Chapter Thirty-Three
Sawyer
Hand in hand, we walked into the magazine’s office in Chicago. The next concert was the following day, followed by interview after interview. It was nonstop. Being in Chicago had worked out well because Kurt’s favorite photographer had an office there. Before this, the plan had been for him to meet us on the road. We hadn’t found a studio we were satisfied with.
We came in through the back door. The hallway was darker and more dismal than I would have expected for a magazine office. A door opened into another room, and it was like we’d stepped into another world. The wood floors were dark and warm, the walls a soft blue-gray, and I liked it better than dismal white and linoleum tiles.
As the associate who’d met us at the door walked us in, my heavy coat hid baby Dylan. We didn’t see another soul other than the security team. Somehow, Kurt and I had managed to keep this under wraps. It was nothing short of a miracle considering how the two of us combined created the hot mess express.
But by the next Monday, when the article was published, everything would change. The magazine was under a nearly impossible deadline, but they would do it because it was a Kurt Hendrix scoop, and he never did this.
I fidgeted as I looked around the room. Due to how my shirt fit, I had to keep my coat on until the interviewer arrived. We decided to let baby Dylan do the announcing for us since we sucked so bad at it. The last thing we needed was Kurt to talk about his super sperm and me to blurt out that he’d knocked me up. None of that was anything you wanted printed for millions to see.
Millions.
Holy shit.
Just the thought of how many people would read this had my palms sweating.
Kurt stopped me on what felt like my hundredth lap around the room. “How are you doing?”
“Wondering if I should get the blow-up doll from the trunk. Then we know I wouldn’t say something I wasn’t supposed to. Kurt, this is a big deal. Like, really big deal.”
“You’ll be fine. Be natural.”
Is he serious? Does he have no memory of the things I did around him? And now I had our baby affecting me, too.
I raised my eyebrow. “Obviously, you have short-term memory loss.”
Leaning down, Kurt touched his lips to mine. “You’ll be fine.”
Being in his arms soothed me. One positive thought crossed my mind—only a few more days of baggy shirts and pullovers. The early popping of my stomach had put a serious damper on my wardrobe. But I loved this baby and wouldn’t change a thing.
The door opened. A woman walked in wearing jeans and a T-shirt. “Hey, I’m Anna. You must be Sawyer.”
“I am. Nice to meet you.” Her easy manner put me at ease. I shook her hand, which was firm yet gentle at the same time. I liked it. Some people shook your hand with a vice grip. I mean, hello? No one wanted to feel their bones crunching. Not comfortable.
Anna turned to Kurt. “It’s good to see you again, Kurt. I’m excited to know what exclusive you’re giving us. All the NDAs have been signed, and we have our most trusted people on this.”
“I know you’ll do this right; that’s why I picked you.”
Anna waited for Kurt to continue. When he didn’t, she asked, “Okay, so what is it?”
Kurt looked at me and our eyes met. Why was he raising his eyebrow at me? Oh shit. That was my cue. I unbuttoned my coat and handed it to Kurt. Anna’s eyes went from mine to Kurt’s to my stomach, but she said nothing.
Say something, Kurt. The pressure is too much. I’m going to say something. I was about to break when Kurt said, “We’re pregnant. Only a few people know, and we want your magazine to announce it.”
Anna’s eyes lit up. Yes, this was a huge story. She shifted her weight, and her face turned serious. “Off the record—why me? Why this magazine? What’s the catch?”
“Off the record?”
“Yes. Absolutely. I’ve never printed or repeated anything you’ve said off the record.”
Kurt watched Anna for a second. Though his demeanor remained calm, I knew he was assessing her. “I need someone who’s going to do a fair job of reporting this and not sensationalize it. We’ve only been officially together for about a month, and Sawyer’s three months pregnant.”
The lightbulb went on over Anna’s head. This wasn’t her first rodeo. “I can do that. Let’s have a seat and get started. I want to get to know you both as a couple. That way I can get a spin for how I want to write the article.”
