Between the Sheets (15 page)

“
Is that it? Is that my
baby?” She nods and a quick glance at the doc shows off his sweet
smile. The rhythm of the whooshing sound is amazing. “This is
crazy. I’ve watched this scene in so many movies, but this is real.
It’s real, isn’t it?”

“
It’s very real,” Dr.
Bryant says. “Wait till you see the ultrasound.”

I’m leaving early tomorrow morning to
San Francisco. That leaves me with less than twenty four hours to
figure out how to tell Tyler Gelson that he is going to be a father
come December. Less than twenty four hours to tell him I’m fourteen
weeks pregnant. Out of my first trimester. There’s a heartbeat.
There’s a real baby. I saw her in the ultrasound. Not that I know
she’s a she. I don’t want to know yet. For that, I have to wait for
Ty. But she’s real. A beautiful face, arms, legs, hands, feet.
Eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth. She’s all there.

But first, I have to tell my dad. If
my mom didn’t already know, I’d have told Ty first. But she does
know. And I can’t have her keeping a secret from my dad. That’s
just not the way things roll in our house.

With my feet tucked beneath me, I
lounge on my mom’s sofa waiting for my dad to get home. Any minute
he’s going to walk through that door and I’ll have to spill the
beans.

The question is, how?

More than anything, I think every dad
dreads hearing their daughters say the words, “I’m pregnant.” But
I’m not a teenager anymore. Maybe he won’t be so disappointed I got
knocked up out of wedlock. I’ll be the talk of the family with my
aunts. That’s for sure. No doubt they’ll all be in church praying
for me.

Maybe I can just do it like that old
Molly Ringwald movie, Playing For Keeps. “I’m pregnant, can you
pass the turnips?” Who the hell eats turnips?

There’s a sound at the door, the
rustling of the door knob and then the thud of his giant footsteps
on the hardwood floors. A few seconds later he appears in the
archway leading into the room where my mom and I await.

He takes off his black police
department ball cap and I can already see the worry in his eyes.
“What happened?”

His eyes trail from mine to my
mother’s and back to mine again. Then he glances at the death grip
I have on the pillow and the tissue in my hands.

My mother stands and is at his side in
one graceful swoop. She circles her arms around him and lifts on
tip toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “Come, take a
seat.”

Before he does, he closes his strong
arms around her for a brief moment and presses a soft kiss to the
top of her head. My heart fills with admiration of the love they
share. Close to forty years and counting and they still have
it.

He sits down across the sofa from me
and reaches his hand over to cover mine. “What is it,
Melissa?”

“
Well, it’s nothing bad,
really? So you can just un-wrinkle your brow?” The crease between
his eyes always gets to me. That look … like he’s scared and ready
to kick ass at the same time.

He throws an arm over the backrest,
relaxing into the sofa cushions, and shifts to face me. “So tell
me, mija. What’s not so bad?”

I glance over at my mom and she nods.
“Well, you’re going to be a grandpa?”

He takes a gasp for air and then a
smile creeps over his face. “Whoa,” he covers his chest with his
hands, “that’s not bad at all. Congratulations.” His eyes shift to
my mom. “We’re going to be grandparents. It’s about
time.”

The fear and worry escapes from my
pores as I see the smile on my dad’s face brighten and light up the
room. He’s not angry. He’s thrilled. Whew.

“
Wait a minute.” Oh shit. I
knew it was too good to be true. “Where is Tyler? Why isn’t he here
with you sharing the news?” I can’t help the frown that takes over
my face as my fingernails turn into the most fascinating thing in
the room. “Tyler Gelson is the father, right?”

My head shoots up to look at my dad.
“Of course my baby is Ty’s. I can’t believe you’d even ask
that.”

“
Well, he’s not here. I
can’t believe he’d be such a coward,” he says, his voice rising
with each word.

“
Daddy, Ty is not a
coward.” I pause, my lip quivering and my hands trembling. Fuck.
“He doesn’t know yet.”

