Chapter 12
Trixie
Thanksgiving was in three days, and I was so excited to be hosting my very first holiday. My parents would be here and so would Brandon’s, who were driving out to Minnesota from Iowa.
Brandon tried to convince me not to invite his parents, saying we’d only been in our new place a week, and we weren’t ready to have people over. And true to being me, I assured him we’d be fine.
My parents had been great at helping us get moved in. It wasn’t like we had a ton of furniture to get set up. And it shouldn’t matter if our walls were bare. In time, we would have a comfy and homey home.
I knew Brandon’s reservations had nothing to do with the state of our house. Or even me. It’d been a couple of years since he last spoke to his parents, and even longer since he last saw them. Not to mention how getting thrown out of his childhood home had been traumatic for him.
He didn’t dislike his folks, but they’d hurt him terribly and he hadn’t healed from the event. I wanted to be the buffer between them, and hopefully, assist in fixing their broken relationship.
“Trix, I’m home,” he shouted from the mudroom.
A gust of freezing air blew in and chilled me to the bone. Winter had come earlier than usual in Minnesota, starting with the mega snowstorm on Halloween, and it hadn’t warmed back up.
“In the kitchen.” I shivered and jogged in place to get my blood flowing more robustly to warm myself up. Just because I had extra padding on my body didn’t mean I stayed warm. When it was below freezing, I got cold just like everyone else.
Well, maybe not Brandon. My man was hot blooded, and when the lows dropped into the single digits overnight, he still slept in the nude. The man was crazy!
Brandon and some of the Knights had gone on their annual Thanksgiving hunting excursion. I was glad to get him out of the house for half the day. He’d been a ball of nerves ever since his call with his mom. Being with his MC brothers was good for him.
“How’s it going in here.” He appeared in his hunting gear and promptly kissed me. “It smells amazing.”
“Thanks. Wish I could say the same for you.” I pinched my nose. Had he rolled around in the dirt after cleaning his game? Yuck, my stomach churned. “Did you get anything?”
“Of course. Your man is a first-class hunter. Our family will always be well fed with a stocked freezer.”
“Impressive. What’d you get?” I rubbed my finger under my nose, trying not to breathe.
“A white tail deer, and six grouse. Plucked them myself.”
Okay, that might explain the foul smell, no pun intended, eddying off his clothing. I’d never smelled anything so pungent.
“Wow, that’s amazing!” I clapped for him, genuinely proud of him. “We’ll be eating in a few hours, and our company will arrive in an hour and a half… If you want to go shower and change.”
Please, Lord. Guide my hunter into a hot, steamy shower to sanitize him.
“Yeah, that’s a good plan. My dad likes football. Does yours?”
“Papa will watch it if it’s on, but you know him. He has no time for anything extra. He just all about the deli.”
“Okay, I’ll have it on. It might be a good buffer.” He leaned in to give me another kiss.
“Sounds good.” I held my breath and smiled.
“Is everything okay?” He tilted his head and stood way closer to me than I appreciated.
An image of Pigpen, the stinky character in Peanuts movies, flashed behind my eyes. All those wavy lines showing how smelly he was should’ve been coming off Brandon.
“Yup. You just need a shower, handsome.” I pinched my nose again.
“Oh, damn. I’m sorry.” He backed away from me, then sniffed his armpit. “Jesus, I stink.”
Like a skunk.
“Yes, but it’s hard to notice when it’s on yourself. After your shower, you can kiss me all you want.” I watched his reaction, and he seemed fine.
Learning all about Brandon’s neurodivergence was my top priority. I wanted to be able to communicate with him effectively. And for the most part, I did just fine.
But then I had known him for several years, and I’d figured out that being direct and concise, and in an even tone worked best.
“It’s funny because I’ve noticed you’re more sensitive to smell lately. What’s up with that?”
“Oh, really? That is funny.” I bit my bottom lip and went to the kitchen sink where I’d been washing mixing bowls. “Do you want me to make you a snack, for after your shower?”
“That’d be great. I’m starving. The guys just like to drink when we’re hunting.”
“Yeah, I smelled whiskey on your breath.”
“Man, your nose is better than Dodge’s Foxhound.” He laughed on his way out of the kitchen.
I ran to the back door, swung it open and sucked the fresh air into my nose to cleans it from my stinky man. Fortunately, it didn’t take long or I might freeze.