We took a seat on the soft leather couch. Kurt put his arm around me and we waited while Anna set up her recorder. With pencil and paper in hand, she said, “So tell me how you guys met.”
The last thing I wanted to do was come off as meek, so I started off. “Kurt’s friend was my roommate.” I shared a secret smile with Kurt. “So we were around each other a lot, and things escalated from there.”
“Escalated?” Anna tilted her head.
I chuckled, thinking about the things we’d done to each other. “Kurt and I became roommates when my roommate moved in with her boyfriend. And after that, it was literally roommate wars.”
Anna put down her pencil and became engrossed in the story. “‘Roommate wars’? What did these wars consist of?”
Kurt jumped in. “Sawyer needed some inspiration on marketing ideas for the band, so I redecorated her room in Reverence memorabilia.”
“Complete with glow-in-the-dark stickers of your face,” I added. “Oh, and let’s not forget labeling my clothes as Kurt’s Roomie, and putting the dishes away randomly.”
Kurt coughed. “You were not so innocent. You turned our apartment into a Christmas nightmare. We had thirty-six singing Christmas animatronics on a timer, including a Rudolph with red eyes instead of a red nose.”
Whispering, I said to Anna, “I got him for only five bucks. Steal of a deal, if you ask me.”
The reporter grinned from ear to ear. “Wow, you guys are quite the match. So why the two-month gap? The recent confirmation of your relationship was the only record I could find of you together.”
“I had my head stuck in my ass and nearly lost her.”
We eased into the rest of the interview, answering various questions wherever we were comfortable sharing. Of course, we left out my near breakdown when I found out we were pregnant, my parents, Kurt’s parents, the stalker. That was private.
The interview was coming to an end. Anna asked, “So…August twenty-first. Will we hear wedding bells before then?”
Next to me, Kurt froze. Nothing about his past or mine had been brought up. Honestly, I had been waiting for this question and was ready for it. “No. Marriage isn’t on the table for us.”
Anna’s face registered shock and then confusion. I would imagine, after seeing us together, it was a natural reaction. “May I ask why?”
That was easy. “Because what Kurt and I have feels like perfection. We’re the same in so many ways, opposite in the ways that keep life fun and exciting, and we’re confident in what we have. Changing anything would be tempting perfection. Why do that? I’m happy. Truly happy.”
The reporter stopped for a second. “That’s beautiful. Is that how you feel, too, Kurt.”
“Absolutely. Sawyer is my match in every way.”
Thud.
There went my heart as I gazed at him. If we were using the love word, I would tell him. Maybe soon. Hopefully.
“So, are you guys up for some photographs? It’s going to be different than what I’d originally planned since I thought we’d just be shooting Kurt by himself.”
Maybe this was where the blow-up doll could fit in. Kurt squeezed my knee as if he were reading my thoughts. Hesitantly, I asked, “What did you have in mind?”
“I’d like to title this ‘Matched in Every Way’ or something like that. I want to do some sweet pictures of you together and then a few fun ones. Kurt mentioned you love sticky notes and organization. I was picturing you sitting cross-legged on the floor surrounded by stuff and Kurt in the back with his shoes kicked off, coat on the chair. You know…messy.”
I chuckled. “That’s our life.”
“Yes, and I want to capture what I saw and heard today.”
That seemed like a good thing.
Kurt shrugged. “I’m good with it as long as it stays within the contract guidelines. What do you think, baby?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it.” I was excited, actually excited, to do this after hearing the concept. It would be natural and totally us.
We stood, and Anna snapped her fingers. “And can we get George here? I think we need to have your dear lap poodle. You guys will get makeup and outfits, and I must get some props. We’ll be ready to shoot in the next hour and a half.”
“He would love it! Our dear lap poodle.”
George was getting bigger by the day—he now weighed close to forty pounds. But I loved him so much. Kurt made a phone call as I was whisked away to the private studio for makeup and wardrobe.