“Yes, I’ll read you this book, climb in,” she coaxed while pulling the covers down.
“I’m going to take a shower. Are you okay?” Cory questioned, lightly holding her wrist.
“Yes. I’m fine, Cory. Stop worrying about me, okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that,” he sarcastically replied.
Alexis moved on top of the covers with Riki and opened the book. Her long day on the farm must have worn her out. She never asked one question, and she was out before the end. Alexis closed the book and stared up at the ceiling.
Cory took her hand and made her follow him twenty minutes later. He stood face to face with her, running his hands up and down her arms. “I don’t know what to say to you, Lex,” Cory quietly admitted.
“You don’t have to say anything, Cory. I hate that I did that to you in front of my family. I didn’t mean to leave you there like that. I—I panicked.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about, Alexis. I was ignorant. I should have never dumped that in your lap like that, not today.”
“When did you buy the ring?”
“A week ago when I had to go into Philly for that seminar. The convention was right across the road from Calloway Jewels. I got a good deal, and I knew I was going to put it on your finger. I was just planning on waiting until Christmas. I should have known better. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. It’s my hang up not yours.”
“I’m going to refrain from asking what that means for now. Travis and Jim just dropped off cake, you want to go downstairs and eat junk food with me?”
“Will you be mad if I abstain? I’m emotionally drained. I just want to crash.”
“No, I won’t be mad. I get it. Go to sleep. I’m going to eat cake.”
“I love you, Cory.”
Cory pulled the covers back and kissed her forehead. “I know you do. I love you, too.” Alexis removed her flannel pants and crawled into bed. Cory covered her, kissed her forehead, and turned to leave her. What else would he do?
Alexis’s head hit the pillow and she called after him. “This isn’t me rejecting you, I swear. I’m just tired.”
Cory flipped the light off and tried to smile. He just didn’t have it in him. He, too, had an emotional day that he needed to de-stress from. “Go to sleep.”
Alexis did go to sleep, like instantly. The emotional day barely played out in her mind while she drifted into a peaceful rest. She slept a good three straight hours before waking alone. Her eyes squinted, looking to the neon blue numbers, and then she crawled out of bed. It was nearly one in the morning. Where was Cory?
Wishing she had pulled on a pair of pants, Alexis tugged at the end of her shirt, feeling the cool air travel from her bare feet, up her legs. She found Cory sitting on the porch swing with his elbows on his knees, rocking back and forth from his heels to his toes. A row of beer bottles lined the floor in front of him, six total.
“Are you having a party?”
Cory raised an arm and wrapped it over her bare legs when she moved beside him. “Sort of. You okay?”
“Yes, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“How big is our baby, Cory?”
“I would say about the size of a sesame seed.”
“Like on a hamburger bun?”
“Yes. Like on a hamburger bun. Come on, let’s go to bed, you’re shivering.”
“I’m fine. I’ll sit out here with you if you want.”
“No, I’m drunk. Let’s go to bed.”
“Why are you drunk?”
“Dumb, trying to make sense of all of this as much as you are, Lex. I’m an idiot. I wish I could take that back.”
“Cory, don’t. Neither one of us can go back and change anything. It’s stupid to keep thinking about it.”
“Would you?” Cory took her hand and made her stand. Alexis knew what he meant, but questioned it nonetheless.
“Would I what?”
“Would you do it all over again, or would you change it?”
“I wouldn’t change a thing, Cory.”
“Not even that epic proposal?”
“Except that,” Alexis teased with her arms wrapping around his neck. Cory kissed her and led her inside. He crawled in bed behind her and wrapped her in his arms. Alexis closed her eyes, and took him in, all of him. She did want him, she wanted his baby, and maybe someday, she’d be Alexis Baker, just not yet, not because of a baby. Alexis drifted off to sleep rather quickly, once again. Cory, not so much. He watched her sleep and kept his hand securely over his baby.
