Thursday, August 18, 2016
Trey's House
28 weeks...
After their friends had left, Trey had set up a salt bath for her to help relax her even more, and she'd requested he get in with her, and though he hadn't expected that, he definitely didn't turn her down or question it.
He'd stripped and slipped in with her, kneading her stiff muscles till she sagged against him. Then he'd kissed and loved on her, suggesting she get out when the water lost its warmth.
She had, and he'd dried her off, wrapped her in another towel, and carried her to his bedroom (which had become theirs again), laying her on the bed before going off to get her clothes. He gave her warm clothes before going off to get dressed himself.
When he got back, she was seated on the bed, not lying back like he thought she might. "Aren't you tired?"
"No," she responded slowly, leaning into him as soon as she settled on the bed. "I'm still a little high strung. Our friends are so thoughtful."
Trey nodded in agreement, wrapping an arm around her. "They are." They stayed in comfortable silence for a few beats before Trey gathered the courage to ask what was on his mind. "If you're not sleepy, will you like to go on a rooftop adventure with me?"
Eyes wide because that was the last thing she'd expected him to break the silence with, she looked at him, wondering if she'd heard right. "Rooftop? Trey, this mansion of yours doesn't exactly have a roof safe enough for an adventure in my current state." She gestured to the bump in front of her.
"Who said anything about this roof?" When she lifted a brow, he smiled. "You're right, this roof isn't safe for us to explore while you're pregnant," he said, then smirked in a way that said he knew she'd like what he was going to say next.
"So, we're packing a bag, and camping out on the roof of our new house. Maybe watch a movie with as many snacks as you'd like and lay on many fluffy pillows—"
"I'm in!" she cut in excitedly, moving towards the edge of the bed so she could get off. Eyes shining with barely concealed humor, Trey got off the bed as well and headed to his closet to grab a backpack.
He shoved a pair of sweatpants and a full outfit for the following day in it. The house was already stocked with toiletries, so he didn't pick any of those. Lexi returned to the room as Trey was exiting the closet, holding a couple of things in her arms.
"What are those?" Trey asked, a brow lifted in amusement. She looked as excited as a baby tasting chocolate for the first time.
"This is my nightgown," she began, tossing the flowy material to him suddenly. He almost didn't catch it, seeing as the material was light and was fluttering to the ground almost as soon as she'd thrown it. "And this is one of the hoodies we received from Mitchell. I want to wear it."
She threw that also, and he caught it easily, folding it into his bag. "Yes ma'am."
Unfazed by his remark, she continued. "This is my outfit for tomorrow morning," she said, holding up a wine-colored ankle-length dress, "and you've probably set up blankets already..." she trailed off, waiting for confirmation.
"I have," he replied, a brow raised questioningly.
"But can I bring the blanket Jason gave us?" Trey groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He simply couldn't fathom why Lexi was obsessed with the cartoon blanket. "Please?" she pouted, blinking innocently at him, and he found himself agreeing.
"I'm not going to say no Lexi," he told her with a sigh, "and you know it."
She did, if her beaming smile was anything to go by. "I'll go get it. Meet me downstairs?"
"Alright." He smiled when he saw how excited she was, whether for the blanket or for the rooftop picnic as a whole, he didn't know. He just knew that he loved seeing her this happy.
What he didn't expect was her grabbing his shirt and yanking him down to press a kiss to his lips. He dropped the bag to the ground, pulling her closer by the waist to deepen the kiss. Then he was tilting his head at a different angle to get better access to her mouth as they both fought for dominance.
In the end, he let her lead, and was surprised when she slipped her tongue through his lips. He moaned, and she smiled into the kiss, tugging at his hair.
Trey was elated, because it'd been months since they'd kissed like this, since they'd gone beyond pecks and short kisses. He ached to lay her on the bed and worship her body. Knowing he wouldn't be able to due to the plans they had for the night, he decided to pull away.
They were both panting when they separated, Lexi looking at him with surprise etched on her features, as if she couldn't believe what she'd done. Trey smiled. "Go get the blanket. I'll be right down."
She nodded quietly, a light blush coating her cheeks as she scurried out of the room. Trey let out a laugh, looking down at the front of his pants. Maybe he should've told Lexi to give him a few minutes to fix himself.
Sighing, he added their combs and hairbrushes to the pack, shouldering it as he went out of the room. He'd just have it suck it up, and hopefully, he'd calm down before they got there. He wanted to spend a wholesome night with her, not one with him thinking of nothing but how she'd feel beneath him.
*
The short journey to the new house was filled with light conversation and banter. He'd held her hand throughout, only pulling away to switch gears, then taking her hand again. She'd kept his hand—clasped with hers—on her bump as they'd talked, and more than once, he'd been distracted by their babies kicking nonstop.
