easier said then done, but I’m gonna do it. Really, I am. As long as I don’t end up getting distracted by something.
“Good morning.” Max says, walking in the front door. Well, so much for not being distracted. “Happy Birthday.” He smiles, stepping in, and moving out of the doorway, allowing Fluffy to run inside after him. Fluffy immediately runs over and jumps up on the couch, licking my face and laying down next to me.
“What’s so good about it?” I bitch. Then look down at Fluffy, who’s currently drooling all over one of my throw pillows. “Did you have to bring the dog over?” I whine, looking down at Fluffy. He looks up at me, almost pouting, as if he’s hurt that I don’t want him here.
“You love Fluffy, don’t lie.” Max says, walking in and dropping a kiss on my forehead, and then one on my stomach before going over to the recliner and making himself comfortable.
“I ain’t gotta lie to kick it.” I point out, flipping through the TV channels.
Max laughs a little. “Did you just say that?”
“Yes, I did.” I put down the remote and looking over at him. “And?” I raise an eyebrow at him.
His eyes get slightly larger. “O....k. So, you’re not in a good mood today. I’m getting that.” He slowly nods. “Are you hungry? Have you eaten lunch yet today?” He asks, turning the conversation in a totally different direction all together. He’s become a master at this. He gets a feel for what mood I’m in, and if I’m getting upset about whatever it is that we’re talking about, he’ll simply divert the conversation in another direction. Took me about a week to figure out he was doing it. It works though, damn it.
“I’m starving.” I whine, dropping my head back against the couch.
“Ok, what do you want to eat?” He gets up, ready to go into the kitchen and make me something.
“Crashdown.” I say quietly, knowing he’s just gonna groan at me. I’ve been craving nothing but Takeoff Tacos and Alien Blasts for the last week or two. I don’t know why, I didn’t especially like the tacos back in the day, but now, it’s all I want.
As I suspected, he groans. “Are you serious? You want those damn tacos again?”
“Yes.” I whisper, my chin quivering.
“Oh shit. No, baby, don’t cry.” Max rushes over, kneeling down in front of me, framing my face with his hands. “If you want tacos, I’ll call your dad and tell him. Don’t cry, ok?”
I sniffle. “Ok.”
He gets up, grabbing the phone off the coffee table before he rapidly pushes buttons and walks into the kitchen. Once he’s out of sight, I smile, putting my hand over my mouth to smother the giggle that’s threatening to break through. He’s so easy to break, its funny.
I hear him in the kitchen, on the phone with my dad. “No, Jeff. She wants those stupid tacos again. She’s your daughter! Hey, now... you raised her on that food, don’t start yellin at me about it. I was going to try to talk her out of it, then she almost started crying. Well, then you come over here and try to talk her out of it. Oh, no, she’ll definitely start crying. See? I couldn’t say no either.”
At this point, I have to giggle. Max and my dad have sort of bonded more over these last few weeks because of Max constantly having to go get me food. I reach down and pet Fluffy, who immediately sits up, bathing my face with kisses before running towards the front door, doing circles. He has to go pee. Excellent.
“Max?” I yell out.
He appears in the living room a few seconds later, still on the phone. “Don’t forget my Alien Blast, and Fluffy has to go out.”
Max sighs. “Alien Blast too, Jeff.” He moves the phone away from his mouth. “I’ll take Fluffy out in a minute, just hold on.”
I glance over at Fluffy, who is now eyeing my chair and sniffing it. Oh, hell no. That thing is not peeing on my chair! “Max, he really has to go! Look at him! He’s about to use my chair as a make-shift tree! If you’re not going to take him out, then I will.”
At this, Max starts laughing at me. “You can’t be serious. There’s no way you could handle taking Fluffy out.”
I stand up, shoving my feet in my pink slippers. “We’ll see about that.” I say, going to the nail by the front door and grabbing Fluffy’s leash. Max brought one over here, just in case.
As soon as I grab it, Fluffy starts jumping around and twirling in circles. I finally manage to get a hold of his collar and get the leash attached to it. As soon as I open the door, Fluffy begins dragging me across the parking lot, over to where the ‘dog’ area is. It’s basically just a little area with grass and a few trees, but whatever.
He quickly goes over to the tree and begins doing his business. I stand and wait, examining my nails. As soon as he’s done, he’s ready go to back inside, so he starts hauling ass in the direction of my apartment. I try to hurry to catch up with him, not looking where I’m going.
I step off the curb, and into the parking lot, and freeze. I look down and I’m standing in a large mud puddle. I’d totally forgotten that they’d run the sprinklers this morning, and suffice to say, my slippers are now totally ruined.
I take a deep breath, hurrying back to my apartment. I throw open the door and it makes a loud boom as it hits the wall behind it. I stomp in the house, kicking off my slippers and slamming the door behind me.
Fluffy scampers into the kitchen, thinking he’s done something wrong, and I go over to the couch and sit down.
I start sniffling, and I can feel tears burning my eyes. Max comes flying out of the kitchen, looking around wildly. His eyes land on me, just as the tears start cascading down my cheeks.
“Ah, hell.” He walks over, sitting down next to me, putting his arm around me and pulling me into his chest. “What happened?”
“I stepped in a puddle.” I wail, knowing that I sound like a complete moron.
“You... stepped in a puddle?” Max asks, clearly confused as hell. “You’re upset because you stepped in a puddle? Sweetie, it’s not that bad.”
“I ruined my slippers!” I scream, pounding my fist into his chest, more upset than ever that he doesn’t understand why I’m so upset about this whole thing.
“Your pink slippers that say ‘Angel’ on them?” He asks, lightly rubbing his hand down my back. I nod into his chest, sniffling on his shirt. “I’ll buy you a new pair, Liz. It’s ok. Don’t get all worked up about it.”
“It won’t be the same! And I’m not worked up!” I bellow.
He can’t contain a chuckle, but quickly acts like he’s coughing to avoid being physically harmed. “Why won’t it be the same? I bought you that pair. I don’t see the problem here.”
“It’s upsetting.” I whine. I hate these damn mood swings... they really suck!
“I know, but you’ll be ok.” Max says, dropping a kiss on the top of my head.
We sit there for a few minutes before the front door opens revealing the whole gang. Even my parents are present for this. They all yell ‘Happy Birthday’ but stop when they notice my tear-stained cheeks.
“What happened?” Maria asks, rushing over and sitting down next to me.
“She ruined her slippers when she took Fluffy outside.” Max explains.
“You let her take Fluffy outside?” Maria balks. “Are you crazy?”
I turn my face back into Max’s chest as the tears take over once again. No one says anything, they all just stand there.
“What’s wrong now?” Maria asks softly, lightly pulling me away from Max.
I reach up to wipe away the tears, but my efforts are in vain, as a fresh batch of tears come on. “I was re-living it.” I bawl.
“C’mon sweetie.” Maria soothes, wiping away my tears. “You have to be in a good mood. Today’s your birthday! The big two-two! We’re havin a party and everything. That has to make you happy.”
I shrug one shoulder. “Maybe a little.”
Michael walks over to where one of my ruined slippers is, just inside the door, picking it up and examining it. I see it and start sobbing.
“MICHAEL!” They all yell in unison.
“What?!” He yells, his eyes wide, having absolutely no idea what he’s done wrong.
“Dude, you’re an idiot.” Kyle shakes his head at him. Kyle puts his arm around Tess to lead her into the apartment, but stops when my wet, muddy slipper comes in contact with his face, making a nasty slapping noise.
Everyone starts cracking up. Isabel, Alex and my parents walk around Kyle to come into the living room, and Tess lowers her head, turning away so Kyle can’t see her laughing at him.
He reaches up, wiping his hand down his face. He looks at his hand, which now has mud on it, before looking over at Michael. “That ain’t right, man.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I walk into the Crashdown with Max a few hours later, stopping inside to take a look around. All the tables that are usually spaced out between the booths and the counter have all been lined up, one after another, creating one large table all the way down the room. Immediately to my left is set up, with what appears to be a karaoke machine. God help us all if it really is.
There’s a big banner across one wall that says ‘Happy Birthday Liz!’ in big, bright letters, and streamers and balloons are all over the place. Ooh! A table of presents!!
“Happy Birthday!” They all yell, running over to give me hugs and kisses, even though I’ve already seen them today, and they’ve already wished me a happy birthday.
Maria sticks a tiara on my head, making me the princess of the party... as it should be, this is my party.
“Hope you’re hungry.” Alex says, putting an arm around my shoulders. “Your parents made enough food to feed the whole town.”
“I’m starving.” I confirm, putting my arms around his waist, giving him another hug. “Like that’s any big surprise, I eat everything in sight.”
“That’s because you have to feed our little girl.” Maria coos at my stomach, kissing it repeatedly.
I smack her lightly on the back of the head, causing her to pop upright. “Get off me, I’m a person, not a kitten.”
“Yeah, kittens are generally nice.” Michael blurts out, without thinking, causing me to spin around and pin him with a glare.
He slaps his hand over his mouth, his eyes becoming wide as saucers. Everyone in the room looks over, knowing that he just said the wrong thing.
I look at him sideways, slowly walking over to him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, my voice even, causing Max to take two large steps away from Michael.
“Happy birthday, beautiful.” A male voice whispers in my ear. Wait a minute, I KNOW that voice! I stop walking towards Michael, and freeze.
I slowly turn around, and my mouth drops wide open. My hands shoot up to my mouth, muffling the loud scream that erupts from my throat before I even know that I’m screaming. “STEVEN!” I scream, throwing my arms around him.
Talk about being blind sided, holy fuckin shit, people! I look over Steven’s shoulder, seeing John, Brad, and Matt all standing there, big smiles on their faces. I pull away from Steven, wiping at my tears, because I’m crying... AGAIN, before giving the other boys hugs as well.
I look around at everyone else in the café. They’re all smiling, looking proud of themselves. I scan through the crowd. “You all knew about this, didn’t you?” They all nod in confirmation. “Well, thanks for letting me know.” I grumble, but I can’t be mad. I’m too damn excited to be mad. I look back at my Sigma boys. “I can’t believe you guys are here.”
“I can’t believe how big you are.” Steven says, looking me up and down. “You’re the cutest pregnant woman I’ve ever seen!”
“Uhm... thanks?” I laugh.
I officially introduce the Sigma guys to everyone, since last time they were in Roswell, no one was very welcoming to them.
Everyone stands around, talking and whatnot for about fifteen minutes, before my parents, and Max’s parents emerge from the kitchen, all of them carrying a plate, or bowl, or container of some kind of food. Wait a second... Diane was in the kitchen?? I didn’t think she even know what a kitchen was!
We all take our seats at the table and begin eating. Just as I’m about to bite into a piece of watermelon from the fruit salad, when I stop with the watermelon in front of my face. “Ya know...” I start, stopping for a second to wonder if I should really begin telling people this during dinner, but I decide to go ahead, since I already opened my mouth. “I was watching the Health Channel earlier...”
“Why?” Steven asks, shoving a piece of chicken in his mouth.
“Because I have that kinda time during the day.” I tell him, then go on with my story. “Anyway, so I was watching this show, I don’t even remember what it was about, but they said that the stuff that’s, like, inside your skull that cushions your brain is called CSF. It stands for Cerebral Spinal Fluid. And apparently, it tastes like fruit.” I say, before putting the piece of watermelon in my mouth, biting into it.
I stick another piece of fruit with my fork, before looking up at everyone, who is looking at me with this disgusted look on their faces. “Why do people know that?” Isabel asks, pushing her bowl of fruit away from her.
“I don’t know. I’m just tellin ya what I heard.”
“Lizzie, why did you feel the need to tell us this over dinner?” My dad asks, sounding slightly annoyed. Probably because no one’s gonna eat the fruit now, and he’ll be stuck with it.
“I’m just making conversation, Daddy.” I pout. I sit there for a few minutes before speaking up again. “Oh, and apparently, when a guy breaks their back, they get a boner.”
“I’m canceling your cable.” Max says, dropping his fork on his plate. I start pouting more, and Max puts his arm around my shoulder. “I’m just kidding, babe. Don’t start crying, ok?”
“Like she did earlier about the slippers?” Michael asks, his mouth full of hamburger.
My chin starts quivering as I remember the slipper incident of this morning. “Michael!” Everyone yells.
Maria slaps him upside the head. “What in the hell is wrong with you?!” When Michael opens his mouth to respond, she slaps her hand over his mouth. “You’ve lost the privilege of talking. Just sit there and look stupid.”
I know its mean, but I start cracking up. After I loose it, everyone else does too. Michael grumbles something about no one appreciating him, making everyone laugh harder. “Oh, c’mon!” He screams, going to throw his arms up in the arm, and in the process, hitting Maria’s bowl of fruit, sending it flying in every direction. “Fuck this! I give up!” Michael yells, pushing his chair back from the table and stalking over to the counter, plopping down angrily on one of the stools.
“Don’t even acknowledge him.” Maria says, once everyone’s calmed down and resumed eating. “He’ll come back over eventually.”
She’s right, about five minutes later, Michael decides that he’d rather eat, then prove a point, and he comes back and rejoins the festivities.
“So, have you guys decided on any names yet?” Brad asks, once everyone’s finished eating, and we’re all just sitting at the table, too full to move.
“We actually haven’t even discussed it.” I say, then look over at Max. “Why haven’t we discussed it?”
“We tried.” Max points out. “I suggested we name her Sophie and you started crying because you hated it. So we haven’t discussed it since.”
“Well, I wanna discuss it now.” When he goes to protest, I quickly add. “It’s my birthday, you can’t say no.”
“Ooh, low blow.” Alex chuckles, leaning back in his seat, putting his arm on the back of Isabel’s chair. Oh, did I forget to mention that the night of Diane and Philips party, Alex asked Isabel on a date and they’ve been together ever since? Oops, I think I did. Well, there it is.
“Fine.” Max says. We both sit, thinking for a minute. “Ok, what about Jasmine?”
“Because she’s a cartoon?” I ask. “How about Jordan?”
“We’re having a GIRL, not a boy. No Jordan.” Max shoots down that idea.
We go back and forth for a good ten minutes before Diane finally shuts us up. After everyone clears off the table, except me, I sit and watch... why the hell not, its my birthday. Anyway, after the table gets cleared, we open the presents and do the cake thing.
After all that’s over, everyone kinda splits up in their own little groups, to chat or whatever. Maria and Isabel are currently singing ‘Can’t Fight The Moonlight’ from Coyote Ugly. Yes, I was right, there is a karaoke machine. The funniest part is that everyone started drinking about and hour ago. My mom made some kind of punch, and I’m pretty sure she put way too much alcohol in it, because almost everyone is completely hammered. I think the only sober ones are Max, Philip, my dad and I. Those three opted to just drink a beer, and I can’t drink, so this is all pretty damn entertaining. Thankfully, I remembered my camera, that way I have pictures to remember John and Michael’s rousing rendition of whatever Metallica song it was that they were singing a few minutes ago.
Tess, Brad and I are all sitting in a booth, talking about New York. Turns out Tess lived there right before she moved to Roswell.
Isabel and Maria finish singing, and we all clap and whistle at them, before they stumble off the stage into the waiting arms of their men. I grab my camera off the table; just in time to take a cute picture of Alex and Isabel, wrapped in each other’s arms, big smiles plastered on their faces. About time, right?
I turn my attention back to the conversation I was having. Not long after, another song starts playing. I glance over at the ‘stage’ then quickly do a double-take when I see Max up there, microphone in hand, then Alex, Michael and Kyle all gathered around the other one. Oh, no. Max smiles at me before he starts singing.
See, baby, I apologize,
For all the things that I’ve done, that I’ve done.
See, I know, that I’ve been a fool, for far too long.
Baby, you don’t have to, go and run away,
Just come back to papa, please baby, baby won’t you stay?
If you really love me, then why are you leaving me?
Everyone is cheering as Max sings. As he’s singing, his eyes are locked on mine, even though my eyes are partially covered, and I’m looking at him through my fingers. To say that this is the cutest thing anyone’s ever done for me would be a large understatement, and I can’t help but absolutely love it. The guys chime in as the back-up singers as the chorus starts.
I can’t think, think about this crazy day.
I loose sleep, just to daydream about you baby.
I’m goin crazy, crazy, crazy just thinkin about you lately.
I’m goin crazy, crazy, crazy just thinkin about you, baby.
I’m goin crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy thinkin about you lately.
I’m goin crazy, crazy... when I can’t touch you.
Crazy, crazy... when I can’t hold you...
Crazy crazy... when I can’t see you again.
Max starts walking over to me, taking over singing the second verse, as the guys make a toast to their background singing, and chug another cup of punch.
I’ve finally realized that you are my true love,
And I’ve had a lot of time to think...
And you’re all I seem to keep thinkin, keep thinking of.
