That Blue Gibson: Another Round

twenty-six

Dave unlocked the heavy wooden door while balancing an overflowing grocery bag in his arms. Using his shoulder to shove open the door, he tossed his keys on the entry table and heard Liz crashing around in the kitchen.

"Are you alone?" she screamed, her voice on edge so much that he froze mid-step.

"Yes, why?" he yelled back, then hurried into the kitchen where a very pregnant and very topless Liz was standing wide-eyed with a chocolate covered spoon in her hand. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Baking."

"You just sent me to get you food!"

"Yeah, but I didn't think I could wait that long," she shrugged and licked the spoon as she turned back to the counter.

Dave set the bag on the island and stared at her back. He was constantly amazed at how she could look perfectly normal from the back, only to turn slightly and be reminded that she was eight months pregnant with twins. How she was able to remain upright without toppling over was another mystery to him.

"California hates me," she whined, fanning herself with a kitchen towel.

"They're coming tomorrow morning to fix the AC," he reminded her, setting his hands on her hips and kissing her shoulder.

"Good, cause I'm about to go live with these kid's parents," she grumbled.

"Don't threaten me with a good time, Elizabeth," he grinned and pulled a frozen bag of peas out of the freezer to press against the small of her back. "I'm dreaming of the day it's just us in our bed again."

She smiled and gently nudged him with her elbow. "Twelve days until the eviction and then I'm all yours again."

Not that he needed a reminder, he'd been counting down the days since November. Keeping one hand on his makeshift ice pack, he dug through the grocery bag and pulled a magazine from the bottom.

"It's out," he announced, trying to sound as relaxed as possible, but the irritation was loud and clear when he slapped it against the granite beside her.

"Yeesh," she muttered, only glancing at it to reach over and grab for her bikini top. "I look enormous."

Liz and Allison were splashed across the cover of the celebrity rag, smiling serenely at the camera while surrounded by two drum kits and a rack of Dave's guitars in the depths of 606.

Their hand had been forced by Calliope after she had run to the first media outlet that would cut her a check and spilled it all. The internet had almost instantly begun frothing at the mouth for any information to the point of trespassing photographers being chased out of the canyon by Travis and even the occasional helicopter hovering overhead. It all kept Liz sequestered inside, unable to even sit on her own deck without being captured by a tenacious long lens.

Dave was furious, wanting to submit a short statement and be done with the entire circus, but both Sophie and Silva were far more patient, waiting for just the right offer from a print publication before submitting any sort of confirmation that Liz was pregnant.

The protracted interview and photo shoot at 606 had lasted an entire day, during which Dave and Taylor had made themselves scarce, only offering one short sentence each, "I'm really fucking proud of her." - Dave and "It's the ultimate gift." - Taylor. Neither of them had actually said those words, they came straight from their publicist, but the sentiment was there all the same. 

The inevitable question about Dave's rumored infidelity had come up, to which Liz had just laughed. She knew that the story of a Hollywood actress carrying twins for her rock star husband's best friend was more of a scoop than the tired 'Musician Cheats on Wife' trope and let her simple dismissive giggle say more about her faith in Dave than an actual statement.