The Price of Fame: A Price Novel (The Price Novels Book 2) (13 page)

“And I don’t think I’m old enough to be called Grandma. So, find something else to call me, OK?” She smiled and gave me a big hug. I knew she was happy for us.

There was a huge crowd outside the restaurant when we went to leave. It was crazy. It made me realize how much I hated the thought of bringing kids up in this environment. How would we protect them from this? This wasn’t going to be easy.

S
layde had to go to a movie premiere and wanted me to go with him because I was off. He usually didn’t ask if it wasn’t one of his movies, but we hadn’t done much together since returning from our anniversary. I also hated for him to go alone when I was home.

So, even though I really needed to throw up and go to sleep, both things I’d rather do than go anywhere playing my part as Hollywood Slayde’s wife, I’d go. For my Slayde.

On the ride over, I yawned. He looked at me. “Babe, are you too tired to go? I feel bad making you go.”

I rested my head on his shoulder. “You aren’t making me go. I want to go with you. And I’m no tireder than normal. Just preggers-tired.”

He smiled and kissed the top of my head. “You’re so beautiful.”

“Thanks,” I whispered before yawning again.

When we arrived at the premiere venue, we had to wait in the limo for almost thirty minutes before we were let out. This was pure torture for me, because I really wanted a little power nap, but I didn’t want Slayde to get out with drool marks on his jacket and me to have a seam mark on my face from sleeping on his shoulder. Once we reached the red carpet, someone opened the car door, and Slayde got out first, reaching back for my hand and helping me out of the car.

There were a zillion people there, and it was very loud. Of course camera crews and paparazzi were everywhere. People were calling Slayde’s name and screaming at other people ahead of us. I was getting so overwhelmed that I couldn’t even make out half of what they were saying.

Slayde, sensing my angst, grabbed my hand more tightly, pulling me closer to him. I looked up, and he was smiling at me. ”Absolutely beautiful,” he mouthed, making me smile and blush.

Then a woman I hadn’t seen before said to a camera while walking toward us, “And we have Slayde Price arriving with his beautiful wife.” She looked vaguely familiar. I was pretty sure she said who she was and where she was from, but I didn’t understand her. I stood there while she asked him questions until Slayde’s publicist, Jennifer, showed up out of nowhere and pulled me away from the mayhem.

“You look nice,” she said as soon as we were able to hear each other.

I yawned again before saying, “Thanks.”

She stepped back and looked at me quizzically. “Oh my God, you’re pregnant?”

I was shocked. I had told Slayde I didn’t want anyone to know yet after what had happened last time. And we had just recently told Lexi. “Uh, what are you talking about?”

She smiled knowingly. “Why didn’t you deny it?”

I looked around to make sure no one was listening. “It’s really early.”

“Which is why you are asleep on your feet,” she stated.

“I guess.”

She squeezed me. “Congrats. I can’t believe he hasn’t told me.”

“Well, like I said. It’s early, and we don’t want it out yet.”

With a cocked eyebrow she said, “Who am I gonna tell, other than
US Weekly
?” I guessed she could see how horrified I was by the thought of that, because she laughed. “I am kidding with you.” I hoped she was.

After a few more minutes, Slayde finally made it to where we were standing. He leaned in and kissed my temple, saying, “Sorry.”

I hate to admit it, but I fell asleep during the premiere. Not because it wasn’t good but because I was too tired to pay attention. When it ended, Jennifer looked at Slayde. “You don’t have to stay at the party all night, but stay at least thirty minutes.”

He nodded and looked at me. “How was it?”

“The movie?” I asked.

We started walking out, and he smiled and said quietly while bumping my shoulder with his, “No, your nap.” I cringed, and he laughed and pulled me along toward the car.

I hated this part, almost as much as I hated the walk down the red carpet. Most of these people were fake, and it made me ill. I couldn’t do it. I guessed I was a bad actress, but I didn’t like pretending to be interested in the things these people talked about: fame, money, scandal. Slayde swore they weren’t all that way, but based on the fact that he didn’t hang out with many of them outside of work, I suspected he was wrong.

Brett Wilder was the star of this movie. She was a tall, curvy, dark-haired twenty-three-year-old with fake pouty lips and long fake eyelashes. She was beautiful, and she looked like one of those women who was actually prettier without all that makeup on, but she probably wouldn’t understand that.

