I woke up in my bed this morning with yesterday's clothes on and a throbbing migraine. Well, I guess Emily woke me up and said this
"Rye and Mike came yesterday. They lifted you up the stairs and put you to bed."
"You looked weird Louis, kinda like a zombie."
I sort of thought she was talking crap. All I remember is that I was drinking a couple of beers on the football field, got yelled at by the coach then you came. I can't remember anything between then and now so I guess what she said would make more sense than me majestically landing in my bed.
But what I wanted to say was that I'm sorry.
The truth is, seeing my dad last week hit me harder than I thought it would but not for the reason you might think. Its because it was like he came out of no where and suddenly he's expecting a new kid. A new family.
I used to think that maybe when he came out of prison he'd be different. He'd come back to us and be the dad I knew for the first 13 years of my life. And he was different. But he had chosen a different family. That baby was going to be my half brother or sister and I had a chance to begin to let him back in my life because it seemed like he wanted to. But I didn't. I pushed him away. Maybe that was the best thing to do, considering the reason he was put in prison in the first place, but a small part of me wanted him back. I probably sound pathetic but I thought I’d tell you. If what Emily said was true, then that means you saw me completely wasted, and I never wanted you to see me like that. That's why I've been sort of keeping my distance, just until I sort myself out. I was going to say this all to you in person but you weren't home. So I'm currently sat in my car writing this letter to you.
By the time you read this, I'll probably be at home, in the darkest room I can find, with an eye mask on and fast asleep because this hang over is kicking my ass.
But if you want, you can call me and I'll definitely answer this time.
Love from Lou.
I gave mum the garage keys then went back in the house up to my room. I sat at my desk and called Louis straight away. It rang three times before he picked up.
“Hi Lou.”
“Hey Rye.”
“I got your letter.”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
“I'm your girlfriend Lou! I’m meant to worry about you. And I’m meant to know what’s going on with you, especially if no one else does. We’re supposed to be there for each other. Relationships are not a one way street!”
“I know, I’m an idiot and I should have told you. Just... just don’t shout. My head..” he groaned.
“Yeah, you are an idiot.” I said.
“I'm just used to dealing with stuff on my own.”
“And how’s that working out for you?”
“Pretty badly, as you can see. I mean look at me, I’m hung over, suspended from football after only a week and I had to be carried home by my best mate and my pregnant girlfriend. What does that say about the kind of boyfriend I am and the dad I’ll be?”
I couldn’t see him(obviously)because it was a phone call but, I looked down at my lock screen photo. It was a picture of Louis and I kissing in the hot tub on the night of my birthday. Then I looked at the giant brown bear sat on my desk staring right at me. Then the bracelet he gave me. I wore it all the time. Fiddling with it on my wrist. The promise charm.
“Rye? Are you still there?” he asked.
“Yeah. Yeah I’m still here.”
“How’s your head?” I asked.
“Its ok right now. I just took a bunch of paracetamol. Why?”
“Meet me at the park when the sun begins to sets. I’ll be waiting for you.”
“Okay, I’ll be there.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.” He said.
It had just hit mid-day, so I had exactly 4 hours until I had to be at the park. Maybe a little less since I had to be there before him. I went downstairs to grab myself something for lunch. I didn’t have to see mum to know she was in the kitchen putting away the shopping. I saw that Jordan was sat on the sofa watching, what sounded like, Afternoon News. Once I got on the second to last step, I stopped. There was someone sat at the Kitchen table, wearing black jeans, brown-wedged winter boots and a pink puffa jacket. That could only be one person.
“Hi Rye.”
I continued down the steps and sat opposite her at the table.
“Lilah, what are you doing here?”
“Rye!” Mum exclaimed.
“I mean hi, sorry. I didn’t know you were coming.”
Me and Lilah used to be very close, but after I got pregnant and she became friends with Levaeh, We just sort of drifted apart. I hadn’t seen or talked to her since The movie night we had months ago.
“Yeah, my brother came here to hang out with Keign, so I thought I’d pop by.”
She placed a baby blue gift bag on the table with a darker shade of tissue paper stuffed inside.
“I got something for the babies and you. Its not much but I hope you like it.” She seemed anxious. She took off her coat and began fidgeting with the loop bands, layered on her forearm, looking everywhere but in my direction.
“Lilah, was there another reason you came here?” I asked.
“Well yeah, I was wondering, if maybe we could talk.” She said.
“Sure. Mum can we sit in your office? because I really can’t be bothered to go back up the stairs.” I asked.
“OK, but don’t mind my desk. Its not messy, it’s organised chaos.” She smiled.
