Incredible Beauty (So Many Reasons 2)

Chapter One

Emma

“Em, just sit down and stop being so dramatic,” Simon said, rolling his eyes as I paced the hallway. I turned and glared at him. Dramatic? He hadn’t seen nothing yet. And how could he sit there so calmly and pretend this was all in my head?

“I will sit down when you agree with me that it’s not ‘normal’ for your ex-wife to drive half an hour into town to bring you lunch,” I retorted angrily.

“I didn’t know she was going to do it, Em. I didn’t ask her to bring me lunch.” He shook his head. “And the fact that I’ve told you should be enough proof that I’m not trying to hide anything from you.” Simon folded his arms over his head, his back stretched up against the sofa and groaned.

“Fine,” I huffed. “Forget about it.” I stormed off to the bedroom and threw myself on the bed.

I didn’t even get why I was so angry. In passing, Simon had told me Claire stopped by with some lunch for him, because she was apparently in the city doing some shopping anyway. Anyone else would’ve thought that was a nice gesture. Only I wasn’t just anyone, I was the insecure fiancée who got worked up about many things.

Especially when it came to his ex, Claire.

Don't get me wrong, the few times I'd spent more than a few minutes with Claire we had gotten along fine. She had been lovely to me, almost too lovely, which made things worse in my mind. Here was this incredibly caring woman with a great sense of humor, that he has a child with, who he still considers his best friend…I don't know.

I trusted Simon completely, but there had always been this tiny seed of doubt when it came to Claire. He didn’t talk much about his past, but I’d seen the way Claire looked at him and it made me nervous. You don’t look at someone like that if you’re completely over them. There was a lot of history between them and because of Maddie, they would always be entwined in each other’s lives. I hoped Claire respected that he had moved on and was creating a life with me. In the same situation though, would I just accept that, or would I fight for the man I was in love with? That’s what made me nervous.

There was so much about the last few months that seemed unreal. If someone had said to me this time last year that this is where I’d be, I’d have told them they were crazy.

Pregnancy? Engaged? Actually leaving the house? That’s Insane is what I would have said. Yet here I was, all those things, leading what an uneducated outsider might consider a perfect little life.

Then why did I feel like shit?

I could blame it on the pregnancy hormones, but I seemed to be doing that a lot lately. The pregnancy hormones were getting blamed for so much, I was beginning to feel sorry for the poor little guys. The truth was that I had no idea why I was feeling like I was, or why I felt the need to try and hide that from Simon. He wasn’t stupid.

“Em?” Simon leaned against the bedroom door looking sexy as usual. His top had disappeared since our little tiff a minute ago, a ploy I’m sure was deliberate in an attempt to distract me. As I gazed over his hard, sculptured body, I realized it might be working. He moved over to the bed, laying down on his stomach so he was at eye level with me.

“I love you Em. Claire is just being Claire. I promise you have nothing to worry about. If you had any idea how into you I am, you’d know you have nothing to worry about,” he added, tilting my neck as he kissed me. Butterflies went crazy in my stomach at his touch. His hand rested on my cheek as he pulled me toward him, his mouth pressing against my own.

“Every minute of every day I’m thinking about you and all the dirty things I want to do to you,” he murmured. I giggled in spite of myself.

“Like what?” I asked, rolling onto my back. He positioned himself over me and tugged at my Pajama top.

“Well this has to go for starters.” His hand trailed down my bare leg. “I’m glad you lost the pants,” he added. I laughed.

“Hey, this top is like a nightdress anyway,” I protested. He ran his fingers back up my leg and under the thin fabric.

“And I like it,” he smiled, his eyes narrowing slightly. He pushed the top up and over my head, leaving me naked and exposed on the bed.

“What are you doing,” I laughed, trying to cover myself. I was still getting used to my new pregnancy curves. Simon, on the other hand, loved them. He was always finding excuses to touch me (which I loved).

“Do you really need me to explain this?” he teased as he licked my breast, hold my arm out of the way. I squealed as his tongue teased my nipple. It hardened as he gently sucked it, his eyes on mine.

“Mm,” I smiled, my body beginning to relax. He worked his hands under the arch of my back, his mouth trailing kisses down my stomach.

“Simon…” I weakly protested.

“What?” he asked innocently, his tongue slowly running along my opening. I gasped as he plunged it inside of me. “Do you want me to stop?” he asked devilishly, raising his eyebrows as he lifted his head slightly.

“Nooo,” I said, pushing his head back into place, ignoring his laughter. “Oh god yeah,” I panted as his tongue circled inside of me. “Shit, oh fuck!” I reached above me, grabbing at my pillow. Simon loosened his pants, shrugging them off as his mouth covered mine, the taste of me lingering on his tongue.

His erection pushed against my leg, I moved them apart, guiding him inside me. With his hand gripped around my neck, he plunged himself inside of me, his other hand pushing my leg up against the bedhead.

“Yeah!” he cried, closing his eyes as he released inside of me. “That’s what you do to me, Em,” he panted, his limp arms enclosing around me. I smiled, how could I argue with that? He reached down and pulled the covers over us as I switched off the lamp.

At first I thought I was dreaming.

The pain on my lower left side of my abdomen was excruciating, to the point where I struggled to breathe. As my eyes adapted to the darkness, I poked Simon, trying to rouse him. He was the heaviest sleeper I’d ever met and I almost had to push him out of the bed for him to wake up.

“What?” he said, confused and disoriented. “Are you okay, Em?” he asked, now much more alert. I struggled to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Pains,” I gasped, “Bad cramps.” Simon shot out of bed and around to my side. He knelt down beside me, grabbing my phone off the table.

“Hi, I need an ambulance.” He held my hand, I squeezed it as each cramp hit me. I felt like an electrical current was shooting through me. “Uh huh. Yes. No she’s not. Okay.”

“What

? Are they coming?” I asked breathlessly, trying to lay back down on the bed.

“They’re on their way. Do you think its labor?” he asked me. I shook my head.

“I don’t know…My water hasn’t broken, I don’t know what labor feels like,” I added. I took a deep breath as the pain subsided.

“Is it getting better?” Simon asked as he noticed my breathing becoming steadier. I nodded. The pain had almost gone and all that was left in its wake was a dull ache.

“Can you cancel the ambulance?” I asked.

“No fucking way, Em. They’re going to check you out and make sure everything is okay. Either that or I take you into hospital right now,” he added.