I coughed again. “About thirty. It’s had to be close to that by now since she left. That leaves us with no time because I have to try to salvage what’s left of the food and will need your help getting this smoke out of here.”
Max scowled. “Damn. Later then.”
I smiled and agreed. “Later.”
* * *
“Nikki said you’ve been having some problems, son,” Jerry remarked at the dinner table. “That you’ve been battling some terrible demons. Is that the reason why you didn’t get on the flight?
We were all eating dinner. Fortunately, the food hadn’t turned out too bad, thank goodness. Only a few pieces of the chicken were burnt. And by the time mom returned, Max and I had been able to clear out all of the smoke. Mom said something about the food being burned, but that’s it.
“Well, Nikki’s wrong,” Max growled, taking a bite out of a large piece of his fried chicken.
Jerry ignored Max’s ungracious response. “You know if you have a problem, you can talk to us anytime.”
Max continued to eat, not bothering to reply. I sent a quick nudge under the table at Max’s feet. He looked over at me and I gave him a ‘c’mon expression’. There was no reason for him to be rude with his dad. His dad had no clue that I’d lied on Max to protect our secret.
“You know,” Jerry continued. “I’m worried about what will happen with you not showing up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Max replied flatly. “I’m handling it.”
My mom reached across the table. “Max, honey, come on. Don’t be this way with your father. I mean, we hear all the time about people coming back from the service with problems like this. Some, if they don’t get the help they need, can wind up hurting themselves or others around them.”
Oh god.
Now I could understand why Max was being so rude. Dealing with my lie was going to be a headache.
And to make matters worse, it’s all my fault why they are doing this to him. I found it amazing that Max had forgiven me through all of it.
Max clenched his jaw, looking absolutely frustrated. “Look, I’m fine. I don’t know why Nikki told you guys that, but I don’t need help. Yeah, I’ve had a few issues while being deployed, but nothing you guys should worry about.”
“I think Max just needs a little time off is all,” I blurted. I wanted to try and get them off Max’s back before he exploded on them and the truth of what was really going on somehow came out — we definitely didn’t need that yet. “Can we just eat for now and talk about this stuff later?”
My parents stared at me as if surprised I’d suggest such a thing.
Mother broke the tense silence a moment later saying, “I guess I’ll go take a quick tinkle. The wine moved right through me.” Pushing back her seat, she got up and left the table.
I guess Jerry saw that as a hint to keep laying into Max.
“Provided that you’re not in trouble with the military, I’m going to set you up with a therapist,” Jerry said.
“Gee, thanks, Dad,” Max growled sarcastically. “But I don’t need it.”
“It’ll be good for you.”
The two began bickering with each other, not quite shouting yet, but getting there.
“Cut it, you two!” my mom snapped as she stepped back into the dining room. She walked over and sat back down in her seat, grabbing her glass and taking a huge gulp of wine.
Mom glanced between the two men. “Can we just please get off this now, Jerry? Max obviously doesn’t want to talk about this right now, so let’s not ruin dinner.”
Jerry stared long and hard at his son. “All right.”
I was so busy staring at Max, trying to tell him with my eyes to just go along with it for arguments sake, that I barely heard my mom’s next words.
“Besides, we have bigger things to talk about.”
A confused expression came over Jerry’s face. “What do you mean?”
Staring at me while shaking her head, she took something out of her lap and placed it on the edge of the table.
Oh my god.
Across from me, Max’s eyes went wide and his face turned white.
“Nikki, my dear,” my mom said, her voice low and dangerous-sounding.
“Yes?” I felt like I was going to throw up.
She pointed at the pregnancy test sitting right in front of her. “Care to explain this?”
Chapter 17
The silence was deafening as I stared at the pregnancy test with horror, my heart beating within my chest like a war drum. My mind raced to find an excuse, some lie that I could tell my parents, but nothing believable surfaced.
I was totally and utterly fucked.
How could this have happened? I wondered. I thought I threw that thing away.
And then I remembered. Passionate kisses, groping hands. When I’d taken Max into the bathroom to show him the results, we’d ended up in a passionate make-out session that’d been interrupted by the smoke alarm. I must have dropped the pregnancy test and forgotten all about it.
Looking for help, I glanced over at Max, who was staring at the thing with an odd look on his face.
“Well?” Mother demanded. “Explain this Nikki.”
Isn’t it obvious? I thought.
I licked my lips, wondering if it was worth even attempting to try to lie. And then I wondered if Max would back me up if I did. Looking at him, I couldn’t get a feeling of whether he wanted me to be honest or not.
“It’s mine,” I said finally.
An audible gasp left my mother’s lips and I waited for the explosion that was sure to come.
Before she could start yelling at me, Jerry asked, “Who’s the father?”
I paused, looking at Max. He stared back at me, his expression resigned, and gave me a slight nod. It appeared he wanted me to just come out with it. I’m sure he was ready for the charade to be over. Besides, our parents believed Max had serious problems, which I guess he did, just not what they thought. Telling the truth would free Max from that burden and set things right.
Taking a deep breath, I lowered my head and whispered, “Max.”
