“Listen, Mate. I’m starting to worry about you. You have an obsession that is starting to affect your work. We have already searched arrest records and come up empty. You stared at the computer for weeks, just looking for that familiar face. Why don’t you come to the club with me tonight and blow off some steam? One of my subs has a multiple person fantasy; you can assist. I’m not saying you have to get sexually involved if you don’t want to, but it’s discreet and up to you.”
“Sure.” Maybe if I go, I can quit obsessing over finding her. Jax said it doesn’t have to be sexual, but everything about that club he frequents is sexual in one way or another. I just know I have to do something to take my mind off of the one that got away.
~Livvy~
Six months pregnant
“So are you going to tell your mom tonight?”
Liz still looks at me with pity when we discuss anything about my mom. “I think I have to. These baggy shirts aren’t hiding much anymore. My only saving grace has been that I go to school before she wakes up and she’s usually in bed before I get home from George’s Bar. I have chickened out every time I get up the nerve and I know I’m just delaying the inevitable, but I’m scared anyway.” I have been bartending since I was three months pregnant and trying to save up every penny I can. I’m hoping to decrease my hours to part time at George's when the baby comes. Having a cute belly has worked to my financial benefit. People feel sorry for me and tip more, plus my adorable baby belly keeps any and all suitors away. The $10 ring I wear on my left finger helps a lot too.
“Well, you know if things go bad, George said you could stay in the studio upstairs until we move locations in a year.”
“Thanks, Liz. You have been a Godsend for me. It helps that you and George have hit it off because he listens to you more than the rest of us. Hell, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have the best schedule, right alongside yours.”
Liz puckers her lips, leans down to my belly, and places her hands on both sides of my protruding bump and talks in her baby voice to my belly button.
“Anything for my Godchild, my wittle babè Alex. If he looks anything like his papa, that you have waxed poetic about for months and now I have wet dreams about, I need to keep you both close to beat the women away from him.”
We both burst into laughter as George walks in and rolls his eyes.
“Would you quit makin’ her baby hungry? If I get any more sex between her wanting a baby and the wet dreams she’s been having about your long lost love, my you know what is going to fall off.”
“Whatever, George. That is the only reason you have kept a waddling pregnant lady behind your bar for the last four and a half months. Keeping Liz happy keeps your pecker happy.”
“True, so true. Let’s lock up and walk you out. Let us know how Mommy Dearest takes the news, then we’ll start cleaning out the studio.”
George and Liz have been my sounding board; they are closer to me than my own mother. At least I know I have a place to go if she kicks me out.
George let me off a little bit early so I could get this confession over with, so I climb in my car as soon as my shift ends then drive home for a dreaded chat with my mom. My anxiety spikes as I pull in next to her car. In the back of my mind, I was hoping she would be asleep so I could avoid this chat for another day. Unfortunately, as I walk in, she is sitting at the kitchen table staring sightlessly at her bills. I give her as much money as I can after paying for school and books, but it never seems to be enough.
“Hi, Mom, I came home a little early so we could talk. Do you have a minute?” As soon as she looks up, her eyes zero in on my protruding belly and she gasps. We haven’t seen much of each other in the last few months so I can imagine that this is a shock to her, but I didn’t expect her to burst into tears and start cursing right away.
“Oh my God, Livvy. What have you done? Do you have any idea what this will do to us? How could you?”
I knew this wouldn’t go over well, but now I think it would have been better to move out and then tell her. She calls me several choice names and locks herself in the bathroom.
“Why would you do this to us?” she screams through the door.
Unfortunately, I’m sure anyone walking by can hear her. “Mom, I didn’t do anything to you. This is my choice and my life. It doesn’t have to affect you; I’m twenty-one years old and can take care of myself. Besides, I’m not asking you for anything, I’m just telling you about the baby.
“Doesn’t affect me! You’re damn right it will not affect me. I can’t have a screaming, crying, baby wake me up at all hours of the night. You have to leave, Livvy, and it serves you right since you spread your legs for the first guy that made your heart flutter. I warned you this would happen and you didn’t listen to me.”
Moving into the studio didn’t take long because I don’t have much. I only took my personal belongings: laptop and books for school, clothes, shoes and jewelry. Lucky for me, there
