Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3) (48 page)

He turned his attention to me.

"Those are my favorite!" Alex
exclaimed, eying my cereal bowl.

"Get a bowl and join me." I
waved him over.

Rachel handed him a bowl and he hurried
into the chair next to me. He poured the cereal into his bowl and into my now
empty bowl. I poured the milk.

"Thanks." He took a bite and
then smiled, milk dripping down his chin. I laughed.

"Alex." Rachel scolded
lovingly, "don’t talk with your mouth full." She wiped his face and he
rolled his eyes. "And don’t roll your eyes at your mother."

He smiled bashfully. "Sorry, Mom."

She smiled. "Hurry and eat. Your
bus will be here soon."

He groaned.

"Don’t you like school?" I
asked.

Shrugging he responded. "It’s
alright, I guess." He scooped another bite of cereal and crunched away.

The mention of school made me think
about the classes I'd had to cancel when I left to take care of my dad. Aidan
didn’t know yet and I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be.

Then my current situation truly hit me.
What the hell am I going to do for the rest of the day? As I was turning that over
in my head, Aidan entered the kitchen. He looked fan-fucking-tabulous and my
hormones immediately decided to introduce me to the ultimate horniness my
pregnancy book mentioned. I bit my lip and looked down into my cereal.

"Good morning." He smiled at
Rachel. I watched, through my peripheral vision, as he walked towards me.

Please don’t touch me. Please don’t
touch me. My body will combust.

If he touched me, I was going to burst
into a hormone induced sexual craze. Alex really didn’t need to see that.

"Good morning." Rachel chimed
back.

"Morning." Alex mumbled around
a mouth full of cereal.

"Didn’t I just tell you not to talk
with—?”

"Sorry." He said before she
could finish.

"I was wondering if I would see you
before I left." He stood, smiling down on me with his perfect looks.

Heat swelled in my chest. As he walked
around to the empty chair next to me, he leaned down and kissed the top of my
head. I clenched my thighs together, trying to control the heat flowing lower
south.

"Sorry, I was hungry." I said,
quickly, turning my attention back to my cereal.

"Those look good." Aidan stood
and got a bowl, joining Alex and I for breakfast. I watched his fine ass the
whole damn time, every flexed movement.

Rachel slid a plate of toast and sat a
large pitcher of orange juice on the table. I grabbed a piece of toast and
slathered it with the strawberry jam Rachel sat out.

Taking a huge bite, I was reveling in
the strawberry wonderfulness when I heard Alex giggle. Realizing I'd moaned out
loud while chewing, the heat in my chest flushed my cheeks. Aidan chuckled next
to me.

"Leave her alone." Rachel
scolded both of them. "She’s allowed to be like that. You have no idea
what it’s like."

"Yeah." I said, smacking
Aidan’s arm playfully for emphasis. Then I reached out for my orange juice.

He put his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry." He grinned and
continued to eat his cereal.

"So, Rachel…"

"Yes, sir?" She looked up from
the counter she was wiping.

"Do you know how to make chow mien
noodles?"

"I believe I have an Asian recipe
book around here somewhere." She began looking around some cabinets.

"It's okay, Rachel." I said
quickly. "Don’t worry about it. I can take care of it." I smiled, apologetically.

She waved me off and went back to
looking around.

 "Whatever the pregnant woman
wants, she gets."

"I couldn’t agree more."
Aidan's lips pressed against my temple. "I’ll check in on you later."

"You don’t have to do that. I'm not
an invalid."

"Just humor me, okay? Those are my
babies you've got in there."

"Okay, okay." I said.
"That doesn’t mean I have to like it." I stuck my tongue out.

He laughed, grabbed his briefcase and
left. I huffed.

"Oh, honey, let him take care of
you. It’s the least he can do since he can’t be the pregnant one." She
laughed. "And trust me, I would never want to deal with a pregnant
Aidan." She shook her head, laughing harder.

"That bad, huh?" I giggled.

"Just wait for the first time you
experience him when he’s sick." She laughed louder, "he is so
whiney." I laughed louder when even Alex concurred with a nod of his head.

After breakfast, I returned to the
bedroom to get dressed for the day. On my way to the closet, I noticed the
message light on my phone flashing. Picking it up, I saw a missed call and
voicemail from Viola.

"Lilli, I plan to visit the
children's home this afternoon.  Give me a call if you would like to join
me?"

I called her back immediately, hoping I
didn't miss her. I was relieved when she answered and said she be by in about
an hour. Hanging up, I hurried to clean myself up and get dressed.

While waiting for Viola, I received my
first phone call from Aidan.

"You’ve been gone for barely two
hours and you’re already calling me?" I answered.

