Fat Chances (10 page)

“Okay,
I’m Sparky,” I giggled, as he wrapped both arms around me, hugging me. “Sparky and Buck-O! We sound like a couple of gangsters who robbed banks back in the 1940’s.” We both laughed for a few minutes before he pulled the comforter back and slid out of bed. I watched him as he stood up and slid his sweatpants on. I wanted nothing more than to lie naked in bed with him all day, but I knew that was impossible. Not when my mother was probably at home pacing the floors by now, waiting for me to walk through the doors.

“Meet me downstairs. I’m going to put Annie outside to pee,” he said, smiling, then pushed his arms through the sleeve of his t-shirt. I rolled over and sat up on the edge of the bed for a moment. When I stood up, it felt tender and raw between my thighs. I smiled, knowing that it was because Cory and I had spent the better part of the night making love and that I would do it all over again, too. I quickly grabbed my clothes and ran to the bathroom. My bladder felt like it was going to burst.

I could hear Cory talking to Annie as I walked down the stairs. “That’s my girl. Eat a little more, Sweety,” he cooed. I walked into the kitchen to see Cory sitting on the floor beside a little black dog. I gasped when she looked up at me with her little nub of a tail wagging vigorously.

“Oh,
my gosh! She’s beautiful,” I gushed. I sat down beside Cory and crossed my legs. Annie walked slowly over to me, shaking her behind vigorously as I reached my hands out to her. Cory sat on the floor, smiling, watching us both. I ran my hand across her back, petting her. Her coat was shiny, soft and black as the midnight sky. She looked at me with her dark eyes and I was shocked to see there was a hint of blue in them. “She has blue in her eyes?” I turned to ask Cory. I’d never seen a dog with blue eyes, except maybe a husky. “Yeah, she was born that way. The vet says it will go away as she gets older, though.

I nodded, petting the beautiful dog that was named after me. I could see how Cory fell in love with her with just one glance.

As the two of us sat on the floor playing with Annie, my stomach roared loudly. “Was that you?” he asked, chuckling.

My face flushed when I answered, “Yeah.” He stood up and walked over to the counter. That’s when I saw the table that was elegantly dressed for our dinner last night.

“I’m so sorry,” I replied, standing up and walking over to the table. The candles had burned downed, leaving nothing but a dried, waxy puddle. The white plates lay spotless, the napkins untouched.

“For what?” he asked, turning around to face me.

“For not getting to eat the dinner you made me,” I replied. “I’m sure you worked so hard to prepare this dinner and I didn’t even get a chance to try it.”

He laughed as I cocked my head to the side, puzzled by his outburst. “Annie, I have a confession
to make. Well, two actually,” he said, smiling. Then he walked over and gently wrapped his arms around my waist. It felt so comfortable, natural, like he did it a thousand times.

“What?” I half glared at him.

“Well, first off,” Cory began, taking a deep breath. “I don’t feel bad about missing dinner if it means laying naked it bed with you.” My face turned red and he laughed again. “And secondly, I didn’t really cook this meal,” he admitted sheepishly. I looked over at the counter and saw a bag from a local Italian restaurant in town. I shook my head, chuckling lightly.

“So, you don’t cook?” I asked, raising my eyebrows in suspicion. He leaned back to look at me as a small smile lit the corner of his mouth.

“Well, actually I do,” he replied. “I was just so nervous about cooking dinner for you. I was afraid I would screw it up, so I got take-out instead.” Then he reached up to brush the hair from my eyes.

“You weren’t going to tell me, were you?” I asked, clear
ly enjoying his discomfort a bit more than I should.

He laughed then continued, “Eventually, I would have.” Then he leaned forward and wrapped his arms tightly around me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling his man smell, a
combination of soap and an amber, woodsy scented cologne.

I felt the vibration of his cell phone against my leg just before it even rang. He quickly reached into his pocket and retrieved it. “Hello?” he said, then looked at me and winked. “Yeah, hold on. She’s right here.” He smiled and handed me the phone. “It’s your mother,” he said, mouthing the words. My heart stopped as I glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was 9:15
a.m.

“Hello?” There was hesitation in my voice.

“Annie, when are you coming home?”

Cory walked over to the puppy and sat back down on the floor beside her. I watched him as he gently picked her up a
nd held her in his arms. “Umm ... pretty soon. I just woke up,” I lied.

“Okay then,” M
om replied. “Tell Cory that I’m sorry to keep calling his cell phone, but someone forgot to take hers with her last night,” she hinted.

“Oh, sorry,” I
replied, suddenly remembering that I left my purse at home beside the door. “Annie, when you get home. You need to call Natalee. She called here this morning looking for you and she sounded upset.”

“Oh, okay. I will,” I replied, then hung up the phone wondering about Natalee. She usually never calls this early in the morning.

“What’s with the worry lines?” Cory asked as he ran his thumb across my forehead.

“It’s my friend
, Nat,” I answered worriedly. “She called me this morning. I need to get home and call her.”

“Okay,” he replied, then ran
upstairs to grab his car keys as I knelt down on the floor to hug Annie goodbye. “Bye, Sweetie. I’ll be back soon and I promise to bring you some treats.” Her little stub of a tail wagged violently when I wrapped my arms around her neck to hug her.

“Is that a promise?” Cory asked, leaning against the wall. I smiled at him and said yes.

                                                                                    ***

“Nat, it’s me,
Annie. What’s up?” I asked into my cell phone as I hurried up the stairs to my room. I called Nat as soon as Cory dropped me off.

“Annie, can you come over?” she asked and I knew right away that she’d been crying as she sniffled on the other end of the line.

“Sure. Just give me a few minutes,” I replied as my stomach rumbled again.

“Okay,” She whispered, then hung up the phone without saying good-bye.