Brett was known for being a diva. She was also known for sleeping with several older, well-known A-listers—some of them older than her father had to be. I had seen her at numerous functions all over James Maddox, who was at least fifty-five years old. It totally grossed me out. She struck me as a girl with daddy issues and a seriously jacked-up moral compass.

When we arrived at the party, she was the first person I saw. She was standing off to the side, wiping the front of her dress with a cloth napkin. A waiter standing next to her appeared to be trying to help her. When he managed to wipe her dress with his rag, she reached up and grabbed him by his collar and started yelling in his face. “You idiot. Do you see what you did? You spilled wine all over my dress.”

I wanted to point out that her dress was black, and you couldn’t see it.

“Ma’am, I am so sorry. Let me dry it off.”

She pushed him away and went back to dabbing at the dress. “Don’t touch me. You pathetic loser. Get away from me.”

The poor guy was so upset; he was fumbling, trying to help her, and she was being ridiculous. “I will pay for it to be cleaned. Or pay for it to be replaced. Ma’am, I am sorry.”

She stopped what she was doing and looked at him as if he were crazy. “You couldn’t afford this dress in a year,” she shouted.

OK, this was getting bad. I was embarrassed, more for her than him at this point. But only because I was sane. This girl was definitely not right.

I looked at Slayde, feeling very anxious and ready to go. He let out a deep breath and walked over to Brett. “I think it was an accident,” he said quietly.

She whipped around, ready to give whomever was defending this man pure hell, but when she saw who was speaking to her, she stopped and smiled. “You’re probably right,” she said. She looked at the waiter, who left.

She then looked back at Slayde. “I’m sorry. You know how the staff for these things are always so clumsy.”

Slayde, not saying anything in agreement with her, smiled at her with pity. “I’m sure you won’t wear this dress again anyway. I mean, you’ve had your picture taken in it. It’s fabulous and all, but you can’t actually wear it again.”

Now I knew Slayde was really just playing her. What he was saying was true, but he was saying it in mockery, and she wasn’t smart enough to figure that out. Her smile got larger, and she nodded before saying, “You know, you’re right.”

He nodded and said, “Have a good evening.”

Before he could walk away, she grabbed his arm. “Wait, have a drink with me.”

He pulled away. “I can’t. I’m having a drink with my wife and friends over there. But have a nice night, and I enjoyed the movie.”

She once again resumed her pouty expression and looked in our direction and gave me the same snide glance she’d given the waiter.

“Diva” may have been too polite—she was a bitch!

Slayde, looking at me with wide eyes, said, “Yeah, I think that could count as our thirty minutes. Let’s get out of here before Jennifer notices.”

I could feel myself beaming. That was the best idea he’d had all night.

The drive home wasn’t long, but I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up as Slayde was laying me on our bed.

T
he next few months flew by, and one day, all of a sudden, Arden looked pregnant. Not big, fat pregnant, but cute little baby-bump pregnant. I noticed it when she was getting ready for bed. I swear it hadn’t been there the night before. It was weird. I didn’t know how women felt when they were pregnant, but at that moment I fell in love with her all over again. I hadn’t even believed that it was possible to love her more than I already did, but I guessed it was.

When she got in bed, I wasn’t sure if I should say something about it or not, but I really wanted to.

I rubbed my hand on her tummy.

“
Stop!
” she said and pushed me away.

I had gotten used to her mood swings by now, but I hated feeling like she was pushing me away. “Why? I love your little belly. It’s so cute!”

“No, it’s not. It’s weird. I already feel like my body has been invaded by aliens. The last thing I want is you drawing attention to it,” she snapped.

“Sorry!” I kissed her lips. “Good night.” I rolled over, which was my way of saying, “Screw you.” I never slept with my back to her.
This actually feels weird.
I usually wouldn’t sleep well that way, but I wanted her to know she had hurt my feelings.

“I talked to the chief today,” she said.

“About what?”

“I told him I was pregnant.”

That got my attention, and I turned back over. I had seriously been afraid she was going to wait until she had no choice before she told anybody. “Really? What did he say?”

“He said he already knew.”

“How did he know? Who else knows?” Not that I cared if the whole world knew, but I was curious.

“Nobody but Milly, but he said that he could just tell.”

“What else did he say?”

“He said it wasn’t an issue. That it generally wasn’t something he was ever thrilled about this early in residency, but that he felt I was far enough ahead of everyone that it wouldn’t be a problem. He said to take whatever time I needed, and my spot would definitely be there when I came back.”

