The sun nearly blinds me as I open my eyes. I wish these windows had blinds on them instead of curtains that cause sunlight to peak through the small cracks. It's 9 AM, which is early for me but late for Tessa. I'm surprised she's still sleeping next to me. I notice she's wearing a small smile as she slowly breathes in and out. I know Tessa hates sleeping in late, so I should try to wake her up. As carefully as I can, I glide my thumb across her cheekbone. I can never help but touch her perfect features, many of them on her face. Her defined cheekbones are at the top of my list behind the curve of her hip and.. well, other curvaceous parts of her body.
She sucks in a harsh breath before slowly opening her eyes. Her arms and legs stretch out, rubbing against me. Her hair is like a bird's nest on her head, and her makeup is smeared underneath her eyes.
"Good morning, sleepyhead."
She rubs her eyes, smearing her eye makeup even more. "What time is it?"
"Nearly 9:30."
"Why are you up so early?" She wiggles out of my embrace to sit up.
"Because I'm excited to start our day together. Just you and me." I lean down and press my lips delicately against hers, giving her a quick peck. She beams immediately, her smile lighting up the already bright room.
"What do you want to do today?" She asks me.
"Whatever you want. This is our day, but more importantly this is your day to do whatever you want with me."
"Whatever I want?" Oh no. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. She would have me do some crazy shit with her like go skydiving or zip lining, but thankfully she's pregnant so her wild choices are limited.
"Well, for starters, I'm hungry. Wanna order in room service?"
Memories of the pasta swarming with bugs creeps into my mind. "Let's not eat here. Let's go out and eat, it's such a nice day." I get up from the warm comfort of the bed to open the blinds. The snow on the ground is causing the sunlight to reflect right off it into the window, so I close them again.
"Okay, but what am I gonna wear? I have no clothes, and neither do you."
I move to the closet and open the door to reveal two suitcases full of things. Tessa's mouth widens in shock.
"What? How did you...? When?"
"I had Nora go into our house last night and pack you some clothes and our toiletries. She dropped them off last night along with our car." I pick up her suitcase and drop it onto the bed.
"She faked the back pain, didn't she? That's why she wanted to go to the house." Tessa smacks her forehead. "Genius."
"It was a very intricate plan." I gloat.
"I applaud your efforts, Hardin Scott." She claps slowly. "I'm very impressed."
The feeling of pulling together this whole surprise without Tessa even having the slightest clue fills me with so much pride and joy. It's so rare that I can do something without Tessa knowing, so the fact I was able to do it with only a few hours deserves some praise.
"I live to impress you, Theresa Young... Scott." I mention my last name that she so graciously added onto her maiden name. I should start calling her this more often. I lean over the bed to kiss her once more.
She opens up her suitcase to look at the outfit Nora picked out for her. Thankfully, Nora didn't need to go through my shit because I still keep a bunch of clothes in the trunk of the car. Obviously not for the same reasons that I used to, but you never know when you're going to need a change of clothes. This is the perfect example.
"I'm happy it was Nora who chose my outfit." She laughs. "If it were Landon, I would be concerned."
"I figured so."
Tessa gathers all her toiletries into one hand. "I'm going to shower since I can't fix this..." She circles her face with her index finger. "...without a shower."
"Am I allowed to join?" I walk with her to the bathroom, but stop outside the entrance. She steps to the side and sweeps out her arm, granting me entry.
-
Tessa and I spend a little too long in the shower just touching and groping each other. Our skin is now pruny and the water has grown cold.
"Okay, we should get out now. The water is cold and I'm starving." She pulls her lips away from mine, putting an end to our fun. I agree, but continue to kiss her as she attempts to get out of the shower and throw on a robe. Many giggles escape her lips as mine tickle her neck, her shoulder, and her back.
"Can you relax for like two seconds? I have to get dressed." She pushes me away as she tries to get dressed.
