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“Oh man, I hope they kick when I’m around tomorrow. I’d like to feel that.” I go silent imagining that feeling. This is where being together comes into place. If she accepted my proposal, she could be all moved into my nearly completed house, and we could have felt them kicking for the first time together.
“Yeah, listen, I gotta go.”
I sigh, remembering that I have a roomful of men waiting on me. “Yeah, me too. See you Thursday.” We hang up and I go back inside to conclude the meeting. But in the back of my mind, I’m already scheming a way to convince Charlie to give us a chance. We could be really good together, I know it.
When I go back to my office, I tell Lisa to adjust my schedule so I’m free by four PM on Thursday and to clear everything off my agenda for Friday. Anything important, I’d deal with on Thursday, everything else can wait till Monday.
Until this year,I don’t think I’d been in a situation that’s truly made me scared. I faced down Massimo fucking Moratti when I was seventeen, I think that situation sort of put everything into perspective. But nowadays, I seem to only feel nerves…about my situation, about Charlie, our babies.
First when Charlie and I went to the doctor’s appointment to check on the babies’ health, and now as I drive to meet myfuture in-laws. I’m so nervous that my palms are slipping on the steering wheel.
Charlie texted me a new address, so I’m assuming she’ll meet me at her mom’s. I met Donna Square once five years ago when Charlie and I got engaged, but I wouldn’t say that I know her.
I arrive at the Hill section address on my GPS. It is a modest, two-story Queen Anne style home set away from the city and other houses in the area. As soon as I turn off my ignition in front of the house, the front door opens. A butler welcomes me as I ascend the steps.
He leads me through the wide double doors that open directly into a large sitting room with formal chairs. Not long after, Charlie shows up and, fuck, she takes me breath away. I feel like I’ve taken a punch straight to the gut when I see that she’s wearing her hair down, the long strands tickling the tops of her exposed breasts.
She’s wearing a tight, red sweater dress that hugs her delicious curves perfectly, the only thing keeping me from running my hands over them right now is the nagging reminder I have in the back of my mind that she’s not currently convinced we should be together. But I’m one lucky man: not only do I know she’ll come around, but I’m looking at the mother of my children. And she’s fucking perfect.
“Ezra. Hope you found the place okay?” she asks, coming to give me a quick hug. My wrists rest on the small of her back as I hug her, but she’s pulling away all too soon. My eyes catch on the small bump of her stomach that I can spot beneath her tight dress.
My babies are in there; the thought has me feeling scared yet again, what the fuck. I know I wouldn’t hesitate to kill for either one of them, but I just realized that I’d willingly die for them too. Anything to keep them safe.
“Come, Mom is excited to meet you.” She grins at me, and takes a hold of my hand to lead me down a hallway, breaking me out of my dark thoughts and reminding me of the current task at hand: charming Donna. And what is this? I wonder, studying the back of her head. Last time we saw each other, she practically ran away because I proposed, and now she’s being all nice and touchy. She’s holding my hand for Christ’s sake.
We make our way through another door, which leads to a large, warm kitchen. Two women are putting around: Ella and Donna Square. Donna, unlike her daughters, has blonde hair without a strand of gray in sight, and warm, dark eyes. Her hair is pulled back in a neat bun, and her simple dress flows to her ankles.
They glance up as we enter the room. Ella smirks at me, and I nod back. Donna’s eyes immediately light up; she grabs a small towel to wipe her hands before walking to me, her arms extended. Charlie drops my hand, taking a step back.
“Ezra! It’s so nice to see you after so long.” She smiles warmly as she grabs both my hands. “Look at you…so grown up!”
I return her smile and lean forward to kiss her cheeks. “Hello Donna, the pleasure is all mine. It’s been too long. I never would’ve recognized you. Are you aging backwards?”
“Oh, you stop.” She flutters her hand that way women do, her cheeks warming up.
A stern-looking older woman comes into the kitchen. “Mrs. Square, everything is ready.”
“Perfect, thank you.” Donna responds, then turns to face me. “Come, let’s eat.” She leads me into an intimate dining room. There are four places set on the table filled with steaming food. She seats me next to her, with Charlie across from me and Ella next to her.
“So, tell me, Ezra, what do you think of Burlington? If you and Charlie do end up getting married, would you be willing tomove here, or do you expect Charlie to do the moving since she’s a woman?”
“Ella!” Donna scowls at her daughter. Charlie also tosses a glare her way. Interesting. She had told her sister about my proposal? Does that mean she’s considering it?
“That is entirely up to Charlie. I’m sure you’re aware Beaufort Construction recently started developing a branch in the city, so if Charlie decides to stay in Burlington, then this is where we will live. Where she goes, I do.” I answer, staring right into Ella’s eyes. She hums in response, and her eyes soften a little.
“But then, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, Charlie is yet to give me an answer. She might decide to toss me out of her life entirely.” I wink, and the table laughs.
We talk about mundane things as we eat, Donna forbids any business talk when Ella brings up looking for a reliable landscaping company. Apparently, the one they used to work with has fucked up, and the ones they’ve been interviewing don’t exactly enjoy the best track record.
“You know, there’s a great landscaping company I’m currently working with. They’re just starting out, but they’re really good at what they do, and they deliver fast,” I say, thinking of Autumn. I almost didn’t recognize my own front yard by the time she was done with the house a few days ago.
“Really? You have to pass their contact information to me or Charlie, so we can check them out.”
“That’s enough. Don’t encourage them, Ezra.” Donna sighs and switches the topic to a book club she has recently joined. “Do you read, Ezra?” she asks.
“No, not really.” I flash her an apologetic smile. I don’t have the time or frankly the inclination.
“That’s too bad. We get to read some interesting titles.”
