Neighbor Dearest (32 page)

Damien tried to convince her that staying in California was in the Double Ds’ best interest because it was the only home they’d ever known. She wasn’t having it and threatened to take us to court for full custody. It wasn’t looking good at all.

I’d gotten so worked up and ended up on bed rest due to high blood pressure. So not only was Damien worried about the dogs getting taken away, but now he had to worry about the health of his wife and unborn child. I was, in turn, worried about the stress that all of the above was putting on his heart.

The dogs were my only saving grace during the bed rest period, since they’d climb next to me and keep me company during the afternoons when Damien had to get things done around the building. He didn’t even fight them being in our bed anymore because he knew what a comfort they were to me. They were still banned at night, however. I knew he was terrified that Jenna was going to win and that they’d be gone soon. As a result, the dogs were getting spoiled rotten.

One day, Damien had gone out for a couple of items I’d been craving. He’d taken two hours longer than he should have.

When he finally returned, the front door slammed shut, and I heard him say, “It’s done.”

“What?”

“It’s done. She’s letting us keep the dogs.”

“What? How?”

“I drew up a contract and paid her off.”

“You what?”

“I threw a shitload of money at her, enough that she couldn’t refuse it. I wasn’t going to let this stress us out anymore. I wasn’t going to let her take them away from us.”

“How much did you give her?”

“Don’t worry about it. We have the funds for it. And they’re worth any amount.”

Once again, Damien had taken charge of a situation and come to my rescue. Tears of relief began to roll down my face. It was only in that moment that I truly realized how much the fear of losing the animals had been taking its toll on my health and well-being.

Damien normally didn’t climb into bed with us, but that afternoon, he squeezed himself into a spot. Lying in the bed with the
Triple
Ds, an enormous peace came over me. The baby was kicking to boot. Our family was complete, and no one could take that away.

You couldn’t put a price on that.

***

It was a clear evening, and the dark sky filled with bright stars. Damien and I were sitting in the courtyard the night before my scheduled C-section, fantasizing about all of the things we were going to do once the baby was born.

“I can’t wait to have sushi again and to be able to shave my own legs.”

Firmly gripping my thigh, he said, “I can’t wait to be able to wrap these legs around my back and pound into you without worrying about impaling my kid.” He turned to me. “You can go back to shaving your legs, but leave the pussy shaving to me even when you’re able to see it again.”

“Sure. In fact, I’m counting on that.”

“Good.” He winked.

“Oh! I can’t wait to have my afternoon latte again. That’s another thing I miss, being on a caffeine high.”

Damien grunted. “You know what I can’t wait for? I can’t wait to throw that damn stuffed cockblocker out the window. That’s gonna be the first thing to go.”

That made me crack up. He was referring to the body-length pregnancy pillow that I’d been sleeping up against these last few weeks. It formed a big barrier between us.

“Actually, why don’t you just let the Ds have it? I caught them humping it the other day. They were double teaming it.”

He wriggled his brows. “Did that remind you of your books?”

I nudged him with my elbow. “No.”

He snickered and kissed my cheek.

Tomorrow’s C-section couldn’t come quickly enough. Because of my preeclampsia, my doctor thought it best to get the baby out a week before its due date, especially since my cervix had not dilated at all.

We were nervous but so incredibly excited to finally meet our baby.

***

Damien looked so funny wearing the hospital-provided shower cap. Being here reminded me of how terrified I was the day of his surgery. As scary as it seemed to imagine the doctor cutting into my abdomen today, nothing compared to the fear I’d felt the day my husband went under the knife.

He surprised me when he said, “You know, as scary as my operation was, I’m way more freaked out by this. I just can’t wait until this is over.”

The irony of his statement made me smile. I guess that’s what it’s like when you love someone. The thought of something happening to the other person is far worse than the thought of something happening to yourself.

I looked up at him from my horizontal position on the operating table. “I love you.”

He briefly took down his surgical mask to say, “You guys are my whole life.”

I felt so grateful that he was feeling well, that he was right by my side.

Damien held my hand tightly as the doctors explained everything they were doing. Because they’d given me a spinal, my entire lower body was completely numb.

