A Mighty Need

Never had keeping a secret been so difficult. At every turn, Audrey and Noel almost let slip about the pregnancy they were so ardent to keep under wraps until Christmas. Waiting until they were safely into the second trimester aside, they wanted to surprise their friends and family in time for the holidays. The two of them had to mentally force themselves to not even think about the baby while they were with anyone else other than each other or Austin. The episode of Never Mind The Buzzcocks that Audrey was going to be filming was coming up soon, followed by a book tour for her novel, which was being released in time for Christmas. It was going to be a tiring month and Noel was going to try and join her for part of it, but he was busy editing episodes of Luxury Comedy which usually kept him away from home most of the day lately.

On the last day of the month, which happened to be Halloween, Noel and Audrey had considered their plans. They had been invited to Jonathan Ross’ annual party just like the year before, but Audrey was trying to avoid any social outing where she would have to turn down alcohol because she wasn’t sure on what kind of excuse to use that wouldn’t point out she was pregnant. Plus, she was still feeling a bit blah and not in the mood to go much of anywhere lately. So, they chose to stay in, but to invite friends to their houses for a Halloween party and pass out candy to any possible trick-or-treaters that would come to the door. They also talked about how it might be fun, in the future, to turn the house into a haunted house and allow trick-or-treaters to go through and get the shit scared out of them. Audrey had even assured Noel that it would be one time where she agreed that him dressing as a clown would be acceptable, because it would be Halloween and she would be equally frightened.

This Halloween was different though, where Noel’s costume was concerned. Of all the things he could’ve dressed up as, he went to the complete opposite end of the spectrum. He had discussed it with Audrey earlier and she wanted to compliment his costume choice, which meant she had to raid his half of the closet for the perfect thing which he had said he’d held onto for years.

The house was decorated with red light bulbs and candles, black tablecloths draped over almost every flat surface, fake cobwebs, rubber bats, plastic pumpkins filled with candy and random skeletons propped up all over. They also reused the smoke machine from nearly two years ago at New Years. Noel had already assured her he would take care of getting her drinks for her so it would look like she was drinking along with everyone else, but even Noel wasn’t going to drink. He was too worried about getting drunk or at least somewhat buzzed enough where he would accidentally blurt out Audrey being pregnant. They were going to stick to grape juice or cranberry juice, which he had poured into an empty wine bottle. He just hoped no one tried to use the bottle either, until Austin suggested they label it “Audrey’s special wine, NO TOUCH”.

His parents showed up first, which finger foods his mother had prepared. When she saw her son and Audrey, she laughed at their costumes.

“Well, I wouldn’t have expected that,” Diane giggled.

Noel was wearing a pair of loose-fitting, khaki-colored trousers, a brown turtle-neck and a predominantly green Hawaiian shirt over it. On his feet were a pair black socks and brown sandals, and on his head was a brown trilby. He had drawn on a mustache with brown eyebrow pencil and pulled most of his raven hair up under the hat so it wasn’t as long but that some shaggy bits still hung down.

“Is Julian coming? He’ll get a kick out of seeing you.”

“He might get a bit nauseated at seeing me dressed as Howard Moon.” He then pulled Audrey close by wrapping an arm around her waist. “Not so much with Audrey. I think she makes a sexier Vince Noir.”

Audrey was, in fact, dressed as such. She was wearing Noel’s mirrorball suit which he no longer could fit into but she could. At least, she still could for the time being. Her stomach wasn’t showing yet. On her feet was his pair of white, calf-high platform boots. She had much smaller feet them him so she had to stuff the toes of the boots with socks so that they fit on her. Around her neck was long string of plastic pearls, tied into a knot and on her head was a black Joan Jett wig she’d picked up in the city from a costume store. It was the closest thing to Noel’s hair style that they had.

“I mean, she already has a better nose,” Noel added, booping Audrey’s nose with his finger.

His mother and father were dressed as a 1920s flapper and gangster, respectively, and looked adorable. Ray was even carrying a violin case that had a toy tommy gun inside. When Austin came from upstairs and greeted Ray and Diane, Diane smiled and gushed at how handsome he looked dressed as Indiana Jones.

“I swear, one of these days your mom is gonna try and run away with my brother,” Audrey joked.

“So, then that would make Austin my brother-in-law and my stepfather. My mum would also be my sister-in-law.” Noel winced.

