Bittersweet Trust (12 page)

“I was thinking green, too, simply because everyone does baby boy rooms in blue. I don’t want to be like the norm,” she says, pouting as she grabs three Snickers bars and puts them in the cart.

I am not going to say anything to her. There is no reason for me to. I am not the one pregnant, and from the looks of things, I never want to be.

“You’re not the norm, baby,” I assure her, leaning forward and whispering in her ear. It has been about three weeks since we found out the sex of the babies, but we still have to tell our parents. If you ask me, I am not sure how I feel about telling them. My mom definitely deserves to know, but my dad… I would much rather he rot in hell.

“You’re right. I’m more than the norm. I mean, I’m the only mom who will probably have her children’s first words be fuck or shit.”

My eyes grow wide as I try to fight the smile from my face. She is right. We seriously need to stop swearing and yelling, and in all honesty, we need to stop doing a lot of things. Life is about to change in some major ways.

“They will not swear.” That is a probably a lie. If they are anything like me, they will swear like sailors.

“Are you kidding?” Mimi responds, raising an eyebrow at me. “You’re their father, so it will happen a lot sooner than you think.” She presses a paint swatch into my chest. On it are so many different colors of green. I had no fucking clue there could even be that many shades of one color.

“These greens look like shit.”

“Shit is brown, Corey. Do we need to go back to Kindergarten?” She is teasing me.

“No, we don’t. Do you need to go back to second grade and learn your manners over again?” I counter, trying to hide my laughter.

“No, I don’t, asshole,” she retorts, smacking my stomach. This time I look down at the swatches, dismissing the puke, or maybe it is poop, colored green. There is a color at the very top that kind of reminds me of mint, but is greener.

“I like this one.” I point to the top color. Her head tilts sideways as she leans against the cart. She is growing bigger and bigger by the day, and I know she worries if I see her the same as I used to. To me, it doesn’t matter if she is skinny or not; besides, she has always had curves. She has always loved me for my imperfections, and I will always love her for what she is—perfect.

“Really? That’s the one I want too. I sure hope picking names out will be this easy.” She pushes the cart a few steps forward before throwing herself on one of the benches.

“Names? What exactly were you thinking?” I have a name that is sitting on the very tip of my tongue, one that describes us perfectly.

“I don’t really know… I mean, I have like twelve baby books that Jenna bought me, but I still haven’t come up with any names that seem like they would fit them.” Her nose is all scrunched up, and I feel myself reaching out to rub it. She is going to have massive wrinkles if she doesn’t stop doing that.

“I like the name Chance.”

“Why?”

“Hmm… Well, because that’s what we were: a chance. We had a chance to become what we are now, and we both took it. I want one of them to be named after our love. That way, when life gets difficult, we can look at him and remember that’s what resulted from our love and what we earned from our chance.”

“And the other one?” Her eyebrow raises in questioning.

I bite my lip, thinking. “Chase,” I say nonchalantly.

“I like that name,” she exclaims with a big toothy grin that causes happiness to radiate all over inside of me.

“I think it’s fitting given the ‘chase’ to find each other was long.” I wrap an arm around her as I pull her into my side. It doesn’t matter where we are or what we are doing, I always want to cherish the small memories with her.

“Then it’s settled. Chase and Chance Winchester are coming to a hospital near you.” Her voice is filled with so much excitement that I can’t help but smile.

“Now we just have to tell our parents,” she says softly, standing to get in line to check out.

“Do we really have to…?” I groan. I am still on the fence about my dad knowing. He doesn’t deserve a fucking thing….

“Corey Alan Winchester,” she scolds. Does she have to say my whole fucking name?

“Okay, okay. We can tell them tomorrow.” The second the words leave my mouth, I know I will regret it. I can already feel the anxiety building inside of me.

Mimi

Corey and I sit on the couch in the living room. My hands are sweating, and my stomach is full of knots. I know it is only a phone call, but I feel like I am about to jump through a ring of fire.

“Just hit send already,” Corey commands anxiously. I turn my face up at him, glaring. Since the conversation about talking to my parents about what is going on, he has seemed terrified, not that I can blame him. My dad is a scary dude, and my mom can claw out his eyes with one word.

“I’m scared…” I whisper to him right as I hit send. I know both my parents will be home tonight. I already let them know I needed to talk to them.

The phone rings and rings until they eventually answer.

“Hello,” my mother’s uppity voice sounds on the other end of the phone.

“Hi, Mother. Are you and Father in the same room?” I am not sure if the uneasiness in my voice can be heard on the other end, but I don’t really want her to notice.

“Yes, dear, and you’re on speaker. How are you? How are your classes?” To most it would seem as if she is just asking normal mom questions, except I know better. She is prying, being nosy.

“Classes are fine,” I lie, not telling her a damn thing. She is lucky I think she deserves to know.

“Hi, sweetie,” my father’s deep voice resonates through the phone. I look up at Corey and notice his eyes are growing wide.

“Hi, Dad. How are you?” I ask sweetly. I love my dad. Well, at least more than my mom.

“Good. What is this news that your mother said you had to tell us?” His voice is firm but has a curious questioning to it.

“You remember Corey Winchester, right?” The moment I say Corey’s name, his hand clenches in mine. Looking in his eyes, I know what is going on in his mind.

“Hmmm… I believe so. His father was the one having an affair with Jenna’s mom?” I cringe, hating that association will always lie with him.

“Uhh, yeah…“ I trail off.

“Well, what about him, sweetie?”

“Yes, please tell us more…” my mom’s pleasantly unpleasant voice says.

“Well, he and I are…going out…”

“I don’t know about that, Mimi,” my father objects.