“
Why the hell not?” A hand
flies up to press to his forehead, his signature I’m confused and
irritated move.

Because
is all I want to say, but I know better. My dad is
a master of interrogation because he happens to be an amazing cop
and an even better dad. Shel and I could never get anything past
him when we were younger and I still can’t. Apparently. It was dumb
of me to think I might be able to share the news and walk out the
door without a thousand questions. Why couldn’t he have just
stopped at
congratulations
?

“
As you know, I just got
back from San Francisco. I didn’t even know I was pregnant until
Mom told me.”

Dad doesn’t waste anytime staring down
my mother. “How did you know?”

“
She came over to visit and
as soon as I saw her, I just knew. Look at her, she’s glowing like
an angel at Christmas.”

His attention reverts back to me and
so does his smile, thankfully. “Anyway,” I continue, “Mom suggested
that I might have a bun in the oven so she took me to get a few
home tests.” I leave out the part about the dildos in the aisle at
the drugstore and move on to tell him about my doctor’s
appointment. With tears in his eyes, he listens as I recount
listening to my baby’s heartbeat. “I don’t want to tell Ty over the
phone so I’m going to drive back up tomorrow morning and share the
news.”

“
He’s going to be so happy,
I’m sure of it.”

I can only hope. Secretly, I have my
fingers crossed. I haven’t forgotten what he said about Shel
wanting to have a baby. The best thing about her having a kid is
the ability to give it back. Well, he can’t give back this one.
This little peanut is his … forever.

Melissa

Nine hours is a long time to
contemplate how to tell the man you love you’re having his baby.
Too fucking long if you ask me. By the time I reach Ty’s apartment,
I’ve sucked down three iced teas from Starbucks and had to stop to
pee once every two hours. This weak bladder is killing
me.

I was ready to strangle the barista at
the last stop because, apparently, it is too much to ask to brew
some decaf tea and then pour it over ice. I feel her though. This
decaf shit is going to get real old. I don’t know if I can hold out
the entire nine months. As it is, I’m going through withdrawals
without my glass—glasses—of wine. Not to mention, new flavors of
Stella Rosa have popped up and I’m dying to head to the winery for
a tasting. If it was still 1960, I’d be able to take a drink. Damn
those doctors for figuring out alcohol and a growing fetus
shouldn’t mix. I laugh to myself at my joke.

Ty is waiting outside, sitting on the
bottom step of the staircase that leads up to his place. He closes
the distance to my car in a flash. My window glides down and he
pokes his head in for a kiss before I can get out a
hello.

“
Dang, Mel. Hungry much?”
He eyeballs the empty container of Pringles on the seat next to me.
And the half eaten package of licorice next to it. And the
exhausted bag of hot-n-spicy beef jerky.

“
It was a long ride.” I
open the door so I can get out and stretch my legs.

“
Remind me to pack a cooler
for you for the way home. Or a refrigerator,” he teases.

I punch him in the
gut.
“Ha ha.
You’re so funny.”

His arms curl around my waist and tug
me closer. Instantly, I feel at home in his arms. Allowing myself
the comfort of his embrace, I rest my head against his chest with a
long sigh of contentment. How could I be worried about telling Ty
about the baby? He’s always been there for me. Since we were kids
he’s been my safe house, my security blanket. The one person
besides Shel or my parents who I could turn to for just about
anything.

“
Hey,” he says, rubbing his
hands up and down my back. “Can you believe I’m going to be an
uncle? When Shel said she wanted to get preggers, she meant it.”
This could be my opening. “I thought they’d wait a little longer
though. They haven’t had much time to enjoy being newlyweds. I
don’t envy them or the lack of sleep they’re in for. I’m so not
ready for that responsibility.”

Okay, maybe not. My body tenses as I
back away from him. Oh shit. This is going to be a lot harder than
I could have ever imagined.

After Ty has dropped my bags in his
room, he leads me into the kitchen where the scent of garlic is
wafting through the air.

