Shadows: A Love Ever After Series

by Amber Lacie

  “I’m okay. Just kind of out of it, I guess.”

  “Do you have someone here with you today?”

  “Kayla is in the waiting room.”

  “Okay, good. Here are some general pamphlets for you. Basically, what to do and not to do. Tylenol is safe if you need some, and you should start a prenatal vitamin. Just make sure it has some folic acid in it. Carrie, my nurse, will set you up with an appointment for your first ultrasound. It looks like your last period was almost ten weeks ago, is that correct?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well if I had to guess, I’d say your anywhere between six to eight weeks. Carrie will be right in to help you set things up, and your next appointment with me will be in about four weeks. It was nice seeing you, Eve. Oh, and congratulations.” She smiles and shakes my hand, and leaves the door cracked open a bit.

  I hop down off the exam table, and quietly walk over to the door. I swear I can hear Bridgette’s voice, but I brush it off as being in my head.

  No sooner do I close the door, the nurse walks in. She hands me a bunch of papers and we set up a time for the ultrasound on Friday. I take relief in knowing that I have three days to tell Theron, but I dismiss it, because I know I must tell him today.

  Kayla is scrolling through her phone when I walk back out into the waiting room with my stack of papers in hand.

  “Hey.”

  Kayla looks up from her magazine, trying her best to give me a soft smile, but all I see is pity.

  “Hey. How did it go? What did you find out?”

  “I’m definitely pregnant.”

  “Honey, we knew that already. Did she say anything else?”

  “She said that I’m most likely six or eight weeks pregnant, but I don’t see how that’s possible. I just moved back in with him. Before that, we hadn’t had sex since…Oh. You’ve got to be kidding me.” I squeeze the bridge of my nose with my fingers, inhaling deeply through my nose.

  “What? Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

  “The night Theron left me. We had sex and then he left in the middle of the night, leaving me a stupid fucking note. Kayla, that was almost eight weeks ago.”

  “Okay?”

  “Kayla, he left me when I was pregnant.” Blood. Why do I taste blood? Shit. I am chewing on my cheek again. I can’t believe this is happening.

  “Oh, no. I’m not letting you go there. Neither he, nor you knew anything about your little bump. You cannot use this against him.”

  “Fuck my life.”

  “Um, sweetie, Theron already did and look where that got you.”

  “Kayla! You are not helping right now.”

  “And neither are you, all you are doing is causing a scene. Come on, let’s get you home.” She links her arm in mine, dragging me along with her.

  Poor Kayla had to pull over twice on the way home. Perhaps toast, orange juice, and all the water I drank, wasn’t a good idea after all.

  I feel like crap when we pull up in front of the house. I shove my papers and pamphlets in my purse and say goodbye to Kayla. She has already done enough for me today, so I turn her down when she offers to stay with me.

  I go to open the door, but then I remember Theron saying we were going to give Evan the guesthouse. Crap. I don’t know which house to go into. I call Theron, and of course, it goes to voicemail.

  “Hey baby. It’s me. I don’t know which house I’m supposed to go into. You and Evan are both gone, so I’m just going to go into the guesthouse and lay down for a bit. I love you. I’ll see you when you get home.” Hitting the end call button, I head into the guesthouse.

  It still looks the same and our clothes are still in the closet. I shed my clothes and throw on one of Theron’s t-shirts. I am physically and mentally exhausted. Sleep sounds really good right now. Pulling back the covers on the bed, I make myself comfortable, close my eyes, and drift off to sleep.

  “Eve, I need you to wake up and I mean really wake up.”

  I open my eyes and find Theron pacing back and forth. Sitting up, I rub my face with my hands. “What’s going on?”

  “We need to talk and I need your full attention.”

  “Okay.” No, it is not okay. The knot in my stomach tightens, and my mouth fills with warm spit. I jump off the bed and push him out of my way, as I run to the bathroom. Theron doesn’t leave. He just stands in the doorway, watching me throw the entire contents of my stomach up into the toilet. I lie on the floor and curl up into the fetal position, pressing my cheeks against the cold tiles.