“Yes, his father is….” I don’t want to hear anything they have to say about Corey’s family because none of it matters. I want to be with Corey, and I want to make it known to everyone.

“That’s not it. We’re having babies,” I blurt out before the lady balls I grew magically shrivel up.

“What?!?!” My mother and father both shriek at the same time.

“You’re to come home right this instant, young lady!!” my mother demands. I would’ve hung up on her had my father not chimed in.

“You said babies? How many are we talking?” He doesn’t sound angry, but he doesn’t sound happy either.

I look up at Corey, smiling. “Two little boys, Dad.”

“Oh, dear Lord!!!” Mother yells.

“Two? Boys?” my father asks in wonderment.

“Yup. They have names already, too,” I say, excitement filling my belly.

“Well, I’ll be damned. I’m going to be a grandpa.” His statement causes a flutter of shock to course through me.

“You’re not mad?” I ask incredulously, taken aback by his admission. This whole time I have been worried sick that my dad would hate me and be so disappointed, yet here he is all giddy over being a grandpa.

“God, no. You’re my daughter, after all. It was bound to happen someday, and you’re a smart, responsible girl. Plus, that Winchester boy has been after you since you two were kids.”              

“That I have, sir,” Corey politely interrupts. There is a silent pause before my father speaks again.

“Hand the phone to Corey, please. I want to have a chat with him.” My eyes grow large as I obey my dad and take the phone off of speaker and hand it to Corey.

He smiles at me, wiping his hands on his pants before grabbing the phone from me. He stands slowly before saying, “Yes, sir.”

I watch as he says “Yes, sir” close to ten times and “I understand that” several more times. Somehow my father has a way of keeping him in line and I love that.

Five minutes later, Corey hands the phone back to me and dismisses himself to the bathroom.

“What did you say to him, Daddy?” I beg for an answer though I know I won’t get one.

“Nothing a father with a daughter wouldn’t say to the man stealing her away.” I laugh into the phone, happiness seeping throughout my entire being.

“He’s not stealing me. He’s just borrowing me for a while.”

“Don’t you start lying to me, Mimi Jones.” Oh snap, he says my full name.

“I won’t,” I mutter into the phone.

“Good. I have to get going to catch a plane, sweetie. Text me to let me know how you’re doing. I know you’re probably taking excellent care of yourself and following the doctor’s orders, but I still worry about you. I also want to know when you’re due; I’ll be there for my grandsons’ births.” I swear I hear my father’s voice crack when he says grandsons.

I smile. “I will. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Before my mom can start in on me, I hang up the phone and set it down on the cushion. Corey is still in the bathroom, so I get up and walk down the hall to check on him.

“Hey, you okay in here?” I ask, peering in like a total stalker.

“Yup. Your dad just scared the ever loving shit out of me.” He sounds sick, and I seriously wonder what my father could’ve said to him. Then again, I am not sure I really want to know. Dad can be an extremely scary man.

“I’m sorry, baby…” I coo. Though I feel sorry for him, it is interesting to watch him squirm in his own skin.

“He told me if I ever broke your heart, he would break my legs off and send them up my ass. Then he would slit my throat and rip my balls out and put them…”

“Okay. I get the point.” Corey is being way too vivid. I completely understand why he is sitting on the toilet.

“Good, because I do too. Break Mimi’s heart, you will die a horrific and horrid death. Don’t break Mimi’s heart, you get to keep your balls and legs in the place they’re supposed to be.”

I muffle my laughter against the door. “Should I tell him about your antics a few months ago?”
“All that is fucking holy… NO! Are you insane?” Corey roars. It is animalistic, and it kind of turns me on.

“Ha. I won’t. You’re up next, slugger,” I say, turning on my heels and heading for the kitchen. There is a Snickers bar, or five, calling my name.

Roughly five minutes and two Snickers bars later, he comes out of the bathroom with his head held high.

“Ready?” I ask, my mouth full of chocolate and whatever else it is they put in these things. It could be dried figs and snail poo, but I wouldn’t care. They taste like heaven.

“Are you?” he retorts, sending me a grin that I can only describe as take-your-panties-off-and-swing-‘em-around-your-head.

I nod as I unwrap another candy bar. I am nervous, but I won’t tell him that. I know he is too. My parents took the news way better than we thought they would. His parents—well, we both know that will be a whole different cup of mojo.

Corey picks up the phone, dials the number, and lets it ring. His mom picks up the phone on the second ring, which kind of made me jealous. Why didn’t my parents pick up that fast? Probably didn’t want to talk to you…

I snort which causes Corey to give me a what-the-fuck look. I dismiss it as I take in his mom’s soft voice. It reminds me of a blanket that would wrap you in warmth. She is the type of mom who kissed boo-boos and packed your lunch, the kind of mom I would’ve loved to have had.

“Hi, Mom,” Corey says shyly. Two distinct red spots show on his cheeks.

“He has a voice… I thought you were dead… or even abducted by aliens?” his mom jokes. I laugh, causing myself to choke on a piece of my candy bar.

“You have way too vivid of an imagination. Is Angela letting you watch Ghost Adventures again?” he teases. He is so shy when it came to his mom.

An intense amount of gratitude grows in my heart for her. Even after everything that she has gone through, she can still joke and play with her son.

“Angela isn’t letting me do anything because I’m her mom, and I do what I want.”

Corey rolls his eyes, his strong hands working through his dark locks. The more and more I look at him, the more I fall in love with him. You know your love will never die if you fall more and more in love with your soulmate every day.

“Oh, whatever. You know you’re not allowed to watch those shows, Mom. Last time you took us outside telling us there were ghosts in the backyard.” I giggle again and am shot a dirty look. I can’t picture Corey sneaking around his backyard with his mom to search for ghosts.