“This bed looks so comfortable.” Knox says walking into my bedroom. I love how he just walks around the apartment like he and I are allowed to do this. He’s just walking around like he belongs here. “I thought you were going to wait for me in the living room.” I say looking at him from my bathroom door. He looks at me smiling, that beautiful smile he used to give me when he wanted to get into my pants. I missed that smile. “I really wanted to see what your bedroom looks like.” He says walking to the bed and touching the duvet cover softly. “I loved your bedroom in your old apartment. I slept the best in that bed.” He says and I look at him surprised. “That bed was not even long enough for you to fit in.” I say taking a change of clothes from my drawers and walking into the bathroom to change. I close the door so he doesn’t get any ideas. Or am I closing the door so I don’t get and ideas? I push the thought aside and get undressed; thinking like this won’t help me at all. “It wasn’
I walk into my bedroom feeling refreshed. The usual tiredness that I used to feel every single day is gone. I feel calmer and so much more settled these days and Melody has everything to do with it. We’ve been hanging out for almost a month now and it’s been a joy. She’s the reprieve I have needed for the last five years of my life. We spend hours talking; laughing and we argue a little. It feels like we’re getting to know each other all over again. Only this time we’re doing it without the pressure of hormones. That’s not to say that there isn’t any sexual tension between us. I still want her; in fact I know I want her more than I ever have. But I know that I can’t have her like that and I made a promise to keep my hands off her. And that’s a promise I intend to keep. She and I have a respect and understating that can only come from maturing and time. Well I can say I’m the one that did the maturing. I didn’t think things through when I was younger. I wanted what I wanted, when I wa
“I have a favor to ask.” Knox says on the other end the phone. I’m surprised he called because he never calls me. He usually sends a text to let me know he’s on his way. The fact that he called, means he want something big. “No.” I say, my answer making him laugh. He and I are not in the business of giving each other favors. That creates expectations and ultimately disappointment. And our relationship is muddy enough; we don’t need any more expectations. “You don’t even know what I want to ask of you.” He says and I can hear the smile in his voice. I’m glad he’s finding this funny, I’m on alert like I always with him. In the back of my mind I always keep a reminder that this is temporary. Spending time with him is working for me; I find my days filled with less pain and loss. He kept his promise and he’s there for me when things get overwhelming. But I’m dreading the day this little reunion is brought to a stop. “It’s because I know I won’t be able to help you either way.” I say an
“Hey.” Olive screams running toward the car my sisters and I are in. Knox arranged for us to be picked up from my apartment about 30 minutes ago by one of his staff. I was freaking out the whole drive here because I didn’t know where we’re going and everyone seems so official. This all too serious. The driver was quiet and intimidating. Knox’s assistant spoke to was talking to me like I’m his boss. I didn’t know how to react to that, I tried to let him know that formality is not necessary but I fear I made the situation even more awkward. I’m a little out of my element here, while my sisters are excited by the whole experience of ‘course, they are soaking everything up. They particularly love the fact they are being treated like royalty. Their jaws dropped on the floor when they realized we’re being picked up by a car. And they haven’t stopped smiling since we got into the car. I look at Olive coming closer to us; she has a huge smile on her face with her arms wide open, ready to hu
I walk back into the house from the backdoor next to Knox’s office. I had to get out and get some fresh air for a bit. My mother is driving me crazy, tonight is supposed to be a happy day for me. I am supposed to be celebrating my 19th birthday and have a great time. Instead I am being hammered by her to meet dating prospects. She invited random rich families with sons to come and see me and decide if they want to place a bet on me becoming their daughter in law. I came close to screaming at her to leave me hell alone today. The only thing that stopped me is the fact that I am genuinely terrified of my mother. She wouldn’t hesitate to slap me if I ever acted out. So I ran out of that party as soon as I got the chance. I should’ve taken Knox’s car keys and ran away to Melody’s house. I know she’ll give me a bed to sleep in and she won’t act all weird toward me. I love being around her and her little sisters. Her house is the only place I feel real genuine love. I know I can relax aro
2 am I wake up to the sound of my phone pinging. I reach out for it in the dark and open my eyes and see Olive’s name on the screen. I tap the text and open my eyes wider to see it. Hey. I know it’s late but I need your help. Something happened (Don’t freak out, no one got hurt.) Knox and I are on our way to your place. I really need a place to sleep and you were the first person that came to mind. I hope you don’t mind. And I hope you see this text before we get there. I don’t want to wake you up in the middle of the night. Olive I read the text over and over trying to make sense of it. What could have happened that they need to come here? Her message gave no detail and that is making me freak out. I have all sorts of scenarios running in my head. I sit up in bed and look up at the text one more time. I hope they’re okay and nothing really terrible happened. I have at least an hour wait before they get here. I get out of bed and head to the kitchen. I call the front