Now I know I need you, each and every day,
I can’t live without you, so don’t run away.
Baby, you said that you love me, so why are you leaving me?
Max lets the guys take over finishing the chorus on their own, setting his microphone down on a nearby table and walking over to me. Since I’m sitting on the outside of the booth, I turn so that I’m sitting sideways, facing him as he comes to stand in front of me.
He crouches down so that he’s eye level with me. “I need to tell you something.” He starts.
All the guys realize that no one is listening to them sing anymore, so they just give up. Everyone’s attention is solely directed to Max and me. “Ok.” I drawl out, unsure of what he’s doing.
“I’m madly in love with you, Liz Parker. I fell in love with you in high school, and I’ve never stopped loving you, not for one single minute. It seems that with everyday that goes by, I just love you more and more.” He confesses. I draw my bottom lip in between my teeth, on the edge of my seat. Literally, and so much so that I wisely scoot back before I fall over.
He sighs, looking down at his hands before he looks up at me. “I messed up a lot with our relationship. I hurt you, I let you go, I let you think that I didn’t care about you anymore. I’ve spent the last... I dunno, five months getting to know you again. Even with all the time that’s passed, and with the things that have changed about you, I love every single little facet of who you are.”
My chin starts quivering, signaling that I’m about to burst into tears. Only this time, it has nothing to do with mood swings, or ruined slippers, or the fact that Max won’t get me tacos. These are happy tears.
“I picked that song for a reason. Every word of it, I meant with every fiber of my being. I go crazy when I can’t be with you, and I can’t live without you, and all that.” He leans forward, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “I want to try again, baby. I want us to be together. I love you, and I don’t ever want to let you go.” He looks into my eyes, almost pleading with me. “Will you give me a chance to prove to you that I won’t ever take you for granted, or let you down again?”
I take a deep breath, looking down at my lap before looking back up at Max. He looks lost, waiting, desperately hoping for me to say yes.
A smile quickly spreads across my face. “Yeah.”
“Y-yeah?” Max repeats, shocked. “You’ll take me back?”
I nod, laughing as Max drops his head back and let’s out a long breath. He stands up, and I stand up with him as he takes me into his arms, burying his face in my hair. “I missed you.” I whisper, giggling as everyone present starts cheering.
“I missed you.” He says, pulling back, looking hungrily at my lips. “I’ve waited way too long for this.” He rushes out before he crashes his lips into mine.
He kisses me until we both pull away, gasping for air. He smiles, leaning his forehead against mine. “Happy Birthday, baby.”
“It's been the best one yet.” I giggle, sealing my lips back over his.
TBC...
Tanya-- Thanks for all the help with it... and keep your effin sheep to yourself, I'm tryin to get shit accomplished over here!! *lol* *MUAH!*
As always, I'll be back with a new chapter next Wed.
Chapter 15
Countdown to due date: One month
I. Am. Huge. I hate being pregnant, this sucks! The only good thing is the fact that I have people waiting on me hand and foot, but that’s only a good thing when I’m in a good mood and actually want to deal with people. However, I’m proving to be a very, very grumpy pregnant woman, so it’s not normally a good thing.
Once again, there’s nothing new to report with Max and I. No, we didn’t steal a bottle of sparkling grape juice and fool around at Philip and Diane’s party, sorry to kill your hopes, or dreams, or whatever. As for after the party, he brought me home, gave me a kiss goodnight, and went back to his apartment.
This vertigo that Max and I are stuck in is difficult, to say the least, but I’m still not completely certain that I want to jump back into things with Max. I know, you’re probably freaking out, saying that after everything, we wouldn’t be just ‘jumping back into it’ but we’re still not the same people we were back in high school. There are still new things I learn about Max everyday, and I think he’d say the same about me. However, we’re making it a point to talk about everything. Max is fast becoming one of my best friends.
I guess the only thing is... I’m still scared. I don’t know what I’m scared of, but... the thought of being back with Max just scares the shit out of me.
I don’t know. I’m all turned around, I really just need to figure out what I want, and go for it. Which, as with everything, it a lot easier said then done, but I’m gonna do it. Really, I am. As long as I don’t end up getting distracted by something.
“Good morning.” Max says, walking in the front door. Well, so much for not being distracted. “Happy Birthday.” He smiles, stepping in, and moving out of the doorway, allowing Fluffy to run inside after him. Fluffy immediately runs over and jumps up on the couch, licking my face and laying down next to me.
“What’s so good about it?” I bitch. Then look down at Fluffy, who’s currently drooling all over one of my throw pillows. “Did you have to bring the dog over?” I whine, looking down at Fluffy. He looks up at me, almost pouting, as if he’s hurt that I don’t want him here.
“You love Fluffy, don’t lie.” Max says, walking in and dropping a kiss on my forehead, and then one on my stomach before going over to the recliner and making himself comfortable.
“I ain’t gotta lie to kick it.” I point out, flipping through the TV channels.
Max laughs a little. “Did you just say that?”
“Yes, I did.” I put down the remote and looking over at him. “And?” I raise an eyebrow at him.
His eyes get slightly larger. “O....k. So, you’re not in a good mood today. I’m getting that.” He slowly nods. “Are you hungry? Have you eaten lunch yet today?” He asks, turning the conversation in a totally different direction all together. He’s become a master at this. He gets a feel for what mood I’m in, and if I’m getting upset about whatever it is that we’re talking about, he’ll simply divert the conversation in another direction. Took me about a week to figure out he was doing it. It works though, damn it.
“I’m starving.” I whine, dropping my head back against the couch.
“Ok, what do you want to eat?” He gets up, ready to go into the kitchen and make me something.
“Crashdown.” I say quietly, knowing he’s just gonna groan at me. I’ve been craving nothing but Takeoff Tacos and Alien Blasts for the last week or two. I don’t know why, I didn’t especially like the tacos back in the day, but now, it’s all I want.
As I suspected, he groans. “Are you serious? You want those damn tacos again?”
“Yes.” I whisper, my chin quivering.
“Oh shit. No, baby, don’t cry.” Max rushes over, kneeling down in front of me, framing my face with his hands. “If you want tacos, I’ll call your dad and tell him. Don’t cry, ok?”
I sniffle. “Ok.”
He gets up, grabbing the phone off the coffee table before he rapidly pushes buttons and walks into the kitchen. Once he’s out of sight, I smile, putting my hand over my mouth to smother the giggle that’s threatening to break through. He’s so easy to break, its funny.
I hear him in the kitchen, on the phone with my dad. “No, Jeff. She wants those stupid tacos again. She’s your daughter! Hey, now... you raised her on that food, don’t start yellin at me about it. I was going to try to talk her out of it, then she almost started crying. Well, then you come over here and try to talk her out of it. Oh, no, she’ll definitely start crying. See? I couldn’t say no either.”
At this point, I have to giggle. Max and my dad have sort of bonded more over these last few weeks because of Max constantly having to go get me food. I reach down and pet Fluffy, who immediately sits up, bathing my face with kisses before running towards the front door, doing circles. He has to go pee. Excellent.
“Max?” I yell out.
He appears in the living room a few seconds later, still on the phone. “Don’t forget my Alien Blast, and Fluffy has to go out.”
Max sighs. “Alien Blast too, Jeff.” He moves the phone away from his mouth. “I’ll take Fluffy out in a minute, just hold on.”
I glance over at Fluffy, who is now eyeing my chair and sniffing it. Oh, hell no. That thing is not peeing on my chair! “Max, he really has to go! Look at him! He’s about to use my chair as a make-shift tree! If you’re not going to take him out, then I will.”
At this, Max starts laughing at me. “You can’t be serious. There’s no way you could handle taking Fluffy out.”
I stand up, shoving my feet in my pink slippers. “We’ll see about that.” I say, going to the nail by the front door and grabbing Fluffy’s leash. Max brought one over here, just in case.
As soon as I grab it, Fluffy starts jumping around and twirling in circles. I finally manage to get a hold of his collar and get the leash attached to it. As soon as I open the door, Fluffy begins dragging me across the parking lot, over to where the ‘dog’ area is. It’s basically just a little area with grass and a few trees, but whatever.
He quickly goes over to the tree and begins doing his business. I stand and wait, examining my nails. As soon as he’s done, he’s ready go to back inside, so he starts hauling ass in the direction of my apartment. I try to hurry to catch up with him, not looking where I’m going.
I step off the curb, and into the parking lot, and freeze. I look down and I’m standing in a large mud puddle. I’d totally forgotten that they’d run the sprinklers this morning, and suffice to say, my slippers are now totally ruined.
I take a deep breath, hurrying back to my apartment. I throw open the door and it makes a loud boom as it hits the wall behind it. I stomp in the house, kicking off my slippers and slamming the door behind me.
Fluffy scampers into the kitchen, thinking he’s done something wrong, and I go over to the couch and sit down.
I start sniffling, and I can feel tears burning my eyes. Max comes flying out of the kitchen, looking around wildly. His eyes land on me, just as the tears start cascading down my cheeks.
“Ah, hell.” He walks over, sitting down next to me, putting his arm around me and pulling me into his chest. “What happened?”
“I stepped in a puddle.” I wail, knowing that I sound like a complete moron.
“You... stepped in a puddle?” Max asks, clearly confused as hell. “You’re upset because you stepped in a puddle? Sweetie, it’s not that bad.”
“I ruined my slippers!” I scream, pounding my fist into his chest, more upset than ever that he doesn’t understand why I’m so upset about this whole thing.
“Your pink slippers that say ‘Angel’ on them?” He asks, lightly rubbing his hand down my back. I nod into his chest, sniffling on his shirt. “I’ll buy you a new pair, Liz. It’s ok. Don’t get all worked up about it.”
“It won’t be the same! And I’m not worked up!” I bellow.
He can’t contain a chuckle, but quickly acts like he’s coughing to avoid being physically harmed. “Why won’t it be the same? I bought you that pair. I don’t see the problem here.”
“It’s upsetting.” I whine. I hate these damn mood swings... they really suck!
“I know, but you’ll be ok.” Max says, dropping a kiss on the top of my head.
We sit there for a few minutes before the front door opens revealing the whole gang. Even my parents are present for this. They all yell ‘Happy Birthday’ but stop when they notice my tear-stained cheeks.
“What happened?” Maria asks, rushing over and sitting down next to me.
“She ruined her slippers when she took Fluffy outside.” Max explains.
“You let her take Fluffy outside?” Maria balks. “Are you crazy?”
I turn my face back into Max’s chest as the tears take over once again. No one says anything, they all just stand there.
“What’s wrong now?” Maria asks softly, lightly pulling me away from Max.
I reach up to wipe away the tears, but my efforts are in vain, as a fresh batch of tears come on. “I was re-living it.” I bawl.
“C’mon sweetie.” Maria soothes, wiping away my tears. “You have to be in a good mood. Today’s your birthday! The big two-two! We’re havin a party and everything. That has to make you happy.”
I shrug one shoulder. “Maybe a little.”
Michael walks over to where one of my ruined slippers is, just inside the door, picking it up and examining it. I see it and start sobbing.
“MICHAEL!” They all yell in unison.
“What?!” He yells, his eyes wide, having absolutely no idea what he’s done wrong.
“Dude, you’re an idiot.” Kyle shakes his head at him. Kyle puts his arm around Tess to lead her into the apartment, but stops when my wet, muddy slipper comes in contact with his face, making a nasty slapping noise.
Everyone starts cracking up. Isabel, Alex and my parents walk around Kyle to come into the living room, and Tess lowers her head, turning away so Kyle can’t see her laughing at him.
He reaches up, wiping his hand down his face. He looks at his hand, which now has mud on it, before looking over at Michael. “That ain’t right, man.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I walk into the Crashdown with Max a few hours later, stopping inside to take a look around. All the tables that are usually spaced out between the booths and the counter have all been lined up, one after another, creating one large table all the way down the room. Immediately to my left is set up, with what appears to be a karaoke machine. God help us all if it really is.
There’s a big banner across one wall that says ‘Happy Birthday Liz!’ in big, bright letters, and streamers and balloons are all over the place. Ooh! A table of presents!!
“Happy Birthday!” They all yell, running over to give me hugs and kisses, even though I’ve already seen them today, and they’ve already wished me a happy birthday.
Maria sticks a tiara on my head, making me the princess of the party... as it should be, this is my party.
“Hope you’re hungry.” Alex says, putting an arm around my shoulders. “Your parents made enough food to feed the whole town.”
“I’m starving.” I confirm, putting my arms around his waist, giving him another hug. “Like that’s any big surprise, I eat everything in sight.”
“That’s because you have to feed our little girl.” Maria coos at my stomach, kissing it repeatedly.
I smack her lightly on the back of the head, causing her to pop upright. “Get off me, I’m a person, not a kitten.”
“Yeah, kittens are generally nice.” Michael blurts out, without thinking, causing me to spin around and pin him with a glare.
He slaps his hand over his mouth, his eyes becoming wide as saucers. Everyone in the room looks over, knowing that he just said the wrong thing.
I look at him sideways, slowly walking over to him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, my voice even, causing Max to take two large steps away from Michael.
“Happy birthday, beautiful.” A male voice whispers in my ear. Wait a minute, I KNOW that voice! I stop walking towards Michael, and freeze.
I slowly turn around, and my mouth drops wide open. My hands shoot up to my mouth, muffling the loud scream that erupts from my throat before I even know that I’m screaming. “STEVEN!” I scream, throwing my arms around him.
Talk about being blind sided, holy fuckin shit, people! I look over Steven’s shoulder, seeing John, Brad, and Matt all standing there, big smiles on their faces. I pull away from Steven, wiping at my tears, because I’m crying... AGAIN, before giving the other boys hugs as well.
I look around at everyone else in the café. They’re all smiling, looking proud of themselves. I scan through the crowd. “You all knew about this, didn’t you?” They all nod in confirmation. “Well, thanks for letting me know.” I grumble, but I can’t be mad. I’m too damn excited to be mad. I look back at my Sigma boys. “I can’t believe you guys are here.”
“I can’t believe how big you are.” Steven says, looking me up and down. “You’re the cutest pregnant woman I’ve ever seen!”
“Uhm... thanks?” I laugh.
I officially introduce the Sigma guys to everyone, since last time they were in Roswell, no one was very welcoming to them.
Everyone stands around, talking and whatnot for about fifteen minutes, before my parents, and Max’s parents emerge from the kitchen, all of them carrying a plate, or bowl, or container of some kind of food. Wait a second... Diane was in the kitchen?? I didn’t think she even know what a kitchen was!
We all take our seats at the table and begin eating. Just as I’m about to bite into a piece of watermelon from the fruit salad, when I stop with the watermelon in front of my face. “Ya know...” I start, stopping for a second to wonder if I should really begin telling people this during dinner, but I decide to go ahead, since I already opened my mouth. “I was watching the Health Channel earlier...”
“Why?” Steven asks, shoving a piece of chicken in his mouth.
“Because I have that kinda time during the day.” I tell him, then go on with my story. “Anyway, so I was watching this show, I don’t even remember what it was about, but they said that the stuff that’s, like, inside your skull that cushions your brain is called CSF. It stands for Cerebral Spinal Fluid. And apparently, it tastes like fruit.” I say, before putting the piece of watermelon in my mouth, biting into it.
I stick another piece of fruit with my fork, before looking up at everyone, who is looking at me with this disgusted look on their faces. “Why do people know that?” Isabel asks, pushing her bowl of fruit away from her.
“I don’t know. I’m just tellin ya what I heard.”
“Lizzie, why did you feel the need to tell us this over dinner?” My dad asks, sounding slightly annoyed. Probably because no one’s gonna eat the fruit now, and he’ll be stuck with it.
“I’m just making conversation, Daddy.” I pout. I sit there for a few minutes before speaking up again. “Oh, and apparently, when a guy breaks their back, they get a boner.”
“I’m canceling your cable.” Max says, dropping his fork on his plate. I start pouting more, and Max puts his arm around my shoulder. “I’m just kidding, babe. Don’t start crying, ok?”
“Like she did earlier about the slippers?” Michael asks, his mouth full of hamburger.
My chin starts quivering as I remember the slipper incident of this morning. “Michael!” Everyone yells.
Maria slaps him upside the head. “What in the hell is wrong with you?!” When Michael opens his mouth to respond, she slaps her hand over his mouth. “You’ve lost the privilege of talking. Just sit there and look stupid.”
I know its mean, but I start cracking up. After I loose it, everyone else does too. Michael grumbles something about no one appreciating him, making everyone laugh harder. “Oh, c’mon!” He screams, going to throw his arms up in the arm, and in the process, hitting Maria’s bowl of fruit, sending it flying in every direction. “Fuck this! I give up!” Michael yells, pushing his chair back from the table and stalking over to the counter, plopping down angrily on one of the stools.
