Unacquainted

by Leigh Lennon

  “I’m only kidding with you, well, a bit anyway. I was hoping to just get to my parents' tonight. My mom is getting the guest room ready for you and I’ll sleep on the couch,” I say as I crank the car, forgetting “Enter Sandman” had been blasting through my stereo speakers.

  “Metallica fan, I would have dubbed you for more an Alice in Chains kind of guy,” Rose says.

  I can’t help but laugh, “What can I say, I love the big hair bands of the eighties, though I wasn’t even born then.” Looking at her as I reverse the car, starting our road trip, I say, “Let me guess, you like country music?”

  “Ah, that is a safe bet, and I do love Dolly Parton and Reba. But I grew up on an eclectic mix of music—Abba, Steve Miller, Genesis, Elton John, Rolling Stones and the list goes on.” She’s quiet for a moment then out of nowhere says, “Oh, don’t worry about giving up your room at your parents…” I guess we aren’t talking about music anymore.

  “So, we are sharing my room?” I tease.

  “Ha-ha, now that is funny. No, I’ll get a hotel room in Pendleton and tonight, if we stop, we will get separate rooms. Case closed.”

  “First, let me address being at my parent’s house, like hell you will. That’s silly. I want you to meet my parents. I want YOU to get to know them and to see they are all right and maybe get some insight about me.”

  “It's just we shouldn’t be in such close proximity.”

  Wanting to stop to have this conversation, though I have promised her room to think. I still have to address what she’s just said. “So, you admit you feel it, too?”

  “I plead the fifth on that.” She changes her tone to that of seriousness; as much as she can muster anyway.

  “Rose?”

  “Yes?”

  “Are you going to tell me what changed your mind about taking this trip with me?” I ask, almost a bit more forceful than I mean. My heart is already devoted to this girl but my gut tells me to play it safe. My ability to get hurt is high but Rose is worth the risk.

  She looks out the window but starts to speak softly and in her tone, I want to—no, need to—comfort her. “I told Jones about the baby and he’s extending his tour over there. I couldn’t keep this from him, not when he was making all these grand and wonderful plans for our future. Plus, there is this guy I can’t stop thinking about and coincidentally, I'm carrying said guy’s baby.”

  I love hearing this, not that she’s so sad about Jones, who is a fucking idiot, but about her thoughts toward me. I can’t help but smile, “Yeah, that is quite the predicament you got yourself into, Toots. One piece of advice, though.”

  “Oh, this will be good and not biased at all,” she mocks me.

  “I hear great things about said guy. I’m told he’s pretty great, in more ways than just in bed.”

  “Again, thank you for your impartial report and for not pressuring me at all,” she jokes with a hint of laughter. Her amusement sets my heart on fire and I can’t help but think of a future with her.

  I can see the hurt in her eyes. Tears are pooling around her face in the reflection of the morning light. How can I care so deeply for this woman already? I can’t stop myself from offering her comfort. “I’m not sure what I would do in his case. I really don’t. I would hope I wouldn’t let someone special, like you, out of my sights.”

  “He’s rattled by your desire to be part of this baby’s life,” Rose admits.

  “I’m sure he is. And I’m sorry you’re in the middle of this. But I promised I would not pursue you anymore, so no more comments, although you brought it up,” I tease.

  “We are still getting separate rooms.” She makes her intentions clear and I understand there is no way of changing her mind.

  Stopping for breakfast two hours north of Sacramento, I take my phone to text someone and her curiosity is piqued. “I just told my mom we won’t be there tonight. So, we will stop a couple hours south of Pendleton for the night, if that’s okay?”

  “Good with me and Brody, thanks for being a decent guy.”

  “You’re worth it, Rose.” Oh, if she only knew how much I don’t want to be a decent guy.

  When we stop a couple of hours up the road to fill up my tank, she asks me to get her a bag of Skittles. “Ah, you have a little sweet tooth about you,” I tease.

