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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
All Grown Up At The Doctor
AudreyI kicked my feet and drummed my fingers nervously as I waited for it to be my turn at the clinic. “Hey, relax,” Annabelle said, giving me a smile. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”“I know,” I said, managing to stop drumming my fingers on the armrest. I kept kicking my feet, though. I just couldn’t seem to sit still.My first ultrasound. I was nervous as anything, but I couldn’t help being excited too. There was no longer any doubt in my mind that I was pregnant. I had done the two tests back in France that Trish had insisted on, and by now, I had reconciled things in my head. With Annabelle’s help, I’d done a ton of research over the past week while I waited for this appointment to come around.I was pregnant. Would I be able to see the little peanut-sized embryo growing inside of me already? Would I be able to hear its heartbeat?There was a part of me that wished that Jesse were there with me rather than Annabelle. Oh, Annabelle was looking forward to her niece or nephew. I had no d
All Grown Up Bad Timing
Audrey“What I will say is, you’ve listed here that you kept a pretty strict diet as a ballerina. That may need to change while you’re pregnant,” the doctor added, consulting the forms that I had brought in. “You’ll probably find yourself having cravings for foods that you wouldn’t normally eat, and you’ll need to up your calorie intake as well.”“Yeah,” I sighed. “I just wish the thought of food didn’t make me want to hurl.” I was feeling a little bit better that day. I had to hope that maybe there was a light at the end of the tunnel and that my morning sickness would fade as I got further along. I was running out of ways to explain it to everyone who didn’t know I was pregnant.Although I knew there wouldn’t be much more hiding that fact. If I was already eleven weeks along, then it was only a matter of time before I started to show. I swallowed hard, realizing that all of those nerve-wracking conversations that I had been putting off, with Mom and with Jesse, were going to have to
All Grown Up Bad Person
JesseI was surprised when Audrey didn’t want to go to Gabby’s on Friday night. Granted, it wasn’t really my favorite venue either, but it was one of the few places to go out in Aberdeen, and I had thought she might welcome the change of scenery. I loved having her back at my place, but I kind of wanted to show her off a little too.“Are you in a fight with your sister or something?” I asked jokingly, sure that wasn’t really it. She probably just didn’t want to deal with the noise. She wasn’t much of a drinker, and Friday nights could get a little rowdy sometimes, especially when there was live music in there. She still looked tired, and that was probably all there was to it.To my surprise, though, Audrey stiffened, and I had to wonder how close I had hit to the truth. I blinked in surprise. I couldn’t remember her ever being in a tiff with her sister before. The two of them had been thick as thieves when they were younger. Then again, it had to be difficult to go back to sharing a r
All Grown Up Everything Is Changing
AudreyJesse had basically handed me the perfect opportunity to tell him about the baby, and I still hadn’t taken it. To be fair, I had wanted to work our way up to it. Explain that I was missing Paris. Let him know why I couldn’t go back there yet, or maybe ever. I wanted to build up to it. I couldn’t seem to just come right out and tell him about it.It had seemed like the conversation was on track, just like I’d intended. He asked me about returning to dance, and I told him that things were complicated. Before I had a chance to tell him just why things were so complicated, though, he had kissed me and invited me back to his place.It wasn’t like I could say no to an invitation like that.I had stayed at his place nearly every night since I had come back from Paris, but the raw, white-hot passion that sizzled between us never seemed to cool. I knew that it had been hard to keep away from him the last time I came back home, but this time, it seemed even more impossible.Despite the f
All Grown Up Realization
AudreyEleven weeks along. If he hadn’t realized it yet, he would soon.Those thoughts finally slipped out of my mind as he lowered his mouth to the soft folds between my legs. I threaded my fingers through his hair, scratching lightly at his scalp, my own head falling back against the pillows with a breathy gasp of approval. He pushed his fingers into my opening as he ravished my clit with his tongue and lips, licking and sucking at the sensitive bundle of nerves until I was raw with pleasure.He nipped at my inner thigh and then trailed his lips along out to my knee. Even with his fingers still buried inside of me, I found myself whimpering with the loss of sensation between my legs. He chuckled quietly, nuzzling the inside of my knee as he used his other hand to stroke himself to full hardness.In one quick move, he replaced his fingers with his throbbing cock, sheathing himself inside of me. He hung there for a moment, staring down at me in awe, like he still couldn’t believe that
All Grown Up Telling Him
JesseI was in the middle of a pleasant dream when I suddenly became aware of Audrey shaking my arm. “Jesse. Jesse, wake up,” she pleaded with me. I made a noise of protest, trying to wrap my arms around her and pull her close. Had she had a nightmare? What was wrong?“Jesse, stop. Wake up,” Audrey commanded, sounding tearful.I frowned, wondering if this was some sort of nightmare intruding on my dream. I couldn’t imagine a nightmare that would feature Audrey, though. I blinked my eyes open and then groped for the light on the bedside table.I was surprised to find Audrey looking close to tears. “I need to go to the hospital,” she said. “Please. I’m sorry.”I stared dumbly at her for a moment, brain still struggling to wake up. What she was saying didn’t make any sense. Other than the tears, she looked fine. Why would she need to go to the hospital so urgently?I remembered that she had been ill since she had come home, though. Maybe she had thrown up blood or something?“What’s wron
