by Robin Leaf
He curled up behind her, careful not to move the bed too much. She snuggled in next to him, so he began stroking her hair. After a time, he thought she’d fallen asleep. He relaxed and decided to join her.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, causing him to open his eyes.
“Why would you be sorry, Nessa?” he asked, resuming stroking her hair.
She sat up and turned to face him, her words tumbling out quickly. “Well, I’m sure this isn’t the way you intended to spend your honeymoon, with your sick wife who can’t seem to control any of her bodily functions. Peeing every five minutes and throwing up three times today, once on the plane? Nice. Not to mention the fact that I got myself knocked up in the first place, not even one week after we met each other. Who does that? Me, apparently. And now, once the press gets ahold of this, I’m going to be the evil gold-digging slut who trapped innocent Riley Tate in a marriage. Oh yeah, I’m the reason you had to fire your agent, possibly damaging your career. Plus, I don’t know what I’m going to do about my career; it hasn’t even gotten off the ground before I have to take a snoozer because I’m pregnant. All that schooling for what? Damn, Riley, you sure know how to pick ‘em.”
Riley tried to fight his smile, but he couldn’t. She jumped up off the bed.
“What? You think this is funny?” she bellowed.
Riley chuckled as he stood and wrapped his arms around her, his hands rubbing her back soothingly. “No, Vanessa. I’ve just been waiting for you to react to this. I’m a little surprised it took this long.”
She sighed and sunk into him, resting her hands on his chest. “I’m that predictable?”
“No. I’m just happy to know that I know you so well.”
She looked up at him. “How can you? We’ve known each other only weeks.”
“But it feels like I’ve known you forever.” He leaned down slowly and kissed her forehead. “That I have been in love with you all my life.” He kissed her temple. “I think I conjured you.” He kissed her cheek softly. “The perfect girl.” He kissed the corner of her mouth. “My dream woman.” He kissed her lips lightly. “I waited for you.” He kissed her lightly again. “I’m so glad you fell for me, Vanessa.” He rested his forehead against hers.
She stepped forward and pushed him so he fell onto the bed. She straddled him, taking his shirt over his head in one fluid motion, moving her hands to undo the button and zipper on his shorts. “You sure have a way with words, Tate.” She kissed down his neck, pushed him to lay back on the bed, kissed down his chest, pausing only to rip off her shirt and bra. She maneuvered his shorts and underwear over his hips and immediately took him into her mouth. He hissed a breath between his teeth at the initial sensation. An electric current ran up his body, and he threw his head back against the pillow. Then guilt rained down; he couldn’t let her continue. She’d been sick not twenty minutes ago. Reaching down to cup her cheeks, he forced her to stop.
“Vanessa, are you sure you want to…”
“Shhh,” she interrupted, breaking his hold on her. She grabbed his length and stroked him, bringing the tip to her lips. “I want to make you feel as good as you make me feel.” She swirled her tongue around his tip and took him slowly into her mouth, stroking him with her hand at the same time. “So just lay there and enjoy it.”
She took her time, seeming to savor every inch of him. Her achingly slow pace told him that her mission was to arouse and tease, not to satisfy. At his urging, she moved her body to the side, closer to him, and helped him take off her shorts. He ran his hand up the inside of her left thigh to the edge of her panties. Moving them aside, he groaned at how wet she had become and easily slipped a finger inside her.
“Jeez, Vanessa,” he murmured.
She smiled up at him. “You like that, huh?”
“God, I wanna be inside that. Now.” He sat up on his knees and ripped off her underwear, lifted her to straddle him facing away from him, and plunged himself deeply inside her. She gasped at the abruptness of his actions. “You okay?”
“Holy shit, yes, Riley. Don’t stop.”
He kissed her shoulder as he moved slowly inside her. She leaned back into his chest, reaching behind to grab his left arm. She lifted it to her breast, guiding him to squeeze it gently and rub her nipples. “Careful, they’re a little sensitive,” she whispered in his ear.
