Kissing the top of her head, I pulled her up until I could see her face. “I’ll lay off the baby talk, and I’m sorry for pushing that on you. I got carried away with seeing you like that today. But from now on, will you talk to me about what’s going on so we don’t have to go through this again? I should have known this would be a hard time for you, and I’m sorry I didn’t. Next time, though, please tell me. I can’t help you if I don’t know, and if we can avoid what just happened, I’d prefer that.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I just let it all get to me and I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t excited about getting married, because I am. It’s hard without them, but I am happy, I swear.”
“I know you are, Rachel. I never questioned that.”
She nodded and blinked slowly a few times before resting her head next to mine.
Rachel was so strong willed and always exuding her fiery attitude, which I loved, that I’d stopped looking for signs of anything being wrong. I swore to myself right then that I would never forget just how fragile she could be, and to never miss another sign from her. She was strong, but I needed to be stronger for us.
“Come on, sweetheart, let’s go to bed. We can talk more about this tomorrow.”
4
Rachel
“CANDICE, I’M SO SERIOUS, one of these days you’re going to get pregnant and you’re going to have no clue who the father is.” I laughed sadly and flopped down onto the couch as a horrified gasp filled my ear.
“I am not about to have little Candices running around. You know I’m careful, and you don’t have room to talk about being safe, Miss We-don’t-use-condoms.”
Oh Lord, I didn’t even want to tell her about the pseudo-fight Kash and I had about condoms and birth control pills a couple weeks ago. “I’m only with Kash, though! You probably can’t even count how many guys you’re with right now.” I could picture her face as she tried to remember everyone and shook my head. “I’ll take your silence as confirmation that you can’t.”
“Whatever, I’m having fun.”
“Obviously, that was never a—” I sucked in a large breath as something cold, wet, and fluffy covered my face. “Kash!” He barked out a laugh as I wiped the whipped cream away from my eyes and sent a look of death his way, making him laugh louder.
He smiled widely, and I hated him for that smile at that moment. “You look adorable.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
He shook the can in the air, just in case I’d missed it being in his hand the first time. “Ice cream time.”
“I’m on the phone!”
“Yeah, and it’s time for you to get off.”
“You—are you . . . ooo I want to punch you in the face right now.” Candice was laughing loud enough for both of us to hear from where I’d dropped my phone on the couch, and when I reached for my phone, Kash took a step toward me with the can raised. “You wait!” Holding my hand up to stop him, I grabbed my phone and spoke slowly. “Candi, I have to go kill my fiancé now, I’ll call you later.”
“Have fun! Don’t hurt him too much, love you!”
“He just whip creamed my face. No promises. Love you back.” After tapping the END button, I stood slowly and never took my eyes off the weapon. “That wasn’t nice.”
“I’m sure you’ll get over it. I made you a banana split.”
“And you put the topping on my face! That isn’t exactly something you should be proud of right now. It’s sticky.”
Grabbing my hand, he pulled me close and tried to fight a smile as his eyes roamed over my face. “Don’t whine, Sour Patch. You really do look adorable, you’re just missing something.”
Before I could move away, he hooked his arm around my neck and sprayed more whipped cream on top of my head, smashing it in as I maneuvered out of his arms. Wiping my hands across my face, I lunged at him, but he shot more out of the can, aimed directly at my face. At the last second I turned and took off, running toward the kitchen.
“You are such an asshole!” I screamed behind me as I ran, but I couldn’t stop laughing even as my nose began burning from somehow snorting up some of the whipped cream.
I heard the clacking of Trip’s nails on the hardwood behind me, but no Kash. Turning to look proved Kash wasn’t there, but I heard the sound of heavy footsteps just as I turned back around. I screamed as Kash came barreling toward me from the opposite direction, and I tried to turn back to go the way I’d been coming from but ran into Trip seconds before Kash
did, and we both went crashing down onto the hardwood floor.
Kash’s arm came up with the can, but before he could spray more, I smacked the can away and tried to crawl away from him and closer to it. And yes, okay I’ll admit I may have cheated by accidentally kicking him in the stomach as I crawled away. A half-laugh, half-shout of victory left me when I reached the can and turned it on Kash, but nothing came out.
“Are you shitting me?”