They’d warned me that I was going to feel some tugging. Just when I did, Damien squeezed my hand harder.

“Oh, my God, she’s coming. They’re taking her out.”

Then I heard them.

Cries.

Cries.

More cries
.

My baby.

Damien’s eyes were glistening. “Oh, my God! She’s beautiful, baby. She looks like you. Just like you!”

“She does?”

“Yeah. She’s fair-skinned. She’s an angel. She…she…has…a penis. A penis?”

“It’s a boy,” the doctor proclaimed.

Damien started to cry tears of joy and laughter all at once. “She has a little cock. It’s a boy? It’s a boy! Baby, we have a son.”

“It’s a boy!” I repeated.

“Yes!”

After a few minutes passed, a nurse handed our son to Damien who placed him by my face.

I kissed his cheek, longing to hold him. “Hi,” I said ever so softly.

As much as Damien thought he looked like me, I could definitely see Damien’s nose.

“You were supposed to be a girl,” I cooed. “You had your daddy fooled.”

Damien bent down and kissed our baby boy’s forehead. “He changed the story.”

***

One of the drawbacks of being thrown off guard by the gender of our baby was the fact that we had no name picked out. We’d been so focused on girl names that the boy options fell by the wayside.

Our son was a few weeks old before we finally decided on a name. We opted to announce it to our closest family and friends on Christmas Eve.

It seemed like just yesterday that we’d had everyone over for a holiday party at our place last year. So much had changed since. Back then, Damien hadn’t even decided on the surgery, we’d also thought we would never have kids, and we were only just dating. Fast forward a year later, Damien was ten months post-operation, we were married, and we had a son. Not to mention, the dogs were now ours full-time.

Damien had the baby in a carrier on his chest while he put up the last of the decorations. Still recovering from my C-section, I took it slow as I prepared the food in the kitchen. We weren’t originally going to have a party, but it was a lot easier than trucking our son from house to house during the holidays. We had everything we needed for him here at our place.

The doorbell rang.

Tyler, his girlfriend, Nicole, and Damien’s mother were standing in the doorway with wrapped gifts.

“Hey, guys! Come on in.”

Monica hugged me tightly. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good, still a tad bit sore, but great considering.”

Nicole looked me up and down. “You are so tiny. No one would ever know you gave birth a month ago.”

Damien yelled over to us, “She didn’t even look pregnant from behind in her ninth month. I know this because I spent a hell of a lot of time in that position toward the end.” He glanced at Monica. “Whoops, sorry, Mom.”

Tyler pushed his way past us over to the baby. “There’s my no-name godson!”

Nicole smiled. “Aw, he’s wearing a beanie like his daddy.”

We’d put a little gray hat on him to match Damien.

Tyler’s gaze travelled from the baby back up to Damien when he said, “I never thought I’d see the day, man.”

“You and me both, brother.”

Tyler spoke close to the baby. “Don’t worry, little No-Name. Your uncle Tyler is gonna teach you everything you need to know in this life.”

“And then Daddy is gonna tell you to just do the opposite of what Uncle Tyler says,” Damien joked.

“When are we gonna get to hear the name?” Monica asked.

“When everyone gets here, maybe after dinner, we’ll announce it,” Damien said. “We’re still waiting on Chelsea’s family to arrive.”

Nicole meandered over to me as she played with her necklace. “Look what Tyler bought me for Christmas. It’s from Tiffany’s.”

I examined the heart-shaped pendant that hung from a silver chain. “Not too shabby, Ty.”

“He did good.” She grinned.

“It’s really pretty. You two must have just celebrated a one-year anniversary, too, yeah? I remember meeting you for the first time last year around this time, and you guys had just started dating.”

“Yup. Still going strong.”

Tyler overheard and lifted his index finger. “Which means…I haven’t fucked up yet.”

Damien smacked his brother on the shoulder. “Seriously, Nicole, it takes a special woman to deal with my narcissistic brother. Bravo to you.”

“Touché.” Tyler laughed. He then turned to me. “So, who’s coming from your side tonight?”

“My sister, Claire, her husband, Micah, and their baby daughter, Clementine. Also, my parents.”