His right hand reached around to her thigh, sliding up to the inside to tease her clit with his fingers. She followed with her own right hand, holding his securely in place. She arched against him, throwing her head back against his shoulder.
“Faster,” she ordered, turning her head and tugging his earlobe with her teeth. He obeyed, quickening the movement of his fingers with his movement inside her. “Oh. My. God. Riley,” she said to each one of his thrusts. “I’m. Gonna. Come. Hurry. Now. Now. Now.” She groaned loudly, grabbed the back of his neck and collapsed into his chest. The first feeling of her flexing around him triggered him to do the same.
She panted. “Oh my God, that was…”
“Pretty amazing?” he questioned, panting just as hard as she was.
“Fucking awesome.”
He smiled and drug his tongue from her shoulder to her ear. “You feeling okay?”
She quickly rose, turned around and straddled him chest to chest, guiding the still hard Riley back inside her. “Good enough to do that again.”
He chuckled. “Unleashing your horny beast already, Love?”
She smiled and began moving against him. “She’s never been leashed, just asleep for a really long time. You just woke her up, and she really likes you.”
THIRTY THREE
By the weekend, Vanessa’s morning sickness worsened to the point where she was nauseated most of the day. She couldn’t keep much down, and Riley knew she had lost some weight. She joked that the weight loss was due to giving up the cookie dough.
Once she started having pains that she described felt like someone snapping a rubber band in her stomach, he wanted to take her to the emergency room. However, the pains only happened when she stretched or stood up too fast and didn’t last long. She found several articles online that said the pains were normal in the first few weeks of pregnancy, and that as long as there was no spotting or cramping, there was no need to panic. He did get her to agree to see the ob-gyn Leia recommended, and luckily, they were able to snag the last appointment Monday afternoon.
She was quiet on the drive to the doctor’s office, staring out the passenger’s side window. She wore the same red dress that she wore in the Caribbean. It was Riley’s favorite, and he kept glancing at her growing breasts, mentally comparing them to when he first saw her in it. He really liked this part of the pregnancy hormones. When she closed her eyes, Riley grabbed her hand, startling her.
“You feeling okay? I packed crackers and water if you need some.”
“Riley, what if something is wrong?”
He glanced at her briefly. Seeing that she was on the brink of tears, he asked calmly, “Why do you think anything is wrong?”
“Because.” She sighed. “It’s what I do. I think of everything that can go wrong in any situation I face and work out all the scenarios of how to deal with it beforehand. That way, I’m prepared.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I can’t even imagine how to prepare for something going wrong here. I like to feel in control, you know that, and this planning thing I do is one of the ways I can feel in control. But I feel so out of control right now with the unexpectedness and the sickness. I can’t seem to make my mind get control of this situation.”
“Well, talk to me. Let me help you figure it out. Tell me what your worst fear is.”
She shifted in her seat to face him. “Honestly, it’s letting you down.”
He pulled over to the side of the road and threw the car in park. “Vanessa, how could you possibly let me down?”
She looked back out the window. “I know how badly you want this baby, and if something happens…”
<
br /> “Let me ask you something, Miss Think-too-much.” He gently cupped her chin and turned her to face him, looking deeply into her eyes. “Are you going to do anything to intentionally harm yourself or this pregnancy?” he asked tenderly.
“No, but…”
“There are no buts. I love you. You love me. We are in this together. Whatever happens, we will face it together.” He kissed her nose. “As in you and me. Got it?”
She attempted to pull away from his grasp, but he moved his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her toward him. He leaned in and rested his forehead on hers. “Got it?” he asked again, dropping his voice to a whisper.
She smiled at him seductively. “Yeah, I got it,” she replied, using the same throaty whisper that always drove him crazy.
He chuckled as he kissed her softly on the lips. She grabbed his shoulders pulling him closer to her, deepened the kiss, and worked her hands down his chest to the waistband of his jeans. Just as her tongue traced the contour of his bottom lip, he pulled away and smiled at her.