  When we get back on the freeway, I notice she has poured all her Skittles out on her lap into a handkerchief I assume she had in her purse. “What in the world are you doing, Toots?” I ask.

  Looking at me, she only smiles. “I have to eat my Skittles in color order,” she says as if this is common sense.

  “And what is color order?” I ask, not knowing there is indeed an etiquette to eating Skittles.

  “It’s rainbow order, silly. Red first, then orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.” She scoffs at me and I’m not sure how to even respond to her. My girl is a little quirky. Quirky has never bothered me before.

  “Well, now that I know I’ve been doing it wrong all these years, I will be following suit, Toots,” I tease but she doesn’t say much, just smiles at me while she eats all the red Skittles, one at a time, before moving on to the next color.

  After her Skittles are eaten, she falls asleep in my passenger seat. Being so beautiful, with full breasts, luscious lips and dark skin, there is no denying looks make her attractive but there is a connection I can’t resist, not that I want to.

  As she stirs, I say, “Well, we made good time so let’s stop.”

  Rose stretches, looking at the hotel I have pulled into. “Wow, Brody. I didn’t think it was possible but this hotel matches your car.” The truth is money is tight, so I need something as inexpensive as possible. Plus, I feel I should pay for Rose’s room.

  “Okay, now that hurts, Toots,” I say, trying to feign a look of shock. She has given me notice on my car, but it has been a good car that I wanted to keep for another year, though I understand her worries concerning our child.

  As we attempt to secure our rooms, we start fighting in the front office about the bill. “This was my idea, I’m paying for this, Rose.”

  “No, you aren’t,” she says, as it is apparent that the man behind the counter doesn’t enjoy the time our disagreement is taking.

  He finally says, “I don’t care who pays, but I have Wheel of Fortune to get back to so you both stop squabbling. I tell you what, this whole women’s lib business, she wants to pay, let her pay. That will teach them.”

  I immediately am overprotective with the harsh words he uses toward Rose. When she gently touches my arm, she simply says, “Thanks so much for seeing my side, sir. Case settled, Brody.”

  However, the guy behind the counter deserves something for his rude comments and I quickly grin, looking at Rose as I say, “But can you please not chain me up and beat me when we get back to the room as you hammer me into submission?”

  The guy gives me a dirty look as he retreats into his back office to the cheers of the studio audience of Wheel of Fortune.

  “That was cruel, Brody,” Rose says, playfully hitting me, although she laughs.

  “No, it wasn’t, he was a dick.”

  Shaking her head in agreement, she tells me, “I’m so tired, I’m going to crash for a while. What time do you want to get dinner?”

  “Let’s order pizza and go swimming in the indoor pool.”

  “Are you crazy? I don’t have my swimsuit.”

  “What if I can find one while you’re resting?”

  “You pick out my swimsuit? Really? And I’m afraid of the pool in this place.”

  “I will get you something suitable. What size are you, a four?”

  “I’m a size ten and it better be a one-piece,” she warns me. I only smile as I work out my own devious plan.

  “And get me a razor, and make it a good one too, please,” she pleads.

  I tease, “Oh, sure, we don’t want you to get razor burn in those sensitive areas.”

  Leaning down, I kiss her on the forehead as if I ha
ve known her my whole life. “Rose?”

  “Yes?”

  “Are you all right with the affection I show you? It’s that now you’re the mother to my child. I want you to feel safe and this is my sign that regardless of what happens with us, you need to know, I will keep you safe.”

  “I do feel secure with you.”

  “Good, I’m glad you know that.” I say.

  “I do now.”

  8

  Rose

  “Really, Brody? I’m going to look hideous in this. I’m not this Skinny Minnie like Jane or Lila.” I’m tall, taking after my dad and not my mom. A size two would not look right on my five-foot-ten frame. Brody has an amused look on his face.

  “Rose, you forget I’ve seen you naked, I think you can pull it off just fine.”

  “You’re telling me this was all they had?”