  “Eve. What is this?” I don’t have to look at him to know what he’s asking. Tears stream down my face, and I try my best to hold back the sobs so desperately wanting to come out.

  “Eve. You need to tell me what this is right now!” His voice booms, echoing around the room, causing me to jump. This is exactly what I was afraid of. He is not going to want anything to do with me now.

  “Damn it, Eve. I am giving you a chance to make this right and you’re not using it.”

  “Make what right, Theron? I’m fucking pregnant. Is that what you wanted to hear?” My voice is nothing but strangled cries.

  “I know.”

  “You know? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “I got a text about thirty minutes ago, congratulating me on knocking up the gold digger. Their words, not mine. I had no clue what they were talking about, or who it was from, though I’d place all my bets on it being Thomas.” He runs his hands through his hair. His gaze never drifts from me. I swear I can feel his eyes burning into my skin.

  “I decided to come home and check on you since you were sick yesterday, and I find the contents of your purse spilled out on our bedroom floor. Do you know what I found, Eve?”

  Once again, I am speechless. Of course I know what he found. I put the damn papers in my purse. “I was going to tell you, I just wanted to make sure.”

  “Right. I’m guessing this is why you spent the day with Kayla yesterday. This would also explain you feeling like shit yesterday and right now, wouldn’t it?” I can’t respond.

  I sit up and grab some tissues to wipe off my face. If he is going to be an ass about this, then I am going to be a bitch about it.

  “I planned on telling you when you got home. I had no idea someone was going to text you, nor do I know how they found out. I’ve only just had it confirmed today.”

  “Do you know how bad this hurts, Eve? You should have told me when the first thought crossed your mind. I should have been there with you yesterday. Hell, I should have gone with you today. That’s my baby. I have a fucking right to know what’s going on with you and you hid it from me!”

  “I didn’t mean to hide anything from you! I didn’t know how to tell you, I just wanted to know for sure. That’s why I went to the doctor without you today.”

  “How am I supposed to know you’re telling the truth?”

  I look at the paper in his hand and recognize it immediately. It is the paper that I got from the nurse confirming my pregnancy. “Turn the paper over, Theron.” He looks at me confused, as if he can’t understand what I’m saying.

  “The paper in your hand, Theron. Turn it over.” Theron slowly turns the paper over and his eyes drift over to me in shock.

  “I didn’t…I didn’t see it.”

  “What does it say?”

  Theron sits beside me, and pulls me into his lap, kissing the top of my head. A kiss is not an answer to my question. “You still haven’t told me what it says.”

  “I’m so sorry. I was a complete dick. I didn’t even give you a chance to explain things. I thought you were going to run again. God, I’m so sorry.”

  “Damn it, Theron. What does the paper say?”

  “It says, ‘Congratulations, Daddy. We love you.’”

  “Like I said, I was planning on telling you when you got home. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the tests I took yesterday. I guess I needed to come to terms with it.”

  “Tests? As in m
ore than one?”

  “Kayla and I didn’t know which ones would work better, so we bought every kind they had. I had to have taken around seven of them yesterday.”

  “And between the puking and the tests, that wasn’t enough proof for you?”

  I shrug my shoulders. They are extremely lame excuses, but at the time, they made sense.

  “I just wanted to have everything together when I told you. I wanted to be able to give you something I could show you. I was so scared you would leave me.”

  “Beautiful, that’s never going to happen. Come on, let’s get you off this floor. It can’t be comfortable.”

  “To be honest, it is. It’s cold and it feels so good against my face. I think I’ve fallen in love with this tile.”

  “It will be fine. I’ll take care of you. You won’t need the tile.” He scoots me off his lap and stands. “Can you walk?”

  “I’m pregnant, Theron. My legs work perfectly fine.”

  “Right. Sorry, I was just worried you might feel sick or something.”

  He pulls me up from the floor and leads me out of the bathroom. I crawl back up onto the bed and Theron plumps up the pillows behind my back, propping me up so I can sit comfortably.

