Once Upon a Time

I hang up my cell phone, grinning as I walk into the bank. I just got off the phone with the real estate lady and I just need to get the money for the down payment and me, Teagan, and Grace are good to go. I wasn’t sure she was going to say yes to moving in with me, and I’ll admit that a small part of me (the part that was scared to take a step forward this big in our relationship) hoped she’d say no, but I can’t remember ever being this happy now that I actually have everything planned out.

I walk up to the bank teller to make my withdrawal. When I see my balance my mouth falls open.

“How is that possible?” I ask her, deadpan.

“What do you mean, sir?” she asks me.

“That’s… that’s a lot more than there was in there yesterday,” I tell her.

She checks the few transactions. “It says that this morning that amount there was added,” she says pointing at the screen. “It was transferred from a Roberts, Harrison, and Tyler law firm.”

My dad’s firm. “Well why?” I ask, mostly to myself.

“I’m sorry, sir, I don’t know,” she says.

I nod and thank her and drive to my mother’s house. When I opened the door I found Grace on the living room floor playing with her baby doll and my mother watching some Lifetime movie.

“Hey, baby,” she says, smiling up at me from where she’s curled up on the couch.

“Daddy!” Grace calls. I walk over and kiss the top of her head and then she goes back to playing with her doll, satisfied now that I’d paid her attention.

“Hey, mom,” I say now, sitting in her chair.

“What’s up?” she asks me, muting the TV and leaning forward.

“I went to the bank today and took out some money and I found that there was about one hundred thousand dollars more in it…” I tell her. “Do you know why that is?”

She bites her lip and stares at me for a long moment. Finally she sighs and looks away. “When you’re father died he left you his law firm – well, his part anyway. You’re not a partner quite like he is, but you still get his share. I’m not quite sure how it works, but as far as I know, it’s sort of like you’re invested. Different amounts are added every month, depending on the success of the firm, but it’s been pretty consistent at about ninety thousand to one hundred thousand each month. I think you’re a… what is it? Silent partner?”

“So, what?” I ask. “I’m getting money every month for doing nothing?”

My mom nods gravely. “I’m not sure it’ll keep up, though. They might not let you remain ‘silent’ forever, sweetie. I don’t really know how those things work.”

I nod. “Alright,” I sigh.

“What were you taking money out of the bank for?” she asks me now.

“I was going to surprise you, but I’m leasing a house for me and Teagan and Grace.”

“What?!” she asks, and it seems I didn’t ruin the surprise from the look on her face. “That’s… that’s… how much?”

“How much what?” I ask her.

“How much are you paying?”

“Seven hundred a month,” I say, confused.

She nods, seeming pleased. “That’s good,” she sighs, relieved. “I was scared you’d gone off and leased some expensive fancy house you don’t need. I don’t need you to start spending that money like there’s no tomorrow.”

“I’m not,” I grin at her crookedly. “You raised me better than that.”

She nods at me. “I thought so. I don’t want you to let that money go to your head. You’re still graduating college, and you’re still becoming a—”

“Dentist,” I say for her, knowing if I let her finish she’d have said doctor or cardiologist or anesthesiologist. She’s a pediatrician, so it’s understandable. The only difference is she takes care of sick kids and I fix their teeth. And the straight out fact that she wanted me to follow in her footsteps. She’s just glad I’m not becoming a lawyer.

“I know,” she sighs. “I just don’t know why.”

“It’s what I want to do,” I say simply. “I’ll make more than a lab tech, which is what I wanted to be.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to worry about money.”

“Then I think I should be a clown or something.”

She rolls her eyes at me. “Fine, dig around in kids teeth all day.”

“Alright, and you can take care of everything else.”

She understood what I was hinting at and scowled at me. “What does Teagan want to be?”

“She doesn’t know. She wants to major in English and minor in Spanish, but she doesn’t know what kind of job you can get with that kind of major other than a teacher. She’d love to be an author, but she says she feels silly letting people read what she writes. She figures she could be an editor or a literary agent or something, but she’s not sure.”

My mom nods. “I’d bet Susan would be happy to read something of Teagan’s,” my mom says now absently. Susan is my mom’s publisher friend.

“I don’t know if Teagan would like that,” I tell her.

“Well she could use a pseudonym and I could give Susan her direct number so she wouldn’t have to go through me.”

“I don’t know. That’s something you would have to talk to her about.”

She nods. “I think I will.”

I shake my head. I don’t want Teagan to get hurt if nothing comes from this.

“I think it’s cute that you’re worried,” my mom teases. “I can see it all over your face.”

“Well I don’t want her to get crushed if nothing happens or if they don’t like it.”

“I know, but life is taking chances.” She gets up then and grabs her coat. “Come on, get Grace and go show me this house.”



“What did your mom think of the house?” Teagan asks me now as we wait in a booth at Capri’s for Erin and her date.

“She loved it,” I say, kissing her cheek. Ever since I found out she’s pregnant I can’t keep my hands off of her – more in a protective way, though when we had sex the other day it was the dirtiest we’ve ever had.

“When can we move in?” she asks me sleepily.

“In a week,” I tell her. She leans her head on my shoulder. “You’re sure about this? I just want to make sure. It’s not too late for you to change your mind.”

“I’m sure. Are you sure?”

I roll my eyes at the question. “You know I’m sure. I want this more than anything.”

I see her lips pull into a small smile… a smile I want to kiss. So I do. She laughs and pulls away. “What’s wrong with you? Can’t you keep your tongue to yourself for a while?”

“I’m trying but it’s not turning out so great. I really just want to take you home.” I tell her and she blushes.

I really don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just want her. She’s having my baby, and for some (sick?) reason it just turns me on like nothing else.

“For what?” she asks, pretending not to understand.

I lean forward and whisper into her ear everything that I want to do to her, most of which involves whipped cream. And licking it off of her body.

She looks up at me, biting her lip. It’s sexy. I can see uncertainty and desire hidden in her big brown eyes.

“Stop,” she finally says, scolding me.

I grin mischievously at her and start kissing her neck.

“Noah, seriously, stop,” she laughs.

I’m just about to try and make out with her when Erin and her date show up.

“Teag!” Erin shrieks, wrapping her arms around Teagan’s neck… the neck I’d just been nibbling on. “Your neck is wet,” Erin says, pulling away. She glances over at me and grimaces. “Oh, ew. How about keep it in your pants Roberts?” she asks jokingly. “We’re only five minutes late and you’re already macking on my best friend.”

I shake my head and wrap my arm possessively around her shoulders.

“Hey, I’m Noah,” I say, shaking Erin’s dates hand.

“Hi, I’m Mark,” he responds nervously. Poor guy, he’s like me on my first date with Teagan.

“So, what’s up?” Erin asks now as she sits down next to Mark and cuddles into his side. He doesn’t seem to know what to do with his arm at first and finally copies me and puts it around her shoulder.

“Nothing much,” Teagan says. “What about you?”

“Same here,” she sighs. “Gah, we’re boring.”

“Noah put a down payment on the house,” Teag tells her excitedly. I smile and pull her closer to me, thankful once again that I have this girl in my life.

“What? No way!” Erin squeals. “That’s great! When are we breaking this house in?” she asks, looking at me.

“In a week,” I answer.

“You better take care of my girl,” she warns. “She was my girlfriend before she was yours.”

I nod. “Yes ma’am,” I tell her. “Of course I’ll take care of her. She’s my world.”

Teagan smiles and kisses my cheek.

“Can we not be all gooey and gross tonight?” Erin interrupts the moment, pulling us back to the reality that we have to sit through this whole dinner before I can get her in my bed.