I slide my hand into the opening of them so I can cradle the tiny, little ridge that's poking out the seam. I noticed it a few days ago but I didn’t mention it to her. She's already getting paranoid about her body changing.
“I know…I’m not an idiot, I just wasn’t expecting it to happen this soon. A girl I went to school with managed to hide the fact she was pregnant for seven whole months.” She strokes her hand across her forehead and looks so damn cute when she’s irritable.
“We’ll just find you something else to wear. What about the dress you wore to dinner last week? That was pretty.” I move toward the wardrobe to find it for her.
“It is… but it’s also low cut and I have these stupid blue veins showing.” She lifts up the top she's wearing so I can see her plump, perfect tits plunged together in her bra. They’re undeniably bigger than they were when I first met her.
“I happen to like the blue veins.” I step back toward her and trace the path of one with my finger.
“Jace, I don’t need compliments right now, I need solutions.” She strops over to her wardrobe and I laugh to myself while I watch her pull out each item and toss it on the floor in temper.
“Stop that, none of this is funny!” she snaps.
“C’mon, darlin’, you know what your brat attacks do to me, and these hormonal ones are even hotter.” I quickly duck my head to miss the clothes hanger she launches at my head and when she buries her head in her hands and starts to cry, I realize that she’s not seeing any humor in this situation at all.
“Baby Momma, look at me.” I take a breath and move over to comfort her.
“Baby Momma doesn’t want to look at you, she wants to hide in this closet.” She mumbles the words into her hands as she keeps her face covered.
“I said, look at me,” I whisper softly, taking hold of her wrists and guiding them away. When I see that pout again, I stroke her bottom lip with my thumb.
“Don’t be ashamed of how your body’s changing, it’s doing something real special,” I tell her. “It’s–”
“What if you go off me?” she blurts out, her cheeks flushing red and her eyes filling with tears. “That’s what usually happens, the girl gets fat, the guy gets fed up and stops touching her. I’ve read the forums.” She wipes her tears away and snuffles.
“Go off ya…girl, are you crazy?” I shake my head and laugh again. “ I’ve been waiting for this little tummy to pop out for weeks, not only does it look hot-as-fuck, but it shows the world that you’re mine. The bigger you get the better, in my opinion.” My words manage to coax a tiny, little smile out of her.
“And what about stretch marks?” She plays with her fingers awkwardly.
“Stretchmarks?… Love ‘em,” I tell her without hesitation.
“Don’t be stupid, no one likes stretch marks.” She slaps me feebly on the chest but she’s still wearing that smile.
“I’d like anything if it was on you.” I slide my fingers behind her ear and keep my thumb pressed against that pouty bottom lip.
“Maddison MacKenzie, your body is fuckin’ perfect, even more so now that it’s growing our child.”
“And you’re a suck-up.” She bites down on my thumb and snarls at me.
“I’ve never sucked up to a soul in my life. I’m just telling ya how it is. Now, get that pretty dress on, and let's get ready for your folks to arrive.” She nods at me bravely as I pick it up off the floor and show no signs of the fact that I’m trying to get a handle on my own nerves.
It’s inevitable that Maddison’s parents are gonna hate me, even more so when they discover I knocked up their precious, little girl. Today’s real important to her, she wants to build bridges, and she wants them to be a part of our child's life which means I’m gonna have to find some tolerance.
Unfortunately, that's never been my strong point.
I leave her to get ready and head downstairs, and when I find Eli Kelley standing in my living room, I’m a little taken aback.
“Jace, we need to talk.” The man looks skittish and unnerved, which ain’t at all like him.
“Now ain’t a good time, I got Mad’s parents on their way and I need to–”
“It’s about Billy McGee,” he interrupts, and the look he’s giving tells me that it’s pointless pretending that it don’t mean anything to me.
“What about him?” I'm getting fed up of hearing that damn man’s name.
“He called me last night, out of the blue. Told me he had some information about…” He cuts himself off looking sheepish then quickly makes his way toward my drinks cabinet, and helps himself to a whiskey.
“Called about what, Eli?”