His Distraction (Assured Distraction Book 2) (27 page)

“Yes, but you are going to have two little gifts at once, Ryan.”

“The more, the merrier, Sunshine. I’ve got a whole lotta love to give you and all the children we have. Now that the band is bringing in decent money, we’ll be fine. I don’t want you worrying about the pregnancy. I want us to be happy. We can do this.” He kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly to him. “And what benefits!”

“What are you talking about, Ryan?”

“Your gorgeous tits that I love are already bigger and much more sensitive, and Babe, last night was some of the hottest raw sex, ever. You were so damn worked up I thought you were going to rip off my damn clothes. Will it be like this the whole time? Because I fucking love it!” He picked her up around the middle and held her, so they were eye to eye.

“You have such a one-track mind, Ryan, I swear. Sex on the brain, twenty-four, seven.”

“Just a guy, babe. Just a guy.”

Early pregnancy days were difficult but Peri’s smoothed out as soon as she made it past the first trimester, just as the doctor said she it might. She was relieved she wasn’t pencil thin because she wasn’t ready to tell the world about it, specifically Krissy. Her size and shape that made the pregnancy easier conceal. Ryan did not agree with her decision to keep it secret but honored her wishes.

True to his word, Ryan spent one evening a week with Krissy, and Peri sometimes went with him, but never sure what kind of mood they would find Krissy in, Peri was always on guard. On the days she didn’t go, she enjoyed alone time or she would go out with Chandler. The two friends enjoyed girl dates, shopping for all things baby, and talking about what was happening with her body. Chandler was amazed at the changes and loved getting updates about the newest member of the band family.

“How long until you find out the sex?” Chandler perused the frilly girl clothes in the baby boutique. “I hope it’s a girl, myself. The amount of cute stuff for girls is almost overwhelming. Please say you’ll let me dress her while we are on tour. I may have sucked at dressing myself, but I would love my private baby doll! You know I’ve never been around babies before.”

“Well, neither have I, so this should be an experience for all of us. Ryan was ten when his youngest brother was born, so he remembered holding a baby but obviously that was a long time ago. I guess Ryan will get to relearn with Krissy’s baby before he gets to hold ours.” She ended her comment on a hiccup and then burst into tears.

Chandler dropped everything she held and wrapped around her friend, hugging her tightly. “Oh, Peri, it’s okay. You know it will be different with your baby.”

“But that’s not fair to Krissy’s baby. It’s his child, too. All babies deserve to have the same love from their parents, even if they aren’t together. I never want that child to feel like it’s second to mine.”

“I’m sure Ryan wouldn’t do something that cruel. He’ll love them both. They will almost be like twins.” Peri cried harder. “I’m sorry, Peri. I didn’t mean to make you more upset.” Chandler felt terrible and did not know how to calm her.

Finally, Peri’s crying subsided to hiccups, and the shop owner came over with tissue for her, wearing a sympathetic smile. “It’s fine, hon, we get tears in here all the time.” Peri nodded her thanks but felt embarrassed all the same.

“Now that that’s over with, what did you ask me?” Peri swiped at her eye makeup to keep it from running anymore.

“Oh, yeah, how long until you can find out the sex, or are you going to?”

“We haven’t discussed finding out the sex. We can find out when I’m eighteen weeks, but the doctor likes to wait until twenty. It’s about half way through then. I suppose we need to decide since the appointment isn’t far off.”

“I hate to ask, but has Krissy found out yet?”

“No, she wants it to be a surprise as if this whole nightmare hasn’t been enough of a surprise. Ryan told her to do whatever she wanted and that pissed her off.” Even though she would never tell him, Peri hated Ryan going over to Krissy’s. He came home in a bad mood afterward, which is why she normally went with him; she could usually run interference between the two of them arguing about everything.

Ryan bought everything Krissy asked for or ordered. He went to every appointment. He gave her a credit card for groceries and whatever she needed to buy. Basically, he was supporting her, but regardless of his patience and generosity at every weekly visit Krissy came up with something to argue over. The only thing that would make her happy was Ryan moving in with her, and he assured her time and time again that would never happen.

“Peri, it won’t be too much longer now, since she’s three months ahead of you. So she’s about twenty-eight weeks, right?”

“Yes, according to what she says. The doctor isn’t completely positive since she can’t remember exactly when her last period was, which is a little weird since she told him she was on the pill the whole time. He’s basing it off of measurements and the ultrasound, which they didn’t do until the second trimester, and apparently the earlier they do one, the more accurate it is. But she refused to believe she was pregnant in the beginning, even though she knew she wasn’t taking her pills. Supposedly she stopped in the middle of the pack because she conveniently forgot to take several. He gets a different story from her each time he comments on it, so he doesn’t know what to believe anymore.”

“That’s a huge mess. She might have all kinds of surprises for Ryan. I can see why he’s not a hundred percent convinced that it’s his baby.” Chandler eyed Peri for her reaction.

“Yes, he still says it’s not, but we’ll see in about twelve more weeks, or so.” Peri shrugged, inwardly dreading the end of Krissy’s pregnancy. If the woman’s demands were high-handed now, she could only imagine how outrageous they would be after the baby was born. “You know, by the end, she’ll probably demand Ryan move in full-time, so he can be there when she goes into labor.”

