Ride Or Die

Apartment

Apartment






Ring. Ri-- "Hey baby," Jason held the phone between his cheek and shoulder after looking at the caller ID. His hands were occupied with putting in the final screws on the second crib. "Hey," Paisley's sweet voice responded back and he could immediately tell something was wrong. "What's up?" He asked, finally handing off the drill to Beau and grabbing the phone to hold correctly against his ear. Paisley's words came out so quiet he couldn't even understand what she was saying. "Mhm," He agreed mindlessly, not paying attention, but instead grabbing a paint roller covered in a pale yellow from Laron. "Are you even listening?" Her tone was irritated now as Jason chuckled and began wheeling the roller up and down on the wall, "Not really," He spoke honestly.
"I miss you," She sighed out into the phone, and as instant reaction, a smirk snuck it's way to Jason's face. "Yeah, a whole week without sex, I'm proud of you babe." Even though he couldn't physically see her face, he just imagined the shocked expression and that itself made him laugh lowly. "I hate you," Her voice was bitter, only amusing Jason that much more. "I love you too baby." He bent over to grab the tape and begin lining the walls, he was quite the multitasker. "Jason, where do you want the--" Before Dalton could finish, Jason threw the paint brush at his face to shut him up. He wanted this to be a surprise for Paisley. Laron laughed next to Jason and continued painting the walls as Beau pointed at Datlon's face where a huge yellow streak ran down, "Hey, I think you got a little something on your face man." Dalton glared at Beau. "Is that the boys? What are you guys up to?" Paisley wondered, interested. Jason's eyes traveled the set up nursery nervously, "Just, you know, gang stuff." He lied.
"When can I come home?" She pouted.
"Just one more day."
"Fine, I gotta go. Serena's mom is calling us down for dinner."
"Alright, have fun, baby."
"Not likely."
--
I couldn't help but feel Serena's mom's eyes on me the entire time of the meal. Her father seemed lost in his food, but he was always that way. That man sure knew how to eat. Serena's sister, Lexi, pushed around peas on her much smaller plate aimlessly as if she was starring in her own personal hockey game. "Lex, stop playing with your food," Serena's mother, Trish, scolded the girl. "So, you guys have decided to move in together?" Serena's father, Joel, questioned from across the table. I bobbed my head and instantly became nervous, I was an awful liar. Although, I suppose that wasn't honestly a lie, we did move in together. "Where at?" Trish pressed on while shoveling mashed potatoes into her mouth. Silently I prayed Serena would field this question because I didn't trust my own voice. "Yeah, a two room apartment."
"Oh really, where?"
"The one down on TreeFarm road," This time it was me who spoke carefully, trying to hide the shakiness in my tone. The adults merely nodded in unison. I couldn't help but continue to sense the pressure from Serena's mother's hard stare. Did she know I was pregnant? I thought I could get away with covering it up.