My hand went on my belly, and guilt tumbled around in my heart.
I needed to tell Brandon that his plan to get me pregnant on Halloween had likely happened. But with everything going on, I didn’t want him feeling overwhelmed until after today.
It was challenging to predict how he’d react to something. I’d like to believe he would be thrilled we were having a baby, but I wasn’t certain. His initial reaction might not be joyous, and he’d need to process. I wanted him to have the space he might need.
But I absolutely believed he’d be elated and would be a terrific father.
Fortunately, his parents were staying in a hotel tonight, since we hadn’t put together the extra room.
Then tomorrow they were heading home, unless they changed their mind.
I doubted it though. I think they just wanted to come check out things and see Brandon for a brief visit.
Perhaps the next time they came to Minnesota, they’d stay longer.
I just wanted to get through the next couple of days before sharing the news. When the moment seemed calm and stress-free, I’d tell him he was going to be a daddy.
Plus, at most, I was four weeks along and miscarriages were common in the first trimester. I’d been reading up on it since I first gagged when I entered the deli. There were a lot of strong scents in that building.
I wasn’t sure how I would survive working for the next couple of months without my parents knowing I was pregnant. My mother would probably figure it out, so I needed to tell Brandon. He deserved to find out first.
Feeling better, I resumed what I was doing before my stinky boyfriend came home. Thank goodness, he hadn’t brought the birds and deer into our home. I would have surely barfed.
Shaking all that out of my head, I got back to preparing my side dishes. I wanted everything ready to go before his parents arrived, and time was ticking faster than I was moving.
While Brandon was in the shower, I managed to finish the yams and corn casserole, and I set the table for our meal.
We’d borrowed a banquet table from his club and six chairs.
His biker friends and their wives were incredible, so giving and willing to help.
It was because of them that we were all moved in. I was grateful to have them in my life.
A new dining set was the first large purchase we would make together. I just hadn’t had time to shop for one while working at the deli. The holidays were a busy time. We had an increase in catered orders on top of our regular customer traffic flow.
Hopefully, I’d have one by Christmas.
“Trix, come here!” he hollered from the bedroom.
“Sure, one sec.” Weirdly, the muscles in my shoulders locked up when I heard something different in his voice. I couldn’t imagine what happened or what he needed.
I stood after I had just sat down to take a breather before everyone arrived. Which wouldn’t be long now. It was almost two o’clock.
“Trix!”
“I’m here.” I appeared in the doorway of our bedroom. “What’s up?”
“This.” He held the pregnancy test I had buried at the bottom of the trash can under the bathroom sink.
“Where did you get that?” No way he’d stumbled upon it by accident.
“A plus sign means pregnant. You’re pregnant with my baby and you didn’t tell me.” Whoa, he looked furious. “Why were you hiding it?”
“I wasn’t hiding it with the intention of keeping it from you. I just—”
“The test was buried in the trash.” He narrowed his eyes at me like I’d betrayed him, but I hadn’t.
“Yes, it was, which makes me wonder how you found it.” I put my hands on my full hips. Now I was getting angry.
How could he think I would deceive him? He of all people should know how he overreacts like now. I’d only been trying to protect him and save the news for a quiet, peaceful moment.
“I searched your symptom.”
“What?”
“I wanted to know why you might have a sensitive nose to smells. Pregnancy was one of the first possible causes.”
“I don’t even know what to say.” My mind was blown. I didn’t think men would search up symptoms or even notice them. But then Brandon wasn’t your typical man. “So, then you looked for a test and found it.”
Now that I thought of it. He had taken longer than usual in the shower, but I’d just figured he’d been extra dirty, and he was doing a thorough cleaning for my benefit.
“Yes, and you were hiding it.” He paced in the bedroom with his hands on his head. “Why? Why would you hide it from me, Trix? Why?”
“Honey, let’s calm down.” I exhaled a deep breath.
The last thing I wanted was to ruin Thanksgiving and his reunion with his parents. But despite all my attempts to make today wonderful, I still managed to mess it up.
Why didn’t I just tell him and everything else be dammed?
“Answer me,” he snapped.
“I was going to tell you after your parents when home to Iowa. Please believe me. I wasn’t hiding it. I just took the test yesterday.” I went to him and took his free hand, then the one holding the test. “I wanted today to be about you and your folks. That’s all.”
His eyes shimmered with emotion. “You should’ve included me when you took the test.”