At one point, he'd asked, "Is it uncomfortable for you?" while switching gears. Then he'd clasped her hand again, glancing at her before returning his attention to the road ahead of them, only to have them kick again.
"What?" she'd asked, tucking stray strands of hair behind her ear. It'd been pretty useless seeing as she'd wanted the windows down. The cool night breeze was blowing her hair in different directions.
"The babies kicking all the time," he'd clarified, "Is it uncomfortable? Are you okay?"
She turned to him with a smile he didn't see because he was focused on driving. "I'm pretty sure they're being more active than usual because they feel their dad's presence," was her reply as she patted the hand on the bump.
Trey had smiled but cast her a look that said he was still concerned. "Maybe," he'd murmured, only half agreeing to her theory. "But the question is how it makes you feel."
She'd sighed then. "It is uncomfortable when I'm trying to sleep, and they have no intention of doing the same. But I like it, because it tells me they're still alive and kicking."
Trey had squeezed her hand, passing her a smile, then refocusing on getting them there in one piece. "We'll be alright, no matter what."
They hadn't dwelt on that much, but had moved to lighter topics, tossing a few baby names here and there as they argued over what names were suitable. It spanned the rest of the drive, seeing as they had varying opinions on what to name their babies.
Upon arrival, Trey had Amaris let them in and sat Lexi down before going off to get their snacks from the snack pantry. She didn't complain, seeing as the cushion which encased her bottom felt amazing.
Trey came back, hidden behind the mountain of snacks and drinks, with the cartoon blanket hanging off his shoulder. Laughing, Lexi went past him to the kitchen and found a hamper basket. It wouldn't house everything, but it would help. She put a few water bottles in there before returning to the lounge where Trey was.
She took the drinks first, setting them at the bottom of the basket alongside the water, then put the snacks that could fit on top, allowing Trey to carry the basket while she held onto the remaining light weighted snacks and the blanket.
When they stepped out of the elevator, Lexi saw the setup Trey had done on the rooftop. There, on the floor, a blanket was laid out, with several pillows scattered over it; so much that the blanket was nearly invisible. Then there was a fire pit, which was empty, but for now, candles lit up the entire space.
"You got it ready when you didn't even know if I'd say yes?" she muttered, going towards the setup to set down her items.
"I texted a friend to help with it actually," he admitted, scratching the back of his neck. "That is why I took the long way here—though it was still short."
She laughed, lowering herself to the ground. "This looks awesome. Thank you for this."
"If you thank me for something one more time..." his voice trailed off in warning, then he leaned down, kissing her nose. "It's colder than I expected, so I'll get a fire going. Here," he added, handing her the basket so she could start unpacking while he dealt with the fire.
With some dry kindling and the already stacked wood, he got the fire going. Brushing off his hands and wiping them down with a duster, he called out, "Amaris?"
"Yes Mr. Robinson?" came her immediate reply as a panel of the roof glowed. She was everywhere, Lexi realized.
"We'd like to watch a movie. Please pull up a screen for us." Lexi watched as he leisurely walked over to her, enjoying the view.
"Right away," was the A.I.'s response, interrupting Lexi's line of thought. Then there was a soft whirring as a portion of the roof shifted to give way to a huge TV screen.
Lexi laughed, awe coating her voice. "I feel like I'm in a cinema." Then Trey sat next to her. "Will we snuff out the candles?"
"No. Although they're there for the sweet scent and for the intimate atmosphere, they're also to keep bugs away," was his response, and she fell for him even more. "What do you want to watch?" he asked quietly, clasping her hand and drawing circles with his thumb.
She looked at the blanket she'd covered her legs with. "I'm feeling like cartoons." Trey closed his eyes to reign in his smile while she laughed. She was intent on reminding him of the drawing on the blanket as much as possible. "Beauty and the beast?"
"Pull it up Amaris."
"Okay." Then the screen was turned on, and they watched as she looked for the cartoon and downloaded it, then proceeded to press play on it, keeping the volume low.
"You know what I didn't think through and I'm worrying myself about now?" Trey said, looking behind Lexi. She shook her head though he wasn't looking, but he continued anyway. "Your back; you need to be able to relax, but there's nothing for you to lean on."
"I'll be fine," she told him.
"No," he countered, grabbing a pillow to set in front of him. "Come sit here." She didn't refuse. Instead, she crawled over and sat between his legs with her back supported by the pillow he'd placed there. She was very comfortable.
Even more when he grabbed her a bag of snacks and wrapped his arms around her belly. "Better?"
"Much," she responded with a contented sigh, realizing she was also sitting on another pillow. She wasn't complaining.
Trey pressed a kiss to her temple, then addressed Amaris. "Amaris, could you please turn up the volume?"