“What?” Mom asked. “What did you just say?”
“Max is the father,” I repeated.
Surprisingly, Jerry burst out laughing, smacking the table with his palm. “Good one, Nikki!” he gasped. “That was a nice joke that you . . .” his voice trailed off and the mirth fled his face as he noticed the solemn expressions on me and Max’s faces. His eyes flickered back and forth between us both before he started shaking his head. “No,” he said in denial. “Nope. This can’t be true. I don’t believe it.”
“I don’t either,” my mom added in. “Max just came home. How on earth can you be pregnant?”
“Max is the father,” I insisted. “I haven’t been with anyone else.”
She stared at me. “So you mean to tell me that you have been sleeping with your stepbrother under our roof?”
I nodded.
A visible flinch shook her body and she went to grab her wine glass, probably to gulp it down but wound up knocking it over instead. It broke in two upon impact as it tumbled off the table, the red wine soaking into the white table cloth and dripping to the floor, looking like blood.
“Shit,” she cursed, quickly grabbing her napkin and dabbing at the spilled wine.
“It’s the real reason why Max stayed,” I continued, my eyes on the soiled cloth. “He’s going to be a father.”
My mom stopped dabbing at the spill and looked at me. I expected an explosion. Honestly, I was surprised she was taking this so well. It was making me extremely nervous.
“How did this happen?” she asked me, sounding more calm than I was comfortable with.
I glanced at Max for direction and he gave me another slight nod. He still hadn’t said a word. Taking a deep breath, I explained everything, my crush on Max, my desire to keep him at home at any costs and my stupid mistake that led to my pregnancy.
Silence
reigned once again after my tale. I braced for a big blowout, envisioning my mother reaching across the table to choke me with her bare hands. Instead, she just stared at me as if she was looking right through me, and Jerry had his hands clasped together, his forehead resting on them.
He’s hanging his head in shame, I thought miserably. Because he can’t believe this happened.
“I want you both to know,” I continued in the awkward silence. “That everything I just told you is true. This was an honest to God mistake. I didn’t mean for it to happen. It was totally an accident. I swear.”
“With your own stepbrother, though?” Mom asked stiffly. “Why did you allow any of this to even start?”
While my mother’s tone was disapproving, it lacked strong condemnation.
Why isn’t she trying to murder me? I wondered.
“Well, like I said. It all started the day he came back. We got drunk and things got carried away . . . one thing led to another and then . . .”
Jerry suddenly looked up and asked, “What do you have to say about all this?” He stared at Max expectantly, who hadn’t spoken a word the entire time.
“It’s true,” Max said, looking at me. “Nikki loved me so much that she didn’t want me to leave.”
Jerry’s expression didn’t change with Max’s admission. “And do you believe her about this? That she didn’t mean for this to happen?”
Max studied me instead of immediately responding in my defense. I must admit, it hurt a little. “Yes,” he said finally. “I believe this was all a thoughtless mistake. Clearly Nikki wasn’t thinking about the consequences her actions might have caused. Please believe me when I say, I absolutely love being in the service and was looking forward to going back, but I don’t hold a grudge against Nikki for what she did. And I don’t want you two holding a grudge against her either.”
“Besides,” Max added, “if we kept up with the way we were, she could’ve ended up pregnant regardless with how we were going at it.”
Jerry looked at me then. “You told us that Max had PTSD.”
I swallowed. “I know, I was put on the spot. I didn’t know what to say. It was the only way I could make you guys believe that there wasn’t something going on between us.”
Jerry shook his head. “Don’t you know what an awful thing that was to do, Nikki? How worried we were?”
There was nothing I could say to that. I was ashamed by my actions. I stared down at the table, my cheeks burning.
Max, bless his heart, spoke up for me. “It’s okay, dad. I totally understand why she did it. You guys should as well. The good thing is about of all this is that I’m fine.”
“And the bad thing is that she’s pregnant,” mom muttered.
“I think you’re being too nonchalant about this whole thing, son,” Jerry insisted. “Being a dad is hard work, even more so if you want to be a good one.”
Max shrugged. “Not much I can do about it, Dad. It happened, she’s pregnant, and we can’t change it. It disrupts my current plans, but I’ve accepted it.”
“What I want to know is was how did you intend to hide this from us?” my mom asked me. “You would have started showing sooner or later. All this lying just seemed pointless.”
“We would have thought of something,” I replied weakly.
“Yeah? Like what?”
I didn’t reply.
“Well, none of that matters now,” Max broke in, saving me. “It’s all in the past. The only question remains is if you guys are willing to accept it as we have. But I have to warn you, we’ve already discussed the topic, and Nikki will be keeping the baby regardless of whatever you two may decide.”
Mom and Jerry exchanged long glances. It was Mom who finally spoke. “I don’t even know of much to say right now, I’m still a little stunned. To say that I’m hurt and angry is an understatement, and I’m sure I’m only going to get angrier as I have time to process everything. I strongly disapprove of what’s happened, but I’ll leave it at that for now so I don’t say anything I regret. I will say that I don’t know if you two are ready for a child.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but she raised a stern finger to silence me.
