by Amy Marie
After first period, it was a green pen. Confused by what he meant, I quickly figured it out when he brought in a green sticky note pad the next time. Later, it was a green Gatorade, green sharpie and green sheet of construction paper that said “falling so hard”. I was ready for last bell, so I could get him away from here and put my hands on him.
~~
Since it’s Friday, school passes by at a snail’s pace. It seems to do that when you are looking forward to the first weekend after the year starts and it’s a three day one at that, not to mention Walker has me completely keyed up. I shouldn’t complain. I love that we are keeping each other on our toes. I am nervous though. We leave for Michigan today and in just a few short hours, I will be meeting his parents who have no clue I am pregnant.
The final bell rings and the students of the last class flee out of their seats and start to yell over each other. I pack my stuff and decide to finish grading during the car ride and shut the lights off in the room hoping to get into Walker’s arms sooner than later.
“Erin!” Emma yells all the way down the hall.
What the hell does she want? I’ve had to deal with her constantly talking about Walker and double dating; even though he keeps telling her he has a girlfriend. She is getting on both of our nerves, and I’m not even sure how much longer I can take her crush on him. I’m hoping she doesn’t bring it up again because while I am patient and waiting to make our relationship public until next week, Walker is fed up from hearing Robert’s name, and that I haven’t at least told Emma we’ve long been broken up.
“So, I was thinking...” she starts, students still milling around the hallways. “Since Walker seems to be hung up on that bitch of a girlfriend maybe we can all go out casually. You know, show him how amazing I am. What are you and Robert up to tonight?”
I cringe and a menacing baritone voice speaks before I have the chance to rip her throat out. “I don’t know what Robert is doing tonight but Erin has plans, with me. And I don’t want to hear you call her a bitch ever again.” Shit.
“Walker...” I warn as students still hover around us. He’s sure to get called in for the language.
“No, Erin, this stops now! I’m sick of hearing his damn name.” His voice rises just a bit before little giggles surround us.
Yup, definitely getting called in.
“What’s going on?” Emma chimes into our discussion, which should be private. “My comments weren’t directed at Erin, but I’m sorry you overheard. I mean, sorry I said it.”
“What’s going on is that Erin and my girlfriend are one in the same. She is no longer with that moron you keep pairing her up with on double dates. She won’t be dating him and I won’t be dating you.” His words remorseless, Emma takes on the look of a hurt puppy.
“Walker, apologize,” I scold. “That was mean.”
“Emma, I’m sorry but please don’t put the mother of my child’s name in the same sentence with that douche. She is better than that.” He snakes his arm around my waist at the same time as I tense up.
Gasps and then silence.
“WALKER!” I yell bringing his attention to the fact that he just told the entire school I am pregnant.
“What, baby? You’re mine.” He seriously doesn’t know what he said.
“You’re pregnant, Erin?” Emma looks for clarification.
Looking down at my fingers that are wrapped around each other I give her the answer. Knowing it’s nothing to be ashamed of I look up. “Yes.”
“What is all this noise in my hallway?” Principal Callow interrupts. “Aren’t you all supposed to be heading home?”
“Mr. Callow,” Liz’s ear to ear smile answers. “Ms. Decker is pregnant and Mr. Prescott is her boyfriend.”
Emma awkwardly turns to walk away. Walker lets out a small breath that tells me what just happened doesn’t bother him at all, and I pull my hands over my face while Principal Callow tries to clear the halls.
“Aren’t you supposed to be married to have a baby?” Asks the small voice of a student I don’t recognize. “That’s what my mom told me. Are you and Ms. Decker married?”
“I’m working on it,” Walker replies as he’s looking at the ground and bends down on one knee.
Oh. My. God.
“Walker, get up! You are not proposing to me right now!” I command, completely mortified by his constant insistence of taking our relationship further every chance he gets. Girlfriend, fiancée, move in, marry him, and have four babies. My head is spinning.
