Underestimated Too (19 page)

“You’re more fucked in the head than I ever thought.
I can’t believe you.”

“Morgan, that was years ago. What does it have to do
with us now? Nothing. I should have never told you. I thought that’s what we
were doing. I thought we were laying it all out, exposing the secrets,” he
yelled back.

“I exposed mine a long time ago. I’m clean,” I
assured him.

“Are you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Turn right here,
you’re dropping me off at Piper’s with Alicia.”

“I mean that. How do I know that’s what you’re
really doing?”

“Oh, my god. Come with me. We’re eating lunch, and
then I am going to the doctor with her. You want to come?”

“No, I need to get away from you right now,” he
admitted, turning down the one way street.

“You need to get away from me?” I sarcastically asked.

“Kiss me, I’ll see you later,” Drew said, pulling to
the curb. I saw Alicia’s pregnant belly before I saw her.

“Your lips kind of gross me out right now,” I
admitted, kissing Drew.

“Stop. I’ll see you when you get home. How long are you
going to be?”

“We’re picking Vincent up from school then coming to
the house. Celeste told Alicia that you two would probably be working late
tonight.”

“Yes, I’m sure of it. I love you, see you later.”

“Okay,” I replied, trying not to be repulsed by
Drew.

“Hi, I was beginning to think you ditched me,”
Alicia greeted me with a smile.

“No, just went over time a little in our session.
Did you know that Skyler was Patrick and Valerie’s daughter?” I asked,
wondering if she knew that fact as well.

“Um, yes. Skyler Styles, Patrick and Valerie Styles,
it’s not that hard to figure out. Why?”

“She and Drew used to date.”

“I know. Celeste told me, so?”

“Never mind forget it. Let’s order, I’m starving,” I
stated. I wasn’t sure if she knew about Drew and Valerie. I’d better just drop
it before I said something that was going to get back to my husband.

***

“Give me my boy,” Drew said around seven in the
evening. Alicia, the boys, and I had eaten a long time ago. Celeste and Drew
never came out of his office.

Alicia handed Nicholas to his daddy and watched when
Vincent called from the pool, wanting him to watch him do a summersault under
water.

“Good job, buddy.” Drew smiled, clapping Nicky’s
hands, cheering Vincent on.

“What did the doctor say?” Celeste asked, taking her
warmed up food from Marta.

“He said we’re never having this baby. She’s living
here forever,” Alicia complained.

“No, she’s not. You still have seven days before your
due date. What’d he say?”

“He said nothing has changed, and to come back next
week,” Alicia grumbled.

Drew sat beside me and reached out his hand. I didn’t
even pay attention I was so used to it. I handed him my cellphone, and he
routinely went through it, just like he always did when I’d gone out without
him.

“Why do you do that?” Alicia asked.

Drew shrugged his shoulders. “Does it bother you?”

“Yeah, it sort of does. If Celeste went through my
phone, I’d be pissed.”

“I go through your phone all the time,” Celeste
said, coming to Drew’s defense.

“Yeah, because I hand it to you, mostly to look at
pics that I’ve taken of Vincent. You don’t just reach for my phone like it’s a
given. I’d be pissed.”

“Alicia. Geesh. Calm down. It’s fine. I don’t mind
Drew going through my phone. Stop being psycho hormonal,” I warned. She was so
sensitive about everything lately.

“It’s not being psycho hormonal that I think it’s
bullshit your husband checks your phone, the mileage on your car, your laptop
history. Don’t you get sick of being on his leash?”

“Alicia!” Celeste warned with a tone. “That’s none
of your business.”

“It is my business. Morgan is my friend, and I—”

“Alicia?” I was the one to notice the grimace on her
face.

“My water just broke,” she quietly and shockingly
spoke.

Celeste jumped up. “We’re not ready. Are we ready?”
she frantically asked Alicia.

“Yes, our hospital bag is at the house, packed and
ready. These things take time. We’re fine. You guys have Vincent duty, right?”
Alicia, the calm one, asked.

I felt a chill run down my spine, anticipating the
arrival of this baby girl. “Yes, we’re fine here. Go bring your baby into the
world.”

Celeste squatted to Vincent, explained that he was
going to spend the night, and they were going to get his sister.

“I changed my mind, just get me a brother like
Nicholas,” he decided.

“You’ll just have to be Nicholas’s big brother.
We’re getting a little girl, remember.”

“Um, okay,” Vincent said, looking over to Nicholas,
standing between Drew’s legs, deciding that plan would work.

That day lasted forever. Drew and I put the boys to
bed around nine in Nicky’s room without one word from Celeste or Alicia. I was
worried sick.

“Will you stop? Come here,” Drew urged, grabbing my
arm from pacing the floor.

“I can’t. Why haven’t they called?” I asked, leaning
into him.

“They will. They didn’t leave here until after
seven. These things take time, remember?” he asked, reminding me of our own,
very long labor with Nicky.

“UGH, I hate waiting.”

“Alicia’s right, you know.”

“About what?”

“About me going through your phone. I shouldn’t do
that. I don’t know why I’m so insecure.”

“Do you trust me?” I asked, turning to face him.

“Absolutely. It’s not about that.”

“It’s about the control, isn’t it?”

Drew nodded and kissed the tip of my nose.
“Probably.”

“You can control me. I kind of like it, but you
can’t ever mention Valerie or Skyler ever again, not even in the presence of
Deidra, deal?”

“Deal, but I shouldn’t need to control you. You
think doing all this with Deidra is helping anything?”

“I think it has gotten a lot of things off your
chest, things you’ve kept buried for a long time. So, yes. I think it is. Do I
think there is a fairy-tale cure, and we’re going to magically turn into a
normal couple? No, I don’t believe that for a second. I think we’re always
going to be a little on the screwed up side.”  

