Chapter 9 #2
Children are ungrateful, I know, but I didn’t expect him to start demonstrating that ingratitude so early… These were my boobs losing their glory, damn it!
“Ella, baby, you don’t need to be upset.” I heard Heithor’s voice behind me, the comforting tone making it hard not to huff while I rolled my eyes.
“I’m not.”
“He didn’t say Daddy.”
“He can’t yet, Heithor.” I closed the drawer when I decided there was nothing else to organize without acting like an OCD lunatic. “Lucca said what he could.”
Thor put our son in the crib, ignoring Lola circling his feet.
“You always say papa when you want him to eat.”
I sighed hard, surrendering to common sense and secretly appreciating his attempt to make me feel better. “You don’t have to do that. Lucca was going to speak eventually. I’m happy for him and for being here to see it… I won’t be upset if you’re happy… You can celebrate.”
Thor smiled, and it was beautiful and spontaneous. I smiled too, but stopped when I realized how quickly my barriers had fallen, leaving us intimate, and raised them fast.
“You know he only did that to flatter me in the future, right?”
I let out a muffled laugh.
“Oh really?”
“Lucca knows I’m the guy he has to please to get that car of the year he’s going to want and that extra cash to go out with his girls.”
“Does that include him knowing you’ll only be able to do that if I allow it?”
I passed Thor, lifting off the bedroom. He came after me.
“Possibly. But I’m also the guy who can convince you.”
“Good thing, then, that he won’t need you to convince me.”
“Lucca will need someone to show him the ropes.”
I stopped. “And that will be you?”
“Who better than his father to give him his life lessons?” And at my insistent, very unhappy look, he added, “He will always be a gentleman.”
I looked. Not one of those fake looks. I really looked, registering every little piece of him. And I regretted it. Thor was still as hot as I remembered. A wave of heat moved through me, provoking, and left my mouth dry.
I exhaled hard, looking away.
“Let’s leave this conversation for when the time comes. I don’t want to talk about girlfriends, conquests, and my son in the same sentence right now.”
“Our son.”
“Yes.”
“Want to watch a movie?”
His hand landed above my hip. I trembled lightly, refusing the burn where he touched me, and shifted to the side, ignoring his flirtatious expression.
“I have to study, Heithor.”
He smiled, nodding. I was running, and he knew it.
Lola followed right behind. I had named her that because it was easy for Lucca to pronounce.
The damned puppy didn’t like being alone.
Most of the time, she was with Lucca, even when he slept in the playpen.
Lola would lie beside it and sleep. And me, well, I was attached to the dog.
I picked her up and took her with me to the office.
“I know you peed on my pretty rug, you naughty thing, and destroyed that pretty pillow I love, and that fool covered up your artwork. Keep destroying my things and peeing around here, and I’ll make you sleep on the hard concrete balcony.”
I swear the dog whined.
I smiled, kissing her furry head.
“Silly girl.”
Days later, I found Thor, with an expression of pain, braced against the kitchen counter with one hand on his back, still wearing pajama pants. The T-shirt was nowhere to be found.
“Good morning!”
“We need to talk, Ella.”
I stopped halfway through filling my cup. I lifted a finger, asking for time. I wasn’t fully awake yet, and I couldn’t solve anything without coffee.
I filled the cup to the brim and drank all of it.
“Okay, say it,” I said, prepared for his nonsense from two days ago.
“You know what it is, and you’re making this worse.”
“Me? Why? You’re the one who doesn’t want to go back to your apartment.”
“Ella, you know I can’t go in there yet.”
There was that now. As if the fumigation weren’t enough, Thor had come up with a leak, and his apartment had been blocked off until the problem was fixed.
A top-tier building like this, with a fucking forest on the balcony, couldn’t quickly solve a simple problem. Now tell me if that wasn’t convenient?
“You can go to Martha’s or a hotel,” I suggested.
“Do you hate me that much? You could see me die and feel nothing?”
“For God’s sake!” I laughed. “You’re not dying. You’re just being dramatic.”
Thor moved, straightening his posture, and made a deep grimace of pain accompanied by a heavy exhale. “Fuck!”
I almost believed him. I was in doubt, starting to doubt…
“Did you take medicine?”
His angry look hit me. “It’s not the medicine, and you know it. It’s where I’m sleeping. And yes, I already took it,” he grumbled bad-temperedly, serving himself coffee.
I pinched a small roll. “This is so convenient.”
“Seriously, Ella? You really think I would inflict fucking back pain on myself, so bad I can’t even stand straight without wanting to kill someone, just to get into your bed?”
“Actually, I think you would fake it,” I said sincerely.
He looked at me, pissed.
I smiled over the coffee mug. “I have to go to the company. I’ll do half my shift, and I’ll come back at lunch. Make the doctor’s appointment. I’ll go with you.”
***
I looked at the doctor with hatred. Thor was miraculously better but unable to make sudden movements. I told him, it wasn’t the spine, it was age.
Of course he wasn’t an old man. Thor was strong as a bull, very healthy, had all those tempting muscles, a very oppressive strength. Hot as fuck.
“No more sofas, Mr. Castellammare.”
“And the floor?”
The doctor looked at me, and I ignored Thor’s stare.
“The floor sometimes helps the patient when the pain is too much, but the correct thing is to lie on a firmer bed and avoid pillows with too much filling.” The professional shifted his attention to Heithor.
“If you properly follow all the recommendations I made, there will be no further problems. I prescribed a more effective medication in case of stronger pain. And also a muscle relaxant.”
“I think we should go to another doctor. I didn’t trust this one,” I grumbled outside the clinic, unconvinced by the final opinion.
Thor looked irritated. “Look, Ella, you don’t need to give me space in your bed. If that’s too much for you, I’ll stay on the floor, but I’m not going back to the sofa.”