The next time Alexis woke was just after daylight. She sat straight up from a dead sleep, jumped up, and ran to the downstairs bathroom, praying she made it. Trying to make it downstairs to keep from waking Cory was a fail. He was right behind her, running hot water over a washcloth for her.
“Oh God, Cory, I can’t do this every day for nine months,” she solidly assured him while holding the rag over her face.
“It won’t last nine months, come on,” he said with a tug, pulling her up from the floor and to the living room. Alexis didn’t believe him. Bernie lived in the bathroom for nine months. Cory was lying.
She dropped to the sofa and moaned. She was dying. “Will you get me some Pepto?”
“No, but I will get you some crackers and a Coke. You can’t have the Pepto anymore. It has aspirin in it.”
“I hate you.”
“You won’t always. What do you want me to do? Do you want something to drink?”
“No, just lay with me.”
Cory moved to the sofa and Alexis passed out on his chest, or maybe he passed out. Regardless, Riki woke her just after eight.
“Me want a dwank,” she said close to Alexis’s face. Cory didn’t even stir.
“Okay, come on,” Alexis whispered while moving Cory’s arm and taking her hand.
***
Morning sickness became an everyday part of Alexis’s life. She didn’t have morning sickness. She had morning, afternoon, evening, and the middle of the night sickness. The least little thing could trigger it: the smell of toothpaste, syrup, coffee, and everything in between. She even stayed at Cory’s house in town for three nights, because of her brothers’ spreading shit on the fields. It was miserable. Her brothers let Mr. Dog out in the morning, fed him, and let him back in before they left.
The news of the new baby was hardly acknowledged. Alexis talked about it if asked, but avoided conversation about it with Cory. He finally had to make the first appointment to get her to go to the doctor. She was too busy with work, or Riki, or her parents; always something.
“I’m dying. I can’t go,” Alexis complained the morning of her first real baby appointment.
“Come on, you’ll feel better after a shower.”
“Just for the record, we’re never doing this again. We’ll both get fixed. I’m one and done.”
Cory laughed and pulled her to her feet. “I’m good with that. I wish I could help, but it’ll get better. I promise.”
“Right now, I don’t believe you, but really, Cory, you don’t have to come with me. They’re not going to do anything today.”
“I know, but I missed all of this with Riki. I want to.”
“Okay, why don’t you run Riki over to Sam’s while I get ready?”
“I thought we were taking her.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Um, okay. Why? I thought you wanted me to take the whole day off so we could go shopping for curtains or something you wanted to get for her.”
“We’ll do that another time. I want to do something else and I’m afraid it’ll take a while and she’ll get bored,” Alexis explained while lifting her shirt over her head.
“Stop taking your clothes off in front of me. Where do you want to go?”
“Do you see this?” Alexis asked with a single finger pointed up, showing Cory a huge blood blister on the side of her pinky. “That’s from trying to get Riki fastened in the back of that dam
n Jeep. I’m over it. We need a more kid-friendly car.”
“You want to trade in your Jeep?”
“Yes, something with four doors.”
“But you love that Jeep.”
“Yeah, but I love Riki more, and if this baby would stop making me sick, I might love it, too.”
Cory chuckled and pulled her to him. Alexis stumbled into his chest as she tried to kick off her sweats. “Stop it, I just puked five minutes ago. Did you see me brush my teeth yet?” she questioned with curved eyebrows, turning her head to dodge the kiss. “Go take Riki to Sam’s.”
“Gross. I’ll be back in a few.”
Alexis felt much better after a shower. She played around the yard with Mr. Dog while she waited for Cory to return. He waved to Jim with an outstretched arm, riding around on a tractor, and got in the passenger side of the Jeep.
“What’s he doing?”
“Fertilizing the field,” Alexis explained while dropping the clutch to the floor and shifting into reverse.
“Cowboy boots and shifting gears is sexy as hell on you,” Cory stated with a smirk, watching Alexis shift gears. Damn. He’d miss that.
