Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Joaquin
There’s a real person inside my girlfriend’s belly, and I’m watching it on a monitor. It still looks a lot like an alien, but we made that tiny alien. It’s felt real since the beginning. This isn’t Tre’s first ultrasound, but at twelve weeks, it’s the first time it’s been truly distinguishable.
“Everything is progressing as it should. You’re actually measuring a little ahead. It’s not surprising since Tres J’s were all close to nine-and-a-half pounds.”
Tre looks at me aghast.
“I was eight-four and considered a healthy size baby. Nine pounds? But your mom’s tiny.”
“Only when she stands beside one of us. You’re the same size.”
I realize, as the words come out of my mouth, they did the opposite of reassure her. She looks back at the monitor, then at me, before staring at her belly.
“Stretch marks.”
“Huh?”
“I’m going to get a lot of stretch marks, aren’t I?” She’s looking at my tía now.
“There’s no way to know for sure. You’re young, and you have great skin. But there’s no way to judge its true elasticity or how fast your belly will grow.”
“But they itch, don’t they? When they’re coming in, right?”
“They can.”
“Tre, it doesn’t matter how they’ll look, if that’s?—”
“It’s not. If I want to wear a bikini I will, though I’d probably give you a stroke if I did in public.
No, I just can’t stand the idea of something being itchy all the time.
I’m nervous about how tight the skin will feel—like it’s going to pop.
I know I shouldn’t read stuff online, but… ” She shrugs.
“You can try things like cocoa butter, aloe, and vitamin E cream, but there’s no guarantee any of those will prevent them. They should soothe the itchiness though.”
“I can live with that.”
“You’re going to be the most beautiful pregnant woman.”
Tía Margherita offers a knowing smile. I know that smile.
“What are you hiding, Tía?”
“Not my secret to share, but you’ll know soon enough.”
“Someone else is pregnant too!” Tre blurts what I’m thinking before I can.
Tía cocks an eyebrow and turns away to wipe down the ultrasound wand.
I accept the tissues she passes toward Tre.
I gently wipe the goop from her still pristine skin.
I’ll never stop craving the woman I love.
I’ll spend every day ensuring she knows that.
I won’t have to say it. She’ll know because I won’t stop chasing her until I have my cock inside her.
I shift in my seat, and Tre looks at me. Her smirk. I frown and dart my gaze to my tía—our tía. Now she gives me a toothy grin. She knows what I’m thinking, and she knows I don’t want Tía Margherita catching us.
“Remember no hot dogs or deli meat unless they’re heated to steaming. Choose fish that are low in mercury. Caffeine but in moderation. No unpasteurized dairy. It nearly killed me both times giving up those cheeses.”
There’s a wistful look as she thinks about it. I’d like to imagine it’s about my cousins, but I know Tía. She believes cheese should be its own food group.
Tre reaches out her hand, and Tía Margherita takes it. She sits up and hugs our tía before resting back against the raised examination table.
“I wouldn’t wish this first trimester on anyone. You’ve gotten me through every wave of panic and every wave of guilt. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Tía.”
“Thank you, sobrina. I’m here for you always.” Niece.
Tía Margherita beams. She loves Florencia like a daughter, Tía Elle as a sister, all the other women who’ve married into this family as nieces. It would be easy for the women not to return her sentiments, but they do.
I lean over and kiss Tre’s forehead before Tía excuses herself. Once Tre’s dressed, we meet our guards in the hallway. Pablo had lunch with Tía in the cafeteria, so he joins the rank and file who surround Tre and me.
I know how imposing yet ridiculous six men surrounding one woman looks, especially since she’s too short for most people to see. But my men have already grown to respect her. It’s their duty, but it’s also their privilege to be selected. They know and take pride in that. They won’t fail us.
It was a quiet car ride home since we had the guards and Pablo with us.
We’re still staying at Tío Enrique’s and Tía Elle’s.
Neither of them makes us feel unwanted or in the way, but Tre and I want our privacy.
Fortunately, when we get home, they’re out at a lake rowing.
We settle on the sofa glad to be alone for a while.
“Joaco, we can’t stay here forever.”
“I was just thinking that too. This is the first time we’ve been alone here in days.”
“And we can’t keep bringing more of our stuff here or shuffling it between our places and here.”
“Do you want to go home?”
She stares at me. The longer she’s silent, the more nervous I get.