“Don’t even acknowledge him.” Maria says, once everyone’s calmed down and resumed eating. “He’ll come back over eventually.”
She’s right, about five minutes later, Michael decides that he’d rather eat, then prove a point, and he comes back and rejoins the festivities.
“So, have you guys decided on any names yet?” Brad asks, once everyone’s finished eating, and we’re all just sitting at the table, too full to move.
“We actually haven’t even discussed it.” I say, then look over at Max. “Why haven’t we discussed it?”
“We tried.” Max points out. “I suggested we name her Sophie and you started crying because you hated it. So we haven’t discussed it since.”
“Well, I wanna discuss it now.” When he goes to protest, I quickly add. “It’s my birthday, you can’t say no.”
“Ooh, low blow.” Alex chuckles, leaning back in his seat, putting his arm on the back of Isabel’s chair. Oh, did I forget to mention that the night of Diane and Philips party, Alex asked Isabel on a date and they’ve been together ever since? Oops, I think I did. Well, there it is.
“Fine.” Max says. We both sit, thinking for a minute. “Ok, what about Jasmine?”
“Because she’s a cartoon?” I ask. “How about Jordan?”
“We’re having a GIRL, not a boy. No Jordan.” Max shoots down that idea.
We go back and forth for a good ten minutes before Diane finally shuts us up. After everyone clears off the table, except me, I sit and watch... why the hell not, its my birthday. Anyway, after the table gets cleared, we open the presents and do the cake thing.
After all that’s over, everyone kinda splits up in their own little groups, to chat or whatever. Maria and Isabel are currently singing ‘Can’t Fight The Moonlight’ from Coyote Ugly. Yes, I was right, there is a karaoke machine. The funniest part is that everyone started drinking about and hour ago. My mom made some kind of punch, and I’m pretty sure she put way too much alcohol in it, because almost everyone is completely hammered. I think the only sober ones are Max, Philip, my dad and I. Those three opted to just drink a beer, and I can’t drink, so this is all pretty damn entertaining. Thankfully, I remembered my camera, that way I have pictures to remember John and Michael’s rousing rendition of whatever Metallica song it was that they were singing a few minutes ago.
Tess, Brad and I are all sitting in a booth, talking about New York. Turns out Tess lived there right before she moved to Roswell.
Isabel and Maria finish singing, and we all clap and whistle at them, before they stumble off the stage into the waiting arms of their men. I grab my camera off the table; just in time to take a cute picture of Alex and Isabel, wrapped in each other’s arms, big smiles plastered on their faces. About time, right?
I turn my attention back to the conversation I was having. Not long after, another song starts playing. I glance over at the ‘stage’ then quickly do a double-take when I see Max up there, microphone in hand, then Alex, Michael and Kyle all gathered around the other one. Oh, no. Max smiles at me before he starts singing.
See, baby, I apologize,
For all the things that I’ve done, that I’ve done.
See, I know, that I’ve been a fool, for far too long.
Baby, you don’t have to, go and run away,
Just come back to papa, please baby, baby won’t you stay?
If you really love me, then why are you leaving me?
Everyone is cheering as Max sings. As he’s singing, his eyes are locked on mine, even though my eyes are partially covered, and I’m looking at him through my fingers. To say that this is the cutest thing anyone’s ever done for me would be a large understatement, and I can’t help but absolutely love it. The guys chime in as the back-up singers as the chorus starts.
I can’t think, think about this crazy day.
I loose sleep, just to daydream about you baby.
I’m goin crazy, crazy, crazy just thinkin about you lately.
I’m goin crazy, crazy, crazy just thinkin about you, baby.
I’m goin crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy thinkin about you lately.
I’m goin crazy, crazy... when I can’t touch you.
Crazy, crazy... when I can’t hold you...
Crazy crazy... when I can’t see you again.
Max starts walking over to me, taking over singing the second verse, as the guys make a toast to their background singing, and chug another cup of punch.
I’ve finally realized that you are my true love,
And I’ve had a lot of time to think...
And you’re all I seem to keep thinkin, keep thinking of.
Now I know I need you, each and every day,
I can’t live without you, so don’t run away.
Baby, you said that you love me, so why are you leaving me?
Max lets the guys take over finishing the chorus on their own, setting his microphone down on a nearby table and walking over to me. Since I’m sitting on the outside of the booth, I turn so that I’m sitting sideways, facing him as he comes to stand in front of me.
He crouches down so that he’s eye level with me. “I need to tell you something.” He starts.
All the guys realize that no one is listening to them sing anymore, so they just give up. Everyone’s attention is solely directed to Max and me. “Ok.” I drawl out, unsure of what he’s doing.
“I’m madly in love with you, Liz Parker. I fell in love with you in high school, and I’ve never stopped loving you, not for one single minute. It seems that with everyday that goes by, I just love you more and more.” He confesses. I draw my bottom lip in between my teeth, on the edge of my seat. Literally, and so much so that I wisely scoot back before I fall over.
He sighs, looking down at his hands before he looks up at me. “I messed up a lot with our relationship. I hurt you, I let you go, I let you think that I didn’t care about you anymore. I’ve spent the last... I dunno, five months getting to know you again. Even with all the time that’s passed, and with the things that have changed about you, I love every single little facet of who you are.”
My chin starts quivering, signaling that I’m about to burst into tears. Only this time, it has nothing to do with mood swings, or ruined slippers, or the fact that Max won’t get me tacos. These are happy tears.
“I picked that song for a reason. Every word of it, I meant with every fiber of my being. I go crazy when I can’t be with you, and I can’t live without you, and all that.” He leans forward, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “I want to try again, baby. I want us to be together. I love you, and I don’t ever want to let you go.” He looks into my eyes, almost pleading with me. “Will you give me a chance to prove to you that I won’t ever take you for granted, or let you down again?”
I take a deep breath, looking down at my lap before looking back up at Max. He looks lost, waiting, desperately hoping for me to say yes.
A smile quickly spreads across my face. “Yeah.”
“Y-yeah?” Max repeats, shocked. “You’ll take me back?”
I nod, laughing as Max drops his head back and let’s out a long breath. He stands up, and I stand up with him as he takes me into his arms, burying his face in my hair. “I missed you.” I whisper, giggling as everyone present starts cheering.
“I missed you.” He says, pulling back, looking hungrily at my lips. “I’ve waited way too long for this.” He rushes out before he crashes his lips into mine.
He kisses me until we both pull away, gasping for air. He smiles, leaning his forehead against mine. “Happy Birthday, baby.”
“It's been the best one yet.” I giggle, sealing my lips back over his.
TBC...
<center>S&M-*Twinkie* -n- *Twin*</center>
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LittleHottie510
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OK-- had this damn note all written out, and explorer closed on me. Lemme try to remember what all I said...
First of all-- Big hello to all the new readers and those I've brought out of lurkdom! Welcome! *hehe*
Also, thanks so much to everyone whose already nominated this fic. It means alot that you all are enjoying it!
With that said... as with everything, all good things must come to an end. This is the second to last part. Next Wed. I'll be posting the last chapter, as well as some details about future fics.
One last thing, before I shut up and get on with the show... for those who asked: Yes, all the info from the last chapter about broken backs, and CSF is true. My hubby is a combat medic in the US Army, and he's full of disgusting fun facts such as those. *lol*
Ok, on with the show!
Chapter 16
Countdown to due date: Four Days
I let out a small moan, stretching as I wake up from my nap. I glance at the clock on the bedside table. Well, shit. Max didn’t wake me up to watch Gilmore Girls, and if I hadn’t woken up when I did, I also would have missed the beginning of One Tree Hill. He is so dead when I finally manage to get myself out of bed and down the stairs.
After three, yes, count em, THREE attempts to get out of the bed, I take a deep breath. Ok, is there some trick to this?! Why the hell can’t I manage to get myself out of my own damn bed?!
I suddenly remember that Max put the baby monitor in my room earlier when he tucked me in, in case I needed him, I could just say something.
“Max?” I say, not screaming, cause that would be stupid, but loud enough to where I know he’ll be able to hear me.
After a few minutes of nothing, I glance around the room, searching for this illusive walkie-talkie thing. It’s just out of my reach next to the alarm clock. Go fucking figure.
I reach for it a few times, hoping that I’ll somehow just magically be able to reach it, and nothing happens. I shake the table a little, hoping it’ll fall down and then it’ll be close enough to where I can reach it. It does fall down, but it falls on the floor.
“Damn it!” I curse my bad luck. I glance up at the ceiling. “Seriously, who up there hates me?! I just want to watch One Tree Hill! Is that too much to ask?!”
I take a deep breath; ready to try again when I hear talking. I lay perfectly still, listening intently. Soon enough, the voices of Max and Michael become crystal clear.
“So you guys haven’t decided on a name yet?” Michael asks.
“No, we’ve got the choices narrowed down quite a bit though. We finally just decided to wait, and then once we see her, we can figure out which name we think fits her.” Max explains, as my eyes dart around, trying to figure out why the hell I can hear them.
“Are you gonna ask her to marry you?” Michael asks, causing Max to start coughing.
“What?” Max screeches, sounding very much like a little girl. “No!”
Well, that hurts. No matter that we’ve only been back together for, what? Less than a month, but still! To get as severe an answer as that... geez.
“Why the hell not?” Michael continues. Are they playing twenty questions or something?! I’d debate it further, but Michael’s voice breaks my thoughts. “Everyone and their Mama knows that you’ve been ass-over-teacups in love with that girl since you first set eyes on her. Not to mention the fact that you’ve been married to her once before, and now you’re having a child together. I really don’t think its gonna shock the shit out of anyone if you two crazy kids decide to get married. Again.”
Max grumbles something that I can’t understand, just as I finally manage to swing myself upright in bed, and get my feet planted firmly on the floor. I use my toes to grab a hold of the antennae thingy on the top of the baby monitor, and swing it up onto the bed so I can grab it.
Holy hell! That was a lot of work!!! I glance at the clock one last time, noting that I have three minutes to get situated on the couch before my show comes on. I make it halfway to the door before I remember the baby monitor laying on the bed. I go back and grab it, then realizing why I can hear Max and Michael before making the trek down the stairs.
Once I get almost to the bottom, I glance at the backs of Max and Michael’s heads, where they’re engrossed in some crime-drama re-run. I roll my eyes, quietly making my way down the rest of the stairs and walking around to stand in front of the guys.
Their eyes snap from the TV to me, and I just stand there, my eyebrows raised.
“I told you to let me know if you needed me.” Max scolds, picking up the baby monitor which he has sitting next to him on the couch, bringing it up to his ear and shaking it. “Is it broken already?”
“No, it just helps if you have the right monitor.” I supply, tossing him the other one. “You couldn’t hear me, because I could hear you.” I glance over at Michael. “Go home.”
“What? Why?” He looks over at Max, then back to me. “What’d I do?”
“You didn’t do anything. However, Max was supposed to wake me up an hour ago, and didn’t. I’ve missed Gilmore Girls, and there’s no way in hell I’m gonna miss One Tree Hill, too. Since I highly doubt you wanna watch it, I suggest haulin ass home.” I smile sweetly at Michael, and then glare at Max, who looks down a little, scratching nervously behind his ear.
Michael nods, pulling himself up off the couch and heading to the door. “I’ll call you later, Max. Bye Liz.”
Just as he’s opening the door, I call out to him. He turns back around. “I just thought I’d let you know that I’m telling everyone I know that you used the phrase ‘ass over teacups.’”
He shoots a glare Max’s direction before turning on his heel and walking out the front door. Once he’s gone, Max and I have a good laugh at his expense.
Max gets up to help me get on the couch and all situated with my pillows and blankets and stuff, before handing me the remote. I quickly switch over to the WB as the credits for Gilmore Girls go by.
He takes a seat at the other end of the couch, pulling my feet into his lap. “So what’re we watching?” He asks, even though I made him watch this with me last week. He’ll probably make me explain the whole show again, and who everyone is.
“One Tree Hill.” I answer, just waiting for the inevitable.
“That’s right.” He nods, picking up his bottle of water from the table, settling back into the couch. As the recap of what happened on last weeks show starts, he finally asks. “Ok, refresh my memory... what’s this about?”
I roll my eyes, but quickly give him as short of a recap as I can. He looks confused but goes along with it anyway.
An hour later, after the show is over, I have to retell him who everyone was, and how they all related to each other. This is getting old. I might just buy him the first season on DVD and lock him in a room with them until he gets it.
“Ok, bed time for you.” He says, standing up and pulling the blanket off of me.
I look up at him like he has four heads. “I just woke up like an hour ago!” I argue.
“Yeah, well. You need your sleep. So, let’s go.” He instructs, helping me up off the couch.
“I don’t wanna.” I pout, sticking out my lower lip.
He dips his head forward, sucking my lower lip into his mouth. Once he releases it, he smirks at me. “Too bad.”
I whine, but follow him upstairs anyway. He gets me all tucked into bed, giving me a soft kiss on the lips before turning to go back downstairs and do... whatever it is that Max does when I’m asleep. “Don’t go.” I say, just as he reaches the door.
He turns around and looks at me, looking slightly surprised. Sure, we’ve made out a little bit here and there, but he refuses to let it go any further. Damn him. “Y-you want me to stay?”
I nod, pulling back the covers on the other side of the bed. “Stay until I fall asleep?” I ask. Oh, I have other plans, but Max doesn’t need to know that... yet.
He finally agrees, walking over to the bed and undoing to snap on his jeans. He lets them slide to the floor before stepping out of them, leaving him in some workout shorts and a tank top. Hmm, him and Michael must have been at the gym earlier.
He climbs into bed with me, snuggling up against my back. He then places his hand on my stomach and rubs small circles with his index finger. He sits up slightly, so he can stretch over me and give me a kiss.
Once he’s settled back down, he resumes rubbing my stomach, either consciously, or unconsciously making his circles bigger. His hands come closer and closer to my boobs with every move.
I wiggle my butt back into his crotch, under the guise that I’m attempting to get comfortable. Yeah, right. I’m trying to seduce him, and unless there’s a baby monitor in the bed, poking me in the ass, it appears that my plan is working. Insert evil laugh here.
I move again, pretending to stretch and then resituate myself, once again pushing my ass into his crotch. He lets out a small groan, his hand instinctively coming up to massage my breasts through my shirt. I moan, pushing myself up into his hand.
“Baby.” He says, his voice catching a little, making me smile. “We have to stop.”
“Why? You don’t have to worry about getting me pregnant, you already did that.” I tease, reaching behind me to take him in my hand.
“Oh shit.” He manages out through clenched teeth.
“I want you.” I whisper, pumping my hand up and down his length, smiling when he lifts his hips to assist my actions.
“I want you.” He growls, once again, sitting up to stretch over me and capture my lips. His tongue sweeps over my lips, urging them apart. I comply, moaning as our tongues touch and a shiver runs down my spine.
Max kisses me senseless, leaving me with no coherent thoughts; with no idea which was is up, or down. He pulls back, swiftly pulling his tank top over his head, throwing it behind him on the floor. He pulls the covers back, sitting up to help me out of my clothes. He’s afraid to hurt either the baby, or me, so he moves painfully slow. As sweet as that is, a snail could’ve undressed me faster than this.
Once he has all my clothes off, he sits back a moment, looking me over. His tongue darts out to wet his lips as his eyes come back up to focus on mine. “You just keep getting more and more beautiful every time I see you like this.”
I reach my hand out, grabbing a hold of the waistband of his shorts, pulling him back towards me. “That’s sweet, honey, but take your pants off.”
He quickly yanks them down, kicking them off of him, and onto the floor with the rest of our clothes. He lays back down behind me, rubbing my stomach. “Are you sure?” He whispers, placing open-mouthed kisses along my shoulder.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I feel him begin to slip inside me. We both moan as he slowly pushes inside me, until he’s all the way in.
He takes a deep breath, wrapping his arm around me before he pulls out, and slowly pushes back in again. God, he’s killing me with this slow thing. “Max, I’m not made of glass, and you’re not gonna break me. You can go faster than that, I promise to tell you if you hurt me at all.” I finally tell him.
He picks up the pace a little, his hips thrusting forward, every time eliciting a moan of pleasure from both of us. “God, baby. You feel so good.” He drops his forehead onto my shoulder, his breath coming out in short pants.
“Oh, yeah.” I reach back, digging my nails into his butt, which only makes him growl in response.
His hand slides over the curve of my stomach, and then down even farther. He presses his fingers to my clit, making quick circles in time with the movement of his hips. I close my eyes, relishing in the feelings of absolute and total ecstasy. My moans get louder and louder with every thrust. I feel his breath against my ear. “Come for me, baby.” He orders, in a low sensual tone.
That’s all it takes before I’m screaming out his name as my orgasm rips through my body. As soon as my orgasm starts, it triggers Max’s, and he grunts a few times before falling back down onto the pillows.