“Thanks mum.”
We went straight past the open kitchen, then turned right under the stairs. Down the short corridor, led to two doors beside on another. One had a poster on the window that said Mum’s office and the other was dad’s. There was also a third door on the back of the staircase that led to the basement.
We entered, shut the door behind us and sat on the small grey sofa, a few feet away from mum’s work desk which was-indeed- atrocious.
“Go on. What is it?” I said.
“Um ok...” she said. Twiddling her thumbs.
I guess I said that quite bluntly and maybe I could have been a little more friendly when I greeted her. But she seemed like she was best friends with that Levaeh girl now. Or so I assumed. Who else was she hanging around with these days? I suppose this would be a good time to ask.
“OK.” She breathed in and out.
“Its about Levaeh.” She said.
“What about her?” I asked.
“I don’t know but she has organised a surprise party for Louis' 18th birthday next week.”
“What! Why?”
“She said, she heard he was having a hard time and wanted to make sure his 18th was a night he’ll never forget.”
“I guess that’s kinda....Nice. But how does she even know his birthday is coming up?” I asked.
“She probably asked around or something, I don’t know.”
“Alright well you told me this, but what’s the problem?” I asked.
“Well you see, I’ve gotten to know Levaeh for the last few months and she does have a nice side to her but she can also be manipulative and Vindictive and she knows how to get what she wants. Like a few weeks ago, we were at Kingston and it was almost lunch. Levaeh didn’t have money on her lunch card so she asked for mine. I said I would, but I only had enough for today's lunch. Then she started saying ‘Oh but at home, me and my brothers never get fed this is our only meal of the day. Please Lilah, do you really want to watch me starve?” I said ‘I’m sorry. You can ask the dinner ladies if they will make an exception for today.”
“OK so...” I said.
“I’m not finished.” She said sharply.
I held my hands up in surrender and gestured for her to continue.
“When it came to lunch time and I was queuing up for hot dinners, I put my hand in the front pocket of my rucksack and my Lunch card wasn’t there.”
“It was weird because I always put it there and I knew I brought it with me this morning.” “I looked over to the front of the line because I thought I heard my name. And there it was. My card. Levaeh was using my lunch card and pretending to be me.” “ I confronted her about it afterwards and she completely denied it.”
“So she stole your lunch money. That’s a bit of a mess up thing to do.” I said.
“And a few months ago, she got into an argument with this boy Callum in my
Childcare course group over a missing baby doll. It sounds stupid but those Reborn babies are expensive. Apparently, one of the cleaners found it stashed away in a bin in perfect condition, when they were cleaning at the end of the day. Callum got it back but the person who moved it wasn’t found out. Until this girl Lily ratted Levaeh out to the principal, Levaeh got told off.”
“As you can imagine, she was wasn’t happy. Once she found out that Lily did it, she tormented her relentlessly until she was forced to transfer to another college.”
“So let me get this straight. You think this party she’s setting up is all part of a bigger picture. Like she might have some ulterior motive.” I said.
“Yeah. She's been talking about Louis for a while since they met at your house. He was all she talked about really, even though they only talked properly once and a few time while passing in the corridors. Whenever I mentioned that he was your boyfriend she would go off on a rant saying that he deserves better.”
“What are you saying Lilah?” I asked.
I had already lost track of what she was talking about and I was getting frustrated. She was beating around the bush. Dilly dallying. NOT cutting to the Chase. In other words get to the point!
“I think she’s jealous of you. I don’t know what’s she’s planning, but just be cautious. We don’t know what to expect.”
“Are you even going coming to the party? You know since you’re heavily pregnant.”
“Ugh! I hate that people think I’m incapable of doing things because I’m pregnant. Yeah It might take a little longer but I’m still Rye aren’t I?”
“Yeah. Just Rye with two cute little baby boys on the way.” She reached out to touch the bump then hesitated, pulling her hand away.
“Go on, you can feel it.”
She placed her hand on my bump and rubbed it gently in small spirals. I still find it weird that people want to touch my belly. I mean, I get it. The concept of pregnant bellies are fascinating. Its hard to believe there are actual living babies inside until they come out.
“WE are going to this party and we’re going to bring the whole gang too.”
“Rye, please don’t tell me you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking?” she said.
“Oh, you know it.”
I felt my phone buzz in my pocket so I pulled it out to check. It was a notification which wasn’t important but then I saw the time.
“Shit!” I attempted to jump up and out of the chair but with the weight of my bump plus me, I only flew up about 3 centimetres high before falling back down onto couch.
