Memories Of Paris

𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧

"What about Shrek?"

"The ugly green monster? Hell no!"

"That's your answer to everything! If what I pick isn't good, you can find your own costume," Maggie rolled her eyes and closed her laptop where she had been looking at the Halloween costumes for adults.

Unfortunately, Alex had to look for kids-friendly costumes because he was going trick-or-treating with his nieces. Because his sister and her husband were unable to go, he had promised to take care of that. It wasn't his first time and it probably wouldn't be his last so he knew what to expect.

Yawning, Maggie put the laptop away and went to lie to the coach. The poor woman looked exhausted and it wasn't a surprise. At thirty-seven weeks, she was ordered to bed rest because her pregnancy hadn't been the easiest. Despite that, she had cleaned the house tonight before doing both dishes and laundry.

"I still don't get why I can't go. Come on, help me out. You know I hate to do nothing!" There were no truer words in the world. For as long as he remembered, asking for help and letting others do the work was a big no-no for her.

"I love you but you're not gonna to walk around the city like that with two five years olds who eat too much sugar!"

"How far are you planning to go? We usually just walk in this neighborhood. And I'm older, you should listen to me."

She always tried to use the "oldest child"- card although she had to know by now that it wouldn't work. Because of that, he didn't even bother to answer. Instead he went to the kitchen and finished the two sandwiches that he promised to make her.

"So... how's things with Iris?" Maggie asked, trying to sound nonchalant but failed. "Is she still going with you guys?"

He had met the red-haired, brown-eyed beauty Iris Bradbury almost six months ago at work and they had quickly exchanged numbers. At first, he just wanted to forget a certain French man so in a way, as much as he hated to admit it, he had used her.

But now he had definitely moved on. Gabriel who? And he didn't appreciate how Maggie had continued talking about Gabriel even after meeting Iris as if she knew better who he should date. Luckily she had stopped doing that after he told her, repeatedly, how much it annoyed him.

Now she was friendly when she met Iris and got to know her better when there was a chance but he could still see some hesitation in her when she was around his girlfriend. It was almost like she still thought that this was just a temporary relationship or that he wasn't serious about her.

"Yeah. She also said that we could have a sleepover with girls and she can cook them dinner if that's fine by you. That way you can rest more and not stress about that until Jules comes back," he suggested.

"Now I can't even cook for my own children?" The look that she gave him told him that it was the wrong thing to say. Taking a deep breath, Alex counted down from ten and prayed that his brother-in-law came back from his business trip as early as possible tomorrow.

Before leaving two days ago, Julian had asked him to look after Maggie and make sure that she wouldn't overwork too much. He would have done that without even asking but now he felt even more responsible. Julian was awesome and he had known him for almost ten years but he didn't want to be on his bad side, especially when it came to his very pregnant wife.

"Sorry, hormones. That actually sounds amazing," she simply said as if it explained everything. After seeing how the pregnancy affected her, he could admit that it most certainly did. She was normally so sweet and friendly and just the kindest person ever but now she snapped about everything.