Breaking the Ice Ch. 08

***

Dear Syd,

He said 'An imPasta". You two are ridiculous.

***

Dear Tess,

You love us.

And I love you. Shane too. Thanks for existing.

***

July

"Sweetheart, you gotta slow down."

"I can't slow down!" I yelled while trying to jump my legs into my jean shorts," She's finally home! God I missed her so...wait..." I tried to get the buttons to meet to no avail, groaning unhappily in the mirror. "Aww man, not these too."

"Well, you're five months pregnant." Shane rubbed my swollen stomach while looking at me with a loving gaze that made me want to punch him in the face. "Mom thinks you're havin' a boy, something about carrying low and your nose growin' or some old wives tale shit like that."

"Oh great, not only am I fat but so is my nose." He gave my neck a whisper of a kiss, completely immune to my moodiness at this point. "I hope she's okay with this."

"Tell me again why you haven't told Princess yet?"

I shimmied out of my shorts and tossed them in the closet, standing in only my bra and panties. "Because I didn't want to share the happy news with her while she was going through everything. It didn't feel like the right time."

Shane walked into the closet and began perusing my side, eventually coming out with one of the maternity dresses I bought last night and refused to wear. "So you're just gonna show up and surprise her? That doesn't make any sense, and there's no hidin' that belly now. Arms up." I did as he asked and he slid the blue and white striped fabric over my head and down my body before busying himself with tying the sash in the back. "Don't be nervous, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"I hope so." I turned around and faced him, my eyes starting to burn as my heart swelled with love and a hormone surge. "You're the best husband and I...I-I don't deserve you..."

He started wiping the enormous tears streaming down my cheeks. "Aww, okay. I love you too Tess, but you gotta get out of here. It'll be midnight before you snap out of this mood swing and I got stuff to do." I smiled despite my intense emotional outburst and he drew me into a hug with several kisses on the top of my head. "I'm defrostin' the catfish for supper. Okra still grossin' you out?"

"Not if it's fried," I mumbled into his tee-shirt. He held me a little tighter and I sighed contently. He always knew what I needed even if I didn't. He was perfect like that.

***

I was restless the entire drive to Sydney's parent's house, nervously excited to see her. She decided she didn't want to move into the duplex until it was finished and Shane totally understood. It wasn't like he was charging her rent anyway so she had flexibility to occupy when she was ready.

Her parents lived in the uber-wealthy Montowese neighborhood in North Haven; my family was rich, but judging by the massive 7,000 square foot mansion I pulled up to -- in addition to a valet kind enough to park my car for me -- her family was "old money" rich. You'd never know she was, mostly based on her hilariously vulgar demeanor and basic potty mouth.

I rang the doorbell and waited a minute before it opened, but there was no one behind the door. I walked inside and looked to either side of me as the door closed behind me, probably on a remote control. "Hello?" I called out timidly, a little freaked at walking in someone's home unannounced. I heard a small noise to the right of the Imperial staircase behind a pair of pocket doors. I opened them carefully, hoping someone would be behind them...

"SURPRISE!"

"Oh my God!" My hand flew to my chest as my heart thumped hard at the shock. Sydney's whole family, her parents and her older and younger sisters, were blowing on paper trumpets excitedly. The entire floor of the massive dining room was blanketed in lemon yellow and leaf green balloons, streamers and tinsel lining the perimeter of the crown molding. On the twelve-person dining table were presents. Presents stacked on more presents surrounded by robin's egg blue boxes from Tiffany. I could barely see out the wall of tears in my eyes when Sydney skipped over to me with a tiara in her hands. "Wha...how..."

A practiced smile spread on her face as she placed the jewelry on top of my curls, careful not to touch my hair. "Girl you know I'm stealth, even in confinement. Plus your husband has a big mouth."

I tried to keep it together and pretty much failed miserably. "You didn't have to do this..."

"Do what, spend money? I happen to be an expert at that." Mrs. James came up behind Syd and touched her shoulder, causing her to shrink into herself as her mom snatched her hand away like her daughter's skin burned her. She recovered quickly. "Mom, this is Tess. Preggo, my mom Charlotte."

Sydney's mom looked like she just walked out of a magazine. Her blonde hair was perfectly coiled on her head, her slim frame poured into her diamond-hued party dress that illuminated the hue of her pale skin and strikingly clear blue eyes. She stepped forward and gave me a hug before whispering in my ear "Congratulations, and...thank you for being so good to my daughter."

Mrs. James pulled back and dabbed at her eyes with a Kleenex that was tucked inside her sleeve. Sydney's father and sisters, Rachael and Carson, introduced themselves briefly and extended well wishes before leaving the room, sliding the doors closed behind them. Then it was just us two. I broke the silence first. "This is beautiful, Syd."

"The James' throw a good party. This way they get an excuse to crack open the wine and we didn't have to do all that "Guess the Baby Food" bullshit." She pulled out a chair for me to sit and settled on the opposite side of the table with a hesitant smile. She looked healthy physically -- she gained her weight back but she was still a bevy of tight muscles and dangerous curves. She looked good, though I knew she didn't feel the same way on the inside. "So. You're cooking a human. How long?"

"Five months. I was already eight weeks when we went to Mexico." I fiddled with my fingernails, chipping away at the beige polish. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Eh, don't be, I get why you didn't. But just because what happened...happened, doesn't mean I don't want to hear your good news. I get to be an aunt again, that's cool." She tapped her long fingernail on the mahogany, keeping my gaze. "He got three years."

"I know. He deserved a lot more."

