Chapter Forty-Five
Sawyer
Everything was perfect. Absolutely wonderful. I was entering my third trimester. Amanda remained in the facility. According to Steve’s contacts in Denver, her mental state continued to decline as she talked about aliens and voices with more frequency. She was truly disturbed.
I still had security, but it wasn’t as stringent. It was more fitting to being the significant other in Kurt’s life as opposed to someone with a crazed stalker.
That day, when Kurt returned from the studio, we were going to take a drive over to our land and see the progress on the house. Afterward, we were going to have a picnic on the beach with Knoah and Garrick. Maybe we might be able to eat at their new home instead. It wasn’t quite finished, but they had air conditioning.
My phone rang with Kurt’s ringtone.
“Hey, handsome. How was rehearsal?”
“Good. The new studio setup is working great. The guys like having our own label. You were right. The fans want ‘Found’ released after that teaser we gave on Good Morning America.”
“Oh, good. The initial reaction to the Lost and Found tour seems to be off the charts, too. I looked at the numbers this morning.”
“Yeah, I showed the guys what you sent me. And they agree. We’re going to move the tour back to start in April.”
Contracts for the venues would go out within the week. “Why is that?”
“Dylan will be eight months old by then. A three- to-four-month-old on the road just seems a little too stressful.”
This would make life a little easier. Maybe. Who the hell was I kidding, it would be total chaos. “Sounds good to me.”
At least Christmas would be enjoyable without rushing off to tour for three months.
“Sawyer, if it gets to be too much—”
This had been a constant worry for Kurt. We were in this together and would manage how to do it all together. “I promise I’ll tell you.”
“Okay. Meet me in the lobby. I’m pulling up.”
“Sounds good.”
I gave a whistle, and George was at my side in an instant. Seriously, this dog was part human. It was like he understood me without any training. Although…I had a feeling Kurt had trained him on the side—but I wouldn’t tell him. It was sweet. At a booming seventy pounds, he was huge. I snorted as I thought back to buying him in the park. “You are so much better than any lap poodle I could imagine. But I do wish you fit into a cute little bag.”
George cocked his head to the side as he listened.
“You’re such a good boy.”
He thumped his tail, our amazing dog. In many ways, I knew he’d helped bridge the divide when Kurt and I were lost on our paths to each other.
I put on his leather dog vest with his name written in rhinestones on it. Nina had made it and dropped it off last week. Secretly, I’d thought it was so Edge could come say hi to George. “Now you match your daddy. He’ll be so impressed.”
Or not. Probably not. But it was funny.
It was rare we ever had George on a leash because he stayed right beside us. Kurt got out of the car in jeans and a T-shirt and greeted me with a kiss. “Hey, baby. I’ll get George in the back. Come on, George.”
George hopped in the back, and I waited for Kurt’s reaction.
“Sawyer, what is this vest?”
Bingo!
“Huh?”
Kurt lifted his shades up on his head.
“This vest…I figured on tour next year, he could wear his to match his daddy. Maybe George can go on stage with you. I’ll get Dylan one, too.”
“Fuck.”
I grinned from ear to ear as we drove out to the beach house. The two-story home felt like a mansion. It was larger than I’d initially thought, but it kept growing as we added more rooms: recording studio, indoor pool, workout room, movie area. It would be amazing, and hopefully we could manage to keep the homey feeling.
I loved the angular feeling of the contemporary home. Something Kurt and I agreed on fairly easily was style. However, I would be adding more color than his boring gray and black.
As I stepped out of the car, the heat pushed down on me. Ugh. I grabbed my water bottle as I walked up the stone steps. It was still surreal—Kurt and I were building a house together. This would be our life. The house had been framed and Sheetrocked, but there was still a lot of work left. “Can you believe that we’re going to be in this place by the first of August?”
“We better be. Costing us a fucking fortune to expedite it.” Kurt looked around the room.
At first, the contractor had said early fall, which I’d been fine with. Kurt had not. He was insistent on bringing Dylan home to our new house from the hospital as opposed to the apartment. Kurt became more excited and less scared as the days passed. And I think having cast his father aside freed him in more ways than he knew.
