27. Elias
Living with Kate was… an experience.
He could tell she still wasn’t comfortable with relying on him, but she was slowly giving in to the baby’s demands—or at least, that’s how Elias saw it.
She had to tell her work about the pregnancy because she’d called in sick too many times. Smells set her off, so working in the emergency department with its wide range of weird and wonderful odours was a challenge for her. She still managed to do some of her shifts, but she’d had to reduce the hours more than she would have liked. The pregnancy books said the morning sickness should ease, but so far, there had been no sign of it stopping.
Along with the morning sickness was the cravings. Elias had thought they were a myth, but he soon learned they were very real. In fact, if Kate didn’t get to eat whatever it was she was craving, she would immediately get nauseous. They’d learned that the hard way.
Kate had felt an irrational craving for a beetroot sandwich. Nothing else. Just beetroot, butter, and white bread. They hadn’t had the beetroot, and they’d tried to feed the baby something else, but it was rejected in spectacular fashion.
Kate had started making a list so they always had things on hand, and Elias had been on shopping duty because the various smells associated with food shopping were intolerable to her. Surprisingly, she could deal with the smell of blood at work, but not raw meat at the butcher.
As far as smells went, they weren’t all bad. There were smells Kate couldn’t get enough of, and Elias had caught her sniffing the lime dishwashing detergent. They’d compensated with lime cordial—the artificial stuff, not the expensive real lime cordial. For some reason the bright green kids’ variety was what the baby wanted. It was a small win, but one they didn’t take lightly.
Their diet had turned decidedly vegetarian, not that Elias minded… much. He occasionally grabbed a steak sandwich when he was out if he felt the need, but for the most part he was okay. Kate couldn’t handle the sight or smell of raw meat, poultry, or fish in the house. She also couldn’t cook—because of the smell—so Elias had been scouring the internet for vegetarian and vegan recipes. He’d developed a liking for tofu, which he’d never thought he would (and he tried not to think about the white cat of the same name). Cow’s milk, however, was still on the list.
Over the two weeks he’d been living with Kate, they’d developed a routine. He would bring her crackers with a thin smear of Vegemite and a cup of ginger tea to her bed before she stood upright. It seemed to lessen the nausea if she ate something prior to being erect. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t, but at the moment, the odds were in their favour. This morning had been a win, and Kate had managed to get to work without throwing up once. A minor miracle as far as he was concerned.
Elias had taken the opportunity to clean the house and do the shopping. Working around Kate’s and the baby’s schedule wasn’t easy, mostly because it was so unpredictable. Kate might be barely showing, but the baby was making its presence known. Elias had nicknamed it Tiger in his head, for no other reason than he had come to understand the baby was not to be ignored, much like a tiger in the wild shouldn’t be.
Elias put three large tins of sliced beetroot into the trolley and crossed it off the list. His phone rang, and he fumbled it out of his pocket as he continued down the aisle.
‘Hey,’ Levi said in greeting.
‘Hey,’ Elias replied, preoccupied with the next item on the list.
‘Let’s have dinner tonight.’
‘Huh?’ Elias stopped the trolley and frowned.
‘Dinner. Tonight. You and me.’
‘Just the two of us?’
‘And maybe Theo.’
Elias bit his lip. He wouldn’t mind a night out with his brother, but what about Kate? Would she be okay if he left her alone? He felt bad about going out to have fun when she was stuck at home feeling sick and miserable.
‘Um, I don’t know. I’ll need to check.’
‘You need to check your schedule?’ Levi sounded incredulous. ‘Do you have such a busy social life that you can’t spare some time for your brother? It’s been three weeks since I saw you last.’ And that had been a disaster, although neither of them said so.
‘I’m out at the moment,’ Elias said, getting pissed that his brother wouldn’t just take no for an answer.
‘Seriously? You can’t just say yes?’
‘Look, Levi, I’m going to have to call you back, okay?’
‘It’s an easy question, Elias. I don’t see what the big deal is.’
‘I’m at the checkout, okay? I’m trying to pay for my groceries, and I’m being exceptionally rude to the cashier by being on the phone. Would you just please give me a break and let me call you back?’
He wasn’t at the checkout—although he did have a pet peeve when it came to people talking on their phones while they were being served—it was a convenient excuse to get Levi off the phone so he could check with Kate… but he couldn’t tell Levi that.
