“If I’m too good to be true”—he kisses my lips—“how do you think I feel?” He kisses my cheek. “You have come into my life and made it better. It’s like I didn’t even know I wasn’t breathing, that I wasn’t truly living. Now, I can take on anything.” I look down. “You have to be the kindest soul I’ve ever met in my life. I’m happy our baby is going to have a part of you in them because I know it’s going to be the best part of them.”
“I’m going to need you to stop it,” I tell him through tears, and he chuckles. “And I’m going to need you to find me vases for all these flowers.”
“None of them make you feel sick?” he asks, his face worried.
“No.” I sniff, and he grabs them from me and places them on the island.
“Why don’t you go and take a shower, and I’ll get these sorted. Then you can crawl into bed and have a little nap.”
“I don’t think I can nap now.” It’s almost six. “I’m just going to go to bed at seven.”
“Okay, then I’ll cook,” he kisses me, “and then you’ll go to bed.”
“What about you?”
“Are you trying to get me into the shower with you, baby?” He grins. I can’t help but snort.
“Obviously. I don’t think I’ve taken a shower in a while without being felt up.”
“Don’t even pretend you don’t like it.” He grabs my ass in his hands.
“I think you like it more than I like it,” I sass him, and he lets me go.
“Go shower.”
“Okay,” I give in.
I spot my bag in the corner of his closet, where he had put it, and reach in to grab a pair of panties and the long, gray pants with a matching T-shirt. Once I start the shower, I peel out of my clothes and toss them into the hamper. The first couple of times, I put my clothes in a pile on the counter to repack, but Theo picked them up and tossed them in with his. It made me a bit anxious, but after the second time, it felt good. Like I belonged here. Like it was us.
Stepping into the big shower, I let the water course over me. I can’t wash the smile off my face when I think about the flowers he bought me. But then I remember where I had just been when he went into the flower shop. And soon, my mind is focused on the money I’m going to need for new tires. My heart pounds and my stomach dips.
I wash my hair and wrap it in a towel before getting dressed. My stomach grumbles as I comb out my hair. I can hear voices coming from the living room, and I wonder if Caleb has come by to visit.
Theo isn’t in the kitchen, so I check the living room and stop dead in my tracks. I feel the blood drain out of me.
“Thank you very much,” my mother says as Theo hands her a glass of water. She sits there on his couch right next to my father, who is holding a beer in his hand.
“Of course,” Theo replies, “the pleasure is all mine.” My feet feel like they are stuck to the floor. He turns to look at me, and all I want to do is put a bubble around him and make sure that nothing touches him, especially my parents. “Well, there she is,” he says, and I wish I had told him not to let them in. I wish I had the balls to tell him that I don’t ever want to see them. But I guess, deep down, I was still defending my parents.
“What are you doing here?” Those are the only words that escape me as I make my way to stand next to Theo.
“Now, is that any way to treat your parents?” my mother chides, shaking her head. “We were looking for you at home and, well?—”
“We heard in town that the two of you were shacking up,” my father states, and I can feel the tightness in my neck. “So we thought it was the perfect time to meet him.”
“Are you okay?” Theo whispers in my ear.
“Yeah,” I lie to him, “I’m fine. Why don’t you go and get in the shower?” I smile tightly. “Then we can eat.”
“Um.” He hesitates, looking at me and then at my parents. “Are you sure?”
“Oh yeah.” I need to get him as far away from my parents as possible. “Go shower.”
“If you’re sure,” he double-checks, and I just smile while he bends to kiss my lips. “I’ll be out soon,” he tells my parents. My father takes a long pull of his beer, and my mother bats her eyes at him.
I wait until I can hear the water running before speaking. “What the hell are you two doing here?” I whisper-hiss. My father looks all smug. “Actually, scratch that, I don’t care. I don’t care why you are here. All I care about is the two of you leaving and never coming back here again.”
My mother rolls her eyes at me as my father finishes the beer in his hand. “You don’t think we’re going to just go away without anything, do you?” He puts the empty bottle on the table. “You know better than that, sitting up here in the lap of luxury.”