Good ol’ Doug had vanished with his tail between his legs. We knew at some point, he might pop up and try something. But he seemed like the kind of guy who, when the going got tough, the cowardly ran away. The only reason he’d come back year after year was because Kurt gave him the money without much protest.
In a sense, Kurt had been petrified of the demons of his past coming to light. Though he didn’t want his personal history splashed across the media, Kurt now felt empowered to handle it. Or that was how it seemed.
We walked through the kitchen at the back of the house. One of the walls facing out of the kitchen was rounded and had a white marble countertop, which would be great for entertaining. They had yet to install the appliances. The windows were open, creating a breeze. It didn’t help, though. The sweat literally dripped off me as we walked around.
“The next time I’m pregnant, remind me to be seven months pregnant in the winter.”
Kurt froze.
I waited for him to say something, wondering what had put the perplexed expression on his face.
His eyes were wide and freaked out. “Next time?”
Stay calm. Don’t make a big deal about it. Once we got through one, we could discuss if we wanted a second. It wasn’t something that needed to be decided at the moment.
“Yeah, next time. Remember, you have super sperm. Unless we’re going to stop having sex. I mean, that is an option.” I stared at him, my face serious.
Kurt prowled toward me. “I seem to remember you liking my cock buried inside you this morning.”
A need began to simmer within me. Yes, I very much liked that this morning and last night.
“Knock, knock. Are you guys in here?” Knoah’s sweet voice called out.
Kurt put his forehead to mine. “I’ve been cockblocked by our best friend.”
“Later.” I puckered my lips and winked. “Then you can rock my world with your cock.”
Nipping my lips, Kurt said, “I like it when you talk dirty.”
The footsteps approached, and I turned to the door. Knoah put her hand in the air to signal us to come. “Are you guys ready for lunch? Our air conditioning is working, so I figured we’d eat inside instead. Some of our furniture came yesterday. Sawyer, you must be dying. I know I am.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to survive the next twelve weeks in this Florida heat.”
Knoah concurred. “It’s brutal. Your house is looking amazing, though. I love the contemporary yet homey feel.”
“Thanks. I can’t wait to move in.”
Something seemed a little different about Knoah that day. Her eyes were a little brighter, she had more color in her cheeks. We hadn’t seen each other much over the last few weeks. She’d been sick. Plus, between her work and my schedule, it had been hard to coordinate a time to get together.
We followed Knoah outside to our cars. Though we were neighbors, it was still a few minutes’ drive to Knoah and Garrick’s place. We pulled up to their three-story home, which towered against the sky. It was magnificent. An imported Italian water feature was in the center of the circular drive. Kurt and I talked about doing a huge home, but we agreed it wasn’t us.
The house we were building still felt too big, but it made sense. Well, most of it made sense—the eight bedrooms, not so much. What in the world would we ever need eight bedrooms for? I would not be populating those rooms with kids. My max was two. If need be, measures would be taken.
Knoah had hurriedly gone ahead of us to get out of the heat, I assumed, but I moved a bit slower these days.
As we took the first step, Kurt asked, “What are you smirking about?”
“Castrating you.”
“What the fuck, Sawyer?”
I laughed. “Yep. I was thinking about what in the world we would do with eight bedrooms. I know for a fact I will not be populating them with your spawn. So, since we have to have sex, the next option would be castration. No sperm, no babies.”
“I think there’s a few options in between eight kids and castration.”
Giggling, I said, “I only need your frank for orgasms. The beans are inconsequential.”
“Oh, Sawyer, I’m going to have to fuck you. Hard. Then you’ll understand why I want my beans.”
“Beans? Is Sawyer craving those? I can call and have some delivered,” Knoah called out.
I snorted, and Kurt paled a little. Talking about his frank probably wasn’t something he wanted to do in front of Garrick or Knoah. “No, I’m good. I was just mentioning what I wanted for dinner. A preggers girl must plan. I’m going to have a nice, juicy hotdog. The beans aren’t necessary.”
“Oh, that sounds…yummy, I guess.”
Kurt had his arm around my waist and gave it a warning squeeze. It was hard not to giggle, but somehow, I managed to keep a straight face. Knoah waved us excitedly into the dining room. She bounced on the balls of her feet, like she was bursting with excitement. Something was going on.
