Chapter 6
Chyanne
I didn’t know what to say to Van last night, so I didn’t say anything and went to bed. It was a nice gesture, but I don’t really know how far they’d actually go for me. I’m a nobody to them.
Now I’m getting dressed and wondering if this was a bad idea to agree to go to his mom and dad’s house. I would like to meet his sisters, and talk baby stuff. I don’t really have anyone to do what with, and this is my first baby.
A knock on my door pulls my attention as I look at myself in the mirror.
“It’s open,” I call as I continue to look at myself. I can’t believe how big I’ve gotten, and I’m only six months along. What will I look like when I’m nine? I sigh and see Van in the reflection and spin around to face him.
“Why the sad face?” he asks.
“I was just looking at how big I’ve gotten. I can’t imagine how big I’m going to be when I hit nine months,” I confess, and he smiles.
“My sister gained a hundred pounds with her first baby. She was so upset until she saw that little baby in her arms. Then she realized it was all worth it.”
“A hundred? I don’t know what I’d do if I gained that much,” I admit to him.
“You’d be beautiful still.” Now my cheeks heat. Van thinks I’m beautiful like this?
“Thanks, Van.”
“For what?”
“Everything. Everything you’re doing for me. I appreciate it more than you could possibly know,” I tell him. He smiles, and it’s the most breathtaking thing I’ve seen in a long time. I shouldn’t look at him like that, but I can’t help it. He’s gorgeous.
“You don’t need to thank me for tellin’ the truth, darlin’. You ready to go?” I nod my head as he motions to the door. I walk over and walk out in front of him when I hear him groan. I turn my head and look over my shoulder at him and see him staring at my ass, biting his lip. Then his eyes jerk to mine, and he grins wolfishly at me.
“Can’t help it. It’s a nice ass,” he says, causing me to laugh a little.
“Where the hell are you two goin’?” Mask asks as we enter the main room together.
“Headin’ over to my mom’s to visit. Thought Chy might wanna talk to my sisters about the baby and all that,” Van tells him. He eyes him for a long minute before finally nodding his head. I don’t know what that’s all about, but Van walks up and rests his hand on the small of my back, leading me toward the door, and I feel a shock like I’ve never felt before run through me from his touch. I wonder if he felt it, too? If he did he didn’t act like he noticed it.
We walk out to the truck, and Van opens the door for me, helping me in before closing the door. I watch him walk around the truck and climb in before starting it up.
“You good?” he asks. I nod my head as he pulls out onto the street. I watch as the cars and people pass and find myself wondering how normal their lives are. Wondering if they’re happy in their lives or if they are dealing with just as much as I am.
I ignore the nagging in the back of my head telling me I’m a failure and focus on the road as Van pulls into a driveway. The house in front of us is a large one, bigger than anything I’ve ever lived in.
“This is it?” I ask as he kills the engine and reaches for the door handle.
“This is it.” He hops out before coming to my side to open the door and help me out of the truck. I climb out and Van rests his hand on the small of my back like he did before. I know he’s just being polite, but that feeling shoots through me once more, and I don’t know how to react to it. I try to control the shiver that runs through my body. If he notices, he doesn’t say anything as he leads me toward the house.
Before we make it up the porch, the door flies open, and someone, I assume is his mom, steps out.
“You’re here!” She squeals before grabbing him and pulling him into a hug. I watch the two of them and smile at what I see. It’s not much different than me and my parents were when we lived closer together.
“How you doin’, Mom?” he asks as she pulls back and glances over at me.
“I’m good. Who is this?”
“I’m Chyanne. A friend of Van’s,” I tell her, holding out my hand. She grabs it and pulls me into a hug instead. I hug her back as Van chuckles behind us.
“I should have warned you that Mom was a hugger,” he says as she pulls away from me.
“Is there something I need to know?” she asks, looking at my stomach. I shake my head when Van chimes in.
“It’s not mine, Mom. Don’t get excited,” he tells her. She sighs and looks between the two of us before smiling and ushering us inside. We enter the house, and I’m introduced to his dad and sisters as little kids run around the room.
“They’re always like this,” April, his sister, tells me.
“I love it. I can’t wait to have this,” I tell her.
“Enjoy the time you have when they’re little,” she advises. I nod my head as Van leaves the room, and I feel a little awkward. He comes back quickly with a bottle of water and passes it to me before grabbing my arm and tugging me over to the couch. We sit down, and he sits a little closer than I thought he would.
“She’s been havin’ leg cramps,” he tells Julia, his other sister.
“Really? Aren’t those terrible? I had them bad. Thank god for Van, or I wouldn’t have made it,” she confesses.
“He’s been really helpful,” I tell them. She smiles and looks between us before sitting in the chair across from us.
“Has he? He’s always been a good helper when it comes to us being pregnant,” she tells me.
“That’s really sweet of him,” I say softly when his arm comes around my shoulder. He squeezes it before going on and talking about sports with his dad.
I carry on a conversation with his sisters while Van talks to his dad, but he never leaves my side the whole time. He stays right next to me.
“How did you two meet?” April asks.
“Through a friend. I’m staying at the clubhouse to save a little money before the baby is born,” I tell her.
“Really? I’m actually shocked they let anyone stay there,” Julia says.
“Why is that?”
“They’re just always so secretive about things. I’ve only ever been there once, and I’m his sister,” she tells me.