“Welcome home son.” My mother says when I walk through the door. She looks behind me to see if Olive is with me I assume. I close the door and I can tell she wants to say more but she doesn’t. “We were worried about you last night.” She says looking at me closely. “I’m fine and Olive is fine. She’ll be home later in the day.” I say looking at her, waiting for her to say something else but she just looks at me. “I know she’s okay.” She says looking away. I look at her surprised, what’s up with her? She’s acting weird, she’s not freaking out about Olive and I disappearing last night. But I can tell that she has a lot going on in that braino f hers. “Did you spend the night here?” I ask walking from the entrance way to the kitchen. I need a coffee if I’m going to get through this morning. “Yes. Samantha was a mess last night and I couldn’t leave her alone.” She says walking closely behind me. I smile in disbelief, so Samantha is using my mother once again to get one over me. I guess
“Good morning.” Olive says peaking through my bedroom door. I open my eyes and flip around to look at her. She looks so much better than she did last night, her sweet spirit is restored. Her soul was crushed when she walked through my door last night. Both she and Knox looked like they saw the devil. But this morning she seems a lot more settled. She smiles at me and I wink at her. “Do you mind if I come in?” She says smiling at me shyly. I wish I could protect her from the cruelties of this world but, I’m afraid to get involved too deeply. Her family lives by different rules; I might get burned if I poke my head in their business. “Come in.” I say and she walks in slowly, looking around my room. She gets on my bed, looking at me. “This is a very beautiful room.” She says touching my cover softly. She avoids eye contact, I know she feels bad for getting me involved with everything but what she doesn’t know is that I have been a part of this way before she was aware it was happening
“I know your favorite thing to do right now is to sleep.” Knox says into the silence. I stand in the doorway and watching him holding our son. He has his back to me so he can’t see me eavesdropping on his conversation with his son. My eyes water at the beautiful sight, he’s taken so well to being a father. I knew he would be great at it but it blows my mind how much heloves being a father. I don’t have to ask him to do anything. He knows exactly what his child needs. I wasn’t surprised when I woke up from our nap and Asa wasn’t next to me. I bet Knox came up to our room as soon as he got home. He misses his son like crazy when he’s not home. If it was up to him, he would stay home and devote his whole life to our child. But he can’t do that, he has tgousands of people that rely on him. They need him to show up at work so they can have jobs too. The dedication he has to his family takes my breath away. He makes sure that his child is loved in every way. He has Asa sitting comfortabl
“Are you okay?” Knox says walking into the bathroom. I’m bent over the toilet, vomiting my guts out. I’ve been having morning sickness for a while now and I’m not happy. “I read somewehere that ginger helps with morning sickenss. Let me get you some.” He says walking away. I listen to him walk away. He’s been annoying the hell out of me with his rememdies and pregnancy facts since he found out we’re having a baby. But I have to admit for once I appreciate his obsession. I would give anything to make this stop. I came home about half an hour ago and I’ve been hurdled over this toilet since. I thought morning sickness was for the morning and that’s it but not. Imagine my surprise when this happened during a meeting in the middle of the day. I flush the toilet and sit on the wall next to the toilet. I don’t want to move from here. I’m pretty sure I’m going to need to vomit in a minute or two. Knox and I should have thought about this a little harder before we decided to engage in bab
My ex wife is sitting opposite me at one of her favorite restaurants in the city. She looks perfect. She doesn’t have a hair out of place; she’s staring at me with a look of hope in her eyes. She’s looking at me like she won the lottery. When I look at her face I see my past. I don’t see anything beyond this conversation. The only woman I want is Melody. I’ve never been surer about something like I am about my love for Mel. I feel bad that Samantha is looking at me like that. I can tell she thinks I’m here because there’s still something between us. “Thank you for meeting me.” Samantha says smiling at me. “I didn’t think we would ever see each other after everything that happened.” She adds looking away but she’s still smiling. After my talk with my father I had a lot to think about. I realized I owed her at least one last conversation. I might have moved on but she clearly needs to talk to me. I want to go into this next chapter of my life with no attachments. And no matter how I
