Page 89 of The One I Hate
“Please quit saying daddy.”
“Nope! Because that’s what I am! Daddy Simon, coming soon!”
“This is going to be the longest eight months of my life…”
Chapter 21
Charlie
“There they are! The mama and daddy to be!”
“See?” Simon says, gesturing to Mellie as we walk into the kitchen of the diner. “She calls me daddy.”
“Quit saying daddy,” I snap as I plop down on the stool I now keep permanently in the kitchen. It’s easier than going to get it every time I feel nauseous or tired. Which is ninety percent of the time. “The word gives me the ick, and enough things are giving me the actual ick that make me throw up, so can we limit the use of the word daddy? And I swear, Mellie, if you say that evenoneof your cakes is moist, you’re fired.”
She firmly nods. “Got it, boss.”
“Don’t let her get to you,” Simon says as he puts down the loads of takeout he insisted on picking up from The Joint, the neighborhood bar and grill. “Today has been a rough day. Which is why I’m making it better with lunch for not only my beautiful Bug, but for everyone. A well- fed crew is a productive crew.”
“You bought lunch for everyone?” Mellie asks.
He smiles proudly, which makes my annoyed demeanor crack just a little. “He did. Which was very nice. Except heinsisted on ordering in person and making us wait for it instead of calling ahead like a normal person.”
“Well, I think it’s all very sweet,” Mellie says as she brings her own stool over to the counter as I start to unload the takeout boxes.
“It’s just who I am,” Simon says, picking up a few of the bags. “You two dig in. I’ll take these to the guys.”
Simon gives me a kiss on the temple before taking lunch to the men working on my dining room—the ones he hired to come and finish painting because he nearly had a heart attack when he realized I’d been breathing paint fumes.
“Okay, I’m sorry, but he’s adorable,” Mellie says as she digs into the fresh-cut fries.
“My stomach, nor my mood swings, can handle your brand of chipper today.”
She laughs as she flicks a fry at me. “Oh, come on. Even in your grumpy state you have to admit that the man is really freaking cute. And doting. And protective. And hot. Basically the best baby daddy ever.”
I shoot her a glare.
“Oops. Sorry.”
I sigh as I dunk a chicken tender into my honey mustard. “I’m sorry. He’s been great. And I’m not ungrateful. I’m just extra irritable today.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry,” she says. “Has the morning sickness died down?”
“Nope. And whoever named it morning sickness needs to be shot. Because it’s most-of-the-day sickness.”
“I’m sorry,” she says. “But tell me about your appointment. How did it go?”
I feel the smile creeping on my face as I take a big bite of the chicken finger. Damn this is good. Mark this on the safe list of foods. “Well, in case we didn’t know, I’m pregnant. Nine weeksalong. The baby is the size of a grape. And I’m pretty sure my doctor hates us because of the roughly six hundred questions Simon asked.”
Mellie laughs as she hands me the ginger ale she knows I’m going to need since I mainline the stuff most days. “That’s fantastic.”
“Embarrassing. The word you were looking for is embarrassing.”
“It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“He asked how much sex we could have.”
“Oh…Wait, are you two having sex?”