“
I thought I’d surprise you
with an early dinner.” His heart-melting smile hits me in the chest
and makes my knees go weak. If I were a cartoon, you’d see me in a
puddle on the floor already. “I didn’t think you’d want to go out
after the long drive.”

“
You cooked for me?” It
smells like more than just mac-n-cheese or Ramen so I’m
impressed.

“
Yeah. My mom helped
me.”

“
What?” I yelp, and my hand
flies up to cover my mouth. “Oh. Sorry. I mean, you called your
mom.”

He laughs because he knows how insane
it sounds. “No need to apologize. It took me a good hour to work up
the sanity to call her. And by the time I was finished, I regretted
it but, at least, we have something good to eat.”

I know how much of a pain in the ass
his mother can be. I feel for him and Shelly. The woman is
downright nasty. Especially to Shel. So much so that she hasn’t
even told her mom she’s expecting because she doesn’t want her
watching over her every move and inserting herself into every
decision she and Matt make.

“
We could’ve had Taco
Bell.” If I were Ty, I would have made some Hamburger Helper before
I made the call to Cruella.

“
I wanted to do something
special for you for making the trip. And since Shel and Matt only
eat Captain Crunch or pasta, I had no choice.” He
shrugs.

“
Well, I’ll just have to
show you how much I appreciate the gesture.” I hook my finger into
the waistband of his jeans and pull him closer. “So what are we
having?”

“
Umm. Pasta.” I chuckle,
but he holds up a finger to shh me. “But it’s homemade. Not from a
can like Shel uses.”

I arch a brow at him.
“Impressive.”

He arches a brow right back at me. “I
hope you’re saying that later.”

“
You haven’t touched your
wine, Melly?” Ty gestures at my glass. “I got your favorite. It’s
not some cheap shit.”

Damn. I didn’t think he’d notice. “Oh,
thanks.” I raise the glass to my lips and take a pretend sip. “It’s
good. I just haven’t been feeling it lately. Since Shel can’t
drink, maybe I’m having sympathy sobriety with her.”

He laughs at my joke. “You think you
could have sympathy boobs too?” He chuckles. “I hear that’s one of
the perks.”

“
Oh, really. Mine aren’t
big enough for you? You only have two hands.”

“
Honey, your breasts are
perfect. My two hands are very grateful for them. Along with other
parts of my body.” He winks.

“
You’ll just have to show
me later.”

“
Or now. I’m done.” He
tosses his napkin on his plate. “That was delicious. I’ll have to
email my mom to tell her so.”

“
Email?”

He shakes his head with a smirk. “You
don’t expect me to call her again, do you?”

My eyes roll back. “You and your
sister are terrible.”

“
You don’t have to tell us
that. We’ve heard it our entire lives. Shel even more so. Maybe she
should have considered my mom before she decided to get knocked up.
The only grandparents the kid is going to have are my mom and dad.
Thank god for my dad. At least, he’ll have one sane
grandparent.”

“
He?” I wonder if he
realizes he just gave the baby a gender.

“
I hope so. My mom is a lot
easier on the boys. I had it ten times better than Shel ever did,
and I tried to bear some of the grief for her.”

“
Enough about your mom.
When you email her, tell her I thought the recipe was delicious and
you did an amazing job.” Which he did. The sauce was fabulous with
the perfect combination of spice and tomato. And the homemade ranch
dressing for the salad was mouthwatering. “Now, let’s get this
place cleaned up so you can take me to bed.”

“
You don’t have to tell me
twice.”

Waking up in Tyler’s arms again feels
like heaven. I study the lines of his face while he sleeps. He was
always good looking as a kid, but he’s grown into this gorgeous
strong man. His long chiseled jawline and cheekbones are like
something you’d see in his paintings. I wish I had an ounce of his
artistic ability so I could sketch him, and his sexy as sin beauty
mark. I’d love to see his features etched across a blank page,
coming to life with the subtle movement of my hand.