“Do you know Brian Wires?”
“Yeah, he just got married. Paige did their photos. Why?”
“Bernie told him I was living with you and he wants to rent my house.”
“Why does everything have to come up at once?”
“I can tell him not now.”
“No, I don’t want you to tell him that. He’s a good kid, rent him the house. It’s not like I’m going to let you go home without me anyway. It’s stupid to keep them both. It’s just a lot.”
“We’ll talk about it later, so do you want a minivan?” Cory teased.
“No way.”
“There’s one more thing, Lex.”
“What?” she questioned.
Cory entwined their fingers and they walked toward the car lot. “You’re not paying for this.”
Alexis let go of his hand and shook her head. “We’re not doing this. This is my car. I’m paying for it.”
“You’re driving my kids around in it, I’m helping.”
“Let’s just go. I’ll keep the Jeep.”
“Lex! How’s it going, chicka?”
“Hey, Flynn.”
“So, you getting a minivan?”
“No, can you show us a family-sized SUV?” Cory interjected with a frown, turning Alexis toward the car lot.
Alexis fell in love with the new Jeep Patriot. It still had the Jeep feel like her Wrangler, but with four doors and roomier seating.
“You probably want the family package, with the video player and all, right?” Flynn questioned. “You can download any movie you want to that thing.”
“Yes, we want that,” Cory assured him. That would be a great distraction for Riki.
“No we don’t. We don’t need that,” Alexis overruled.
“We don’t? Of course we do. That would be an awesome babysitter.”
“I don’t want a babysitter in the car. I love hearing about all the three-year-old important things going on in her life. You know she’s marrying Taylor when she’s five, right?” Alexis smiled and followed her cousin to the row of new vehicles.
“Keep talking, baby. I’m listening,” Cory assured her. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he embraced her and kissed her head. Alexis looked up and snuck a quick peck and a wink, herself. They did end up arguing over money and Flynn even stepped out once, but finally came to an agreement. Alexis used what equity she had in her Jeep and Cory paid the balance. It was a fight she wasn’t going to win.
Cory drove the car home and once again, they bickered. “I feel like you’re not in this like I am.”
“I’m hungry. I don’t even know what that means, Cory. Please elaborate,” she sarcastically replied with narrowed eyes, looking directly at him.
“I mean, you’re making it you against me with everything.”
“Okay, let me TRY to clarify it for you. Are you talking about me not wanting your money? I have a job, Cory. I don’t need you to pay for things for me.”
“It’s not about paying for them for you, Lex. It’s about paying for things for us, for our family. Can you get that? You’re making this harder than it needs to be. This was supposed to be a fun day for us and it’s turned into this.”
Alexis sighed and looked out the window before turning back. “I know I keep saying this, and you’re probably tired of hearing it, but this is a lot. You don’t understand the adjustment this is for me. I’m pregnant, I just asked you to move in with me, I just traded the Jeep that I worked so hard to get for a family car, my best friend just turned three, and I am in love. Can I just complain about some things for a minute?”
“Yes, but I wish you would just make me understand these things up front. Why can’t you just talk to me and tell me how you’re feeling? I get that and I’ll listen. Talk to me, Lex.”
Alexis didn’t mean to snort. “Like you do?”
“You’re so grouchy.”
“I’m not. I’m sorry. I’m hungry.”
“Me too. My son’s probably starving.”
Alexis didn’t comment on that one. They didn’t need to talk about the baby. Alexis derailed that topic again. They ate at a seafood buffet and then drove over to Sam’s in the new car to fetch Riki. That was the first time ever Riki didn’t throw a tantrum to leave Emily. She wanted to ride in her new car. Cory drove them around the back roads and Alexis talked about the roads, reminiscing of her and Bernie’s road-tripping days. Cory and Riki both asked questions while she explained the bridge they used to jump off of, the railroad tracks where they used to play around, and the waterfall that froze into crystal-like ice in the winter.
