I fed my anxiety with another huge handful of popcorn, then I mumbled over it, “I think you should tell them ahead of time.” I chewed a bit and swallowed. “There is no reason for a surprise. Unless you’re a celebrity, nobody likes to be the mystery guest at a party.”
He shook his head, stealing the bag back and closing it with a chip clip. “It will be fine.”
“Let me rephrase it for you. If you don’t tell them ahead of time, I won’t go with you. And I’m on call this week. When you dumped me after coffee at Starbucks, I volunteered to be on call over Christmas with one of the other midwives. So I can’t make any guarantees, even if you do tell them ahead of time.”
His head jerked backward. “I didn’t dump you. I dropped you off at your house, but I didn’t dump you. You were the one who left me with the parting words of ‘I will never regret not giving you my virginity.’” Fisher used a feminine voice while mocking me.
“Well I don’t.” I tipped my chin up. Even with a pocketful of his cum, I had no regrets.
“You had me. Before I got my memory back, you had me. I thought this first love of yours was a total schmuck for not taking it if you offered it. But now I remember why I wasn’t camping out all night to be first in line for the virgin lottery.”
I bit my lips to keep from laughing. Virgin lottery?
“You carried that V-card like a bomb. I wanted nothing to do with it. The responsibility? Given the fact that you were eighteen and clueless as to where you were going in life? No thank you. You can ‘not regret’ not giving it to me all you want. But I ‘not regret’ not taking it from you even more.”
I like riled-up Fisher. I’d always liked that version of him. It was hot. There was no other way to describe it.
Virgin lottery.
V-card bomb.
Double-downing on not regretting his decision.
The intensity in his jaw when he clenched his teeth, showing a little animalistic anger. That was a “yes, please” from me.
“Wanna do it again?” I said, reaching for the button to his jeans.
“Fuck yeah, I wanna do it again.” He grabbed my face and smashed his mouth to mine.
Chapter Thirty-Four
I may have jinxed Christmas that day in Fisher’s pantry. While Rory, Rose, and I were enjoying potato leek soup and lots of cookies on Christmas Eve, I got called to a birth.
Twins!
Magnus Andrew Howard and Minnie Ann Howard.
Two little five-pound bundles of holiday joy born on Christmas, just after three in the afternoon.
Fisher’s family had Christmas dinner scheduled for noon to accommodate his sisters’ schedules with their in-laws. I texted him and told him to eat without me.
I finally arrived just before seven that night. Lights and wreaths adorned their house. I barely got a second knock on the door before Fisher opened it.
“Merry Christmas.” I gave him a sad smile. It was an amazing day, but I was disappointed I missed Christmas dinner with his family.
As soon as I stepped inside, before I could get out of my coat or remove my boots, he framed my face gently and kissed me. And I melted. It was exactly what I needed after a long twenty hours at a birth. “Merry Christmas.” He looked up and nodded to the mistletoe.
I grinned, and that was when I noticed the onlookers in the living room. Just his parents, Arnie, Rose, and Rory. And that was the moment. Yes, Fisher had told them ahead of time that I was the other woman. But it did very little to ease my nerves in that moment. “Hi,” I said a little sheepishly because I didn’t see them there before Fisher kissed me. “So sorry I missed dinner.”
Fisher took the bags of gifts in my hands and my coat while I toed off my boots and glanced down at myself. I did a quick change in the car before heading to his parents’ house in the dark. It was possible I had my sweater on backward or some rogue sock from the laundry stuck to my jeans.
“You had more important things to do. Merry Christmas, honey.” Laurie met me halfway and hugged me. It felt genuine. Not for one second did I feel like the less desirable replacement to Angie.
“Merry Christmas.”
Pat stood and hugged me too with an equally generous embrace and sincere “Merry Christmas.”
“Bro stole my girl. Not cool.” Arnie winked before getting in on the hugfest.
“Hi, Arnie.” I had to bite my tongue because I almost said, “He stole me before I was your girl.”
I headed straight to Rose and Rory for hugs too since I hadn’t seen them yet that day.
“How was the birth?” Rory asked.