“What wrong?” Lilah still had her hand on the bump and was gripping the gift she got me securely with the other hand.
“Its 3:55pm and Louis is meant to be meeting me at the park at 4.” I said.
“I gotta go, but nice talking to you and thanks for the present. I’ll open it when I get back.”
I was off the couch and waddling towards the office door when Lilah tapped me on the shoulder.
“Rye, I’ll get Jackson to drive you. No offense, but you won’t make it to the park in 5 minutes the way you’re walking.”
“OK, that’s probably true. No offense taken.”
She got out her phone and texted her brother from the basement.
“Lilah, were you going to go home straight after this?” I asked.
“Well yeah, I guess. I was going to take the bus home, since Jackson is staying longer and drove me here.”
“Can you stay a little longer? Go home when Jackson leaves. We can hang out.” I said.
“Sure.” She grinned.
The basement door flew open. It was Jackson.
“Alright, let's gOOOoooo.....” He froze when he saw me.
“Rye, you’re PREGNANT?!” he exclaimed.
I don’t know how he didn’t know, but I was pretty sure he was the last person to find out.
My phoned vibrated again. This time it was Louis.
I’m in my car on the way to the park. He texted.
“Obviously! No time to explain, we have to go.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the front door.
“Alright, Alright.” He said.
Lilah was still stood outside the office, smiling at us from a distance.
I smiled back, slipped my arms in my coat and my feet in my timberland boots, yelled at Jackson to hurry up then left.
Once we were in Jackson’s car, it only took 5 minutes for us to get to the park.
We weren't going to the park that we usually went to, we were going to a different one that had more of an open area. Louis' house was further away, so I knew he wouldn’t be there until at least 4:10pm. It was only 4 o’clock now, so I sat in the car with Jackson and waited.
“So...” Jackson said. “Who’s this guy you’re meeting?”
“Louis. My boyfriend.”
“Is he good to you?” he asked.
I know it seems like it, but Louis isn’t my first boyfriend. If I can remember correctly, I’ve had four previous relationships and all of them my parents didn’t know about. I had my first relationship when I was 14, way before I changed my name. It was a boy from my form class and his name was Jacob. He had blue eyes, soft golden curls and was about as popular as you could get.
Everyone knew him and wanted to be his friend. So naturally, when a girl dates the school celebrity, all the other girls become extremely jealous. He was my first kiss. We didn’t really know how to date because we were young, so things just fizzled out.
Jackson knew about the last relationship I was in before Louis. His name was Samuel. We were almost 16. Samuel was -what you could call- the definition of a bad boy. He went to clubs with fake ID's, drank and smoked before he was legal to with all his other friends. He was good to me though, even if he could be distant sometimes. We had been almost dating for a year. I thought I loved him, so when he asked me if I want to ‘Do it’ I said yes. I lost my virginity to him. We both did. But what he did after that was why we never made it to the year mark. He boasted about it to his friends, which then went around the school. Everyone knew I had lost my V-card. I never wanted anyone to know. I then found out he cheated on me 3 days after. Jackson was a year above me and found me in the gym hall crying that day. I told him what happened and he told Samuel, if he didn’t apologise then he'd have to deal with him. Jackson was much taller and stronger than Samuel, so he did as he said.
We convinced everyone that it was a rumour and eventually they forgot about it. Somehow, my brothers and my parents never found out to this day.
“Yes. He is.” I smiled.
“Good. You know, if you ever need someone to help with boyfriend issues, I’m only a few blocks away.”
“Yeah, thanks Jack.” I said.
I could see a black Audi from the rear view mirror. It was parking behind us.
“He’s here. Thanks for the ride Jack.” I opened the door and got out the car closing the door behind me.
“Anytime.” He said. Then he drove off.
Louis got out of his car the same time I did, and when he saw me he smiled. A shy, timid smile, but still a Louis smile.
His hair was somewhat tamed, with a few strands of brown hair flopping over his eyes. He was dressed in his blue varsity jacket, white shirt, black jeans and black trainers. The exact same outfit he was wearing at Lilah’s party.
I walked up to him and gave him a hug. He looked...alive. He was sober and his clothes smelled like his regular sweet cologne. NOT revolting beer. This was the Louis I knew.
He wrapped his arms around me, and lightly rested his chin on the top of my head. I heard him sigh, feeling his breath blow through my hair, like a gentle breeze in a forest.
Neither of us said a word, we just stood in the middle of the side walk, beside the park gate, enjoying the moment. People would walk by and go around us.
Some muttered “Teenagers.” In a frustrated tone as they passed, but we took no notice.