Alexis already knew she was putting on a show. That’s why her posture was straighter and her boobs looked fuller. That’s why she wore the jeans he’d commented on numerous times. That’s why she tucked them inside the Dingo Boots. That’s why she took her jacket off for the full view, and that’s why she shifted gears with red painted nails and two fingers. She knew where to put the exclamation mark. “Do you always hit on pregnant chicks?”
“When they look like you and shift gears like that? Hell yeah. But that was your plan all along.”
“What do you mean?” Alexis asked with a flirtatious glance, playing coy.
“I was laughing halfway up the drive. Did you bend over to pick up that stick just to toss it three feet, or was that for me?”
“You’re an ass.”
Cory gut laughed and pinched her ribs. “I love it. I love knowing you took your jacket off so I could see you in this tight shirt,” Cory explained, running his hand over his baby. “I love it that you wore those boots because you know how much I love them. I love that you smell this good for me,” he continued, whispering to her neck, and kissing just below her ear. Alexis’s eyes briefly closed when he whispered, and ran his hand up her leg, right between her legs. “And, I love that your ass looks this good because you know how much I love taking you out of these jeans.”
“Jesus, Cory,” Alexis exclaimed flushed, pushing his hand away. Christ. She was ready to pull over and get it in right beside the road.
Cory laughed and backed off. “Why is Jim fertilizing the field? They just harvested the corn?”
“What? You’re asking me about corn?”
“No, I was asking about the field? Why is he fertilizing now? He won’t plant until spring, right? Shouldn’t he fertilize before he plants, that way it’s fresher?”
Alexis tried not to frown. She was still trying to calm her lady bits and he wanted a lesson in cultivating. “Um, it’s debatable. My dad always fertilized in the spring. Thomas and Jim like to do it in the fall.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. They say it’s more manageable in the fall.”
“Because?”
“It’s not as wet. They can work it in more.” Alexis frowned toward Cory while she drove them toward her appointment, wondering what was up with the fifty, farming questions. Why the sudden interest.
“Makes sense, but is it as effective?”
“I don’t know, Tom and Jim say yes, Dad says no. Why?”
“I might want to be a farmer someday.”
Alexis gut laughed that time.
“What?”
“Lenny changes your oil. You can’t be a farmer.”
“I could too.”
“No you couldn’t.”
“I resent that. Why do you think I couldn’t be a farmer? I’m a doctor. I can handle a little bit of shit on my hands.”
“It’s not the shit on your hands that I doubt. I just puked in your hands three days ago.”
“Then what is it that you doubt, Miss Knowitall?”
“The calluses. You got a blister from using a rake for an hour. How are you planning on shoveling shit for eight hours straight?”
“Why do I have to shovel shit?”
Alexis laughed again. “I love you, but sometimes I love being smarter than you.”
“Oh yeah, bet you can’t set a broken bone.”
“Yes, I can. Ask Mr. Dog.”
“Whatever, you’re smarter than me, but I still don’t know what shoveling shit has to do with being a farmer. I mean, it looks pretty easy to me. I see them riding around on a tractor, or feeding the cows. How hard can that be?”
“Where do you think they got the fertilizer? From all those cows they feed. They don’t go shit in the dump truck. Somebody has to put it there.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, you better just be a doctor.”
“Shut up. Did you do all of that?”
“Yup, had to if I wanted anything.”
“What do you mean?”
“Stuff, like if I couldn’t get my ass out of bed and go milk before school, I wasn’t going to the movies, or football games, or to the skating rink. You can’t do anything without money.”
“Your dad made you work for those things?”
“No, he didn’t make me. He raised me to believe it was the right thing to do. You know, work for what you want. Why should he do extra work to give me money? See, this is what I hate.”
“What? There’s a stop sign.”
