by Anna Scott
After disconnecting with my mother, I called Amber and relayed the plans to meet my mom and sister Saturday night for dinner.
"Sounds good, I'm off this weekend, so whatever time is fine." She reminded me, and I wondered just what kind of stuff we could get up to on her weekend off.
The rest of the day progressed without incident. Things were so calm, so quiet and dare I say - normal - it almost worried me. I'd checked in with Amber, confirmed the dinner plans for the weekend and confirmed that she was well. Having no idea what to do with this strange lull in the excitement, I went about my job. I linked three cases that were as yet unsolved and was able to get a warrant issued on another suspect. By the time seven-thirty rolled around, I looked up at Gavin and asked, "Was that the strangest day ever?"
"Pretty much, I was just waiting for something to jump off."
"You going to play kissy face with Amber?"
"You going to play kissy face with Dawn?"
"Yep, and maybe motor boats and submarines too," I replied, laughing at our childish antics. I followed Gavin out of the station and toward the parking lot.
While driving to Amber's house, I stayed focused on my surroundings, even more, aware than my usual. That eerie feeling was still in the pit of my stomach, though nothing was amiss.
Saturday afternoon Amber was able to pull herself away from her errands sooner than I expected. As soon as we got back to her house, I noted her nervousness. Not wanting her to be out of sorts, I tried comforting her. Apparently, a quick fuck wasn't comforting before a girl goes to meet your mother for the first time - good to know.
We opted for a simple family style meal at my mother's house. She was a wealthy woman, far beyond my own trust funds, but looking at her home and her possessions, no one would ever know it. My father had been the one to insist on servants and a ridiculously large house to mask the nightmare hiding inside. Mom was raised by affluent parents who kept the same family ranch house until they died. Natalie, my sister and I had been taught by our mother that the love of money was the root of evil. Though we may be blessed with abundance, it was essential that we live within reasonable means and give back far more than we took. My mother's wisdom and humility were two of the most beautiful things about her.
When we pulled up in front of my mom's home, I noticed Amber fidgeting. It was a nervous tell that was extremely uncharacteristic for her.
"Sweetness, she'll love you," I reassured, taking her hand in mine and pulling it to my mouth for a kiss.
Nodding her agreement, she faked a wavering smile and inhaled deeply. I watched closely as she straightened her spine, plastered on her brave face and nodded again with more surety.
"Amber, it's so nice to meet you," mom exclaimed the moment she opened the front door. Immediately, Amber was pulled into the warm and loving arms of the woman who raised me.
"Thank you, Ms. Harris, it's nice to meet you too." Amber returned once mom released her.
"Trina, please," mom insisted. While still clutching Amber's hand, my mother stretched up to kiss my cheek and pulled Amber inside.
"Hi, mama," I greeted the much smaller woman and watched a genuinely happy smile cross her face.
"Your sister will be here in a few minutes," she explained and guided us to the sun porch.
Once drinks had been delivered, my girl and my mom settled into padded white wicker chairs for a nice long visit. It took Amber about twenty minutes before she relaxed and let her walls down with my mom.
Natalie arrived late but explained that she'd been held up at work. She was exhausted from the all-night shift and had overslept. Amber started to put those walls back up when Nat arrived, but once she witnessed just how obnoxious my sister was - a trait Amber apparently liked - she stayed out and open.
The sight of all the women I loved sitting around talking was beautiful. I had brought women home to meet my family before, but they never received the instantaneous stamp of approval that Amber so obviously had. The rest of the afternoon turned evening, progressed beautifully and by the time I pulled Amber away it was almost eleven o'clock. The women laughed and smiled all day, thanks to their frequent stories about me. The food had been superb yet simple, and we all retired happily.
The next several weeks flew by without much fanfare. Amber and I were officially out of the closet, and our relationship hit only a few snags. Amber and I worked our normal schedules, I had a few call outs, though nothing significant and Amber seemed to be a pro at handling.