I pulled away from Louis, and held his hand. “We should probably go in now.” He smirked and nodded, going in front to open the gate for me.
It was five degrees Celsius and Mid-December, the grass was frosted over making a crunching sound when we walked.
It was way too cold for kids to be out playing so the park was completely empty. The forecast for that week had been set out and said that we could expect some snow down in The Capital within the next 48 hours.
That meant a few snow flakes and maybe if we were lucky, it would settle without getting washed away by rain the next day.
Everyone was hoping for a white Christmas, but we all knew that wouldn’t happen. There was more chance of it raining frogs than waking up in a winter wonderland on Christmas day. London hardly ever got proper snow. Scotland got it all.
We sat on the bench beside each other and watched as the sun set.
We had kinda missed most of it because we were stood in the middle of the street hugging for 10 minutes, but we saw the ending of it. The sky was turning dark blue and the stars were beginning to show. On the horizon, you could see a few strokes of orange, yellow and pink peeking out above the sun in the distance and the moon was already up.
I snuggled into Louis and he put his arm over my shoulder, resting it on my bump. We were sat in comfortable silence until Louis finally spoke.
“Rye?” he said softly, lifting my fluffy hood off of my head, so he could see me.
“Yeah.” I said.
“About yesterday...”
“Lou, just forget about it. It happened and it’s done.” I said.
“Ok, but there’s something you should know.” I sat up and turned to face him.
“What is it?” I asked.
“This morning, Michael called me and told me what happened yesterday, but he also said it would be a good time to tell you something that I have been avoiding for a while now.”
“What?” I asked. I was starting to get worried.
“You know when I said I told my mum that you were pregnant. I said she didn’t take it very well.”
“Yeah.” I said.
“Well, when I told her she said that you should abort the babies.” I gasped.
“That’s why I wasn’t talking to her. And that’s why she didn’t come to our gender reveal.” He said.
“Does she still think that though?”
“Yes, but..... I have an idea. What if you come to my house today and meet her? Maybe if she meets you and realises how kind, loving, caring and amazing you are, she’ll change her mind about the babies.”
“Louis...I don’t think I can change her mind. If you told her in September, that means it has been 3 months and she still has the same mind-set. Do you really think seeing me is going to change all that?”
“It’s worth a try.”
He turned around to face me and took hold of my hands.
“Look Rye, my mum is stubborn and annoying sometimes, but she is also kind and protective. She had me when she was 18 and is scared that the same thing that happened with my dad leaving us, is going to happen again, with our children. I’ve tried to convince her that that is not going to happen. I just know once the babies are born she’ll be a great grandma and when she meets you she’ll trust me to be a good dad.”
“So can we just try? Please.”
Ugh, I hated when he did that cute face. How could I say no to that?!
“Fine.” I caved.
The sun had now set. It was dark but the sky was bright. The full moon was shining up above and there were hundreds of stars sparkling in the clear night sky. The streets around us were eerily quiet. I was beginning to feel a little creeped out.
“OK let’s go because being in a park at night when its this quiet, is never a good idea.” I said.
“Rye, seriously? Nothing is going to happen.” Louis said confidently.
“In every single horror movie I’ve watched and thriller book I’ve read, something bad always happens in the woods at night.”
“But we aren’t in the woods.” He said
“There’s a forest right behind us Louis!”
“You know, you roll your eyes so much, one day they’re are going to get stuck like that.” Louis teased.
I whacked him on the arm.
“Wait.... Louis did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” he looked around cautiously.
“That sound...in the bushes over there.”
Louis stood up and stalked up to the bush with his phone light on, careful to make as little sound as possible. I snuck up behind him and....
“BOO!” I yelled.
Louis got so scared that he stumbled backwards, almost falling into the bush. I caught his arm and pulled him towards me. He stood there glaring at me. I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to break my own waters.
“You’re such an idiot. That bush was full of thorns. I could have died!”
“You’re so dramatic.” I teased.
“I’m going to get you back for that.”
“Whatever, can we just go now?” I asked.
“Yeah, my mum and sisters should be at home.”
We finally left the park and Louis drove us to his house. While we were in the car, I texted my mum and told her that I was with Louis and going to his house for a bit. She text back and said: Ok, you need to be home soon because I’m making everything soup for dinner. I texted back Yum :p
Before long, we were parked in Louis' drive way and walking towards his door. I was a little nervous, so stayed back behind Louis when we got to the door.
