AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I caught glimpses of her as she walked across the archway to the bedroom, and each time I saw her eyes. She looked like she wanted to say something, like something was on her mind. I grimaced. The clock just above the arch showed the time, and I noticed we were actually running late.
Allison came out of the kitchen and stood behind the couch that separated the hallway from the living room. She was stirring her tea looking like she was working up the nerve to say something.
“You look like you have something you want to talk about,” I said. She nodded and opened her mouth as if to speak. “But I have to cut you off. I really don’t want to be rude or act like I don’t care what you have to say, but we have to get ready and get out of here.”
“Why?” she asked, clearly a little upset.
“We have an appointment,” I said. “I wanted to let you sleep as long as possible before we left, but if we don’t get going in a few minutes we’re going to be late.”
“Late for what?” she asked, suspicion adding an edge to her voice.
I didn’t want to let her know what was up. If I did, she would figure it out before the reveal. I had worked so hard to prepare this that I didn’t want to blow it in an anticlimactic way. She deserved so much more than that. She deserved the best, of everything, and I wanted this to be no different. It would represent a new phase of her life, so I wanted it to be a statement.
“It’s kind of something you need to see,” I said. “If you can just get dressed really quickly, I’ll get Leo ready, and we can roll out.”
She looked unsure, her eyes narrowed, and her head turned to one side. Then she shrugged, making an exasperated sound and let her hands rise and fall back down to her thighs with a small slapping sound. She stomped off to our room, and I could hear her in there going through the motions of getting ready to leave.
Leo had a few outfits that hadn’t been put away yet in a shopping bag, and I pulled one out and got him dressed.
I swaddled him again and rested his head on my shoulder while I grabbed his diaper bag and waited by the door for Allison. She eventually came out, still brushing her hair and ducking her top half into the bathroom to check the minimal makeup she had put on. Wiping away an errant bit of lipstick with her middle finger, she approached me at the door and motioned to it that she was ready, then reached for Leo.
I let her take him as I opened the door for them. Leo didn’t wake up in the transfer but did gurgle, and we both froze momentarily. When it was clear he wasn’t waking up, Allison relaxed and took him outside to the car, where I jogged out to open the door so she could strap Leo into his carseat.
“Where are we going?” she asked again.
“I know this is weird,” I said, holding the door of the truck open for her to get into the passenger’s seat, “but I am asking you to just go along with this. Okay?”
Again, the suspicious look crossed her face, like I was setting her up for some major practical joke. If it was, it would be the most impressive one ever. The dedication to the joke with helping her on her house and falling in love and having a baby with her would be intense.
“I still need to talk to you about something,” she said as I hit the ignition button. It revved to life, and I checked the rearview mirror to make sure it didn’t wake Leo up. So far, so good.
“I know,” I said.
“No, really, it’s important,” she said.
I put the truck into gear but held my foot on the brake, looking over at her with a look that was probably slightly exasperated.
“I know,” I said. “And we will get to it, I promise. But please just let me do this. Once it’s over, you can talk to me as much as you want about whatever you want. Okay?”
“Promise?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said.
There was a seriousness to her voice that concerned me. Suddenly, my mind was awash in all kinds of things she could want to talk to me about. The worst one was the most prominent, though. What if she decided that she wasn’t feeling comfortable in this relationship anymore? What if she wanted out?
We had been so casually sliding into cohabitation from the very beginning, while also establishing that we weren’t ready for marriage or commitment on that level. Even when we were very clear that we had feelings for each other, we were both very open that marriage wasn’t something we wanted pressure about.