It had to be the hormones, Alexis wasn’t the wear your heart on your sleeve, kind of person. The first thought that came to mind when she walked in on Riki and Cory on the phone later was the worse. Riki’s mom, it was probably Riki’s real mother. Why else would she be talking like that? Alexis didn’t stick around to eavesdrop on the conversation between Riki and whomever she told about the butterfly in her pocket.
Alexis dipped a tea bag up and down in the steaming water while her mind went to negative places. It was always something. Ever since Cory came into her life, something was popping up. Doctors instead of bankers, three-year-old little girls, unprotected sex, resulting in a baby, marriage proposals, and now this…whatever this was.
“You pick me up?” Riki asked with raised arms, pulling her from her self-loathing thoughts. Alexis lifted her butt to the counter and felt the pinch. Trying not to compare it to the last time, she paid attention to Riki.
“You didn’t want me. You just wanted in the cookie jar.”
“Me wike it.”
“But you only eat the middle.”
“Daddy eat it. Me not wike bwack.”
“Oh yeah? Who did you talk to on the phone?”
“Um me a get.”
“You forget?”
“Uh-huh.”
“It was Ellen,” Cory announced. He leaned over Alexis’s shoulder and bit the side of the cookie Riki didn’t eat.
“Your nanny?”
“Yeah, I called her. How would you like to go to Chicago with me?”
“Really? You want to go see your parents?”
“No, I mean, yeah, I guess I should, but that’s not why I need to go there. My condo finally sold. I need to go tie up a few loose ends. Come with me. I’ll take you out for your birthday.”
“Okay, maybe I can find closure on your mysterious past myself. It’s obvious, you’re never going to tell me anything.”
“Me have a birfday, too, Daddy?” Riki requested. She patted him on the cheek and told him again when he didn’t let her have one, too.
“What, baby?”
“Me have a birfday, too?”
“You just had one. Do you want to go see Ellen?”
“Yes.”
“And I don’t have a mysterious past. There’s just not much to talk about.”
“We’ll see. I need the dates so I can give Paige and Bernie heads up.”
***
Two hours into their seven-hour drive, Alexis regretted the decision not to go with the video system. At least she would be sleeping the majority of their ride. They chose to leave later for that very reason. She placed the book in the pocket behind the seat when Riki handed her the fifth one, or maybe it was six.
“Let’s not read another book, Riki. I’m going to jump up front with Daddy for a little bit.”
“And me too.”
“You can’t sit up front. You have to stay in your seat.”
“Me not wike it.”
“Cory let’s stop and get out for a minute. Find somewhere for a snack.”
“It’s only seven o’clock. I kind of wanted to be there by midnight.”
“Because one hour is going to make a big difference? She’s restless.”
“Okay, I hear you.”
“We should let Riki go pee before bed, anyway.”
“Me have a pee, Daddy.”
“Of course you do,” Cory es
tablished through the rearview mirror.
He pulled off at a McDonalds to let Riki play and eat chicken nuggets. That helped a lot, and once Alexis took her to the bathroom and got her cleaned up and in pajamas, she started yawning. Cory let her hold his smartphone in the back and she watched Sponge Bob until her head started to bob and she slept. Finally. Alexis and Cory talked about nothing and everything for the next hour—everything but anything real. She still wouldn’t talk about the baby, and Cory quickly picked up on it. She’d already changed the subject three times after he’d brought it up.
“Do you think Riki will be jealous of the baby?”
“Can we stop and pee?”
Cory looked over just in time to see her unsnap her jeans. “Yeah, you need some help with that?”
“No, we’re driving eighty, you keep your eyes on the road. My jeans are too tight.”
“That’s because my baby football player is growing in there.”
“Take the next exit.” Alexis pointed.
Cory held the sigh, refrained from commenting on the noticed curveball, and took the next exit. Alexis went first and then sat with Riki while Cory went.
