JesseWe finished up breakfast, and I noted as I carried the plates over to the sink that she had barely eaten anything. Again. I was really starting to worry about her. She didn’t have a lot of extra weight to begin with, and this illness wasn’t going to make things any better for her. I didn’t know how to convince her of that, though.When I got to the hardware store, Joe immediately sensed that something was up. He made a show of looking at his watch. “Trouble in paradise?” he joked. “Thought you’d be running late this morning, not early.”I rolled my eyes. “We have a couple of big shipments coming in this morning, doofus,” I reminded him, as though that was the reason that I was here as early as I was. It was a lie. To be honest, part of me had been hoping that after breakfast, I could entice Audrey to come back to bed with me. By the time I had put the plates in the dishwasher and followed her upstairs, I had found her already dressed and pulling on her shoes.This in spite of th
AudreyJoe wrinkled his nose. “Sounds pretty gross,” he said. “She’s refusing to see a doctor about it?”“She says she’s got an appointment, but I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I don’t understand why she scheduled it for so far out.”“Maybe she’s just hoping it will be out of her system before she has to see a doctor,” Joe suggested. “Does she even have health insurance over here?”“I hadn’t thought about that,” I admitted. That could be it. She had just lost her job in France, and she probably didn’t know what she was going to do for money. Her family had never exactly been rich. Most families in Aberdeen weren’t any better than comfortably middle class, and doctor visits could be expensive.I wanted to believe that was the case. If it was, though, I wished that she would just talk to me about it. We could have figured something out. Nothing, especially not some amount of money, was worth her poor health and unhappiness.“Or maybe she’s doing drugs,” Chance piped up.I stared blankl
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
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
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
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
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
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