“Shut up, I see it. I mean, like you act like that surprises you. Didn’t you have chores? The only thing I know about you is that you have a mom, dad, and a sister. Ellen was your nanny and you still talk to her, but I never hear you talking to your parents or your sister. You don’t talk to any friends or any other family, not around me anyway. How can you ask me to marry you when I know so little about you?”
“We agreed not to bring that up. If you want to fight, we’re fighting fair.”
“I don’t want to fight. I’m begging you to tell me something. Tell me something I don’t know, Cory. I’ve given you everything, and you’ve given me this much,” Alexis accused with two fingers an inch apart.
“How the hell did we get here? I was just trying to get in your pants ten minutes ago. This is a good day for us, Lex. Let’s not do this.”
“Agreed, but tell me one thing.”
“What?”
“I don’t care. Anything. Did you have chores growing up?”
“No, I was raised nothing like you. I was lucky to see my parents on Sundays for dinner. Ellen took care of us.”
“What do you mean? You only saw your parents once a week?”
“Sometimes we’d see them more, but for sure on Sunday. Most of the time anyway.”
“But you had a good childhood?”
“I didn’t think so until I met you.”
“Hey!”
“No, I mean it. When I first came here, I was the most prejudice son of a bitch you’ve ever seen. I knew I’d made a mistake the first week I was here. There was nothing—no clubs, no hospitals, no sirens, hot girls, nothing. People were so friendly it was weird. The second time I was in the bank, Regina called me by my first name. It was an epic cultural shock.”
“Wow, I guess I never thought about that. I’m sure this is a change if that’s all you’ve ever known.”
“But, if I hadn’t been raised the way I was, I wouldn’t appreciate this as much as I do now. I know I made the right choice in coming here, and I know I don’t want my kids raised any other way. I want them to always have family who would do anything for one another at the drop of a hat like yours does. I think you take for granted how lucky you are to have the family you do.”
“Oh, I don’t think that. I do my due gratitude daily. I am blessed. I do know that. Know what else?”
/>
“What?”
“Riki is old enough to have a chore or two, too.”
“She is? She’s three. Are you going to reward her with chocolate and Twizzlers?”
“Oh, speaking of Twizzlers, you know the other day when you kept asking her what she did with them? I washed them in her jean pockets. But, no, I don’t want to reward her with candy. I want to reward her with a piggy bank and money. Would you work for Twizzlers? You’re a rich kid, surely you know how that happened. I’m sure your parents taught you about money.”
“Yeah, because I had to sit down and talk to a financial advisor when I was eighteen, not because I was taught like that. I freaking love that idea, but what can she do? Anything you want her to do is going to end in more of a mess than anything.”
“Maybe, but that’s not the point. She can help you bring in some wood, or put the silverware away, there’s lots of things she can do.”
“Okay, let’s turn Riki into a slave.”
Alexis laughed and turned her head when Cory leaned in for a quick kiss. She kissed him back with a smile, happy that he had come along.
Thirteen
Alexis pulled into the parking lot for the OBGYN, took a deep breath, and stared straight ahead. “Cory.”
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“What if something’s wrong? Like what if it’s not alive?”
“Stop it. The baby is fine. Let’s go, I’m going to prove it to you.” Cory stopped the sadness from the loss of another baby and pulled her inside to be happy about this baby.
Just as Cory promised, everything was perfect. June second was the expected delivery date and mom and baby were healthy. Dr. Dalton didn’t need to see her back for another month. Alexis felt relieved, but still worried. That’s why she didn’t talk about it. That’s why she avoided the subject. If she thought about it, it became real. Maybe if she kept it surreal, she wouldn’t get attached.
Alexis drove them over to the Jeep dealer to meet her salesman slash cousin. She listened to the one-sided conversation while Cory engaged in a strange discussion. Who the hell was he talking to, and why did he need to talk to Alexis about it first?
“Talk to me? Who was that?” she asked, puzzled, pulling into the dealership.