25. SIN
“What the hell are you doing?” Tiff squeaked as I opened the door, then, after closing it, I leaned back against it.
I shrugged. “Keeping you company.”
She scowled at me as she scooted her knees close together. “Pissing into a cup isn’t something you need company for.”
That had me snickering, but I kept staring straight ahead. “You been in here long enough that I was starting to think you’d jumped out of the window.”
“I can’t pee on command.” She winced. “I’d ask you to do it, but that would defeat the purpose.”
“Yeah, just a little,” I told her, amused as fuck. “I didn’t know you were a nervous pisser.”
“I’m not.”
“Well, the fact you’ve been in here twenty fucking minutes says otherwise, babe.”
“It hasn’t been that long, has it?” I turned to look at her just in time to see her eyes widen with horror. “No, it can’t have been.”
“It has.” I tipped my chin to the side. “You doing okay, angel?”
She blinked at me. “Of course.”
“Nervous about the baby?”
“Maybe.” She crinkled her nose. “This just makes it all real.”
“Was real before,” I pointed out softly. “This isn’t going to change things.”
“Just feels more formal, I guess.” Tiff huffed out a sigh. “I know it’s silly.”
“We’re all entitled to be that when we’re growing humans.”
“Do it on the regular, do you?” she teased, making me grin at her. We shared it for a second, the spark of lightning that always pinged between us starting to sputter into being, even if she was sitting on a toilet in a doctor’s clinic.
“Yeah, I make it a habit,” I teased back, my lips gently sloping back into a soft smile. “I’d pee for you if I could. Just don’t think the doctor would be interested in what my hormones had to say.”
“Shame.” She heaved another sigh. “I should have drunk more this morning.”
“You drank a lot of tea,” I reminded her.
“Should have drunk double that. Maybe I wouldn’t be having issues now.” She bowed her shoulders, hunching over as she stared at her feet. “Never thought of myself as a mom.”
“Never thought of myself as a dad.”
“I could see you as a dad,” she murmured, her gaze still on her feet. “You’re very affectionate.” Her cheeks blossomed with heat as she peeked up at me. “You always make me feel loved.” She ducked her head again. “Protected.”
“You’ll always be safe with me.”
“I know.” Her lips twisted. “That’s what makes this craziness bearable. Never saw myself as a mom until you. Now it’s happening, but it’s just…it’s going to be really soon, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is, babe. Only woman I could think of having kids with is you. Whether it was now or ten years down the line. Although I’d be an old fucker by then.”
“Everyone would think I was your sugar baby,” she joked, and it made me smile to see her being chirpier. More like her real self.
“I could deal with that. To be fair, angel, everyone already thinks that.” I laughed. “Or maybe they thought I was yours. You were a lot richer than me.”
“‘Were’ being the keyword there.” She winked. “I can deal with that. You’re a hunk.”
“A hunk?” I sputtered.
“Yeah. You know it too. Those come to bed eyes? Yum.” Her grin at my discomposure widened. “You should see the look on your face.”
“There’s a mirror over there—is it worth me moving?”
“No, if you move closer, you’ll be nearer to me on the toilet.” She covered her face with the hand that wasn’t holding the plastic cup. “I can’t believe you’re in here.”
“I can’t believe you’re still in here.”
“You try peeing in a cup.”
“You think I’ve never had to take a piss test before?” I barked out a laugh. “Angel, you know you’re tangling with a biker, don’t you?”
“This is the perfect time to remind me you’ve been in jail,” she mumbled with a huff.
“Only on misdemeanors.” I smirked at her. “Pinkie promise.”
“I’ll bet.” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t mind if you have, but let’s not tell Mom?”
“Agreed. She has enough of a problem with me as it is.”
She gulped. “Oh.”
“Oh?”
“I think I can go now.”
“So go,” I prompted with a shrug.
“Eww! No way! Go outside. I’m not peeing with you in here.”
“You’ve used the bathroom when I was in the shower before,” I retorted, amused by her logic.
“That was when you were in the shower and the running water covered the noise of me using the bathroom,” she hissed, wafting her hand at me. The cup went flying, of course, and she moaned.
“You know I’m going to be in the room when you’re giving birth, don’t you?” I reasoned, as I strolled forward and grabbed the container before I passed it over to her.
She snatched it with a mumbled, “Thank you.”
“Don’t you?” I reiterated, wanting her to know I wasn’t messing around.
“I know, I know,” she retorted with a huff.
“Good. And along the way, when you’re as big as a house, I’m going to have to help you shave your legs and shit.”
“Yeah, that’ll be then. As it stands, I still have standards, let’s not break them until I’m desperately in need, hmm?” She grunted. “Like now? As in, get the hell out while I can still have control over my bladder.”
“If I was a dick?—”
“Which you’re not,” she growled, her cheeks turning pinker than before.
“No, but if I was, I’d stick around just to prove a point.”
“What point would that be? That you are a dick?”
I winked at her, but as I twisted around to open the door, I stated, “Nope, to prove that every part of you belongs to me, and nothing we do, nothing we have, could ever be that gross…”
With that, I left her, giving her the privacy she needed which, to be honest, I got. I just wanted her to know I was there for her.
No matter what.
I’d seen Keira, Storm’s Old Lady, back when she’d carried Cyan. The stuff he’d done for her back then had blown my fucking mind. I’d never thought I’d find someone whose hair I’d hold back when they were puking from morning sickness. Never thought I’d be the kind of guy to find fucking ice cream at three AM because she desperately needed it.
But it just proved that the imagination was limited. Because the second you found that one woman who just made things click, you’d do all that crazy shit and more.
In fact, you’d look forward to it.
And if that wasn’t insane, I didn’t know what was.