“That’s some serious backwoods America type shit.”

“Yeah. Or an episode of EastEnders.”

Julian and Julia were, as luck would have it, the next to arrive and, sure as shit, Julian laughed his ass off when he saw the man and woman of the house.

“What the fucking hell?” Julian snickered, pulling Audrey in for a hug first. “Had you looked like this, Noel, I think Howard and Vince could’ve definitely gotten off with each other.”

“We could do a fourth series where Vince went and got a sex change operation and Audrey could play the character now.” Noel slapped Audrey’s butt. “Or Vince’s sister.”

“Who he makes out with,” Audrey teased.

“Well, stepsister. They ain’t blood related.”

Julia shook her head and laughed as well. She was dressed simply as a witch. She’d painted her face green but the rest of her skin was left alone. Julian was dressed completely in grey, with some silver accents, and had a funnel on top of his head that had been spray-painted silver as well.

“So, Wicked Witch and the Tin Man?” Audrey inquired.

“Haphazardly so,” Julia agreed.

Mike and Lauren arrived afterward; Mike as Naboo because Noel had called him about it and Lauren was zombified version of Snow White. The usuals arrived sometime later; Serge and Amy, Tom and his lady Kim, Paloma, Dave and his girlfriend, and Dolly and her husband. Rev and Blacky weren’t there because they had a string of shows up north.

Audrey’s favorite costume of the evening was probably Paloma’s. She was dressed as Carmen Miranda, though most thought she was the Chiquita banana lady.

Earlier on in the evening, trick-or-treaters had arrived at their doorstep and Audrey and Noel took turns passing out candy. By the time the party had started there were only a small handful of kids that were still coming to the door but by that time Audrey and Noel were too distracted, so whoever was nearest to the door ended up answering it and giving out the rest of the candy. Usually it was Diane or Austin who heard the knocks on the door.

It was a fun night and odd for Audrey and Noel to be the sober ones while everyone else got a bit buzzed. They simply pretended to be a bit buzzed and surprised themselves with how easy it was to pretend that nothing was different for them. Noel did admit, later on, how weird he felt not saying anything to his parents or brother just yet about the baby, so Audrey told him that he should tell Mike, but promise Mike to secrecy, like Austin, so Noel had someone on his half to talk to it about. But Noel shook his head. Austin knew only because he had to because they had needed him to get the at home tests for them. If they hadn’t, they wouldn’t have told him until Christmas, either.

Only once during their Halloween party did anyone question why Audrey and Noel weren’t drinking much. Noel claimed he had to be up early the next day for editing and didn’t want a hangover to take away from focusing on what he had to do, so was taking it all in moderation. Audrey held up the glass in her hand, which was actually the mixture of grape and cranberry juice Noel had poured for her, and insisted she was. It had been Serge who had asked and luckily no one seemed to be paying attention to him when he asked them, so no one else’s curiosity had been peaked.

At the end of the night, when their guests straggled home, Noel and Audrey were left with barely any mess at all, which was nice. Everyone had cleaned up after themselves for the most part; placing their empty glasses in the sink or dishwasher and any empty cans or bottles went on the counter. Diane had stayed behind a bit to rinse off some of the snack trays and pick up any debris on the floors before she left with Ray at her side. Austin left with Mike and Lauren to head to some other Halloween party in the heart of Camden, which soon left Noel and Audrey alone in the living room to put their feet up.

At least, they thought they were alone.

Noel had taken the trilby off his head and shook out his hair, running his fingers through it and giving a pleasant scratch while Audrey did the same after removing the wig from her head and tossing it to the coffee table. Both propped their legs up on the table, eating pieces of chocolate left over from the Halloween candy that had been set aside for the trick-or-treaters and otherwise listening to the silence that now surrounded them in the house.

“So, I think we successfully dodged the one question we got about not drinking as much,” Audrey remarked, mid bite of a Cadbury Freddo Face.

“I really thought Serge was going to put two and two together, especially since him and Amy were out with us a couple weeks ago when you were throwing up.”

Audrey nodded. “I’m just glad the little one had calmed the fuck down.” She patted her stomach. “You know how I hate throwing up. I mean, I still get nauseous, but at least I can sate it now with crackers or water. Those didn’t help initially.”

Footsteps in the front hall caused their eyes to widen. Noel and Audrey turned their heads to find themselves looking at Paloma standing in the archway to the living room and staring back at them with a knowing smile on her lips.