I hurried and changed into the jeans that I wore the day before and threw on a clean t-shirt from the dresser. Then I quickly ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth and hair.

“Where’re you going? B
ack to Cory’s house?” I turned around to see Molly standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, glaring.

“No, Natalee’s house. Something’s wrong. She sounded upset,” I told her even though it was none of her damned business. I was still pissed at her for ratting on me.

“Hmpf,”
she replied, then shrugged her shoulders and turned to walk away. I watched her go, shaking my head. I loved my sister, but she seriously needed to grow up and change her pissy attitude.

My stomach sounded like there was a monster growling inside me as I headed to Natalee’s house. I was so hungry right now I could eat a cow. As I waited at the stoplight, I saw the McDonald’s sign up ahead. I could smell the sausage and maple syrup just thinking about their breakfast me
nu. My mouth watered instantly as I pulled into the parking lot and thank the good Lord there was only one car ahead of me in the drive-thru.

             
                                                                      ***

Nat’s mom opened the door for me before I set foot on the first step. “Hi Annie, I’m glad you came over,” Marian smiled weakly. Nat was the spitting image of her mother, with dark hair and hazel colored eyes.

“Good morning, Mrs. R,” I said, smiling weakly, then I noticed how bloodshot her eyes were. She looked as if she’d been crying, too. My chest tightened as I walked through the door. Something was wrong. I could feel it. I held my bag from McDonalds in one hand and my large soda in the other and walked toward the living room where Nat was sitting on the couch, curled up in her favorite Tweety Bird blanket.

“Nat, what’s wrong?” I asked, sitting down beside her. Her face was white as a ghost, her eyes puffy and red. Tears trickled down her ch
eek in a steady stream. I set my breakfast on the coffee table beside me and took her hands into mine. They were ice cold.

“I lost them,” Natalee replied, her lips quivering as she inhaled a jagged breath.

I scrunched my eyes at her, confused. “What? Lost who?” I could hear Mrs. R sobbing from the kitchen. This made my heart drop to my stomach.

“Th ... th ... the baby. I lost the baby ... an ... and Tom ...
my,” she stuttered, sobbing uncontrollably. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and rocked her back and forth.

“Shhhhh ...
everything is going to be okay,” I whispered as the tears welled up inside me.

I held her for a while, just rocking her back and forth until she finally calmed down. My stomach was rumbling fiercely. Of course it didn’t help that I could smell the greasy hash browns and sausage McGriddles in the bag.

“I can hear your stomach,” Nat said, laughing weakly as she pulled away to wipe her face with the already soaked tissue.

“Yeah, I’m starving,” I said, laughing. “Do you want some? I bought an extra sandwich.” I grabbed the bag quickly and opened it up. The sweet aroma of maple syrup made my mouth water.

“Sure,” she replied, holding out her hand, then we both ate in silence. Of course, mine was finished before she even took her third bite.

I sucked down the last sip of soda and set the cup on the coffee table, then turned around to face Nat. “Do you want to talk about it?” She nodded then set the half eaten sandwich on the coffee table along with my empty soda. I wondered if she was going to finish it. I hated to see it go to waste.

She inhaled deeply then blew it out sharply. “After I came home from school the other day, I started feeling sick. I thought maybe I was coming down with the flu bug that’s going around,” she said. I watched her carefully as one big tear drop fell from her eye and slowly trickled down her cheek, landing in her lap. “My stomach started cramping really badly ... and ... then I thought I had diarrhea. I ran to the bathroom and that’s when I saw the blood.”

I sucked in a sharp breath when I realized where this story was going.

“I ... t ... told Tommy that he didn’t have to marry me now that I was no longer pregnant,” Nat admitted then broke down again, sobbing.

“Oh Nat, why would you say that? You know Tommy loves you. He’s been wanting to marry you since the day he’s laid eyes on you,” I replied, trying to console her.

“I know ... and I love him, too, but I feel worthless. If I can’t give him a child then what good am I?” Nat admitted, pouring out her heart along with the tears.

My eyes grew wide. I couldn’t believe my ears. “What? What the hell are you talking about Nat? Tommy doesn’t want a baby making machine. He wants
you.
He loves you for who you are. You’re perfect in his eyes and that’s all that matters.” I stopped and leaned back against the couch, thinking about what I had just said. Suddenly the age old expression “practice what you preach” came to my mind and I thought about Cory. That’s what Cory’s been telling me, too.

“Do you think Tommy will take me back?” she asked with a small gleam in her blood shot eyes.

“Now, what do you think?” I teased, rolling my eyes at her. She laughed and I could hear her mother laughing, too. I stood up from the couch and pulled the fleece blanket off her lap. I held out my hands for her to grab so I could pull her off the couch. She stood up slowly and hugged me.

“Now,
you go call Tommy while I go take care of a few things of my own,” I ordered, smiling, then gave her another bear hug.

“Does this have to do with that hunky guy name
d Cory?” Nat asked then snickered.

My eyes grew wide with shock. “How did you know?” I asked, amazed.

“Your lovely sister is telling everyone that you stole her boyfriend,” she replied with a giggle.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Of course,” I said
, then Nat walked me to the door and watched me walk to my truck.

             
                                                                      ***

I pulled behind Cory’s Mustang and walked slowly up the driveway toward the front porch. I never really got a good look at his house before, considering that it was night time. I stood back and stared at his ranch style house. The siding was tan, trimmed with dark green shudders. It looked simple, yet cozy. I quietly walked up to the porch and
rang the doorbell and Annie barked on the other side of the door. I chuckled under my breath, then took a deep breath and slowly blew it out as I waited for Cory to answer the door.

Th
e door swung open and Cory was bent over, holding Annie by her collar as she tried to jump on me. “Annie!” he said, smiling widely. And at that moment, I knew I was home.