We had dinner again with her parents, but this time, when her father began to insinuate that Amber was in need of a protector, I shut him down. She had been doing amazingly at the self-defense classes each Saturday morning, and I told him so. He quieted quickly, and I watched Amber's mother looking at her husband and then to me with a curious, possibly confused look on her face. I truly hoped that her eyes had been opened, and their ridicule would cease.
We fell naturally into a routine. I started going out for a beer with the guys again on Wednesday nights, after taking a couple of weeks off to make sure she was safe. Amber got better - though wasn't perfect - about using the security system.
Aurora and Amber had been busy, with help from Dawn and Gillian, and threw Hope a huge baby shower. The event was such an ordeal, they closed Indulgence for an entire Sunday. The girls were so wrapped up in planning the extravaganza that afterward, Jake's house was filled with all kinds of baby crap.
All the guys hid over at their new house while the women were busy at the shower. We drank beer and watched a game until we were summoned to cart all the gear out of Luke and Aurora's house. It took four hours for seven men to set up the crib, changing table, swing, and all kinds of other stuff that I didn't recognize.
I watched Amber closely preceding the shower, and after. I didn't notice the depression return. It was a relief, and I hoped that she was turning a corner. I had no idea how she would react when the baby came. I was afraid that she would fall back into the pain of our miscarriage and push me away again. Things were so good between us, I knew it was an irrational fear.
We fell into passion most every night, shared breakfast and coffee almost every morning. Amber and I easily glided into what was becoming a beautiful life. One or two nights each week, we stayed at my condo and enjoyed some of the downtown Dallas nightlife.
Almost six weeks had passed, life was easy, and though we had our share of disagreements - mostly over Amber's diminishing use of the security system - we began building a beautiful existence together.
"Yeah?" Groaning into the phone, I glanced at the clock and saw it was almost three in the morning. The ringtone set for SWAT call outs, or work related calls hadn't sounded, so I worried that something in our peaceful was about to come crashing down.
"Hope's in labor, we're headed to the hospital," Gavin announced tiredly.
Letting out a sigh of relief that all hell hadn't torn loose, I stroked down Amber's arm to wake her but succeeded in irritating the sleeping Snowball instead. After turning on the lamp, I noticed that the little white puff ball was glaring, amber eyes shooting daggers my way. He was one pissed off pussy.
"All right, we'll be on our way shortly. Is everyone okay?"
"Sounds like Hope is fine, but Jake is freaking out. Maybe we should bring him a bottle of something to take the edge off." Gavin joked, though neither of us was surprised about Jake's reaction. He'd been a wreck for months, not wanting to be far from Hope for long. He even took a desk assignment for the next two years, to limit the amount of time he would be on the street and away from her.
Telling Gavin, I'd see him soon, I set down the phone and leaned over to kiss my love awake.
"Just let me sleep through it." She whined, rolling to her stomach and hitching up one leg, presumably giving me access to her pussy.
"I love that idea, sweetness, but now we need to go to the hospital. Hope is in labor."
Holding my breath, I waited for her reaction. I didn't have to wait long.
&
nbsp; "What? Oh my god, okay, let's go." She shrieked, jumping from the bed, dislodging Snowball, who went flying with a loud and irritated meow.
Slipping her feet into flip flops, she grabbed her bag and started running for the front door.
"Hey, Amber, you might want to get dressed, yeah?"
A loud huff sounded from the hall as I heard the slapping of her sandaled feet pounding back toward her bedroom.
"Hurry up!"
With widened eyes, I headed toward the bathroom. After ten minutes of forcing Amber to slow down and finish getting ready, we headed to the Camaro. We'd gone to a nice dinner the night before, and I wanted to take her in the car. She loved it, and I loved seeing her in it. Her glossy light brown hair against the black leather seats was hot. If I wasn't so tall, I would have found a way to fuck her in the tiny back seat. Thinking about it for a moment, I decided that when we finally moved in together we would get a house with a garage, and I would just fuck her on the hood.
"Trent!" Amber shouted, pulling me back from my excellent thoughts.