“That’s great news, right?”

“Yes, it definitely takes some pressure off. I’m sorry I was ugly to you. I’m just not comfortable with myself yet. But you can rub my stomach if you want to.”

I could understand that. I was sure the changes going on with her were making her more than uncomfortable, but I was so excited about every part of this. I wanted to be involved with every aspect of it. As much as I could, anyway.

She turned over on her side with her back against me like she normally would and didn’t flip out when I ran my hand over her belly.

“That’s so awesome,” I whispered to her.

She didn’t respond, but her body relaxed against me, and within minutes her breathing had evened out.

The next morning I woke up before her and went to the market to pick up all of her favorite foods. I made her coffee and packed her little individual containers of vegetables and fruits that I had cut up and washed so that she could grab what she wanted and go for the next few mornings.

She came dragging into the kitchen looking like she hated the world and walked straight for the Keurig. She shot a look back at me.

“Good morning, beautiful.” I wasn’t going to say anything more than that.

Of course she rolled her eyes at me. “Yes, it’s decaf.”

She almost smiled before taking her mug from the machine and pouring creamer in it.

I walked over and gave her a hug from behind. “Have a good day, babe. I’ve gotta go.”

S
layde had an awards show that night, and I was supposed to go. He would be devastated if I decided not to go. It had been on the calendar for months, but I really wanted to stay home. I was five months pregnant and felt huge. I knew I wasn’t. I had only gained thirteen pounds, but it wasn’t comfortable on me.

Slayde seemed so in love with the idea of me being pregnant that I swear there were nights I wanted to smother him in his sleep. I knew that was horrible. I was praying that was just the hormones talking.

Thank goodness for Julie and Lexi; they had handled everything for this evening. Lexi had four different dresses for me to choose from. Julie had someone ready to do my hair and makeup, and all I had to do was show up looking like I liked it. I hated all of this, but it would hurt Slayde’s feelings if I didn’t go. And let’s face it. The press would have a field day with it.

I ended up choosing a Marchesa gown that hid my belly the best. It was still very flattering, but this would be my first time in the public eye since you could tell I was pregnant, and I was nervous. The press could be so cruel, and with my hormones going nuts, I didn’t need any criticism about my appearance. Maybe we should have told everyone, but after having a miscarriage before, I was scared to jinx myself.

“Are you ready?” Slayde stuck his head in. “You look beautiful.” He was smiling and looked absolutely gorgeous, like always.

“Thanks, baby. So do you.” I was going to be OK tonight, no matter what. Slayde would be right there the whole time. He had always been super attentive but was even more so since I’d been pregnant.

“Dan’s waiting. Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand and led me to the car.

When we arrived at the Dolby Theatre, I was afraid I was going to be sick. I didn’t know if I was overly sensitive at that moment, but I swore there were three times as many people waiting at the red carpet than normal.

“You OK?” Slayde asked before we got out of the car.

I didn’t say anything. I just nodded. This was his night, and I wasn’t going to let him worry about me. He was nominated for four awards, one of which was Best Actor. That was obviously a big deal. So I was going to get my head together and put a smile on my face.

As we got out of the limo, it was as if everybody there stopped what they were doing and turned around. It was weird, and I didn’t think it was just my imagination.

You would think that people wouldn’t ask questions about a possible pregnancy in such public places, but they did. That was one of the first questions they asked Slayde. Of course he blushed. He always got embarrassed easily, which was so strange to me, but he did. However, he seemed so happy that he could admit it in public. It was really sweet. I could tell that made him happy. I felt bad for asking him not to say anything until now. I guessed that hadn’t really been fair of me.

We wound up having a really great time. He won three of the awards. He was so happy, and I was so proud of him. We went home and made love. It was the first time in months that I hadn’t thought about being a fat pregnant cow. I just felt like his wife. Afterward we lay in bed and talked and laughed like we used to before I was too busy to enjoy my life.

“Did you call your mom back? She called you like five times!” I loved Lexi, and I loved the relationship he had with her. I did like to pick on him about it a little, but it was definitely all in jest.

“Nah, she can wait until tomorrow.”

“I don’t think so. You better call her, or she will be knocking on the bedroom door at the crack of dawn, and I want to sleep late.”

He laughed. He knew that was the truth. “I’m kidding. I called her while you were in the bathroom.”