“Is that bad?”

“It’s us, Drew. It’s who we are as a couple. I’m not
sure I’d want it to be any other way with you.”

“You have no idea how much I love you, Morgan,” Drew
admitted, kissing me more passionately than he needed to. I wasn’t doing that.
I couldn’t. My mind was at the hospital with my two best friends. I wanted to
be there too. I wasn’t interested in having my legs in the sky at the moment.

“Stop, I’m going to shower,” I sighed, getting away
from him.

***

Nicholas cried after us. It was the first time he’d
cried when we left him. Drew made sure Vincent was secure in the backseat and
turned to me.

“Can’t we just take him?” he asked. It was cute as
hell. He didn’t want to leave Nicky crying.

“Drew, he’s fine. I’m sure he’s already over us
leaving him.”

“I should just run in and check on him real quick,”
Drew stated, walking back towards the door.

I grabbed the back of his shirt, not letting him go.
“No, you’re going to make him cry again. Let’s go, Vincent is waiting to see
his sister.” We headed to the hospital.

“Oh, my god, Drew. Look how little she is,” I
exclaimed, walking into the room with baby Christina—so not the name they had
picked out. She was the tiniest little thing I’d ever seen. Nicholas was almost
twice her weight when he was born.

Celeste looked like the proudest peacock ever,
smiling from ear to ear. She took the tiny baby from Alicia and sat in a nearby
chair with Vincent. I watched in admiration as she placed his new little sister
in his arms.

“She’s got your nose,” Celeste remarked.

I held her next, falling madly in love with the
newest addition. “I need another baby, Drew,” I decided right that moment,
staring down at the precious little angel, swaddled in soft pink blanket. I
loved the squeaky little noises and the way she scrunched her little face.

“We have a baby at home. He’ll be one in two weeks,
remember?” Drew reminded me. 

“But he’s a big baby. I want a little baby,” I said,
kissing her soft brown hair.

“We don’t make little babies. We have big Brutus
type boys.”

 Drew was right. I would probably end up with
another ten pound baby boy. I wasn’t ready for that yet. It was still too
fresh.

I spent every minute I could with the new baby and
Alicia. Celeste took a week off work and that was it. I’m not sure that she actually
took time off. Alicia said she was on the phone or her computer the entire
week. I’d even made Drew hang up the phone when he’d call her for things I
thought could wait. They needed this time to bond as a family. His work could
wait.

“That one wasn’t about work,” he complained when I
hung up his phone, sliding it into his lap.

“What was it about?” I challenged.

“The estate. We have to get it cleaned out.”

“Oh, well, I’m meeting them both there tomorrow.
Leave them alone for the night and pay attention to me.”

“You need me to pay attention to you?”

“I do.”

“Where do you need attention?”

I didn’t have a chance to answer. Marta cleared her
throat at the door. “Do you want me to bathe him, or are you?” she asked.

“I will, you go home if you want. I’ll see you
tomorrow,” I replied, taking Nicholas, who squirmed from my arms and onto the
floor. He loved the living room. Drew had these black shiny glass balls on a
bottom shelf that he seemed to always remember were there. I was afraid he was
going to break one of them and get cut. Drew told me I worried too much and sat
on the floor, rolling the solid balls with him.

“How about you keep him while I grab a shower and
then I’ll bathe him,” I offered.

“Go ahead,” he replied, half paying attention to me.
Nicholas had his full attention at the moment, not me.

***

“You really bought this place.” I stated to Celeste,
walking around the cluttered mansion. There was so much stuff. How could one
man accumulate so much stuff? The auction would last an entire week.

“I did,” she excitedly exclaimed in a skip, “and I
think Alicia is a little more into it now too. She loves the pool.”

“And you guy’s will be closer to me.” I smiled.

“Mrs. Kelley, I think we’re done here. We left a few
boxes in the office for you to go through, some papers and things,” the realtor
interrupted.

“Thank you,” I smiled, walking to the pool area with
Celeste. The pool was amazing, even nicer than ours. Vincent was going to love
the slide. I wondered why Callaway would build a slide to begin with. Was it
because he was expecting Drew and me to have children to swim there?

“Are you getting excited?” I asked, sitting on one
of the stools in front of the extravagant outside bar. They were going to love
it here.

“Yes, I am so excited. Did Alicia tell you what she
wanted to do to the nursery? I can’t wait to see what she does. She’s such a
good artist. I’m hoping she’ll have more time to get back to that here. It
gives her something to do and still keeps her at home. She picked out that room
right there.” Celeste anxiously pointed to the left side of the mansion.

“She is very talented. I’m happy for you guys,
really,” I said warmly. I was glad Drew hired Celeste. I don’t know what I
would do without them in my life now. And I couldn’t imagine that baby girl
growing up without me in her life.

 Celeste modestly smiled back. She was so much like
Drew. I swear sometimes they were twins separated at birth. Celeste didn’t do
emotion either. She did the same thing Drew did, either make a joke or change
the subject. Celeste took the latter.

“Can you imagine living with all these dead animals?”

“Do you think people will actually buy them?” I wondered
about the stuffed wild animals throughout the house.

“You’d be surprised.”

“We’re not keeping any of them, that’s for sure.”

“Are you keeping
anything
? I mean, he was
like your grandfather,” Celeste remarked.

I thought about it for a second. I didn’t feel like
he was my grandfather, and if I was being honest, I sort of resented him for
Michael, and what he’d done to Drew. “I don’t think there’s anything here I
want,” I decided.

“Ahhh, your needy husband,” Celeste teased,
answering a call from Drew.