I waddled after them. Yes, I had a slight waddle and I knew it. A definite downside to growing larger by the day.
“This has turned out beautiful. You move in next week, right?” I hadn’t seen it with some of the furniture. It’s classic and tasteful, and the color and décor…totally Knoah and Garrick.
“At this point, yes. Come. Let’s eat.”
Garrick was on the phone at the back wall of glass windows. The view was stunning, with the waves crashing into the shore. His tone was clipped and professional. That man never let his hair down. Ever. I loved giving him a hard time.
He droned on, “I need to go, but I’ll expect the reports in my inbox within the hour.”
After finishing his call, Garrick joined us.
“Hey, Mr. Moneypants. Making your next fortune?”
“Something like that.” He shook his head and smiled at me.
Knoah bounced a little more. “Come. Come. Let’s eat.”
There seemed to be some changes in Garrick, as well. A huge smile spread across his face. Something was up.
Kurt raised his eyebrow at me. He was obviously picking up the vibe with Knoah and Garrick. We all took our seat at the table. Two places were set with a small plate covered by a silver dome.
“Go ahead.” Knoah motioned for us to take the covers off.
Slowly we pulled them off, unsure where this was going. On the plate was a picture of Knoah’s feet in the gorgeous black, high-heeled shoes I loved, Garrick’s feet wearing his boring-ass business shoes, and a pair of empty baby shoes with a December date written underneath them.
I gasped. “Does this…Are you—”
They both beamed, and Knoah nodded. “We’re fourteen weeks pregnant.”
I nearly knocked over the chair getting to her. “Knoah! This is amazing. Congratulations!” I hugged her. This was the furthest she’d ever been in a pregnancy. A sheer miracle. Pulling back, I saw the joy on her face. “You deserve this. All this and more.”
Garrick and Kurt shook hands in that manly we don’t hug way. Whatever. Then Kurt picked up Knoah and spun her around. “I’m so happy for you, squirt. Now we’re going to have a squirtette.”
She laughed. “Yes, I guess we will.”
Next, I hugged Garrick. “Congratulations, daddy.”
“Thank you, Sawyer.”
There were so many things to be excited about. So many new adventures opening for the four of us. I couldn’t contain them. “Our babies are going to be close in age. What if you have a little girl. Then Dylan and her will fall in love and give us grandbabies.”
Garrick intervened. “Let’s slow down. I think I’d like to enjoy my child before you marry her off.”
Her? He had to know. Garrick never guessed. He was exact. Always.
“Wait. Do you know what you’re having?” By the looks on their faces, they totally knew. I threw my hands in the air and screamed, “Oh my gosh! A little girl.” Then I grabbed my stomach. “Dylan, I already have your wife picked out for you.”
Knoah grabbed my shoulders. “You can’t say a word. We haven’t told anyone. But, yes, it’s a girl.”
“Of course.” In a singsong voice, I said, “Oh! Oh! Oh! This is so exciting. Dylan will be able to protect little baby girl Shaw if some mean boy tries to push her around at the playground.” I flapped my hands. “Oh, I can see it now. Vacations together. Playdates. Going to those Mommy and Me classes.”
Knoah was jumping with me. Well, Knoah was jumping. I really couldn’t jump anymore due to my size. Kurt and Garrick watched us in shock. I put my hand on Knoah’s shoulder. “Oh, if you keep jumping, Kurt’s going to start talking about jiggling the baby too much.”
“I’ve been trying to tell her that.” Garrick held his hand out as if to say, “Duh.” It was the most adorable sight ever.
I busted out laughing.
Kurt looked at me. “See, I’m not weird. No jiggling the baby.”
In a pretend whisper, I held my hand up and said, “They seem to forget about the whole jiggling thing during woohoo, if you get my drift.”
“Oh, I totally get your drift.”
Kurt shook his head. “So…subject change?”
“Most definitely,” Garrick agreed.
Men. Picking up the little postcard, I said, “By the way, they announced it much better than we did—all three times.”
Everyone laughed, remembering our ridiculous announcements.
This was the life.