“What about her other friends here in Austin? Can she count of any of them?” Chandler asked while sliding frilly dresses around a rack.

Peri thought about the conversation she and Ryan had about Krissy when he first found out about her baby. “According to Ryan, Krissy had some friends in the area, but she didn’t have family close by.”

“That’s not good. Wonder why she didn’t try to make more friends since she moved here.”

“I’m not sure. She told him her mother couldn’t come when the baby was born. She lives in Arizona with her new family, and apparently Krissy never felt welcome in their home. She and Janae came to Austin together after Janae finished with school. Krissy hoped to find a job where she could support herself. Their lives were so intertwined when Jacoby was in the band, but after he had quit, Krissy didn’t see as much of them. Now here she is with only a few friends, no family around, and a new baby about to be born.”

“If she tried to get along with all of us, maybe we could have been friends.” Chandler watched Peri and shrugged her shoulders. “Do you think she’ll demand he move in with her when it gets here?” Chandler could not believe Krissy would ask such a thing of him.

“Who knows? Every week it’s something new with her, but he shuts her down when it comes to anything involving him and her.” Peri wanted to believe that, too.

Peri’s stomach made a growling noise loud enough for Chandler to hear it. “I’m starving, too. Let’s go feed junior something yummy, shall we?” She slipped her arm through Peri’s and led her out the boutique door.

“I agree.
Princess
is calling for food. Can’t you hear her?” Peri laughed at her correction, indicating her hope for a girl.

“Princess, huh?” Putting her head down next to Peri’s stomach, Chandler started talking to the small bump.

“This is your Auntie Chan, and you want me to tell your Mommy what? Oh, really? I’ll let her know then.” She patted the little bump. “
Junior
says, he is not a girl and to stop calling him that. Oh, and he’s starving for something greasy now that you’re feeling better, so please feed him.”

The two girls laughed out loud as they made their way to the sandwich shop on the corner. Peri was glad to get off her feet for a while. These days, with a friend to talk to, she was feeling so much better about her pregnancy.

Cash walked into the meeting with Peri and the band seated around the conference table. He had called the meeting to discuss the upcoming tour with the group and last minute plans for the release party taking place the next night. He was confident that sales were going to be outstanding, and it would probably be platinum before they ever hit the road. They released a few of the singles on iTunes already, each reaching number one on the Billboard Charts in their first week. The album release would be icing on the cake since they expected three or more songs on it to go to number one as singles, too.

“Now, I want to start by saying: the numbers are out, and it seems
Taken Over
has moved into number one just like we thought it would.” Ear-shattering cheers erupted in the room. Even with the label saying it would be a hit, AD had held out hope for that level of success until they had solid proof.

“Okay, okay. Settle down and let’s talk tour.” Peering around the room, Cash saw eager faces and how they had changed from the first time he spoke to them about going on their first tour with Frission. This time, AD will be the headlining, and while they wouldn’t play arenas like they had with Frission and Steel, they would be playing sold-out crowds in large venues. He was proud of the progress they had made in a relatively short time. He loved to see it.

“You’ll leave in three weeks. The party tomorrow night will mark the release and then the four-month tour begins with possible dates added once the tour begins. Most of the tour the band will be on your own tour bus, and wait until you see this bad boy when it gets here in a couple of weeks. The label is having it outfitted for Assured Distraction. Some stops, you will be flying between venues if radio shows and promotions events get in the way of time.”

Everyone in the room was thrilled with all of the news. Everyone except Peri. The tour would end close to her due date. She had to tell Cash now so he could make arrangements. She hadn’t spoken to her doctor yet, but Peri felt like she was not going to want her moving around the country that late in her term.

And then there was Krissy. What were they going to do about her due date? Hayden was going on tour with AD, and all of this would happen at the time Krissy was due. Ryan was going to have to talk to her seriously about all of this soon.

At the end of the meeting, AD was still feeling the euphoria of the news about their Billboard rankings as they made their way out the door. Cash was the last out and called to Peri, “I need you to come to my office so we can go over the dates and make a list of things you will need to deal with on the road.”

Peri looked back when he started talking. Ryan was standing between the two, talking to Carter, and heard what Cash asked. Ryan stopped mid-sentence and studied Peri, for the first time, he realized what the tour and the timing would mean for her and the baby. He chastised himself for being so self-centered. How had he not consider how the tour was going to affect them, and how hard it would be on Peri and her health? She seemed to be tired almost all of the time now. The doctor monitored all kinds of levels in her to make sure she wasn’t having problems. The vitamins made Peri sick almost every day, but she was determined to take them for the baby.

Peri followed Cash into his office and sat down across the desk from him. She purposely put off telling anyone, but now she was going to have to own up to it. Ryan didn’t follow them into the office, and she hoped he would be there for the moral support if nothing else.

With his tablet in hand, he opened it to the schedule he had sent to Peri so they could be on the same page. She opened the document and stared down at all the dates. She knew what this meant, there was a lot of work involved in setting these dates up for the group: meals, hotels, cars, security, and the list went on and on. She felt overwhelmed even before starting on it.

The door quietly opened, and Ryan stepped in and knelt down next to her. Without taking his eyes off her, he said, “Cash, do you think Peri and I could have a minute, please?”

Cash looked up and saw the two of them staring at him. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t see you come in. Yeah, I need to find something in the other office anyway. I’ll be right back.”