Easier To Lie

“Mallory, baby, please call me back… Okay, um, bye.” Mallory listened to the voicemail on her phone for the fourth time. He sounded so desperate. She hit the call back button and waited for the call to connect.

“There you are,” He answered.

“Here I am,” Mallory slightly chuckled.

“I need to see you.” Garrett got to the point.

“I don’t really want to see you right now, Garrett.” Mallory never thought she’d ever say those words.

“Oh, okay.” Garrett sounded so defeated. “Well, I’ll talk to you soon, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, goodnight.” With that, Mallory hung up and fell into her bed. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. The sleep came quickly to her, and she was grateful for that.

-

The next morning, Mallory was up early and making breakfast for herself since Kennedy was with Gabi. She made herself an omelet, and cooked up some bacon. The doorbell rang, and she half expected it to be Kennedy, too lazy to unlock it or something.

She opened up the door and say Garrett instead, holding a bouquet of chrysanthemums, her favorite, and a bag of Sour Patch Kids. Her face went into a state of awe, when Garrett finally spoke.

“I’m really sorry that I just froze yesterday, I didn’t know what to do, and I got all nervous.” He apologized with puppy eyes and Mallory couldn’t not forgive him.

“Ugh, how can I stay mad at you?” She muttered and threw her arms around him. They made their way back to the kitchen table.

“I haven’t said this yet,” Garrett started as they sat down. “Mallory, you’re seriously all I think about. When I see something, I wonder if you’ll like it, when I go to bed, I wonder if you’re having pleasant dreams, and I wonder if they baby’s giving you any problems. I wake up, and I want to see you, I want to kiss you and see your face, and feel the baby kick my hand. You’ve become so much more to me than I can handle, and I love every second of it. I love the thought of playing with the baby when it’s born, and I just want to hold you all day and night. I seriously love you so much more than you’ll ever know. You’ve become such a huge part of my life- of me. I never want you to leave.” He finished with a deep breath.
Mallory was speechless. What was there to say after someone confessed their love to you like that? Her eyes welled up with tears again, except now they were out of passion for this man in front of her. She sprang forward and gave him a kiss that just about cracked his skull.

“I love you.” Mallory told him as she reluctantly pulled away.

“I love you too,” Garrett said with a huge grin on his face.

Going about the rest of the day was normal for Mallory; band practice, lunch with The Maine, more practice, video games, and dinner. Of course all she wanted to do was to spend the day with Garrett and do nothing but lie down on her bed and relax, or maybe not relax necessarily.

It seemed like today, the guys were lingering around the house longer than was necessary. Mallory sat, tapping her foot on the couch next to Jared and Pat.

“Mallory?” She heard her brother’s voice call for her.

“Oh, what?” She asked, coming out of her daze.

“Did you take your vitamins?” He asked.

“Yeah, I did.” Mallory answered him plainly. She was simply not interested in conversation right now. She stood up and trudged up the stairs to her room. Tumblr was calling her name.

She was scrolling through and through all of the posts about The Maine. Some of the pictures she came across were so amazing. She almost wanted to start a picture folder and save all of them. But then she remembered she can see any of the boys any time she wanted.

“Ready?” She looked up and saw her boyfriend standing at her door.

“They’re finally gone?” Mallory asked as Garrett laughed and nodded. Mallory grabbed her overnight bag and waited as Gare drove them over to his house.

“You’re tired?” He asked as they reached his room and Mallory plopped down on his bed. She nodded as he climbed in as well. Mallory reached for the remote and turned on National Geographic- Wild.

“Learn about deadly African animals while I sleep.” She teased.

“Oh God, African centipedes, nasty.” Garrett muttered. Mallory heard that ‘c’ word and flipped out. She sprang out of the bed, and smacked the off button on the T.V. Garrett laughed until he realized that Mallory seriously had a phobia of these things. He quickly stood up and went to calm her down.

“I hate those things,” Mallory repeated over and over while her heart rate slowed.

“You have nothing to worry about. I’m only a part time bassist. I’m a full time exterminator though, I’ll protect you.” Garrett smiled when he got a smile out of her.

“Always?”

“Always.”

Garrett kissed her tenderly, loving her lips on his, as always. Mallory was enjoying it just as equally, until the baby kicked. Even Garrett felt it on his stomach from being so close to her.

“That is such an amazing feeling.” Garrett smiled and couldn’t hold back his excitement any longer. His lips came down to Mallory’s, and it wasn’t long until their clothes were all around his room.

-

Mallory giggled at the butterflies in her stomach when Garrett was rubbing her baby bump.

“And if it’s a boy, we shall name him Ryan Adam, and if it’s a girl, we will name her Ophelia!” Garrett announced as the two were waiting in the waiting room at the doctor’s.

“I don’t think so! Okay, maybe Ryan Adam, but definitely not Ophelia!” Mallory giggled again.

“Fine, then what do you like?” He asked Mallory and kissed her cheek while she smiled.

“Penelope Ann,” Mallory beamed. Garrett made an odd face. “Nellie for short, I don’t know. I’ve always liked that for a girl, but once I see the baby who even knows.” She shrugged.

“No, I like it, it’s uncommon and cute.” Gare smiled and reassured her with another kiss.

The doctor came in and Garrett kept a hold of Mallory’s hand while she went through her procedure.

“Well Mallory,” Dr. Lider began. “We can find out the gender of the baby if you’d like to.” She announced and Mallory looked over to Garrett for his opinion.

“It’s up to you babe,” He smiled, secretly wanting to know if it was going to be Ryan Adam Trotter or Penelope Ann Trotter.

“I want to know!” She shrieked and giggled in excitement.

The doctor printed out a picture of the ultrasound and handed it over to Mallory. “Congratulations sweetie, you’re mothering a very healthy baby girl.”

Mallory and Garrett were both silent for a moment before Mallory got a smile on her face that Garrett thought would make her skin jump off of her bones.

“I’m having a daughter!?” She squealed. Dr. Lider nodded with her own smile. She let Mallory and Garrett be and went to see her other patients. “Nellie,” she whispered and looked at her baby bump.

“Baby,” Garrett asked after a moment. “Do you want to get home and tell Kennedy?”

Mallory quickly agreed and hopped down from the table she was sitting on. The pair walked out, hand in hand and a big smile on each of their faces. The ride home was exciting and full of laughing as Gare and Mal sang and danced along to her iPod. They reached home and Mallory raced to the front door, Garrett close behind.

“Kennedy! I’m home!” She shouted, looking around for him.

“Mallory, he’s in here.” Garrett told her and waited for her to get to the living room. Mallory gasped.

“Byron!”