“We will be very late if that continues.” He put the car in drive and pulled back onto the road.
“You’re no fun,” she playfully pouted, leaning across the space between them to kiss down his neck.
“I promise, I’ll be up for car sex after the appointment,” he smiled down at her, “pun intended.”
***
“Relax, Vanessa. Breathe,” Riley instructed.
“It’s been almost an hour, Riley. Something is off here, not to mention I hate waiting.”
“You heard the nurse. The doctor had to go check on a patient at the hospital. Nothing is wrong.”
“Let’s just reschedule,” Vanessa suggested for the third time. “The nurse said we could come back tomorrow.”
“Yes, and she said the doctor wouldn’t be much longer. We’re already here.” He walked over to where Vanessa sat on the examining table, settled himself between her knees and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Relax, Love.”
She took a deep breath, burying her nose in Riley’s neck. She grunted. The door opened behind him the same time Vanessa said, “We should have had sex in the car.”
Riley chuckled, certain the doctor heard what Vanessa said.
“Is something wrong?” Vanessa asked seriously, pushing Riley to the side so she could address the short, slightly plump doctor. She looked to be around forty, and her features were definitely Hawaiian. Dressed in maroon scrubs, she looked haggard and slumped. Her long, sleek black hair was tied into a messy bun.
The doctor smiled. “Nothing is wrong, Mrs. Tate.”
“It’s Doc… just Vanessa.”
Riley laughed. “She gets to call you Vanessa already?”
The doctor turned to look at Riley for the first time, and her mouth audibly dropped open. Recognition crossed her features as her eyes dragged Riley from head to toe. She slow-blinked a couple of times, then enthusiastically extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Dr. Melai.”
Riley smiled politely and shook her hand. “Riley. Her husband.”
The doctor blushed. “Wow. Riley Tate,” she gushed like a teenager, all signs of exhaustion gone. “Here in my office. I’m a big fan. I have all your movies on DVD. I just watched Blind Faith last night. That scene where you…”
“If nothing is wrong,” Vanessa anxiously interjected, “then why did the nurse come in and take my blood? You already tested my urine, why order the blood test?”
Dr. Melai closed her eyes and shook her head a little, trying to regain her professionalism when she looked at Vanessa. “It’s standard. My nurse forgot to take it when she first set you up in the room.” She looked at Riley apologetically, patting her hair in place. “I have three women in different stages of labor. The patient I was checking on will have to have a C-section when I’m done here. Six women have gone in to labor since midnight. Must be a full moon.” She turned to face Vanessa and smiled. “I apologize for the wait and if anything made you nervous. I would, however, like to perform another procedure. Your hCG levels are a little high. I have a theory as to why that is, and I would like to test it.”
“hCG? Pregnancy hormone? So I am pregnant? High is bad?”
Dr. Melai nodded. “Yes, you are pregnant.” She sat on the rolling stool next to the exam table. “Your levels aren’t alarmingly high, just a little in the high range for someone who is eight weeks pregnant. I would like to do a vaginal ultrasound.” She put up her hand to stop Vanessa’s next question. “Yes. It is safe, and I usually like to perform them for the first visit, but a lot of insurances around here don’t cover them. And since I assume insurance really isn’t an issue for you guys, I’m happy I get to use my machine.”
Vanessa looked at Riley who smiled and shrugged. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay.”
Vanessa was settled on the table while Dr. Melai explained the procedure. Once the device was in place, Riley watched Vanessa close her eyes and felt her tightly grip his hand as the doctor looked intently at the screen. “Breathe, Vanessa,” he reminded her, smoothing her hair from her face. “We’re about to see our baby.”
“Make that babies,” Dr. Melai corrected as she turned the screen toward Vanessa and Riley. “See, those little pea-sized dots? There are two of them. Twins. Explains the higher hormone levels and the increased morning sickness. And the pains you told the nurse about? Your uterus is really stretching right now. Perfectly normal.”