He took his keys out of his pocket and unlocked to door. He opened it and stepped in. From what I could see, the house looked cleaner than it was when I came yesterday. I stepped in the house after him. Louis took off his jacket and shoes and I did the same, out of respect.
“Wait here, I’ll be right back.” He said, then ran off into the front room.
“Mum?” I heard him call out. Then a door closed, so they must have went into the garden through the glass doors in the living room.
I was just stood out in the hallway at the front door, waiting for Louis to come back. All the lights were off in the house except for the living room, so it was pretty dark. I heard giggles then little foot steps heading in my direction. I knew it was the two girls. They went down the hallway to the wooden door that led to the kitchen and opened it. They hadn’t noticed that I was there, but I stayed quiet. I didn’t want to startle them.
Although, that plan went out the window when they screamed. It was so loud, you would have thought there was a murderer in the house. But it wasn’t a frightened scream. It was an excited scream and I figured that out when I switched the hallway lights on and saw their bright smiley faces.
“Rye!!” They both squealed, jumping up and down and flapping their hands about. I was both honoured and confused. Why were they so excited to see me? I saw Emily yesterday and Aliah last week.
“Hi, hi, shushh! Stop screaming.” I said quietly.
They did as I said and ran over to me, tackling me with a hug.
Louis and (who I assumed was) his mum came back in to house through the kitchen.
“What’s all the screaming about?” His mum said.
When she came out of the kitchen, she saw the girls huddled up against me, their heads resting against my very large bump.
His mum was quite petit, compared to me she looked tiny. Even before I was pregnant, I had been a bit big. I had a noticeable butt, pretty big thighs and my shape wasn’t too bad either. She had a blue lip and nose piercing, her hair tied up in a messy bun and was wearing blue jeans, a red woolly jumper and black uggs.
At first, I thought she looked angry, but then her face soften into a smile before quickly turning back to a strict, reserved expression. Instantly, I felt a little less stressed than I was early.
She went into the living room. Louis beckoned for me to go in with him, but the girls hadn’t let go of me yet, so I told him to go in and I’d be there in sec.
“Go on girls. I’m coming.” They ran in after Louis and I followed.
The living room looked much different too. It was cleaner. In fact the whole house was cleaner, it was like a completely different home.
Louis and his mum were sat comfortably on the sofa with Emmerdale playing on the TV in the background. Emily and Aliah were on the floor playing with Barbie dolls, dolphins and unicorns. I took a seat beside Louis and he put his arm around my shoulder.
“First of all, I’m Lucy and Louis has told me a lot about you. He speaks very highly of you.”
I smiled up at Louis then back at Lucy. Emily was the spitting image of her mum. Light brown (almost golden) hair, caramel brown eyes -just like Louis'- and they had the same face and smile.
“I’m Rye.” I held my hand out to her. She stared for -what felt like- a long time. I was ready to pull my hand away, but eventually she shook it.
“So how did you and Louis meet?”
I explained to her that Louis and I went to the same school. We both had some of the same classes, so we would see each other a lot. I left in the first month of Sixth form and switched to online school, then we met again 8 months later at one of my best friend’s parties.
“Ok.” She said.
“How old were you when you got pregnant?”
“It was three months before my seventeenth birthday.” I said.
“Well, Louis seems to love you a lot. He won’t shut up about you sometimes.” She laughed.
“My girls clearly love you too and you seem like a genuine, kind and loving person.”
“Maybe I was wrong about you.” Her expression hadn’t changed the whole time. She didn’t smile other than when she laughed and that was for only half a second. It was clear she was still not 100% happy, but at least she didn’t hate me.
“Do you know when you’re due?” she asked.
“Louis, you didn’t tell her?” I gasped.
“Um... I actually forgot myself.” He said.
“The babies are due on February 14th.
“Wow, that’s on Valentines day.”
“I know. What a great way to celebrate a day of love.” I smiled down at my bump, feeling a kick from one of the babies. Then I looked up and noticed that Louis had been smiling at me the whole time.
“Anyway, it was nice meeting you Lucy, but I have to get going. My mum wants me home for dinner.”
I awkwardly shuffled to the edge of the sofa then stood up. Louis did too.
“Nice meeting you too, hopefully you come back so I can get to know you better.” Then she smiled at me. A genuine, kind smile for the first time that evening.
“Yeah, I’ll come back over soon.”
I gave the girls a hug, put my boots and winter jacket back on and braced myself for the cold winter weather outdoors.
Louis put a sleeveless puffa jacket over his iconic blue varsity and slipped his feet back in his trainers.
“Bye!” We called out one last time before getting in the car and heading to my house.
