Meredith
It's been a few days since Eliot stormed out of the kitchen at dinner. He apologised the next day to me, telling me that he was just stressed with trying to close the deal on all this land he's trying to buy before Christmas. I understood his distress but from the performance at dinner, it seemed to me that it wasn't the only thing on his mind.
I'm a little over 19 weeks pregnant now. I have an appointment with Amber on the 14th of December for my 20-week scan. Amber says I can find out the gender of the baby by then. I'm not sure if I want to know or not. Emily is certain that it's a girl and Chase really wants the baby to be a little boy. I haven't broached the subject with Eliot, fearful of the same reaction as before.
I'm hoping though that he'll want to be at the scan with me. If not then I'll have Emily. She's already said she won't miss it for the world. She's so excited about the baby, maybe even more excited than me. I'm actually a little surprised that she and Chase haven't had their own child yet. They've been together for a while now and as she said to me before, it's a totally different type of love. I know they'll make great parents whenever the time comes.
As Eliot has been quite busy lately with closing the deal, I've decided that today I'll do some online shopping for Christmas. I haven't really brought much for Christmas and I want to get Eliot, Emily and Chase some presents. After everything they've done for me, they deserve a present at least.
"Hey Em, can I borrow your laptop please?"
Emily and Chase are both sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast. Chase turns around to face me at the sound of my voice, smiling through a mouthful of eggs. I laugh and give him a little wave.
"Sure sweetie. It's in the living room under the coffee table."
"Thank you."
I wander into the living room and find her laptop where she said it was. I make myself comfortable on the sofa and turn on her laptop.
I'm not sure what to get any of them really. Eliot is going to be the hardest one to choose for. I have no idea what he wants for Christmas. Emily is a little easier. We were shopping one day and she saw this gorgeous grey floral print dress and silver heels in a store window. It was quite expensive for the two items but I have money saved away so I'm planning to buy it for her. I'm not sure on what to get Chase but I was thinking something like a nice pair of cuff links. He does wear some nice expensive suits so it would be perfect.
I'm browsing through many different websites for ideas for about an hour or so before I hear a knock on the front door. I set the laptop aside and get up to answer it. When I open the door, I frown at the empty space in front of me. I'm pretty sure I just heard someone knock on the door so where are they?
I step outside the door, hearing a crackle under my foot and glance down. There's a piece of folded paper on the door mat. I pick it up and open it.
"Who's at the door Mer?" I hear Em call out to me.
"Err... no one."
I study the two bold words written on the piece of paper.
HELLO MEREDITH
What the hell? Who leaves a note saying hello to me after knocking on the door? I don't understand.
I go back into the house closing the door behind me and take the note into the kitchen where Chase is washing up.
"You heard someone knock on the door right?" I ask him.
Chase nods with his back to me as he rinses off a plate.
"Yeah. Who was it?"
"No one." I reply.
He sets the plate down and turns around to face me with a look of bewilderment.
"No one? They just knocked and left?"
"I don't know. But I found this."
I hand him the note. He reads it and then re-reads again before rushing out of the kitchen.
"Whoa, where are you going?"
Emily raises an eyebrow as he passes her in the hallway. I grab her hand and drag her along with me as I follow him down the hall and into Eliot's office. He doesn't knock or anything, he just barges into the room and slams the note down in front of Eliot.
I stop in the doorway with Emily. Eliot is sitting at his desk, a phone pressed to one ear and a pen in the other hand as he writes things down on a notebook. He pauses in his conversation on the phone and looks up at Chase with question.
"Read it."
"Dad, I'm going to have to call you back... Alright bye."
Eliot puts his phone down and looks over at Emily and me in the doorway.
"What's going on?"
"I found that note on the doorstep."
Eliot picks up the note and reads it. His forehead creases as he scrutinises the note and a bad feeling settles in my stomach. I don't see what the big deal is. Maybe someone is just playing a joke on me. It could be Jack but it doesn't really seem like his style. He would knock on the door and confront me to my face. He wouldn't leave a strange note at the door.
"What does this mean?"
I shrug even though he isn't looking at me.
"It only says hello. I'm sure it's nothing." I tell him. He doesn't need something else to worry about.
"But it's addressed to you. It's specific."
"Maybe it's Jack. I wouldn't worry about it."
"Mer is right. I don't think we need to panic just yet. It could be nothing. We should just wait to see if anything else turns up." Emily interrupts. I silently thank her for agreeing with me.
"What do you want to do?" Chase asks him.
Eliot sighs and leans back in his chair. He runs a hand down his face tiredly and focuses on me.
"Are you worried about this?" He asks me.
"Not really. The only person I know is Jack and he's the only one that knows I'm living here. I don't know who else it could be but that doesn't worry me. It's not threatening or anything."
"Well then, for now, we'll do what Emily said. If anything else turns up or something suspicious happens, then we'll investigate it. But for now, we'll just let it go."
I nod in agreement and Emily smiles as she squeezes my hand comfortingly. I squeeze it back before leaving the office and going back into the living room.
I honestly believe it's nothing. I mean, I don't understand why someone would leave a note like that for me. It doesn't say anything really. There's no threat or creepy love letter. I just hope I don't receive any more of them. That's definitely not something I want.
I continue my online shopping for an hour or so before shutting down Em's laptop and putting it back under the coffee table. Feeling a little tired despite not doing anything today, I decide to lay down on the sofa for a while and watch some TV. It's not long when Eliot joins me in the living room.
"Hey." He murmurs as he lifts my legs up and sits down beside me, resting my legs on his lap.
"Hi." I reply sleepily.
"Tired?"
"Hm."
"You feeling OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
"I just wanted to make sure you're coping alright with everything." He says rubbing my jean clad thigh comfortingly.
"What do I need to cope with? It was just a stupid note."
I take his hand that's rubbing my thigh and hold it in mine.
"I'm good. Are you coping alright?" My eyes seem to close of their own accord half way through my sentence and I begin to find it hard to hold a conversation with him.
"The deal is nearly final which means we can start packing very soon to leave. We'll be home by Christmas."
"That's nice."
Eliot chuckles and I feel him lean over me and press a hand against my swollen belly.
"I don't think you're listening."
"-'m tired." I mumble with still closed eyes.
He caresses my belly, rubbing it in soothing circles and sending me closer to sleep. It's actually quite nice to feel him rubbing my belly. I know some pregnant women don't like to be constantly touched which I understand completely but personally I quite like the soothing motion of it.
"Go to sleep. We'll talk later."
A kiss to my temple is the last thing I register as I fall asleep with a smile on my face.
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