Hourglass Squared (9 page)

Utterly defeated, I lay there silently awaiting a second opinion I knew would be no different from the first.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Brooke

"
J
OSH, HAVE YOU
heard from Jake yet?" I hollered from the closet as I tried to unzip my dress. Savannah had her first obstetrician appointment and was literally dragged out the Hourglass lobby by an over-enthusiastic Jake. I had high hopes that seeing her teeny tiny baby and the heartbeat maybe would make it all more real, get her excited.

"Nope," Josh's seductive voice whispered in my neck as his fingers glided the zipper down and set my skin on fire. His hands caressed my skin as they moved back to my shoulders and then gently nudged the shoulder straps off, letting the dress pool at my feet.

"I miss my wife," he said so softly I barely heard him over the pounding of my heart, as his lips tasted my skin ever so softly. Each kiss trailing over my skin had goose bumps popping up and my pulse quickening. I missed my husband too; we had been so crazy as of lately that we just hadn't had time together, and I planned to rectify that immediately.

"Oh yeah?" I purred as I nipped at his exposed collarbone, letting my fingers slide across his waistband. I could feel Josh nod against my head as I tugged his earlobe between my teeth, wanting to drive him stark-raving mad. I brought my lips back to his and grazed my teeth along his bottom lip, pulling it in and tasting the peppermint on his breath. When I gasped for air, Josh slid his tongue in, doing a tango with my own that had me curling my toes in anticipation.

"I want you, wife. Now." He growled against my lips, pausing just long enough to get some oxygen back into our lungs. Bending just a little, Josh reached behind my legs and lifted me up, pulling me close enough to feel every corded and bulging muscle, and he went back to showering me with kisses as he walked to our bed and laid me down.

"You," he kissed me on my shoulder. "Are," his lips moved to my navel, and his tongue slipped out to taste me, making me arch my back in response, "mine." Josh nipped at this inside of my thigh, nudging my legs open. The loud banging against the door echoed through our house, dousing the flames that we had ignited in the bed.

"Oh, hell no," Josh swore as he attempted to get the mood back in full swing. The knock restarted, so loud that the pictures on the wall shook with the house. The speakers of my phone joined in as Savannah's ringtone began to play in sync with the pounding.

I leapt from the bed in just my bra and panty set, barreling to the door, terrified of what the emergency was.

"Brooke! Brooke!" Josh yelled, chasing behind me with my silk robe. He quickly shoved my arms in each hole before I tied the belt and ripped the door open to a sheer-panic expression on my best friend, with Jake beside her gasping for air as if he'd just run a marathon.

"You," Savannah pointed to Josh, a scowl on her face and murder in her eyes, "Get. Out."

The silence was deafening as Josh's jaw hit the floor, his eyes darting between Jake, Savannah, and me.

"Don't fight it, bro. Just walk out slowly," Jake's defeated voice muttered.

"Savannah, now is not the time," Josh pleaded, trying to readjust himself in his trousers.

"Joshua Thomas Worthington, if you don't get out and go away this instant, I will not be held liable for your murder. That," Savannah looked to his crotch with disgust, "is what got us into this mess." Walking in further, Savannah shoved Josh out to his waiting brother's side.

"How much time do you need, like an hour?" Josh asked, hopeful to return back home.

"Days." Savannah growled. Reaching in her purse, she felt around until she heard a jingle. "Here are my keys. Congratulations. You officially live with your brother again. I wish you two all the happiness in the world."

Josh's eyes flashed to mine. "Brooke, say something here, honey."

I shook my head, trying to shake the daze. I had been watching this all transpire, silently. I had never seen my best friend this upset, this angry. She'd been pissed at Luke when everything had blown up in the hotel room, but this… this had literally driven her insane. "Um, Josh, just… just go. I'll call you."

Savannah slammed the front door shut with a loud thud and locked the deadbolt.

"Stupid, arrogant, baby-making men!" She tossed her arms up as she stomped off toward the living room and threw herself onto the couch in despair. The tears she had hidden away poured down her face as she curled herself up in to a ball.