We both lay together, shuddering in the wake of the mind-blowing sex we just had. Yeah, lemme tell you, that was hot.
After a few minutes, he pulls out of me, sitting up to grab the blankets to pull them back over us. He snuggles back in behind me, once again wrapping his arm around my stomach. He places a lingering kiss on my cheek. “I love you, baby.” He murmurs, obviously exhausted.
I can’t stop myself from smiling. “I love you, too.” I reply before drifting off to sleep, a smile still playing on my lips.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I slowly begin to wake up, stretching my arms over my head before glancing over at the alarm clock. It’s a little after ten in the morning, so I definitely got in enough sleep to where no one’s gonna send me back to bed. I glance over towards the other side of the bed; surprised as hell to find two amber eyes burning into my own when I look over.
“AHH!” I scream, jerking away from him.
Max immediately sits up in concern. “What? Is it the baby?”
“No, it’s you! You scared the crap outta me! You can’t do that to people!” I yell. “You can’t just be staring at them when they roll over in the morning. It’s not right!”
He simply laughs at me before climbing out of bed and grabbing his shorts up off the floor, where they’re still laying from the night before. I’m afforded a nice view of his butt before he tugs them on. He makes his way around to my side of the bed, picking up my clothes as he comes across them. He helps me into my shirt, before helping me out of bed, and helping me put my pants on. He straightens up, putting his hands on either side of my stomach, giving me a sweet good morning kiss. “Hi.”
I giggle at him. “Hi.”
He bends down, placing a kiss on my stomach. “Good morning, sweetie. Are you gonna come out and see Daddy today? You should. I know it would make me and Mommy very happy.” He coos.
“Stop being cute.” I playfully slap at his hands. “Are you working today?”
He takes my hand, assisting me in the trek to the bathroom. “Yeah, I gotta be there at noon. We have plenty of time to take a shower, and have breakfast first.”
We make it into the bathroom, where he helps me back out of the clothes that he just put back on me, before taking off his shorts, which also just got put back on, and we get into the shower.
Almost 45 minutes later, we’re done showering. Hey, it takes quite a bit of time and effort to try to move around each other in a little shower. Especially when I’m the size of a fucking elephant.
After we’re all dried off, I go into my bedroom to grab something to wear. I go with my pregnancy outfit of choice: none other than a velour sweat suit.
By the time I’m all dressed and my hair is all dried, Max is back from getting ready for work over at his apartment. He jogs upstairs to help me down. “What do you want for breakfast?” He asks as we reach the final stair.
“Crashdown.” I smile at him, grabbing my purse off the coffee table, and walking to the front door.
He groans, as always, but doesn’t say no. He helps me in the car before we head off. “Do you have any plans for today?” He asks, absentmindedly flipping through radio stations.
“Yeah, Maria and I are gonna hang out. I’m not sure what we’re gonna do yet though.” I answer, slapping his hand away from the radio dial and just turning the radio off.
“You should just have her meet you here.” Max suggests, pulling into an open spot in front of the restaurant.
“I’ll call her when we get inside.” I say, opening the car door and getting out.
Max runs around, reaching my side just as I finally get outta the car. “I’ve told you before to just let me help you.” He scolds.
“I’m not totally incapable of functioning.” I volley back.
He rolls his eyes, opting to not get into it with me right now. He’s probably being really smart in doing that. According to the doctor, the baby is due in like, three days, and I get crankier and crankier with every day that goes by. I just want her out. I look like I swallowed a watermelon or something, its not cute.
Before we even make it inside, my parents rush out, scolding Max for letting me be out ‘in my condition’. I quickly slap at their hands as they reach out to help me walk, as if I can’t handle that. I manage to make it inside before I snap. “If you two don’t get off my back, I’m not letting you come to the hospital! Back off!” I bark, causing everyone in the restaurant to look at me. I look around at them. “What?!” I scream. They all look down, seeming disinterested in what’s going on. I waddle over to a table and lower myself into it. Max flips his chair around and straddles the back of it, like he’s riding his motorcycle or something. I roll my eyes at him, before turning to regard my parents. “I’m hungry.” I pout.
“What do you want, baby?” My mom asks, running her fingers through my hair.
“A omelet.” I say, in my best ‘I’m still your little girl’ voice. My dad just nods before taking Max’s order and going into the kitchen. I can hear him arguing with Jose about the fact that even though they don’t serve omelets, Jose’s gonna have to make one. “Mommy, will you call Maria and tell her to meet me here?”
“Of course, sweetie.” She kisses the top of my head before moving to leave the table.
“Mommy, I want some juice too. Apple. Oh, and Max wants coffee, please.” I add.
She nods at me, then grabs the phone and goes behind the counter to get our drinks. I smile, before looking back at Max, who’s shaking his head. “I’m still amazed every time you do that.” He says, playing with a sugar packet.
My mom drops off our drinks, still on the phone with Maria, before going into the back. “Do what?” I ask after taking a big drink.
“Wrap people around your little finger.” He smirks. “What’s really amazing is that it still shocks me, considering you do it to me all the time.”
I gasp. “I do not.” I say, knowing full well that I do it all the time.
He laughs. “Yeah, Ok.”
Our food arrives not long after, my dad having put a rush order on it or something. We eat it comfortable silence, both pretty much inhaling our food. After last night’s activities, it doesn’t surprise me at all that we’re starving.
Maria suddenly pops up next to the table, giving both Max and I a kiss on the cheek before walking behind the counter to get herself a cup of coffee.
Max finishes off his food, downing the rest of his coffee before standing up. “I gotta go, babe. I’m gonna be late.”
He gives me a kiss, resting his forehead against mine. “Have a good day at work, dear.” I tease.
He laughs, placing another kiss on my lips before standing up. “Don’t do too much.” He instructs as he backs toward the front door.
“She won’t!” Maria replies, waving him off.
Once he’s out the door, I turn back to face her. “Ya’ll gotta stop ganging up on me like that.”
“We’re just lookin out for you!” She says, quickly polishing off her cup of coffee.
I reach over in disbelief, looking into the cup. “You drank all that already?!”
“What? I put ice in it first.” She shrugs. “You ready to go? I have, like, every season of Friends ever on DVD, just waitin for us to watch em.”
“Yay!” I clap my hands together. “Let’s go.”
She stands up, helping me out of my chair, despite my efforts to keep her away from me. I say goodbye to my parents before following Maria out to her car. She lets me get in unassisted, thank God.
“So,” Maria starts, once we’re on the way back to my apartment. “You guys still waiting for the baby to pick the name? Or have you broke yet?”
I laugh, because I have kinda broken. “I dunno. I really like Sophia.”
She glances over at me, then back at the road. “At your party, Max said that he suggested that, and you cried.”
“He suggested Sophie.” I correct her. “Not the same thing.”
“Close enough.” Maria argues.
“Oh, mind your business, woman.” I grumble. “I don’t know though. Sometimes I like the name, sometimes I don’t. It usually depends on the mood I’m in.” We both laugh. “So, I have no idea what I’m gonna do when she finally gets here. What if I name her, then like a week later, I hate it. Then what the hell am I gonna do? I can’t change her name every other day.”
“You’ll find one that you like eventually.” Maria says, pulling into the apartment complex parking lot, and turning off the car. “I got faith in ya, chica.”
I roll my eyes at her, then swing open the car door and get out, despite Maria yelling at me not to as she reaches in the backseat for the DVD’s she brought over.
“I’m fine! I’m out of the car!” I yell, closing the door, holding my arms over my head, as if that’s gonna prove to her that I’m ok. She stops rummaging around in her backseat long enough to glance over at me, nods, then goes back to throwing things around her backseat. I make it about two steps towards the front door before I feel a pain in my lower abdomen.
I put my hand down where the pain is, bending over slightly in hopes that that’ll make it go away. I sharply inhale a deep breath when it momentarily gets worse, and then my legs get soaked.
“Oh shit.” I say, turning back to Maria, whose gotten her head out of the back seat, and is looking over the top of her car at me.
“What?” She drops the DVD’s on the ground, making her way over to me. “What happened?”
I look from the ground at my feet, then back up to her, a look of total terror on her face. “My water just broke.”
TBC...
See ya next week!
First of all-- Big hello to all the new readers and those I've brought out of lurkdom! Welcome! *hehe*
Also, thanks so much to everyone whose already nominated this fic. It means alot that you all are enjoying it!
With that said... as with everything, all good things must come to an end. This is the second to last part. Next Wed. I'll be posting the last chapter, as well as some details about future fics.
One last thing, before I shut up and get on with the show... for those who asked: Yes, all the info from the last chapter about broken backs, and CSF is true. My hubby is a combat medic in the US Army, and he's full of disgusting fun facts such as those. *lol*
Ok, on with the show!
Chapter 16
Countdown to due date: Four Days
I let out a small moan, stretching as I wake up from my nap. I glance at the clock on the bedside table. Well, shit. Max didn’t wake me up to watch Gilmore Girls, and if I hadn’t woken up when I did, I also would have missed the beginning of One Tree Hill. He is so dead when I finally manage to get myself out of bed and down the stairs.
After three, yes, count em, THREE attempts to get out of the bed, I take a deep breath. Ok, is there some trick to this?! Why the hell can’t I manage to get myself out of my own damn bed?!
I suddenly remember that Max put the baby monitor in my room earlier when he tucked me in, in case I needed him, I could just say something.
“Max?” I say, not screaming, cause that would be stupid, but loud enough to where I know he’ll be able to hear me.
After a few minutes of nothing, I glance around the room, searching for this illusive walkie-talkie thing. It’s just out of my reach next to the alarm clock. Go fucking figure.
I reach for it a few times, hoping that I’ll somehow just magically be able to reach it, and nothing happens. I shake the table a little, hoping it’ll fall down and then it’ll be close enough to where I can reach it. It does fall down, but it falls on the floor.
“Damn it!” I curse my bad luck. I glance up at the ceiling. “Seriously, who up there hates me?! I just want to watch One Tree Hill! Is that too much to ask?!”
I take a deep breath; ready to try again when I hear talking. I lay perfectly still, listening intently. Soon enough, the voices of Max and Michael become crystal clear.
“So you guys haven’t decided on a name yet?” Michael asks.
“No, we’ve got the choices narrowed down quite a bit though. We finally just decided to wait, and then once we see her, we can figure out which name we think fits her.” Max explains, as my eyes dart around, trying to figure out why the hell I can hear them.
“Are you gonna ask her to marry you?” Michael asks, causing Max to start coughing.
“What?” Max screeches, sounding very much like a little girl. “No!”
Well, that hurts. No matter that we’ve only been back together for, what? Less than a month, but still! To get as severe an answer as that... geez.
“Why the hell not?” Michael continues. Are they playing twenty questions or something?! I’d debate it further, but Michael’s voice breaks my thoughts. “Everyone and their Mama knows that you’ve been ass-over-teacups in love with that girl since you first set eyes on her. Not to mention the fact that you’ve been married to her once before, and now you’re having a child together. I really don’t think its gonna shock the shit out of anyone if you two crazy kids decide to get married. Again.”
Max grumbles something that I can’t understand, just as I finally manage to swing myself upright in bed, and get my feet planted firmly on the floor. I use my toes to grab a hold of the antennae thingy on the top of the baby monitor, and swing it up onto the bed so I can grab it.
Holy hell! That was a lot of work!!! I glance at the clock one last time, noting that I have three minutes to get situated on the couch before my show comes on. I make it halfway to the door before I remember the baby monitor laying on the bed. I go back and grab it, then realizing why I can hear Max and Michael before making the trek down the stairs.
Once I get almost to the bottom, I glance at the backs of Max and Michael’s heads, where they’re engrossed in some crime-drama re-run. I roll my eyes, quietly making my way down the rest of the stairs and walking around to stand in front of the guys.
Their eyes snap from the TV to me, and I just stand there, my eyebrows raised.
“I told you to let me know if you needed me.” Max scolds, picking up the baby monitor which he has sitting next to him on the couch, bringing it up to his ear and shaking it. “Is it broken already?”
“No, it just helps if you have the right monitor.” I supply, tossing him the other one. “You couldn’t hear me, because I could hear you.” I glance over at Michael. “Go home.”
“What? Why?” He looks over at Max, then back to me. “What’d I do?”
“You didn’t do anything. However, Max was supposed to wake me up an hour ago, and didn’t. I’ve missed Gilmore Girls, and there’s no way in hell I’m gonna miss One Tree Hill, too. Since I highly doubt you wanna watch it, I suggest haulin ass home.” I smile sweetly at Michael, and then glare at Max, who looks down a little, scratching nervously behind his ear.
Michael nods, pulling himself up off the couch and heading to the door. “I’ll call you later, Max. Bye Liz.”
Just as he’s opening the door, I call out to him. He turns back around. “I just thought I’d let you know that I’m telling everyone I know that you used the phrase ‘ass over teacups.’”
He shoots a glare Max’s direction before turning on his heel and walking out the front door. Once he’s gone, Max and I have a good laugh at his expense.
Max gets up to help me get on the couch and all situated with my pillows and blankets and stuff, before handing me the remote. I quickly switch over to the WB as the credits for Gilmore Girls go by.
He takes a seat at the other end of the couch, pulling my feet into his lap. “So what’re we watching?” He asks, even though I made him watch this with me last week. He’ll probably make me explain the whole show again, and who everyone is.
“One Tree Hill.” I answer, just waiting for the inevitable.
“That’s right.” He nods, picking up his bottle of water from the table, settling back into the couch. As the recap of what happened on last weeks show starts, he finally asks. “Ok, refresh my memory... what’s this about?”
I roll my eyes, but quickly give him as short of a recap as I can. He looks confused but goes along with it anyway.
An hour later, after the show is over, I have to retell him who everyone was, and how they all related to each other. This is getting old. I might just buy him the first season on DVD and lock him in a room with them until he gets it.
“Ok, bed time for you.” He says, standing up and pulling the blanket off of me.
I look up at him like he has four heads. “I just woke up like an hour ago!” I argue.
“Yeah, well. You need your sleep. So, let’s go.” He instructs, helping me up off the couch.
“I don’t wanna.” I pout, sticking out my lower lip.
He dips his head forward, sucking my lower lip into his mouth. Once he releases it, he smirks at me. “Too bad.”
I whine, but follow him upstairs anyway. He gets me all tucked into bed, giving me a soft kiss on the lips before turning to go back downstairs and do... whatever it is that Max does when I’m asleep. “Don’t go.” I say, just as he reaches the door.
He turns around and looks at me, looking slightly surprised. Sure, we’ve made out a little bit here and there, but he refuses to let it go any further. Damn him. “Y-you want me to stay?”
I nod, pulling back the covers on the other side of the bed. “Stay until I fall asleep?” I ask. Oh, I have other plans, but Max doesn’t need to know that... yet.
He finally agrees, walking over to the bed and undoing to snap on his jeans. He lets them slide to the floor before stepping out of them, leaving him in some workout shorts and a tank top. Hmm, him and Michael must have been at the gym earlier.
He climbs into bed with me, snuggling up against my back. He then places his hand on my stomach and rubs small circles with his index finger. He sits up slightly, so he can stretch over me and give me a kiss.
Once he’s settled back down, he resumes rubbing my stomach, either consciously, or unconsciously making his circles bigger. His hands come closer and closer to my boobs with every move.
I wiggle my butt back into his crotch, under the guise that I’m attempting to get comfortable. Yeah, right. I’m trying to seduce him, and unless there’s a baby monitor in the bed, poking me in the ass, it appears that my plan is working. Insert evil laugh here.
I move again, pretending to stretch and then resituate myself, once again pushing my ass into his crotch. He lets out a small groan, his hand instinctively coming up to massage my breasts through my shirt. I moan, pushing myself up into his hand.
“Baby.” He says, his voice catching a little, making me smile. “We have to stop.”
“Why? You don’t have to worry about getting me pregnant, you already did that.” I tease, reaching behind me to take him in my hand.
“Oh shit.” He manages out through clenched teeth.
“I want you.” I whisper, pumping my hand up and down his length, smiling when he lifts his hips to assist my actions.
“I want you.” He growls, once again, sitting up to stretch over me and capture my lips. His tongue sweeps over my lips, urging them apart. I comply, moaning as our tongues touch and a shiver runs down my spine.
Max kisses me senseless, leaving me with no coherent thoughts; with no idea which was is up, or down. He pulls back, swiftly pulling his tank top over his head, throwing it behind him on the floor. He pulls the covers back, sitting up to help me out of my clothes. He’s afraid to hurt either the baby, or me, so he moves painfully slow. As sweet as that is, a snail could’ve undressed me faster than this.
Once he has all my clothes off, he sits back a moment, looking me over. His tongue darts out to wet his lips as his eyes come back up to focus on mine. “You just keep getting more and more beautiful every time I see you like this.”
