Jon walked into his room and sat in the bed with his back against the headboard and his legs stretched out in front of him. He covered his eyes with his forehead and tried to banish the anger and frustration that he felt. He didn't like this. Didn't like it one bit. The situation had been bearable when she was just insinuating that he was a gold digger. But her insulting his mother was a huge deal and he didn't know how much he could take without blowing up on her.
His phone started to vibrate from the bedside table. He answered when he saw that it was Emma. "Hey," he greeted quietly.
"Hey baby," she responded. "I just put Josh to bed."
"That's good. He doesn't usually sleep so early."
"Yeah, he fell asleep in the car," she said on a yawn. "I just wanted to apologize again."
"Come on," he replied. "You don't have to apologize so much. You did nothing wrong."
"I know. How's your mom feeling about the whole thing though?"
"I don't actually know. She didn't say anything to me and I didn't want to bring it up." He rubbed his eyes. Since they had left, his mother had been uncharacteristically quiet. Only speaking when spoken to. That was weird for his mother but he hadn't wanted to open the conversation because he just wanted to forget that it had even happened.
"Ugh. I hate this. You don't sound so great as well," she commented.
"Me? Don't worry. I'm alright. I'll get over it, okay?" he assured. "Get some sleep."
"I will. You should too," she said. Jon didn't like the way she sounded in the slightest. She sounded tired and sad and that made him uneasy. Normally, he would make a joke to make it slightly better, but for the life of him, he couldn't think of something funny to say. "How about I take you and Josh out to dinner tomorrow night?"
"Uh oh. Can't do that. Jeremy and Millie are coming for a sleepover tomorrow," she said.
"Oh? So it's just going to be you and three kids?" he asked.
"Well, yeah."
"Want me to come over and help?"
She chuckled. "Jon. You know that I would never say no to your company."
"Alright. So it's a date," he said with a chuckle.
"Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight, love."
She responded and they hung up.
****
Liza searched the hallway to make sure that her husband was nowhere in sight before she hurried into the bathroom and locked the door. She held up her phone and dialed the strange number that she hadn't thought she would be needing anymore.
"Well well well," the man's deep voice mocked. "Look who needs my help again."
The smugness in his voice grated on her nerves and she wished she didn't have to make this call.
"Hello, Manuel," she said coldly.
"Why so cold. Betty?" he drawled.
"My name is Liza or Mrs. Lewis. Not Betty," she said through clenched teeth.
"Maybe to your rich husband or the other naïve people in your other life, Betty."
She frowned and imagined all the wonderful ways in which she could send him to his creator. "Manuel. I have a job for you."
"How do you know I'm still in that line of work? I could have found myself a rich wife and changed my name as well."
"This is your work number," she reminded him.
He chuckled. "You were always a smart cookie, Betty. What do you need from old Manuel?"
She cleared her throat and asked. "Can we meet?"
****
"Hey," Emma said shortly when she held the door open for Jon. That was odd. What was even more odd was that the usual smile was absent from her face. She looked worried and slightly irritated. Was she still bugging about what had happened the night before? She should know that that was all water under the bridge.
"Hey," he replied with a grin. He moved in to peck on the cheek, but as soon as his lips touched her cheek, her hands came up and pushed him away.
"You smell like car oil," she said disdainfully. That took him aback. Not what she said, but the way she said it. She sounded like – he hated to say it – her mother. He brushed it off. There was obviously something up. He held up the bag in his hands.
"I'm sorry. I brought a change of clothes just in case you needed me to stay the night. I'll go change into them and throw these in the washer," he said, pointing to the clothes on his body.
"Maybe take a shower, while you're at it?" she 'suggested' in that same tone of voice. This time he frowned at her and she looked away. He really wanted to ask if he had done anything wrong, but he decided against it as it might just piss her off even further and the last thing he wanted was to get into a fight with three kids present.
He nodded. Taking another shower wouldn't kill him. Speaking of kids, "Where are the children?"
"Claudia picked them up from school and they should be here any second," she threw over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen. Jon puzzled over the attitude she had just given him and wondered if he had really done anything wrong. He tamped down the sudden anger that threatened to get a hold of him and walked into her bedroom.
****
As Ella sat at the edge of the bed and waited for Jon to come out, she berated herself for being so rude. It had been a particularly stressful day at the bakery and the events of the night before contributed to her already sour mood and she wasn't sure how to act anymore. On top of that, it was that time of the month.
That was still no excuse for the way she had spoken to Jon. He had done absolutely nothing wrong. He had even showed up to help her out with babysitting her sister's kids. He was probably the sweetest boyfriend in the world and she had flipped her shit because he smelled like car oil. And then she had told him in the rudest possible tone she could muster. It would be no surprise if he came out of the bathroom and went home, leaving her alone.
Just then, he stepped out of the bathroom. His hair was dripping wet, leaving droplets of water on his strong shoulders. His muscled chest and solid abs were on full display as the black towel was wrapped around his slim hips. Ella forgot that she was supposed to be apologizing as she ogled the big hunk of man that was all hers.