"And start the movie again, please?" Lexi added quickly before she could respond.
"Of course." Then she proceeded to do exactly that, increasing the volume of the movie.
"Thank you Amaris," she said, looking at him.
"You're welcome Mrs Robinson. Let me know as soon as you need my help with anything," she responded, then the panel blinked off, indicating that she'd left them alone.
Snuggled in her man's arms, she watched the cartoon, singing along and eating as many snacks as she could and drinking water instead of the drinks to be on the safer side.
She'd made trips to the washroom a few times, but Trey, ever patient—and with the help of Amaris—paused and played. He even packed up the wrappers and empty water bottles, going down with her once to throw them out and get more water bottles for her.
What a man she'd snagged.
*
After the movie, and after the snacks had gone down, they lay on their backs, stargazing. If it could be called that.
"It'd hurt me when you'd kicked me out after our first night together," Lexi admitted softly, looking up at the sky still. She felt when Trey shifted to look at her but she remained in the same position. "You made me feel used, telling me, in effect, to get over it. Like taking my innocence hadn't been a big deal."
"Jesus," Trey muttered with a wince. "Sometimes, it physically pains me when I remember who I used to be. I'm sorry; I have no excuse for that."
She was quiet for a while. "Why did you push me away?"
He sighed. "Melissa and I had several arguments because I slept with her friends, ruining their friendship when I dumped them. And though I'm not proud of it, that was who I was.
"She warned me to stay away from you the first time she brought you over. So I tried to make myself hate you, anything to keep you away from me. But then you stepped out to the balcony that night, and god, I tried to ignore you but you wouldn't have it.
"And when you sat on the railing, thoughts of you falling to your death and me losing you though you weren't mine hit me like a train. So I decided to be spontaneous for once in my life; I kissed you, and it was far better than I'd imagined.
"Before I knew it, I was sinking myself into you and you screamed in pain at the sudden intrusion—I'd never forget that. It was then the enormity of what I'd done hit me. I'd slept with my sister's best friend when I'd promised I wouldn't—her virgin best friend. So, when you fell asleep, I left."
He turned to lay on his back, staring up at the sky. "My childhood got rough after mom was kicked out and I wasn't allowed to see her. I was made to grow up with a cold and ruthless person who believed himself incapable of love. Any emotion that showed on my face, and I was labeled weak.
"I didn't want to tie you to someone like me because you were so full of life. So I broke it off the way I did. It got me the first slap from a girl, from you, but I deserved it."
Lexi smiled a little at the memory, but stayed quiet. He wasn't done, and she knew that. "Then I was slapped yet again at my office — in front of my employees — by my sister. She was livid, then she'd told me you were pregnant.
"It'd weakened me momentarily and I'd fallen back to the couch, wondering what I'd done. Never in my life had I gotten a woman pregnant; I had always been extra careful. How was it possible I was going to be a father with someone I'd spent just one night with? I didn't want to believe it."
He swallowed, turning to her again. "You know the rest. She pestered me to take responsibility, staying away till I did. I stayed away from you too because I had no control around you. Why you saw it as me not giving a damn about you, I don't know.
"I've cared all along. It just took losing the baby for me to let go of my iron control because you needed comfort. I did too, and I'm glad we found peace with each other." He brought the hand he'd been playing with to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "I love you so much, and if you'd let me, I would keep you with me forever."
She didn't reply, instead, she kissed him, till he felt the tears sliding down her cheeks, till he tasted the salty tears. He pulled away to wipe them, but she buried her face in his chest, sobbing.
"It hurt so bad," she cried. "Losing them were the worst things ever, and knowing now that it was orchestrated by someone hurt so bad. They didn't do anything."
He held her closer, rubbing her back as she cried. He was glad she was finally letting out the pain; it was long overdue. "It hurt me too, so I know what you mean. It hurt even worse when you projected on me, telling me you knew I was happy; happy I no longer had to be responsible for a child I didn't want."
His voice cracked and he swallowed the emotion lodged in his throat. "But the truth was, I did care. I came to terms with it and was excited to hold the baby that was half of me." She sobbed even harder, if that was possible, clutching at his shirt.
"We both were hurt by the turn out, but I'm glad we got through it. We'll never forget them, but one day, we'll be able to talk about how we miss them and not feel this much pain."
She nodded, but continued crying, and Trey let her, holding onto her till she fell asleep. He'd carried her inside, changing her into the comfortable gown, before moving towards the elevator with the intention of going to clean up.
"Amaris, keep an eye on her."
"Yes Mr Robinson."
He entered the elevator, his own heart heavy and decided not to think of the predicament their babies and his woman faced now. They'd deal with it if anything should happen.
For now, he remained hopeful, because hope was the only thing that kept him going.