The Core Four Series

by Stacy Borel

  Stepping inside, my senses were assaulted by the smell of cut wood, and plastic. I had only been inside a store like this a couple of times. Once when my dad needed to get a spare key made for the house and I was just a kid. And another time when I was in high school and I wanted a candy bar and figured they’d have one at the registers. Other than that, I was a fish out of water. Glancing around, I saw aisles labeled by what was down them. Gardening, paint, cabinets, tools.

  Bingo.

  I may not have known exactly what I was doing, but I was after something in particular. I only knew what it was because I’d seen some shows on HGTV. I walked down the aisle marked “Tools” and started looking. I was only a few feet down when I saw it: a sledgehammer. Pretty sure it’s what I needed to take down the wall that has been driving me nuts.

  “Can I help you, Ma’am?”

  I spun around and faced a man that reminded me of my grandfather. He was shorter than I was, with stark white hair, glasses that were about an inch thick, and wearing a pair of suspenders. Only thing that identified him as an employee was his name badge. His name was Ed. He looked like an Ed.

  “Yes, sir. I think I am going to purchase this sledgehammer so I can take down a wall in my house.”

  He looked at my face and saw I was dead serious, then he glanced at my protruding belly.

  “A sledgehammer is a start. Are you building up a new wall in its place, or opening up the space?”

  I thought about it. “Definitely opening up the space . . . I think.”

  “Taking down a whole wall can be quite a bit of work. Do you have someone to help you out with it? I’m not so sure a pregnant lady should be swinging that heavy hammer.”

  Time to lie. “Oh yes. My boyfriend will be my trusty sidekick.” My pathetic attempt at making this sweet little old man smile just wasn’t happening.

  “That’s good. Do y’all have wire cutters, safety goggles, and dry wall to patch the exposed parts?”

  “Well, no since I only just decided to take on the project. I got as far as figuring out I needed something big to take it down.”

  Ed was making a confused face. “Yes, Ma’am. Well, how about we get those safety goggles, and some heavy sheets to put down on the floor so those don’t get damaged.”

  I pointed my finger in the air like it was the best idea ever. “Good thinking. Definitely don’t want to damage my beautiful wood floors. Pretty sure my boyfriend would kill me if I ripped a hole in that too.”

  Still nothing. Maybe my humor was only funny to me at the moment. Erm, okay time to go. I reached out and grabbed the handle of the sledgehammer and lifted. Fuck me, this sucker was heavier than I expected. I should’ve grabbed a cart. Wonder if it would be frowned upon if I drug it down the aisle caveman style. Best not to try. Using both of my hands, I hefted the tool up, and walked toward the checkout counter. Ed met me, and handed me two pairs of clear safety glasses.

  “Thank you.”

  “You bet. And might I suggest you have someone else do the swinging for you. I’d sure hate for you to hurt yourself trying to do home improvements on your own.”

  I saluted. “Aye, aye, captain.”

  He gave a subtle head shake before he went back to his work area. The old man certainly meant well, but I wasn’t going to let his safety concerns diminish my mood. I was excited. Taking down the wall was going to completely open the space, and make it feel larger. The baby needed larger. I needed larger. I had no idea if Dodger needed it too, but he was certainly going to get it. Wonder how mad he was going to be when he got home today and saw the mess.

  After I checked out, I drove back home. I thought about what the man had said about wire cutters and dry wall. I hadn’t really considered the fact that there were likely electrical wires that I could hit, or the gaping patches of dry wall that would be missing. Eh, Dodger could fix it. I was pretty certain I would be able to get most of the wall taken out before he got home.

  I unloaded everything that I’d purchased and laid it out in the living room. I heaved the couch and love seat against the opposite wall next to the front door, and moved a large standing lamp into the kitchen. I knocked on the wall with my knuckles trying to hear the difference between a hollow sound and where there might possibly be a stud. Lord knows if I hit one of those, the whole damn house may come down.

