Sam: Call or text if you need me. See you when you get back.
Me: Thanks. I will. See ya later.
Glancing at the time on my phone it’s 6:30pm. I should have plenty of time to take a quick shower, so I grab my black shorts and oversized Bozeman University shirt from my bag and head out into the hall and make my way to the bathroom. Once inside, I reach in turning the water on and letting it warm.
Thankful for all the extra space I have compared to the apartment’s small bathroom back on campus, I strip out of my clothes then take my hair down, letting it fall around my shoulders. Before stepping into the shower, I glance in the vanity mirror and place my hand on my flat stomach and imagine myself a few months from now.
Will I show right away? Will I have a boy or a girl? How much will he or she look like their daddy? I hope they have his beautiful tanned skin and his thick dark hair. All I know right now is that I will love this baby fiercely, and I will always put my child first. I’ll deal with Gabriel later. My focus is and will stay on me and this baby. Stepping into the spray of warm water—I relax, close my eyes, and center myself.
I’m sitting on the couch with my sister eating pizza and watching Sixteen Candles laughing so hard I feel like I’m going to pee myself, while Bella tells me about sending a sexy text and a picture of herself in some kind of sexy costume to Quinn by mistake.
"Oh my god! I would be mortified!"
"I am never sexting again," she says, burying her face in her hand. I snatch her phone from the coffee table where it was sitting and pull up her texts.
"Alba, no, give me back my phone. Don’t look at it," she begs.
I’m thumbing through each photo until I find it.
"Damn. From what I’ve heard this kind of stuff is right up his alley too."
"I know. I didn’t realize it until it was too late and Quinn had already gotten an eyeful before Logan walked up to him in the garage and destroyed his phone." She continues to explain.
Laughter bubbles up making its way out of my mouth again. I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time. It feels really good.
"I’m glad you’re finding humor in my humiliation," she says chunking a cheeseball at my head.
"I really have missed being home. I’ve missed this," I tell her.
Logan walks into the kitchen through the garage door. Looking at the time it’s already 9:30 pm. Bella has a girls’ day planned tomorrow with shopping, mani-pedi’s and lunch. Logan walks into the living room and judging by the heated stare he has directed towards Bella...it’s safe to say I’m officially the third wheel.
"Hey, Logan." I greet him with a small wave of my hand and a smile as I get up off the couch. "I think I’m going to turn in for the night guys. It’s been a long day and the drive kind of done me in." I tell the both of them.
Bella breaks her eyes away from Logan long enough to say, "You don’t have to rush off."
"No, I really am tired. I’ll see you guys in the morning. Goodnight," I leave the living room and make my way upstairs, giving them their privacy.
After emptying the contents of my stomach into the toilet after breakfast, I clean myself up and make my way back downstairs where my sister is waiting on me. I plaster on a fake smile because I really feel like shit. Not sleeping well and the morning sickness depletes what energy I do have. I’m determined to make the most of it though. Knowing we don’t have to go anywhere near the clubhouse today already has me feeling more at ease. The last thing I need is to run into Gabriel while I’m still dealing with the news that I’m carrying his baby.
"You feeling okay, sis? You look tired." Bella questions me with a look of concern.
"Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t sleep well last night."
"Well, hopefully some retail therapy will help you feel better. The fall and winter apparel is on sale at all our favorite boutiques this weekend and I for one plan on finding myself some new boots. I’ve been saving my money for a particular pair."
I might as well buy some new leggings and sweaters. They should help hide the pregnancy for awhile.
"I’m ready whenever you are," I smile.
Bella locks up then we head out to her car, climb in and drive towards town. Before we know it half the day is gone, and the back seat of her car is full of shopping bags. So far, today has turned out to be a good day. As we are driving down the road I start craving chocolate cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream.
"Swing by the grocery store. Let’s bake a cake tonight. A chocolate cake." I grin at my sister. I know she’ll be game. Our mom would let us bake a cake together on our birthdays when we were younger then sit down in front of the TV, each with a fork and eat straight from the cake pan and watch movies all night.
"Don’t forget the ice cream," she says as she turns into the grocery store’s parking lot.
I sling my purse over my shoulder and get out of the car. Walking in I grab a hand basket and make my way to the baking aisle and grab a box of cake mix of the shelf along with a tub of chocolate icing. Knowing that Bella has the milk, oil, and eggs at home, I head straight to the ice cream aisle but get distracted by a book on the shelf. I pick it up and start to read the blurb on the back when I hear the deep timbre of his voice rasps from behind me, feeling it vibrate through every fiber of my being.
"Cariño Sweetheart?"