"One more hour." Grandma smiled.
"One more?"
"And then I'll bring you the senator and his lovely wife."
"Wife?"
Grandma smiled. "Then again, I can't be in two places at once, or can I?"
"I may need more coffee."
"Trust me. The rest of the story is my favorite part."
Beth
Two weeks had gone by, and I hadn't heard anything from Jace. Though, lucky me, I kept getting really pathetic and sad looks from Jake and Char every single time I went over to their house.
We had dinner every Sunday.
They thought they were helping me get over my sadness by feeding me enormous amounts of wine and food. Jake, bless his heart, also felt the need every once in a while to pat my hand. You know, like I was a three year old. Other times, he'd just stare at me really hard as if by him staring and giving me one of those Aww–looks, I'd soldier on.
This Sunday I just wanted to forget everything that had happened. I expected to have a nice quiet meal, where Jake sent me concerned looks while filling my wine glass to the brim, and Char cursed men everywhere, except for her husband, who, since getting married, had earned saintdom in her eyes.
So when Grandma threw open the door to Jake's giant house on Lake Washington, I almost fell ass-backwards.
She pulled me in for a hug and squeezed so tight I think I felt a rib pop. "Oh, honey bug! How are you?"
"Great," I lied, forcing a smile. Emotionally I was feeling a bit wrecked, add that to the whole flu bug I'd somehow caught the day before last, and I was just one giant ball of fun.
I wasn't sure if it was the rib-popping squeeze or maybe just the emotional stress of seeing Grandma again, but I suddenly felt like I was going to puke. I pushed past her just in time to throw open the bathroom door and empty the contents of my stomach into the porcelain toilet that probably cost more than my rent.
"Beth?" Grandma knocked softly on the door. "Sweetie are you alright?"
I flushed the toilet, rinsed out my mouth with water, and opened the door. I hated puking. Nothing was worse. I hated the way it tasted, and I hated how it made my stomach clench so tight that I wanted to curl into a ball and die. Plus, puking always made me want to cry.
Why was Grandma smiling? My eyes narrowed.
"A touch of the flu?" Now her eyes were twinkling as she rubbed her hands together.
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I've been queasy these past few days."
"Interesting." Grandma nodded, her smile growing by the second. "Positively… perfect."
"Perfect that I'm sick?" I asked, confused as my stomach clenched again.
"Oh honey, you just let me take care of you." She patted my hand then shouted so loud my eardrums nearly burst. "Jake! Grandma's staying a few weeks!"
"The hell you are!" Jake shouted back from somewhere in the house.
"He's teasing." Grandma winked "I'm ALWAYS WELCOME IN MY GRANDSON'S HOME!"
"YOU BELONG IN A HOME!"
"WHAT? YOU BOUGHT ME A HOME?"
Cursing followed, and then dishes banged together before Jake rounded the corner, his eyes narrowing in on Grandma and then me.
"You're pale."
"Jake thinks himself a doctor now." Grandma rolled her eyes.
"Why are you pale?" He reached out and grabbed my wrist and then felt my forehead. "You don't feel hot."
I shrugged. "I don't think I have a fever."
"She puked." Grandma felt the need to add
"I'm fine." I was going to lose my mind if they both kept staring at me like I was in a museum. Just let me be sick and feel sorry for myself, damn it!
"What's wrong with Beth?" Char ran down the stairs.
"She puked," Jake said at the exact same time that Grandma declared, "She's pregnant!"
"What!" we all said in unison while Grandma clapped her hands in glee.
"I'm not! No, I'm not." I started getting hysterical. "It's impossible."
"You've been having the ex." Grandma nodded.
"Grandma stop putting the in front of everything."
Char grabbed her husband's hand. "The Jake is right. It's getting weird. And Beth, do we need to have a little talk on how babies are made?"
"Oh, I have a chart for that!" Grandma held up her hand.
"I burned that chart last week," Jake shot her down.
"But they were color-coded," Grandma said dejectedly. "I spent hours on them."
"Listen," I held up my hands in innocence, "I don't need charts, and I don't need help. I'm not pregnant. I didn't have the sex with Jace, or at least I didn't while in…" My head suddenly started pounding. Would I be that stupid? Would Jace be that stupid? The night of the wedding? Holy crap, holy crap. I reached for something to hold onto and latched onto Jake like a leach. He looked panicked as I gripped the front of his shirt.
"Hello?" Grandma said.
I turned slowly to see her leopard cell phone attached to her ear.
"Yes, Jace."
"No!" I shouted, launching myself at Grandma.
She hung up and chuckled to herself. "Well, that was easy."
The doorbell rang.
Seriously. Was I hallucinating?
Grandma all but skipped to the door and threw it open.
Jace.
I opened my mouth to speak just as Grandma shouted, "Beth's with child!"
"What?" Jace roared, his face turning red. "Who the hell did you let touch you, Beth? I swear I'll kill him. I'll rip him apart with my bare hands! You hear that, bastard? I'm coming for you!"
"I'm not—"
"Aren't you a little late to be playing hero?" Jake said smugly. "What the hell are you doing here anyway?"
"I came for my wife."
"You're married!" Char shouted, launching herself at Jace.
He held up his hands in panic. "Not yet!"
"You have a freaking fiancée!" I shouted, my voice carrying across the giant house like a firecracker.
"Oh, I feel faint. I do feel faint." Grandma patted her head.
Char swayed on her feet next to Grandma, turning an interesting shade of white before passing out in Jake's arms.
"Hospital!" he yelled.
"For the last time, I'm not pregnant!" I countered.
"BUT CHAR IS!" He all but screamed in my face.
"Yay!" Grandma did a little dance. "I knew those beads would work."
"A little help?" Jake motioned to Jace, who was already opening the door and grabbing flip flops for Char.
She was starting to come to. I was too worried to do anything but pray. Why hadn't Char told me? She could only be a few weeks along!
"I took a taxi," Jace said in clipped tones.
"Garage." With his free hand, Jake dialed the garage pad, and it opened.
If I hadn't been in such a panic, I probably would have passed out. He had more cars than a dealership, and they all looked expensive.
Which one were we supposed to take?
Jace ran to where the keys were hanging, grabbed a pair, and unlocked a new Mercedes SUV.
"Get in," he barked.
I got in the front while everyone else piled in the back.
Tears burned at the back of my throat. "Is she awake? Coherent?"
Jake's voice cracked, "Yeah, her eyes just opened. Baby, are you okay? Talk to me. Do you know where you are?"
Grandma reached up to the front seat and patted my shoulder. "She'll be alright, honeybug. This sometimes happens."
Jace pulled into the closest hospital in record time. I didn't even realize I was holding his hand until I tried to sit down and realized I'd have to sit on his lap with how close I was leaning against him. Abruptly, I let go and shook the familiarity of his touch away.
Wife? His wife?