Chapter 31
Keaton insisted on cooking,and I wasn”t going to argue with him because honestly, I felt exhausted. I”ve not long been out of the shower and I am dressed in a black skort, denier tights and a red long-sleeved bodysuit. My hair is straight, and I opted for my glasses. My make-up is done and I finish off my look with red matte lipstick. Spraying my Si perfume, I leave my phone on the dresser and disappear downstairs when the smell of dinner floats through the room and my stomach grumbles. Rounding the corner of the kitchen, I see Keaton standing over the stove, fitted jeans, mid sleeved gray tee and a hand towel resting on his shoulder. He looks every bit handsome.
“Hey there good lookin”, whatcha got cooking?” I hum as I close the gap between us, my arms wrapped around his body from behind, my head resting between his shoulder blades.
“Hey baby,” he looks over his shoulder at me and his scent consumes me whole making me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, my heart galloping in my chest. Linen mixed with leather and cologne, and I am ready to dissolve into a puddle on the floor.
“I am so hungry,” I groan, reluctantly letting him go and picking a breadstick from the counter and popping it into my mouth.
“Not much longer,” he spins, placing the lid on his saucepan and walking towards me, his hands scooping my face up so I have no choice but to look at him.
“I never had you for such a sweet man... you were always such an...”
“Asshole?” he laughs, our noses touching, lips parted.
“Something like that,” I hum, my fingers wrapped around his wrists, and I never want to step out of this moment, but I know I have to.
“I had never been in love before,” and it”s not the first time he has said that.
“You must have loved...”
“Don”t,” he shakes his head from side to side, when the door chime goes just as he covers my lips with his.
Breaking away, I float down the hallway towards the door, grabbing the handle and swinging it open to see Kaleb and Connie.
“So, you are alive then,” Kaleb chuckles deeply, swooping me in for a cuddle and a kiss on the cheek before Connie wraps her arms around me and squeezes.
“I am, don”t worry, your brother doesn”t keep me captive,” I roll my eyes in a playful manner and close the door behind them as they shake off their coats which I take and hang in the closet.
“Chef’s down in the kitchen,” I tease as Kaleb begins walking forward, Connie next to me.
“Why does it feel like it”s been forever since I last saw you?” She asks, her brown eyes on mine and my heart drums in my chest. She is wearing her long brown hair down, straight. Her skin is glowing, cheeks pink and rosy and as always, dressed a little edgy. Oversized tee, cycling shorts, fishnet tights and her platform Dr Martens.
“Because it has, I suppose?”
And then she swats me on the top of the arm just as we join Keaton and Kaleb in the kitchen.
“Ow,” I half laugh, half groan. “What was that for?”
“For getting married without us,” she hisses, placing a brown paper bag on the set table.
“Look, it wasn”t planned,” I sigh as I walk to the glass cabinet and grab four glasses. “It just kind of...” I pause and Keaton looks at me, a beautiful smile on his face.
“We both wouldn”t back down,” he takes over the conversation.
“Shock,” Kaleb smirks, a chuckle leaving him.
“It was kind of a ‘last one standing’ thing I suppose, like who was going to back down first but then... well, neither of us did and hey, here we are.”
“Husband and Wife, never had that on this year’s bingo card, maybe a wild card many years down the line but you always vowed after Satan that you would never marry again,” Kaleb continues and my stomach flips, heart pounding.
“Things change, so do people...” he hums, checking on the steaks, his brow raising as he looks over at me, his gorgeous eyes sweeping over me, and I feel myself burn.
“So, it seems,” Kaleb smirks just as Connie pulls out a bottle of wine.
Damn, and it”s my favorite.
Cabernet Sauvignon.
“Let me pop that in the fridge for fifteen while dinner finishes,” I smile widely, wrapping my fingers around the neck of the bottle and walking it towards Keaton”s fridge. I know one glass probably wouldn”t hurt, hell, I was intoxicated the night before I found out I was pregnant and spent most of the afternoon searching for stuff on the internet to make me feel better.
It didn”t.
But now I know the twinnies are safe and sound inside of me, it”s made me feel better, but not completely. I still feel guilty.
Connie sits at the table, Kaleb helping himself and Keaton to a glass of scotch on the rocks from Keaton”s cabinet.
“Thanks man,” Keaton takes the glass from his brother’s hand and takes a sip, groaning in appreciation. Fun fact, Keaton hasn”t drunk since I found out I was pregnant, and I love him a little bit more for that.
Plating the steaks up, he checks on the Mac ”n” cheese, cobs and baked potatoes in the oven before turning off the stove for the string beans.
“I hope you guys are hungry, this was always a favorite when me and my brother were growing up. A simple but delicious dinner in my opinion,” he smiles as he dishes out the food he has cooked and I help him walk it over to the table, placing it on the place settings.
Connie jumps up and grabs the wine from the fridge and I swallow the large lump. We discussed telling Kaleb and Connie, but now it was getting closer, I was nervous.
I”m sat next to Keaton; Kaleb and Connie are opposite us. She sat back down, popping the cork then hovering it above my glass but I covered it with my hand then shook my head, just as Keaton”s hand slipped between my thighs.
“But it”s your favorite?” She chimes, confusion evident as her brows furrow.
“I know,” I smile weakly, swallowing down the bile that is threatening to spill.
Connie looks at Kaleb, and he shrugs his shoulders up softly before their eyes are back on me.