The wonderful smell of mum’s soup reached our noses before we even opened the front door.
“Something smells amazing in here.” Louis exclaimed when I unlocked the door.
“Hi, Louis.” Mum came over and gave him a very awkward hug, with her arm stretch out. She was holding a wooden spoon in one hand and a butter knife in the other.
“Hey Mary, what are you cooking?”
“My mum’s special soup, are you staying for dinner?” she asked, walking back into the kitchen to chop the plantain.
I turned towards Louis and pouted, pleading for him to stay longer.
“I don’t see why not.” He shrugged.
“Yesss!”
“What’s in the soup?” he asked me.
“Loads of good stuff, its called ‘Everything soup’.
“Why?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Oh, hi Lilah.” Louis said.
“I didn’t know you were here.”
“Yeah, I came a few hours ago, with my brother.” She said.
She was sat on the sofa, watching a Channel 5 Christmas movie.
“Wait, you have a brother?”
“Yeah, Jackson. He’s a year older than me and he goes to Ashbourne college With Keign.” She said.
“Oh yeah! Jackson Chase. I used to see him at Kingston sometimes, I just never made the connection.” He said.
“Hey you two, I’m going down to the basement, wanna come?” I asked.
“Sure.”
“Alright.” Lilah shrugged.
“Kids, dinner will be ready in about 30 minutes.”
“Can you and the boys bring the extra table and chairs up from down there please?” Mum asked Louis.
“Ok.”
Down in the basement, the boys had connected the Xbox to the TV and were taking turns playing a very intense game of call of duty war zone.
Gun shots firing off in every direction like pop corn in the microwave and blood spraying all over the screen. It was just complete chaos.
“How can you play this game? Its horrifying!” I said.
“Only cos you can’t handle it.” Keign said. He was sat on the carpet, focusing intently on the screen.
“AGH, WHAT!” Keign yelled angrily.
“That’s bull shit! I clearly shot that guy before he shot me!”
“Well CLEARLY not.” Jackson laughed.
“Shut up, Jackson.”
“Here.” He passed him the controller forcefully.
“Why are you playing with one controller?”
“Because we can’t find the other one?” Keign said with an -isn’t that obvious- tone in his voice.
“Fair enough.” I said.
The three of us sat on the sofa and watched them play. It was just Jackson and Keign playing at first, but Louis quickly joined in then Lilah joined too. That just left me, watching four big kids, yell agitatedly at a video game. I was bored out of my mind. I may have drifted off once or twice and each time I woke up they were STILL playing. I was fed up. So I got up stormed to Louis and tugged on his arm.
“What’s up?” he said
“Come with me.”
“Wait a sec, I’m about to get this guy.” He had his tongue stuck out as he concentrated. He looked so hot. I didn’t know if it was because I was overly horny (I heard that happens a lot when you’re pregnant) or if it was just because he was generally attractive, but at that moment, I never wanted to kiss someone so desperately in my entire life.
“Louis, please.” I groaned.
“Lilah take over for me I’ll be bACK....”
As he got up, I dragged him out of the basement door and up the stairs.
“Rye, what’s going on?” he asked
“Just wait.” I said, still gripping on to his hand tightly. When we made it back to the top and onto the ground floor of the house, Louis pulled his hand free from my grip and cornered me against the wall.
“Baby, chill what’s going on?” He looked worried.
“What? Nothing.” I said, breathlessly.
“You can’t run up the stairs like you used to Rye, are you forgetting you’re pregnant?”
“No.” I was becoming more and more agitated by the minute. I could have done it right there and then, but my mum was just around the corner. I had to wait.
“Are you sure nothing is going on?” he asked, placing his warm hand on my cheek and lifting my chin to look in my eyes.
“Yes Lou, (kiss) I’m sure.” Now can you please stop talking and follow me?”
“Ok, just slow down.” He said.
I looked round the corner to see if mum was sitting on the couch, and we were in luck. She was in the kitchen listening to old school R&B tunes. She was dancing and singing, using the wooden spoon as a mic. So embarrassing.
Louis giggled, but I slapped my hand over his mouth.
“Shush!”
We checked one last time then hurried up the stairs as fast as we could and shut my door behind us. It was completely dark in my room, other than my alarm clock light glowing on my night stand.
“Ok.” He breathed a sigh of relief, throwing himself onto the bed and landing in a model pose.
“So why did you bring me up here?”
I couldn’t wait anymore. I sat behind him closing the gap between us and forced his lips on mine, kissing him passionately. After a few seconds, I was already out of breath, so I had to take a breather.
“Whoa.” Louis shook his head in awe.