“Baby, I’m tying my shoe.” He laces up his brown Doc Marten and a feeling of utter humiliation and misunderstanding shoots through my body. He grabs my hand but doesn’t get up. “But someday soon I will be down here, asking for your hand, with the most beautiful ring you have ever seen and promising to love you day in and day out until my last breath. Do you understand?”
“I understand. Today is not the day to do that and I need time. A lot of time.” I tug on him but he doesn’t stand. Most of the hallway has cleared at this point and the remaining audience doesn’t deter him.
“I’m sorry everyone found out this way. You know me; I don’t hold back what I want to say and it had to be said. She needed to back off.” His hands grab my hips and his thumbs rub over my baby bump directing his words to my stomach. “I love you, little one, and one day soon I’m going to tell your mother how much I love her and how I can’t see my future without her in it...but shhhh. Keep it our little secret.” His eyes meet mine. “She isn’t ready to hear it, yet.”
“My office, now!” Mr. Callow’s angry words bring me back to my surroundings.
~~
Principal Callow wasn’t upset that we were a couple or the fact that I was pregnant and would most likely not be here for a portion of the second semester. He was, however, a bit pissed at the production that Walker caused in front of students. If we didn’t want gossip, we would be sadly disappointed. As we sat in the office the principal fielded three calls. Parents were being nosy more than anything else, wanting to confirm the rumor that their child had told them.
Promising to keep our relationship professional and private at school we left in our separate cars, me still fuming from his lack of respect for my choice in waiting.
He more than made up for it when he arrived at my house an hour later. Shoving me up against the door after I shut it and releasing all the days tension away with his fingers, while whispering how I wouldn’t be holding him back any longer. I was his to do with as he pleased, and in the middle of his pleasuring me, I would have agreed to anything.
So much for the rules.
“Say it, Erin. Say you are mine to do with as I please,” he commanded, holding my orgasm hostage.
“Yours,” I whispered. His long fingers moved faster and I came apart.
Walker’s fingers dance up my thigh as the sun is setting behind us sending me into complete submission. Since his demand of not to hold back just hours before, I’ve let go. The past week was spent denying myself his touch. If my body longed to rub against his, I would deprive it. If he reached to touch me intimately anywhere besides my face, I would push him away. But not anymore. Something changed. As mad as I was for what he pulled at the school, I felt as though I was free. With the exception of his parents, everyone knew now and I didn’t have to hide it anymore. Trying to keep it quiet felt wrong, but this baby deserves to feel like the blessing that it is. After tonight, I would be fully able to immerse myself in this pregnancy and not stress. I can’t wait.
I must have dozed off for a little while. When I came to, Walker was pulling into the driveway of a beautiful brick home. Two stories with a red door that had what looked like a handmade wreath. The wraparound porch completed the entryway with a beautiful white swing built for two.
“This is beautiful.” My gaze falling to the two car garage with a boat parked on one side of the driveway.
Parking the car, Walker grasps my chin bringing my face to his and lightly kisses my parte
d lips. “No, you’re beautiful.”
A blush creeps across my cheeks and out of my peripheral vision, I spot two shadows on the porch. His mother and father are anxiously waiting for us to get out. I pull my overly large purse in front of my white maternity tank top and jean shorts as I step out of the car hoping to cover my stomach since my zip up is in the trunk. The shirt would give me away in a heartbeat, and I want Walker to tell them, not for them to guess.
When we are within his mother’s reach she opens her arms and Walker embraces her while shaking his father’s hand. Gesturing to me, he makes introductions. “Erin, these are my parents, Jack and Savannah Prescott. Mom and Dad this is Erin Decker, my girlfriend.”
Gripping the purse tighter to me, we exchange greetings and I reach to shake hands with them, but true to Walker’s form he doesn’t hold back. “And this...” he pulls my bag away from me, lovingly gliding his fingers over my protruding belly, “is your soon to be grandchild.”
