Her Bundles Of Joy

Chapter 9

“Yeah, I know. I won’t be late, don’t worry. I have to get back to work now. Okay, see you later.” Nicole hung up the phone with a loud sigh. It was Leon on the phone, reminding her of a dinner they had to attend tonight at his colleague’s apartment. The dancer was definitely not in the mood to hang out with boring businessmen and their trophy wives, but she owed that to Leon. The guy had been helping so much these past months…Nicole was five months pregnant now, and her heavy belly was making her even more exhausted than she usually was. The woman had found out on her second appointment with Dr. Ali that she was expecting twins, much to her shock. If Nicole was freaking out over having one baby, she almost had a cardiac arrest when the doctor told her she was actually having two babies. That was definitely not something she’d ever expected.

When she was still in school, Nicole read something about pregnancy and genetics, something about having twin genes in one’s DNA but she wasn’t aware of anyone in her family having twins. Evan never mentioned having a twin brother either, so Nicole wasn’t sure what had happened. All she knew was that her belly was starting to become an obstacle at work, and Terrence wasn’t too happy about it. He had Nicole working extra shifts to pay off the ‘pregnancy expenses’ she’d give him in a few months. The dancer couldn’t believe his lack of empathy. She was certain he’d fire her as soon as she was back from her maternity leave.

The fact was, she wasn’t all that worried about her job anymore. She still needed money, now more than ever, but Leon had been a perfect friend and offered her place to stay so she wouldn’t have to spend an awful lot of money on the sh*tty cubicle she lived in anymore. At first, she was reluctant to accept his offer, but when he told Nicole he was actually dating someone, she felt extremely relieved and accepted to stay with him through her pregnancy. It was rather convenient, really. His apartment in Midtown Manhattan was close to her doctor’s clinic and to her new workplace, as Terrence had moved the studio from Brooklyn to Manhattan about a month prior to her move. Nicole figured he managed to raise the money after so many years of not paying his employees well.

After she’d already moved in, Leon told her his girlfriend broke up with him, which led to a very suspicious Nicole wondering if he’d lied to manipulate her into accepting to move in with him, but her weariness wore off after she actually met the girl. It was kind of awkward, walking into the kitchen early in the morning to find a redhead clad in lacy underwear. Her name was Alice, and she was more than shocked to find a pregnant woman in her ex-boyfriend’s kitchen. They’d broken up because Leon couldn’t fully commit to someone at the moment, but they kept going back and forth. Until Alice met Nicole and realized why Leon refused to commit. It was a disturbing morning, to say the least. The dancer talked to Leon after his ex had gone home and the guy confessed that he still hadn’t gotten over Nicole, and that he’d tried really hard with Alice but then he figured he wasn’t being fair to her. No one should have to be in a relationship with someone who was in love with someone else, he said. Nicole had told him it would be better if she left but he insisted she should stay. Leon had almost begged for Nicole to stay and he’d said some very sweet words that managed to pull some strings in her heart. It was then that Nicole realized she’d never really given Leon a chance, she’d never given this amazing man a chance to love her and treat her like a queen. Even if she was pregnant with another man’s child, Leon was still more than willing to take care of her and the babies…

That was why she decided to stay with him. She stayed in his apartment, and went out on dates with him, and allowed him to introduce her to his work colleagues as his ‘partner’, she let him hug her, hold her hand, cuddle her at night…Nicole never let him kiss her or touch her intimately, though. She just couldn’t. Nicole felt awful for still leading him on somehow, but it wasn’t like she could just turn off her feelings for Evan and project them on Leon. It wasn’t something she was able to do. The thought of kissing someone else, of being with someone else, it made Nicole feel sick, as if she would be cheating on Evan. She would be forever thankful for having Leon in her life, but the feeling of being thankful for someone was not the same as actually being in love with someone. Being thankful didn’t make you think about that person all the time, or crave their touch, their kiss, their presence next to you. Love does that, and that was how Nicole felt about Evan, not anyone else.

Sighing, the dancer got back to work. She still had a whole day ahead of her.

*****

It was getting really difficult to find a nice outfit when she looked like she’d swallowed a watermelon, but Nicole was glad she had Brandi to help her. The singer actually had a very good sense of fashion and was being really helpful in that department. In all departments really. Nicole was genuinely happy to have Brandi by her side, even though her friend was not too happy about Nicole living with Leon. Apparently, she was on Team Evan even after what he’d done. This subject had brought a lot of tension between them, so the two friends decided it would be better if they didn’t talk about the father of her babies. Nicole was dying to know how he was doing, but she’d be caught dead before she caved in and asked about Evan. He’d deeply wounded her with his words, Nicole knew she was stupid for still missing him anyway. What kind of woman would miss the guy who impregnated her and then called her a sl*t? For God’s sake…

“Are you almost ready?” Leon asked as he stood by the bedroom’s doorway. He looked really handsome in a tuxedo, but Nicole’s mind instantly went to Evan and how he’d look so, so good in the same outfit. A tight-fitting tuxedo, hugging his perfectly muscular chest, his strong arms, his—

“Nicole? Are you okay? You seem a little…dreamy.” Leon frowned.

“Yes, I’m great. Sorry, I was just thinking of how fat I look.” The dancer chuckled.

“Jesus, Nicole, that’s not true,” Leon said softly. “You look stunning…” He leaned down to kiss her, but Nicole turned her head, which caused his lips to land on her cheek. His words triggered memories from the night she’d spent with Evan, when he had said those same words to her right before he kissed her. God, she had to forget that man.

“Thank you.” She showed him a fake smile that, naturally, Leon couldn’t tell wasn’t genuine. Evan used to be able to immediately tell when she was faking a smile…Forget him, remember? “Shall we go?”

The night was boring, as Nicole had already predicted. Leon’s colleagues were just a bunch of rich, patronizing men. She had to mingle with their wives and she honestly didn’t know what was worse; hearing the men talk sh*t about their wives or listen to women bragging about their newest pair of fake t*ts. Nicole wished she could drink, maybe these events wouldn’t be so much of a drag if she were drunk. The dancer subtly rolled her eyes as she tried to interact with the women who were now gushing about the surgical procedures they’d undergone in the past. Nicole thought they should start a sort of book club where they could about this trivial sh*t, the boob job club. She decided to ignore the fact that none of them had said a word to her all night, but then again, the young woman figured she should probably be thankful for that. When her bladder twitched like clockwork, Nicole almost raised her hands to praise the Lord. Finally, she’d have an excuse to walk away from these women at least for a few minutes.