“What was that for?” he asked. “Is that why you brought me up here?”
I nodded.
“Continue. You are WAY better than video games.” I giggled, he was so cheesy.
“Ok we don’t have long, because my mum’s going to call us for dinner any minute now.”
“Lets not waste time then.” Louis pulled off his shirt and threw it on my chair.
Then gestured for me to lay down.
He kissed me gently and slowly and I held on to him, feeling around his bare chest at the same time.
He lifted my jumper up over my bump and kissed all over it, making me tingle and the babies kick from the inside.
“Did you feel that?” I asked.
“Yeah, they’re so strong!”
“I know. Talk to them, so they can hear your voice.” I said.
“Hi, sons, Its daddy here. I love you so much already.”
They kicked again. Louis looked up and grinned at me.
“Can I try something?” he asked
“Yeah.”
“Louis.” He called to the baby.
Nothing.
“Lou, we are not giving one of the babies the same name as you.”
“Why not?” He asked
“Because, there are so many Louis' in the world. Even the youngest Prince of
England’s name is Louis.”
“Fine. What about Dallin?”
“Lou, you do know we have two sons to name, right?”
“Oh yeah, Dallin and Drake.” Louis suggested.
“Are you serious?”
He laid down between my legs and rested his head on my belly.
“Do you have any name suggestions then?”
“Yeah. How about Kai and Korey.”
“Kai.” I called, rubbing the bump.
One of them kicked.
I gasped.
“I think they like it.” I said.
“I think they do too, but Kai is about as popular as Louis.” Louis said.
“What about Kayden?”
“Kayden.” Louis called.
Another kick.
“Liked that one too, I think.” He said.
“Korey.” I called. No kick.
“Well, not that one.”
“I read this name in a book at school the other day, and I thought it was cool.” Louis said.
“Ok try it.”
“Kylen.” He called.
I felt nothing at first, but after a few seconds, I got one huge kick right under where Louis was laying.
“They either really like it, or are telling you to get off.” I laughed.
“I think they like it.” Louis sat up and stretched.
“Nah, I’m sure it’s them kicking because your head’s so big.”
“That’s it.”
Louis held his hand up high then tickled me. I was giggling, squealing and wriggling all over the place, but he wouldn’t stop. I had always been extremely ticklish and I usually hated being tickled. Louis knew that.
“Louis!” I shrieked.
“Louis, stop! I need to pee!”
“I NEED TO PEE.” I yelled.
He finally stopped.
“You’re the worst.” I said, sitting up and composing myself.
“Well you’re not any better because you’re dating the worst.” He smirked.
I just glared at him. He gave me a quick, peck on the lips.
My phone buzzed. It was mum telling me that dinner was ready.
“We have to go down for dinner, but remember, you have to go down and get the extra table from the basement. Keign will show you where it is. Get the boys to help you bring it up.” I said.
“I don’t need them, look at these guns.” He flexed his biceps.
“Ehh, The rock has bigger ones.”
He frowned.
“I’m joking.” I kissed him one more time.
“Well, not really, cos he definitely does.” Louis rolled his eyes and smiled a little.
“I'm going to the toilet. Tell my mum I’ll be down in a sec.” I said, walking to the bathroom.
“Got it.” He said.
“And Louis?”
“Yeah.” He had stopped halfway down the stairs.
“Put your t-shirt back on.” I sighed.
He felt around his chest and realised I was right.
“OH yeah.” He ran back up to grab it from my room.
When I came out of the bathroom, the extra table was already set up, everyone had already sat in a seat and there were two spaces left. One beside mum and one next to Louis.
I picked to sit next to Louis of course, and left the free space for Jordan when he came in from work, which should be any minute now.
Mum served everyone a bowl of soup then sat at the table herself.
“Before we eat, I’d like to say a prayer.” Mum announced.
Everyone closed their eyes and listened as mum spoke.
“Dear, God. We thank you for blessing us with the food in front of us and we thank you for the people sat here today. We ask you, dear God, to bless us and protect those babies, making sure they come out safe and healthy. In Jesus' name, Amen.”
“AMEN.” Everyone repeated.
“Now let’s eat.” Mum said.
We all began to tuck in. In between spoonfuls, everyone laughed, told stories, and chatted back and forth across the table. Then Jordan came in, said hello, and joined us.
“You still haven’t told me why it’s called Everything soup.”
“Take a guess.” I said.
He rested his knuckle against his chin and stared into the bowl of soup, that was already half empty. He stared for a long time so he must of been thinking very hard.
“I have no idea.” He said.