  He is hovering over me, asking me a ridiculous amount of questions that all end with me responding, ‘I’m okay’.

  “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do.”

  “Stop it. I’ve said I’m fine. If I gave you something to do, would it make you feel better?”

  “Immensely.”

  “Fine. Stop hovering over me. Just lay with me and hold me for a bit.”

  “That I can do.”

  Theron slides in beside me. He lays back on his pillows, pulling me to him. At first, he draws small circles on my shoulder, but then he moves his hand to my back.

  My stomach starts to knot, but I refuse to let it ruin this moment. Rolling over, I lay flat on my back with Theron’s arm under my head. He turns onto his side and splays his hand across my stomach.

  “We made this. This tiny little thing you are carrying, we made it.”

  “It’s not a thing. It’s a baby. It’s our baby.”

  “Our baby. Beautiful, I love you so much. What are all of those other papers you had in your purse?”

  “Just a list of do’s and don’ts. The doctor wants me to start taking some vitamins, but other than that, it’s just general information.”

  “Hmmm. This list you have, what does it say about sex?”

  “We’re not allowed to have sex for at least a couple months.” I bite my tongue to keep from laughing at Theron’s expression. He looks absolutely horrified. I can’t contain myself anymore. I lose it.

  “Tell me you’re joking. Eve, this isn’t funny.”

  “Oh my God, you should see your face. It was fantastic…I should have recorded it…It was pure horror.” I am laughing so hard that I can barely catch my breath.

  “Your face—” I can’t even finish my thought, before I snort. Damn it. I had the upper hand until that happened.

  “Did you just snort? You’re laughing at me and you’re the one snorting? You are incredible.”

  I use my t-shirt to wipe the tears out of my eyes. It felt really good to laugh like that. Theron places a kiss on the top of my head, and draws my attention back to his hands, which are now sliding under my shirt and up to my breasts. Electricity cracks in the air, and the mood of the room changes instantly.

  “You’re mine.”

  Cupping my breasts, he pulls and softly tugs at my nipples.

  “Say it.”

  I hesitate for a second because the urge to be a smartass and repeat him word for word is great, but when I look into his eyes, I see light dancing in dark green seas and amber flecks sparkling in the chocolate pools. I know he needs to hear those words.

  “I’m yours.”

  Soft kisses trail down my neck, across my jaw, and back to where they started just below my ear. I shiver from his touch. He leans over me, grasping my face in his hands. My eyes sweep over this man beside me, and I fall deeper in love with him. His touch, his taste, his words wrap me up and send me away to a place where it’s only just him and me. Nothing else matters.

  His fingers barely graze my skin, as I bend my legs to help him slide off my panties. Theron crawls over me and kneels between my legs.

  “Sit up.” His hands slide under my shirt, skimming my back as he grabs the hem, pulling it over my head. My long brown locks fall down my back, leaving a couple of strands resting on my shoulder. He wraps them around his finger winding them tightly, as his other hand wraps around my waist, holding me close to him.

  “I have loved you since the first moment that I saw you on the beach. The sun was so bright behind you that all I could see was the silhouette of a beautiful girl wrapped in light. You looked like an angel. When you smiled at me, the wall around my heart cracked, but the sound of your voice was what completely knocked it down. I knew in that moment you were going to save me. You were the reason for my smiles that summer and every smile since then. I love you, Eve.” He presses his lips to mine. His tongue brushes my lower lip and I open to him. Our tongues collide in a feverish rush. He pulls away from me, dragging my bottom lip through his teeth.

  “Now lay back, I’m going to worship your body like you deserve. I’m going to make love to you until neither of us can walk.”

  I lay back, my head resting on a pillow. Theron lifts my left leg and kisses the arch of my foot. He slowly works his way up my leg, leaving a trail of soft kisses up to my stomach. He stops between my hips and whispers, “You pay no attention to what I’m about to do to your mom. It’s between me and her only.”