He won't be yours much longer if you don't start apologizing.
Before she could stop herself, she got and walked towards him. When she reached him, she put her arms around him and her head on his chest, "I'm so sorry," she said softly.
She felt his arms go around her and pull her closer to him. Then he kissed the top of her head. It felt so good that she felt tears form in her eyes and start to roll down her cheeks. Her hormones really were all over the place. He heard her sniffle and he pulled back with a concerned frown. "Emma? What's wrong?"
She sniffled again and wiped gently at her eyes. "I don't even know."
He guided her to the bed and when she was sitting, he quickly pulled on a T-shirt and boxers. Then he got into the bed and patted the spot beside him, "Come here."
She moved to his side and put her head on his shoulder while he wrapped an arm around her.
"What's going on, babe?" he asked gently. "You know you can talk to me."
"I'm not quite sure. I've just had a stressful day and I'm still not completely over what happened last night," she said and then turned into his shoulder. "Plus it's that time of the month."
"Aw," he cooed, kissing her hair again. "Big Daddy's here to take care of you."
She laughed and she felt his shoulders shake with quiet laughter. She looked up at his handsome face. "Big Daddy?"
"Yes," he chuckled. She cut it short by placing a hand on his cheek and pressing her lips to his.
The kiss was soft and sweet and charged with so much heat that when they pulled apart, Ella felt drunk. She lay back on his shoulder and they both just lay there, holding each other. Until they heard a knock at the door.
"That should be the kids," she said, moving to get up. Jon held her back.
"I'll get it. You just lay down for a little bit more."
****
Jon and Ella watched as Jeremy chased Josh around the living room while shouting and threatening to shave off all his hair when he caught him. Josh shouted back, "You'll never take me alive!"
"Stop running in the house," Millie screamed after them holding a headless doll in one hand and the head of the doll in the other. "And look what you did to my doll, you eggs!"
Ella sent Jon a worried glance, "Maybe we shouldn't have given them ice cream after dinner."
"Yeah, we definitely shouldn't have," he agreed, shaking his head.
"Alright guys," Ella shouted to be heard over the ruckus. "Time for bed!"
"Noooo," all three of them wailed. Ella heard Jon chuckle and just like that, children started to laugh as well. As expected, they overdid it, letting out unnecessarily huge roars of laughter. Millie doubled over with 'laughter' and Jeremy even went as far as falling to the floor and rolling.
Ella frowned at Jon who was watching the children with surprise. Ella might have laughed but she wasn't interested in encouraging them further. Ella walked over to the light switch and turned it off, making the entire room dark. The laughter died immediately.
"Aunt Ella," she heard Millie call in a scared voice. "Where are you?"
"Jon?" Josh called, trying to sound brave.
"Bye guys," Ella called breezily. Then she heard Jon start to make scary noises.
"Aunt Ella. I'm scared. Please don't leave," Millie said and started sobbing.
"Millie? Don't cry," Jeremy said shakily. "Where are you?"
"I'm here," she cried.
As funny as it was, Ella decided that it was time to stop. She turned the light back on. It was all Ella could do to not burst out laughing when she saw Josh standing behind Jon. And Jeremy and Millie stood hugging each other and pressing their eyes shut. The sight tugged slightly at her heart.
"Are you guys ready to go to sleep now?" Ella asked. All three of them nodded. "Good."
***
Jon sat on the soft couch in the living room and waited for Ella to come back out of the bedroom. When he heard giggling, he looked up and saw her.
He laughed. "You are a terrible person."
"I know," she said proudly. Then she sat on the couch beside him.
"How are you feeling now," he asked, gesturing towards her stomach area. She had mentioned having cramps earlier in the evening.
"I'm alright. Just a little pain," she shrugged. He grimaced and the pointed to his thighs.
"Come here." Ella put her head on his thighs and stretched her legs out on couch beside him. He started to stoke her brown curls as they just sat there in silence and stared at the television on which some romantic comedy played. Finally, Jon spoke, "Hey. Do you ever think about the future?"
Ella turned to look up at him. "What do you mean the future?"
He sighed. "Like our future. Do you want us to have a future?"
"Of course, I do," she said with a little smile. "Let me let you in on a little secret. Sometimes, in my spare time I fantasize about the both of us getting married and getting our own house and having little babies that would be the perfect combination of the both of us."
Jon felt something, listening to her little speech. He didn't know what the feeling was but it felt like his heart was swelling and his love for her was increasing or something. "You do?"
"I mean, yeah. But I think that's what all females do. We fantasize about marriage with whoever it is we're with," she shrugged and Jon sensed that she was trying to play it off. Not on his watch.
"Yeah? How about when a man starts to fantasize about picking out dark curtains and equally dark wall paint?" he said pointedly, looking at the curtains.
She turned to him with a laugh. "You do?"
"I do," he nodded. "And it doesn't scare me anymore."
That made her smile and she lifted her hands to touch his face. "I love you, Jonathan."
"I love you too."
****
What do y'all think Liza is up to?
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