All Grown Up Horrible Pain
AudreyI’d never been more scared in my life. I’d woken up there in Jesse’s bed to the most intense pain that I had ever felt, and when I realized where the pain was coming from, I felt absolutely paralyzed with fear. I waited for it to pass, wondering if it was just a cramp caused by something to do with the pregnancy and the sex earlier that night. The pain wouldn’t go away, though. If anything, it intensified, until I could barely breathe with the amount of hurt radiating from my uterus.I was scared to wake Jesse up and ask him to take me to the hospital, but I knew that I didn’t have a choice. There was no way that I could take his truck and drive myself there, not least of which because I only vaguely remembered how to drive a stick-shift. I supposed I could call an ambulance, but I knew that would be expensive. Anyway, I wanted Jesse to be there.Even though I knew that when he found out just what was going on, he was probably going to hate me.He flew into crisis mode when I t
All Grown Up Hard Questions
AudreyBesides, what could I really say? All my fears seemed stupid now that I was faced with the fact that I might have ruined everything by saying nothing to Jesse. If I had just opened my mouth and admitted that I was pregnant, I wouldn’t be in this position now. The only reason that I hadn’t was that I was afraid that it would drive him away, or else trap him in a loveless marriage. In saying nothing, though, I had practically forced him to turn away from me.“The doctor said you’re going to be all right,” he finally said quietly. He paused for a moment. “Both of you.”I nodded. “Yeah, they said that, uh, this is totally normal. A good idea to get it checked out, though.”Jesse nodded as well. Then, he sighed and slumped into the chair next to the door. “Why did you lie to me?” he asked, sounding as though I had torn his heart out and stomped on it.I swallowed hard. I had been expecting the question, but somehow hearing him say it hurt worse than I could have expected. “I just go
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All Grown Up All Grown Up
AudreyI couldn’t believe that Jesse had gone to all of this work to build the perfect nursery for our baby. From the looks of the crib, it was hand-built, not just one of those flimsy things that you put together from the store. I could tell that there was still some work that he planned on putting into that, and there was a rocking chair only half finished on the floor. But Jesse was building me a nursery for our baby.I could barely believe it.Here I had been so worried that he would want nothing to do with me or the baby, when in fact, exactly the opposite was true. He wanted this enough that he was willing to put his love and dedication into incorporating us into his life and his home. He wanted our baby to grow up here just like he had grown up here.He was so perfect. I didn’t know how to tell him that.Instead, I was given the opportunity to show it to him.I caught his hands in mine and tugged him out of the nursery and back down the hallway to his bedroom. This time, I was
All Grown Up Moving Forward
JesseWhen I heard Audrey’s reasons for why she hadn’t told me about the pregnancy, I felt my heart break a little. Not because her reasons were terrible, but because I’d been so terrible to her this week. If she’d only explained things to me before. I knew that was my fault, though. I hadn’t let her explain. We’d been tired and too full of emotions to really talk last weekend, but I at least should have made time to see her earlier in the week.I didn’t know what I’d been expecting from her, but her actual reasons for not telling me were almost too sweet.“I’m assuming that you want to try to get yourself back into shape and go back to being a ballerina once the baby is born?” I said now, at dinner.To my surprise, Audrey shook her head. “Honestly, I think those days are over.”“I’m sure you can talk to your director and work something out with him,” I said, frowning. “I know there was the injury as well as this, but he seems like a reasonable guy. It’s not like you don’t have the ta
All Grown Up Mending Bridges
AudreyJesse slowly came up to the porch, like he thought I might run in the other direction. “You look really pretty,” he said quietly.“Is that all you came here to say?” I asked tartly.The lips of his mouth twitched with a grin. “Just the start of it,” he promised me. “Have you already eaten? I was hoping that maybe I could take you to dinner and we could talk.”I stared at him for a long moment. So now he wanted to talk? I wanted to hear whatever it was that he wanted to say, though. I wanted him, so badly that I ached. I found myself nodding. “Let’s go,” I said, heading toward his truck.We were both silent on the way to the restaurant that had been our favorite as teens. I should have known that he would take me there. Back to where it all began. There was a part of me that was terrified that I was never going to be able to come back here again after this too-serious conversation that we were about to have.There was another part of me that soared with hope, wondering if this m
All Grown Up Missing Him