  “It’s February, slim pickings.” Pleading the fifth, his smile is not fooling me.

  “Oh, sure, whatever. Let me hop in the shower. I should have made you wear a speedo.”

  “Sorry, they certainly didn’t have any of those, either.” Giving me the rest of what I have asked for, he continues with a cocky grin. “Listen, I will wait for you and we can go down together. When we're done, we can get cleaned up and order a pizza and some beer, or sorry, OJ.”

  When we near the pool, I take my jacket off and Brody stops in his tracks. I see he’s technically walking forward, but is turned around watching me. When he gets closer to the pool, I don’t say a word and just stand there, waiting for him to fall in, which he does. I can’t stop laughing at him when he’s standing in the pool, shaking the excess water out of his hair. He swims over to the side where I’m standing, places his hands on the cement and looks at me. “Never doubt how good you look, you single-handedly are responsible for my fall in this water.”

  “Are you all right?” I’m still laughing.

  “Yes, the ego is just a tad bruised.” Pulling himself out of the water, he comes up behind me, putting his arms around my waist, touching my stomach. “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to find a way to touch your belly. Rose, I feel close to you and very comfortable.”

  I see him watching every move I make when I walk down the steps to the pool. “Hey, Brody, this is the way you get in the pool,” I tease.

  I see something on his face and kidding time is over. Swimming next to me, he pulls me in for a hug. “The second I found out you were carrying my baby, I realized how that bond could connect two people.”

  “I know what you mean,” I say as he backs away from me, giving me the space he has promised.

  After swimming for a little bit, we sit on the steps of the pool as Brody watches me with an intense longing.

  Finally, after sitting in silence for a couple of minutes, I can’t help but bring up a subject of the baby. “Hey, do you want to wait to pick out a boy’s name until we find out the sex of the baby?”

  He looks disappointed. “We are finding out?”

  “Well, we can discuss it, I just assumed it would be easier.” I wasn’t expecting this from Brody and I have started making all these decisions without even asking him. “I’m sorry, I’m sort of doing all this without asking for your input. Because I’m a planner and since I wasn’t expecting much from you, I made a plan that first night. Plus, I have been reading that book that Emma gave me.”

  He grabs my hand and I don’t stop him. “Rose, we will find our way in this whole parenting thing. I promise.” Somehow, I believe him.

  As we near his farm, Brody pulls me out of a daydream when he says, “Hey, Toots, I need to get something off my chest.”

  Raising one eyebrow higher than the other, I laugh. What else can he get off his chest? Because quite honestly, I want him to get that shirt off his chest. I can’t help but laugh out loud, this time remembering how good he looks without a thing on his body. “Go ahead,” I say.

  “I will get back to what you’re laughing about but for now. My family is very loving. You will find that out. But if I’m ever too touchy, let me know if I cross the line, especially with Jones being a factor in your life.”

  “First off, Jones and I aren’t a couple. He made that known when he hung up on me and extended his stay.” I take his hand, “And if I’m being honest, I like it, probably too much for what I’m able to offer you at this time.”

  Brody’s smile forms easily on his face but he doesn’t say anything about what I just revealed to him. “They’re going to love you and will hug you a lot. I have only brought one other girl home. Be prepared that they will be rather invasive. Just stick close to me, I will bat them away, especially Bryn, my little sister, who is twelve.” Somehow this small little revelation of him bringing another girl home to meet his mom fills me with jealousy. It shouldn’t and doesn’t make sense. He’s gorgeous and certainly has had girlfriends before so why is the green monster filling me with jealousy?

  I don’t say anything for a while and we drift into silence until a thought occurs to me. Without thinking, and certainly not sugarcoating it, I ask, “Since you want to be involved, how do you think you will help out financially?”

  “I figure I will cover half of everything. I’ll help out with supplies, daycare and simple living expenses since for a while after the birth, the baby will be with you. But more so, I need to warn you, I will be a hands-on dad.”

  “You would pay fifty percent of the child care?”