"I'm sorry, I can't help it." I place one last kiss on her shoulder before finally getting dressed myself. I take my towel and harshly rub my hair to dry it faster. With the fuzzy white robe still on, Tessa dries her damp hair to the best of her abilities, putting it in a low bun. I brush my teeth next to her as she leaves to get dressed.
"You ready?" I pop back out with my sweatshirt in hand.
She looks up at me with a concerned face. "We have a problem."
"They don't fit?" I walk over to inspect the situation. She demonstrates to me how they don't button over her stomach.
"We can always buy you something to wear. We're in the middle of New York fucking City, there has to be somewhere we can get you some clothes."
"I'll wear this dress that's a little too fancy for just getting breakfast." She places the dress on the bed next to her Tim's, I think she calls them.
"This just isn't a dress normally worn with Tom's." Ah, Tom's. Close enough.
"It'll have to do. Do you see what some of the people in this city wear? That's the least of your problems." I chuckle as she puts on the dress. "Plus, we should get you pregnant woman clothes, right?"
She laughs. "It's called maternity wear, and yes. I could use more. The dress that I'm wearing now is supposed to go down to my knees, but my stomach causes it to rise up a little. Not a crazy amount, but definitely a noticeable amount."
"We can do that after we eat."
She holds her stomach. "I could eat an entire horse right now."
"Okay..." I hand her the jacket she wore yesterday and hold the door open for her to leave. "Let's get some food in you before you eat the entire city."
-
"I'll have an omelette with swiss cheese, bacon, sausage, onion, peppers, cherry tomatoes and spinach with a side of buttermilk pancakes with extra maple syrup and two hash browns... oh and an extra side of bacon along with that too, please."
The waitress' mouth is to the floor, along with mine.
"I'll just have an egg sandwich with bacon and cheddar cheese." I say after that mouthful Tessa just told the woman.
The waitress, Donna it says her name is, takes a deep breath. "So, I have one omelette with swiss cheese, bacon, sausage, onion, peppers, cherry tomatoes and spinach with a side of buttermilk pancakes, two hash browns, and bacon." She takes another deep breath. "and a bacon, egg and cheese with cheddar instead of American."
"Extra maple syrup please." Tessa lifts her finger.
"Of course." The waitress scribbles it down. "I'll go put the order in."
Tessa thanks her once more and puts some sugar into her tea.
"Jesus, you ordered enough food to feed a small family." I tease her as I pour half and half into my coffee cup.
"I'm technically eating for two."
"True." I shrug.
"And they are called bacon, egg and cheeses here, not egg sandwiches or whatever the hell you just called it."
New Yorkers are weird with naming shit. "Is it not a fucking egg sandwich?"
"We've been living here for nearly five years, babe. You should absorb the New York lingo."
"The New York lingo?" I repeat.
"Yeah... the slang."
"I know what lingo means." I click my tongue. "I'll stick with calling it an egg sandwich. They already know I'm not from here because of my fucking accent."
"So be it."
"You need to work on your accent if you want to sound more native. For example: it's pronounced saw-sage, not sah-sage."
"There's a difference between the accent and the jargon. Not every New Yorker has a thick accent."
The waitress walks back out as Tessa and I banter about accents. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but we're out of regular sausage, but we do have chicken or turkey sausage."
"Chicken saw-sage would be fine. Thank you." She over exaggerates the accent, causing the waitress to give her a weird expression. I put my head in my hands to hide my embarrassment.
"That was terrible, please never do that again." I whisper as the waitress walks away.
"You're just jealous I can actually do the accent."
I shake my head. "I would rather sound like a snobby Brit than have a thick New York accent like that."
"Shhh..." Tessa holds her pointer finger over her lips. "Be careful where you say stuff like that. We New Yorkers take our city's pride very seriously."
"Shut up." I smile. "Anyway, there's a matrimony store a few blocks down, so we can walk there when we're done eating since the weather's so nice."
"It's maternity, not matrimony! Wow, you are terrible with names." She bursts into laughter so loud that a few heads turn towards us.