‘Fine. No need to be so pissy about it. Call me back when you’ve consulted your schedule.’ Levi hung up without saying goodbye.
Elias swore softly and stuffed his phone back in his pocket, but before he could refocus on his list, it vibrated with a text message. He didn’t think twice about looking at it. It might very well be Levi having a go at him, but it could also equally be Kate needing something.
It was Kate.
Kate:
Hey, so Alexis invited me out tonight. Girls’ night with Sarah. I think I might go…?
Elias:
How are you feeling?
Kate:
Pretty good, actually. I thought I may as well take advantage of it while I can.
Elias:
Sounds good. Levi also invited me out tonight.
Kate:
Oh good. I don’t feel so bad going then. See you when I get home.
Elias:
‘kay
He slid his phone back into his pocket. Yes, he could text Levi back immediately and tell him he was in tonight, but let the bastard stew a little bit longer.
* * *
Theo and Leviwere waiting for him at a table in their favourite underground bar. Elias felt equally glad to be there and wishing he was tucked up in bed. He hadn’t been sleeping well. Part of it was being a room away from Kate and knowing exactly what it felt like to sleep next to her, and the other part was him keeping a constant ear out in case she needed him in the middle of the night. He would probably sleep better next to her, but he had already pushed his luck by insisting he move in with her. He doubted she would see his reasoning as anything other than an excuse to get in her bed.
Levi lifted his hand, and Elias crossed to where the guys sat. A beer was already waiting for him, and he took a grateful drink as soon as he sat down. It would be his one and only for the night, so he was going to savour it.
‘Long time, no see,’ Levi said.
‘Yeah, well, I’ve been busy.’
‘Uh huh.’
Theo was watching him closely but was yet to say anything. He hadn’t spoken to his friend since the day he’d spilled the beans about Kate’s pregnancy. As far as Theo knew, they hadn’t made a decision about the baby.
‘I dropped by your place the other day,’ Levi said. ‘You weren’t home.’
‘I was probably at the workshop.’
Levi shook his head. ‘Nope. I went there too.’
‘Are you spying on me?’
‘Since when is checking up on my little brother spying?’
‘You could have called me.’
‘I did.’
Oh. Right. Elias had been dodging Levi’s and Alexis’ calls. He was a shit liar, and not talking to them after the way he had outed him and Kate at dinner was better than having to lie to Levi’s face.
‘So… you and Kate?’
Fuck. Why did Elias come? He should have stayed at home.
‘Are friends,’ he said. Not technically a lie.
‘And?’ Levi was staring at him like he could read his thoughts, and Elias, in an act of self-preservation, looked to Theo for help.
‘Leave it, Levi,’ Theo said.
‘I went to see Kate,’ Levi said, ignoring Theo.
Elias raised his eyebrows. ‘You did? What did she say?’
‘I didn’t actually get to see her. Your truck was parked out the front of her house.’
‘Oh… right.’
‘It’s been there a lot.’
Elias stared at Levi. ‘Are you following me now?’
‘I’m worried about you.’
‘Worried about me? Or worried about Kate?’
‘What is that supposed to mean?’
‘It means you don’t like the fact I’m living with your friend. You don’t think I’m good enough for her.’
Levi blinked, snapping his head back as if he’d been punched. ‘There are so many things I need to unpack in that statement,’ he said slowly. ‘Starting with, you’re living with Kate?’
Shit.
‘You’ve decided, then,’ Theo said.
‘Yeah,’ Elias said wearily. It was no use trying to hide it now. He’d let the cat out of the bag, and there was no way of putting that sucker back in.
‘Decided what?’ Levi asked, glancing between Elias and Theo. ‘What exactly don’t I know?’
Elias took a breath and tipped his head back. He should have stayed home. He squeezed his eyes shut for a long moment and then opened them to look back at Levi. There was no way to sugarcoat it, and he would have found out eventually. Elias had just been hoping it would have been in a few more weeks and that Kate would be sitting beside him at the time.
‘Kate’s pregnant. We’re pregnant.’ It was the first time he’d phrased it like that and… it felt good.
Levi paled. Elias expected him to yell, but no, that wasn’t Levi’s way. Levi was far more formidable when he was quiet.
‘What?’ he hissed.