“You two are preggers?”

“Uh…” Noel blanked.

Audrey winced. “Yes, but you cannot say anything to anyone. We only just recently found out and we’re waiting to tell people until Christmas, okay? If you tell anyone I will hunt you down and eviscerate you.” Audrey pointed a Freddo Face at the other female.

Paloma took her index finger and crossed her heart. “Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye,” she recited. “I promise on my life I will say nothing to no one.” She then scurried over to them and pushed their legs down off the coffee table so she could sit there instead. She had removed the fruit bowl head gear she’d been wearing. Where it currently was, was anyone’s guess. Reaching forward she hugged them both, simultaneously. “I’m so happy for you two. Do you know when you’re due?”

“June 20th as of right now,” Audrey replied as she and Noel were released from the embrace. “Due dates are rarely exact, so we’ll see when it goes down.”

“Unless you schedule a C-section,” Paloma pointed out.

Audrey shook her head and winced. “No, I don’t want to be sliced open and have a long scar across my stomach. My mom had four C-sections. I was too young to remember her first three, but I was eight when Austin was born and I remember her having to go back into the hospital because two of her staples popped open while she was in the shower. I would prefer to go natural, if I am so lucky. Just drug me up and I’ll be right as rain.”

“How excited are you, though?” Paloma beamed.

“Very excited,” Noel replied. “Just, now we have a shit ton more to plan for the coming year.”

“Oh, because of the wedding, too?” she wondered. “Are you pushing the date forward or backward at all?”

Audrey shook her head. “No.”

“The baby’s due four months before the wedding. That’s enough time,” Noel added.

Paloma squirmed. “Omigosh, there’s gonna be a mini version of the two of you running around.”

“Well, not running right away.”

“Oh, you know what I mean,” she smiled.

“I’m pretty sure anything born with the capability to run right away might be demonic and maybe I should consider an abortion,” Audrey quipped.

Noel shook his head. “Leave it to me to impregnate you with the antichrist.”

“Aw, but what an adorable antichrist he or she would be, though.”

“Very true,” Audrey nodded, looking at Noel and pinching his cheek. “I want him or her to have Noel’s eyes and he wants the baby to have my nose.”

“Anyone’s nose would be fine, as long as it’s not mine.”

“I love your nose.”

Noel rolled his eyes. “You’re a liar.”

“You know I’m not.” Audrey had moved her hand away from Noel’s cheek to the back of his head and was playing with his hair in a rhythmic motion he always found soothing. She leaned in toward him and kissed the side of his nose and then sat back, smiling over at Paloma. “I own that nose now.”

“Well, I think that’s my cue to leave now,” Paloma stated, slapping her lap and standing up while looking down at the pair. “And, again, I promise to not say anything about the wee one. I do, however, expect an invite to the baby shower.”

“You’ll get one, don’t worry.” Audrey smirked.

Paloma leaned down and hugged them each separately and walked behind one of the living room chairs and picked up her fruit bowl hat. So, that’s where it had been hiding. Her purse had been with it and she pulled her phone out. “I just need to call a cab. It’s all right that I stay here till it comes, yeah?”

Noel frowned. “We ain’t kicking you out. You can sit here and eat candy with us.”

“Or have some cranberry-grape juice,” Audrey added, lifting up her wine glass.

Paloma pointed her phone at Audrey and flashed a cheeky grin. “Oh, you’re sneaky.”

“We couldn’t let on that I wasn’t drinking alcohol. Noel put the juice in a wine bottle for me.”

Paloma tsked. “You two are like peas in a pod.”

“The rubber to my duckie,” Noel offered.

“The white to my rice,” Audrey batted her eyes as she looked at Noel with a cheesy grin.

“The nausea to my stomach,” Paloma added, “because you two are being way to sugary sweet with each other. My teeth are aching.” She scrolled through her phone for the number of the cab company she usually used. “I think you’ve had enough candy for the night.”

Noel stared daringly up at Paloma. “It’s just as well. I shouldn’t be filling up on sweets when I haven’t eaten the main course yet.” He turned and looked at Audrey, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Audrey laughed and Paloma snickered before ordering a cab to pick her up at Noel’s address.

“You’re so naughty, Noel,” Paloma admonished with a smile.

“No, just horny.”

“Well, there’s no need for you two to wait with me until my cab arrives. Go upstairs and ravish your baby mama and I’ll see myself out.”