  It took me a good hour to prep the area where I covered the floors, marked where would be a good spot to hit, and then I stood back and assessed. Slipping the glasses on, and turning on the surround sound, Foghat’s “Slow Ride” blared through the speakers. I put the sledge hammer up on my shoulder and I wiggled my hips to the beat. I felt like the female version of Thor right now. Pregnant belly and all. I was a bad ass soon to be momma and I was going to build shit. Yep, let’s do this. The sledge hammer was in both hands as I let it fall to parallel to my waist. I was bringing it back and starting the forward momentum when I heard the front door slam behind me.

  “What the fuck!” Dodger hollered over the music.

  I spun around, the tool still moving in the direction I led it. It hit the wall with a sharp crack. I winced.

  “Have you lost your god damn mind? What are you doing?”

  Oh shit, he was mad. I pushed the safety glasses up to the top of my head, and gently set the overweight tool down on the floor, leaning against the wall that was now cracked, and speckles of dry wall covered the sheet.

  “Hey, babe, you’re home early.” I watched as he turned off the music. “I wasn’t expecting you home for a few more hours.”

  I gave him an unsettling smile. This was going to be painful. I heard the ass chewing before it even came out of his mouth. He dropped his bag, and didn’t take his piercing blue eyes off me for a single second. His fingers were wiggling by his sides like he was in a western movie about to have an old fashioned gun slinging shoot out.

  “I’m going to ask you again. What do you think you’re doing?”

  Rolling my eyes and trying to brush it off like it wasn’t that big of a deal I said, “Well, this morning, I couldn’t stop thinking about how this place would be so much more incredible if it were opened up. Like the living room would flow straight into the kitchen instead of being closed off. I decided to get dressed, go to the hardware store to grab a few things, and I was going to have this all done and taken care of before you got home.” I tried smiling again, but I’m pretty sure it looked awkward. “How come you’re home? Everything okay?”

  Deflect until you’re blue in the face, Macie.

  “My last patient this morning cancelled and I decided to clear my schedule this afternoon to spend time with you. Apparently, it was for good reason.”

  “Awe, you wanted to spend time with me?” Keep deflecting.

  “Macie, I know what you’re doing and it’s not going to work. So please explain to me what my crazy, almost nine-month pregnant girlfriend is doing trying to put holes in our walls all by herself? Without my knowing none-the-less.”

  “What does my being pregnant have to do with anything?”

  He growled. “Everything. You’re swinging a heavy ass tool, which would probably send you into labor.”

  “Nah.” I waved him off.

  He took a couple of steps towards me as I took a step back.

  “You purposefully didn’t do this when I was home because you knew I’d say no, didn’t you?”

  “Oh, Dodger, don’t delude yourself into thinking I wouldn’t have. I don’t need your permission to tear down a wall, nor do I need your help. I’d do it with you standing right here next to me, or with you still at work.” Okay, maybe I wouldn’t have. And he did technically have a point. But when you were a woman on a mission like me, labor-schmabor.

  “Somehow I doubt that.”

  “Well, I’m going to have this baby at some point. What does it matter if it kick starts it while I’m doing some home renovations?”

  “Now you’re just being ridiculous.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him.
Between the growing stomach, losing sleep, excessive hunger and peeing, my sanity was going right out the window. There’s so much you’re told you can’t do when you’re pregnant and it’s annoying. I didn’t want to be told I was crazy for doing something that wouldn’t be a big deal if my body wasn’t being used as an incubator. As I nurse working with women like myself day in and day out, I knew what I was doing wasn’t the wisest choice. I probably would have passed judgement if I was anybody else looking at me right now. I was reaching the stage where I was done feeling like the skinny girl stuck in this foreign body.

  “Are you calling me crazy?”

  He tilted his head. “That’s not what I said at all.”

  “You might as well have.”

  “Come on, Macie. Seriously, if you wanted the wall taken down, all you had to do was ask.”

  I nearly roared back at him. “Ask to do something in my own home? Nope!”

