Page 43 of Calamity Rayne Knocked Up

“A piece of me, growing inside of you.”

Every slow stroke enunciated his whispered words. My entire being became part of him in that moment as he held me in his arms and made love to me.

“That’s what I want, Hale.”

“You know I’ll give you anything you want, baby. I’ll always take care of you.”

My head tilted back as my pleasure peaked. His grip tightened as his swollen cock pulsed inside of me, and we shivered. I had never felt so connected, so unified with another person as I did in that moment as our bodiesfused as one.

Even if that wasn’tthe momentof conception, it was a fundamental moment for us, one where we recognized each other’s commitment and poured all of our love into one shared purpose. That night, Hale healed something in me. He reminded me that while our lives would be fuller with a second baby, our love was far from empty. And that was a truth I needed to remember.

The following week I was at Remington’s organizing the outdated file system he used in his house. “Remington, why do you still have the rebate paperwork for a vacuum you no longer own?”

“Meyers, don’t ask stupid questions. Do I look like the person you should be asking about vacuums?”

He was right. I pulled out the overstuffed file bursting with outdated manuals and rebates and went to find Marta.

She was making something that smelled divine in the kitchen. “Hey Marta, do you have a second?”

“What is it, Niña?”

I dropped the heavy file on the counter. “Could you look through this and tell me what appliances he no longer has? I’m trying to make some room in the filingcabinets. The man is still holding on to his tax returns from 1970.”

“Of course. You sit. I’ll make you lunch.”

Oddly, I wasn’t that hungry, but I never turned down Marta’s cooking. “What’s on the stove?”

“Today, I make a white bean chicken chili.” She set a steaming bowl before me with a spoon and a linen napkin.

“Smells good.” I lifted the spoon to my mouth and blew on the creamy chili to cool it off.

“It is good for you, Niña. You need all the protein and nutrients you can get in your condition.”

I stilled, a mouth full of beans and delicious chicken on my tongue. “Huh?”

She looked at me with a knowing grin and whispered, “Estas embarazada.”

“No compre-hendo. English, please.”

She glanced at the door and then stepped closer, planting her hand flat on my belly. “You have a baby in you, Niña.”

I lowered my spoon. “Nuh-uh.”

“Whatever you say.” She tapped my hand with little conviction. “Eat up before your food gets cold.”

I numbly finished my lunch,and she said nothing more about it as she sorted through the file. When I left the kitchen, I went right to Remington’s office. “I, uh, have to go deal with something.”

He didn’t look up from his desk. “Are you coming back?”

“Maybe.”

“Who’s going to clean up these files, Meyers?”

“I have a system. Just leave them. I need to… It’s an emergency.”

At that, he glanced up from his work. “Is everything all right?”

“Mm-hm.”

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