“You’re such a good and thoughtful friend, Paloma,” Audrey chuckled, standing up. She walked up to the singer and gave her a hug. Noel followed suit, standing up and hugging Paloma as well. “We probably won’t see you until the holidays. At least I won’t. I’ve got my book tour coming up, taking me back to the States. It’ll be a busy time until the holidays. We’re gonna spend Christmas in the States again this year since we decided next year we’d want to spend Christmas in our own home for the first time as husband and wife, with our child. But we’ll be back in time for New Years. We’ll get together then.”

“Just don’t run yourself ragged,” Paloma enforced. “You’ve got to take it easy for you and the baby.”

“Oh, I plan on fitting in some pampering.”

“Let’s go upstairs and we can start on that,” Noel nudged her. He gave Paloma a kiss on the cheek. “Take some candy with you if you want.”

“No, I’m fine, thanks.” Paloma waved after the couple as they headed out of the living room and up the stairs.

With a smile at Paloma, Noel followed behind Audrey, slapping her ass playfully with both hands all the way up.



A little over a week later, Audrey was taping her third ever episode of Never Mind The Buzzcocks and her second time being on Noel’s team. However, it wasn’t the Christmas episode as initially planned, because her book tour began when the taping for that episode was set for. She easily settled for being in the penultimate episode; not including the “series wrap-up” episode which would technically air second to last. Cee-Lo Green was on their team as well, and they joked about how their last names all seemed similar: Green, Fielding, Woods. They went with Team Nature in the end, but no comment about it made it to the actual taping. It was just something stupid and silly they were kicking around backstage.

John Barrowman was hosting, and he was on a roll. There were sexual innuendos galore and the fact that Noel and Audrey had met because of the show and were now engaged, John looked at a very heterosexual Phill, as if he wanted to hook-up with him later. John also joked that since Noel would be getting married to Audrey in the following year and would no doubt not be filming a couple episodes around that time, that maybe an episode could be taped during the reception.

“Oi, but the wedding’s not gonna be here in England. We’re going abroad,” Noel remarked.

“Give me the address so I can crash it.”

Noel’s team won in the end. He and Audrey were just a good team, on and off camera, obviously, but Cee-Lo brought a lot to the table as well, which helped them in the end. They won by three points and Noel took both Audrey and Cee-Lo’s hands and raised them up in a victory stance. He then hugged Cee-Lo and kissed Audrey, only to be interrupted by a dubbed “aww” sound effect button that John had pressed at his hosting chair.

Noel snickered and flashed the index and middle fingers on both his hands at John, then smiled. After the taping, Audrey and Noel didn’t stick around, mainly because she had to finish packing because she was flying out to New York the following afternoon, but also because most everyone that hung around after a taping had drinks together as a sort of after party, and Noel and Audrey were still keeping their now two-month-old pregnancy under wraps.

She was starting to get more of a pouch and was just thankful it was now sweater season and could hide her stomach for the time being.

That night, after Audrey had finished up the remainder of her packing, she and Noel lie side by side in bed with him reaching out and touching his fingers down upon her stomach in a dancing fashion. “I’ll miss you,” he said. “I think this’ll be the longest we’ll have been away from each other in a while.”

“I know.”

“You’re gonna be gone over a month.”

“I know,” she mock pouted.

“I’m gonna try and fly to Columbus for a few days while you’re there for Thanksgiving.”

“Okay.”

“Otherwise I will definitely meet you there for Christmas.”

“You better.”

“I will.”

“The peanut is gonna miss their daddy, too.”

“Don’t do that; you’re making me feel even sadder.” He rolled slightly toward her to pull something out from underneath her pillow. It was the sonogram scan they’d had the day before, showing their baby to be slightly bigger than their first visit. Noel had gotten a kick out of the fact that apparently their child now had knees. “I’ll pin this on top of your pillow while you’re gone.”

“Oh, how delightfully sappy you are.”

Audrey scooted over to him and climbed on top of him so she was straddling his hips.

“If you can make it to Columbus for Thanksgiving, that’ll mean only two weeks till we see each other again, otherwise it will be more than a month.” She placed her hands on his stomach and ran them up under his shirt, just caressing his skin while he watched her with curious eyes. His breath hitched at how cold her hands felt against his warm skin. It almost made him shiver. “So, I say we make the best of tonight, just in case it’s more than a month wait until we can be together like this again. I mean, as much as I love hearing your voice in my ear, phone sex only goes so far.”

