18. Pissed In General
Chapter 18
Pissed In General
MEGAN
“ A re those tears on your face?” Lena asks, her disbelief palpable, as I lounge on the sofa, attempting to hide my emotions by eating my way through a bag of buttered popcorn.
“Nope,” I lie, wiping my cheeks with the back of my hand.
“I can see them, Megan. What’s wrong?”
I point to the bloody scene on the screen.
“Him.”
“Why are you watching the red wedding episode again? You know that it ends badly for them.”
“If Robb Stark had just listened to his mother, they’d all still be alive!” I protest. “And what did that poor Beowolf have to do with anything? Why’d they kill him, too?” I cry.
“Megan, I don’t know if rewatching every episode of The Game Of Thrones is healthy for the baby.”
Lena grabs the remote control and clicks the guide button to see what else is on television.
“If that’s what kids grow up to do, completely defy their parent’s better judgment, then I don’t want any.”
“I think it’s a little too late for that,” she snickers.
Growing another human being inside of my body is no joke.
I’m exhausted.
I’m bloated.
And I’m moody as hell.
I guess the pregnancy hormones are responsible for all of the mood swings and the weird dreams I’ve been having, every dream crazier than the last.
“Why don’t we watch Ugly Betty? I always wanted to binge-watch that show but never got the chance. It looks funny.”
“What’s funny about some ugly girl working in the magazine industry? All they’re going to do is bully her for most of the show, and then miraculously, everything will work out for her by the last season?”
“Damn, Megan, you’re in a mood today.”
“I’m just–”
A sharp pain suddenly takes my breath away.
“Fuck.”
I ball up in a fetal position, grabbing my abdomen.
“Megan!” Lena cries out, rushing to my side. “Are you all right?”
I can see that I’ve frightened her, and rightly so…I’m scared myself. God, I wish Hunter was here. Suddenly, everything we are at odds with each other about doesn’t mean half as much as it did yesterday.
But no.
I can’t cry for him every time I’m afraid. I’m becoming much too dependent on him. It wasn’t that long ago that I was able to escape my family, get a job, and enroll in art school all by myself.
“I’m fine,” I blink my wet lashes rapidly. “I think the baby was just mad about what I said earlier.”
“What do you mean? Like the baby kicked you?”
“I guess so,” I say, sitting myself up on the sofa.
“I’m not sure if you’re far enough along in your pregnancy to feel that kind of kicking. Should we call your doctor and maybe get things checked out?”
“How would you know what I’m supposed to feel at this point in the pregnancy?”
“I read a lot.”
I grab a tissue from a box on the coffee table and dab the sweat from my temples.
“I’m going to stand under the shower. I think that will fix everything.”
“Can I help you?” Lena asks as she assists me off the sofa and to the master bathroom.
“Thanks, Lena. After I shower, maybe we watch a little of your show together.”
“Great idea,” she smiles. “And while you’re in there, I’m going to cook you a real dinner. Popcorn is not dinner.”
“Thanks, Lena.”
“No thank you needed, roomie. You and my niece or nephew go enjoy your shower.”
The warm water feels heavenly as it beats along the backside of my body. I’m aware of each breath I take as I lay my hands on my tiny baby bump and try my best to send the baby good energy. I feel wrong about what I said when I was in the middle of my hormonal tirade.
Of course, I want you, I say to myself. No matter how frustrated I am with your father, I want you. I already love you.
A sharp pain ripples through my lower abdomen, very similar to the last one, and I crouch on the shower floor and pray that nothing is wrong with my baby.
Between the oppressive hot steam filling the bathroom and the intensity of the pain, my head begins to feel loopy, and everything becomes increasingly dark…until I see nothing at all.
I’m confused once I awaken.
I’m lying nude in a bed of the softest sheets I’ve ever felt. I blink several times in an attempt to get my bearings. There’s a dark ceiling fixture adorned with crystals on the ceiling that I don’t recognize.
Where am I?
“She’s awake,” a relieved voice from the distance says.
“Lena?”
“Hi, there.” She moves closer to the side of the bed, holding a food tray. “I brought your dinner.”
“This isn’t my room, though,” I say. Things are still a little fuzzy, but not fuzzy enough that I don’t know I’m not home.
“ I know.” Her eyes shoot down to the floor. “I called my brother.”