“Do you want me to drive for a while?” Alexis asked while closing the hatch upon his return.
“No. I’m okay. I like driving your new car.”
Alexis waited until they were back on track, back to the dark highway, before changing from the jeans that weren’t that tight a week ago.
“Cory, I’m going to take these jeans off and put on sweats, you keep your eyes on the road,” she ordered. She knew he wouldn’t behave.
Cory didn’t respond. He kept his eyes on the road and his ears on the light music playing through the car. Of course, he had to be a dick. As soon as she was out of her jeans, he had her sweats. He swooped in and grabbed them before she knew what had happened.
“I knew you were going to do that. Stop. Give me my pants.”
“I will pretty soon, I like you sitting beside me in your panties.”
“Cory, I’m not kidding. Give them to me now. You’re going to wake Riki.”
“You’re going to wake Riki. Be quiet,” he retorted with a moving hand to her bare leg.
She pushed it away and begged. “Please stop.”
Cory kept his eyes on the road. “Just let me touch you.”
“No, Cory, for God’s sake.” She pouted, still holding his hand, trying to keep it from going any further.
“Once?” he begged.
“Cory, give me my pants.”
“Move your hand, Lex.”
“I’m getting mad.”
“No you’re not, you’re getting wet.”
“I am not. Now give me my damn pants.”
“Let me see.”
“Cory, please don’t do this now. We’ll be at the room soon. I swear, I’ll let you do whatever you want there.”
“Just one time. Besides, this is your fault. You can’t tease me like that and expect me to behave.”
“I wasn’t teasing you. I’m pregnant with the baby that you made, and my jeans are too tight.”
“I made?”
“Yes. Now give me my pants.”
“Move your hand. Just once. I swear.”
“I hate you.”
Cory took her verbal feelings and crossed arms as an invitation, and slid his fingers between the elastic around her leg.
“I told you,” he said quietly, running his fingers through her slippery folds.
“You said once.”
“I don’t want to quit.”
“Please, Cory,” she pleaded. She knew if he didn’t stop, she’d end up begging him not to stop. Cory audibly exhaled and backed off.
“You drive me crazy, girl,” he confessed and handed over her sweats.
Alexis jerked her pants up her hips and took his hand. “You drive me crazy, and I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing. Is it hard?”
“God, stop. You’re going to make me pull off the side of the road.”
“Okay, I quit, but you started it. Let’s listen to a comedy channel. It’ll keep you awake.”
“You keep me awake. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Can I have your hand?”
Alexis held Cory’s hand, loving life, loving her man, and loving how her hand felt so dainty in his.
They hit downtown Chicago at one thirty in the morning. Alexis was astonished and bewildered at the city. Cory found her very amusing, but truth be told, he knew how she felt. He was just as amazed at the cows crossing in the middle of the street.
“Cory, stop. There’s a homeless person. We should help him.”
“Lex, we can’t stop and help the homeless people.”
“Why? There’s another one,” she said with wide eyes, seeing the man slumped up in a corner of a doorway covered in cardboard.
“Because, there’s way too many of them.”
“But it is getting cold out. Where do they go when it is freezing out?”
“Some go to shelters and some build fires in the alleys.” He wanted to say that some freeze to death, get sick, and die, but he didn’t. He didn’t want to spend his three days with her rescuing homeless people.
“Why are there so many people on the streets at this time of night?”
“It’s Chicago, there’s always something going on.”
“This isn’t my first city by the way, in case you were wondering about the excitement. Pittsburgh is pretty big.”
Cory smiled, amused. “Okay. When were you in Pittsburgh?”
“I went to a basketball game there with Bernie once, and once with Mitch years ago. But it wasn’t dark like this. This is pretty cool. Hey, there’s another homeless person. Cory, it’s a woman. We can’t just do nothing.”
“Alexis, we’re not helping the homeless people here. She’ll find a shelter.”
