Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 97275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“The first wager I’d like to propose is if ours is a boy or a girl. The second is whose baby will be born first. There is only a week separating the due dates from what I’ve been told.” I said
I was trying to put something positive into this big ‘ol mess. Jessie and Tony were concentrating on the impact this would have on Bennett’s life. They weren’t looking at the positive in this. That a new life would be here, and they would be able to spoil another grand baby.
“Mine will be first.” Payton declared.
“You’re a week behind, dear. You’ll probably go two weeks over your due date, and even then have to be induced.” Jessie said with a look that said she thought her daughter was delusional.
Payton buried her face into the crook of my arm and groaned. “You’re probably right. Im so over being pregnant.”
This was new to me. I didn’t realize the pregnancy was bothering her. “Why?”
“Everything hurts at the end of a shift. And I feel like a fat heifer.”
I think this was one of those times I was supposed to say, “Oh, you’re not fat.” Or something to that effect. But I sensed a trap, and I hesitated too long trying to figure out the best response.
She wrenched herself from my arms and ran to her mother’s bathroom.
I threw the pillow I was laying on over my face and groaned. “Motherfucker.”
Jessie was giggling, and that is when Tony found us. “What the fuck?”
“Oh, my God. What have I done to deserve this?” I asked the pillow that was still covering my face.
Jessie got up from the bed and went to her husband, but I still kept the pillow over my face as I listened to her soothe the big bear. “He upset your daughter. He was contemplating suicide.”
Oh, Jesus. Just what I needed was for him to be pissed that I upset his daughter, too. The man outweighed my 210-pound body by a good fifty pounds. And that wasn’t fat either. It was pure muscle. He also towered over me by six inches. I would surely die.
Payton’s heaving from the bathroom propelled me out of bed and to her side in the next instant. Hunching down behind her, I gathered her hair off the side of her face and rubbed her back. “I swear to God, I don’t think you’re fat. I think you’re sexy, and your body turns me on.”
Gagging sounds from behind me made me tense, but I didn’t let her go.
“I know that, I just had to puke, and didn’t want to do it all over my parents bed.”
Thank you, Jesus. I hated when she went into harpy mode. She was damn good at it, too. She finished heaving up her insides, popped up as if none of it happened, and washed her face in the sink.
“Okay, I think we need to order Chinese. I’m craving some sweet and sour chicken like nobody’s business.” She declared to me, and then to her parents that were sitting on the bed watching us.
I rolled my eyes. I swear to God she could eat anything. Anytime. So we ordered Chinese, and had a great time. Bets were placed, and we had a great time. Having this family take me in as one of their own did something to fix that broken part inside of me.
It was weird to have a mother that worried if you ate healthy. To have a father that worried about you being able to fix the heater in your truck, asking if he could help in any way. Hell, it was even different to have a brother that wanted to hang out and play video games with you. My sister did that as well, but she wasn’t a man, and there were just some things that you couldn’t say in front of your baby sister.
As we were leaving that night, I felt weird. Like I had something great, and I should hold on tight, or I might lose it. If I looked away for even a second, it’d be gone. The feeling continued as we shivered in the heater less truck. It’d started to sleet as we pulled out of the driveway. I drove slowly due to the multiple people who were driving like they’d never seen it rain before.
A parked car with its flashers on caught my attention about a quarter mile ahead of us. As I slowed, I had that feeling. The one that made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck and arms. The one that no trained soldier ignored when they were battle trained and tested.
Some instinct told me to turn around. To go back the way we came. Slowing, I came to a stop and started to swing a U-turn just as a car barreled out of a dirt road and t-boned the blazer. Normally, this wouldn’t have even been a problem since I have a lifted truck. At worse, all they could do was damage the tires. Except this was no ordinary vehicle. This was a monster. Its headlights were level with mine, and I knew this was going to be bad before it happened.
My arm was thrown out uselessly over Payton’s chest to keep her in her seat, but it didn’t help. The impact was indescribable. The sound of metal crunching and screeching will forever be imbedded in my brain. Lights flashed. Then there were sirens in the distance. Pops and ticks from the now dead engine.
Time passed slowly. It took me a few minutes after the impact to realize that the vehicle that hit us left. A young girl was on the roof of the Blazer, asking questions. My brain was fuzzy, and I couldn’t comprehend what she was asking. I turned my head towards Payton, and saw her slumped forward in her seat.
The seatbelt kept the majority of her body upright. Her head lolled to the side furthest away from the window. Blood was oozing out of a cut on her forehead, blood running out of her left ear, and suddenly my brain came back online. Releasing my seatbelt, I scrambled over the console and made note of her injuries. The whole right side of her body was a massive bruise. Already, purple splotches were popping up on the side of her face. I left her where she was; too concerned for her neck and spine to move her before I knew what was wrong.