Riley didn’t hear much past twins. He couldn’t focus on anything but how Vanessa would react to this. He knew that finding out about the pregnancy was a shock to her, and he was surprised at how well she handled it. However, knowing it was twins may just send her over the edge. He needed to look at her, to say something, but he kept staring at the screen.
What if this was her breaking point? What if it was too much this time? Would she leave him? She wouldn’t do that now, would she? She did it before. And this time it was his fault. Twins ran in his family. Would she blame him? Would she hate him? Twins. How would he handle this? Was he even ready to be a father? To twins? There they were, two dots on a screen. His dots. He was the reason they were there. Two of them. Twice of everything. Twins. Their twosome just became a foursome. Before they were even really a twosome. Vanessa didn’t want this yet. She wanted to wait. No waiting now. How? How could they do this? Would they be able to handle two babies? Diapers. Midnight feedings. Colic. Crying. All times two. Changes. Too many changes. To her life. To his. Too much. Too soon. Too fast. He rushed her. They were supposed to go slow. He did this. His fault. Losing her. Loss. Again.
His chest grew heavy and his head swirled. The thoughts swam around until he felt dizzy. He heard a voice, one he tried to discern. His vision blurred. He was drowning. Someone called his name, and he tried desperately to grasp onto the voice, to hold it like a life preserver, but he lost focus and the room darkened, then blackness pulled him under.
***
“Open your eyes Riley. RI-LEY!” Vanessa beckoned from the darkness. He felt her hands on his face and his arms, rubbing gently. He stirred and took a deep breath, smelling the special spicy/vanilla, fruity/floral scent of Vanessa. It awakened his other senses, and since they worked, he decided to try his eyes. He wanted to see Vanessa. He blinked his eyes open, concentrating on her voice. She was blurry but definitely there.
“What the hell was that?” Riley asked groggily.
“I believe you just had your first bona fide panic attack.” Vanessa smirked and caressed his face. “Welcome to the club.”
His eyes finally focused on her face as she kneeled over him. She was so beautiful, he had to blink several times to make sure she wasn’t a dream. Thankfully, she didn’t look angry.
“Jeez, Vanessa. Is that what you go through every time? Because that monumentally sucked.”
She laughed. “No, Tate. I can proudly say I’ve never had one bad enough that I passed out. But yes, panic attacks suck.”
“How long was I out?”
he wondered out loud, sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck.
“Slow down. Don’t move too fast.” She placed her hands on his shoulders to steady him. “I should have been the one reminding you to breathe.” She smiled. “You were out about a minute.”
“Where is the doctor? Did she see that?”
“Yeah. She did. Sorry.” Vanessa ran her fingers through the hair on Riley’s forehead. “She just left to see if she could find her little flashlight to check your pupils. You went down not too gracefully. Do you have any pain? Did you hit your head or anything?”
Riley rubbed his hands across his head to assess the damage. “I don’t think so.” He smiled sheepishly. “Nothing hurt but my ego.” He snorted. “Some action hero.”
“Yeah, you might feel something in a little bit when the adrenaline wears off.” Her smile faded. “So, you kinda freaked, huh?”
“Yeah… well…” he stammered. “I started thinking about what to say to you if you started to freak out, and I guess that started me thinking about why you would panic, trying your trick about planning for the worst I guess, and it kinda got away from me.”
A peaceful smile appeared on Vanessa’s face. “I’m not gonna freak out.”
Riley felt the disbelief color his features. He asked quietly, “How can you not? We’re pregnant with twins.”
She stood and crossed her arms across her chest, just like the first time they met, tone matching the stern one she first used on him. “First of all, you didn’t just have the elder wand shoved up your cooter to see the babies in your uterus, so unless you plan on figuring out a way to make these babies come out of you, there is no we are pregnant. Capiche?”
Riley tried desperately to stifle the smile he felt trying to escape. “Cooter?”
She rolled her eyes, but her stance relaxed. “And secondly, I like the idea of twins. It’s like the ultimate twofer deal. The best of a BOGO sale.”