Since it was the middle of the night, we had to enter the hospital through the emergency room. After being cleared by security, we made our way up to the fourth floor. The small waiting room was quiet, save for the sound of soft conversations. Luke stood in one corner, talking to Jake, who was visibly agitated. Reed sat next to Aurora, who laughed lightly at something the big man was saying. Gavin and Dawn sat across from them, sitting quietly. Dawn was resting her head on Gavin's shoulder, his arm wrapped protectively around her back as he stroked her hair.
Amber broke from my side, tearing her hand from mine and fled to Aurora's side, asking a multitude of questions about Hope and the baby. I heard words like contractions, dilation, effacing and water. I stopped listening and lamented the knowledge that I'd never be standing in the corner, being calmed by a friend while my Amber was in labor. Though I would never tell her, I'd give anything to fill her belly with my baby again, but this time, I wanted to watch her grow and change with pregnancy. I dreamed of bringing a new, beautiful life into the world with her.
She blamed herself for the miscarriage and the devastation it brought after. It was more than I could ask her to bear again. In a few months, I planned to ask her to marry me and after that, we could talk about adoption. We could still fill our home with love and laughter, the joy of children, we just had to find another way to do it.
After a few minutes, a nurse stuck her head in the room and told Jake he could go back into the room with Hope. I stifled a laugh, as he broke away from Luke without a word or glance to any of us and ran, full-bore, down the hall.
Aurora, Amber, and Dawn took turns going into Hope's hospital room. Upon their return to the waiting room, each of them had a similar expression of humor and blissful excitement. I watched Amber closely for any sign of upset, but she displayed only great excitement and eagerness to hold the next member of our extended family. With all this group had been through together, we were much more than friends. Sometimes, family consisted of the people you chose, not just the people you were born to.
Gavin had fallen asleep about an hour before the door opened to our small gathering place. A timid woman peeked around the door. She was familiar, I remembered seeing her at Jake and Hope's wedding reception. All of us knew the story of Hope's childhood, and the presence of her mother at the hospital made me worry that her father wouldn't be far behind.
Seeing Aurora, the woman gave a hesitant smile and walked toward her and took one of the available chairs. For a reason, I hadn't yet figured out, I watched Hope's mother closely. It was obvious that she cared deeply for her daughter, but either hadn't been strong enough or hadn't cared enough to protect her own daughter from an abusive father. Then later, she didn't help her move past the abusive ex-boyfriend. I thought it was the first, she didn't appear strong. She clasped her hands together and twisted the blue cotton of her long skirt nervously. I noticed her struggle at holding Aurora's eye contact as well and that made me wonder what the result would be at home if she looked her husband in the face when he spoke to her.
At Dawn' return to the room, Aurora stood and held a hand out to guide Hope's mom to see her daughter.
"Is your husband here?" Luke asked, standing as the women did, and looking down at her with a mixture of empathy and contempt.
"Um, no, he stayed at home."
Nodding, I heard Luke mutter, "Thank god," as the women cleared the threshold. I knew that the last thing we wanted at the hospital was Hope's father.
Looking around the room at my friends, and thinking about the ones just down the hall, I considered how many of us had at least one shitty parent. Aurora's had been good, though I only met her mother. She had been a kind and loving woman. Luke's parents were likewise loving if a bit crazy. His mother seemed like the quintessential Texas housewife now, but some of the stories I heard about her teenage antics were epic. Jake and Gavin both had good mothers, though Jake's mother had passed some years back. Each of them, like me, had shit for fathers, though. Hope was fucked on both scores, her mother was beaten down, as my mother had once been, but mine never stood down and allowed shit to happen to her children - at least not that she knew of.
