Unlucky in Love

I awoke to the feeling of Dominic's fingers lightly tracing up and down my arm. I smiled against his chest and leaned up slightly to kiss his collarbone.

"Happy Anniversary," he murmured against my hair.

My eyes widened slightly. "Is it the nineteenth already?" I asked. He nodded. "God. I can't believe we've been married for two years now."

"Yeah. We're officially out of the newlywed phase."

"Now we can be the boring old married couple."

"Guess so."

I closed my eyes again, wanting to go back to sleep. "What time's dinner?" I asked, yawning. Tonight was the night that we were having dinner at my in-law's house.

Dominic sighed dramatically. "Around six. We don't have to go. They want to see Emma more than anything."

"We have to go," I argued. "Your mother won't forgive me if we miss their pre-Christmas dinner with all their important friends, all of which I have no desire to see."

"So we're skipping then?"

I scoffed. "No." I snuggled closer to him again. "We can stay in bed for a while though," I added.

"I do have that one voucher left..." he mused.

"It's five in the morning." I objected.

"Exactly. Emma won't be up for at least two more hours."

I sighed and rolled over onto my back. "Might as well use it before I give you your Christmas present in six days." I said bitterly. "Happy Anniversary; you're conning me into sex."

* * *

"This is so not a good idea." I whined when we were walking up to the elegantly decorated house of my in-laws.

Susan had had Emma since this morning, so Dominic and I could have some time to ourselves.

"It'll be fine, Em." Dominic promised, kissing my cheek. We walked inside and into the living room where everyone was mingling. I stopped when I saw the Devereux family and turned to face my husband. "Did I forget to mention they were invited? I guess Margeaux and my mom are kind of friends now."

"Yeah. You forgot to mention how my old family would be here." I turned back with a charming smile and started talking to one of Susan's friends.

When we all sat down for dinner, I made sure I was sitting right between Dominic and Susan. They were my only allies at this point. Emma was sitting in a high chair next to Daveigh, who was next to her dad at the head of the table. My father, his wife, and my former sister sat across from us. Next to Dominic were Logan and his parents, and across from them were the rest of Susan's friends.

"So, Margeaux, when are you due?" Susan asked politely, and I wanted to ram my knife into my head repeatedly. I hated that they were acting so...normal around each other.

"He should be here any day now. But they said since it's my first that he might not cooperate." she said with a blissful smile.

"Well that must be exciting," Daveigh said, trying to break the ice after everyone was quiet for a minute. "How late was Emma again?" she asked us.

I glared at Daveigh. I did not want to be lumped into conversation with them. " A few days," I said shortly. I turned to Margeaux. "I hope you're not doing it naturally, because it really is the worst pain imaginable."

"Did you not want an epidural?" she asked me, taking a sip of water.

I laughed to myself. "No. No, I wanted one. They wouldn't let me on account of the tattoo on my spine."

Margeaux looked shocked. "You have a tattoo?"

I held up the first two fingers on my right hand. "Two."

"She had a bad birthday party and she took it out on us by permanently marking up her body." Ashton supplied, smirking smugly.

"Well, you know, when my parents tell me that I have to get married in my senior year, it kind of opens the door for some teenage rebellion." I replied, my voice light and joking. I took a sip of water, my eyes never leaving Ashton.

Thankfully, the farther half of the table didn't hear our conversation.

"Ember, why don't you put Emma to sleep?" Susan suggested. "She's looking a little exhausted."

"Daveigh can do it." I said simply, still having a stare-down with my father.

Richard sighed. "Why can't you two just get along?" he asked us. "I get that you're exactly alike, but that doesn't mean you have to challenge each other whenever you have to speak." he kept his voice calm, as if he was explaining the properties of water to a seventh grader.

"We're not alike," I argued. He gave me a look, and I wanted to bite my tongue. "Fine. Let's drop it."

They all nodded in agreement.

"Ember, you said the baby was due at the end of May, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, why?" I asked Susan. I didn't want to talk about my new baby in front of them.

Susan smiled innocently. "I just wasn't sure if you'd be in Paris by then or not."

"That's really dependent upon Dominic," I said, picking at a piece of bread.

"You're pregnant?" Ashton asked incredulously.

"Yes, that's typically the outcome when adults have unprotected intercourse," I said sarcastically.

"So you're admitting the first one was unprotected."

My eyes narrowed. "Yes. She was completely planned. In fact, she happened right after your first wife tried to make us get an annulment. Blame her for my hormonal actions."

He just shook his head. "I thought you were so much smarter than that, but clearly I was wrong." my father said acidly.

I stood then and went to get my daughter from her now messy high chair. "Thank you for dinner, Susan, Richard." I said. "Merry Christmas, everyone." I said to the table, and then turned and went into the foyer to grab my purse and coat.

I waited five minutes in the car, but Dominic still wasn't coming out. I got out and went into the driver's seat and started the car.

I waited another minute before deciding he could walk home.