AudreyI shook my head. “It’s more complicated than that,” I sighed. “He just got mad because I didn’t tell him that I was pregnant until we were on the way to the hospital. I lied to him about why I was back here, and he can’t trust me anymore.” I bit my lip. “I deserve it, for waiting for the perfect time. I just didn’t think waiting was going to end up making things so terrible.”“Oh, Audrey,” Annabelle sighed, coming over to sit next to me on the bed and giving me a hug. I knew she was probably going to be running late for her shift, but she didn’t seem to care. She just wanted to make sure that I was all right. I nearly cried with how much I appreciated it.She noticed. “Are you crying?”I had to laugh. “Hormones,” I told her. “I’m pregnant, remember? My emotions are all over the place.”She shook her head and went to grab me a tissue from the box on the dresser. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think he’ll be mad at you forever,” she said. “You didn’t see him when you were in Paris
All Grown Up Baby On Board
AudreyI’d had a great day with Mom and Annabelle, cooing over all the adorable little things that we could buy for the baby in the local mall. I knew that they were really excited about the baby, but as much as I tried to match their enthusiasm, I still couldn’t help but feel upset and unsure. It would have been so much easier if I had known that Jesse and I were an item and that he was going to be there for me. For us.I still hadn’t heard from him, though, and now it had been nearly a week since he had found out about the fact that I was pregnant.It had been a long week. Other than that shopping trip, I had barely left the house. What was there to do? Anywhere that I went around town, there was a chance that I might run into Jesse. I didn’t want to admit that I was avoiding him, but the conversation that he and I needed to have wasn’t one that I really wanted to start in public where anyone could witness it.It was a small town. Soon enough, everyone was going to realize that I wa
All Grown Up Audrey
JesseI took a calming breath to steady myself. No. I at least knew Audrey well enough to know that she wouldn’t do something like that without at least telling me that was her plan. Even though I hadn’t reached out to her, she knew where to find me if she really needed to talk about something like that. She knew where I worked, and she knew where I lived.At least, I thought I knew Audrey well enough to trust in that. If not Audrey, though, I had a feeling I would have caught an earful from Annabelle if her sister was even considering that.“You’re sure it’s yours?” Joe asked.“Yeah,” I said. I grimaced. “I actually asked her if it was someone else’s and that was why she hadn’t told me about it. She got pretty upset that I had even dared to think that she might have been with someone else. I believe her.”Joe nodded, and I could tell he was thinking everything over.“Am I right to be angry with her?” I asked, when he didn’t say anything. “I mean, she flat-out lied to me. You were rig
All Grown Up Processing
JesseI knew that I should probably talk to Audrey. Not talking to her was driving me crazy. She had always been one of my best friends, and if there was anyone that I wanted to talk to, it was definitely her. I missed her. I wanted to know how she was handling all of this. I wanted to know what she was thinking.I wanted to make sure that she was following the doctor’s orders to rest and stay off her feet for a little bit, in case it was the stress that had caused that terrible cramping that she’d had the other night. It had been hard for Audrey to stay off her feet before when her ankle was injured, so I could only imagine how she was coping with it now.I hoped for the sake of the baby, our baby, that she was taking the doctor’s words seriously. I had a feeling she would be, though. Somehow, I knew that she was going to make an incredible mother. That little baby was lucky.It was one of the few things that I was sure of.The rest of it was all uncertainties, and that right there w
All Grown Up Stress
Audrey“Eleven weeks,” I said. “Annabelle and I went for the ultrasound on Friday.” I pulled out the picture to show her, and her face lit up.“Look at that little peanut of a thing,” she cooed. “He looks adorable.”“He?” I asked skeptically. “You can’t possibly tell that from the picture.”Mom tutted. “Let me have my dream,” she said. “It would be good to have a little man around the household again. Besides, look at the way he’s positioned. He must be a boy.”I tried not to laugh. “Maybe it’s a boy,” I said, glancing at Annabelle.“Audrey’s hoping it’s a girl so that she can teach her to be a ballerina,” Annabelle said.“The world could use more male ballerinas,” Mom said, winking at me. “I always wished that I would have a boy to balance out you girls.” She sounded wistful, and I suddenly realized that I had never known if two kids were all that she planned to have or if things just hadn’t worked out for more. It suddenly seemed like something that I should know.Mom was wrapped up
All Grown Up Telling Mom
AudreyI had barely left my bedroom for the rest of the weekend after Jesse dropped me off at home. I couldn’t help thinking of the terrible things that he had said to me out in the driveway. I couldn’t help thinking of how much I deserved for him to say those things and more to me.I had fucked up. I knew that now. No, I had known that all along. I knew that I should tell him about the baby. All the reasons not to tell him seemed so stupid now. I couldn’t even think how to apologize to him, in fact, that’s how stupid all the reasons sounded in my head.Not that I was going to get a chance to apologize to him. I had given him his space on Saturday. He wanted time to cool off and process things, and I would give that to him. Sunday, I hadn’t been able to stop myself from texting him, though. I understood if he wasn’t ready to talk yet, but I just wanted to know when he might be ready to talk. The uncertainty was killing me.He hadn’t responded. Suddenly, I felt panic go through me, eve