  “Toots, this baby will be half of me, so yes, I will. I know it’s not fair for him or her to be shuffled all around. I would love to have our baby as often but you’re the mom, I assume you want full custody. I wouldn’t fight you on that, ever.”

  “Just for the record, I know without a shadow of a doubt that you’re the dad, but I don’t ever want you to doubt it. After he or she’s born, I’m paying for a DNA test to prove to you that the baby is yours, so you never doubt.”

  “Wow, that is very insightful on your part. Thanks.”

  “I know and honestly, I would feel the same way if it were Kai in the same situation. I get it.” Shifting gears, I ask, “What did you tell your parents about me? I want to stick to the script.”

  “I told them you were a friend of mine that was down in Sacramento visiting her brother and offered to drive with me to keep me company.”

  “That actually sounds almost like the whole truth.” I look at my stomach and say, “Well, little one, I said almost.”

  This perfect family amazes me. First, their family farm is cute. There is no other word I can use to describe it. Ruth and Henry Buchannan are the picture of a long kind of love. He pulls back the chair for Ruth. In turn, she serves him. He playfully swats her on the butt in front of me while Brody only rolls his eyes. He has no idea how lucky he is. Bryn, too, is as darling as they come, holding on tight to her big brother when they hug as she leaned in, telling him how much she misses him.

  At dinner that night, Ruth Buchannan is full of many questions that I see make Brody cringe. “Rose,” Ruth begins, “what is it that you do? Brody said something to do with math.”

  “I’m a Biomedical Statistician; my specific job is to develop and apply statistical theories with research in the area of public health. I could work in a variety of departments, but my undergrad is in Human Health and that is where I feel most comfortable.”

  “Do you have a boyfriend, Rose?” she asks bluntly. I look at Brody. His muscles tense as he’s about to cut his mom off, but I wave off his concern.

  “I did, he completed his undergrad in Nursing and got selected to go to Doctors Without Borders. We have broken up during the time he’s been gone.”

  I see a smile appearing behind her blue eyes that tells me she’s happy with the news that I’m no longer with Jones. “So, that is a no to the boyfriend,” she says more in Brody’s direction. “But wow, that is pretty impressive, Doctors Without Borders. And where is your family?” She must like me, I'm guessing.

  “My mom and dad live in Spokane. I have on
e brother, three sisters and a stepsister.” I wonder if she wants me to sign on to ancestry.com and get more information concerning me. Although she’s quite direct, I’m drawn to her.

  “Oh, your parents aren’t together anymore, then?” Her tone is one of universal disappointment.

  “No, my dad remarried a woman from Switzerland, Hildy, and they have Margarite, Evie and Ivy. My mom married a veterinarian from Sacramento four years ago. He had moved to Spokane and was her next-door neighbor, which is how they met. I’m very close to his daughter, Emma, who lives down the road from me.”

  “Her brother was the one who just got married to my co-worker,” Brody clarifies, giving his mom more to cling to about myself.

  “So, are you close to your mom?” It is twenty questions from Ruth Buchannan. Brody tried to warn me, yet I wasn’t expecting this.

  “Very close, I had an offer in Seattle where I went to school but I wouldn’t take it. It was always my intention to live near family. There are just too many people near and dear to me I couldn’t leave.”

  Bryn looked at Rose and said, “So, if you don’t have a boyfriend, what would my brother be?”

  Brody is beat red, showing me his embarrassment but I have to love a little girl that is protective over her older brother. I’m the same way with Kai, “Well, sweetie, I would call your brother a good friend.”

  To break the awkwardness of Bryn’s question, Brody says, “Hey, you said you had a funny story to tell about when you met your stepdad for the first time.”

  I look down and simply say, “Well, it is a pretty funny story.” I must have told this a hundred times in the past five years since Nick became part of my life.

  “Oh, I want to hear it,” Bryn begs.

  Brody leans into me, squeezing my knee and says, “All right, Toots, I want to hear this story.”