Of course.
I look around as things start to make more sense. He’s changed a few things around and bought some new sheets, but this is the room where I slept many nights with him. Where I fell into his arms when I was dead tired. Hell, this is the room where the baby was conceived.
“Lena,” I say with disappointment.
“I had to call him,” she offers defensively. “You passed out in the shower, and I couldn’t lift you. You’re freaking pregnant, Megan. You’re lucky I didn’t take you to the emergency room.”
“You should have just called the ambulance,” I admonish her.
“That can still be arranged,” a deep voice that wraps around my heart and travels down my spine says from the doorway.
Hunter.
My eyes widen once they focus on his shadow from across the room. And fuck, he looks magnificent. The answer to how I’ve found myself in this pregnant predicament is staring me right in the face: all six feet, four brooding inches of him.
“I feel fine,” I finally say.
“But you’re not fine,” he says in a gravelly voice.
“I think I read about this. These pains are normal. The baby is growing and stretching me out.”
“Have you earned a medical degree while we’ve had this time apart?”
I shift uncomfortably. His sarcasm weighs heavier on me than this overpriced, down-feather comforter.
“If you were so concerned, maybe you should have taken me to the hospital.”
“As if you would have accepted that.”
“I wouldn’t have known, now would I?”
“Good thing for you; I know a few people.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Lena ignores our salty banter and mixes the Mexican tortilla soup she’s brought in for me to eat. It smells incredible, but I’m not quite in the mood for soup and a sandwich.
“I’ve brought one of the best OBGYNs in the city to give you an exam. She’s in the other room waiting for you to wake up.”
“She?”
I don’t know what made me question the sex of the physician. It was a knee-jerk response. The more time we spend apart, the more I worry he’ll move on. I’m not an idiot. I know that there are women just waiting for me to fuck this up. Smart, beautiful, accomplished women. But I’m no dummy. I also know that I need to start the way I want to finish. I can’t just let him walk all over me now in the name of “protection” because if I do — that’s how it will always be.
Hunter moves closer inside the room, an obvious smirk on his face. He knows I’m jealous, and he loves it.
“Yes, she .”
I’m dying to ask all the questions a jealous lover would ask. How do you know her? How long have you known her? In what capacity do you know her?
But I won’t give him the satisfaction.
“Since the baby is my number one priority, let her in.”
I notice a slight look of surprise cross his face, but he nods in approval and leaves the room to get her.
“Now, maybe you take a few sips of this soup before she starts the exam?” Lena fusses over me.
“Lena.”
“Are you still pissed with me?”
“No, I’m just pissed in general.”
“Understood. I’ll just leave this all here and you can dig in once the exam is over.”
“Where are you going?” I ask, slightly panicked, that she will leave me alone with Hunter.
“Back downstairs.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t need me here.”
“The hell I don’t!”
Lena sits on the edge of the bed and clasps one of my hands. She’s not a touchy-feely kind of person, so I figure whatever she’s going to say matters a lot to her.
“I’m going to tell you this whether or not you want to hear it, Megan. I may be new in my brother’s life, and yours for that matter, and while he may be many things, I know that he is in love with you in a way that some women can only dream of. If you keep this wall up you’ve built–”
“What, he may leave me?” I interrupt contemptuously.
“Yes, and is that what you want, Megan?”
My eyes water at the thought of not having Hunter in my life or our child’s life.
“I think you have your answer.”
Lena walks out as the doctor walks inside, leaving me with much to consider after her poignant words.
“Hi, Megan. I’m Dr. Brentwood. I heard you’ve been having some pain.”
“Debilitating pain,” Hunter adds. His voice was laced with concern. “And she fainted.”
“You have a regular physician at LA Mercy, right?”
“Yes, Dr. Lawson.”
“Oh, yes, I’ve heard of him. Would you like me to give him a call after your exam and keep him in the loop?”
Ugh, why does she have to be so nice?
“Yes, that would be helpful.”
“I’ve brought a portable sonogram machine with me. I want to have a look and make sure Baby Middleton isn’t in any distress.”
Baby Middleton?
Humph.
Hunter gives me a smug look after the doctor presumes my baby’s last name, which I do my best to ignore.
