Spiralling Skywards: Fading (Contradictions, #2)

He pulled my vest off completely and tossed it to the floor without taking his eyes off my boobs as he took them into his hands. His mouth was on me then, and he started licking, sucking, and blowing on my nipples, which elicited a groan from me as I ground my hips against him.

“I fucking love how bad you want me while you’re pregnant, too. I think you should just stay pregnant for the next few years.”

“No way. I think we should seriously think about shutting up shop after this.”

I decided to broach a topic that had been on my mind lately.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe you should make an appointment to see your doctor about getting the snip before the twins are born. That way there’s no risk of this happening again.”

There was only moonlight illuminating the room, but he pulled away from me and looked at me with wide eyes.

“The snip? A vasectomy?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t want any more kids?”

“You don’t think threes enough?”

“I’d rather have four.”

“Four? Four kids?” I thought about four of Carter running around. He was an unbelievably good kid, but would I get lucky and have four like that, though?

“Can we wait until the twins arrive and see how we manage with three before we make any decisions?”

“We can do that.” I agreed.

“Okay then.”

He wrung two orgasms out of me before I collapsed from exhaustion, but he was not finished and slid inside me from behind, giving me the three that I’d requested before he left in the morning. All I had to hope was that he’d deliver on the gifts that he’d promised, and I wouldn’t deliver our babies until he was home.

***

Contact while Liam was away had been fine while he was in Hong Kong, but they’d travelled to Northern China for their final week, and all I had gotten since were emails and calls from the hotel phone.

His time away had gone pretty quickly, between trips to see my obstetrician, the midwife coming here every day to check my blood pressure, and having Lori and Maggie around to keep me company, I’d been just fine. I had only four more days to hold out, and I felt good about it.

“He’s finally gone down.” Maggie breezed into the room and plopped down on the sofa, giving Sasha a strange look.

“Told you not to tickle him before bedtime, that’s not the way to get a kid to chill and relax.”

“Oh hush. It wasn’t the tickles, it was the chicken tikka you fed him.”

“What’s wrong with chicken tikka?”

“It’s foreign.”

“It’s the most popular takeaway dish in England.”

“What’s wrong with a good ol’ pie and sauce?”

“That’s not a thing here.”

“Well, it should be.”

“Well, it’s not, and I’d rather he eat chicken breast and not a pie that could contain horse, cat, dog, or anything.”

“Maggie, you sound like such a bogan sometimes. Sasha, what are you doing child?”

We were having a girl’s night in. Lori had woken up from her food coma she had slipped into after our takeaway and the wine she’d consumed before and during her meal. We all had Indian, while Maggie who wouldn’t even attempt a taste of anything that contained any seasoning other than salt, had fish and chips.

“I’m listening to the babies move.”

Sasha replied without lifting her ear from my tummy, which was how she had been positioned for the last ten minutes. Not that I minded, it was actually quite relaxing to be lying on the floor in front of the fireplace.

“They’re really active tonight.” She looked up at me and beamed a smile.

“They’re always active at night, hope that’s not a sign of things to come.”

She laced her fingers together over my belly and rested her chin on them.

“I can’t wait to have a baby.”

“Really? I thought you were still undecided about Shain.

“I am. I didn’t say it had to be his.” She finally sat up before I had to tell her she was crushing me and retrieved her wine glass.

“You’re still unsure about Shain? How long have you two been flying back and forth to see each other?” Maggie asked.

“Four years now.”

“If you’re not sure by now, my lovely, then you never will be.”

I held out my hand to Sasha, and she helped me up as she considered Maggie’s words.

“I know. When I got home from my trip to see him in July, I realised as I landed, how happy I was to be home and I was gonna finish it with him. I felt bad not doing it in person though.”

“So, you’re gonna let him fly all the way here for Christmas and do it then? That’s a bit harsh,” I said, letting her take a seat on the couch before I sat next to her.

“I think he’s a bit of a dick. I’d just call and tell him. If you tell him now, he might be able to change his flight and go somewhere else and drown his sorrows. Bali or Thailand, somewhere like that.”

“Sasha, ignore my daughter.” Lori said, tossing the magazine she had been flicking through down on to the coffee table. “Maggie, you can’t go around calling other people’s boyfriends dicks.”

“Why? Am I not allowed to have an opinion? You smoked too much weed when you were younger, Mum, it’s scrambled your brain. Now you’re old and think everyone’s lovely.”

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