  He came toward me and held my hand up halt him. “No, I’m saying I’d be the one doing the heavy lifting. I wasn’t saying you had to ask if you could or not.”

  Enough. I put my hands on the handle of the sledge hammer.

  “Macie, don’t you even think about it.” He warned.

  I looked at him and cocked my brow. “Watch me, Mr. Brooks.”

  As quickly as I hefted the heavy thing up off the floor, it was snatched out of my hands, and I was being picked up and carried off to the master bathroom. Dodger turned on the bath water and set me down on the counter.

  “What are you doing?”

  “We’re taking a bath,” he stated coolly.

  I gaped at him. Who was the crazy person now? “I’m not taking a bath.”

  “Yes, we are.”

  I crossed my arms in defiance. “Dodger, you can pick me up and carry me off anywhere in this god forsaken house, I’m still taking down that wall. And I’m not taking a god damn bath.”

  He stripped his shirt off and tossed it into the hamper. My mouth started watering. My pathetic attempts to be stubborn waivered, but I wasn’t blind. His rippled abs, and trail of hair that led from his belly button to his cock was enough to shut me up. He smirked at me. My mouth parted. Unbuttoning the top of his jeans, I watched with rapt attention. This man of mine really was beautiful, and he was using it to his advantage. He came over to me and grabbed me by my wrists. Lifting them straight up in the air, he let go and took ahold of the hem of my t-shirt. He pulled it up and over my head and threw it where his laid. I was wearing a not so flattering bra. But I wasn’t going to go waste money on new ones that fit these oversized globes. My belly hadn’t been the only thing that was expanding.

  “Bubbles, or no bubbles?” he asked.

  I shut my mouth and shook my head. He chuckled.

  “Always so stubborn.”

  “No, I just don’t like being told no.”

  “Get in the tub, Mace.”

  “I also don’t like being told what to do,” I sassed him.

  He exhaled loudly through his nose. I was frustrating him. “Macie, I swear to god, you don’t get in the fucking tub, I’m going to chuck your pregnant ass in there.”

  “That sounds a little aggressive don’t you think? Might put me in labor.” I tried mimicking him.

  He put both of his balled fists on either side of me on the counter, pinning me in place.

  “Woman, I just came through my front door to find my pregnant girlfriend swinging a hammer that likely weighs more than she does. I’ve had an old man fart in my face when I tried popping his hip. Camden used all of my favorite cream that I put in my coffee and didn’t tell me, so I haven’t had a single cup yet. And now I’m dealing with the most challenging pain in the ass I know. It’s safe to say, I’m not having the greatest of mornings. So please, do me a favor and get in the tub so I can relax a little today.”

  I bit my lip. “Someone farted on you?”

  “Are you going to laugh?”

  “Nope.”

  He cracked a smile. “Yes, you are.”

  I snorted. “Did they at least apologize.”

  Dodger relaxed a little and kissed my nose. “He’s old. I don’t think he even realized he did it.”

  “That’s terrible. Who knew that would be a hazard of the job.”

  He grabbed my hand and led me to the tub. He removed his pants, while I let mine fall to the floor and I dipped my toe in. He’d made it toasty warm. As I sank down in our oversized Jacuzzi tub, I was slightly bitter my stretched belly would no longer submerge. I frowned. Dodger sat down opposite me and placed his hand on my bare stomach.

  “It’s not going to be like this forever.”

  “What, are you reading my mind over there?”

  The corner of his mouth tipped up. “Nah, I just heard you talking to Keegan about it the other day. For the record, the belly is quickly turning into one of my favorite things.”

  “Lies. All lies, but I’ll let you keep telling them to me.”

  “Come over here.”

  I shifted to his side of the tub, the water sloshing around. I certainly wasn’t getting around as easy as I used to. He assisted by opening his legs to allow me in between them and giving me his hand to help pull me that direction. I settled, my body facing away from his, wrapping my hands around his ankles under the water and my thumbs rubbed back and forth over the soft skin.

