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Ella
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I wanted everything to be perfect. Unapologetically perfect.
August's mother would be there any minute and I desperately wanted her to just accept me, accept this baby, accept us.
Fixing her seat at the table, August walked in behind me, swooping his arms around my belly and hugging me. Digging his chin into the top of my shoulder, he kissed the skin at the base of my neck and over my collarbone.
“It looks beautiful, El, don't worry yourself too much about it.” Tender kisses made their way across the back of my neck, up to my hairline, and down to the exposed skin of my back. “She's going to feel however she feels, it doesn't matter how nice the table looks.”
“I know, I'm just not used to all this.” Laying my head back against his chest, I tickled my fingers across his arms. “People usually love me. Only your mom and Justin have given me a hard time.”
“That's because Justin is a dick and my mother is so rich she's used to being right all the time, even if she's horribly wrong. Can you imagine no one ever correcting you? Ever? It went to her head, now she's a walking Google with bad information. She will always pick the opposite of what you or anyone else wants, that how she works.”
Giggling, I moved my hand up the side of his face and into his hair. “It's just hard. I want her to like me.”
“And she will,” he said, spinning me on my feet to face him. Pinching my chin in his fingers, he tipped my head up so I was looking him in the eyes. “And if she doesn't, I really don't give a shit. I know what I want, and no one, not even her can change my mind.”
Lifting my head higher, August leaned forward and kissed me. His lips were soft, tender, kissing me like two lovers in Paris. Pulling away, I could still feel the tingle of where his lips had touched mine.
The front door swung open and Fran came waltzing in with her arms out wide. “Finally,” she said, tucking her gloves into her purse and dropping it onto the counter. “The traffic was horrible. This is why I hate coming up to this end of the city, there are too many people. I wish you would have gotten that place on the East Side instead.”
“Hey, Mom, I'm so happy you made it.” August went to her side and took her jacket.
“Why are you taking my jacket?” she asked, quickly adding, “Don't tell me your maid is on vacation again, August? Lord I don't know why you insist on doing so much when you have good help.”
“I sent her home for the night, this is a special dinner.”
“Special? Why? Are you buying me another breast enhancement?” Looking down at her chest, she squeezed her breasts between her forearms. “I guess it could be time. These are getting a little old.”
“God no,” August snapped, shaking his head. “This isn't about you, not everything is about you all the time.”
“Well it should be.” Winking, Fran strolled into the kitchen, running her finger along the counter top. “Who cooked? Please tell me you at least had Valerie cook before sending her home?”
“Actually,” August said, grabbing me by the shoulders and moving forward. “Ella cooked dinner. She's an incredible cook too, you're going to love it.”
“Mm, we'll see.” Snubbing her nose into the air, she fluffed the ends of her hair.
“Why don't we all go sit down, dinner should be ready in a minute.” Cupping my hands together, I did my best to sound upbeat and pleasant.
The truth was I felt like a nervous wreck. My stomach was coiling like rope, my heart was beating a million miles a minute, my chest was tight and it felt like the air around me was thick as molasses.
Sitting at the table, August filled Fran and his glasses with wine and mine with apple juice. Fran fiddled with her silverware, moving around the forks and knife.
Looking at me under hooded lids, Fran gave me a condescending smirk. “I don't know if they taught you this in public school, but the forks go on the left.”
“Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize.”
“Mom—”
“What? She needs to know these things if she's going to be in our circle.”
“Our circle?” August asked.
“Yes—our circle. People expect a certain level of etiquette from the Burke's, this includes your little girlfriend here too.”
“I'm going to go check dinner.” Excusing myself from the table, I went into the kitchen, ready to throw my fist through a wall.
The hormones were killing me. One second I was super happy, the next I was a raging bitch. I could cry for no reason at all, a sweet song, a loving commercial, a funny joke; and boom, there go the tears.
Right then, I clutched the granite counter, knuckles turning bright white with a low growl like a wild dog sitting in the back of my throat.
I'm going to kill that lady. She has a death wish, I swear. . .
Taking a few deep breaths, I closed my eyes and reminded myself that I was better than that. That I wasn't going to flip a table or throw a fit and scream at the lady. Fran was Fran, it was something I was going to have to learn to take with a grain of salt, and walk away with my head held high.
She was no better than me. Money didn't make her better than me, status didn't make her better than me. We were both human, we both had beating hearts and blood flowing through our veins.
And that was what I was going to teach my baby. No one person was better than another. I firmly believe in good and evil, but when it came down to two regular people, no one stood taller. We were all the same, inside and out. That was the truth and that was how you should see the world.
Taking the roast out of the oven, I set it on the rack to rest when I heard a frantic scream.
“What the hell is that?!” Fran screeched again, her voice panicked and full of fear. “Get it away from me! Go! August, get it!”
Running back into the dining room, I stopped short, letting out a loud, guttural laugh.
Fran was standing on her chair, her eyes wild and arms flailing like a crazed windmill. “What the hell is that thing doing here?!”
“Mom, it's just a cat,” August said as he picked up Mr. Pink and coddled him in his arms. “He's not going to hurt you, he's harmless.”
“Harmless! He belongs outside, not in here, not on the table where you eat! Get that vile creature out of here!”
August started to chuckle as he carried the cat down the hall and closed him in the bathroom. “You're being ridiculous, you know that right?”
“I know that cats lick themselves and walk through their excrement. Is that what you want on your table, near your food—in your food, August?”
“You're being dramatic. The cat isn't shitting in my food or carrying any diseases. He's just a cat, that's it.”
Scoffing, Fran climbed down off her chair, fixing her dress and running a palm over her hair. “You know how I feel about animals, they belong outside, not in here. Why on earth would you get one?”
August tilted his head, his lips pursing to one side. “Because we want our baby to grow up having a pet to snuggle.”
“Your what?” Fran's body went motionless. She even looked like she was holding her breath. “Did you say your baby?”
“Yeah, I did. That's exactly what I said. Ella and I are having a baby, she's almost three months. Congratulations, you're going to be a grandmother.”
If looks could kill, I think she would have desecrated the entire city.
“Who's ready to eat?” I asked, awkwardly shifting on my feet as Fran slowly ticked her head in my direction.
I didn't know what else to do, I just wanted to change the subject, I wanted to get our minds on something else.
Her lids lowered, eyes turning to stone. Grinding her teeth together, Fran folded a fork in her hand, bending the metal in half.
Oh fuck.
“I hope you're happy with yourself,” she snapped, dropping the fork onto the table, and storming off to the bathroom beside the living room. Slamming the door, we could hear muffled screams and her banging around.
August looked over at me, his lips twisting down. “Well, I think she took it pretty well.”
Another loud scream echoed off the tiles.
“Yeah,” he said, “She's taking it pretty well.”
And then there was silence.
An endless silence that filled the apartment like a black mass.