We sat like that for an hour, literally. I watched the bright red lines on the digital clock vanish and appear, shift and transform as each minute passed, the entire time brushing Savannah's hair as she softly murmured and groaned, endless tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Savannah," I whispered. She didn't move, didn't speak, and, for a moment, I wondered if she heard me. Wondered if I should call to her again. Consider phoning a doctor to have her checked for depression.

"There are two of them," she spoke, so softly that if the room hadn't been doused in darkness and quiet, I wouldn't have heard it. But it was, and I had been staring at my best friend, scrutinizing her every move, focusing on her pouty pink lips, waiting desperately for a noise to come from them.

"Two?" I asked, confused at what we were talking about.

"I am pregnant with twins," she said, sitting up straight and leaving my hands to fall back into my lap.

I reached out and took her hands in mine, enveloping them with warmth and hoping to transfer some of my strength to her. To give Savannah whatever she needed. Excitement bubbled in me. Twins. I mean, I knew it was a strong possibility for both of us, considering the father's are twins, but I also knew excitement and enthusiasm wasn't what she needed from me, so I squashed it back down.

"I'm so sorry, Savannah. That's," I swallowed down the bile boiling in my throat, "that's awful. I wish I could spare you all of this. That I could fix it somehow."

Savannah jumped from the couch to her feet, pacing the room as I watched every thought come crashing down on her. Each step she took, her shoulders slumped more, her head hung more, and she looked even more defeated.

"I didn't want this. I wasn't ready for any of this. I just wanted to enjoy life, but you made relationships and romance look so, so… special. I wanted more, but not
this
much more. Not babies, and a husband, and a house. I didn't want to jump off the domesticated life-cliff head first. I'm not you, Brooke. I'm not a Suzy Homemaker who wants to rock an apron barefoot and pregnant. I don't want to have baby puke on me instead of couture dresses. I don't want to trade in my BMW for a minivan. Every part of me wants to run away, to escape, but this," she paused a moment waving her hand in front of her stomach, "this is just too much."

I watched Savannah disassemble. My best friend crumbled into a pile of rubble as she faced the reality of her inescapable future. After standing up, I slipped into the kitchen to pull out something that Josh had bought for a date night we kept putting off, deciding Savannah and I needed it tonight. When I walked back out to Savannah, her eyes lit up at the wine glasses in my hands.

"We can't. You wouldn't," she half-asked, half-begged.

"Not completely," I shrugged. "It's mostly grape juice with a very low alcohol content, and the midwife told Josh it was perfectly safe. One glass though."

Before I could say more, Savannah had the glass in her hand, holding it up like a chalice as she looked to me with appreciation.

"I've ordered pizza, I'm going to put in a movie, and we are having a girl's night," I said, clinking my glass with Savannah's as the first smile of the night tilted her lips up at the corners.

"Thank you, Brooke," she softly said. "I need this. And I need to stay here at least a week. I'm sorry."

"Don't," I demanded. "Don't apologize. It's you and me, Sav, always. The boys will be just fine at the condo for as long as you need."

CHAPTER TWELVE

Savannah

B
ROOKE HAD BEEN
my saving grace for the past week. When I'd needed an out, a place to go where I didn't have to think about babies and my future, she'd opened her home to me, and I was so grateful for that. But, as Friday evening rolled around, I knew it was time for me to get back to reality, back to Jake. Meeting Brooke in her usual parking space at Hourglass, I hopped into the front seat, and she pulled out of the parking garage.

The brightness of the setting sun hit my eyes as Brooke awaited the turn signal that would take us toward her house. "Hey, I think you may want to go straight. I've been hiding out for long enough, and I'm sure you're ready to have your husband back."

Brooke let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness."

Giving her a dirty look, I crossed my arms.
Some best friend you are.

"Oh don't give me that look. I don't mean that I'm glad to be getting rid of you. I'm just glad that Josh will finally be able to come home. Poor thing has had to wait for you to fall asleep every night so I can sneak him in, and then he's up and out before you wake up."