Thinking about my own mother now, she was fierce. When she testified at my father's trial, she was strong. Trina Harris held her head high and gave it all to the jury, no matter how bad she may have looked. She was brutally honest and helped put that dickhead in prison. Amber's parents were good, though overly protective, to the point that I worried that they might have made her question her own abilities and maybe even her own worth. Reed's parents had been good. They were simple farmers, in love, though quiet until his little sister became ill. After a long, arduous bought with a rare form of cancer, she died. From what I understood, that devastation had broken them financially. They subsequently lost their farm due to the tremendous debt which had piled up. Reed's father took his own life about the time Reed turned twelve, leaving his mom and Reed to make it alone. She was a gentle, quiet woman who had worked as a church secretary from the time her husband died and from what I knew, she still worked for the same pastor. She was a devout woman, but not afraid to give a swift correction if she felt Reed was out of line. I knew that his manners and gentle nature were thanks to his mother's influence.
Resting my head against the wall behind me, I allowed my eyes to close, while my fingers stroked through Amber's long hair. The peachy scent emanating from her relaxed me further, and I drifted.
"Honey, wake up." Amber's breath tickled the side of my neck as she whispered into my ear.
"Hey, how long was I out?" I asked, looking around the now bright room and clamped eyes on the man standing in the corner, scowling.
"Almost an hour."
Leaning forward, I gave her a perfunctory kiss on the forehead and rose to standing. I noticed Reed standing to the man's side. Reed was speaking in low tones while glancing around the room. I noted that Luke and Gavin were both absent.
"You're not welcome here." I heard Reed say as I walked toward the duo. Mr. Lewis straightened, his glare intensifying. He focused on Reed, stupidly, since Reed was a good seven to eight inches taller, as well as stronger all around.
"Hope is my daughter, and I'll be here to see my own grandson."
Looking for the chairs that were once occupied by Aurora and Mrs. Lewis, I saw that all the women in the room had gone, save for Amber. Not wanting to ask after them now in the midst of this latest nonsense with Hope's father, I held the question and joined Reed, blocking the man's view of the room.
I wasn't as tall or broad as Reed, but at just about an inch shorter. My much leaner frame was quick and taking that asshole would be no problem for me.
"You were not invited. Hope and Jake don't want you here."
"I've done nothing wrong, and am entitled to be here if I please."
Nodding his reluctant assent, Reed growled, "Fine, but one nasty word and you're out."
The douche has
the audacity to scoff as we made it back to our seats. For the moment, we ignored him, not wanting any more drama than necessary. I knew without a doubt that the man's wife, Elaine didn't invite him. Her relationship with Hope has been tentative at best and from what I saw at their wedding, she was eager to spend some time with her daughter. Jake made it clear months ago, that if Elaine wanted to see Hope, she had to leave George at home.
After George's verbal assault on Hope when she was in the hospital, there was no way Jake would have the man around his wife or his son. It had been after her ex-boyfriend stalked and beat her savagely that Jake walked in on the tail end and escorted his future father-in-law out of the hospital and warned him. Since then, as far as I knew, there hadn't been any contact.
Thirty minutes had passed before the door opened to the cramped waiting room. Elaine Lewis let out an audible gasp when she caught sight of her husband.
Amber and Dawn followed, with Luke and Gavin close on their heels, taking their seats once again.
Mrs. Lewis walked to her husband and appeared to be pleading with him, quietly. His escalating anger was visible on his bloated red face.
"Where were you guys?" I asked, looking to Gavin, still wondering how George Lewis got into the room. Luke was watching George closely, resigned annoyance clear on his face.
"Went down for some-"
Gavin's words were cut off when the door slammed open, a wide, delighted smile prominently displayed on Jake's face. It appeared that he'd grown another inch or two, he stood tall and proud as he shouted, "He's here!"
Leaving her husband, Elaine rushed to Jake and took the much larger man into her arms, like a mother would and held on. Various hiccups and sobs rang throughout the room. Each of us stood to congratulate the new father.
Shaking his hand, and giving him the obligatory one armed hug, I congratulated Jake and moved aside when Amber pushed me. Chuckling, I watched as my tiny sprite of a woman launched herself into Jake's arms shrieking her own best wishes. As she'd been the night before, she was exuberant, manic even. Her behavior registered as odd, but I shook it off and appreciated that the baby's arrival hadn't plunged her into that deep depression once again.