"Potato Potahto." I roll my eyes once more.
We spend the next five minutes discussing other things I never remember the fucking name to, and many of them include baby or pregnancy shit that I've never learned. Two waitresses come out to give us our food, and Tessa claps as at least five different plates are placed in front of her. I try to take a piece of her hash brown, but she smacks my hand away with her fork.
"Don't take food from a pregnant woman." She threatens me with her fork. "Or you'll lose a hand."
I know she's serious, so I just mind to my own food.
I finish my food within eight minutes, meanwhile Tessa is about halfway done with hers. While I wait for her to finish, I take a look at the TV on the wall. I nearly spit out my coffee when I see what the headline is. The sound for the TV isn't on, but I can read the subtitles.
'32 year-old Walter Schmidt accused of breaking into Brooklyn home is proven guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.'
How the fuck did our lawyer not call about this? How did the news find out about this first?
'Walter Schmidt has been convicted on multiple cases sexual harassment, one case of breaking and entering, and one case of second degree attempted murder.' I read off the television screen. Attempted murder? My stomach drops at the thought.
I wave my hand in front of Tessa's face to get her attention. "Look." I point to the television behind her.
"He was proven guilty?" She turns back around to me. "Since when?"
"Just now, apparently."
My phone begins to vibrate in my pocket, and I can bet money that I know who it is. Yup, our lawyer.
I move from my position next to Tessa so we both can be on the phone with him on speaker. The diner is quite loud, so I don't think anyone will notice. Our lawyer tells us the news, and we act surprised.
"This is great news." He states.
"It should be longer for attempted second degree murder." I yell. "He's only getting five years for holding my wife at gunpoint and nearly harming our unborn child!" Tessa places her hand on my thigh to calm me down.
"It was his first offense, Mr. Scott."
"Thank you for everything." Tessa says before I can respond back.
"Of course. I will keep in touch with any updates."
After we hang up, Tessa immediately grabs my hand. "It's okay, Hardin. He's in jail now, he can't hurt me."
"He almost did though. He should be in there for the rest of his fucking life for even touching you."
"I know..." She lets go of my hand to continue eating. "I just don't even want to think about it anymore."
Memories of the day nearly a month ago that Tessa had to testify against the motherfucker. She insisted to the lawyer that she would do it, no matter how much I protested it. When I saw that asshole walk into the courtroom with Tessa only mere feet from him, I wanted to jump up and strangle him myself, but Tessa made me promise that I would keep my cool.
-
"Ms. Young, would you care to explain, in your words, what happened the night of December the 28th." The defendant asked her.
I could see Tessa take a large breath before beginning to speak. "Mr. Schmidt broke into my home and threatened me at gunpoint to give him all the money in my wallet."
"It says here in your statement that he put his hands on you?"
"Yes sir, he did. When he first came in, he grabbed me and pushed me up against the wall very forcefully... he knocked over a few frames from the force... he then proceeded to hold the knife up to my throat. I had bruises on my body from the altercation." Tessa's hands were extremely shaky, as well as her voice.
"You said you had visible bruises."
"Yes, sir. They covered my arms mainly." She gestured to her biceps.
"In the police report you took that day, there was no note of any bruises. The only note of injury was from your knees when you fell running outside. Is that correct?"
"I was wearing a long-sleeved dress-"
"Ms. Young. Please say yes or no. Is that correct?"
"Yes, but am I allowed to explain myself?"
"So, you reported no physical injuries that Mr. Schmidt gave you?" The defendant pounded, not allowing Tessa to speak.
"I wasn't aware of the bruising on my arms at the time I was reporting the incident."
"I don't see how bruises wouldn't have been noticed, Ms. Young."
"I said I was wearing a long-sleeved dress!" She raised her voice. Tessa was quickly losing her calm, which wan't a good thing. She needed to remain calm. She looked over to me with watery eyes. I mimicked taking a deep breath in and out, mouthing the word 'breathe' to her. She did what I told her and regained her composure.