“I guess I got lucky. My friend works there and she kind of helped me get in.”
“That’s good. I’m glad you have a place to go.”
We talk a little more about babies and kids and what to expect. I’m not completely in the dark, but I also haven’t been around anyone who has kids in a long time. I’ve never been around a newborn baby, so hearing what they have to say is nice.
When Van is ready, he asks me if I’m ready to go, and I nod my head. He stands and then offers his hand to help me off the couch, and I gladly accept it. He pulls me to my feet before we tell everyone goodbye. His mom makes me promise to come back another day and stay longer, and I happily agree.
We walk back out and climb in the truck before he sighs.
“It’s nice seein’ them,” he says.
“Then why did you leave?”
“I didn’t want you to be overwhelmed.”
“I wasn’t. It was nice. Thank you for taking me with you,” I tell him. He nods his head and starts up the truck.
“You can always come back. My sisters said to give you their phone numbers in case you need anything,” he tells me, and my heart swells. I don’t have many friends aside from Nicole, so it’ll be nice to have someone to ask questions.
“Thank you,” I tell him as we pull out and onto the road.
“You hungry?”
“A little.”
“Little man needs some food before we get back. Where you wanna go?”
“Doesn’t matter to me,” I tell him. He nods and drives, pulling over at a small diner before we both climb out and head inside. That’s when I see him, and my stomach lurches.
“I … I can’t go in there.”
“What? Why not? You got something against Glenda’s?” he asks, naming the diner.
“No. It’s just … my ex is right there.” Now I see Van tense and try to compose himself. He looks around and spots him, nodding toward him.
“That one?”
“Please don’t make a scene,” I almost beg him. I can see the look in his eyes. He’s pissed. His nostrils flare as he looks at Derrick like he wants to kill him.
“I won’t, but we’re eatin’. Act like you don’t see him,” Van tells me, grabbing my hand in his and pulling me through the door. We walk to the back and slide into a booth when Derrick sees me. I try not to look at him, but it’s hard. He walks over, and I glance up at him.
“You moved out. Where the hell did you go?” he snaps at me. Van cracks his neck from side to side before sliding back out of the booth and standing in front of him.
“Keep your voice down, brother. Don’t want to cause a scene,” he tells him. He eyes Van up and down, reading his cut before looking him in the eye.
“You who she’s fucking now?”
“No. I’m just a friend. Now calm the fuck down, man.”
“A friend? She doesn’t have male friends. I made sure of that,” he gloats, pissing Van off a little more. I can see the look in his eyes, and I know this isn’t going to end well for any of us. We’re going to get kicked out of the diner, I know it.
“She does now, so why don’t you back the fuck off a little,” Van tells him as he presses his hands to Derrick’s chest and pushes him back a step.
“Let’s just go, Van,” I say.
“You need to eat. We’re not goin’ anywhere,” he says without ever looking over at me. He keeps his eyes on Derrick the whole time when a small woman comes over.
“There a problem, Van?”
“Yeah. This guy is botherin’ my friend, Mrs. Glenda.”
“Then, by all means, escort him out,” the small woman says before sliding into the booth across from me. She sits back and watches as the two of them battle it out for dominance as Van drags Derrick out of the diner.
“You’re a friend of Van’s?” she asks as I watch the door.
“Yeah.”
“Van and the guys do a lot of security work for me when they’re around. Luckily, he was here today,” she says, pulling my attention to her.
“You’re not mad?”
“Oh no. Of course not. Van can handle them,” she smiles at me. “What can I get you to eat?”
“I … I should probably wait for Van.”
“I doubt he’d want you waiting on him. I’ll get him his usual just tell me what you’ll have.”
“I’ll have whatever he has,” I tell her. She nods her head and slides back out of the booth. I turn my head to look over my shoulder to see what’s happening. It looks like they’re in a heated discussion. Van stands there with his hands clenched at his sides as if he’s waiting for Derrick to say the wrong thing or make a move. I watch them, unsure of what to do in this situation, but something tells me I shouldn’t interfere.
So I don’t. I wait. Derrick turns his head to look back inside at me once more before I see him turn around and storm off. Van rolls his shoulders and turns, walking back inside before coming back to his seat.
“He won’t fuck with you again if he’s smart, but I get the feelin’ he isn’t very smart,” he tells me. I shrug as a woman sets drinks in front of us.
“I don’t know how smart he truly is anymore,” I admit to him.
“Not very, but hopefully, he leaves you alone,” he says once more.
“What did you say to him?”
“That you were bein’ taken care of, and he didn’t need to worry about where you are or what you’re doin’. I made it pretty damn clear, too,” he says casually. The woman, Glenda, comes back and sets two plates on the table in front of us, but my focus is on Van. I can’t believe he’d do that for me. Why? He doesn’t know me that well.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” she declares before walking away once more. Van looks up at me and catches my stare.
“You okay?”
“Why would you do that for me?”
“Why not? You don’t deserve his shit,” he tells me.
“No one has ever really gotten in the middle of my messes, though. I’m not used to it,” I admit.
“Well, get used to it. He’s lucky I didn’t beat his ass for puttin’ his hands on a pregnant woman,” he tells me. I should say thank you again, but that doesn’t seem like enough. It doesn’t seem like anything.
Instead, Van grabs his food and begins to eat, nodding toward my plate. I don’t know what else to say so I grab my food and begin to eat along with him.