“I”m...” I pause for a moment and ignore the burn that radiates through my chest, “we...” I swallow. Just rip the band aid off; Sage”s words echo through my head, and I lick my lips, “we”re having a baby, well... two actually.”
And I watch as their eyes widen, mouths a gape and Kaleb can”t stop the burst of laughter that echoes around the room.
“You”re so fucking screwed,” he shakes his head from side to side, “Titus is going to kill you.”
“I”m aware,” Keaton sucks in a breath.
“Pregnant?” Connie repeats and she hasn”t taken her eyes from me. ”Is that why you both got married?”
And now it”s my turn to widen my eyes.
“No, no...” my head shakes quickly, “I didn”t find out till the morning, plus my body was intoxicated with alcohol,” I hide my face as shame slaps me across both cheeks. “None of this was planned...” I whisper, trailing off for a moment.
“Things happen for a reason though,” she is quick to add in, her voice laced with softness.
“I know, but pregnancy was not one of them. How the hell will we cope with twins?” my elbows are on the table, and I feel the reassuring squeeze on my thigh from Keaton.
“You”ll have us... all of us,” Connie smiles and I smile back at her.
“Not only is Titus due to become a dad again... he is going to be a grandpa,” and Kaleb has lost it again, laughing until tears roll down his cheeks.
“Yeah, he isn”t going to be happy is he.”
“Not one fucking bit,” Kaleb mutters before cutting into his steak, “I wish you good luck, both of you,” he nods before popping a forkful of steak into his mouth and gentle conversation and laughter fills the room as our evening continues like nothing has changed.
It was perfect.
We saidour goodbyes and I arranged to meet Connie and Reese for lunch tomorrow at SaraBeth’s. We loved it there. Now Connie and Reese knew, I somehow felt like I could breathe a little easier, silly, huh? Next on my list was my dad, but that wasn”t going to go as smoothly. We both knew that. He would blow a fuse and honestly, I don”t blame him. I”m close to twenty-two and I am pregnant with twins. Still none the wiser who the dad is, yet I have his best friend promising to be by my side either way.
Sad thing is, not only am I going to break my dad”s heart, I am going to break mine and Keaton”s in the process. I need to move out, I needed to stand on my own two feet ready for when the wrecking ball hits. Like I’ve said before, I know he has promised to be here whether the twinnies are his or not, but I just can”t see it. Maybe I am being a negative nelly, but still, I have to be realistic. Once I am sitting with Connie and Reese tomorrow, I”m going to ask them about Killian”s apartment and if it is available for me to crash in. I don”t have much in the way of money, but I know he will help me out for a short interim. Just to get me settled. Just until I know what the hell is going on.
I was desperate to get back to work next week and have agreed with Sage I will still work the floor and hold dances, but I won”t be doing any pole work for obvious reasons and then when I am too pregnant, I will sink into the shadows and work in the offices because let”s face it, no one will want to watch me then. I”ll be damaged goods.
A pain radiates in my chest, and I press the palm to my skin to try and alleviate it, but it’s no use. It doesn”t help. What if Keaton does up and leave me? What if we end up ending our farce of a marriage and I am a single mother to twins. No one is going to want me. Really, who in their right mind would want to choose me, a young, single mom who is a stripper.
Where did it all go so wrong? My perfectly planned life that I had since I was a little girl is nothing but rubble on the floor beneath my feet. I always knew what I wanted. Straight ‘A’s, graduate, college, med school, internship, beautiful house out of New York with a white picket fence and a yard where my three kids could run wild with the most perfect husband. Ironically, I have a perfect husband and two out of three kids on the way. But this is not the dream I had painted for myself. I wanted to be at least thirty before I had kids. And yet here I am...
I climbed into bed, snuggled under the duvet when Keaton falls into bed next to me. Tugging the covers off me, his head on my stomach, fingers drawing little love hearts on my bare legs as my fingers find his hair, twirling strands between my fingers and I have never felt more content than I do right now.
“Did you enjoy your evening?” I ask, Desperate Housewives starting up in the background.
“I did, I feel like I have pulled away from my brother recently.” He admits, his voice lazy.
“And that”s partly my fault,” his head lifts as he turns to look at me.
“What?” he scoffs a laugh.
“I feel like I am the reason, you have been so consumed by me and my problems that you have dropped everyone else,” I admit, and I don”t know why, but I feel teary.
“Blossom.” The use of the nickname makes my heart soar and I love that it isn”t overused because when he does say it, it makes it even more special. I blink at him, his body rolling round towards me now.
“You are definitely not the reason. Have you held a gun to my head and made me stay here?” he asks me, brows raised in his forehead.
“No.”
“I have been here because I have wanted to be here. You know me baby, no one can force me to do anything I don”t want to... let that sink in for a moment,” he licks his lips all cocky and I am desperate to kiss him, but I know I need to pull back a little because he is consuming me whole, and I don”t think my heart could take it when I walk out that door.
“I feel so out of depth,” I admit, my fingers back in his hair.
“You”re not alone. We can both wade through these rough waters hand in hand. We have no idea what is coming, but we will get through it because we”re together.” He pushes up and places a kiss on my lips, and as much as I want to push him away just to cause a scene that”ll make it easier to walk away, I don”t.
“Just don’t let me drown,” I rasp.
“Never.”
And instead of being strong, I let him send me to heaven and back again after vowing like aways, that this, is in fact, the last time.
I”m a liar. I know.
Just call me Pinocchio.