"Can you blame me for wanting to
make sure you're okay?"

"I’m at the house, Aidan. What the
hell is going to happen that you wouldn’t get a call from someone like, Rachael
or Jay?" I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see the gesture.

"Look, I still can't believe your
back home. Maybe
I
just need some reassurance you’re really here. That
you aren't still lying in a hospital bed or worse."

His words were sweet and I was being a
bitch. Taking a deep breath, I calm my hormonally intensified emotions. "I’m
here, I'm fine. Okay?"

"Okay." He mumbled. "I
love you." The words fell effortlessly, as if he'd always ended our phone
calls with the sentiment. Not knowing how to respond, I stayed very quiet.

"I’ll see you tonight." He
said abruptly, hanging up before I could process how those three words made me
feel.

Viola arrived and I slipped into my coat
before heading to her waiting car.

"Good morning." She smiled as
I climbed in with her.

"Morning." I replied.

"Feeling good?"

I nodded.

"Good, I wasn’t sure if you would
feel like going with me today after all of your traveling yesterday." She
patted my leg as we drove away from the house.

"Listen, I know shopping isn’t your
thing and that you are a little
down
about
things.
However, we're
all going shopping on Friday. I am taking you and Elora out to buy some
things." She smiled so warmly I couldn’t, wouldn’t, dare to refuse her.

"Thank you." I whispered.

"Lilli, dear, I know things are
crazy right now and everything that has been happening seems to be taking a
toll on you, but I want you to know we all love you and are simply trying to
make things easier, better, happier for you." She pulled me into a tight embrace. 
Tears slipped over my cheeks.

"Oh, Viola, why can’t I be a normal
pregnant woman who is
excited
and
glowing
?” Close to sobbing, the
sadness in Viola’s eyes only made me feel worse. Very abruptly, her eyes
hardened into a determined stare.

"You sure as hell are a normal
pregnant woman, Lilli!" She sighed. "I know that this situation is
crazier than all hell, but everything you are feeling is normal given
everything that has happened. Don’t you see that? How do you think any woman
would react?" Her arms held firmly as she started rocking us.

Wiping at my tear soaked face, I sniffled.
"I guess."

"It’s not a guess. It’s the
truth." She said firmly. "It will all come to you in time. Believe me,
it will."

Later that evening, after returning from
my day with Viola, I was soaking in the tub again. Aidan hadn’t arrived home
yet, but I could smell Rachel cooking. The smell of the food caused my stomach
to groan in impatience.

Climbing out from the tub, panic brought
both my hands to cradle my small bump. When I felt it again, a feeling crept
throughout my body making my scalp tingle. The fluttering feelings the book
discussed, I feel it. They're in there. My babies are moving.

Chapter Two

Breathe

Lilli

Sitting on the edge of the tub, still
naked, tears slipped over my cheeks. Amazement and awe at the fluttering in my
abdomen consumed every sense.

"Lilli?" I faintly heard my
name called. "Lilli! Are you okay? What’s wrong?"

I jumped when Aidan burst into the
bathroom rushing to my side. Realizing I was still naked, I grabbed for my robe
and pulled it up over the front of my body.

"Christ, Aidan!" The startled
expletive left my lips before I could think.

"Are you okay? What’s wrong?"
He crouched down on the floor in front of me, panic flooding his words and
features.

"Nothing is wrong." I took a
deep breath. "Have you ever heard of knocking?"

"I yelled for you, but you didn’t
answer me." He looked at me warily. "Are you sure you are okay? You
were holding your stomach and crying."

"I’m fine." I put one hand on
his shoulder, the other still holding the towel over my chest. "It was the
first time I could feel them. That’s all, so nothing—"

"You can feel them?" His eyes
widened. His hands went to my stomach. "Can I feel? Are they still
moving?" Aidan kept looking from my face to my stomach, looking like a kid
on his birthday.

"I don’t think so. It was more like
an inside feeling. I think it's still too soon to feel movement from the
outside." I slowly stood and slipped into the robe.

"Where are you going?" He
stood up when I started to walk away.

"To get dressed." I said over
my shoulder.

His presence crowded my back, before his
arms slipped under my knees and back.

"Aidan!"

"I got you." He said, carrying
me toward the bed and lay me down.

"What are you..?" Before I
could finish, he laid on the bed next to me. With the robe pulled open, his
hands went to the small bare bump.

"Shh." He said as he caressed
my bare stomach with his smooth hand. "Tell me when they move again."

I laughed.

"It could take forever for them to
move again and I'm starving." I started to roll away.

Aidan pressed me down into the bed.

"Stay here." He gave me a
stern look and rolled away, grabbing the phone from the side table.

