Regrets

Chapter Twenty-three

"Oh, and Taylor?"

"Yes, Mrs. Everest?" I glance over at Vincent laughing silently in the corner.

"Call me mom, dear."

"Okay, Mrs... I mean mom."

"Alright, dear. Talk to you soon. Buh-bye."

Vincent lets out his laugh and grabs his sides.

"Don't you just... don't you love her?" He says between laughs.

I go over mine and Vincent's moms conversation in my head. She had called me to reassure me that I'm welcome into this family traditionally or not. Also, she had told me that she new some great birthing techniques so that I don't have to use painkillers. There was more, but none of it was too funny. Maybe I'm missing the big picture that seems to make my fiancé laugh so hard.

Fiancé. Isn't that weird?

Vincent comes and sits next to me, wrapping one arm around my shoulders and the other on my growing belly.

"Finding a dress that fits is going to be so hard." I laugh.

Vincent pats my stomach and laughs a little. "You'll look gorgeous in anything so don't even worry."

I give him a kiss and get up, taking the empty glasses with me.

"Want to play some games, babe?"

I laugh. This is the fourth time today Vincent has tried to get me to play Xbox with him.

"Sure babe."

He turns on the Xbox, all giddy. "What game?"

"You pick." I say, sitting down with a glass of water.

He pops in Halo 3 and hands me a controller.

"I'm going to suck at this." I warn.

"Well, until you bring my baby boy into this world, you're stuck with it."

I laugh and a certain feeling of safety and comfort come over me hearing Vincent say "my baby boy." The safety is driven out with a twinge of guilt. How long can I keep this secret?

We play for a couple hours until Vincent's finally sick of me dying and making us restart our mission.

"Sorry, babe."

"It's okay. You'll do better next time."

I throw my head back and laugh.

Then I feel it.

I feel my baby kick.

"Vincent, come here."

He rushes over. "What?"

I place his hand on the spot where the baby was kicking.

His face lights up as he kicks again.

"That's my baby." Vincent says, giving me a quick kiss. "This is real."

I nod and smile as Vincent laughs and talks to the baby. Then my smile fades. I think it's probably best I tell him.

"Hey Vince? Can I ask you something?"

He lifts his head from my stomach, "Yeah sure, anything baby."

I scoot away from him just a bit. He notices but doesn't follow. "Who was Claire?"

"Claire?" His face twists in confusion.

"Yeah... the girl you were cheating with..."

"No, no, no. Babe, we weren't sleeping together. The things we said through texting about meeting up, she was one of my coworkers. I swear to you, Taylor."