The Free Pass

Chapter 6

"I'd like that," I replied.

"My family wants to meet you," he said, "which I know might be strange given how things are."

I laughed. "No stranger than you sitting through Thanksgiving with my parents."

He grinned again. "One day I'll look back on that and laugh. Not yet, though. Your dad was trying so hard to be nice so that I wouldn't abandon you, but I kept catching him shooting daggers at me with his eyes."

"Sorry."

"It's not your fault. I'm glad I'm not seeing him this visit, though."

My parents were in North Carolina visiting my mom's sister for a couple days. I was relieved that I was spared the trip because of the appointment.

Shawn flew back to Toronto that night, but not until after he'd booked my travel arrangements. I was leaving on December 27th and would return to Virginia a week later.

~~~~~~

Shawn set my suitcase on the floor next to the bed in the guest room.

"As you can see, there's plenty of room to add a crib and a changing table," he said. "I was thinking, though, that maybe you and the baby could take the master bedroom. It makes more sense since there are two of you."

"This room is big enough, and it's lovely. Your whole place is amazing."

"So will you consider it? Moving here, I mean?"

It had been well over a week since we'd first discussed the idea, and I had given it extensive thought. I didn't like the idea of being uprooted, but it made so much more sense for me to move to him than the other way around. Over Christmas I'd run it by my parents. Their reaction was mixed. On the one hand, they hated the idea of me being so far away. On the other hand, Shawn and I planning on living together was a step towards their goal. That goal being marriage.

"I'll give you a decision before I leave," I said.

He nodded. I knew he wanted this settled, but I wanted to use this visit as a test run. It would be a gauge for how we'd get along living together.

We ordered pizza that night and I was in bed early since the trip had worn me out. As I drifted off, I could hear Shawn playing guitar in his living room. It was a comforting way to fall asleep.

The next morning we drove to his hometown of Pickering to spend the day with his parents.

"Do your parents hate me?" I asked as Shawn parked in front of their house.

"Why would they hate you?"

"Because I'm fucking up your life? My dad is threatening you?"

"They don't hate you. I've told them that you are a great person and that I couldn't have picked a better one night stand to knock up."

This was the guy who I fell for in September. He made me laugh. I kind of wanted to kiss him for making me feel better about today. This wasn't the first time I'd thought about kissing him recently.

"Okay. Let's do this," I said.

We walked in the Mendes family's beautiful home and within minutes I felt at ease. Both Karen and Manny hugged me. Aaliyah, Shawn's sister, embraced me and asked if she could touch my little bump. I was barely showing, but I had enough of a bump that my jeans no longer fit. Leggings were my uniform these days.

I let her touch it since she was the baby's aunt, after all. She giggled as she lightly rubbed my belly. Everyone then started to go into the kitchen. Shawn grabbed my elbow and pulled me into a bathroom off the hallway.

"Why are we in the bathroom?" I asked after he shut the door.

"I haven't even seen or felt your bump, but now my sister has," he said with a pout. God he was cute.

"You've seen it. You saw it at the doctor less than two weeks ago."

"I didn't look. I feel weird staring when the doctor is touching you."

"That's nuts. You've seen me naked before, but you won't look at my abdomen during a quick routine exam?" I felt myself blush as I thought about him seeing me naked. It made me think of seeing him naked. I still remembered how good he looked.

"Please?" he asked.

Aaliyah had felt my bump over my sweater. This time I pulled my sweater and tank top up. I then pulled the waist band of my leggings down slightly.

Shawn stared at the little pooch I'd developed. He started to reach out to touch but stopped himself and looked at me. "May I?"

"Be my guest," I said.

His large hand cupped the entirety of my baby belly. I shivered slightly from his touch.

"It's so hard," he said with awe in his voice.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Is everything okay?" Karen asked. "Are you sick, Mallory."

"I'm fine," I said as I fixed my clothing. Shawn opened the door and we stepped out into the hall. Karen gave us a quizzical look.

Shawn's parents had prepared a delicious brunch. We sat at the table for hours, eating and talking. I learned a lot about Shawn, most of which made me grow fonder of him.

As I cleared some dishes, I saw that there was a copy of our first ultrasound photo on their refrigerator. This made me smile. I could tell already that Shawn's parents would be amazing grandparents.

After brunch I started fading fast. Shawn suggested I take a nap, and I couldn't say no. He showed me to his old bedroom where I crawled into the bed and immediately fell asleep. I woke up hours later, feeling much better.

I went downstairs and found Karen and Manny in the kitchen working on dinner.

"How'd you sleep?" Manny asked.

"Like a rock. I'm sorry I had to nap. I've been so tired lately."

Karen walked over to me and gave me a hug. "That's normal, honey. And no need to apologize. You do what you need to do to stay happy and healthy."

"Where's Shawn?" I asked.

"He went to see a couple friends," Manny said.

I wondered if Shawn's friends knew that he was going to be a dad.

Before long, Shawn walked through the door. He smiled at me as he entered the kitchen. "Good nap?"

"Yep. You weren't gone long."

"I met a few guys for a beer. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not."

The last thing I wanted to be was clingy. If Shawn and I were going to get along, we had to have independence.

Dinner was fantastic. When it was over, Shawn and I stayed and watched a movie with his family. I fell asleep on the short ride back to Toronto. As I drifted off, I felt happy about how things had gone.