Southern Belle

Ch. 16 The Baby Adventure

"Is this how you celebrate Christmas Eve?"

Shaking my head, I continued to rub soap into my Dad's red flannel shirt. As the fabric became drenched, it became harder to lift it out of the tub. When my eyes flickered over to Nick, he stood there with his arms crossed in front of his cream sweater.

"C'mon, Nicholas. This is part of the bet--whatever I do, you do," I stated matter-of-factly before throwing a blue container of detergent onto the pile of clothes near him.

His eyes rolled as he snatched a handful of clothes from the forest green bin. He ran a hand through his hair; his fingers effortlessly slithered through his tangled mane. "You never answered my question. Is this how you celebrate Christmas Eve?" Slowly, his hands dipped into the soapy water.

As I began washing another shirt, I answered, "This is what I do every single day of my life, along with thousands of other chores that we didn't get to yet." My hands threw the soapy clothes into a nearby bucket. After brushing my palms onto my crisp white apron, I then proceeded to place my frizzy hair into a loose bun.

"I guess this is better than spending Christmas Eve alone."

My eyes bulged out of my head. He spent Christmas alone? That was just sad. But I could definitely see how no one wanted to spend Christmas with him. He was the male version of Kim Kardashion-- he had a big ass with absolutely no class.

"Why don't you spend it with your family?" I asked incredulously. My voice was soft and shaky since I felt like I was intruding on his personal life.

"My family never spends holidays with each other. My sisters and brother go traveling with my Mom and her husband, and Elise usually comes over to party. This week, however, she's going shopping with her mom," he mumbled while dumping six more cups of detergent into the bucket. Even though his head was turned away from me, I swore I saw tears brimming on his eyelids.

"Oh, well, you're spending it doing chores with my wacky family."

A smirk slithered up his face; his eyes squinted slightly as he reached into another pile of shirts. The sight of one of my bras in his hands caused my jaw to fall to the ground. Gulping, my hand extended out towards him. Nick mumbled something under his breath before he held my undergarment into the air above him. It was the bra Evalyn bought me for my birthday two years ago; with black lace with pink frills, it was definitely something she would wear.

"What size is this?" he questioned. He placed the cups in front of his chest, eyeing it suspiciously. "Do you wear this for your boy toy?"

My cheeks burned as the humiliation continued. "Just give me it back."

His fingers clasped the bra onto his body, and his hips moved side and side. Grinning, he threw a scarf over his shoulders, and the burlesque dance began. My feet slide backwards as his body was jiggling dangerously close to mine. Luckily for me, the ringing of my cell happened right before the brat could wrap a paisley scarf around my shoulders.

"Hello?" My voice shook as my pointer finger tapped the green button. I glared at the stripper before continuing. "Who is this?"

"Belle, it's Melanie. We," she choked out and paused, "need your help. I'm in labor, and we haven't been able to reach Chase. Even though I want to kick him in the balls, he should be here to witness the birth of his child. Can you go to his parent's house to get him? I heard he's staying there."

"Uhh...why can't Mom and Dad go get him?"

Scanning the room, I realized that we had baskets of clothes to still wash, and we had about thirteen other chores to finish before the big Christmas Eve dinner tonight. If there was even going to be a dinner.