I reach my hand out, grabbing a hold of the waistband of his shorts, pulling him back towards me. “That’s sweet, honey, but take your pants off.”
He quickly yanks them down, kicking them off of him, and onto the floor with the rest of our clothes. He lays back down behind me, rubbing my stomach. “Are you sure?” He whispers, placing open-mouthed kisses along my shoulder.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I feel him begin to slip inside me. We both moan as he slowly pushes inside me, until he’s all the way in.
He takes a deep breath, wrapping his arm around me before he pulls out, and slowly pushes back in again. God, he’s killing me with this slow thing. “Max, I’m not made of glass, and you’re not gonna break me. You can go faster than that, I promise to tell you if you hurt me at all.” I finally tell him.
He picks up the pace a little, his hips thrusting forward, every time eliciting a moan of pleasure from both of us. “God, baby. You feel so good.” He drops his forehead onto my shoulder, his breath coming out in short pants.
“Oh, yeah.” I reach back, digging my nails into his butt, which only makes him growl in response.
His hand slides over the curve of my stomach, and then down even farther. He presses his fingers to my clit, making quick circles in time with the movement of his hips. I close my eyes, relishing in the feelings of absolute and total ecstasy. My moans get louder and louder with every thrust. I feel his breath against my ear. “Come for me, baby.” He orders, in a low sensual tone.
That’s all it takes before I’m screaming out his name as my orgasm rips through my body. As soon as my orgasm starts, it triggers Max’s, and he grunts a few times before falling back down onto the pillows.
We both lay together, shuddering in the wake of the mind-blowing sex we just had. Yeah, lemme tell you, that was hot.
After a few minutes, he pulls out of me, sitting up to grab the blankets to pull them back over us. He snuggles back in behind me, once again wrapping his arm around my stomach. He places a lingering kiss on my cheek. “I love you, baby.” He murmurs, obviously exhausted.
I can’t stop myself from smiling. “I love you, too.” I reply before drifting off to sleep, a smile still playing on my lips.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I slowly begin to wake up, stretching my arms over my head before glancing over at the alarm clock. It’s a little after ten in the morning, so I definitely got in enough sleep to where no one’s gonna send me back to bed. I glance over towards the other side of the bed; surprised as hell to find two amber eyes burning into my own when I look over.
“AHH!” I scream, jerking away from him.
Max immediately sits up in concern. “What? Is it the baby?”
“No, it’s you! You scared the crap outta me! You can’t do that to people!” I yell. “You can’t just be staring at them when they roll over in the morning. It’s not right!”
He simply laughs at me before climbing out of bed and grabbing his shorts up off the floor, where they’re still laying from the night before. I’m afforded a nice view of his butt before he tugs them on. He makes his way around to my side of the bed, picking up my clothes as he comes across them. He helps me into my shirt, before helping me out of bed, and helping me put my pants on. He straightens up, putting his hands on either side of my stomach, giving me a sweet good morning kiss. “Hi.”
I giggle at him. “Hi.”
He bends down, placing a kiss on my stomach. “Good morning, sweetie. Are you gonna come out and see Daddy today? You should. I know it would make me and Mommy very happy.” He coos.
“Stop being cute.” I playfully slap at his hands. “Are you working today?”
He takes my hand, assisting me in the trek to the bathroom. “Yeah, I gotta be there at noon. We have plenty of time to take a shower, and have breakfast first.”
We make it into the bathroom, where he helps me back out of the clothes that he just put back on me, before taking off his shorts, which also just got put back on, and we get into the shower.
Almost 45 minutes later, we’re done showering. Hey, it takes quite a bit of time and effort to try to move around each other in a little shower. Especially when I’m the size of a fucking elephant.
After we’re all dried off, I go into my bedroom to grab something to wear. I go with my pregnancy outfit of choice: none other than a velour sweat suit.
By the time I’m all dressed and my hair is all dried, Max is back from getting ready for work over at his apartment. He jogs upstairs to help me down. “What do you want for breakfast?” He asks as we reach the final stair.
“Crashdown.” I smile at him, grabbing my purse off the coffee table, and walking to the front door.
He groans, as always, but doesn’t say no. He helps me in the car before we head off. “Do you have any plans for today?” He asks, absentmindedly flipping through radio stations.
“Yeah, Maria and I are gonna hang out. I’m not sure what we’re gonna do yet though.” I answer, slapping his hand away from the radio dial and just turning the radio off.
“You should just have her meet you here.” Max suggests, pulling into an open spot in front of the restaurant.
“I’ll call her when we get inside.” I say, opening the car door and getting out.
Max runs around, reaching my side just as I finally get outta the car. “I’ve told you before to just let me help you.” He scolds.
“I’m not totally incapable of functioning.” I volley back.
He rolls his eyes, opting to not get into it with me right now. He’s probably being really smart in doing that. According to the doctor, the baby is due in like, three days, and I get crankier and crankier with every day that goes by. I just want her out. I look like I swallowed a watermelon or something, its not cute.
Before we even make it inside, my parents rush out, scolding Max for letting me be out ‘in my condition’. I quickly slap at their hands as they reach out to help me walk, as if I can’t handle that. I manage to make it inside before I snap. “If you two don’t get off my back, I’m not letting you come to the hospital! Back off!” I bark, causing everyone in the restaurant to look at me. I look around at them. “What?!” I scream. They all look down, seeming disinterested in what’s going on. I waddle over to a table and lower myself into it. Max flips his chair around and straddles the back of it, like he’s riding his motorcycle or something. I roll my eyes at him, before turning to regard my parents. “I’m hungry.” I pout.
“What do you want, baby?” My mom asks, running her fingers through my hair.
“A omelet.” I say, in my best ‘I’m still your little girl’ voice. My dad just nods before taking Max’s order and going into the kitchen. I can hear him arguing with Jose about the fact that even though they don’t serve omelets, Jose’s gonna have to make one. “Mommy, will you call Maria and tell her to meet me here?”
“Of course, sweetie.” She kisses the top of my head before moving to leave the table.
“Mommy, I want some juice too. Apple. Oh, and Max wants coffee, please.” I add.
She nods at me, then grabs the phone and goes behind the counter to get our drinks. I smile, before looking back at Max, who’s shaking his head. “I’m still amazed every time you do that.” He says, playing with a sugar packet.
My mom drops off our drinks, still on the phone with Maria, before going into the back. “Do what?” I ask after taking a big drink.
“Wrap people around your little finger.” He smirks. “What’s really amazing is that it still shocks me, considering you do it to me all the time.”
I gasp. “I do not.” I say, knowing full well that I do it all the time.
He laughs. “Yeah, Ok.”
Our food arrives not long after, my dad having put a rush order on it or something. We eat it comfortable silence, both pretty much inhaling our food. After last night’s activities, it doesn’t surprise me at all that we’re starving.
Maria suddenly pops up next to the table, giving both Max and I a kiss on the cheek before walking behind the counter to get herself a cup of coffee.
Max finishes off his food, downing the rest of his coffee before standing up. “I gotta go, babe. I’m gonna be late.”
He gives me a kiss, resting his forehead against mine. “Have a good day at work, dear.” I tease.
He laughs, placing another kiss on my lips before standing up. “Don’t do too much.” He instructs as he backs toward the front door.
“She won’t!” Maria replies, waving him off.
Once he’s out the door, I turn back to face her. “Ya’ll gotta stop ganging up on me like that.”
“We’re just lookin out for you!” She says, quickly polishing off her cup of coffee.
I reach over in disbelief, looking into the cup. “You drank all that already?!”
“What? I put ice in it first.” She shrugs. “You ready to go? I have, like, every season of Friends ever on DVD, just waitin for us to watch em.”
“Yay!” I clap my hands together. “Let’s go.”
She stands up, helping me out of my chair, despite my efforts to keep her away from me. I say goodbye to my parents before following Maria out to her car. She lets me get in unassisted, thank God.
“So,” Maria starts, once we’re on the way back to my apartment. “You guys still waiting for the baby to pick the name? Or have you broke yet?”
I laugh, because I have kinda broken. “I dunno. I really like Sophia.”
She glances over at me, then back at the road. “At your party, Max said that he suggested that, and you cried.”
“He suggested Sophie.” I correct her. “Not the same thing.”
“Close enough.” Maria argues.
“Oh, mind your business, woman.” I grumble. “I don’t know though. Sometimes I like the name, sometimes I don’t. It usually depends on the mood I’m in.” We both laugh. “So, I have no idea what I’m gonna do when she finally gets here. What if I name her, then like a week later, I hate it. Then what the hell am I gonna do? I can’t change her name every other day.”
“You’ll find one that you like eventually.” Maria says, pulling into the apartment complex parking lot, and turning off the car. “I got faith in ya, chica.”
I roll my eyes at her, then swing open the car door and get out, despite Maria yelling at me not to as she reaches in the backseat for the DVD’s she brought over.
“I’m fine! I’m out of the car!” I yell, closing the door, holding my arms over my head, as if that’s gonna prove to her that I’m ok. She stops rummaging around in her backseat long enough to glance over at me, nods, then goes back to throwing things around her backseat. I make it about two steps towards the front door before I feel a pain in my lower abdomen.
I put my hand down where the pain is, bending over slightly in hopes that that’ll make it go away. I sharply inhale a deep breath when it momentarily gets worse, and then my legs get soaked.
“Oh shit.” I say, turning back to Maria, whose gotten her head out of the back seat, and is looking over the top of her car at me.
“What?” She drops the DVD’s on the ground, making her way over to me. “What happened?”
I look from the ground at my feet, then back up to her, a look of total terror on her face. “My water just broke.”
TBC...
See ya next week!
Last edited by LittleHottie510 on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
<center>S&M-*Twinkie* -n- *Twin*</center>
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LittleHottie510
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Hey guys, I know I'ma little late... I wasn't feeling well earlier and slept through a good majority of the day, but I'm here now! Don't throw things at me.
So... here we are, the last chapter. *sniffle* I'm sad to see it go, I had a blast writing this one... I'm gonna miss it.
First of all, I want to thank all of my wonderful readers for their FB, and a big thanks to the lurkers as well, I know you're out there!!! I'm glad you came along for the ride, I hope I didn't disappoint you!!
Also, for those who are interested, I have quite a few things planned for the future. I'm co-writing a fic with my *twin*, Tanya... BehrsGirl77... whatever you wanna call her! *lol* Love you! *muah*... Called "Forever Fades Away".. its AU, should be posted sometime around the first part of April. Also, I'm working on another AU, right now its titled "Miles Away From Home", but that could change... I have an authors page, if you're really that interested. *lol*
I had more to say, but I can't remember what it was... so I'm just gonna shut up and post now.
Oh, also... I've never had a baby, I've never been in a delivery room, I've never even been in the waiting room while someone was having a baby (I will be this summer though! *twinkie*! Love you!)... so if I get some of this stuff wrong, please just over-look it. I tried my best to be semi-accurate, but... shit happens. *lol*
Ok, here it is. The last chapter of "All's Fair In Love And War.".... Enjoy!
Chapter 17
Maria stares at me, her mouth working but no sound coming out. “Excuse me?” She finally squeaks, continuing to look down at the ground, and back up at me.
“My water just broke.” I repeat.
She starts shaking her head wildly. “No, sweetie, you can’t do this to me! I’m no good in crisis situations! I can’t handle this right now! Make it stop!” She screams.
“Make it stop?! I can’t make it stop! It doesn’t work like that, Maria! The baby is coming. You have to help me change real quick, because I’m NOT going to the hospital like this, and then you have to get me to the hospital. We gotta call everyone... Oh, god.” I lean forward slightly, as the pain seems to intensify. I glance up at Maria, who is pacing back and forth, mumbling to herself like a looney. “Can we hurry please? I wanna hurry and get drugged up, this sucks!”
Somehow, Maria manages to pull herself together long enough to help me get the door unlocked, and run upstairs and find me a clean outfit before running back downstairs, and helping me change.
We get in the car, and before Maria even gets her door closed, she’s slammed the car into gear and is heading towards the hospital. She skids onto the main drag, going at least double the speed limit. “I don’t wanna die on the way to the hospital, Maria! Slow down, you’re not a Nascar driver!” I yell, holding onto the ‘Oh, Shit!’ handle for dear life.
“I’m fine! It’s fine! We’re gonna be fine!” Maria screams back at me. “Do those stupid breathing techniques, don’t tell me Max and I went to that stupid class with you all that time for nothing!” She’s gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles are white, and I’m sure the damn thing is gonna pop off in her hand. I quickly say a prayer, knowing I’m gonna need someone on my side to make it to the hospital in one piece. “Oh, fuck me!” Maria suddenly blurts out.
I pop open one eye, having had to close them to avoid freaking out anymore than I already am. “What?” I ask, almost too scared to know.
“We’re getting pulled over!” She yells, obviously debating on whether or not to pull over or keep going.
“Don’t stop!” I scream, glancing in the side view mirror to see a police cruiser behind us, lights flashing. “Give me your phone.”
She somehow manages to find her phone, and hand it to me, and stay on the road, and maintain her current 75 MPH. “I think this guys gettin pissed...” She glances in the mirror again.
“Don’t fuckin stop!” I continue to yell at her, quickly dialing Kyle’s cell phone number.
He answers after two rings. “Finally decided to give up on Guerin and talk to a real man?” He asks, unworried about pleasantries.
“Shut up, Kyle!” I yell. “It’s Liz, and you have to do me a big favor. Call your dad on three-way.”
“Why?” He asks, obviously confused as to why the hell I would want to talk to his dad. Hell, I’d be confused too, but I ain’t got time for this crap.
“Just do it!” I screech.
“Whoa, ok. Hold on.” He puts me on hold, and a few seconds later, I hear it begin ringing. “You still there?” He asks.
“Yes.” I grit out. God, when did the hospital get so fuckin far away?!
“Kyle, this isn’t a good time, I’m in the middle of something...” Sheriff Valenti starts, but I just cut him off.
“Sheriff, this is Liz Parker, I’m in a maroon Honda Civic with Maria DeLuca, and we’re getting pulled over.” I start explaining, but he cuts me off.
“So you two are the ones I’m attempting to pull over that just won’t stop, huh? First of all, stop. Second of all, what the hell are you thinking goin 75 in a 35?” He asks. Oh, Lord. I’m gonna kill this man. I’m gonna kill everyone who gets in my way if I don’t get to the fucking hospital!
“Geez, Liz. Just pull over, don’t make it difficult.” Kyle puts his two cents in.
“First of all, Kyle, Shut up! Secondly, Sheriff, I’m sorry, but we can’t pull over. I’m in labor, and I need to get to the hospital!”
“You’re what?!” Kyle screams, sounding very feminine.
“I’m. In. Labor.” I yell through clenched teeth as the pain starts intensifying again.
“Ok, Liz, here’s what I’m gonna do.” Sheriff Valenti says, “I’m going to get in front of you and escort you guys to the hospital, you’ll get there quicker.”
“Thank you.” I breath a sigh of relief, quickly telling Maria what’s going on. Valenti says goodbye before hanging up and quickly pulling in front of us, lights and sirens blaring. “Kyle, pass the word along to Max and Michael. Have Michael drive to the hospital, Max would probably kill himself on the way there. You call Alex and Isabel and tell them, then have Isabel call her parents, and have Alex call my parents.”
“Got it.” Kyle says, then I hear rustling before I hear Kyle’s muffled voice. “HEY! Everyone get the hell outta the shop! We gotta close! Max’s old lady’s in labor!” I hear things being dropped, and people rushing around, and people screaming before the phone gets handed off.
“Liz?!” Max yells into the phone.
“Hey, I’m not deaf. Lay off the screaming.” I yell back at him. “Hurry up and get to the hospital, but let Michael drive, ok? I want you there to see your daughter born, not as a patient for almost killing yourself on the way, ok?”
“Yeah, yeah. Ok. Yeah. Ok. I got this. I can do this.” Max rushes out. “What the fuck am I doing?! Where’s the car?! Where’d Michael go? KYLE! Where is Michael?!”
“I’m right here, fucker! Calm down!” Michael screams. “The car is in the same place it was freakin half an hour ago when you got here. Come on!”
I scream as the pain gets worse, causing Maria to nearly swerve off the road, and Max to start screaming in my ear. “Maria! Stay on the road!” I yell between the ‘who, who, he’ breathing I’ve been told helps. Yeah, it doesn’t! “Max, stop screaming. I’ll see you at the hospital. Remind Kyle to call everyone!”
I don’t wait for him to answer me back, I just turn the phone off, throwing it onto the floor board of the car. I throw my head back against the headrest, gritting my teeth against the pain. Maria glances over at me. “Does it hurt as bad as they say?” She asks, alternating between looking at me, and looking at the road.
