“Trust me, princess. You’re sexy.” He glances down to his crotch where I see an impressive growth under his jeans.
I’m laughing so hard I can barely catch my breath. The giggles take over and my stomach is bouncing so much that it makes me laugh to the point that Travis joins in. We look ridiculous, walking through the mall, losing our shit laughing.
He grabs my hand and leads me across the way where Santa is sitting.
“You’re not serious.”
“Come on; it will be our first family photo.”
His smile is convincing, so I follow him down the decorated lane with plastic candy canes. Travis pays the teenager dressed as an elf and soon we’re walking up the stairs on the stage. Santa pats his lap, and I laugh and sit.
“Have you been a good girl?” The old guy looks at me. He’s such a great Santa; I don’t even have the urge to pull his beard like I did when I was a kid.
Travis speaks up. “No, Santa. She’s been a very bad girl.”
My mouth falls open with a gasp. “King!”
“And what would you like for Christmas?” I look at Santa for a long while and then look to Travis.
“I have everything I want, actually.” I mean every word. Instinctively, I touch my tummy. Travis is smiling so big; I wish they could take the picture right at this very moment so I can treasure it forever.
“There’s bound to be something,” Travis asks as if he was waiting for me to spill my guts to Santa and his elves.
“I’d like world peace,” I say with a smile.
“A typical princess answer,” Travis laughs.
Santa gives us a big ho, ho, ho, and I turn to look at the camera with a smile and the elf snaps the photo. Once it’s printed and put into one of those cardboard frames with snowflakes along the side, she hands it to me. Immediately I open it to see. I’m looking at the camera, so happy, with my little baby bump, and Travis is looking at me with so much love and adoration that I can’t help but turn to him and kiss him in the middle of the mall, regardless of all the people trying to walk past us.
From behind, I hear someone scoff, and I turn around to see Mia Fucking Montgomery standing there, with a smug-ass look on her face, and some dude next to her. Travis grabs my arm because I’m ready to kill her. She glances down at my stomach and then looks at Travis and bursts into an evil laughter. “I wonder how many other King babies are wandering around.”
“Nowhere near the amount of sex tapes you have floating around the internet. Or the number of random dicks you’ve had in your mouth,” Travis spits back at her.
Mia gasps then turns and looks at the bag of bones standing beside her—unamused—but he doesn’t jump to defend her. Either it’s because Travis could rip him in half or because he knows it’s true.
I’ve not seen Travis this angry in years.
“Can’t believe you settled for this. Look at her. You could have done so much better. Pity, really.” She looks me up and down.
“You’re a bitch! I’m so happy Drew finally moved on from your skanky ass,” I say between gritted teeth, taking a few steps forward. People turn and look at us, and in any other circumstance I’d be embarrassed, but all I can see is red. My heartbeat rings out in my ears, and I want to punch her in the face, pregnant or not. She hurt my brother; she hurt Travis and me, and the damage she caused was almost irreparable.
Travis grabs my hand and pulls me away from her, but I’m seething to the point that I start crying. I’m pissed I can’t gain control of my emotions, and I hate that people are staring at us. Once the adrenaline courses through me, exhaustion follows, with an extra-large dose of doubt.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here,” Travis says, rubbing my back.
After we’re in the car, we sit in silence.
“I’m sorry, princess. You didn’t deserve any of that.”
“Did you hear what she said?”
He looks at me with sad eyes and nods. “You know what? Fuck her.”
“She wanted you to,” I add. All those old fears start flooding back in full force, and it puts me on edge.
“I can guarantee you the only King baby is the one you’re carrying.” He grabs my hand.
“No one else I’ve ever been with has made me feel the way you do. Ever. It’s always been you, Viola. I’ve always reserved that part of myself for you.”
I let out a ragged breath. “But what if you wake up one day and decide I’m not what you want? What if she’s right?”
“And what if I counter that with another scenario? What if I wake up every day, knowing I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone in my life? And what if I honestly believe I’m the luckiest man on earth because I’ve somehow snagged the girl of my dreams—the girl I crushed on as a kid, that forbidden fruit—and she’s going to have my baby? Because that’s the reality we live in, that we will always live in.” He brushes his thumb against my cheek.