“But, as you said Max, you two have both discussed this issue and have already made your decision.” My mother looked at me, a sad expression on her face. “You have your whole life in front of you and you have a lot of growing up to do, and fast. I do hope that you two prove me wrong.”
Max looked to his dad. “Dad?”
I held my breath waiting for Jerry’s response, my limbs filled with tension.
Slowly Jerry nodded at my mother. “I’m with your mom on this. I disapprove of the relationship, but if you guys are going to go through with this, I’ll support whatever decision you make regardless of my reservations about it.”
Relief flashed across Max’s face and swept through my body. I couldn’t believe we’d gotten through the discussion without someone being hurt. It all seemed have gone too good honestly.
“I just have one request,” my mom said to the both of us.
“What?” Max and I asked in unison.
She gave us both very stern looks. “Please don’t sleep together while in this house. This is going to take a while to get used to and I definitely don’t need to hear or even think of what’s going on in your bedrooms.”
Chapter 18
I listened to the sounds of running water while I flipped through a sports magazine lying on Max’s bed. It was later on in the evening. After a long discussion that lasted several hours, our parents finally went to bed. I would have gone to bed too, but Max asked me to follow him up to his room.
I’d just stepped in when Max announced that he wanted to take a quick shower before discussing what we’d do about our current situation with our parents. While they had taken the news of my pregnancy surprisingly well, Max didn’t want to take any chances and wanted contingencies in place just in case they changed their mind after everything set in.
A muffled sound from the bathroom adjacent to Max’s room caused me to look up from the magazine. Max had probably dropped the shampoo or something. When I looked up, I noticed that the bathroom door was ajar.
My heart began pounding in my chest as naughty thoughts invaded my mind. How much would it hurt to take a peek?
I’ll just take one little peek and then I’ll shut the door, I told myself.
Setting aside the magazine, I rolled off the bed and crept over to the bathroom door. I gently pushed the door open. Immediately, a blast of warm, humid air hit my face as steam escaped the bathroom.
Inside the steamy bathroom, I could barely make out Max’s naked form through the clear glass shower door. Still, I could see enough of his magnificent body as he cleaned himself.
I watched him turn, giving me a view of his chiseled ass cheeks. The right butt cheek was obscured by a cloud of steam but I could see his left. Then he turned back around, and I watched as he lathered himself, taking extra care with his cock and balls, the internal heat inside of my body rising along with the steam coming out of the bathroom.
Down below, I started to feel an ache. I was so fucking hot watching him.
Please don’t sleep together while in this house.
It seemed like an impossible request. Max and I needed each other like bees needed honey. We were made for one another.
Unconsciously, my hand slipped down the front of my skirt and into my panties. I began rubbing myself as I watched him. Inside, Max threw back his head, his hair flying back, and he let the water run down his neck and chest, rinsing the rich lather away. He looked so sexy in that moment that it hurt.
He lifted his head and then looked down at his magnificent body. Slowly, he ran his hands down his chest and then abs until he reached his cock. He started flopping his flaccid, but hung cock around, slinging water everywhere. I watched as his cock quickly grew hard and he began stroking himself.
My lips parted into a moan as I imagined myself inside
of the shower with him, down on my knees, servicing him. My mouth watered, I wanted him inside with him so bad, but I would try my best to respect my mother’s wishes.
I leaned against the door jam, my legs suddenly weak as I rubbed furiously. Max continued to stroke himself, gradually picking up speed until he was thrusting his cock through his fist, humping the air.
“Ohh,” I groaned, rubbing myself in a circular motion, getting my juices all over my fingers.
Max pumped his chiseled ass cheeks in and out several times before letting out a gasp. He continued stroking until every drop of his seed had been washed down the drain along with the hot water.
The water abruptly shut off and I quickly stopped in disappointment. I’d been close, but I couldn’t keep going. While we were now partners, I didn’t want him to know I was sitting there rubbing myself while watching him in the shower. Reacting quickly, I pulled the door until it was only slightly ajar, and quickly ran back to the bed.
I used some kleenex beside the bed to wipe off the stickiness on my hands, a little surprise that Max might smell later, and quickly snatched up the magazine and pretended to leaf through it.
He emerged from the bathroom a minute later, dripping wet, wrapped only in a white bath towel. I looked up from the magazine and it was hard not to stare. Max looked so incredibly sexy.
“How long was I in there?” he asked me.
“Not too long,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady. My eyes drifted down to his crotch area where a large bulge pressed against the towel, and then I quickly jerked them away.
But I know what you did while you were in there, you naughty boy, I thought, images of Max stroking his big cock flashing through my mind. I knew he probably did it to ease the urge to have sex with me and could respect my mother’s rule.
“Good. So what do you think we should do?”
I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“About our parents.” Max crossed the bedroom and went into his walk-in-closet, reemerging a second later with some black boxer shorts that sported a white waistband. Not giving me a second glance, he dropped his towel to the floor, revealing his beautiful cock for a quick second before slipping into them. “They took the news far too well for my comfort.”
Homecoming: A Secret Baby Romance Page 6