“Don’t you have another sister?” Monica asked.

“Yeah.” I pouted. “Jade couldn’t make it home from New York. Her show is always busiest this time of year.”

“That sucks.”

“Yes, it does. I miss her. She hasn’t even met the baby yet. It’s killing her, but they literally threatened her job when she asked for time off to come home when he was born.” Feeling down, I said, “Soon though. She’ll fly out here as soon as she has the chance.”

Tyler wrapped his arm around Nicole. “Why don’t I get some drinks started?”

“Actually, little brother, I was gonna send you to the liquor store to pick up some beer. I went out earlier and forgot it—the most important thing.”

“I can do that.” He kissed his girlfriend on the nose. “Nic, you want to stay or come with me?”

“I’ll stay.”

A few minutes after Tyler left, the doorbell rang. I assumed it was my family, since they were all driving here in one minivan.

My heart pummeled against my chest upon the sight of my sister. She was standing there holding a bunch of bags.

“Jade! Oh, my God!”

We leapt into each other’s arms. When she pulled away, she got teary-eyed at the sight of the baby. Without prompting, Damien took him out of the carrier and handed him to his auntie.

Jade admired our son in her arms. “I’ve been dying to hold him.”

I gave her a minute to enjoy him before I asked, “How did you manage to get away?”

“I literally cried, begged and pleaded for just one night off. I have to fly right back tomorrow night. I just couldn’t go any longer without seeing him.” She looked back down at the baby and said, “He looks like us. But he has Damien’s nose.”

“That’s exactly what I said!”

Damien looked happy to see
me
so happy. “Jade, this is an amazing surprise. You have no idea how stoked you’ve just made your sister.”

She grinned over at me. “I’m so glad I could make it happen.”

Everyone else arrived soon after, and they were just as shocked as I was to see Jade standing there holding the baby. She didn’t let go until he pooped, at which point Damien came to the rescue so that I could have a little one-on-one time with my sister.

Jade and I were getting food ready in the kitchen when Tyler returned from the store with the beer.

“Tyler, come meet my sister! This is Jade.”

Jade, who’d been facing me, turned around to greet him.

He opened his mouth and stopped as if he’d seen a ghost. I couldn’t blame him for being speechless at the first sight of her. Many people had that reaction. Jade was tall and gorgeous, a commanding presence who lit up any room she was in. With her blonde pixie cut, big eyes and tiny nose, she looked almost like a real-life version of Tinkerbell.

He stumbled over his words. “Hi. I…uh, I’m…”

Jade answered for him. “Tyler.” She smiled. “You’re Tyler.”

“That’s my name. Yup. And you’re…” Tyler lost his words again.

“Jade.”

He laughed nervously. “Right. She said that. Jade. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand, and she took it.

“I know. Finally, right? Really nice to meet you, Tyler.”

Nicole walked into the kitchen at that moment, and Tyler, whose hand had been lingering on Jade’s, instinctively let go.

“There you are, Ty. I didn’t see you come in. I was beginning to think you got lost out there.”

Flashing a disingenuous smile, he said, “Hey. Yeah, too many beer choices these days.” He looked over at my sister again. “Jade, this is…”

When he again blanked out, his girlfriend answered on his behalf. “Nicole.”

Jade smiled at him. “Yes. She and I met when you were out.”

“Great. Okay, then.” He gestured back with his thumb. “I’m just gonna…put this beer in the fridge.”

Tyler bent down at the base of the refrigerator and was fumbling with the bottles when one slipped out of his hand and shattered onto the ground. “Fuck,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’m sorry, Chelsea. I’ll get it cleared out.

I’d never seen Tyler act like that. He was normally cool as a cucumber. Was it a reaction to my sister, or something else?

After Tyler and Nicole left the kitchen, Jade just looked at me in silence. I’d seen that look on her face before. We had a way of reading each other’s minds without saying anything.

“So,
that’s
Tyler.” She glanced over to where he was standing in the opposite side of the apartment.

“Yep.”

“He’s gorgeous,” she whispered.

“I know. Damien and he look similar but different, right?”