Nothing Like Us

chapter 33

I slowly open one eye and then squint against the late afternoon sun, squeezing it closed quickly while nestling further down into her lap where my head is resting.

"Damn b..." I mumble against her stomach "Why's it so bright in here? Close the curtains or something."

"They're closed...it's the skylights. I hate them too." She replies, sounding anxious and far away, as if she's barely heard me.

"Did I fall asleep? You should have woken me up. What time is it?"

She doesn't bother to look down at me when I tilt my face upwards "A little after seven. I thought I'd let you sleep...you were in the studio all day."

"Where's Lyric?"

She points to the other side of her "Right here...safe and sound."

I lean over and laugh when I see her clutching her foot in her tiny hand "Look at her...it's like she's just discovering she has feet."

"She pretty much is." She laughs with me, still sounding a little on edge.

"What's wrong baby?" I ask, circling her belly button with my thumb through her shirt.

"Look." She sighs, clicking on the TV with the remote.

I roll over and slide into a sitting position beside her, focusing on the screen. We watch the first report, and the candid shots of her and I heading out of the store the other day, Lyric covered with a blanket, tucked in closely against my chest for a few seconds and then she changes it to another station and then another and then another. Pictures and video footage of the three of us dominating the news coverage on each one.

I drop my head down against her stomach "Yeah so what? It's been everywhere for days."

"Yeah but now they know for sure...you never should have posted that picture on instagram. I told you." She whispers, referring to the shot of Lyric I posted with the simple caption 'My daughter' that's also joined the coverage now.

"Come on baby," I smile, reaching over to turn her face away from the TV "It'll be fine. Really...it's not that big of a deal. I was just tired of the speculation..."

She raises her eyebrows "Not that big of a deal? Wait until you get on twitter."

I wave her off "You know how some of them are...but they'll come around. You know they always do."

We grow quiet for a few seconds just in time to hear the E! news hosts trying to figure out how we managed to hide her pregnancy and then Lyric for so long. Fuck.

"The whole world is going to hate me!" she gasps as her shoulders begin to shake with tears "And they should...even I hate me."

"No they aren't." I argue.

"Let's be real here J...they will and I deserve it."

I raise my tone just enough to grab her attention "Hey. No one's gonna hate you. You think I'd allow that? Not a fucking chance...we'll figure out an explanation. None of them ever have to know how all this really went down."

"Why? Why would you do that for me after everything I put you through?" she asks, sounding shocked.

"First, I've put you through plenty too..." I remind her "And second...I'm not even going to bother answering that...you know why baby girl. Come here."

I pull her head in to rest on my shoulder and bend to kiss her forehead. "So what? So they know about Lyric now...that's what I wanted...that's why I posted it."

"I don't know how you can be so calm." She shakes her head with wonder.

"You said something about twitter..." I point out "What's going on there?"