Indestructible: Reinforced

Chapter 54

Chapter Fifty-Four

     April 2012

     Old Habits Die Hard

     “I’m telling you, Avy,” Drake said as we ascended the porch steps of my house. My parents had invited him over for dinner, and he’d picked me up from Venus on his way. “the only one treating me any differently is your dad. The others treat me the same.”

     “My dad’s not used to you being around, Drake.” I rang the doorbell and waited. I had the keys and all but I was too lazy to fish them out of my bag. “You were a kid the last time he and I lived in the same house. And when I came back I lived with Jake. So ofcourse he sees you more as his daughter’s boyfriend than bestfriend.”

     “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and a frown settled between his eyebrows. “I mean, I want him to take it seriously and all, but I don’t want him to hate me because I knocked up his kid.”

     “Does my dad strike you as the kind of guy who would have an issue with that?” I rang the doorbell again and tapped my foot on the floor. “It’s going to be fine, Drake. Besides, he knocked up my mom when they were fifteen.”

     “Good point.” Drake sighed. “I just don’t want anyone to ruin this for us.”

     “They won’t.” This was starting to get on my nerves. Drake was always worrying about us and about what we had. I had to constantly reassure him that everything was alright, that nothing bad was going to happen. He’d never been insecure before, why had he gone all Gaby on me? Jake was in a different country now, why was he still worried?

     The door swung open and Gaby stood there. “Hey, guys.”

     Speak of the devil. “Hey, Gabs.” We stepped into the house and Gaby closed the door behind us. “Is Josh coming?”

     “Yeah.” She nodded. “He’s on his way.”

     “Why didn’t you tell us?” Drake asked as the three of us headed to the living-room. “We could’ve picked him up on our way.”

     “It’s alright.” She said. “He was running some errands.”

     “The food ready?” I asked as I plopped myself down on the couch and picked up the remote control. The LCD flickered to life and I sifted through the channels. “I’m starving.”

     “You’re always starving.”

     “Bite me.”

     “And moody.” She laughed. “Pregnancy does not suit you, Aves.”

     “Hey, cut her some slack.” Drake sat down next to me and put his arm around me. I wanted to pull away but didn’t. He was too cuddly and I needed some space, but I knew that if I pulled away he’d get hurt and I’d have to cheer him up or be stuck with a sulking Drake all day. I just wasn’t in the mood. “Pregnancy is a difficult time for every woman.”

     “It sucks.” I said. “It just sucks. I hate it. I hate everything about it. I’m tired all the time. I’m hungry all the time, and when I eat I feel nauseous. It sucks. And I keep getting bigger and bigger and it doesn’t seem to stop.”

     “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Gaby chuckled and I got an overwhelming urge to hit her. Sometimes she could be a real wiseass. “What’s wrong?”

     “Nothing!” I exclaimed and settled on a channel. Some chef was cooking, but the sight of lobster being boiled made me want to throw up so I just shut it off. “Just tired. And I want to throw up.”