“No, it’s a regular fuckin walk in the park!” I sarcastically retort. I literally almost start crying in relief when the hospital comes into view up ahead.
Maria slams on the brakes once she’s reached the entrance to the ER. She throws the car into park before opening her door and running into the sliding doors, yelling and gesturing wildly. I open the passenger side door, but that’s as far as I get before nurses come running out with a wheelchair to help me out of the car and into the chair.
Maria grabs hold of my hand, doing my breathing exercises with me as I’m being wheeled into the hospital.
“Hey, you can’t leave your car parked there.” One of the nurses informs Maria.
Maria tosses the woman her keys. “Then move it.” She says, seemingly unconcerned when the woman gasps.
“I’m a nurse, not a valet.” She replies in a snooty tone.
I put my hand on the wheel of the chair, causing it to stop, and all the nurses who are rushing me to a room to look at me, confused. I whip my head around to regard the nurse. “I don’t give a shit what your job is, move the fucking car! Trust me, bitch, you don’t want me to come over there!”
The woman’s mouth drops open, and she scoffs at me. “Excuse me?”
Sheriff Valenti strolls in, having parked his car and made his way inside. “Give me the keys, for cryin out loud, I’ll move the damn thing!” He snatches the keys from the woman before walking over to me. “You need anything else?”
“Can you call and make sure my parents are on their way?” I ask. “I asked Kyle to do it, but...”
He cuts me off. “You can never trust Kyle to get anything done right, I’ll go get them myself. I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes.”
I get pushed one way as he takes off back out the doors. Once I’m in a room, everything starts moving too fast for me to comprehend. I’m put in a hospital gown, and ushered into a bed. Soon I’m hooked up to an IV, and attached to all kinds of different monitors.
Once most of the chaos calms down, Maria and I are the only ones in the room. She’s sitting next to me on the bed, playing with my hair. She always does it when she knows I need to be distracted. It’s not working as well as it normally does, but that’s to be expected with everything that’s going on right now.
“Are you scared?” She whispers, never once taking her eyes off whatever she’s looking at on the other side of the room.
I nod my head slightly, before looking up and locking eyes with her. “It’s not that I’m just scared about the delivery either. I just... what if I’m not a good mother?” My voice cracks slightly as tears start to glisten in my eyes, making my vision become slightly blurry.
Maria shifts, framing my face with her hands. “You are going to be a wonderful mother, Liz Parker. Don’t you dare doubt yourself. This baby is so lucky to be getting parents like you and Max. Not to mention, a cool aunt like me.” She giggles, winking at me to lighten the mood.
I giggle, then sniffle, wiping at my eyes. “Thank you.”
“I’m here for you, chica. Always have been, always will be.” She shifts again, leaning against the pillows propped up on the bed. She laces her fingers through mine, giving my hand a little squeeze. “Is it hurting right now?”
“Not so much hurting right now, no.” I try to explain, but quickly give up when the nurse comes in, holding a clipboard that we’ve rejected already like twelve times.
“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to fill these out.” She tries to reason with us again. I finally gave up on her, now it’s all up to Maria. I have a feeling she won’t let me down.
“You’d think nurses would have to be smart to do this job.” Maria shakes her head, before turning her eyes to the nurse. “We aren’t filling those out. Her parents will take care of it.”
“If you don’t fill these out...” She begins, barely containing the urge to just throw the clipboard at Maria and be done with the whole thing. I don’t think her boss would like it, but I have a strange feeling it would be really funny.
“What?” Maria leans forward, resting her chin in her hand, looking interested. “What’s going to happen to us if we don’t fill them out? Is there some kind of punishment you will bestow upon us? Give me some of those details, won’t ya?”
She opens her mouth to speak again, but I quickly speak up. “Listen lady, here’s the thing. We. Aren’t. Filling. Those. Out.” I speak very slowly, in case she’s... well, slow. “The sooner you come to terms with it, the better off you’re going to be. You can either stay in here, and continue talking with my best friend, who, by the way, you would be NO match for, or you can scamper off, and my parents will handle it later. It’s really your call.”
She sighs, then turns and leaves the room. Maria looks over at me, shocked. “You got her to leave. That was incredible!”
“Yeah, well. No promises that she won’t come back and try again.” I shrug, leaning back into the pillows. Maria links her arm through mine, laying down fully on the bed next to me.
“Oh, sweetie.” My mom flies into the room, my dad hot on her heels, runs over and begins fussing over me. “We came as soon as Jim showed up. Where’s Max?” She looks around, seeing it’s only Maria and I.
“He better show up, damn it!” My dad starts, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Daddy, don’t.” I whine, just as another contraction hits. “Ohmigod.” I squeeze Maria’s hand as hard as I can, then start in on the breathing exercises when Maria and Mom both start doing it.
Alex and Isabel run in, mid-contraction. “Did we miss the good stuff?” Alex jokes, then smiles apologetically when he sees me in my current state of pain.
“Alex, come take her hand, mine just broke.” Maria says, prying her fingers out of my hand.
Alex quickly replaces her, offering me his hand. I reach up and clamp down on it. He opens his mouth, like he’s about to scream, but closes his mouth and squeezes his eyes closed, only letting out a little squeak.
“Don’t be such a pussy.” I grit out, then let out a long breath as the pain subsides.
“Lizzie...” My dad starts.
“Oh, for heavens sakes, Jeff. She’s having a baby, she’s entitled to all the bad language she wants to use.” My mom says, brushing my hair back from my face, and sweeping it up into a bun. “You need anything, baby?”
“Something to drink, pain killers, and Max.” I say, dropping my head back on the pillow.
Alex brings the back of my hand up to his lips, giving it a quick kiss. “I’ll do my best as the substitute until he gets here.” He flashes me a smile.
“Your father and I will go get you some ice chips, sweetie.” My mom grabs my dad by the arm, practically dragging him outta the room with her.
Isabel takes my moms place on the other side of me. “You’re really doing this.” She says, awe shining in her voice.
“Yeah, I don’t think I have the option of backing out now.” I manage a small laugh. “Did you call your parents?”
Isabel looks at me, her perfectly shaped blonde eyebrows drawn together. “No...” She drawls out. “I wasn’t told that I was supposed to.”
“Kyle was supposed to tell you to do that when he called you.” I say, glancing at Maria for confirmation.
“Yeah, I heard her tell him on the way here.” Maria nods.
“He never called us.” Alex informs us. “We had shown up at the Crashdown no more then ten minutes before Jim got there. We followed him and your parents here.”
“Well, then, where’s Max, Michael and Kyle?” I ask, starting to panic.
“No, you stay calm.” Isabel scolds, “I’ll go outside and call my parents, and then I’ll try to get in touch with the guys.” She stands up from her place on the bed next to me. “Maria can handle holding this hand while I’m gone.”
Before Isabel even has the chance to let go of my hand, Michael, Kyle and Max all fly into the room, skidding to a stop at the end of the bed. Isabel moves aside so Max can have one of my hands. “I’m so sorry it took us so long.” Max apologizes, taking my hand and giving me a kiss. “Michael got lost on the way here.”
Michael’s face gets red as all eyes turn to him. “Are you kidding me?” Maria slaps him in the shoulder. “You dillweed, you’ve lived in this town your whole life!”
“I panicked!” Michael throws his arms up in the air. “I’m sorry!”
“Ok.” A nurse breezes in, checking the chart just as my parents return with a little bucket of ice chips. “How’s everything going in here?” She asks.
I pull my head up off the pillow to regard her, but as soon as I open my mouth to speak, I snort a laugh. I would end up with the nurse who I told off earlier, wouldn’t I? That’s just my own damn bad luck. “I want drugs.” I finally manage.
“Of course.” She smiles sweetly at me, but I know she’s secretly calling me every bad name in the book for telling her to move Maria’s car. “I’m afraid that we can’t have this many people just hanging around in here. This is a hospital room, not an IHOP. I’m going to need all of you to please leave so I can examine her. You’re more than welcome to stop in every so often.”
I get hugs and kisses from everyone, even Michael, if you can believe that, as they all leave. Max makes a move to get up and I dig my nails into his forearm. “Where in the name of all things Holy do you think you’re going?” I balk at him.
“I was just...” He starts, hitching his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the door.
“You were just gonna make yourself comfortable because you’re not goin anywhere.” I state firmly, leaving no room for arguments.
Max glances down at the nurse, whose already put on gloves and lifted up the sheet and is poking around... downstairs, if you will. He looks slightly uncomfortable about the whole thing, but takes his place on the bed next to me.
“Ok.” The nurse puts the sheet back down before removing her gloves and writing something on the chart. “You’re not progressing particularly fast, but that’s totally normal for first timers. I’ll be back a little later.”
“When do I get drugged?” I yell after her, as she’s already halfway out the door.
“I’ll call the anesthesiologist now, he’ll be down to talk to you shortly.” She calls over her shoulder.
“Oh geez, I’m never gonna get drugged up.” I whine, dropping my head back onto the pillow.
“What are you talking about? She just said...” Max begins.
“Yeah, well, she left out the part where she’s gonna let me suffer because I called her a bitch and told her to move Maria’s car” I inform him. He laughs a little, but I find no humor in this situation. It’s gonna be a long day.
**********************
About half an hour later, I’m standing next to my hospital bed, my arms bracing the side of it as Max rubs his hands slowly up and down my back. I guess standing up in between contraction helps, gravity working with you and all that.
“Is this helping?” Max asks.
“Not as much as drugs would.” I grumble, climbing back into bed.
Max helps me get into a relatively comfortable position, rearranging the blankets over me. “I’m sure the nurse is handling it.” I look up at him, giving him the ‘Get with the program’ look. “What? It’s possible.”
There’s a knock at the door before Diane pokes her head in the door. “Can we come in?”
“Sure, Mom.” Max answers, walking across the room to open the door for her. He gives her a kiss on the cheek before shaking hands with his dad as they both make their way into the room.
“We know you’re probably not up for a whole bunch of people hanging about,” Diane says, giving me a small smile from where she stands with Philip near the end of the bed. “We just wanted to let you both know that we’re here, and if either of you need anything, just let us know, ok?”
“Actually, Diane, if you could, would you please have my nurse sent in here?” I ask.
“Of course.” She answers, already making her way towards the door.
She’s almost hit in the face with it as the door opens from the other side and the nurse appears. “How’s everything in here?” She asks, still as cheerful as ever. She walks around to the side of the bed, checking the monitors and fluids.
Before she even suspects a thing, I reach up, grabbing onto the lapel of her scrubs, pulling her down so that her face is only inches from mine. “Alright, let’s have a little chat, shall we?” I growl at her.
“Liz...” Max walks cautiously towards the bed, as if getting too close will set me off.
I ignore him, my focus entirely on the terrified nurse. I glance down at her name tag. “Shelly, is it? Ok, Shelly. Here’s the deal. I know you’re pissed about what happened earlier, but I want you to listen to me VERY closely. If I don’t get drugged up soon, I will become very angry and it will detract from the pleasant attitude you’re receiving right now. To paint a picture for you, have you seen ‘The Shining’?” She nods her head, her eyes wide. “Ok, good. Jack Nicholson took lessons from me before making that movie, and he toned it down... and that was before I was pregnant. I want a new nurse and I want drugs. NOW!” I release her shirt and she quickly runs out of the room, leaving Max, Philip and Diane staring at me with their mouths wide open.
“I can’t believe you just did that.” Philip says, his voice almost a whisper.
“I can.” Diane smoothly interjects. “I remember when I was having Isabel...” She literally cringes. “I would have done the same thing if they had slacked off on giving me pain killers.”
I glance over at Max, who now has his head lowered, trying to keep from laughing, causing me to also start laughing, despite the circumstances.
A few moments later, my new nurse, Nicole, comes into the room, but only after I promised her I wouldn’t hurt her. After finishing checking everything, Nicole calls for the man with the magic medicine to pay me a visit.
Philip and Diane leave when he arrives, wishing me luck. Once it’s all established that I’m still in the appropriate time window to have the drugs administered, we get to it.
Not long after a needle the size of Texas is shoved into my spine, I don’t really give a shit about too much, to be completely honest.
Everyone parades in and out of my room for the next hour, laughing at me and taking pictures. I would have highly objected to the pictures if I wasn’t so damn high, but like I said... I don’t give a shit right now. I’m pretty sure that everyone’s showed up, but I couldn’t tell you who was missing if someone was.
Finally, almost 3 hours later, when Nicole comes back in to check on me, she informs me that I’m fully dilated and they’re ready to move me into the delivery room.
“What?” I ask, suddenly completely overwhelmed by a rush of different emotions. I’m happy that this is finally going to be over with, I’m anxious to finally meet my baby girl, and I’m scared shitless that I’m not gonna be able to do this.
Max senses my sudden mood changed, lacing his fingers through mine. “It’s gonna be ok, baby. I got you. I know you can do this, ok?” He looks deep into my eyes, giving me strength and confidence that I can actually pull this off. I nod as, once again, I get a round of hugs and kisses from everyone before they all head off to the waiting room, and I get taken to a delivery room, Max and Maria with me for the ride.
Once I’m in there, people start rushing all over the place trying to get everything ready. I look up at Maria, she’s almost in tears already, then on the total opposite side of the spectrum, I look at Max, finding him looking down at me with a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “What?” I asks, unable to see what the hell he would be finding amusing right now.
“I love you.” He whispers, his smile getting bigger. “I can’t believe we’re really doing this.”
“We?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t see a ‘we.’ I see a me, getting ready to push your child out of my body.” Another contraction takes over as they’re almost on top of each other now. “It hurts.” I whisper, tears leaking out of the corners of my eyes.
Max looks down at me, pain evident in his facial expression. “If I could, I’d do this for you. I hate seeing you like this.” He smooths the hair back out of my face.
“Alright, are you ready to push, Liz?” Doctor Jenkins asks, sliding into place on a little rolling stool thing.
“Do I have a choice?” I ask.
“Uhm...” He trails off. “No, not really.” He flashes me, what I assume to be a smile behind one of those medical face mask things... he eyes got squinty, so I’m assuming it was a smile. “Next contraction, you’re gonna push, ok?”
“No, I can’t do this.” I freak out, shaking my head wildly. “I don’t know what I was thinking, I can’t do this, I changed my mind.”
“Liz, please calm down, baby.” Max begs, doing everything he can to get me calm. “This will all be over soon.”
“Just think of the long-term, Lizzie.” Maria says, as she helps me lean up so she can move in behind me for something to brace myself against once I start pushing. Max is left to stand next to the bed and hold my hand. The doctors said that way he could be able to see everything going on. Don’t mind the fact that I might not want half the town down there seeing what’s going on, the doctors seem to think it’s a good idea.
I feel another contraction starting, and I grip onto Max’s hand for dear life. “Contraction.” I alert the room.
“Ok, Liz. Push!” The doctor yells.
I start pushing, as per his instructions, literally feeling like I’m being ripped in half the entire ten seconds that Max and Maria counts out. As soon as they hit ten, I fall back against Maria in pure exhaustion.
“I can’t do that again.” I shake my head, quickly going from tearful agony, to full out pissed off. “I can’t believe you did this to me, Max! You’re never, EVER touching me again!” I scream at him.
“Are you mad at me for this?” He screams at me.
“Yes! I”m furious at you for this, you jackass!” I yell back at him.
“You have to push again, Liz!” The doctor jumps onto the yelling bandwagon.
“No!” I yell back. “I can’t do this!”
“Yes, you can!” Max grabs my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Push!” He yells.
I’m so mad at him that I push with every ounce of energy I have left in me. I listen as they count down the ten seconds I have to continue to push.
“I can see the head!” The doctor yells, the nurses running around behind him like chickens with their heads cut off. “Push again immediately after this ten count!”
Max and Maria hit ten, and I take another deep breath and continue pushing. My whole body is shaking in protest of the use of my energy, but I continue to push.
“Max, you might wanna get down here.” The doctor tells him.
Never letting go of my hand, because God knows he’d have to get a hacksaw and cut his arm off before he’d be free of my grip, he scoots down closer to the real action. His mouth drops open, and he stammers a little before finally getting a sentence out of his mouth. “Holy hell. Liz, how’re you doin this?”
“NOT HELPING!” I scream at him.
“Keep pushing!” Everyone in the room yells at me.
“FUCK OFF!” I bellow back, but inhale another large breath before I push again. I scream through clenched teeth, pushing until I’m sure that all my vital organs are going to come tumbling out of my body along with this baby. Beautiful imagery, right?
“It’s definitely a girl!” Max screams, followed by the doctor letting me know that I’m good to collapse back onto Maria with absolutely no feeling left in my body whatsoever. Maria is bawling her eyes out, and she wraps her arms around me, telling me how proud she is of me.