"Ms. Young, you are pregnant. Is that correct?" The lawyer asked a new question.
"Yes, I am. About five and a half months."
"How many weeks pregnant were you during the alleged attack?"
"About five."
"You said Mr. Schmidt slammed you against a wall forcefully, is that correct?" I swear to god, if this man asks her if that's correct one more time...
"Yes, that is correct. I was terrified for not only my safety, but for my baby's." A tear fell down her cheek, and I wanted to do nothing more than comfort her in this moment. "My husband and I had experienced a miscarriage only a little while before, so the idea of losing her..." She sobbed. "It was overwhelming."
The lawyer smiled at my wife's painful response. "If you were worried about your baby's safety, why didn't you go to the hospital?"
"Excuse me?" Tessa questioned confusingly.
"You would think that if something truly terrible happened as you're describing, that you would go to a hospital to get checked out, especially if an unborn child is involved."
Tessa froze. Her face grew red as more tears relentlessly fell down her face.
"Answer the question, Ms. Young."
Hell I didn't even know the answer to this question. For some reason it didn't occur to take Tessa to the hospital after that whole altercation.
"I was overwhelmed with everything that just happened... the last thing I wanted was to be looked at and touched by doctors."
"For your baby's safety though, you wouldn't do that?" The lawyer pressed once more.
"Objection, Your honor! The question is leading. She answered the question already." Our lawyer finally fucking called out.
"Overruled." The misogynistic asshole of a judge declares. "Please be more specific, Ms. Young."
Watching Tessa struggle was torture in itself. I wanted to leave so badly, but I knew she needed me to stay in here.
"I was scared..." Tessa admitted. "Like I said before, my husband and I had experienced a miscarriage before, and after that long, terrible night... I didn't want anymore heartbreak." She continued to wipe tears from her eyes.
"Move along now, Mr. Sanchez." The judge proclaimed.
"This will be my final question, Your Honor. Ms. Young, you accused Mr. Schmidt of sexual harassment. Please state if this is true or false."
"That is true, sir."
"Is it correct that you have no physical evidence to support this, just your word?"
"Uh... yes that's right."
"That'll be all, Your Honor." The lawyer sat back down next to the asshole himself.
"But he was accused by multiple different woman, not just me? And someone had physical proof!"
"Thank you, Ms. Young. You may leave the stand." The judge granted Tessa permission to leave. Slowly, she covered her mouth and walked out the back entrance escorted by a police officer.
"There will be a five minute recess." The judge banged his fucking gravel against the stone cold hardwood desk. I jolted out of my seat in search of her.
When I finally find her, our lawyer seemed to have found her first. "... you did fine. There is no way the judge wouldn't believe you."
"Mr. Scott..." The lawyer said my name, but I didn't hear anything after that. My only concern was comforting Tessa. When she noticed me approaching, she opened her arms and practically jumped into my embrace. She cried into my shoulder, and I consoled her by rubbing her back and whispering 'it's okay' into her ear.
"I was terrible up there." She cried.
"No you weren't. You said the truth. You did everything you could do." I pet her hair as I felt her continue to sob.
"Your husband is right, Ms. Young. The fact that you are even so upset right now is showing them that you were telling the truth."
Tessa lifted her head from my shoulder and released me, but I kept my arms around her. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." He nodded. "Now I need to go back in there, but your duties are done for the day."
"Do you want to stay?" I asked her, but she just violently shook her head.
"We're going to go, but please keep us in the loop." I shook hands with the lawyer while keeping my other arm wrapped around Tessa.
The last I heard after that was Walter Schmidt was denied bail.
-
"That was delicious." Tessa takes the final bite of her last pancake. I'm surprised she actually ate that entire meal.
I rub her back. "Are you ready to go shopping?"
"Yes." Tessa wipes the maple syrup off her chin as I raise my hand to request the check.