Could Tell a Love 3

We piled in the car again and headed toward Beau’s. "You told Beau and Jared, I’m assuming?" I asked.

"Definitely." Eric answered.

"What about the others?"

"I was hoping that Beau would tell them, actually, otherwise I’ll tell them at Beau’s house."

I nodded and looked down at my stomach again. I didn’t know if it was an illusion or not, but my stomach was already feeling harder and firmer. I looked up and saw Beau’s house at the end of the street, two other cars in the driveway. I guess Casey was here, too.

We all got out of the car and went into the house.

"Hey guys!" Beau said, hugging us. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." I said. "Where is he? Where’s Skylar?"

"He’s in his room with Jared. They’re putting away his clothes. We splurged a little and bought him some new stuff." Beau said, blushing a little.

"That’s okay, he deserves it." Eric said, grabbing my waist. "Lets go see him."

"Okay." I said, smiling at him, walking down the hall until I saw Jared.

"Alright, I have a shirt. Where does it go, Skylar?" Jared asked.

Skylar walked over to Jared, who was sitting pretzel style on the floor, and took the shirt from Jared, putting it in the second drawer of his dresser. "It goes right there!" Skylar said.

"Good job! You’re very good at this." Jared congratulated him, hugging him.

I resisted the urge to giggle at how cute Jared was with Skylar. Jared looked at us through the doorway and smiled. "Hey guys. Come on in. We’re just putting away the last of his clothes."

"No, that’s okay. We’ll wait until you’re done." Eric said.

Skylar looked at us and smiled. "Hi!" He waved excitedly.

"Hi!" I said, crouching down to his level. He came walking towards me.

"What’s your name?" He asked.

"My name’s Miranda. I bet I can guess your name." I said, smiling.

He gasped a little. "Nuh uh."

"Yeah huh."

"What is it then?" He asked.

"Your name is Skylar." I said, poking him on the nose softly.

He stared at me with his mouth open. "How did you know that?"

"Your daddies don’t stop talking about you." I said, smiling, looking at Jared, who was smiling and blushing, pushing the drawer closed, gathering all the empty plastic bags.

"They don’t?" He asked in complete astonishment.

I shook my head. "Nope. They wanted to take you home really bad, they thought you were perfect."

"And you are perfect." Jared said, lifting him up with one arm, throwing him over his shoulder. "And now it’s time to see everyone else. How does that sound, Skylar?"

Skylar was laughing and kicking as Jared carried him down the hall into the living room. He set Skylar down right in between Mike and Matt.

"Hey there Sky!" Matt said, messing up his already messy brown hair.

"That’s not my name." Skylar said.

"Sure it is, it’s a nickname. Like Miranda can be shortened to Randi." Matt explained to him, looking at me and smiling. "Speaking of. I hear that someone’s ego is prego over there."

I smiled and nodded. "You hear right, Matt."

He got up and hugged me. "I’m so happy for you."

I hugged him back. Matt was so sweet when he showed his sensitive side. "Thank you, Matt."

"Just to let you know, if you ever get one of those angry mood swings, you can bitch me out all you want over the phone. I’m all ears." He said quietly.

I laughed. "I’ll keep that in the back of my mind."

Matt let go of me and soon Jared was hugging me.

"If you two need anything, just call us, okay?" Jared said.

"I couldn’t ask you for anything, Jared. You have Skylar now, you’re gonna need all the money you can get." I said.

"Well a newborn is a hefty price, too, more so than a kid that’s already been through all the formula and diapers. We wouldn’t mind helping. At all. I can speak for both Beau and myself when I say that."

I squeezed Jared tighter. "Thank you, Jared. So much." We parted from our hug. "And if you ever need a baby sitter, don’t be afraid to call. I wouldn’t mind babysitting Skylar. He’s so adorable and he seems so well behaved."

"Well, he hasn’t thrown any tantrums yet, so we’ll see." Jared said, laughing a little.