“My grandma owns a restaurant in Barbados and she invented this thing called Everything soup. Its basically all our favourite things in a soup. Dumplings, plantain, mutton, carrots, sweet potatoes and regular potatoes, pasta and a whole lot of seasoning.” I explained.
“Wow! It definitely tastes amazing, that’s for sure.” Louis said as he stuffed a Dumpling in his mouth.
“Yep, it does.” I smiled.
After we ate, mum put some Christmas music on her mini speaker, tidied up the empty bowls and passed out cups of orange juice and apple juice. Then finally, my favourite part.
They all went back down to the basement and grabbed all the Christmas decorations, each of them carrying a box. I stayed in the living room, because Mum and Louis insisted I waited until they brought everything out. I WAS NOT allowed to carry anything heavy.
I wasn’t too upset about it, obviously it sucks staying in the living room when everyone was down in the basement. I wanted to get in on the fun, but also it was great because I didn’t have to walk up and down the stairs and I didn’t have to carry anything.
I wasn’t really alone though, because they were constantly coming in, dropping the boxes and going back down again.
Every time Louis would come back up, he’d place the box down, run over and give me a kiss then go back again. He could be so cheesy and romantic sometimes, but I loved it.
Sometime later when all the seasonal Christmas boxes were out, (and there were quite a lot of them) we began to decorate starting with the tree. It was 8 foot so as we built it, we had to get a stool to place the last piece of the tree on top.
None of us were tall enough, not even Jackson and he was our 6 foot giant. If dad was here, he would have come up with a strategic plan on how everything should be set up, step by step.
His plans were always long and none of us wanted to follow it because we just wanted to have fun.
In the end, we’d go by his plan and it was always the better option. I wish dad could have been here now, this year was the most hectic Christmas decorating party yet.
There were ornaments and tinsel everywhere. Jordan and Keign were sword fighting with the Christmas wrapping paper like 5 year olds.
Lilah was on Jackson’s shoulders helping him and mum fluff out the tree, Louis was piecing together the nativity and I was stood amongst it all wondering, what on earth I should do?
“Rye come over here.” Louis was sat alone at the table and waved me over.
I went over and sat down beside him, placing my hand on his thigh. He jumped a little. I went to move my hand away, but he placed his hand on top of mine.
“Its ok, you just...” He nodded to what my hand was resting beside and I saw it, realising what he meant.
“Oh.” I giggled.
“It just happens sometimes when you’re close to me.” He said, his cheeks blushing a little.
He looked embarrassed so I changed the subject.
“So what did you call me for?” I asked.
“I just called you to ask if this was how it’s meant to look?”
“Yep. It’s looks great.” I said
“I can’t believe next year we’re going to be celebrating Christmas with our babies and they’d be almost one.” Louis said.
“Me either.”
All of a sudden, I remembered that I was meant to call dad.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes. I just have to do something quick.” I said to Louis.
I went in mum’s office and called the number.
“Hello, can I talk to Mr Thomas Parker?”
“Yes one moment please.” The lady at the desk said. It went silent as she forwarded the call.
“Hello?”
“Dad?”
“Yeah its me.” Dad said.
“So I was going to talk to you about Louis.”
“Go on.” He said.
“A few weeks ago, we were buying stuff for the babies. Me, mum, Louis and his two sisters. We saw their dad. He’d been in prison for a few years and just recently came out early.
Their dad had a pregnant girlfriend with him. Seeing their dad had been really hard for Louis.
He has been distant and (I was thinking about telling him about Louis being drunk on the football field, but I felt like I shouldn’t). .... just the fact that his dad was having another child was hard for him to deal with.”
“OK. Well, what I would say is just give him space. Sometimes people have to focus on themselves before they can do anything else.
They might deal with things differently like Isolate themselves, drink or do drugs. I’m not saying Louis is doing that, but you can’t make them stop when they are in a space like that, all you can do is let them know you are there for them.”
“Thanks dad.” I said.
“No problem. I have to go now, but good luck.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.” I said.
Later on, around 10 o’clock, everyone had left and the Christmas tree was completely set up, brightening the downstairs area. It finally felt like Christmas time.
I was almost ready to nod off, when I noticed Lilah’s present on my desk. I had forgotten all about it.
I dug my hand in and pulled out a hard square object.
It was two picture frames, one with a photograph of Lilah and me as babies and one empty.
I expected that was for me to put a picture of the babies in.
I placed the picture of Lilah and me on my desk and grabbed both my scan pictures from my top draw, placing them side by side in the frame.
Both the frames read Best friends from birth.