I want to suggest living together since we’ve done so well together already, but maybe being forced to share limited space has made us make it work.
Maybe she’s wanted her own place the entire time.
Maybe she’s not ready to even consider sharing a place permanently.
“Cuore mio, I don’t want to shuffle between your place and mine. It won’t be practical in six months. We’re in this together, so why would we want to double all the baby gear? We’d wind up just at one place or another, so one set would go to waste.”
She watches me as she speaks, and it feels like she’s offering a practical solution to make it easier for me to agree. Like she’s worried I might not be emotionally ready to live together, but I would agree if it seemed efficient.
“That’s true. I could take care of you better and wouldn’t worry as much if you were with me.”
She looks down as she nods.
Fuck. Now I made her think I only want her there for the baby’s sake.
I tuck my finger under her chin and lift it.
“Tre, I want us to live together because I want to come home to you every day. I want to take care of you no matter what. I want to stand in the kitchen and make dinner with you. Fall asleep next to you every night, wake up to you every morning. I want to hear about your plans for your day in the morning and how it went at night.”
She leans forward to brush her lips against mine. It’s the faintest kiss. She doesn’t pull away as she speaks.
“I want the same thing. We’re both practical people, so it makes sense. But I don’t want to be apart from you more than I have to. I enjoy your company, and I want to be near you.”
“Will you move in with me, chiquita?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Fuck, chica.”
I swoop in for a kiss that grows deeper.
I lift her onto my lap because she’s not close enough just curled against my side.
She straddles me, and I want to bury myself inside her.
My left hand rests on her ass as my right hand rests on the slight curve of her belly.
When we pull apart, she places her head on my chest. I run my hand up and down her back, and I know she’s listening to my heart.
She’s told me how relaxing she finds it.
“I meant it about not having a second set of gear, but I didn’t want you to feel pressured.”
“I know. I was worried you didn’t want to live with me, so I took too long to speak up. I’m sorry if I made you think I needed convincing.”
“I understand.”
She sits back and smiles at me. I shoot her a lopsided grin that I know makes her giggle.
“I’d rather have a second set of everything at Mamá’s.”
“Ever practical, caro. My guess is she’ll need two sets of everything soon.”
Tre’s conspiratorial expression makes me laugh. I lean in to whisper as though we’re sharing a secret even though there’s no one else around.
“Who do you think it is?”
“I have my suspicions, but I don’t want to ruin it for you if I’m right, Joaco.”
I lean back against the sofa cushions, genuinely curious, my brow furrowed.
“Why would it ruin it?”
“Because I think this couple wants it to be a surprise. And I think they’ve been cautious about not turning the attention to them when so much is going on with us.”
That makes me frown. It doesn’t sit well with me, even if it doesn’t surprise me.
“That’s not right. I don’t want to steal another couple’s time to celebrate with family.”
I don’t want my brothers or cousins—whoever it might be—to feel like they can’t share something this amazing because the attention’s been on Tre and me. It really bothers me.
I gaze out the living room window to my tío and tía’s backyard.
This house is already our central meeting place by default because of Tío Enrique’s position.
I can imagine a swing set and fort out there.
I can picture baby pools near the regular pool.
I can picture those things kids sit inside with all the toys on a tray around them, and they can walk in them.
I can see those on the back patio. I can even picture our toddler zooming around in one of those here in the living room.
I can picture all of that in a house Tre and I call home.
Tre shifts, and I know she’s getting uncomfortable. I lift her until she sits sideways on my lap. She stretches out her legs, so they rest on the sofa cushions.
“I’ll have to enjoy this while I can.”
“Why would you stop?”
“I might gain fifty or sixty pounds for all we know! I’ll squash you.”
She waggles her eyebrows at me, so I know she’s joking. I can tease right along with her. I look at her as though she’s lost her mind.
“I can carry all of my brothers and cousins, and not a one of them is under two hundred pounds. Hell, not a one of them is under two-ten. You can gain that sixty pounds and still be far lighter than them.”
“Mmm. Sixty pounds would put me a lot closer to them than I want to admit.” She shoots me a rueful smile, and I pinch her ass.
“You could gain a hundred pounds, and I’d still carry you around. You’ll still be sitting on my lap no matter what your weight. If I had it my way, you’d always be right here.”
“I’d always be sitting on your dick, not just on your lap.”
She may laugh, but she isn’t wrong.
“Well, yes. Either way, here is where you belong.”