"Hey Rachel, could you have dinner
brought up here tonight?"

"Aidan, we can go down—"

"Thanks, Rachel." He hung up.
"Dinner is on its way." He smirked. "Now, tell me if they move
around again.

I sigh but relent, laying down while
waiting for the food.

"Hey." Aidan’s voice was just
a whisper. I looked down realizing he wasn’t talking to me. "How are you
doing in there?" His lips were so close to my belly I could feel the every
warm breath against my skin. "I’m your daddy."

Then I felt it.

"Did you feel it?" I asked. He
shook his head, looking frustrated. "I told you it would probably take
some time."

He sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

The knock at the door pulled Aidan's
attention from my stomach. He stood and went to answer the door. I covered my
stomach back up and this time he allowed me to sit up.

Jay pushed a cart in with food on it.

"Sorry, Jay." I gave him my
best apologetic look. "I told lazy, here, that we could go down to the
table."

He smiled. "It is perfectly fine,
Mrs. Iverson." He turned to Aidan. "Will that be all, sir?"

"Yes. Thank you, Jay." Jay
closed the door upon his exit. Aidan made two plates of food and brought them
to the bed, handing me one.

"Thank you." I said.

"You are very welcome." He sat
next to me, his own plate in his hands.

Acting as if I'd never seen a plate of
food before, I shoveled large forkfuls into my greedy mouth.

"So, you going to tell me what’s
going on with you?" Aidan spoke with a serious tone.

I shrugged, putting another bite in my
mouth.

"Lilli, please talk to me. I-I
don’t think I can take the distance between us much longer." He looked
down, defeated and not touching his food.

Taking a deep breath, I put down my
plate and turned to him.

"I’m sorry." I whispered.
"I really don’t mean to…well, to distance myself. I just…" I furrowed
my brow.

"Look, I know everything that
happened really stressed you out and it's still eating at you. I understand,
honestly, I do." He took a breath. "I…I just miss you." He
whispered.

I didn’t know what to say. Still feeling
a little apprehensive, I stayed silent.

"Knowing you're so unhappy about
being pregnant crushes me. But, you not telling me what you feel…kills me."

I placed my hand on his forearm, drawing
his attention toward me. He looked up and met my eyes.

"It’s hard, Aidan. I'm the
suffer-in-silence type of person."

"Please, tell me." Aidan put
his plate on the bed and placed his left hand on mine.

"There are a lot of feelings going
on right now." I bit my lip and looked away from him.

He grabbed my plate and moved it away
from me. He, then, lightly grasped my chin, holding my face to his.

"You can tell me anything."
His eyes, pleading for answers, bore into mine.

One deep breath in, I blew out and
began.

"I feel betrayed, naive, foolish,
hurt, angry, nervous, scared. Hell, I’m just so unsure of everything…including
myself."

"I’m sorry." He pulled me into
his arms. "It’s my fault you are in all of this. You have to be regretting
every second of this agreement. But, Lilli." He pulled back, looking into
my eyes once more, "don’t think for one second that I do. I could
never…regret you. You are my life.
They
are my life." He pressed
his hand against my stomach.

"I love you, Lilli." He
paused, watching my reaction. "You don’t have to say it back. I understand
your hesitation, but please know that I have loved you for a while now. Falling
for you was way too easy. And, it happened faster than anything I have ever
experienced. I am not lying, nor do I have an alternative agenda, when I tell
you that
I love you
." His lips brushed mine gently and I returned
the kiss.

Aidan cupped my face with his hand,
slowly deepening the kiss. His hand ghosted over my skin, resting on my right
breast, causing me to moan in his mouth. Pushing the terry cloth robe aside, he
embraced my breast lovingly before he found my nipple and began to rub.

Moaning louder, he laid me back and moved
his lips over my chin, neck and down, taking my nipple into the warmth of his mouth.
Gripping his hair firmly with my right hand, his tongue worked magically over
the hard tip.

"I love you." He whispered as
he moved his lips up to my collarbone and his hand slid down over the baby bump
to between my thighs. "I want you." He growled, slipping two fingers
inside.

"Oh God." I moaned, dropping my
head back onto the pillows.

"Not God…Aidan." He growled.
"Mmm…you're so wet." Panting against my neck, he rubbed his clothed
hard-on against my thigh.

He continued to work me over with his
wonderful fingers, building a wonderful coiling tension inside me.

Heavily breathing and moaning from every
touch, he brought his thumb to my sensitive, swollen bundle of nerves and the
wonderful coil sprung loose in to molten waves of ecstasy.

"Watching you cum for me is nearly
as good as feeling you cum around me." He growled, slipping his fingers
from me to unbutton his pants.