Noel grinned at her, leaning up to kiss her and encircling her waist with his arms. She nuzzled her nose against his and sank her face down onto his shoulder to place a kiss onto his neck before sliding off his lap and laying back down onto the mattress.

“I want you on top tonight,” she informed. “I want to feel covered and warm. It’s gotta carry me for at least the next two weeks.”

Obliging his fiancée, Noel shifted his body and lay down between her legs. Both of them were still fully clothed at the moment, but that was okay. There was no rush. Though, his loose pajama pants little to the imagination, which was fine with her. After a few minutes of heavy petting and dry humping the shit out of each other, their clothes began to fall away.

“Let me give you something to remember me by,” Noel smirked, as he lowered his body down hers.

“You make it sound like we’ll never see each other again—oh.” She cut herself off and whimpered at the first flick of his tongue. “Oh, sweet baby Jesus.” Instinctively, she gripped his hair in her hands. He really was a talented sonofabitch. “Oh, fuck me.”

“That’s the plan,” he mumbled.



A week later, Audrey was in Boston. She stood at a podium in the Barnes and Noble’s at the Prudential Center, reading the first chapter from her novel, The Legendary Pariah of Goodtown. She wasn’t doing readings in every city she visited; just a few of the major ones. During her first stop in New York City after she arrived, she had taped and episode of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon who had congratulated on the busy year she’d been having: What Girls Do premiering and gaining popularity, getting engaged, What Girls Do getting picked up for a second season, winning two Emmys back in September and now the novel, which she was there to promote. Audrey congratulated Jimmy as well, as he had also won an Emmy for hosting The Tonight Show. They hadn’t crossed paths during or after the awards ceremony, so she wanted to say something while she had the chance. She had been dressed in a loose-fitting black dress, because of black being a slimming color, so Jimmy noticing her faint baby bump was out of the question.

Austin was with her during all this; he was her PA after all. After the reading at Barnes and Noble, she answered a few questions about the book, as in her inspiration and any insight into the characters; et cetera, et cetera. Afterward she sat down at a table, the podium was moved away and she signed books for a solid two hours before taking a break because her hand was cramping up and she was hungry. Her and Austin took an hour and went to the mall’s P.F. Chang’s and sat down for their meal, which consisted of the beef Lo Mein combo. She and Austin shared the lettuce wrap for a starter. Austin didn’t want a dessert, but Audrey’s appetite was recently increasing so she was more than happy to order a piece of cheesecake. After lunch, they returned to the bookstore and recommenced signing more books. There was a larger crowd than earlier, as well, as many people were starting to get out of school or work and were starting to flood the mall a bit more. Audrey signed books until nearly five in the evening before Austin called it quits. She was only supposed to be there until four, but there was such an outpouring that she didn’t have the heart to leave just then.

She had taken photos with some people as well, received little gifts and signed other things as well. Some people brought her other books with them, as well as her new novel to sign. Some were just buying her first two books for the first time, after hearing about the new book and learning she was behind What Girls Do. There were even two girls who had been at one of the signings at New York that had traveled up to Boston to see her again and sign more things because they didn’t have the time the first time around.

Audrey joked with Austin later that evening back at their shared hotel room at the Mandarin Oriental. She preferred sharing a room with double beds with her brother; otherwise she would’ve been lonely. Plus, it was cheaper that way. While they lay in their separate beds with the lights off and only the TV on, they chatted with each other about nothing in particular. They had all day to talk about book tour bullshit. Nighttime was their come down time.

“Did you notice those two girls today? The ones that said they came up from New York?”

“Yeah.”

Audrey giggled. “I totally have book groupies.” She let her mind wander for a second, and then she laughed again. “Boopies.”

“If you weren’t pregnant, I would assume you were drunk right now.”

“Oh, come on. You’ve known me all your life, dude. You know how I am.”

“You do know what your book fans call themselves, though, right?” Austin asked. He rolled over so that he was facing her.

Audrey turned her head and stared back. “Um…no?”

“Woodies.”

“Heh, really? Like boners?” Audrey cackled.

“No, dumbass, as in our last name.”

“No shit,” she snickered. “I was joking.”