Releasing a laugh that seemed like it'd been built up forever, I massaged my temples. "I know I've been childish, I get that, but it's so hard."

Brooke reached over and took my hand, squeezing it tightly. "You don't have to apologize to me, Sav. I know you better than anyone else, so I get it." Taking off when the light turned green, Brooke drove toward the condo, the car silent of conversation the entire way there.

My key twisted inside the lock, and I pushed the door open to a deserted condo. Glancing around the empty room, I noticed Jake was nowhere in sight, so I peeked down at my watch, checking the time.
Six in the evening on a Friday night? He'd usually be home by now. I wonder where he is?
I dragged my overnight bag across the floor toward our bedroom.

The room was just as I'd left it, as if the bed hadn't been slept in since I'd gone. I lifted my overnight back onto the crisp white quilt and began unpacking; figuring Jake would be home any minute. Thirty minutes later, my things were all put away, and I'd even thrown a load of dirty clothes into the wash.

Standing in the bathroom, I examined my naked body in the mirror. I turned to the side and ran my hands over my belly, noticing its growth since I'd first taken the pregnancy test. I wasn't sure if I'd ever get used to the fact that twins were growing inside of me, but I felt like it was time to start dealing with it. I stepped into the shower. As the boiling hot water splashed over my skin, I began talking to my belly like an idiot.

"Alright, you two, I've got a serious problem with what you're both going to do to my body over the next few months, but it looks like at this point I have no choice. I hear they have a name for it in Florida. Squatter's rights. In a nutshell, it's when you take over someone's property, and there is nothing they can do about it. I'm not sure that's the true definition, but we'll roll with it for now. From here on out, you two will be known as my squatters. Your dad will probably think it's a stupid name for our twins, but I know, deep down, he understands my quirky way of dealing with things."

I reached for the shampoo and began washing my hair, allowing the familiar scent of lavender to envelop my nose. "So, let's continue this meeting. I'm your mother, Savannah Worthington, high-end fashion photographer for the world-famous Hourglass Magazine and wife to Jake Worthington, also known as your father, co-owner of Worthington Squared. I don't have time for morning sickness or crazy cravings. I love to run, and I plan on running as much as possible to keep myself from gaining too much weight. Couture dresses and stilettos are among my favorite things, but they, of course, come after your father. He is my most favorite thing in the entire world. I haven't really been showing it lately, but I promise, that's all going to change."

Placing my soapy hands back on my belly, I tapped it with my fingertips. "Okay, I'm going to be real with you two. I don't want any kids right now, but it's a little late for that, so let's make a deal. I let you live here, rent free for nine months, and, in return, you all use your magic powers to give me a girl and a boy."

Lathering conditioner in my hair, I continued the ridiculous conversation with the squatters in my belly. "I want my daughter to be just like me, beautiful and confident. Smart and sassy, but not conceited. Take life by the horns, and do with it whatever you wish. Don't be afraid to fail. It's a part of the learning process, and it'll make you that much more appreciative when you finally succeed. Love with every ounce of your being, even if your heart gets shattered into a million pieces. Trust me when I tell you, when you finally find the person who you are meant to spend the rest of your life with, every shattered piece will have been worth it."

I reached for my razor and began shaving my lathered legs. "And for my son, I want you to be just like your father. He is the most loving, compassionate, hardworking man I've ever met in my entire life. I know you'll be just as, if not more, handsome than he is, but you can't count on your looks. Your father and Uncle Josh have worked so hard to build an empire that one day you and your cousins will inherit. Be wise enough with your choices in life so you are able to continue building such a legacy that one day you can pass along to your children. Love your sister and protect her in everything she does. She is and will always be the closest part of who you are."

I stood under the water and allowed it to wash away the suds from my body as I turned the handle and reached for my towel. Drying off, I finished up my conversation. "And always know that regardless of how I currently feel, when I finally hold the two of you for the very first time and see the beautiful creations that your father and I have made together, my life will never be the same. Everything I do will be for the two of you. I will love you until I take my very last breath and still, even after that."