As he situated between my legs, he
pressed his full, hard cock at my entrance. Unable to wait, I shifted my hips
upward. He slid inside me, dropping his head to my chest. And, when I wrapped
my legs around him, he moaned into the valley of skin between my breasts.

Staying propped on his elbows, to avoid
lying on my stomach, he began to thrust in and out slowly.

"God, Lilli, I've missed you; your scent,
moans, your taste, I’ve missed you so much!" He moved faster, causing his
name to fall from my lips in pleasure filled whimpers.

Moving onto his knees, without breaking
rhythm, he pulled my legs up and pumped into me harder, faster. I screamed as my
release consumed my body again. And, with a guttural moan, he followed.

That night we fell asleep together,
Aidan’s arms around me as the babies fluttered at random intervals.

I woke in the middle of the night
needing to pee for the thousandth time. Groaning, I climbed out of bed, pulling
my robe around me tightly. One step forward and I lost all balance. Feeling
dizzy and unsteady, I put my hand out to grab for support, but only found the
side table as I fell to the floor.

"Lilli!" Aidan yelled, jumping
out of bed and kneeling beside me. "Fuck, what happened? Are you
okay?"

Not sure why, but I couldn’t help but laugh.
Maybe I was just laughing at myself, maybe I was just so tired I was delirious.
Or, maybe, it was naked and panicked Aidan, I’m not sure. All I knew was that I
couldn't stop laughing.

"This isn’t funny." He
scolded. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head. "No." I was
trying to swallow giggles, but they kept escaping. I started to stand up and
Aidan held to me tightly.

"Are you sure?"

"Aidan, I’m fine." Grabbing
his face, I gave him a serious face and then began to giggle once more. "I
just lost my balance. I must have gotten up too quickly."

"Where were you going?" He
asked, concerned.

"The bathroom, which reminds
me…" Walking around him toward the bathroom, he followed. I turned around
at the bathroom door. "Thank you, Aidan, but I can pee by myself." I
caressed his cheek before going into the bathroom and closing the door behind
me.

When I emerged from the bathroom, Aidan
was standing next to the door. He had pajama pants on now. Smiling at him, I headed
for the bedroom door.

"What are you doing?" He
grabbed my arm lightly.

"I’m hungry." I shrugged.

"I’ll get it. What do you
want?" He moved in front of me quickly.

"Go back to bed. You have to work
in the morning." I was tired and hungry, which made me speak harsher than
I intended.

"I don’t need sleep. You go back to
the bed and I will get you—"

"I’m not even sure what I want, so
I’ll just go down and look." I kissed his cheek and started to go around
him. He stopped me, again.

"I’ll be damned if you fall down
those fucking steps because you get dizzy again." He barked.

I took a deep breath and prayed I didn't
bite his head off. "I will have to go up and down those stairs eventually.
It’s fine."

"No.” He pulled me back to bed and
sat me down. I didn’t fight him. "What do you want?"

"Umm…a peanut butter and jelly
sandwich." I smiled, excited and salivating.

"So, that’s just bread with peanut
butter and jelly on it, right?"

I was dumbstruck and staring at him with
my mouth hanging open.

"What?" He shifted nervously.
"Am I wrong?"

"Aidan Iverson, have you never had
a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before?"

He rubbed the back of his head.

"I, uh, heard of them in college, and
I believe I've seen Rachael make them for Alex." He shrugged.

"Oh, dear lord!" Standing up,
I walked toward the door.

"I can do it." He protested.

"There is no way I'm leaving my
craving to an inexperienced chef." I teased, reaching the top of the
stairs. Aidan quickly wrapped an arm around my waist to help me down stairs.

Once we got to the kitchen, I went
straight for the peanut butter in the pantry.

"Get a plate and knife, please. A
butter knife." I quickly amended.

I could hear him rustling around the
kitchen drawers while I grabbed the bread and peanut butter. One my way toward
Aidan, I stopped and grabbed the jelly out of the refrigerator.

I set everything out on the counter.

"Grab the knife." I ordered
Aidan with a smile.

He grabbed the knife and then took two
pieces of bread out of the bag. After placing the bread on the plate, he opened
the peanut butter and began to spread it on one slice. Then, he opened the
jelly and started to spread it out on the other half. Smashing the two pieces
together, he handed the plate over to me.

I picked up the sandwich and smiled at
him before I took a bite.

"Mmmm…good job." I giggled.
"Here, try it." He shook his head. "Come on Richie-Rich, take a
bite."

He leaned forward, taking a bite.

"Wow, that is…hell, that’s pretty
damn good, isn’t it?"