~~
“Walker, they hate me!” I sob on the bed of our shared room. His parents had two separate bedrooms for us but after his announcement they figured he couldn’t do any more damage.
His mother barely looked at me after hearing the news, and his father just stormed into the house. His promise that they would love me and be excited was bullshit. Dinner was silent except for some small talk about the weather and how the first week of school went. They didn’t even ask how far along I was or how we met. I wish he would have eased them into it or at least warned me. I guess I should have known better.
“Baby, they don’t hate you. They just need to get used to the idea.” The bed dips as he sits and hands me a tissue, rubbing my back. “I guess I could have told them more gently.”
“YOU THINK?” I yell, standing up and stalking to our bathroom to throw away the Kleenex I just snotted in. “God, Walker. We’re here for three nights! Three days! And you thought telling them like that would make it easy?”
Turning around, his boxer clad body now leans in the doorway with a sad look. “I’m sorry, baby.”
All at once I want to reassure him, smack him, and rip the last piece of clothing off of him. I go with reassurance.
“It’s fine. You can’t undo it. We can work on them tomorrow because I refuse to leave with them hating me.” I walk into his embrace, wrapping my arms around his upper body. He puts his arms around my shoulders and places a soft kiss on my hair.
“Again, they don’t hate you. We’ll work on their excitement about it though. I promise by the end of the weekend you will have them as much wrapped around your finger as our little girl will have me wrapped around hers.”
I smile into his bare chest. Usually we call the baby “bean” or say “them” or “their.” This is the first time either one of us has said boy or girl. “You think it’s a girl?”
His embrace gets tighter. “I don’t care either way, but I want one at some point. Hopefully within the four we will be having.” His hand slides down grabbing a large portion of my ass.
My body stiffens. “Let’s just focus on this one.”
“For now.” He swats my behind and leads me to the bed.
~~
I barely slept. Worry about seeing his parents in the morning consumed my thoughts as Walker’s quiet snores echoed through the room. As the sun shined in through the large window adjacent to the bed, the snoring ceased and the wandering hands began.
“Walker. Stop.” Swatting his hands away, I pull the covers off and stand to stretch.
“How can you tell me to stop and then push your beautiful breasts out at me like that?” He points out my hard nipples pushing against the fabric of my sleep shirt.
I pull my arms down covering them and walk to the bathroom. “Get up! There is some quality family time to be had.”
Splashing some water on my face, I am startled when Walker’s hands grip my hips and his morning hardness presses into my backside. “You’re carrying my baby, Erin.” He pushes further into me squeezing out a moan from me. “Anytime I am with you...or inside you, is quality family time.”
I look up in the mirror to see him staring at his hands around me, lust in his eyes. His statement makes me want to bring him back to the bed and show him how much it affected me. Up until right now I never even thought about us being a family. I’ve been so wrapped up in trying to figure out if I should let him in and trust him that I didn’t realize that whether I do or not he is my family.
My nerves kick in after we get ready for the day and make our way to the kitchen. His parents are already sitting at the table with coffee in hand and his dad holding the newspaper. It reminds me a lot of my parents on any given morning. My dad read the newspaper from front to back each and every day.
“Good morning,” Walker’s mom greets us. “Would you two like some coffee?”
Her tone is loving and sweet and she has said more words just now than last night.
“I’d love some but Erin can’t,” he tells her then looks to me. “Want some juice, baby?”
With my nod, he heads to the fridge, and I take a seat at the table.
“Erin, listen. We got off on the wrong foot. My son can be...” She pretends to think about it, but I know exactly what she is going to say. “He likes the shock value of things and has no brain to mouth filter. I’m so sorry I reacted that way.”
She laughs along with me but the moment is short lived when Jack interrupts.
