One Indecent Night

by Hargrove, A. M.

  When I got dressed and into the kitchen, a tray of cookies, cheese, crackers, and fruit were on the island, along with a large pot of tea, coffee, and everything to go along with it. I poured myself a mug of coffee and grabbed a cookie. The others joined me and we sat around the fire. I soon grew sleepy so I went to nap.

  Evan woke me up when he came to shower. “What time is it?”

  He said, “Five.”

  I’d slept about two hours. “Wow. I conked out.”

  “Good for you.” He kissed me. “The afternoon was awesome. We did some terrific runs. I’m going to shower.”

  Dinner that night was nothing but Evan and Pearson telling their stories of their crashes and burns. They’d taken some tumbles that made me tremble, but Evan assured me all was well.

  “It worries me. What if you break your neck?”

  “It would be my leg or ACL, if anything.”

  “And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”

  “Well yeah. Those aren’t life-threatening.”

  True, but still. The thought of him with any injuries was horrible.

  “Babe, do you want to wrap me up in bubble wrap?” He bit his lips, doing his best not to laugh.

  “Yes. But use the big bubbles, not the little ones.”

  “Okay. I’m not sure it’ll fit under my ski clothes, but I’ll try.”

  That did get a smile out of me. “Just be careful.”

  “I am. We push ourselves, but we aren’t stupid about it. The falls are funny and if you were with us, you’d get it.”

  “Falling into a…what did you call it? Oh yeah, a tree well. That’s pretty serious. What if you’d been alone?” A tree well was where the snow had built up around the tree but the base of the tree was still visible with no snow and they could sometimes be up to six to eight feet in depth.

  “I’d have called ski patrol with my cell phone.”

  He got me there.

  “It’s fine. I promise. I never ski in unpopulated areas or out of bounds when I’m alone.”

  “Out of bounds?”

  “Forget I said that. We’ll talk about it later.”

  One thing was sure, he was an excellent skier. They’d taken one of those cameras with them and videoed each other. We watched some of it and he was amazing. I wished I could ski like that.

  The next few days flew by and before we knew it, we were boarding the plane for our return home. As everyone got onboard, they kept telling Evan how wonderful the trip had been.

  “We ought to go back in the summer. People think of Vail only in the winter. You should see it in the summer. It’s fantastic.”

  Piper raised her hand. “I’m in.”

  “I thought you were going to do your master’s in the UK,” I said.

  Everyone turned to her and stared. Dad had a bemused expression on his face. Oops. I’d let the cat out of the bag that I hadn’t known was a secret. Piper glared at me.

  “I’m sorry,” I mouthed.

  “What’s this about the UK?” Dad asked.

  “I was going to tell you and Mom right after Christmas, but everything got in the way. I applied at Cambridge to their master’s program. I got accepted and I’ll be studying British eighteenth-century and romantic literature. It’s a nine-month program and then I may go on to either get a doctorate or another Master of English Lit and that’s a two-year program. Either way, I start in June.”

  “Congratulations on your acceptance, Piper,” Evan said.

  “Yes, congratulations.” Dad looked sad. “Your mother would’ve been very proud of you. She loved literature of all kinds. This would’ve been excellent news for her.”

  “I know, Dad.” Piper hugged Dad.

  I said, “Well, I’m going to miss you because you won’t be around to see the button.” I purposely stuck my lower lip out.

  “That’s okay. I’ll be on diaper duty for you,” Reynolds volunteered.

  “That’s what you say now, but when it happens, I wonder if you’ll stick to it.”

  “I’m on board, Syll. You can count on it,” Dad said.

  I was hoping he would be. I needed him as much as he needed me. Since Mom wouldn’t be there, he would have to fill two pairs of shoes when that time came.

  Fifty-Seven

  Evan

  Sylvie’s doctor’s appointment was this week. I was meeting her there, eager to see the ultrasound and to ask her doctor a private question. When Sylvie mentioned about getting married in Vail, the wheels started spinning. The button was due in early August, so I was wondering if she’d be safe to fly in early June. I would take our families out for a small wedding. That is if she’d agree.

  The doctor came in and asked a series of questions. Then it was Sylvie’s turn. Yes, being tired was perfectly normal. Yes, it would go away soon. Yes, having to pee a lot was normal too. And my God, did she ever pee a lot. The doctor said that would improve, then worsen as the baby grew. I figured by then, she’d have to attach a toilet to her. That would save her so much time.

  Then the ultrasound began. I was mesmerized by the images. But I wasn’t by that wand they stuck up Sylvie’s vagina. I’d always thought they rubbed goo on your belly and went to town. Apparently, I was off base there.

  As she moved the wand around, I turned my attention to the screen.

  “What can you see?” Sylvie asked.

  “I have no idea.”

  The doctor made a few adjustments and the nurse pointed.

  “Hmm.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Hang on.” She moved her wand around and I still couldn’t tell what I was looking at. It was all fuzz to me. Then something finally came into focus. Only it wasn’t what I expected as I squinted at the image.

  “Is that what I think it is?” I asked.