“But she can barely walk.”
“She’s drunk.”
“Oh.”
“If you think this is cool, wait until you see the hotel room.”
Alexis almost squealed with excitement when the attendant escorted them to the twentieth floor. She went directly to the balcony while Cory settled Riki in on the sofa. Alexis had stayed in a few hotels, not many, but a few, nothing like this. The hotels she has stayed in had two queen beds, two or three stars maybe. This one was a five-star, hands down. Alexis went right to the balcony and the twinkling lights.
“Whoa, this is really high,” she exclaimed and then welcomed Cory’s embracing arms from behind.
“Let’s go sit in the hot tub,” she suggest with closed eyes, tilting her head for the warm kiss to her neck.
“You can’t.”
Alexis looked over her shoulder and asked, “What do you mean, I can’t?”
Cory’s hand went up her shirt and to the little pouch. “You’re pregnant. You can’t get in the hot tub.”
“Seriously? You brought me to a hotel with a hot tub, and I can’t get in it?”
“It wasn’t intentional. It came with the room.”
“Whatever, it’s your loss. I was planning on doing dirty things with you in there.”
“You were?”
“Yup, oh well.”
“We can do dirty things in there. We just won’t use water.”
Alexis laughed and sidestepped him. “I could live here. This is so nice,” she said while observing the classy detail. The two-bedroom condo was gorgeous with modern décor and sophisticated furnishings. Riki had her own suite right next to theirs, king-sized bed and all. She did think the three bathrooms, the wine glass table, and the ginormous chandelier was a bit much, but she was sure that was just the country in her.
“I’m jumping in the shower,” Cory informed her.
“Can I jump in with you?”
“Of course. Take your clothes off.”
Cory wasn’t kidding. He literally jumped in and right back out. Alexis may as well have been invisible. Well damn. That wa
sn’t all he did. As soon as Alexis joined him in bed, his eyes were closed and she felt rejected. What the hell was all that in the car if he didn’t plan to touch her? Maybe if she talked a little, he’d wake up and respond to her leg, rubbing up and down the inside of his.
“Did you put a Pull-Up on Riki before you put her in bed?”
“No, I left her on the couch.”
“Why?”
“She not wike it.”
“Did you grow up here? Like in this part of town?”
“No, I’ll show you tomorrow,” he replied with a yawn.
“Are you tired?”
“Yes, aren’t you tired?”
“No, there’s too much excitement here to be tired.”
Cory kissed the top of her head again. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” Alexis responded by rolling more into his arms. Cory kissed the top of her wet head and snuggled her close with a relaxed breath. Damn. Damn. Damn. Alexis relaxed, too, listening to the sound of his breathing, gradually calming to a peaceful hum. She tried to stay put and fall asleep herself, but she couldn’t do it. She was still too restless. She slid quietly from Cory’s arm, wrapped a throw around her arms, and walked out to the balcony with her phone.
Alexis—You up?
Alexis was surprised with the instant message.
Bernie—Yes. I’m drunk.
Alexis—LOL you’re a dork.
Bernie—You made it?
Alexis—Yes, we’re here. You should see this place Bernie. It’s amazing. I can’t wait to go sightseeing tomorrow. I wish you were here.
Bernie—What are you doing? It’s like two in the morning.
Alexis—Couldn’t sleep.
Bernie—So you telling the in-laws about the baby?
Alexis—I don’t have in-laws. And no. I doubt it. We haven’t talked about the baby.
Bernie—Well that’s a shocker!
Alexis—What the hell does that mean?”
Bernie—You know what it means. Cory told me you wouldn’t talk about the baby.
Alexis—Oh that’s nice, Bernie. Thanks for having my back. Why didn’t you tell me? When did this conversation about me take place?”
Bernie—Calm down crab-ass. It was the other day when you were in the middle of a shoot. He asked me out of desperation. He wants to be excited, Lex and you won’t let him.