Page 47 of Strip for Me

“We have time,” he says, and I laugh.No, we don’t, but I seriously wish we did.

“We have to leave in ten minutes,” Todd says, walking into my bedroom and picking up his coat off the end of my bed. The guys take turns sleeping in my bed now. I don’t know why we don’t sleep in theirs when this room is full of baby stuff. The cot is made up at the end of the bed, there’s a changing unit near the wall with boxes of nappies stacked up. Andre bought the wardrobe which matches the cot. It’s next to the door, and it’s filled with baby clothes.Four weeks to go.

“Fine,” Kaiden mutters and zips up my dress slowly. “We can finish this later,” he whispers before stepping back. I’m sure my cheeks are as red as my dress when Todd looks at me.

“You look lovely, El,” Todd says.

“No, I don’t. I’m the size of a house and waddling everywhere,” I chuckle, and he shakes his head.

“You’re stunning, El,” he says, and I laugh.

“And, you are such a sweet talker, but we should go, I don’t want to leave my parents waiting,” I say, making both him and Kaiden smile at me. They both seem almost nervous. It’s funny how they can strip on a stage in a room full of women, but meeting my parents is scary to them. We go downstairs and find Andre waiting for us in the living room. When Dominic comes into the room, and they are all standing next to each other, I can’t help but think how lucky I am. Holy ducks, each one of them looks as attractive as the next. Dominic has a blue shirt on, a little lighter than Todd’s green shirt. All of them are in jeans, but they pull it off so well. They seriously look like a hot stripper sandwich.

“Let’s go, I don’t want to be late to see your parents,” Dominic says and holds a hand out for me. I slide my hand into his as we make our way to the car. It takes thirty minutes to drive to the pub my parents wanted to meet in. There’s a hotel next door to it and a restaurant at the back. I’m guessing they are staying in this hotel, it’s one of those posh ones that is gated. They wouldn’t stay anywhere cheap, so it makes sense. We walk in together, and Kaiden wraps an arm around my waist as I look around. The restaurant is quite simple but in a classic way. It has light-coloured, wooden tables and low lights that cast a yellow glow around the room. I spot my parents straight away, sitting at a large table near the window. My mum waves when she sees me, and my dad nods. We make our way over and everyone sits down, with me in the middle of Kaiden and Dominic, and directly opposite my mum. Todd and Andre sit at the ends of the table and there’s an uncomfortable silence as I stare at my parents. My baby kicks in my stomach, like she is telling me to speak.

“Hey, mum, dad,” I say, and they smile. It’s a tight smile, and then they glance at each other.This is not going well.

“So, this is Kaiden, Dominic, Andre, and Todd,” I say, leaning forward and pointing at each.

There’s silence for a while until Kaiden speaks, “Wow, Mrs. Taylor, you are just as stunning as your daughter. It’s a real pleasure to meet you and Mr. Taylor. Ellie has told us a lot about you both and how much of a happy childhood she had,” he says, reminding me of the conversation we all had yesterday. We had our usual movie night, and they asked what it was like growing up. I told them about the picnic we had every Saturday in the park and about the way they would decorate the house for my birthdays. They were never bad parents, but I truly don’t believe they love each other anymore. I mean, when I was thirteen they decided to have separate bedrooms, but still stay together. I always wonder if they stayed together for me.

“Oh, thank you, Kaiden,” my mother says with a blush. It doesn’t surprise me, I had a feeling Kaiden would be good with my parents.

“Let’s order some drinks and food, and then I want you to tell me about what’s going on in your life,” my dad says with a smile. I nod, feeling a little emotional that they are accepting this.Accepting me and my guys.We all order our drinks and food, with Kaiden keeping my mother talking the entire time.

“So, my name is John, and my wife’s name is Mary. It would be easier for you to call us that,” my dad says, leaning back in his seat with his pint of beer. “So, tell us about the baby and, well, anything.” He gives us a kind smile.

“I’m thirty-six weeks, and having a little girl,” I say and watch as their faces light up. They can’t fake that, they are happy. I glance at Dominic when he takes my hand under the table and squeezes it. I know he’s happy for me.

“Oh, a girl. Our granddaughter,” my mum says, and I nod with a smile.

“She is healthy, and so am I. I’m working with the guys at the club,” I start to say, and my dad coughs out his beer. My mum taps him on the back, and I realise how that just sounded.

“I’m working as their accountant. I’m not working now as I’m on maternity leave,” I get out, and he nods. I haven’t been back to the club in two weeks, but I’m helping Kaiden at home with the books. I’m just so tired now, and I end up falling asleep without warning.

“Will you call us when the baby is born? Maybe even use the Faceprime thing,” my mum says, nodding with my dad. Holy ducks, I forgot that they are not good with technology.

“Facetime, and yes, I will. When are you going back to Scotland?” I ask.

“Soon. We really don’t want to, and we have been discussing moving closer to you. You’re our family, and we want to watch this little girl grow up. So, if that’s not an issue with you, could we move here?” my dad asks me, and I wipe my eyes as tears start to fall.I didn’t expect that. Kaiden pulls me to his shoulder, and Dominic gets a tissue for me, and I wipe my eyes.

“I would really love that,” I say eventually, and my dad clears his throat as he watches me.

“I’m glad you’re happy, Ellie. You were never as happy with Drew, as I saw you were with that guy when I walked into your home the other day,” my dad says and nods his head towards Andre.

“Iamhappy dad,” I say.

“So, who ordered the orange juice?” the waitress says behind me, and I put my hand up.

“That went better than expected,” Kaiden says, and I nod, resting my head back against the seat. I’ve spent the last week doing nothing but worrying about this night. I really didn’t think my parents were going to be okay with us all, but they were. They sat and asked the guys questions about their lives. I learnt that Dominic doesn’t know any of his family and was brought up in foster care. I knew he was in foster care, because that’s where he met Andre, but I didn’t know he spent his whole life there. The guys told them how they got into the stripping business and what each of them do in their spare time. My parents really did try hard to get to know them, and I feel it’s their way of saying sorry for not being in my life for the last year. I don’t know if I can forgive them, but I’m going to try and move past this year in my life. I know Drew manipulated them as much as he did me. I have no doubts he told them things about me that made them not want to see me. It’s just something he would do.

“It did, I’m still in shock I think,” I say, and he laughs. His phone goes off, and he gives it to me. I answer it, seeing that’s it’s an unknown number.

“Hey, it’s Annie. There’s a problem at the club, we need you,” Annie says in a rushed tone, and then the phone goes dead.What the hell?

“Who was it?” Kaiden asks as I scroll through his phone and find Annie’s number. I call her, and there’s no answer.

“That was Annie saying there’s a problem at the club,” I say, and he looks at me in confusion as we stop at some red lights. Todd’s car with Andre and Dominic in it, are way ahead of us now.

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