  She chuckled slightly. “Yes. Let me see if we can get a different view.” After a little more wand moving, a better image came up. The nurse hit the keyboard and the doctor said, “Here we have it. I want an abdominal view too.”

  “What are you looking at?” Sylvie asked.

  I held her hand and laughed. “It’s amazing.”

  “What is?” she hollered, trying to sit up.

  The doctor placed a hand on her belly, saying, “Relax, Sylvie. I’m going to take another view.”

  Now came the jelly on the stomach part.

  The nurse was typing something on the machine and up popped another image. It was gray until two distinct images of babies appeared. The doctor smiled.

  “Oh yeah,” I yelled.

  “What?” Sylvie asked.

  “Babe, you have two buttons in there.”

  “WHAT?” Sylvie almost bolted off the exam table.

  “Sylvie, hang on a minute,” the doctor said.

  “NO! How can that be? Why wasn’t it there last time?”

  “It was. Sometimes one can be obscured behind the other when they’re so small, and your first ultrasound was early. Hang on a sec.”

  “There they are,” the doctor said.

  The nurse turned the machine so Sylvie could see.

  “Oh, shit. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck. What are we going to do, Evan?” she asked. “Sorry about the language.”

  I held her hand and said calmly, “We’re going to have two buttons, instead of one.”

  “Twins. Oh, my God!”

  “Hey, it’ll be fine. We’ll have help and this will give your dad plenty to do.”

  “Oh, man, will it ever.”

  We left the doctor’s office, Sylvie still completely dazed and me happy as hell.

  “Of course you’re happy. You’re not the one who’s going to birth the two of them.”

  She was right. “Maybe talking to Marin and Millie will help.”

  “You mean they can tell me how they managed not to murder their husbands?”

  God, I loved this woman. “Yep. They’ll tell you. One hundred percent they’ll tell you.” The only disappointing thing for me was my plans to get married woul
d have to wait until after the birth. When I spoke to the doctor, she said travel would be up in the air, no pun intended, because twins were too unpredictable and early births often happened as did bed rest.

  “I have an idea. Let’s have a celebration dinner and invite everyone to attend where we can announce it.”

  By this time, we were pulling up to the new house.

  “Why are we here?”

  “Because. I have a surprise for you.”

  We got out and walked inside, where some of the workers were painting. We’d decided to change some of the colors in a few of the rooms.

  “Surprise?”

  “Yeah, come on.”

  We went upstairs and before we got to our bedroom, I picked her up and carried her over the threshold.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, laughing.

  “Look.”

  The sitting area had been painted a soft green, since we didn’t know the sex of the baby, and the decorator had already added a few little nursery touches, such as pictures and an off white rocker that also swiveled.

  “Aww, Evan! I love it already.”

  I set her down and she walked the space with the biggest smile that only made me grin too.

  “Sandy wants you to pick one of the fabrics she’s chosen for the curtains and all the coordinating accents. But you like the color?”

  “It’s perfect. Thank you!” She threw her arms around my neck and jumped up, wrapping her legs around me.

  “You’re welcome. By that reaction, I can’t wait until our bed arrives. Now hang on.” I walked her into one of the other bedrooms.

  “Oh, it’s my bed. You had it fixed.” I put her down so she could inspect it. “It’s like new.”

  “Are you pleased? I thought it turned out really well.”

  She examined it very closely and said, “I can’t tell where it was broken.”

  “I couldn’t either.”

  She ran and nearly knocked me over. “Thank you. You’re the most wonderful man alive, except for the twin thing.”

  “Babe, I hate to break it to you, but the woman is responsible for twins, not the man. You’re the one with the eggs.”

  “You would have to get all scientific on me. The closing is still set for Monday, right?”

  “Yep. At four. Nice segue, by the way.”

  “I thought so. When does the rest of the furniture get here?”

  I laughed. “Sandy said you’ve been hard to work with because you’re so particular about the price of things.”

  Sylvie scowled. “I don’t see the point of spending ten thousand dollars on a sofa when we’re going to have twins running around with dirty little hands getting them filthy. All I told her was I think we should get a couple of those slipcovered ones where you could wash the covers and put them back on. In my opinion, I don’t think she liked my idea because it means less commission for her.”

  “That’s an excellent idea about the couches. I’ll pass it on.”

  “Evan, why does it have to come from you, though? If she’s supposed to listen to me, why can’t she accept my decisions?”

  Sandy wasn’t letting Sylvie make decisions and that pissed me off. “You’re absolutely right. I’m going to call her and tell her she is to defer to you on everything from this point on. No more calling me. If I want something, I’ll call her, but other than that, every decision about this house comes from you.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “I am. We confer about most things and you make total sense about the couches. It would be nice to have washable covers. I wasn’t aware they even made those.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, they do. Great for little kids, now that we’ll have insta-family. So back to my original question. When do you think we’ll be able to move in?”

  “As soon as all the furniture gets in.”

  “You know what? Why don’t you let me make that call to Sandy?”

  “I think you’re right. You handle it. Tell her if she has any issues with dealing with you, we’ll find a new decorator.”

