Love is a Luxury

“You can’t make me,” I whined.

“I mean, I technically could…” John trailed off.

“I don’t wanna.”

“Come on,” he pleaded. I threw the covers off of me and sat up, which resulted in being a bad decision. I immediately ran to the bathroom and puked up last night’s dinner while John held back my hair.

“This has only happened like, twice,” I said, leaning against the wall while John handed me a glass of water to rinse my mouth with. He slid down the wall next to me and let me rest my head on his shoulder. “Does this give me an excuse to go back to bed?”

“Not even,” he said. I groaned and he stood up to help me up off the floor.

“Fine,” I said and started taking off the limited amount of clothing I had on to jump in the shower. Before I even had time, John gently pinned me against the wall and attacked my lips with his.

“Hell no. If I don’t have time to go back to bed, we don’t have time for sex,” I watched as his shoulders fell.

“What about shower sex? That’s like killing two birds with one stone,” I could see him begging with his eyes.

“Go get dressed John.” He sighed and trudged off, but not before I pulled him back for a kiss and let him grab my butt.

I tried to drag my shower out as long as possible until John kept coming in the bathroom to tell me to get out. I wrapped the towel around myself and got out where I got dressed and did my makeup.

“Let me borrow one of your hoodies.” I said to John who was brushing his teeth next to me.

“Why?” He spit out his toothpaste.

“Because it’s baggy and it’s cold outside.”

“Go get my ASU one. It should be in the closet somewhere.” I dug it out while he finished getting ready. I went into the living room to find Colby already ready to go and watching cartoons on the couch with Shane and Ross.

“You ready?” John came up behind me, placing his hands on my stomach.

“I’m scared.”

“It’s gonna be all right. My mom loves you, remember?”

“I know, but I’ve never met your dad, and what if he hates me?” I turned around to look at him.

“He’s just like Mom. He’ll love you too.”

“Okay,” I said unsurely and let go of the hug I had him embraced in.

We all got in the car and drove for about three blocks before we pulled into the driveway of the familiar house.

“Olivia!” Mrs. O’Callaghan hugged me as soon as I walked through the door.

“Hi, Mrs. O’Callaghan!” I smiled and hugged her back.

“It’s Jenny by now,” she said.

“All right,” I gave a little laugh.

“Honey, the kids are here!” She called, presumably to Mr. O’Callaghan.

I heard shuffling from the living room and the man who John got his looks from came around the corner. “Hey Dad,” John hugged him. “This is my girlfriend, Olivia,” he pointed at me.

“Hi, Mr. O’Callaghan,” I said and he pulled me into a hug.

“It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“You too, Sir, thank you,” I smiled.

“And who is this little cutie right here?” Jenny squatted down to look at Colby who was hiding behind my legs.

“That’s Colby, he’s my son. He’s a little shy.”

“Oh,” she said a little startled. “I didn’t realize you already had a kid.”

I turned around and covered up Colby’s ears. “He’s actually my nephew, but I’m raising him, and he calls me mom,” I whispered.

“Oh!” She said, a little embarrassed. “I’m just finishing up in the kitchen now. Colby, would you like to help me frost the cake?” He looked up at me, asking for permission.

“You can go, buddy,” I said and he took Jenny’s hand as she pulled a chair up to the counter for him to stand on.

“When do you wanna do it?” John whispered in my ear.

“Do you wanna do it after dinner, that way no one chokes?” I asked. He gave a little laugh and nodded before kissing me on the cheek.

“Do you need any help setting the table or anything like that, Miss Jenny?” I asked her.

“Oh no, Sweetie, it’s fine. I’ll get one of the boys to do it. I appreciate it so much though,” she smiled at me.

---

We all ate in silence comfortably, and after I had helped Miss Jenny clean up in the kitchen a little, we all sat in the living room and watched what was on TV.

John looked over at me and we decided that we were going to announce it then. I pulled the wrapped gift out of my bag and I became really nervous.

“Since I didn’t make it here in time for Christmas, I’d still really like to give y’all a gift,” I said and handed the package to Miss Jenny.

“Oh, sweetie, you didn’t have to get us anything,” she said and started to pull the paper off of it. John held my hand as we watched in anticipation. She pulled off the paper and flipped the picture frame around. Her eyes went big as she looked at me.

“Th- this is yours?” She stuttered, looking at the ultrasound where we discovered the sex of the baby. “And Johnny’s?” I nodded and her eyes welled up. She let out a scream, got up, and hugged me.

“Please don’t cry Miss Jenny,” I laughed and rubbed her back.

“I’m so excited!” She laughed and wiped the tears out from under her eyes. “How far?”

“Twenty-two weeks.”

“How are you managing to hide it so well?” She laughed, putting a hand on my stomach.

“John’s hoodies seem to work pretty well,” I laughed.

“Come to the kitchen and show me!” She said. John followed us into the kitchen as I pulled up my shirt. “You were right, they do work pretty well.” At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

I tugged my shirt down as John opened up the door.

“John!” His ex, Lacey, hugged him. “I thought that car looked familiar! How are you?” She let him go.

“I’m good,” he said. She hadn’t noticed me yet, and I was waiting to see her expression when she does.

About that time, Colby came running into the kitchen, but hid behind John’s legs when he noticed Lacey standing there too.

“Aww, who’s this? Come here, buddy,” she tried to coax him to come toward her.

“Don’t touch him,” I barked.

“Oh, you’re here,” she curled up her lip.

“Colby, go back and play with Shane,” I said.

Mrs. O’Callaghan could sense the tension between us. “How about you come downstairs and I’ll show you their dad’s latest project?” She asked me.

“That sounds perfect,” I said, never breaking contact with Lacey until I got to the stairs and could no longer hold it.

“There’s really no project,” she said, sitting down on one of the stairs. “I just wanna eavesdrop without having to worry about you,” she whispered and I sat down beside her.

“Why is she here?” I heard Lacey ask.

“Because she lives with me, and I wanted to have dinner with my family.”

“I thought she dumped you and went back to Florida. You know she’s just going to crush you again, just like she did last time. Don’t even deny it, John.”

“Then oh-fucking-well. It’s the only way I want to go.” I could tell he was starting to get mad and I panicked a little.

“I don’t even know what you see in her,” I could almost picture her rolling her eyes. John’s mom grabbed my hand to try to soothe me.

“I love her, okay? I love every single fucking thing about her, and she has a better personality than you ever did. I can actually picture the rest of my life with her.”

She snorted. “Oh please, John. You are not ready to settle down.”

“Bullshit,” his voice started to rise. “You think I moved her into my house just for shits and giggles? She’s the mother of my kid for fucking crying out loud. Don’t tell me what I am or not ready to do. If I want to settle down, I will, and I do.”

It was deathly quiet in the kitchen.

“Are you a fucking idiot? You got her pregnant?!”

“I think it’d be best if you left.”

“You are unbelievable. At least I was smart enough to make sure I didn’t ruin your life with a kid,” she snapped and I heard the door slam.

“I know you guys are listening. You can come upstairs,” John sighed and Jenny and I stood up. “I’m sorry about that,” he told the family as we gathered in the kitchen.

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t know she was gonna stop by,” Jenny told her son.

“I didn’t like her Momma. She was mean,” Colby said, hugging my leg.

“I know, baby,” I said, pushing his curls out of his face.

“You know, I might have some toys that he can play with while he’s here,” Jenny said and rushed off before I could tell her that it’s all right and she didn’t have to dig through anything.

“I think she’s missed having little ones,” John’s dad said. “I haven’t seen her so excited in a long time.” I couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my face. John seemed to notice it too, because he smiled also. This was my family. This was our family.