Page 85 of Body Lock

“Alright you two, are you coming in? Or are you just going to have your way with each other for all my neighbors to see?” Mia was holding her door open, shoulder leaning into the frame.

Flicking his eyes between Mia and myself, Quinn's eyebrows curved up. “You haven't told her?”

“Told me what?” Mia asked, pursing her lips in curiosity.

“Wow, I can't believe Cadence never told you.” Dragging his hand through his hair, he let it fall to his waist.

“Told me what?”Her impatience was starting to shine through. Mia's back straightened, arms zipping up to cross over her chest.

“That we're sexoholics who spend our free time finding apartment buildings to screw in.”

“Shut up, you freak.” Loosening her arms, Mia giggled. “Quinn, you are one perverted dude, and you're lucky Cadence loves you.”

Quinn's eyes fell to mine, lips perking at the corners. “I know how lucky I am, I'll never forget that.” Leaning forward, he laid a gentle kiss on my forehead as his hands cupped our baby.

Shoving a finger down her throat, Mia made a loud, exaggerated gagging noise. “Gross, you guys make me sick. Are we done here? You guys coming in now, or what?”

Twining his fingers into mine, Quinn led us inside. As I stepped through the door, the room around me burst into an overwhelming screech. “Surprise!”

Expanding my lids, I couldn't believe what I was staring at. The room was decorated in blue balloons, streams of white and blue crepe paper twisted across the ceiling and walls. There was a large banner dangling from the back wall that said, 'Congratulations! It's a boy!'

Throwing my hands over my mouth, I stood in awe, tears popping to life and rolling over my cheeks instantly.

That happened a lot lately, tears would come and I had no control over it. I would even find myself laughing at times because I knew the crying was completely illogical, but I still couldn't stop it.

Show me one of those super cute diaper commercials with the sleeping babies... And I'm done, sobbing uncontrollably.

Quinn rubbed my back, caressing between my shoulder blades. “Surprise, Cadence, it's your baby shower.” Kissing my cheek, he waved Mia in for a hug. “You can thank her for this, she went through hell to set it up.”

Mia shrugged off the compliment as Quinn gripped her shoulder and shook it. “I can't take all the credit, Quinn helped too.”

“Wow, you guys.” Waving my fingers at my eyes, I tried to dry the waterworks. “I... I can't believe this. Mia, thank you.” Reaching for her hand, I tugged her in and wrapped her tight. “Thank you.” I whispered again into her ear.

“You deserve this, you're having a freaking baby for goodness sake.” Lifting her face, she smiled down on me. “Now come in and say hello to everyone.”

I was happy about the shower, very happy about it. But at the same time, my heart cracked. Deep down, there was something very important missing from the entire party.

My mother...

Quinn's mom was there, one of his aunts, a couple of his cousins. But as far as family goes on my side, I would only say that I had Mia.

Which I was more than grateful for, but I couldn't deny the sadness I felt knowing my mother wasn't here to experience this.

The party went as I would expect a baby shower to go. I ate a lot of food, opened so many tiny pairs of shoes and onesies, I couldn't even count them all. And we played a very interesting and oddly gross game where we had to eat melted chocolate from diapers.

The image made me gag at first, but in the end it turned out to be pretty fun. Mia was always good at bringing a bit of freaky into what could have been a very boring event.

But watching old ladies eat dark chocolate out of a diaper... That made me laugh, a whole lot, so much so... I actually peed myself a little.'Shh.'

Lowering into the rocking chair decorated for the mother to be, an older woman approached me as the party seemed to settle. She had a short, tight curl to her white hair. Her skin looked aged and weathered, but her eyes looked young.

There was a twinkle that fixed in her gaze, one that caught my attention, one that sent an automatic smile to my face.

Taking the seat beside me, her hand wrapped my knee with a tender squeeze. Her eyes watched me, her smile bright and natural. “You saved him, and I need to thank you for that.”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“Quinn, you saved him.” Folding her hands in her lap, she fiddled with her knuckles. “I know that life isn't always kind. But you two finding each other, that didn't happen by mistake. You gave him something else to live for, so thank you.” Her face lifted to meet mine, then fell to the floor.

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