Bright and early the next morning they hopped a quick flight to Albany and were immediately carted to the Barnes and Noble at the Colonie Center, a little more than five minutes away from the airport. She spent six hours there, from ten to four, with two forty-five minutes in between. The first was spent getting lunch at Five Guys and the second was spent grabbing a soft pretzel and a frozen yogurt from the food court. During the second food trip, Audrey made her daily phone call to Noel to play catch up and while doing so, she decided to dip a piece of her pretzel into her frozen yogurt and found it to be delicious while Austin found it nauseating.

After the signing in Albany, they returned to the airport and flew north, across the border to Ottawa where they checked into The Lord Elgin Hotel. The next morning it was off to the races again. The two days afterward were spent in Toronto, where she once again did a book reading and two separate signings. It was then back into States to head to Buffalo and Detroit before arriving to Columbus on the night of the 25th, the day before Thanksgiving. Her and Austin’s parents’ new home was still being built, so they were still staying at Crystal’s house. Noel had, in fact, arrived earlier in the evening and had been picked up at the airport by Jeremy while Audrey and Austin were picked up at the airport by their father. For the night it was going to be cramped. Audrey, Noel and Austin were all crashing in the living room. Crystal and Jeremy had a large wrap around couch; much like Audrey and Noel did, so the latter would be sleeping on that. Austin would somehow manage on the loveseat or on the floor if he had to. The next night, Audrey and Noel would check into a hotel for the night so they would be able to have some alone time.

When Audrey and Austin had arrived to Crystal’s house, Noel was waiting outside in the brisk night air, illuminated by the front porch light. When she hopped out of the passenger’s side of her father’s car, she flung her purse over her shoulder and then ran over to Noel, who had met her halfway.

“Hey,” she greeted, throwing her arms around his neck.

His arms snaked their way around her waist and he buried his face in her shoulder. “Hey,” he replied. “I missed you something fierce, you know. I got so used to always waking up next to you; this is like before when you lived in Philly and I was by myself in Highgate. I don’t like it.” He pouted at her.

“Which is why we need to make the most out or time together the next two days,” she said, tapping him on the nose. “And just think: in less than a month, we’ll be back here again, and telling everyone the good news,” she whispered. “And then we can leave together and don’t have to be apart again.”

“I don’t like waiting.”

“Yeah, well, life is full of ups and downs. Right now is an up moment.”

Noel brought his lips to hers. “It really is.”

Austin carried their suitcases inside and they did a load of laundry each because there hadn’t been time to have the hotels they stayed in launder their clothes. Audrey was offered a glass of wine when the adults sat around the living room to chit chat. The kids had already gone to bed for the night by the time Audrey and Austin had arrived. Audrey turned down the wine, saying a nice glass of milk would be nice because she claimed it would help her get a good night’s rest after the constant traveling her and Austin had been doing. After only about an hour, everyone else went off to bed, leaving Audrey and Noel to cuddle up together on one end of the couch. They told Austin he didn’t have to cramp himself up on the love seat or lay on the hard floor with blankets and pillows; he could take the other end of the wraparound couch because Audrey and Noel were content to spoon on the their end.

They just wanted to be together.

The next morning, they were all woken up by Tristan and Avery coming into the living room, not realizing anyone was down there. After they were up and showers were had, they sat around with cups of coffee while Crystal and Mary were upstairs in the kitchen (it was a split house; the kitchen was on the main level while the living room was in a sub-level. Audrey had offered to help but her sister and mother turned her down, telling her to just relax and enjoy her downtime. A part of Audrey wondered if they somehow sensed she was pregnant but weren’t saying anything about it, and didn’t want her to overwork herself. She said as much to Noel, in private, later, but he seriously doubted they knew.

During dinner, which took place at three-thirty, it wasn’t just Audrey’s immediate family (sans Eddie and Steph) that was there. Her father’s best friend, Ernie (who was also Crystal’s godfather) and wife Jen, who had moved to Louisville, Kentucky a few years before, had come up for Thanksgiving as well. They had just driven in that morning and would be staying overnight in a hotel, much like Audrey and Noel.

