I was irritated.
I had phoned Linda this morning about coming back to work. And after a long and assertive grilling-from me-she had eventually confirmed my suspicions that Kyle was the reason I wasn’t rostered back on my shift.
Kyle had told Linda, and I quote; “I don’t give a fuck how you do it, Linda, keep her out of there. I mean it; Lee is not to be rostered. No exceptions.”
Damn jackass, control freak.
He had some nerve. I needed to be earning; my belly wasn’t getting any smaller. I was starting to look like I was expecting twins.
You should have two. But you couldn’t keep them safe...
Would I look at this baby and wonder, always be reminded of his sibling? I wondered if Kyle thought about it. Maybe he did, probably not though. He was too busy running around the place, ordering everyone about…
“Are you even listening to me?”
Derek’s voice startled me, and I jumped from my bed. “God, Derek, you scared me. What did you say?”
Derek grinned widely, poking his head fully inside my bedroom door. “I was wondering if, preggers, might be interested in some bacon and jam sandwiches.”
I flung my pillow at the door, narrowly missing Derek’s smirking face.
“Don’t call me preggers,” I growled, walking towards the door.
Derek grinned. “Oh, come on my little ball of hormones, maybe your favorite sandwich will improve your mood. And you can wash it down with a nice mug of steamy coffee. Oh wait, that’s right, you can’t.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I asked, glaring at the back of his shaved head as we made our way down the stairs.
Derek chuckled. “I’m only teasing you. I do enjoy Kyle’s reactions best. Shout ‘labor,’ and the he’s close to fainting.”
I followed the smell of greasy bacon to the kitchen.
Mmm, I knew there was reason I liked Derek. He was the messiah of food.
I dug into my bacon and blackberry jam sandwich. If I didn’t think about the combination, the taste was mouth-watering.
Kyle and Cam both left the room when I ate these, but Derek was a trooper. Besides he was the one who introduced me to the concoction. I was pregnant; what was his excuse?
“What are your plans for today?” he asked, sitting down next to me, pouring some milk in his coffee.
“The usual,” I grunted. “Absolutely nothing.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Derek chuckled, as he gazed at wall dreamily. “Man, what I would give to sit at home all day and be kept, by some millionaire chick.”
Kept? Is that what was happening to me? I was being kept?
“Do you think I want to live like this?” I asked, thoroughly offended. “Do you think I aspire to be some millionaire playboy’s kept, little mistress?”
Derek snorted. “You are reading way too many trashy romance novels, Ice.”
“Don’t call me Ice,” I growled.
“Besides,” Derek said, batting his hand at me. “Kyle’s a reformed millionaire playboy. And, he sent you flowers on Valentine’s Day a few weeks back.”
“Yes, Derek, he sent me flowers. As in, he was too lazy, to go and buy them himself; he had them delivered by a florist.”
Derek dropped his sandwich on his plate, and frowned at me. “Did you ever consider, that Kyle might have been scared? Christ, Lee, for a smart girl, you are seriously slow on the up take. ”
I raised my brow. “Come again?”
Derek rolled his eyes, but didn’t reply.
“Anyway,” I said, moving swiftly past his offensive comment, wanting to discuss a far more annoying topic. “You have classes today. Why aren’t at college, Derek?”
Derek shrugged, and swallowed a mouthful of delicious coffee. I think I drooled a little bit.
“I’m not missing anything important.”
I doubted that.
Derek had a couple of months left before graduation. He needed to be in class.
“I don’t need a babysitter, Derek,” I snapped, addressing the real reason why he was skipping class. “Kyle is being a control freak. I’m pregnant, not dying.”
“Don’t,” Derek muttered, flinching.
I knew he was remembering the night I miscarried. I’d almost died that night. I would have, if he hadn’t found me.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
Derek attempted to smile, but it was forced. “You can’t blame Kyle for being overprotective, or Cam and I, for that matter. We nearly lost you that night, Lee. We lost one of you. Kyle, he won’t ever get over that, you know. The fact that he wasn’t there, that you… and he…He lost something as well that night. I think he’ll carry that blame for the rest of his life.”