"Yeah. Look, I'm just gonna say this and then I don't want to talk about it ever again, okay?" My lips twisted to the side but I nodded before she took a big breath. "I was abused. I was...I was raped. That is not my fault. I am not less of a person because of it. It sucked...it really fucking sucked and I don't know if I'm ever going to heal from it but it's not the end of my story. It's just on pause." She raised her arm facing me, showing a small, black semi-colon tattooed on her wrist. "Can we just be normal? Or at least fake it for a while?"

For the first time since I got knocked up and bawled over the slightest thing, I didn't cry. My heart was wrecked for her and always would be; but she was still here. As long as she kept fighting I'd be right by her side. A teasing smile played on my face. "Hipster."

"Bitch." I lifted my palm to her and she took a beat to prepare to make contact. She gave me the world's shortest high five before tucking her hand in her lap. "God, that was fucking lame. So is it a boy or a girl?"

I grinned and leaned over the table slightly to whisper the sex to her. With a celebrated shriek we laughed and began talking a mile a minute about clothes and schools and how the baby had to take karate and ballet so it would be well-rounded. She told me about the characters at the rehab and I told her which accountants were screwing around at the firm. We naturally fell back into our relationship without missing a beat, even though we were consciously preparing for both our lives to change forever.

***

Nineteen Months and Endless Sleepless Nights Later

The sharp wail of my son's cry through the baby monitor didn't even faze me anymore.

After a year and a half of his wonderful existence on this earth we were pretty good at deciphering his cries. Staccato whining meant he was hungry. A long scream, followed by a dramatic pause then an even longer scream meant he needed to be changed. This one, the one that pretty much occurred at five every morning meant he was awake so we needed to be awake too. I rolled over onto my back and patted Shane's hard chest with my knuckles. He moaned sleepily, only waking enough to determine which one of us was vacating our warm, comfy bed. "On three. One...two...three," He mumbled, not even bothering to open his eyes. "What'd you throw?"

"Rock."

"Hmm. What'd I throw?"

I sat up slightly to look at his hands. "Something between a teepee and a gang sign. You know the rules; any incomplete signs is an automatic DQ."

"Damnit." Thirty seconds and his breathing started to even out, I knew I was going to be the one getting out of bed. All of a sudden the crying stopped and morphed into a happy squeal, a bright voice singing softly from his room down the hall:

"Different color my passport,
Instagram my stack load,
hashtag my day wear and your girl drank my day care and I'm born rich life ain't fair,
silver spoon coon, ho!
Ain't nobody sicker and my Fisker, vroom vroom ho, ain't nobody,
Fiskers don't make noise when they start up, just so you know...that's right, no they don't! Isn't that right my little hellbeast!"

I couldn't stop myself from laughing at the impromptu concert and neither could Shane when he picked up the little walkie-talkie and pressed the red button, "Princess, I told you to quit rappin' to my son."

"Tell Daddy Childish Gambino is a God and it's important to be a well rounded musical genius isn't it?" A gurgling coo was his reply and she laughed. "You're right little man; Daddy is a basic bitch. Now let's move on to 2 Chainz. Four a.m. I'm just gettin' started, for my birthday I threw me a surprise party..."

"Ugh. Okay, I'm going before she starts dropping the N-word." Shane grunted in response before grabbing his pillow and slamming it over his head. Grabbing my robe from the back of the en suite door I covered my naked body and made my way to my son and his impromptu music teacher.

Elijah Adam Thomas. My little bundle of love and light had completely changed my heart. I never thought I would love anyone as much as I love Shane, but after thirty-nine hours of labor and an emergency C-section he reluctantly came into the world, all ten pounds, one ounce of him, all fat cheeks and red hair. I was tired and sometimes forgot to shower for a few days and Eli's always going and going and I was exhausted...but it was worth it, because he was ours.

The person he changed the most was probably Sydney.

A week after he was born Sydney effectively moved in and took on a nanny role, even with her working full time as a bartender in New Haven. Sixteen months later and he was the only person on earth she could have physical contact with. She said it was almost like an addiction to "Mini-Hellbeast" but he was healing her in ways none of us could. That was why this morning, like most mornings, I found them sitting in his rocking chair, him falling fast asleep in her arms. I watched them for a few minutes before interrupting, which I hated to do. "Shane's going to take your key away if you keep it up," I scolded softly.

Syd opened her eyes and pulled Eli's giraffe blanket over his arms. "All little boys need to learn about trap music or else they're gonna get beat up on the playground."

"What playgrounds did you go to as a kid?" She rolled her tired eyes and smiled wearily. She worked all night almost every night and came over most days to hang out with Eli while Shane and I went to work, even when we hired an actual nanny. Syd had burned the candles at both ends until they turned to ash but when we tried to get her to slow down and rest she waved it off. Eli was her happy place and eventually we just let it be. "How did your shift go?"

She shrugged. "Apparently we have a new owner that's supposed to show up in the next week or two, some bigwig from London who owns, like, half of Europe. Why he'd buy a random bar in Connecticut I don't know, but something about it is giving me a weird feeling. Not bad, just...restless."

"You wear it well." She tipped her imaginary top hat to me in thanks. "Want me to take him?"

"Nah, I'm good. Go back to bed."

"Fine, but no driving until you take a nap." She brushed me off as usual so I left her alone. Making my way back to my room I paused in the doorway and was greeted by a pretty great sight. Shane was awake -- all the way awake -- lying on his side with a lascivious grin and some pretty great bed head. Morning sex was clearly on his mind and with our son taken care of we could spend some time in our happy place. And the best thing was we could take a nap afterwards. "Hi," he rasped.

I started untying my robe before I even shut the door, a blissfully happy grin easily parlaying my undying love and endless happiness. The silk fell from my body as I made my way over to the love of my life, nothing else needing to be said, except:

"Hi."

Thank you for reading my first story! This won't be the last of these characters: Shane and Tess' journey has ended but Sydney's is just beginning. So much love and peace to all those who stuck with me to the end!