Time Will Tell

I stare at Grace, not able to comprehend what she just said. Momma – she just called me momma.

I feel Noah staring at me, probably wondering how I’ll take this. I just smile and she pats my nose again.

“Momma,” she giggles, bouncing.

I look over at Noah, who has his eyes narrowed slightly at me, waiting for an actual reaction. He just shrugs.

I shake my head at him. “Anyways,” I say.

He laughs and tugs on my hair. “We can try and tell her you’re not her mother if you want to, but it might be a while before she understands.”

I smile at him. “No, it’s okay.”

“You’re not freaked out?” he asks, but the look on his face makes it obvious he thinks I’m already freaking out.

“No,” I answer. “I’m not freaked out. I’m a little surprised, but I’m not going to turn and run away because she called me ‘momma’ – it’s not a big deal.”

“You sure? You still have time to take everything that just happened back. I’ll understand.”

I roll my eyes at him and lay back down, cuddling into his side. “I’m happy right now.”

He kisses the top of my head. “Me, too.”

Gracie holds her arms up and Noah chuckles and pulls her in between us. I tilt my head up to him and he seems to know where I’m going with it so he leans down and presses his lips against mine. I feel his smile beneath my lips and I smile back.

He groans and pulls away.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. “I would love to kiss you right now, but we can’t make out on my baby.”

I laugh. “Are you sure?” I ask sarcastically.

He rolls his eyes at me and then gets up, Gracie still in his arms. I stay on the floor, looking up at them.

He holds out his hands and I sigh and take it. “I guess I’ve got to go.”

I kiss Noah lightly on the mouth and then Gracie’s forehead. She mumbles something I can't quite comprehend.

“Bye-bye,” I say.

“Momma,” she says again, giggling.

“Where are you off to anyway?” Noah asks me as he leads me to the door.

“Like I was trying to say earlier – I’m going to Reese’s house to work on our Zoology project.” I say it fast, hoping maybe he wouldn’t question me about Reese.

“Oh, the ex?” he asks, his jaw tense.

I kiss him again, a deep kiss. “Yep,” I say brightly. “The ex.”

He smiles at me and shakes his head. “Alright, have fun.”

I open the door and look back at him as I walk out. “I think I heard what you were really trying say with that, and I won’t have any fun with my ex. I will only ever have fun with you,” I say sarcastically.

He chuckles. “Bye, baby.”

******************

I knock on Reese’s door, a little nervous. Yesterday at school was the first time I’d talked to in the last three weeks, since we last had sex, and only because he asked me to be his partner, which I wanted to say no to him but by the time I’d finished thinking about it everyone else already had a partner.

He pulls the door open. “Hi,” he says.

“Hey,” I say back awkwardly.

“Come on in,” he pulls the door open for me and I step inside. “We can do it in my bedroom,” he says and then turns around to face me, his eyes wide. “That’s not what I meant – I mean, the project.”

I shake my head at him. “Yeah, Reese, I got it.”

He nods and leads me up the stairs to his room. He sits on the edge of his bed and motions for me to sit next to him but I opt for the swivel chair at his desk, pulling it in front of him and sitting down.

He looks disappointed but pulls out his notebook.

“So did you have any ideas about what to do for the dichotomous key?” he asks.

“Uh…” I hum, pulling out my own notebook and flicking through the pages. “Cereal, candy, buttons, hair pins…”

I look up at him. “Buttons could work. My mom sows so she has some buttons. Is that good with you?”

I just nod. Things have never been so awkward with him.

“Baby, I’m sorry,” he says suddenly, reaching between us to take my hands in his. “Please give me another shot. These past three weeks without you have been hell.”

“We’ve been broken up for two months,” I point out.

He makes a face at me and tugs on my hands, motioning for me to sit next to him. For some reason I do.

It was a mistake. He takes the gesture as me forgiving him for being such a jerk.

The next thing I know his hands are in my hair, pulling my mouth to his. He wrenches me to him, his tongue lightly tracing my bottom lip.

I put my hands on his chest and shove, trying to get him off but he’s stronger than I am. His tongue fights its way into my mouth, forcing my lips apart.

I try and mumble for him to stop, but he just thinks of it as moaning and starts pushing me back against his bed. I shake my head furiously, trying to shake off his mouth. He moves one hand to my waist, where he starts inching it under my shirt. I can turn my head to the side now that he’s not holding my face to his, and his lips just move to my neck.

I lay there panting, trying hard to catch my breath.

“Stop,” I finally say. He doesn’t listen. I put my hands on his shoulders, shaking him. “Stop, Reese,” I beg. “I have a boyfriend!” I finally shout.

That makes him listen. He freezes and then pulls away to look at me. “You have a what?”

“I have a boyfriend.”

He sits up, pulling me with him. “Who?”

“I don’t think you know him,” I say, shaking my head. “but he’s Noah Roberts.”

His eyes widen in surprise. “The guy Celeste had a baby with?”

“You know Celeste?” I ask.

“She’s my Aunt Liza’s step daughter. They moved away for her to have the baby – I didn’t know she brought the baby back.”

“She dumped her off on Noah.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “And what? You think you can convince this Noah guy to force Celeste to take the baby back?”

I stare at him coldly. “Yes, that’s exactly what I plan on doing,” I say sarcastically. “No!” I answer, serious now. “I love Grace, and I would never ask him to give her up for me – besides, he wouldn’t do that anyway. If I were that kind of girl he wouldn’t even want to be with me in the first place.”

I shove my book back into my bag and stand up. “We’ll have to work something out where I won’t have to see you again – this is just too awkward for me.”

I head towards the door when he stops me.

“Teagan,” he calls my name softly. “This thing with Noah won’t work, and when it doesn’t I’ll be right here. Don’t think for one second I’m giving up on us.”