A few seconds later, I hear a snuffling, then a loud scream. I lift my head to look down and see my baby girl for the first time. I immediately break down into tears as she continues to cry. I know that I’ll eventually grow to loathe that sound, but right now, it’s music to my ears.
“Wanna cut to the cord, Dad?” The doctor asks.
I watch as Max takes a hold of the sterile scissors he’s handed, and I watch him cut the cord, his hands shaking like a leaf the entire time. They wrap the baby in a blanket after cleaning her up a little and bring her back over and put her on my chest.
I wrap my arms around her, placing a kiss on her forehead. She opens her eyes and stares directly into my eyes. Well, she definitely inherited that from her father. “Hey you.” I whisper.
I look up at Max, surprised to see tears rolling down his cheeks. He doesn’t even attempt to hide the fact that he’s crying, he simply leans over, placing a lingering kiss on my lips. “She’s perfect.” He whispers, glancing down at her before looking back at me. “Just like her mommy.”
****************
A few hours later, I’m laying in my own private room, (Thank you, Diane Evans) a little sore, but happy that I’m no longer the size of an elephant.
Max is laying in the bed with me, as I hold the baby to my chest. Her eyes are wide open, and she’s alternating between staring at me, and staring at Max. I glance up at Max. “You know she’s gonna be a heartbreaker when she gets older, right?”
Max pales considerably. “I’ll kill the fool who tries to touch her.” He mumbles.
I can’t help but giggle as there’s a soft knock at the door. Max gets up and opens the door, causing Maria, Michael, Kyle, Tess, Alex, Isabel, Mom, Dad, Diane and Philip to all pour in. They immediately head straight for me, all of them wanting to see the baby.
Maria makes a small whimpering sound. “Oh, if I hadn’t seen this one come out, I’d want one.” She leans down to place multiple kisses on the top of her head.
“Thank God for small favors.” Michael mutters.
“Amen to that. We don’t need little Guerin/DeLuca devil offspring running around yet.” Kyle slides in smoothly, earning him a slap in the chest from Maria, and a shove across the room from Michael. “Yeah, see?” He points at both of them, making his way back to where he was standing. “The world doesn’t need that.”
“Kyle, shut up for two seconds.” Isabel whines, before looking back at me. “Have you guys named her yet?” She asks. Maria is the only one of the group to have even seen her, and she went to the waiting room to give Max and I a few minutes alone with her.
“Actually, we have.” Max informs them, reaching down to extract her from my arms, and turning her so everyone can see her. “This is Sophia Alyssa Evans.”
There’s a round of “Aww!!!”’s from all the ladies in the room, before Alex pipes up. “At least she doesn’t have Max’s ears.”
I immediately crack up, then slap my hand over my mouth when Max glares at me. I sober immediately. “I’m sorry.” I turn from Max to Alex. “That wasn’t funny.”
“Yeah, it was.” My dad throws out, causing everyone to burst into laugher again.
“Can I hold her?” My mom asks.
Max looks down at me, and I don’t hesitate nodding to Max. He hands Sophia over to her grandma before coming back over and climbing up into the bed with me, wrapping his arms around me and giving me a soft lingering kiss. “I love you.” He whispers, his forehead resting against mine, looking deep into my eyes.
“I love you, too.” I state firmly, smiling at me. “Can I ask you something? Well, two something’s, actually.” I pull back slightly, but maintain eye contact.
“You just did.” He jokes, then winks at me. “Yes, you know you can ask me anything.”
“Why did you so strongly object to us getting married again?” I tilt my head to the side to regard him. He looks slightly confused, so I elaborate a little. “When you and Michael were hanging out in the livingroom at my apartment, before One Tree Hill... Michael asked you if you were gonna ask me to marry you, and you, like, screamed out no. Why?”
He reaches up, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “I never said never. I just said not right now. One thing at a time, baby.” He kisses me softly on the forehead. “Of course I want to marry you again, I just think we’re going to need some time to adjust to Sophia and all the new things she’s going to mean for us, before we go ahead and get married again. Does that make sense?”
I think about it for a minute. “Yeah, it makes sense.” He smiles before I tack on “Just don’t wait too long, or I’ll go pursue other options.”
He can’t help but laugh at me. “Noted. What’s the other thing you wanna ask me?”
“If a year ago, someone would have told you that this is where you’d be a year from then, would you have believed them?” I glance over, seeing my mom pass Sophia to my dad, who looks terrified for a moment, but instantly falls in love with her. Oh yeah, she’s gonna be so spoiled.
“Not a chance.” He laughs. “But I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world.”
“It’s mind-boggling to even think about it, ya know?” He nods, snorting a little laugh. “Why do you think it all worked out this way? I mean, we got divorced, and we fought, and there were times when I was certain we’d end up killing each other...” I trail off, shaking my head. “I just don’t get it.”
“Well, you know what they say...” Max drawls.
“No, what do you they say?” I ask, momentarily tearing my eyes away from Sophia long enough to look back at Max.
He flashes me a huge smile before leaning over and whispering into my ear, like it’s the biggest secret in the world. “All’s fair in love and war.”
The End.
So... here we are, the last chapter. *sniffle* I'm sad to see it go, I had a blast writing this one... I'm gonna miss it.
First of all, I want to thank all of my wonderful readers for their FB, and a big thanks to the lurkers as well, I know you're out there!!! I'm glad you came along for the ride, I hope I didn't disappoint you!!
Also, for those who are interested, I have quite a few things planned for the future. I'm co-writing a fic with my *twin*, Tanya... BehrsGirl77... whatever you wanna call her! *lol* Love you! *muah*... Called "Forever Fades Away".. its AU, should be posted sometime around the first part of April. Also, I'm working on another AU, right now its titled "Miles Away From Home", but that could change... I have an authors page, if you're really that interested. *lol*
I had more to say, but I can't remember what it was... so I'm just gonna shut up and post now.
Oh, also... I've never had a baby, I've never been in a delivery room, I've never even been in the waiting room while someone was having a baby (I will be this summer though! *twinkie*! Love you!)... so if I get some of this stuff wrong, please just over-look it. I tried my best to be semi-accurate, but... shit happens. *lol*
Ok, here it is. The last chapter of "All's Fair In Love And War.".... Enjoy!
Chapter 17
Maria stares at me, her mouth working but no sound coming out. “Excuse me?” She finally squeaks, continuing to look down at the ground, and back up at me.
“My water just broke.” I repeat.
She starts shaking her head wildly. “No, sweetie, you can’t do this to me! I’m no good in crisis situations! I can’t handle this right now! Make it stop!” She screams.
“Make it stop?! I can’t make it stop! It doesn’t work like that, Maria! The baby is coming. You have to help me change real quick, because I’m NOT going to the hospital like this, and then you have to get me to the hospital. We gotta call everyone... Oh, god.” I lean forward slightly, as the pain seems to intensify. I glance up at Maria, who is pacing back and forth, mumbling to herself like a looney. “Can we hurry please? I wanna hurry and get drugged up, this sucks!”
Somehow, Maria manages to pull herself together long enough to help me get the door unlocked, and run upstairs and find me a clean outfit before running back downstairs, and helping me change.
We get in the car, and before Maria even gets her door closed, she’s slammed the car into gear and is heading towards the hospital. She skids onto the main drag, going at least double the speed limit. “I don’t wanna die on the way to the hospital, Maria! Slow down, you’re not a Nascar driver!” I yell, holding onto the ‘Oh, Shit!’ handle for dear life.
“I’m fine! It’s fine! We’re gonna be fine!” Maria screams back at me. “Do those stupid breathing techniques, don’t tell me Max and I went to that stupid class with you all that time for nothing!” She’s gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles are white, and I’m sure the damn thing is gonna pop off in her hand. I quickly say a prayer, knowing I’m gonna need someone on my side to make it to the hospital in one piece. “Oh, fuck me!” Maria suddenly blurts out.
I pop open one eye, having had to close them to avoid freaking out anymore than I already am. “What?” I ask, almost too scared to know.
“We’re getting pulled over!” She yells, obviously debating on whether or not to pull over or keep going.
“Don’t stop!” I scream, glancing in the side view mirror to see a police cruiser behind us, lights flashing. “Give me your phone.”
She somehow manages to find her phone, and hand it to me, and stay on the road, and maintain her current 75 MPH. “I think this guys gettin pissed...” She glances in the mirror again.
“Don’t fuckin stop!” I continue to yell at her, quickly dialing Kyle’s cell phone number.
He answers after two rings. “Finally decided to give up on Guerin and talk to a real man?” He asks, unworried about pleasantries.
“Shut up, Kyle!” I yell. “It’s Liz, and you have to do me a big favor. Call your dad on three-way.”
“Why?” He asks, obviously confused as to why the hell I would want to talk to his dad. Hell, I’d be confused too, but I ain’t got time for this crap.
“Just do it!” I screech.
“Whoa, ok. Hold on.” He puts me on hold, and a few seconds later, I hear it begin ringing. “You still there?” He asks.
“Yes.” I grit out. God, when did the hospital get so fuckin far away?!
“Kyle, this isn’t a good time, I’m in the middle of something...” Sheriff Valenti starts, but I just cut him off.
“Sheriff, this is Liz Parker, I’m in a maroon Honda Civic with Maria DeLuca, and we’re getting pulled over.” I start explaining, but he cuts me off.
“So you two are the ones I’m attempting to pull over that just won’t stop, huh? First of all, stop. Second of all, what the hell are you thinking goin 75 in a 35?” He asks. Oh, Lord. I’m gonna kill this man. I’m gonna kill everyone who gets in my way if I don’t get to the fucking hospital!
“Geez, Liz. Just pull over, don’t make it difficult.” Kyle puts his two cents in.
“First of all, Kyle, Shut up! Secondly, Sheriff, I’m sorry, but we can’t pull over. I’m in labor, and I need to get to the hospital!”
“You’re what?!” Kyle screams, sounding very feminine.
“I’m. In. Labor.” I yell through clenched teeth as the pain starts intensifying again.
“Ok, Liz, here’s what I’m gonna do.” Sheriff Valenti says, “I’m going to get in front of you and escort you guys to the hospital, you’ll get there quicker.”
“Thank you.” I breath a sigh of relief, quickly telling Maria what’s going on. Valenti says goodbye before hanging up and quickly pulling in front of us, lights and sirens blaring. “Kyle, pass the word along to Max and Michael. Have Michael drive to the hospital, Max would probably kill himself on the way there. You call Alex and Isabel and tell them, then have Isabel call her parents, and have Alex call my parents.”
“Got it.” Kyle says, then I hear rustling before I hear Kyle’s muffled voice. “HEY! Everyone get the hell outta the shop! We gotta close! Max’s old lady’s in labor!” I hear things being dropped, and people rushing around, and people screaming before the phone gets handed off.
“Liz?!” Max yells into the phone.
“Hey, I’m not deaf. Lay off the screaming.” I yell back at him. “Hurry up and get to the hospital, but let Michael drive, ok? I want you there to see your daughter born, not as a patient for almost killing yourself on the way, ok?”
“Yeah, yeah. Ok. Yeah. Ok. I got this. I can do this.” Max rushes out. “What the fuck am I doing?! Where’s the car?! Where’d Michael go? KYLE! Where is Michael?!”
“I’m right here, fucker! Calm down!” Michael screams. “The car is in the same place it was freakin half an hour ago when you got here. Come on!”
I scream as the pain gets worse, causing Maria to nearly swerve off the road, and Max to start screaming in my ear. “Maria! Stay on the road!” I yell between the ‘who, who, he’ breathing I’ve been told helps. Yeah, it doesn’t! “Max, stop screaming. I’ll see you at the hospital. Remind Kyle to call everyone!”
I don’t wait for him to answer me back, I just turn the phone off, throwing it onto the floor board of the car. I throw my head back against the headrest, gritting my teeth against the pain. Maria glances over at me. “Does it hurt as bad as they say?” She asks, alternating between looking at me, and looking at the road.
“No, it’s a regular fuckin walk in the park!” I sarcastically retort. I literally almost start crying in relief when the hospital comes into view up ahead.
Maria slams on the brakes once she’s reached the entrance to the ER. She throws the car into park before opening her door and running into the sliding doors, yelling and gesturing wildly. I open the passenger side door, but that’s as far as I get before nurses come running out with a wheelchair to help me out of the car and into the chair.
Maria grabs hold of my hand, doing my breathing exercises with me as I’m being wheeled into the hospital.
“Hey, you can’t leave your car parked there.” One of the nurses informs Maria.
Maria tosses the woman her keys. “Then move it.” She says, seemingly unconcerned when the woman gasps.
“I’m a nurse, not a valet.” She replies in a snooty tone.
I put my hand on the wheel of the chair, causing it to stop, and all the nurses who are rushing me to a room to look at me, confused. I whip my head around to regard the nurse. “I don’t give a shit what your job is, move the fucking car! Trust me, bitch, you don’t want me to come over there!”
The woman’s mouth drops open, and she scoffs at me. “Excuse me?”
Sheriff Valenti strolls in, having parked his car and made his way inside. “Give me the keys, for cryin out loud, I’ll move the damn thing!” He snatches the keys from the woman before walking over to me. “You need anything else?”
“Can you call and make sure my parents are on their way?” I ask. “I asked Kyle to do it, but...”
He cuts me off. “You can never trust Kyle to get anything done right, I’ll go get them myself. I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes.”
I get pushed one way as he takes off back out the doors. Once I’m in a room, everything starts moving too fast for me to comprehend. I’m put in a hospital gown, and ushered into a bed. Soon I’m hooked up to an IV, and attached to all kinds of different monitors.
Once most of the chaos calms down, Maria and I are the only ones in the room. She’s sitting next to me on the bed, playing with my hair. She always does it when she knows I need to be distracted. It’s not working as well as it normally does, but that’s to be expected with everything that’s going on right now.
“Are you scared?” She whispers, never once taking her eyes off whatever she’s looking at on the other side of the room.
I nod my head slightly, before looking up and locking eyes with her. “It’s not that I’m just scared about the delivery either. I just... what if I’m not a good mother?” My voice cracks slightly as tears start to glisten in my eyes, making my vision become slightly blurry.
Maria shifts, framing my face with her hands. “You are going to be a wonderful mother, Liz Parker. Don’t you dare doubt yourself. This baby is so lucky to be getting parents like you and Max. Not to mention, a cool aunt like me.” She giggles, winking at me to lighten the mood.
I giggle, then sniffle, wiping at my eyes. “Thank you.”
“I’m here for you, chica. Always have been, always will be.” She shifts again, leaning against the pillows propped up on the bed. She laces her fingers through mine, giving my hand a little squeeze. “Is it hurting right now?”
“Not so much hurting right now, no.” I try to explain, but quickly give up when the nurse comes in, holding a clipboard that we’ve rejected already like twelve times.
“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to fill these out.” She tries to reason with us again. I finally gave up on her, now it’s all up to Maria. I have a feeling she won’t let me down.
“You’d think nurses would have to be smart to do this job.” Maria shakes her head, before turning her eyes to the nurse. “We aren’t filling those out. Her parents will take care of it.”
“If you don’t fill these out...” She begins, barely containing the urge to just throw the clipboard at Maria and be done with the whole thing. I don’t think her boss would like it, but I have a strange feeling it would be really funny.
“What?” Maria leans forward, resting her chin in her hand, looking interested. “What’s going to happen to us if we don’t fill them out? Is there some kind of punishment you will bestow upon us? Give me some of those details, won’t ya?”
She opens her mouth to speak again, but I quickly speak up. “Listen lady, here’s the thing. We. Aren’t. Filling. Those. Out.” I speak very slowly, in case she’s... well, slow. “The sooner you come to terms with it, the better off you’re going to be. You can either stay in here, and continue talking with my best friend, who, by the way, you would be NO match for, or you can scamper off, and my parents will handle it later. It’s really your call.”
She sighs, then turns and leaves the room. Maria looks over at me, shocked. “You got her to leave. That was incredible!”
“Yeah, well. No promises that she won’t come back and try again.” I shrug, leaning back into the pillows. Maria links her arm through mine, laying down fully on the bed next to me.
“Oh, sweetie.” My mom flies into the room, my dad hot on her heels, runs over and begins fussing over me. “We came as soon as Jim showed up. Where’s Max?” She looks around, seeing it’s only Maria and I.
“He better show up, damn it!” My dad starts, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Daddy, don’t.” I whine, just as another contraction hits. “Ohmigod.” I squeeze Maria’s hand as hard as I can, then start in on the breathing exercises when Maria and Mom both start doing it.
Alex and Isabel run in, mid-contraction. “Did we miss the good stuff?” Alex jokes, then smiles apologetically when he sees me in my current state of pain.
“Alex, come take her hand, mine just broke.” Maria says, prying her fingers out of my hand.
