thighs and skirt. He moved to his seat
panting like he'd just run a marathon while she slumped against the
passenger door desperate to recover.
Their eyes slowly met, and she said, "Wow."
He nodded and simply said, "Yeah."
7
A week later, at around
7:00 A.M. , after
an evening of magical sleep-depriving, late-night sex, Jillian was
wandering around the grocery store in a zombie-like fashion. As she
headed down an aisle struggling to remember what the hell she
needed from this section, Coach John appeared in front of her
pushing a cart with a few items in it.
"Jillian, how are you?"
She smiled. "I'm, uh, fine. How's everything
with you?"
"Couldn't be better."
"Hey, tell Mary, it was a pleasure getting to
know her at Brian's party."
"I will, and we all got
to know Brian
really, really well that night." John made a face, and they shared
a laugh. "Oh speaking of…Victoria told me she was going to tell you
the good news."
Jillian looked at him a little confused until he
added, "The pregnancy."
She gasped them smiled, "Oh, yeah sure. I,
uh…"
"Mary and I couldn't be happier. I can’t wait to
hear the pitter patter of little paws running around."
Jillian smiled, "Paws? That's so cute." She gave
him a serious look as she asked, "And Mary's okay with all
this?"
"She is overjoyed. She's always wanted another.
Mary just hopes we don't end up with some all-black ones. No one
wants to adopt those."
She looked at him a little offended, hoping
maybe she didn't hear him correctly. She shook her head in
confusion. "So now she's not keeping it?"
"We'll probably keep just one."
"She's having twins?"
"At least," John said and then he scoffed.
Jillian tried to shake the cobwebs from her mind
as she steadied herself against the cart.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm, uh…so I just can't picture Victoria taking
care of twins. I offered to babysit, but wow, I'm not sure I can
handle that. Mary is a strong woman. If my husband came home and
told me he was having another baby—especially with a woman as
attractive as Victoria… I'd kill 'em. Not to mention it's twi—" She
shut the fuck up when she saw his expression.
John's mouth flew open, and he asked,
"Victoria's pregnant?"
Jillian looked away horrified. "What's
that?"
He glanced around the aisle to be sure they were
alone and then whispered, "She's pregnant with my baby!"
"I'm sorry what were you talking about?"
"Our Golden Retriever is having puppies, and
Victoria said she would ask you two if you wanted one."
She said, "Oh we would love one or two even.
When, will, uh…"
John looked away sadly as he said, "I can't
believe she wasn’t going to tell me." He abandoned the cart as he
turned and walked away in a daze. Jillian stood there dumbfounded
and watched him go. When he turned the corner, she pulled out her
cell phone, dialed Victoria's number, and it went directly to voice
mail.
Five minutes later, John was knocking gently on
Victoria's door while hiding a bouquet of flowers in front of his
shirt. He glanced behind him to be sure none of the neighbors were
watching. After a few seconds, he knocked again and then Victoria
opened the door sleepily and glanced at him surprised.
"May I come in?" he asked.
"Sure," she said confused.
He rushed to the living room and then sat down
nervously. She sat next to him and curled up on the sofa drowsy
eyed. He handed her the flowers as he said, "These are for
you."
"Thanks."
"I, uh. I'm not sure what to say."
"John why are you here? Is everything okay with
Mary?"
"Uh, yeah. I just want to tell you that I'll be
there for you with whatever you need. I'll be as involved as you
want me to be." Victoria slowly lifted her head up off the sofa and
stared at him. "I can help out financially. Just let me know what
you want from me."
She stared at him flabbergasted as she asked,
"Have you spoken with Jillian?"
"Oh, yeah sorry. I could tell she didn't mean to
tell me. It just slipped out."
"I'll bet."
"I'm serious.
Susan Sontag, Victor Serge, Willard R. Trask
Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson