Chapter 15
Alyssia
“Hey, baby girl,” my Uncle Theo answers.
The sound of his deep voice comforts me in ways that I didn’t know I needed, as I pace my hotel room.
“I’m glad we finally got ahold of you. How’re you doing?”
My lips spread into a small smile. We’ve been playing phone tag for the past couple of weeks between the move and everything else.
Uncle Theo is my mother’s older brother. After my parents and grandmother died, he retired from a twenty-five-year career in the Army.
“I’m well … How’s Uncle Owen, first? Are you two still enjoying your life at sea?”
There’s some crackling on the line. I pull my cell from my ear.
“Uncle Theo? Can you hear me?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m still here, baby girl. We’re docking today in Cozúmel.”
“You two love Mexico.”
Uncle Theo and his husband, Uncle Owen, both retired from the military and married not long after they took me in. A year and a half ago they both made the decision to rent out their home and spend most of the year living on cruise ships.
“How’s New York treating my favorite niece?”
“Is that Alyssia?” I hear Uncle Owen’s voice in the background. “You didn’t tell me you were calling her. Give me the phone.”
“She called us,” Uncle Theo says before I hear wrestling on the other end.
“Alyssia? Is that you?”
“Hey, Uncle Owen. Are you enjoying your cruise?”
“Ha! I can tell you bootcamp was less demanding than living in tight quarters with this man.”
“Only because you loved living in such close proximity to all of those men,” Uncle Theo yells back.
“He’s such a pervert,” Uncle Owen says to me.
“But you’re the one who married him,” I remind him.
He sighs heavily. “Because he’s so handsome.”
I take a seat on the bed, grinning. “I told you good-looking guys aren’t worth the trouble.”
“Tell me about it,” Uncle Owen mumbles.
For absolutely no reason at all, images of Travis come to mind.
“So much trouble.”
“Is there something you want to tell us, baby girl?”
Uncle Theo’s voice pulls me back to the present moment. I realize I’d spoken what should’ve remained my internal thoughts out loud.
But I can’t keep this secret from my uncles for much longer. It’s not fair to them.
“There is, actually,” I reply.
“Am I going to need to sit down for this?” he asks.
“Yes, both of you.”
I pause while it sounds like he and Uncle Owen get settled into wherever they are.
“We’re in our cabin room now,” Uncle Owen tells me.
“And you’re on speaker.” That’s Uncle Theo.
“I’m pregnant,” I blurt out, like ripping off a Band-Aid to not prolong the discomfort.
“Pregnant,” Uncle Theo repeats.
“That’s not all—”
Before I can tell them about my big move, a knock on the door startles me.
“Sorry, housekeeping must be at the door,” I tell them as another pounding knock sounds.
Anger shoots through me. This isn’t the most luxurious hotel, but sheesh, they don’t have to be so persistent.
“I have to go, but I promise to call you back later on to tell you everything,” I tell my uncles.
There’s protest on the other end but the knocking on the door has me yanking the door open ready to correct the hotel employee on the other end.
Except, it’s not hotel staff.
Travis stands there holding up an open hand.
“Did you know that our baby is the size of a palm? From crown-to-rump that’s five or more inches and somewhere around five ounces.”
I don’t have an answer to his question because I’m too thrown off by the fact that he’s standing here. When I’d texted him that I would most decidedly not be living in his apartment, I’d mentioned staying in a hotel until I found my own place.
But I hadn’t mentioned which hotel.
That was yesterday afternoon.
“H-How do you know that?” I inquire, instead of asking how he knew where I was staying.
The sardonic smirk coupled with the spark in his eyes causes my heart to skip a beat. I quickly shake the feeling off.
It’s just the hormones.
Travis holds up his phone. On the screen is the cover of the book What to Expect When You’re Expecting. The updated edition.
“Apparently, this is one of the best books on pregnancy. I also bought one written by an economics professor, so it’s statistics heavy, and kind of flies in the face of a lot of conventional wisdom. Got a lot of reading done on my flight back home.”
“You’re reading about pregnancy?”
He gives me a funny look. “Do you want to know what else these books say?”
I raise an eyebrow and then watch as he confidently slips past me to fully enter my hotel room.
I stand there, door open, staring at his back as he does a sweep of the room, assessing it.
My hand slowly falls from the handle, allowing the door to shut on its own. At the sound of the closing, Travis turns to me, smile completely gone.
The spark in those seafoams remains, however.
“Rest,” he says. “The books say rest and low stress are important for a healthy pregnancy.”
He takes a step in my direction. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My body becomes tight with the smallest hint of tension from his unexpected nearness. I warm from the inside out. And for absolutely no reason at all, reminders of that night in Travis’ bed come to mind.
It’s not like I haven’t thought of him in this way over the past month. Ever since reuniting with him at the gala. However, I’ve fought hard not to fall too deep into those thoughts.
But these damn pregnancy hormones. I’ve read somewhere they can cause increased sexual arousal.
That’s what I’m going to go with.
“Which begs the question,” Travis begins, “why are you making your life more complicated by not moving into my apartment?”
The commanding hitch in his voice, suggests he expects me to do whatever he says, whenever, is what snaps me out of my temporary trance.