“How do you even know it’s my son’s child? According to our phone conversations about you, the fact that you are what...sixteen weeks, and you had a boyfriend just before him. How do you know, Erin? Did you even consider that he is only twenty three years old?” His dad slams his hand down on the table, spilling coffee everywhere.
“Dad!” Walker’s tone makes me jump higher than his dad’s fist and he is in his father’s face in a flash. “Don’t you ever, and I mean ever, talk to her like that. Do you hear me? This baby is mine and I wholeheartedly accept that with open arms. She is my world and I won’t allow you to treat her as anything other than that. She is carrying your grandchild and you get to choose right now if you want to be a part of his or her life or not!”
“Walker. Jack,” his mother says, trying to cool the situation down. “Let’s just calm down.”
“I won’t calm down, Mother. He needs to apologize to her.” Walker’s standoff with his father doesn’t falter but in the end he loses. His dad stands up and stalks out of the room, leaving us all in an awkward silence.
“Erin, I will apologize for my husband. He doesn’t take to these things as well as I do.” Her sea green eyes look to me for forgiveness.
“It’s okay, Mrs. Prescott. I understand his concern. I hope you know that I am one hundred percent certain this little one is Walker’s.” My hands touch my belly protectively as I watch Walker stride out of the room.
She places her palm on top of mine and with an unshed tear in her eye she says, “I hope once he realizes his over reaction that you will be able to forgive him.”
“There isn’t anything to forgive...at least on my end.” I watch the empty doorway Walker exited through and follow him.
The front door is open, but Walker is nowhere in sight. I hear heated words coming from the open garage across the yard. Curiosity gets the better of me and I tiptoe towards what can only be Walker and his father.
“...and she is priority in my life now, Dad. You have no right to question her.” Walker’s raised voice echoes out from the open side door.
“Son, I’m looking out for you. Don’t you think I have your best interest at heart? I don’t want some girl you barely know stringing you along like Tiffany did.” His father’s tone intensifies.
Walker loudly sighs. “She is NOTHING like her. Erin is kind and sweet and she would never lie to me.”
“Maybe ask for a DNA test, Walker. That’s all.” His voice lowers.
“A DNA test, Dad?” Walker yells. “Are you kidding me? Next you’ll ask me to
get her to sign a pre-nup.”
“That would be wise but I hope you don’t plan on asking her to marry you anytime soon.”
“Actually I do. I’m in love with her and when that beautiful woman gives birth I hope for her and my child to have the Prescott name.”
I run. Far. I know we’re falling for each other. Two weeks is too soon to love someone. Isn’t it?
~~
An hour later, Walker finds me resting in our bedroom, laying flat on the bed gazing out of the window towards Lake Michigan. I’ve only seen it from the Illinois side and it’s seems calmer on the east side of it. He doesn’t say a word to me.
The bed dips beside me and warm arms lay across my lower belly. His fingers tease my skin just above the waistband of my shorts. We lay there for what seems like hours but are probably only just a few short minutes. I relish in his touch. It feels amazing across my skin. Goose bumps poke out of my flesh and escalate when light kisses glide over my exposed neck. His words repeat over and over in my head. I’m in love with her. I’m in love with her.
His pinky breaks the blockade of my waistband, lightly brushing back and forth. “Walker,” I protest. As much as yesterday’s school day foreplay has me ready to mount him, I still feel terrible. “We need to talk.”
“Shh. Baby. Not now. I just need to touch you. Let me touch you,” he pleads. Something he doesn’t normally do.
I give in, letting him push my shorts down and give me release underneath his skilled fingers. Unlike last night, this time it feels gentler, and I quietly call out his name. Exhausted from the sleepless night and the orgasm he has given me, I try to muster the strength to return the favor. Despite Walker telling me it was all for me, he relents and I take off all his clothes. Placing my mouth on him, I drag my tongue down the bottom of his shaft dragging my fingernails over his thighs. His hands grip me at the nape of my neck and a deep moan escapes from the back of his throat.