  I laugh as he looks up at me with a huge grin. God, I love him.

  Kissing my stomach, he works his way back down my other leg. Taking my foot in his hands, he starts massaging it, making sure to get every muscle. This feels so good, but now I am feeling way too relaxed.

  “Theron, you’re making me sleepy.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Mmhmm.”

  “I’ll have to wake you up then.”

  His hands slide up my thighs, up to my pussy, spreading it open with his fingers. His lips are soft at first, but soon his tongue takes over, and any sense of taking this slow is out the window.

  I am desperate for his touch. He is my drug and I am his addict. My fingers scrape his scalp, as I tighten my grip in his hair. I am rewarded with a growl and a soft bite to my clit. My back arches, as I grind onto his mouth. His hands grip the back of my thighs pushing them back and to the side, spreading me open for him, his fingers digging into me.

  “Ahh.” My muscles protest as they stretch, but they are easily forgotten when the familiar warm feeling creeps up my spine, spreading over my body.

  “Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”

  Sucking my clit into his mouth, he thrusts two fingers into me. He curls them up, hitting and stroking my wall. My legs are shaking, my back arches, pushing my breasts into the air. He flicks his tongue over my clit, as he swirls it in his mouth and I come completely undone.

  “Theron!” His name leaves my lips, as I soar higher than I ever have before.

  Opening my eyes, I can see his face glistening from my orgasm, as he crawls up my body. Leaning down, his lips crash into mine. His tongue sweeps into my mouth and I can taste myself. I have never been so turned on in my life.

  He pulls back, taking my lower lip with him, dragging it through his teeth. His mouth moves to my neck, nipping and licking as he goes. My skin is alive and his breath is hot in my ear.

  “I’m going to fuck you now. Wrap your arms around my neck and don’t let go.”

  Wrapping my arms around his neck, I tuck my head against his shoulder. He pushes me down with his upper body, pushing my legs back as far as they will go. His arms wrap around my neck, and hold onto the back of my head, as he pounds into me. It is hard, rough, and animalistic. We groan and grunt as our bodies slam
together. It’s so deep that it’s almost painful. I can feel his grip tighten and I know he is holding back. I moan, as I lift my head just a little before sinking my teeth into his shoulder.

  “Fuck!”

  He rams into me one last time, as I feel his cock throb inside of me, triggering me to lose myself once again. My orgasm is soft and wraps around me, floating me back down to Theron’s arms.

  “Baby, I’m so sorry. I don’t think I can do slow with you, beautiful. I can’t control it and I lose myself in you.”

  “I never said I wanted it slow. That was your idea, babe, not mine.”

  “I don’t deserve you.” Placing a kiss on the tip of my nose, he pulls himself from me and softly lowers my legs to the bed. “I love you. Please, don’t keep things from me.”

  The guilt that had escaped me when I told him I was pregnant, now finds itself back into the pit of my stomach.

  I close my eyes and curl up next to him, ignoring the small knot reminding me of my secrets. I push away the thought of the notes. We don’t need any more problems right now, and sheets of paper are just sheets of paper.

  Eve

  “Oh. My. God. Why is this so good?” I am sitting at the island, licking the last bit of my dinner off the spoon. Theron laughs and takes my bowl from me, setting it into the sink.

  “It’s just soup.”

  “I know, but it’s so good and I don’t feel like puking. That makes it even better.”

  “I’ll let Evan know to keep the ingredients on hand for Rebecca.”

  “So, when you said you were going to send Evan out for soup, what you really meant is that you were going to have Rebecca make me some and have Evan bring it over.”

  Taking a seat next to me, he grabs my stool and pulls me closer to him. A soft smile forms on his face, but it seems forced. I can see the worry in his eyes.

  “Something like that. Listen, tomorrow I have my meeting with the board to announce my purchase. I’m going in expecting the worst. The board doesn’t need Thomas anymore to meet with me, since I own majority, but he may show. I can’t stop him either. He’s going to figure out what I’m up to eventually, and I’m worried about what he will do when he does.”