I felt and heard my stomach growl. Jared and pretty much everyone else in the room looked at me.

"Hungry?" Eric asked.

"I guess so." I said.

"What do you want?"

"Taco Bell." I answered without even thinking.

"Oh god, I really hope your pregnant food isn’t Taco Bell." Eric said.

"It’s better than chocolate and carrots or something nasty like that. Lets go." I said, grabbing Eric’s arm, pulling him along with me.

"Sorry we couldn’t stay long. We’ll talk to you later, maybe stop by tonight after he’s in bed so we can really talk." I said, opening the door.

"Oh, definitely. See you guys!" Beau said, waving us goodbye.

"Bye Randi!" I heard Skylar say before I closed the door. I opened it a crack so he could see me. "Bye Sky." I closed the door and Eric’s lips met mine.

We parted, smiling. "What was that for?" I asked.

"Couldn’t do that in front of Skylar. You are so good with kids, you know that?" Eric said, walking down the pathway to Beau’s driveway.

"You think so?" I asked, getting into the passengers’ seat.

"Definitely. You’re gonna make a great mom." He said, kissing me again.

"Alright, lets go, I’m starving." I said, putting my seatbelt on.

"And so the pregnancy begins." Eric said under his breath.

Two weeks later...

We got to Taco Bell and I ordered my usual: 4 soft shell tacos, no lettuce, and a large drink. We sat down at the table and waited for our number to be called.

I’ve already started packing on the pounds, and it’s only been two weeks. My jeans barely fit me anymore. Maybe I should lay off the Taco Bell and find a healthier pregnancy food.

Once Eric came back with our food I took my tacos. "Eric, if I ever start bitching you out on a hormonal spree, slap me, okay?"

"Miranda, no matter how tempting it may be at the time, I would never slap you." Eric protested.

I smiled with a mouth full of taco. "I know."

Eric laughed silently to himself and messed up my hair. I swatted his hand away and continued eating. After the second bite of the second taco, I didn’t feel hungry anymore, but I felt extremely queasy.

"Eric, move." I said quietly, afraid that if I talked any louder I would throw up all over the place.

He moved without question and I ran to the bathroom, just barely making it to the bathroom. I started puking my guts out into the toilet for the second time today. I hate morning sickness.

Once I was sure that nothing else was gonna come up and it was just dry heaving, I stood up and cleaned myself up. My face looked deathly pale in the mirror as I wiped my face and blew my nose. I redid the makeup that started running down my face and was finally able to present myself to the rest of the Taco Bell crowd.

Eric was up and ready to leave when I got out there. He put his arm around my shoulder as we headed to the exit. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly, massaging my shoulder.

"Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just that damn morning sickness again." I said, cuddling into his side.

"Do you still wanna go see Skylar today?"

I shook my head. "No, I think I’m just gonna lay around the house. I really feel like shit today. You can go if you still want to. I know how much Skylar loves you." I said, getting into the car.

"You sure? I can stay if you want."

"No, that’s okay. You don’t have to. There are plenty of movies in the house, and I’m sure you won’t want to be around me when I’m cranky."

"I don’t think I’ll go. I want to spend as much time with you as possible before we leave for tour in four days. If I don’t, I know I’ll regret it." Eric said, this time massaging my back before backing out of the parking spot.

"Oh yeah, right, you guys are leaving soon." I said, getting disappointed. I really do wish that Eric could stay to help me through the pregnancy and everything.

"Don’t worry, if anything goes wrong, I’ll be here. I don’t care if we’re in the middle of a show or whatever. I would invite you to come with us, but tour life isn’t exactly ideal for the pregnant woman." He said, grabbing my hand.

I smiled a little. "Yeah, I know."

"And you’ll have Sarah to help you through everything, since she’s the godmother after all." Eric pointed out.

"I guess so...I’m just gonna miss you." I said quietly, looking at the floor.

He smiled at me and kissed me as we stopped at a stop sign. "I’m gonna miss you, too, but I’ll keep in touch, don’t worry. I’ll call you everyday to check up on you."