Dr. Brentwood takes her time listening to the baby’s heartbeat, then giving me a cautious vaginal examination. She’s slow, gentle, and perhaps slightly nervous because Hunter hasn’t moved an inch during the exam.
She pulls off her latex gloves and starts to pack up her things when Hunter abruptly asks, “So, what’s going on with my baby?”
“Nothing.”
“Really?” I say, part relieved, part surprised.
“In my professional opinion, you’ve been dealing with some Braxton Hicks contractions.”
“But I read that those were mild. These hurt like hell.”
“Every woman is different, but I assure you that the baby is not in any distress, and it’s just the way your body is preparing for childbirth.”
“She fainted,” Hunter adds.
“She was in a hot shower,” the doctor retorts, facing him head-on. “These things happen.”
The doctor turns her head back to face me. “To be on the safe side, be sure to stay hydrated and limit any strenuous activity for a while or at least until your next visit with your regular OBGYN.”
“What kind of strenuous activity?”
“No standing on your feet all day. No sports. And be careful with sex.”
“No sex?!” Hunter cuts in, and the doctor chuckles in response.
Wait a ding-dong minute.
Dr. Brentwood emits the kind of laugh you make around someone familiar.
“Do you two know each other?” I ask them both, my eyes slightly slanted with curiosity...or perhaps jealousy.
“Same neighborhood growing up,” she says.
I look directly at him. “Is that right?”
“We’ve both come a long way since the old days,” she reflects. “Did you know your fiance helped me pay my way through medical school?”
“No, I sure didn’t.”
He acts as if he’s suddenly embarrassed.
Puh-lease.
“Thank you for coming, Tara," he tells her. "Please be sure to send your bill to my office.”
“You know I’m not going to do that,” she says in a matter-of-fact tone as she packs up her things. “Please call me any time, day or night, if you have another episode. It was a pleasure meeting you, Megan.”
“Same.”
When Hunter returns after seeing Dr. Brentwood out, he catches me looking for my sneakers. They’ve got to be in here somewhere.
“What are you doing?”
“Going home.”
“This is your home.”
“No, downstairs is my home, and I thought you bought me another home in the Hollywood Hills somewhere? Why aren't you there?”
“I canceled the sale.”
My eyes pop up to meet his.
“You did?”
“If and when you want to move, I have a realtor on standby waiting for your instruction.”
That's huge for a control freak like Hunter.
"And what about security?"
"I just wanted you to be safe and thought moving to a better neighborhood would exponentially improve those odds, but I may have jumped the gun a little. I can wait."
Wow, that's progress.
“Naomi called me,” I tell him to gauge his reaction.
“What did she want?” he asks flatly as if he had nothing to do with it.
“She called because you made her call.”
“I suggested it would be a nice gesture after all the hell she’s put you through.”
“But you asked her father to make her call me.”
“Damn, did she tell you everything?”
“Why did you do that, Hunter?”
“Because even after all the fucked up shit that girl did, I knew speaking to her would make you happy.”
“I'm not exactly sure how it made me feel. But what I do know is that I don’t want you communicating with that man anymore.”
“Now, who’s being bossy?”
“I’m serious.”
“Don’t leave, Megan.”
He slides a hand along the side of my face, cradling it like I’m the most precious figurine in the world.
“Hunter–”
“I love you, and there’s nothing more important to me than you and our baby. It kills me that you’ve spent any part of this pregnancy alone. This little person is our creation.” He places a hand on my baby bump. “And you both belong here with me.”
“You know my history, Hunter. I don’t want to go back to a situation of being controlled.”
“I would never hurt you the way your father did.” He looks offended, and I realize my words may have come off the wrong way.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I know you would never intentionally hurt me. I just mean that I have a voice, you know? And I need you to hear it.”
“I do.”
His lips suddenly find the side of my neck, and he kisses a pulse point at the base of my neck.
“I hear you loud and clear, baby,” he speaks into my skin.
My eyes close in rapture as I run my hand into the base of his scalp.
God, I’ve missed this man.
He raises his lips to meet mine, and we share a sensual kiss. It’s a kiss that echoes all the feelings that we both have been suppressing. One that borders on possession but dwells in love.
It’s laughable that I ever thought I could live without Hunter Middleton, I think to myself as his hand dominantly wraps around my throat and his mouth devours mine.
Or that he’d ever let me.