Alex quickly replaces her, offering me his hand. I reach up and clamp down on it. He opens his mouth, like he’s about to scream, but closes his mouth and squeezes his eyes closed, only letting out a little squeak.
“Don’t be such a pussy.” I grit out, then let out a long breath as the pain subsides.
“Lizzie...” My dad starts.
“Oh, for heavens sakes, Jeff. She’s having a baby, she’s entitled to all the bad language she wants to use.” My mom says, brushing my hair back from my face, and sweeping it up into a bun. “You need anything, baby?”
“Something to drink, pain killers, and Max.” I say, dropping my head back on the pillow.
Alex brings the back of my hand up to his lips, giving it a quick kiss. “I’ll do my best as the substitute until he gets here.” He flashes me a smile.
“Your father and I will go get you some ice chips, sweetie.” My mom grabs my dad by the arm, practically dragging him outta the room with her.
Isabel takes my moms place on the other side of me. “You’re really doing this.” She says, awe shining in her voice.
“Yeah, I don’t think I have the option of backing out now.” I manage a small laugh. “Did you call your parents?”
Isabel looks at me, her perfectly shaped blonde eyebrows drawn together. “No...” She drawls out. “I wasn’t told that I was supposed to.”
“Kyle was supposed to tell you to do that when he called you.” I say, glancing at Maria for confirmation.
“Yeah, I heard her tell him on the way here.” Maria nods.
“He never called us.” Alex informs us. “We had shown up at the Crashdown no more then ten minutes before Jim got there. We followed him and your parents here.”
“Well, then, where’s Max, Michael and Kyle?” I ask, starting to panic.
“No, you stay calm.” Isabel scolds, “I’ll go outside and call my parents, and then I’ll try to get in touch with the guys.” She stands up from her place on the bed next to me. “Maria can handle holding this hand while I’m gone.”
Before Isabel even has the chance to let go of my hand, Michael, Kyle and Max all fly into the room, skidding to a stop at the end of the bed. Isabel moves aside so Max can have one of my hands. “I’m so sorry it took us so long.” Max apologizes, taking my hand and giving me a kiss. “Michael got lost on the way here.”
Michael’s face gets red as all eyes turn to him. “Are you kidding me?” Maria slaps him in the shoulder. “You dillweed, you’ve lived in this town your whole life!”
“I panicked!” Michael throws his arms up in the air. “I’m sorry!”
“Ok.” A nurse breezes in, checking the chart just as my parents return with a little bucket of ice chips. “How’s everything going in here?” She asks.
I pull my head up off the pillow to regard her, but as soon as I open my mouth to speak, I snort a laugh. I would end up with the nurse who I told off earlier, wouldn’t I? That’s just my own damn bad luck. “I want drugs.” I finally manage.
“Of course.” She smiles sweetly at me, but I know she’s secretly calling me every bad name in the book for telling her to move Maria’s car. “I’m afraid that we can’t have this many people just hanging around in here. This is a hospital room, not an IHOP. I’m going to need all of you to please leave so I can examine her. You’re more than welcome to stop in every so often.”
I get hugs and kisses from everyone, even Michael, if you can believe that, as they all leave. Max makes a move to get up and I dig my nails into his forearm. “Where in the name of all things Holy do you think you’re going?” I balk at him.
“I was just...” He starts, hitching his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the door.
“You were just gonna make yourself comfortable because you’re not goin anywhere.” I state firmly, leaving no room for arguments.
Max glances down at the nurse, whose already put on gloves and lifted up the sheet and is poking around... downstairs, if you will. He looks slightly uncomfortable about the whole thing, but takes his place on the bed next to me.
“Ok.” The nurse puts the sheet back down before removing her gloves and writing something on the chart. “You’re not progressing particularly fast, but that’s totally normal for first timers. I’ll be back a little later.”
“When do I get drugged?” I yell after her, as she’s already halfway out the door.
“I’ll call the anesthesiologist now, he’ll be down to talk to you shortly.” She calls over her shoulder.
“Oh geez, I’m never gonna get drugged up.” I whine, dropping my head back onto the pillow.
“What are you talking about? She just said...” Max begins.
“Yeah, well, she left out the part where she’s gonna let me suffer because I called her a bitch and told her to move Maria’s car” I inform him. He laughs a little, but I find no humor in this situation. It’s gonna be a long day.
**********************
About half an hour later, I’m standing next to my hospital bed, my arms bracing the side of it as Max rubs his hands slowly up and down my back. I guess standing up in between contraction helps, gravity working with you and all that.
“Is this helping?” Max asks.
“Not as much as drugs would.” I grumble, climbing back into bed.
Max helps me get into a relatively comfortable position, rearranging the blankets over me. “I’m sure the nurse is handling it.” I look up at him, giving him the ‘Get with the program’ look. “What? It’s possible.”
There’s a knock at the door before Diane pokes her head in the door. “Can we come in?”
“Sure, Mom.” Max answers, walking across the room to open the door for her. He gives her a kiss on the cheek before shaking hands with his dad as they both make their way into the room.
“We know you’re probably not up for a whole bunch of people hanging about,” Diane says, giving me a small smile from where she stands with Philip near the end of the bed. “We just wanted to let you both know that we’re here, and if either of you need anything, just let us know, ok?”
“Actually, Diane, if you could, would you please have my nurse sent in here?” I ask.
“Of course.” She answers, already making her way towards the door.
She’s almost hit in the face with it as the door opens from the other side and the nurse appears. “How’s everything in here?” She asks, still as cheerful as ever. She walks around to the side of the bed, checking the monitors and fluids.
Before she even suspects a thing, I reach up, grabbing onto the lapel of her scrubs, pulling her down so that her face is only inches from mine. “Alright, let’s have a little chat, shall we?” I growl at her.
“Liz...” Max walks cautiously towards the bed, as if getting too close will set me off.
I ignore him, my focus entirely on the terrified nurse. I glance down at her name tag. “Shelly, is it? Ok, Shelly. Here’s the deal. I know you’re pissed about what happened earlier, but I want you to listen to me VERY closely. If I don’t get drugged up soon, I will become very angry and it will detract from the pleasant attitude you’re receiving right now. To paint a picture for you, have you seen ‘The Shining’?” She nods her head, her eyes wide. “Ok, good. Jack Nicholson took lessons from me before making that movie, and he toned it down... and that was before I was pregnant. I want a new nurse and I want drugs. NOW!” I release her shirt and she quickly runs out of the room, leaving Max, Philip and Diane staring at me with their mouths wide open.
“I can’t believe you just did that.” Philip says, his voice almost a whisper.
“I can.” Diane smoothly interjects. “I remember when I was having Isabel...” She literally cringes. “I would have done the same thing if they had slacked off on giving me pain killers.”
I glance over at Max, who now has his head lowered, trying to keep from laughing, causing me to also start laughing, despite the circumstances.
A few moments later, my new nurse, Nicole, comes into the room, but only after I promised her I wouldn’t hurt her. After finishing checking everything, Nicole calls for the man with the magic medicine to pay me a visit.
Philip and Diane leave when he arrives, wishing me luck. Once it’s all established that I’m still in the appropriate time window to have the drugs administered, we get to it.
Not long after a needle the size of Texas is shoved into my spine, I don’t really give a shit about too much, to be completely honest.
Everyone parades in and out of my room for the next hour, laughing at me and taking pictures. I would have highly objected to the pictures if I wasn’t so damn high, but like I said... I don’t give a shit right now. I’m pretty sure that everyone’s showed up, but I couldn’t tell you who was missing if someone was.
Finally, almost 3 hours later, when Nicole comes back in to check on me, she informs me that I’m fully dilated and they’re ready to move me into the delivery room.
“What?” I ask, suddenly completely overwhelmed by a rush of different emotions. I’m happy that this is finally going to be over with, I’m anxious to finally meet my baby girl, and I’m scared shitless that I’m not gonna be able to do this.
Max senses my sudden mood changed, lacing his fingers through mine. “It’s gonna be ok, baby. I got you. I know you can do this, ok?” He looks deep into my eyes, giving me strength and confidence that I can actually pull this off. I nod as, once again, I get a round of hugs and kisses from everyone before they all head off to the waiting room, and I get taken to a delivery room, Max and Maria with me for the ride.
Once I’m in there, people start rushing all over the place trying to get everything ready. I look up at Maria, she’s almost in tears already, then on the total opposite side of the spectrum, I look at Max, finding him looking down at me with a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “What?” I asks, unable to see what the hell he would be finding amusing right now.
“I love you.” He whispers, his smile getting bigger. “I can’t believe we’re really doing this.”
“We?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t see a ‘we.’ I see a me, getting ready to push your child out of my body.” Another contraction takes over as they’re almost on top of each other now. “It hurts.” I whisper, tears leaking out of the corners of my eyes.
Max looks down at me, pain evident in his facial expression. “If I could, I’d do this for you. I hate seeing you like this.” He smooths the hair back out of my face.
“Alright, are you ready to push, Liz?” Doctor Jenkins asks, sliding into place on a little rolling stool thing.
“Do I have a choice?” I ask.
“Uhm...” He trails off. “No, not really.” He flashes me, what I assume to be a smile behind one of those medical face mask things... he eyes got squinty, so I’m assuming it was a smile. “Next contraction, you’re gonna push, ok?”
“No, I can’t do this.” I freak out, shaking my head wildly. “I don’t know what I was thinking, I can’t do this, I changed my mind.”
“Liz, please calm down, baby.” Max begs, doing everything he can to get me calm. “This will all be over soon.”
“Just think of the long-term, Lizzie.” Maria says, as she helps me lean up so she can move in behind me for something to brace myself against once I start pushing. Max is left to stand next to the bed and hold my hand. The doctors said that way he could be able to see everything going on. Don’t mind the fact that I might not want half the town down there seeing what’s going on, the doctors seem to think it’s a good idea.
I feel another contraction starting, and I grip onto Max’s hand for dear life. “Contraction.” I alert the room.
“Ok, Liz. Push!” The doctor yells.
I start pushing, as per his instructions, literally feeling like I’m being ripped in half the entire ten seconds that Max and Maria counts out. As soon as they hit ten, I fall back against Maria in pure exhaustion.
“I can’t do that again.” I shake my head, quickly going from tearful agony, to full out pissed off. “I can’t believe you did this to me, Max! You’re never, EVER touching me again!” I scream at him.
“Are you mad at me for this?” He screams at me.
“Yes! I”m furious at you for this, you jackass!” I yell back at him.
“You have to push again, Liz!” The doctor jumps onto the yelling bandwagon.
“No!” I yell back. “I can’t do this!”
“Yes, you can!” Max grabs my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Push!” He yells.
I’m so mad at him that I push with every ounce of energy I have left in me. I listen as they count down the ten seconds I have to continue to push.
“I can see the head!” The doctor yells, the nurses running around behind him like chickens with their heads cut off. “Push again immediately after this ten count!”
Max and Maria hit ten, and I take another deep breath and continue pushing. My whole body is shaking in protest of the use of my energy, but I continue to push.
“Max, you might wanna get down here.” The doctor tells him.
Never letting go of my hand, because God knows he’d have to get a hacksaw and cut his arm off before he’d be free of my grip, he scoots down closer to the real action. His mouth drops open, and he stammers a little before finally getting a sentence out of his mouth. “Holy hell. Liz, how’re you doin this?”
“NOT HELPING!” I scream at him.
“Keep pushing!” Everyone in the room yells at me.
“FUCK OFF!” I bellow back, but inhale another large breath before I push again. I scream through clenched teeth, pushing until I’m sure that all my vital organs are going to come tumbling out of my body along with this baby. Beautiful imagery, right?
“It’s definitely a girl!” Max screams, followed by the doctor letting me know that I’m good to collapse back onto Maria with absolutely no feeling left in my body whatsoever. Maria is bawling her eyes out, and she wraps her arms around me, telling me how proud she is of me.
A few seconds later, I hear a snuffling, then a loud scream. I lift my head to look down and see my baby girl for the first time. I immediately break down into tears as she continues to cry. I know that I’ll eventually grow to loathe that sound, but right now, it’s music to my ears.
“Wanna cut to the cord, Dad?” The doctor asks.
I watch as Max takes a hold of the sterile scissors he’s handed, and I watch him cut the cord, his hands shaking like a leaf the entire time. They wrap the baby in a blanket after cleaning her up a little and bring her back over and put her on my chest.
I wrap my arms around her, placing a kiss on her forehead. She opens her eyes and stares directly into my eyes. Well, she definitely inherited that from her father. “Hey you.” I whisper.
I look up at Max, surprised to see tears rolling down his cheeks. He doesn’t even attempt to hide the fact that he’s crying, he simply leans over, placing a lingering kiss on my lips. “She’s perfect.” He whispers, glancing down at her before looking back at me. “Just like her mommy.”
****************
A few hours later, I’m laying in my own private room, (Thank you, Diane Evans) a little sore, but happy that I’m no longer the size of an elephant.
Max is laying in the bed with me, as I hold the baby to my chest. Her eyes are wide open, and she’s alternating between staring at me, and staring at Max. I glance up at Max. “You know she’s gonna be a heartbreaker when she gets older, right?”
Max pales considerably. “I’ll kill the fool who tries to touch her.” He mumbles.
I can’t help but giggle as there’s a soft knock at the door. Max gets up and opens the door, causing Maria, Michael, Kyle, Tess, Alex, Isabel, Mom, Dad, Diane and Philip to all pour in. They immediately head straight for me, all of them wanting to see the baby.
Maria makes a small whimpering sound. “Oh, if I hadn’t seen this one come out, I’d want one.” She leans down to place multiple kisses on the top of her head.
“Thank God for small favors.” Michael mutters.
“Amen to that. We don’t need little Guerin/DeLuca devil offspring running around yet.” Kyle slides in smoothly, earning him a slap in the chest from Maria, and a shove across the room from Michael. “Yeah, see?” He points at both of them, making his way back to where he was standing. “The world doesn’t need that.”
“Kyle, shut up for two seconds.” Isabel whines, before looking back at me. “Have you guys named her yet?” She asks. Maria is the only one of the group to have even seen her, and she went to the waiting room to give Max and I a few minutes alone with her.
“Actually, we have.” Max informs them, reaching down to extract her from my arms, and turning her so everyone can see her. “This is Sophia Alyssa Evans.”
There’s a round of “Aww!!!”’s from all the ladies in the room, before Alex pipes up. “At least she doesn’t have Max’s ears.”
I immediately crack up, then slap my hand over my mouth when Max glares at me. I sober immediately. “I’m sorry.” I turn from Max to Alex. “That wasn’t funny.”
“Yeah, it was.” My dad throws out, causing everyone to burst into laugher again.
“Can I hold her?” My mom asks.
Max looks down at me, and I don’t hesitate nodding to Max. He hands Sophia over to her grandma before coming back over and climbing up into the bed with me, wrapping his arms around me and giving me a soft lingering kiss. “I love you.” He whispers, his forehead resting against mine, looking deep into my eyes.
“I love you, too.” I state firmly, smiling at me. “Can I ask you something? Well, two something’s, actually.” I pull back slightly, but maintain eye contact.
“You just did.” He jokes, then winks at me. “Yes, you know you can ask me anything.”
“Why did you so strongly object to us getting married again?” I tilt my head to the side to regard him. He looks slightly confused, so I elaborate a little. “When you and Michael were hanging out in the livingroom at my apartment, before One Tree Hill... Michael asked you if you were gonna ask me to marry you, and you, like, screamed out no. Why?”
He reaches up, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “I never said never. I just said not right now. One thing at a time, baby.” He kisses me softly on the forehead. “Of course I want to marry you again, I just think we’re going to need some time to adjust to Sophia and all the new things she’s going to mean for us, before we go ahead and get married again. Does that make sense?”
I think about it for a minute. “Yeah, it makes sense.” He smiles before I tack on “Just don’t wait too long, or I’ll go pursue other options.”
He can’t help but laugh at me. “Noted. What’s the other thing you wanna ask me?”
“If a year ago, someone would have told you that this is where you’d be a year from then, would you have believed them?” I glance over, seeing my mom pass Sophia to my dad, who looks terrified for a moment, but instantly falls in love with her. Oh yeah, she’s gonna be so spoiled.
“Not a chance.” He laughs. “But I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world.”
“It’s mind-boggling to even think about it, ya know?” He nods, snorting a little laugh. “Why do you think it all worked out this way? I mean, we got divorced, and we fought, and there were times when I was certain we’d end up killing each other...” I trail off, shaking my head. “I just don’t get it.”
“Well, you know what they say...” Max drawls.
“No, what do you they say?” I ask, momentarily tearing my eyes away from Sophia long enough to look back at Max.
He flashes me a huge smile before leaning over and whispering into my ear, like it’s the biggest secret in the world. “All’s fair in love and war.”
The End.
<center>S&M-*Twinkie* -n- *Twin*</center>