Stuck With Me

42 | The Picture

"Babe, how does your Dad like cocktails?" FP was busy in the kitchen, preparing the this time announced visit of Alice's father. He was calm, even though the two didn't have a track record of getting along.

"He prefers them out of the strippers belly button." Alice said with a fake grin, sighing immediately after her own comment.

"All our strippers are in the dishwasher. Here, take a sip to taste." He handed her over the margarita for her to judge whether it was good enough. The only thing he knew about Russel was that the man loved a sweet drink. It was all he had to impress him just a bit.

Alice chugged the whole drink, mostly because it felt like she needed alcohol to survive this day. The thing was, he wasn't just visiting to catch up. Last month he had called her with a proposal: she could run for state senate. And FP? He had supported her immediately. Even though she loved being mayor, she wanted to do more, have more impact on society. Truth was? She got butterflies in her stomach when she thought of going to Columbus, but if she was being honest with herself, she was running away too.

They had been trying to get a baby for several months now, and even when they could try even more before they should go to the doctor, she was scared. What if there was something wrong with them? What if it would never happen? That was something she'd rather not find out now. Her gut was telling him something was wrong, that this might not happen for them. So, for now she would focus on a new goal until she'd find out what she wanted to do about their pregnancy plan. If she won, she wouldn't be gone for another two years. They had enough time.

"I said sip, not to drink it all." FP chuckled, but he was worried a little too. Russel could be a hard man to deal with, but it was her father after all.

"I am just mentally preparing for his visit." Alice explained as she took a deep breath. One thing FP didn't know yet, was that she was nervous because of another fact.

"Don't be nervous, he is proud of you for running for state senate." FP tried to convince her, but that wasn't what she was afraid about.

With an ex senator leading your campaign, you already had a jump start. He knew everything about politics and how to get a seat there. Russel has called her hundreds of times the last few weeks, he was definitely her biggest fan.

"It's not that, there might be something else that I haven't told him yet." Alice started carefully, not sure how to put this. FP walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.

"Come on babe, you can tell me." He said sweetly, before pecking a featherlight kiss on her head.

"You might wanna avoid calling me babe." Alice said quietly, his arms dropping.

"Your Dad doesn't know about us?" FP asked confused. Between their first kiss and the fact that they were trying to have a baby he figured that she would have told him at some point.

"Honey, it's clear that you two don't like each other." Alice pointed out, to excuse why she hadn't told him before. Before FP could answer, the doorbell rang. The devil was there.

"Just let me ease him into it like a warm bath. We have to wait until the right moment." Alice explained him, as she yanked him over to the door with her. As soon as she opened the door, she looked straight into the beaming smile of her father.

"FP and I are together and there is nothing you can do about it!" She let it out in one breath, as if she hadn't noticed she even said those words out loud. Alice quickly wrapped her arms around FP, who nervously returned the gesture. So much for easing him into it.

"Hey Russel, what's up?" FP laughed uncomfortably as he looked straight into his eyes. What was he thinking? That man was so hard to read.

When the three of them walked into the living room, Alice said down on the armchair of the couch, FP right next to her, his hand placed on her knee.