“You had a good night, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I had a great night. Thank you so much for going.” He kissed me.

“What was your favorite part of the night?”

I thought he was going to say winning Best Actor, but he shocked me. “Finally getting to tell everyone that we’re expecting.” That was the sweetest thing he could have said. Tears started filling my eyes.

A few days later, I saw that our baby news was front-page-worthy. My belly was all over the tabloids, but at least it was good press. They painted us as perfect little newlyweds excited about our baby on the way, which was actually true. And I did love how happy Slayde looked.

Finally it was the day of my ultrasound when we would find out the sex of the babies. Slayde was so excited, I couldn’t help but get tickled. Not that I wasn’t excited, but Slayde was so much more over the top than me about things like this. He was so cute.

“OK, so what’s your final guess?” He was always asking me to guess, and today would end all questioning.

“I don’t know … girls. What about you?” I knew he wanted me to play along.

“I already told you. Boys. I just feel it. I really don’t care, but that’s what I think.”

Slayde always went with me to the doctor. He insisted. So I tried to always get the first or last appointment of the day. That always meant less waiting around. I hated being pregnant, sitting in a doctor’s office, and having other women flirt with my husband. I would never flirt with a man who was accompanied by a woman, but people did it all the time. It was gross. I always wanted to scream, “Yes, I know he’s beautiful; yes, I know he’s talented, and yes, I know he’s funny. That’s why I married him, and I’m having his babies. Now go sit down and read a damn magazine.” People were crazy.

Today was no different. I intentionally sat in the corner farthest from the door. No one was in that area because there were no TVs over there, and the chairs on that side were older, and the stuffing had worn thin. We had been seated no more than three minutes when a woman in her late twenties or so came and sat two seats down from Slayde.

She immediately smiled at him. He looked down at his phone. Even though he was insistent on being there, he didn’t actually feel comfortable at the gynecologist’s office—but who did?

“You must be expecting,” she said to him.

Slayde looked up at her with huge eyes, and she laughed. “No, I didn’t mean she looks like it, but because you’re here with her.” So she had noticed I was sitting there.
Surprise.

He smiled at me and then looked back at her. “Oh, uh, are you?”

“Me? No. I’m single. Very, very single,” she said, leaning against the arm of the chair separating them.

“Geez,” I said under my breath, flipping through my magazine hard enough to rip the pages from its spine.

Slayde noticed, but the bimbo didn’t. “So, where are you from?” she asked him.

“Here. I’ve lived here most of my life.”

“Really? Where did you live before that?”

“Umm, Atlanta, Washington, and Florida a little while.”

“Wow, that must have been cool to live in all of those places. What was your favorite?”
Really?

“I prefer California,” he said.

She nodded, and for a whole second I thought she was going to shut up. “I bet you get this a lot, but, you know, you look a lot like that actor guy, you know, he plays Jake Brandon.”

“Arden Price,” interrupted the nurse.

Thank you!

I grabbed my purse, and Slayde awkwardly said, “It was nice talking to you,” and followed me to the door, where the nurse was standing in her awful mauve scrubs. I was so glad I wasn’t in labor and delivery; that color looked awful on everybody.

I was thankful to see the doctor had a new ultrasound tech. The last one had made me uncomfortable. She was young and flirty. No pregnant woman wants some young, perky bimbo hitting on her husband. Totally inappropriate!

The new lady was older than Lexi and didn’t seem to care in the least who Slayde was or what he might look like in his underwear. It was nice. We had asked her not to tell us what the sexes were but to put them in an envelope, so we could open them when we got home. We had been very lucky to keep my pregnancy from the press for so long, but I didn’t want the whole world knowing everything.

After my appointment, we planned to order food and go home. I wasn’t really in the mood for a showdown with the paparazzi today. Which reminded me about this weird dream I’d had. “I had the worst dream last night,” I said as Slayde pulled out of the parking lot.

“What was it about?”

“I dreamed I was in labor, and the freaking paparazzi somehow got in the delivery room, and nobody did anything. I was trying to push, and there were flashes going off like crazy. I was furious, and you were just smiling and waving like an idiot. I wanted to kill you.”

He was laughing. “What did you eat before you went to bed last night?”

“Huh?”

“Sometimes when you eat something strange before you go to bed, it makes you have crazy dreams.”

“Hello, the last thing I ate was at the damn restaurant where we were swarmed coming and going by the damn paparazzi. I could hear the flashes and people calling your name in my dream like they were right in my face.”