  Three weeks later, the second week of February on a Saturday, we finally made the house our new home. Sandy and Sylvie made up and worked well together as a team on everything from the furniture to paint, to window treatments and all those other things decorators do to add that special touch to a home. I had to say they did an extraordinary job because after the movers left, and everything was in its place, the house was perfect.

  “It’s much better than I could’ve imagined,” Sylvie said.

  “Me too, babe. I am very pleased with your womanly touch.”

  “My womanly touch, huh? Seems to me you haven’t felt my womanly touch in a couple of days with all this stuff going on. I’ve missed you since we haven’t slept together in what?”

  “One night,” I quickly answered, picking her up and carrying her upstairs.

  “One night? Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “It seems like a month.”

  “More like a year, but it’s only been a night.” I’d gotten to our room, which looked gorgeous in its soft tones of what Sylvie called spa blue and cream, and I tossed her gently on the bed. Then I kissed her, softly at first. But she quickly deepened the kiss, taking more from me than I was giving. I went along, sliding my hands up her shirt, freeing one of her breasts. I was just about to suck on one of her sensitive nipples when the doorbell rang.

  “Aw, shit,” she groaned.

  “Let’s ignore it.”

  “Okay.”

  My lips puckered around her nipple and I sucked as she moaned, and the doorbell chimed again, but this time, it didn’t stop.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck. They’re not going away,” she said in frustration.

  My dick was not happy at all, but it would have to wait. We got up and went downstairs to open the door.

  On our porch stood Mom, Dad, John, Reynolds, Rose, Montana, and Pearson.

  Montana yelled, “Welcome to your house!” She bounded inside while all the others came in behind her, carrying all kinds of food with them.

  Mom said, “We figured with it being moving day, you wouldn’t feel like cooking or going out, so we decided to surprise you with a huge home cooked meal.”

  “Wow! This is awesome,” Sylvie said exuberantly.

  “Yeah, it sure is.” Not to sound ungrateful, but why in the hell couldn’t they have waited just thirty more minutes?

  Fifty-Eight

  Sylvie—Six Months Later

  Mild sporadic contractions had been hitting me throughout the day, but they had no consistency yet. When I spoke to the doctor this morning, she said to come to the hospital when they were five minutes apart and not to wait. I’d been lucky during this pregnancy. Although I was enormous, I had never experienced early labor so no bed rest, thank the Lord. Evan had been working from home a lot and it was Saturday, so he was here.

  The babies had kicked me to smithereens and I couldn’t wait for them to make their grand entrance into the world.

  We’d decided to be surprised on the sex. I was hoping for one of each, but as long as they were healthy, it didn’t matter to me.

  Both of our dads were still upset we hadn’t tied the knot, but I wanted to be un-pregnant when we did. They would have to get over it.

  Evan and I were in the kitchen, making dinner, when the big one hit.

  “Fuck!” I white-knuckled the countertop.

  “A contraction?”

  I nodded, but couldn’t speak. He set the timer on his watch. The countdown was on. When it passed, I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

  “Fuuuuck. That was a monster.”

  “You should sit down.”

  “No. I’m walking this off.” I made circles around the kitchen until I felt better. Then went back to help with dinner, although I knew there would be no eating for me. I’m not sure how much time had passed when the next one hit, but I was happy to be standing next to the island again. That countertop was a life saver.
>
  Evan checked his watch and said, “Eight minutes. You should take a shower if you want one before we go.”

  “You’re right.”

  He stopped dinner and came with me.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m coming with you. I’m your timer.”

  “Right.”

  It was a good thing because in the middle of my shower, another one hit. “Fuuuuck.” I didn’t have my counter to grip.

  “You okay in there?”

  “Fuuuuuck no. These are killers.”

  “You’re at seven minutes. You’d better hurry.”

  Shit. At this rate, the babies would be born on their heads between here and the hospital. I hustled out of the shower and dressed.

  Evan grabbed my packed bag, and we left. On the way, I had another one.

  “Five minutes. You’re really progressing fast.”

  “I know,” I puffed between breaths. “Maybe this will be a fast labor.”

  Evan sped to the hospital and we got checked in quickly. They wanted to know why I waited.

  “We didn’t.” Then Evan explained.

  They took me directly to a room and contacted the doctor on call. Then I got super emotional. I wanted my own doctor, but he explained there wouldn’t be time for her to get here. Then he gave me even worse news.

  “I’m really sorry, but you’re too far along to get an epidural.”

  “What?” I practically yelled.

  “You’re almost fully dilated and a hundred percent effaced. Your babies will be here soon.”

  “But it’s going to hurt,” I whined.

  “I’m not going to lie. Yes, it will. But we’ll make it as easy as we can.”

  “Evvvaaaaannnn,” I cried out.

  “I’m right here, babe. Hold my hand.”

  Another mighty contraction ripped through me then and I squeezed the hell out of his hand. He gave me his other one to hold too.

  “You’re doing fantastic, Sylvie. Keep it up and breathe.”

  I huffed and puffed, like the wolf in the Three Little Pigs.