“Is it weird that I want to pick out the baby’s name already?” Knox says kissing my belly. This man is obsessed with his baby. That’s all he wants to talk about, he’s constantly asking me random questions about pregnancy, birth and anything else that comes to mind. “Are you pretending you didn’t hear what I said?”I ask looking down at Knox. He doesn’t want me to go back home. But I need to; I haven’t seen my siblings in two days. I feel bad for leaving them alone for so long. I know they’re grown and they can take care of themselves but I can’t pretend they don’t live with me. I have to be a good sister and make sure they’re okay. I know they love it when I give them their space but I need to check in on them. “I’ll drive you home when we’re done here.” He says kissing me over and over again. Of ‘course Knox wants me with him all the time, I want the same thing but as long as we have two different households that’s going to be a little difficult. I need to make sure all the people i
The dinner party is over. Knox’s grandfather opened his expensive gifts. Olive and her father left, done for the night. It’s just Knox, me and his mother left. We’re back in the living room enjoying a late night drink. I’m having tea while everyone else is having alcohol. I have to admit, this being pregnant this has its drawbacks. On a stressful night like this a glass of wine would have come in handy. If I sip on the tea slow enough I swear I can taste the wine. If I’m going to be required to attend these awkward family events, it’s going to be a very long 9 months. I can’t imagine getting through them sober. “Are you ready to go home?” Knox says touching my belly softly. I look up at him smiling. I can feel his mother’s eyes on me. She’s been eying me the whole night. She hasn’t said a word to me but she had her eyes on me the whole time. It was creepy in the beginning but I don’t care anymore. If she has something to say to me she should shout. I won’t let her intimidate me wi
“Mel, you look so pretty. Look at you.” Olive says when I walk into her grandfather’s house. It’s pouring outside and I had to run into the house while Knox parks the car. We’re at his grandfather’s town house. Knox says this is the house he uses when he wants to host extravagant parties. And of ‘course his birthday is one of them. “Thank you, you look beautiful as always.” I say giving her a hug. She giggles as I squeeze her closer, I’m so glad to see her here. I need all the support I can get if I’m to face her parents. “Thank you. I feel beautiful as always.” She says smiling at me. “Melody, how nice to see you.” Knox’s grandfather says walking to the entryway. “You know I barely recognized you. I can’t believe how much you kids have grown.” He says looking at me surprised. “And you look like you haven’t aged a day, happy birth day by the way.” I say smiling at him. We hug as he laughs at my comment on his age; or lack thereof. “You don’t have to lie to an old man. I know I’v
“Casey seems to be in love with you.” I say looking at Knox peeling a papaya. I shift forward in my stool so I can be closer to his plate. I’m sitting on the opposite side of the island, so it’s hard for me to get my hands on it. He’s been at this for the last five minutes; he’s taking his precious time to peel the whole thing. The moment he started peeling it my taste buds went crazy. The bright orange color is making me want to bite into it with the peels. “I think I’m in love with her too.” He says cutting the peeled pieces into even smaller pieces. I reach out taking a piece off of the plate he’s cutting them on. I don’t what know what happened but as soon I found out about the pregnancy I had a rush of an appetite. I want to eat everything I see. It’s like my body knows I need to eat for two. “Don’t tell her that or she’ll ask to move in with you.” I say throwing the piece into my mouth. I moan in appreciation at the taste. It’s so sweet. I reach out to take another piece and
10 minutes before “I’m confused. Why are you taking a pregnancy test?” Casey asks sitting the bath tub in my bathroom. I look at her with a look of concern on my face. I’m stressed out to the 100th degree. I can’t believe I’m here, with a pregnancy test. I’m sitting on my toilet, feeling all types of embarrassment. I survived all of my teenage years without taking a pregnancy test. I know it’s not a big deal but it’s embarrassing that I’m doing this as an adult. I’m so mad at myself for being careless with Knox. I didn’t even think about using protection with him. I didn’t even think about the possibility of getting pregnant. I just went in blind, I wasn’t thinking at all. This has to go down as the dumbest mistake I ever made. This wasn’t part of the plan, I wanted to take time and fall in love again, have fun, relearn each other. How are we supposed to do that with a baby? “Well I know why you’re taking the pregnancy test. I just mean what happened, when and most importantly wi
“Hi Mel.” Samantha says staring at me when I open the door. The smile on my face slowly fades; I go from excitement to shock. How did she get up to my apartment? Why wasn’t I told she was coming up? The front desk should have let me know when she arrived. I look at her on alert. I look into her eyes trying to figure out if she has any animosity. The second I saw her at y door, the word murder pops into my head. Why else would she be here? Surely she came to kill me for taking her love from her. I have so many questions right now. The one that’s nagging me the most is; how does she know where I live? I look behind her expecting to see Knox. He’s supposed to be here instead of her. Maybe they are playing a sick game on me. Knox wouldn’t tell her where I live; he believes Samantha would never bother us. So much for his promises. “How are you here?” I ask looking at her suspiciously. I don’t know what’s going on here, I feel ambushed. I hate when people show up unannounced at my door. T