"I wasn’t doubting that." I said. "She’s gonna miss you, too."

"Oh yeah, ‘cause Sarah and I are like this.." Eric said, crossing his fingers.

"No, not her!" I hit him in the arm. I then signaled to my stomach, rubbing it like I’ve become accustomed to doing. "I have a feeling that the baby’s gonna be a girl. I don’t know why, I guess it’s motherly instinct or something, but she’s gonna miss you." I looked up at him and smiled.

He had a sort of guilty expression on his face, which made me feel horrible in an instant. I was trying to talk him out of going on tour. I didn’t want to do that. "Oh, Eric, I don’t want you to stay home or anything. That’s just my hormones and whatever else talking. I want you to go on tour."

He sighed, turning into the driveway. "I know you do. And I know the baby’s gonna miss me, but this is my job. It would just be like if I went to work everyday at a normal 9 to 5 job. I have to be there. The band would be so pissed if I didn’t go on tour. We’re leaving in 4 days, so that’s kind of short notice." He explained.

"Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Forget I even brought it up." I said, laughing a little, getting out of the car.

Eric met me halfway toward the house and pressed me against his side as we continued walking. "Don’t worry about it. I’d feel the same way if I was the pregnant one." He opened the door for me.

"You would say something like that." I said, smirking at him.

"Yeah, and is there anything wrong with that?" Eric pulled me into a tight hug, kissing me.

"No, nothing. Nothing at all." I said, gazing into his eyes, caressing his cheek.

He leaned in to kiss me again. We parted, foreheads touching. "You’re so beautiful." Eric whispered.

"Yeah right. Have you seen me? I’m getting so fat." I said, pointing to my stomach and how it is ever-growing.

"And I think that’s just fine. You’re supposed to look like that when you’re pregnant. You don’t wanna starve yourself, that’s not good for the baby."

"Well no, of course not! Geez, you seem to know a bunch about babies, wanna trade?" I asked, more than willing to give up the morning sickness and the all-around shitty feeling of being pregnant.

"No, no, no. That would be way too awkward. You can stay pregnant. You’ll do fine, don’t worry. The morning sickness doesn’t last forever. You’ll probably be over it in a couple days. It’s not all bad, trust me." Eric said, hugging me tightly again, resting his head on my shoulder.

"I know..it just seems like it’s gonna last for forever." I said quietly. My stomach started feeling queasy again. I looked at the clock. "Oh come on. It’s not even morning anymore. Eric, unless you want me to puke on you..."

"Right." He said, moving out of my way so I could run to the bathroom. I lifted up the toilet seat and repeated what happened at Taco Bell. I felt Eric hold my hair back and rub my back. Once I was done, Eric got a wet washcloth and handed it to me so I could wipe my face off. I blew my nose and stood up, going into our room so I could change and get comfortable.

"Really Eric, if you wanna go out and do something, I’ll be fine here. I’m just gonna pop in a movie and probably fall asleep." I insisted him to go. I wanted some time alone.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Positive. If I were you, I wouldn’t wanna be cooped up in a house with a cranky hormonal pregnant woman."

"But you’re my cranky hormonal pregnant woman. I’m gonna have to get used to it eventually, I mean, old people get the same way, and I do plan on staying with you til we get old."

I smiled, blushing, and looking at him. "Eric. Please. Just go and hang out with..whoever. Don’t worry. I won’t be mad. I’ll see you later, okay?" I kissed him lightly before I walked out of the room, headed toward the living room, the couch looking really inviting.

He hugged me before he left. "Okay. I fucking love you."

"I love you, too, Eric." I said into his shoulder. "Bye."

"Bye." He let go of me reluctantly and headed out the door. I looked through the movies and picked out the first one that caught my eye: Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. I grabbed a blanket off the chair and cuddled up to it on the couch, and just as I predicted, I fell asleep ten minutes into the movie.