  “Comfortable?” he asked.

  “Mhmm.” I sighed and closed my eyes, letting my body sink into his.

  He kissed my shoulder, and put his hands on my stomach.

  “Seems I have a hole to fix in the morning.”

  “I don’t want that wall there anymore.”

  “I didn’t mean I was going to patch it. I’ll ask Dad to come over and help me take down the rest of it. I just need to make sure there aren’t any load bearing spots before it comes down.”

  “Mmmm, okay.” I started to doze off.

  Dodger and I stayed quiet for quite some time. The water grew cooler, and he turned the water spigot back on while he drained the cold stuff. I was sure I was going to turn into a prune, but I didn’t care. This was the most comfortable I’d been in weeks. That was until my hair was brushed away from my neck and lips started kissing a trail up to my ear lobe.

  “What are you doing?” I quietly asked.

  He didn’t answer. Teeth scraped along the sensitive skin, and despite the new warm water, I broke out in goosebumps. Why was he trying to get me riled up if he wasn’t going to do something about it? Or maybe I was.

  “It’s time, Mace,” he whispered.

  “Time for what?” I tilted my head so he could get better access.

  “No more walking around here in your teeny tiny underwear teasing me. No more falling asleep with your hand on my ass hoping that I’d give in. No more dressing and undressing in front of me while you’d bite your lip, hoping I’d crack. I know you’re mine. You’ve been begging without saying the words. And as unattractive as you think you are right now, I’ve never seen someone more beautiful.”

  His words hit right where I needed them to. Dodger’s hands were leaving a trail of fire across me as he reached below my stomach and swirled his finger around my clit. He touched every part except the sensitive nerve endings that desperately wanted to fire off the moment there was contact. Even with all the fluid around me, I could feel just how wet he was making me.

  When his index finger flicked across the little nub, my body shook. I moaned and curled my toes. He did it twice more. Same thing. I had no clue how he planned on having sex with me in this tub, but he had better have it figured out or I’d be turning around and doing some squats over him.

  Dodger’s free hand came up and cupped my breast, squeezing and releasing. He tweaked my nipple, causing it to harden with the attention. The sensations rolling through me overloaded my senses. I pushed back slightly, feeling his hard cock between us. He felt what I’d done and paused briefly.

  “I need you,” I said.

  “Good.” He ra
n his tongue up my neck. “I’m going to tell you what I need for you to do. I want you to stand up, and lean over the tub, hold onto the wall, and put one leg on the edge. Think you’ll be comfortable doing that?”

  “Mhmm.”

  He flicked my clit a few more times. I was frozen. I needed for him to continue doing that. If I came from him touching me that way, it would make everything else more sensitive. He knew what I wanted and gave it to me first. He touched so tenderly back and forth over the nerves, building me to a place that I knew I’d come crashing down from. I was on the edge of my first orgasm when he pinched my nipple so hard that I cried out and the orgasm overtook me. Dodger didn’t let up rubbing my clit. He forced me to feel the aftershocks. My legs clamped shut around his hand. My breathing was rapid and I needed a moment to recollect myself.

  “Need help standing up?” he asked.

  “Maybe a little push.” I teased.

  He placed his hands on my back and I used the sides of the tub to help lift my body up on already shaky legs. I glanced back at him as he stood up behind me. Water trickled down his naked form, and his cock stood out, hard and glorious. I craved him. I wanted to turn around and relish every inch of him, but I didn’t have the energy or the maneuverability to do it right now. I’d be sure to make up for it when I was no longer pregnant.

  Getting into the stance that he explained to me, I knew my pussy was fully exposed for his viewing as I was bent forward holding on to the wall.

  “You’re so perfect.” He groaned as he stroked himself.

  “I can do that for you.”

  I wiggled my hips and pushed my butt out further. I knew he saw the glistening wetness from him making me come.

  “No. Touching myself, seeing you waiting for me like this . . . It’s exactly how I imagined it.”