He smiled and squeezed my hand. “Baby, I promise there will be no paparazzi at the hospital.”

“You can’t promise that. I’ve seen tons of pictures of celebrities leaving the hospital.” He looked at me like I was crazy. “Slayde, people take pictures of you leaving the gym. Do you think they will respect our privacy just because these poor innocent babies are with us?” My chest got tight all of a sudden. “I think I’m going to have an anxiety attack. I need to roll down the window.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I swear I can’t breathe.”

“Arden, calm down. Stop worrying about that. I’ll handle it, I promise.”

“How? How can you promise?” I shouted. For some reason, now I was pissed, and I was directing it at him.

“Please calm down and trust me. If I say I’ll handle it, I will.”

“Whatever,” I snapped. I tried to relax and breathe, but that gave me little to no comfort at all. I started to cry.

Slayde pulled over and took my face between his hands. “Seriously, you need to calm down. This has gotten out of hand. You are working yourself up over nothing. You are being completely ridiculous.”

I pushed him away. “It may be nothing to you, but it isn’t nothing to me. I’m so sick of all this shit. I can’t stand it anymore. I want a normal husband.” I was squalling by this point. And yet part of me knew that my little outburst was all hormones. This was the first time he’d looked at me like I was a psycho pregnant person.

“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that,” he said, and we drove back to the house in silence.

When we got home, I went and lay down, and he stayed busy, clearly doing anything he could to not piss me off. After a few hours, I decided I needed to go apologize. I had been really ugly to him, and it wasn’t his fault. This was supposed to be a good day, and I was ruining it.

I looked for him for five minutes before I found him. I was starting to think he’d left. Not that I’d have blamed him. I’d leave me too if I could, but unfortunately I was stuck with myself. I found him in the garage messing with his golf clubs. “I thought you left your clubs at the country club.”

He looked up at me like he wasn’t sure if he should respond or not, for fear that my head might start spinning around or something. “Uh, I did. These are new.”

“Oh,” I said and sat down on the steps.

He looked back at me. “Are you better? Or should I be quiet?” At least he was finally getting the whole “shut up because you can’t say anything right when I’m the pregnant one” concept.

I smiled at him. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what is wrong with me. I didn’t mean that. I’m just nervous, I guess. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

He put his golf bag in the trunk of his car. “It’s OK.” He was always super forgiving, unlike me. “How about we get some takeout; then we can open that envelope.” He walked over to me, reaching for my hand to pull me up.

“OK, let’s do that.” I couldn’t believe I had forgotten all about that.

Slayde went out to the closest fast-food restaurant, and I changed into something more comfortable and sat down on the couch with the envelope in my hand, waiting for Slayde.

“I don’t even know why we have a kitchen table, much less a dining room,” he said when he brought my food into the living room.

“I know, it’s sad, huh.”

“You know, I was thinking about that land I bought last year by my parents’.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked before shoving food into my mouth.

“The land I bought at the back of their neighborhood. It touches theirs. It’s behind their gate, so we not only would have the front gates to keep out everyone who doesn’t live there, but then we would have that second gate that keeps out everyone else.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do. It’s to the left when you come in their gate.” He looked at me like I was crazy, but I really didn’t know what he was talking about.

“I always thought that land was your parents’.”

“No, it was owned by some guy who never built anything. He gave Mom and Dad first offer on it, and they were gonna buy it, but Dad let me buy it instead. I wanted to build a house back there eventually. If you wanted to.”

I looked around the room as I chewed. After swallowing, I said, “I hadn’t really thought about it. I love our house.”

“I know baby, but we’re about to outgrow it.”

“It has four bedrooms,” I stated.

“Exactly, and we’re about to have two kids. As much as you don’t want to admit this, we are going to have to have help. So we need more room.”

I didn’t say anything at first but thought about what he had said.

“Do you not want to build next to my parents’?” he asked.

“No, it’s not that at all.” And it wasn’t. I loved Slayde’s family.

“Are you sure? Because we can build somewhere else or find a bigger house if you don’t want to live that close to them.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s really fine with me, but I don’t know how I’m gonna have time to decorate a house with two babies and work.”

I realized that wasn’t an issue. Someone else would do that. He smiled at me like he realized the light had just gone on in my head. “Not a problem,” he said. “So when are we gonna open that envelope?”