The food was great, though it was the same dishes that were served every year. Her father had made his “famous stuffing” which Audrey hated. She had always preferred the box kind her maternal grandmother made, not the homemade version her father had learned to make from his. It was almost soggy and, as much as she loved mushrooms, she did not love them in stuffing. The corn was canned corn as well, which was a downer. Crystal had been the only one of the Woods siblings who liked canned corn and since she was the one who bought all the ingredients for the meal, she had chosen what she liked. Aside from that, it was nice. It seemed like each person had their own pie to eat, there were so many. Crystal loved apple, Austin loved pecan, their father loved pumpkin, and Audrey loved cherry and chocolate cream. Ernie and Jen had brought a key lime and a lemon meringue, the latter of which roused Noel’s taste buds.

After the meal and desserts, the guys mainly went to watch whatever football game was playing. Ernie wasn’t a sports type, but he joined nonetheless. The tryptophan had kicked in quickly for Audrey, who asked Crystal if it was okay that she lay down on her bed. Crystal didn’t care. Noel joined her and the two of them slept for about two hours. Afterward, when they got up, Jeremy suggested a game of Cards Against Humanity, which only Jeremy, Crystal, Audrey, Noel, Austin and Jen played. Lou, Mary and Ernie were from a different generation, and couldn’t be bothered with the offbeat card game. Jen, despite being Ernie’s wife, was seventeen years younger than him. He had basically robbed the cradle. She had been thirty and he forty-seven when they married. It had been her second marriage, his first.

Once they got through only one round, Audrey and Noel decided it was time to part to head to their hotel. Noel put his suitcase and hers into the trunk of her mother’s car and her mother drove the couple to their hotel. She would pick them up the next day, with Austin in tow, so all three could be on their way to the airport and take their separate flights; Audrey and Austin onto Philadelphia, while Noel returned home to London.

After they checked into their hotel, the same one they’d stayed in last Christmas, they went straight into the bedroom and made up for the last two weeks apart, several times over.

While they were lying there, sometime after midnight, with the bed sheet barely covering their naughty bits and their limbs tangled with each other as sheens of sweat coated their skin, Noel turned to Audrey and kissed her for the millionth time that night. Gently, he laid a hand on her stomach. She was ten going on eleven weeks pregnant by this point and her bump was still barely noticeable. They both knew what was there, though, and they both knew there was a considerable difference to what her stomach had looked like two months before when they were in Philly for her birthday, when they were probably in the midst of conceiving the bun in her oven.

Shifting his body down on the bed’s currently disheveled fitted sheet, Noel rolled slightly so that he could kiss Audrey’s belly.

“Hello, darling,” he murmured against her skin. “I read online that right about now you’re the side of a kumquat.”

Audrey smirked and lowered a hand to the top of Noel’s head, running her fingers through his hair. “Our little kumquat.”

“Next week, the website I was on, said he or she will be about the size of a fig.”

“Figures,” she snickered. “Ba-dum-tss.”

Noel looked back up at her and shook his head. “That was just bleedin’ horrible.”

Audrey shrugged. “I work with what I got.”

He rested his head down on the mattress beside her hip and just laid there, letting her continue to play with his hair. “How are you feeling lately? I couldn’t really ask back at your sister’s house.”

“Fine. I mean, my pants are starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. I’m gonna have to go one size up soon. My boobs are sore some of the time and I’m really starting to get weird cravings,” she replied. “The other day when me and Austin were wherever, and I was talking to you from some food court, I dipped a soft pretzel into some frozen yogurt and I loved it.”

“Ew.”

“Yeah, that was Austin’s reaction, too.”

“Any other weird cravings?”

“Nothing major. I did have the urge to eat a jar of pickles and chug an entire carton of milk. Not sure how well those two mix, but I wanted them in my mouth pretty bad.”

“As badly as you wanted me in your mouth tonight?” he grinned deviously up at her.

Audrey smacked his forehead. “Careful; the baby might hear you,” she joked.

“I’m not sure it even has ears yet.”

“We’re connected; if I hear something, the baby does, too, by association or something.” Audrey shrugged. “That sounded better in my head.”

Noel scooted back up the bed to share Audrey’s pillow with her. He placed a kiss on her collar bone and then up her neck and to her jaw before claiming her lips. “I love you.”

She could feel his arousal again, pressed against her hip and she turned to face him with a raise eyebrow. “You have the libido of an eighteen-year-old boy tonight, don’t you?”

“What can I say? You make me feel younger than I am.”

“Because you’re so ancient,” she quipped, sarcastically, in between further kisses. “I love you, too,” she added with a sigh.

“Round whatever and three?”

Audrey smiled. “Yeah,” she nodded. “Something like that.”