Renee
After everyone finished eating, it got quiet, so quiet you could hear a mouse pee. I stood up from my seat beside Alex, finally mentally prepared to tell everyone about the baby. Sorry, babies.
"Whoo, alright guys, um, I have something important to tell you all." Alex held my hand when I stood, so I gently squeezed it then walked to the end of the rectangular table so I could look everyone in the face.
"I'm pregnant."
"I knew it, I knew it, pay up, Nathan, whoo!" Andre jumped up shouting. When he calmed himself, he stood beside me and rubbed my belly. "Sorry, Sis, but I called it. I told Nathan two weeks ago that you were pregnant and the fool didn't believe me!"
I heard Andre but I couldn't focus on what he was saying because I was too busy watching Alex. Trying to read his face. He had his hands folded under his chin and he was looking down at the table.
"Who's the father?" Nathan asked.
I looked away from Alex to answer. "A non-factor."
"Do I know him?" He persisted.
"No." I lied.
I wasn't a very good liar and from the look Nathan was giving me, he knew I wasn't telling the truth. Andre watching the back and forth as if it were a tennis match, was no help.
"How well do I know him?"
Dismissing Nathan before he could ask me another question, I slowly returned to my seat next to Alex and continued to watch him as he thought about my announcement.
"Hey, man let's leave them alone and go get us some drinks." Never have I ever been more grateful for Andre.
He pushed Nathan out the door and turned to look at me. I mouthed him a 'thank you' and he nodded in return before walking out the door.
We sat there side by side with no one speaking a word for over 20 minutes and I was getting sleepy. I laid my head on the table and rested my eyes.
It felt like I'd been sleep for only few minutes before Alex was patting me wake awake. When I opened my eyes I found Alex's head resting on his arms as he rested on the table in beside me. His eyes were boring into mine. "Good morning." I whispered.
He chuckled softly, "Good evening, Baby."
Baby. That's a good sign. I thought. I smiled at his use of the term but didn't move an inch. I wanted him to say something before I got my hopes up.
"Baby, who's the father." He glanced down at my stomach.
I let out a deep sigh, "I don't want to talk about that right now."
Lifting his head off the table and away from me, he glared, "We have to talk about it. It effects our relationship.
My eyes formed slits, "So whether or not we have a relationship depends on who the father is?"
"No, that's not what I meant!" Alex jumped up and began to pace in front of me, running his hands through his hair.
"Then what did you mean?" I calmly asked, standing up.
Alex stopped pacing and stood before me, holding both of my hands in his. "Does he want to be in the baby's life? Does he want to have something with you?"
"No." I sighed. "He made it very clear that he didn't want anything to do with the me or the baby when he offered to pay for an abortion."
Alex pulled me into his body and cupped my cheek with the palms of his hands, forcing me to look him in the eye. "Your not getting an abortion.
I smiled. "It was never an option."
"Good." He kissed my lips. Drawing back he asked, "So who's the father."
I pushed away from his hold with a huff. "Remember when I asked you what was going on with you and Ashley and you told me to wait and you'd tell me when our relationship was sturdy?"
"I remember saying something like that."
"Well, if your not breaking up with me I'm telling you the same thing. Wait for me to feel comfortable in our relationship then I'll tell you anything you wanna know."
Alex crossed his arms over his chest and took steps to stand right in front of me. "Comfortable?"
"I wanna feel like you won't leave me even after I tell you who the father is." My shoulders slumped as I admited this to him. I hate feeling...weak.
He dropped his arms and drew me into his body once again. "Baby, get comfortable because nothing outside of you personally breaking my heart on purpose is going to make me leave you." He kissed my brow then brought my head to rest on his chest.
We stayed this way for a while before Alex spoke again. "Is it too much to ask if I can stay the night?"
Pulling back as far as his hold would let me, I looked into his eyes and grinned. "No, it's not too much but what about clothes?"
"I have an overnight bag in my car, let me go get it."
Alex released me and searched for his car keys in my couch cushions. I smacked his butt with my opened palm and asked, "Why are so prepared? Is staying that night with a girl you literally just met normally for you?" I was joking but I was also worried about the answer I'd get.
Finding his keys, Alex turned to face me, a huge smile on his face. "I have an overnight bag for when I stay over at Nathan's place. I got sick of stealing his clothes so I made sure to keep some of my own in the car. Be right back." He pecked me on the lips and ran out to his car.
When he cleared the door, I walked to my room and prepared for my bath. As I ran the water, wrapped my hair and undress, I looked at my body through my full-length mirror. My boobs were still the same size, maybe my butt looked a little fuller, but for sure I began to form a baby bump. Nothing that would be noticed with my clothes on but enough that I could recognise a life was growing inside me.
Knock knock
The door pushed open a little bit. I quickly covered myself with my towl. "Hey, you okay in- oops, sorry. I thought you got sick again or something." A blush tinted his cheeks.
"Ha, no I'm fine, just taking a bath."
"Alright." And he closed the door softly.
I was a little nervous about him seeing my hair wrapped because I didn't wanna explain the mechanics of black woman hair to a white man. But he didn't even blink twice. Maybe he's been with a black girl before. I thought. I didn't like the idea of him being with anyone else other than me so I quickly dismissed the thought.
I lay in my pearl white claw foot tub for nearly half an hour, slowly bathing myself, thinking about Alex and Matthew and where to go from here.
Eventually the water began to cool so I dressed in my bathroom then made my way to my bedroom. The sight that greeted me was magnificent. Alex lay shirtless in my bed wearing low-rise plaid pajama pants, arms behind his head, watching television. He looked like this was where he was supposed to be. As if he does it every night.
"You gonna just stand there all night checking me out?" He asked.
Clearing my head of the naughty things I wished for him to do to me, I made my way to the bed.
Alex, of course, noticed my hesitation. Sitting up, he asked, "Does my sleeping here make you uncomfortable, I can sleep in your guest bedroom."
"You leave this bed except to pee and I'll break your legs like the woman did in Misery.
Alex laid back down and I hopped into bed. When I was situated under the covers, I turned off the light on the bedside table on my side and Alex followed suit. Then, not knowing how Alex felt about cuddling, I gave him my back. As soon as I was comfortable, Alex rolled and covered my back with his body, his left arm wrapped around my waist and his right arm lay under his head. And that's how we slept, in a spooning position.
My heart quicked at the contact but at that rightness of it all, I settled quickly. "Goodnight, Baby." Alex said, and kissed the spot below my ear.
"Goodnight." I softly sighed.
Maybe it was having the weight of telling people about my pregnancy being lifted off my chest, or maybe it was because I was laying in Alex's arms, but that night, I got the best sleep ever.
Alexander
Renee's little snores filled them room as she slept.
I'm glad Renee told me about the baby before we got to serious. She could have tried to pin it on me and being the fool I am, I would've never noticed the baby being born too early. How am I supposed to tell her about me and Ashley. We're not together anymore and I would never cheat on her but that's not gonna make her feel better when in tell her there's a possiblity the baby Ashley carries could be mine. I have to carefully plan my approach and wait for the right moment to tell her. Yeah, I stuck by her, she'll stick by me.
Feeling content in my thoughts, I tightened my arm around her middle and followed her to sleep.