Before it got too awkward, I muttered, “Nothing you haven’t seen before,” but tugged the towel a bit tighter, even though it did absolutely nothing to cover my bare side.
“Sorry.” With a shake of his head, he moved aside so I could get by.
Living under the same roof seemed like my own personal hell at that moment. Privacy was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t get away from him when I was pissed. How couples survived shit like that was beyond me. I was ready to call it quits just to get it over with and not attempt patching things up again. It was my style of life. When shit got hard, I fled and lived happily ever after… ish.
Instead of facing him after I was lathered up with lotion and in my leggings and a loose-fitting tank top, I made the phone call I hadn’t gotten to make in about a month. It was a bit late, but I knew she would answer when I called.
“Sha!” Delia exclaimed when she picked up. “What are we having?”
She knew why I was calling, since I’d told her a month before how Kai and I had worked things out and how he wanted to find out what we were having together. “It’s a boy ... and a girl!” I exclaimed.
“What! You didn’t tell me it was twins.”
“I know. Sorry. I didn’t actually believe them until those two giant babies were cuddling on the screen.”
“Oh, you’re nearly six months. I’m sure they’re just sweet itty-bitty things.” She giggled, the sound of it ringing through me. God, I missed her face. “Twins. You know, twins are a sign of luck. Especially a boy and a girl. They’re going to be perfect.”
I rolled my lips between my teeth. “Yeah. They will be,” I said a bit solemnly.
“What’s wrong, Chlo?”
“Meh. I just got in a fight… kind of… with Kai. He wants me to take it easy. I say fuck him.”
She laughed at that. I missed her laugh. “With twins, you probably should be taking it easy. But this is you we’re talking about. No one is gonna slow you down.”
“Right?” I chuckled, some of my tension and steam melting. “I miss you, Del. This all seems so much harder without you around.”
“Same here. It’s been a rough month with Gran. We still aren’t sure how much longer she has. She fights tooth and nail when we allow the doctor near her. They never have much to tell us anyway.”
My heart cracked. I’d been worrying about all this baby stuff this whole time, and she was worrying she may lose Gran soon. “Oh, Del. I’m so sorry I’m not there. Here I am going on and on about my life.”
“No! No, Chloe. You know I love that you’re doing good away from here.” She sighed.
I sighed.
Then Kai banged on my door, making me jump. “Kate, can you please come out so we can talk?” he hollered through the door.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I sighed again. “Sorry, Del. The Neanderthal is banging on my door. I’m gonna have to let you go.”
“Sure. Don’t be too hard on him.”
“I’ll try my damnedest. Please keep me updated on Gran.”
“I will. Bye, Chloe.”
“Bye, Delia.”
Several deep breaths were necessary before I opened the door. He stood there with his massive arms crossed over his chest, his jaw twitching. He’d changed into some gym shorts that showed off his muscular legs, which I pretended not to ogle. Legs were totally my thing, and he had the best of them. I was pretty sure he somehow found my weakness out, because he wore shorts pretty often. I gave him my seasoned bored stare.
“What do you want?” I asked, breaking the awkward silence and making it even more awkward.
“I want to talk,” he clipped.
“Then talk, Kai.”
“I understand why you’re pissed at me, but I’m just as pissed at you, and I have every right to be.”
“That’s what you dragged me out of my room to say? Not that you’re sorry for screwing with my job. That you’re sorry Tim removed me from the schedule for the rest of the week? You have absolutely no right trying to take over my shit. Not after only two days of us being in a relationship.”
“I do have every right, Kate,” he snarled, stepping closer to me. I took a step back into my room. “Those aren’t just your kids. They’re mine, too. And you pushing yourself as much as you are isn’t good for any of you.”
“You don’t get to tell me what is and isn’t good for me. I’ve taken care of myself for years, and I will keep doing so from here on out without you butting in.”
Another step forward, putting him in my doorway, causing me to take another back. My heart pounded in my chest, my stomach doing the tightening thing, but I ignored it. This wasn’t the time to show him he was right to worry. That he was right in any sense at all. “Is this how it’s going to be every time I try to help out? Is it going to be a giant battle like this?”
“You weren’t helping out. You were being a dick. My boss took me off the schedule. Does that not compute? How do you think I put food in the fridge, keep power running through the walls? That is my only job. And now Tim is worried about me and probably won’t schedule me on any busy nights while I’m pregnant.”
“I told you I would take care of shit. I’ll take care of you. I’ll take care of the babies. You don’t have to worry or work hard anymore. If you’d just let me help!” He was yelling now.
The tightness got worse.
I had to close my eyes, take a deep breath to concentrate. He didn’t understand that I didn’t want his help. I didn’t want him taking care of me. No matter how badly I would love for something to
