I Can't

Blessed

"I can't believe we're doing this again." Stevie said, picking up different baby clothes in one of the stores at the mall. It wasn't the initial idea to go shopping for onesies and such, but once she and Lindsey passed by the shop, she had to turn around and go in.

"I hate to sound all cliche here, but we've truly been blessed." Lindsey smiled, standing by her side.

"No, you're right. And I'm enjoying being pregnant this time actually. Carrying the twins was so exhausting and it took so much out of me. It's almost strange things are going so well now."

"Because you're not on the road and you're not recording an album."

"That's also true. But I still don't regret anything."

"And you shouldn't, it turned okay, don't you think?" 

"It couldn't have turned out more perfect." Stevie agreed, looking at a cute little outfit. "What are you hoping we're going to have?"

"Honestly? I don't really care. As long as our baby is healthy."

"And you're not leaning more to either side at all?"

Taking a moment, Lindsey admitted. "Okay, maybe I would want us to have another girl."

"A girl? Really? I thought you would want a boy, you know, to keep the balance right." Joking, Stevie took him by the hand, leading them out of the store.

"I don't know, our girls are the cutest."

"And Daryl's not cute?"

"I... I'm not sure how to answer that one." He said, as they laughed lightly.

"Oh..." She stopped, placing a hand on her belly.

"What?" 

"The baby." Smiling, she replaced her hand with his, as he got to feel a kick too.

"That never fails to amaze me."

"Isn't it wonderful?"

"What do you think the little one is trying to tell us?"

"Well, we've been saying, girl, quite a few times..." Stevie trailed off, shrugging her shoulders. "I can't wait to meet her. Or him."

"Me too." Lindsey nodded, giving her a kiss. "I love you."

"And I love you." 

After so many years, decades even, the love they had for each other was so powerful. Sure, they argued, they didn't always see eye to eye, but at the end of the day, neither of them liked going to bed, being angry. Either one would always say, I'm sorry and I love you. 

Meanwhile, at the house, only Anna was home. Well, Anna and the gardener. It was May and it was getting warmer outside, particularly today. Since having nothing else to do, Anna changed into her swimsuit and decided to spend some time in the pool. Placing her towel on one of the loungers, she kicked off her flip flops and plunged head first into the water. Thanks to Lindsey, she had taken up swimming for some time, but it didn't last very long, much to his disappointment...

After doing some laps around the pool, Anna stopped to catch her breath, at the same time watching the gardener. She knew it was wrong, he was older than her by a couple of years, but he was also oh so gorgeous... She wasn't very successful, trying to be sneaky about it, when he looked her way and caught her staring.

Naturally, she disappeared under water again, only to come up to surface, finding Mike standing by the edge. "Oh shoot!" Anna was going to repeat what she did a minute ago, but...

"You don't have to keep staying under water, you know."

"I'm just really embarrassed..."

"Why? Because you were looking at me?"

"Kind of, yeah." She shrugged. 

"Well, I think you're nice to look at too." Mike said, making Anna blush.

"You can't say that to me."

"Why? Because I take care of your mother's roses?"

"No, because you're older than me."

"Not too much. I'm only 22, you know."

"Still." She said and swam to the tiled stairs, to get out of the pool and dry herself off.

"You're running away."

"Am not."

"Then why won't you talk to me?"

"There's nothing we can talk about. Besides, you have work to do. My parents will be home soon as well."

"And why was that necessary to mention? You had something in mind, they might caught you doing? Something their good girl shouldn't do?" He was standing only a step away from her. On one hand, she wished she had paid no interest in him, but on the other... she wasn't very successful with boys and here she was, getting attention from Mike, his bad boy sort of look and attitude, making her want to stay.

"I should go inside."

"You know, you're a little tease." Mike closed the gap between them, looking down at her. "It's not the first time I've seen you checking me out. And hey, I don't mind. You're a beauty."

"Please, stop..."

"Now, you see, the way you just said that, it doesn't sound like you mean it." 

Anna swallowed uneasily, daring to look up, feeling his eyes bore into hers. "This... it's not..."

"You want to know a secret? I don't buy this good girl's act. You might have your parents fooled, but I don't believe it for a second. Actually, I think you could be quite a firecracker." His arm settled around her slim waist, while he trailed his fingertips down the length of her arm. He then leaned closer, whispering... "Breathe. It's okay. And I know you're enjoying it." He noted her skin fill with goosebumps. "The next time Mommy and Daddy leave, come find me." He then backed off, leaving her stunned, as he returned to what he was doing earlier as if nothing happened.

Shocked, Anna grabbed her things and went back inside the house, going up the stairs. But she didn't get to reach the top, when the front door opened, Stevie and Lindsey coming in through it. 

"Hey, baby. I hope you didn't get yourself in any trouble while we were gone?" Stevie asked jokingly, while Anna laughed it off nervously.

"No, no... I just had a swim. I'll go, change."

"Okay, don't get lost up there. I'll be making dinner soon."

"Mhm." Anna mumbled, hurrying to her room, while Stevie and Lindsey didn't suspect a thing...

~

Sorry this was short, but I needed this part to go on with the story.