Chapter 26
“Well, thank you, fate,” Pandora chuckled and Benjamin joined him.
2
She stopped eating, leaving a little on her plate. Right away, she took deep breaths, trying to think of something else.
“Lie back, Pandora,” Benjamin ordered and she opened her eyes to look at him. “Lie down, and let’s see if we can get you rested enough to sleep.” Pandora just stared at him, wondering what he was talking about. “Just trust me,” he said.
This time, Pandora bobbed her head and lay down.
“Close your eyes,” Benjamin said and then she felt his hands on her stomach. “Just trying to get Bean and Curd to relax.”
“Okay,” she sighed.
“Now, you two are going to let your mommy keep this food down. If you do that, then I promise tomorrow I’ll bring something yummy and maybe even a little unhealthy for you.”
Pandora snorted but her eyes stayed closed.
“Hush, Pandora, just go to sleep,” he whispered to her, and then she heard him hum a soft tune that made her quickly drift off to sleep.
It had been seven weeks since Pandora was admitted to the hospital. After a seven–day stay, she was able to get discharged. Thankfully, she managed to stay sickness–free since the night Benjamin hummed her to sleep.
So many months later, she didn’t just feel pregnant, but she looked like it, too.
“Let’s play worst pickup lines said or heard!” Sia said, and Pandora was pleased to hear her real voice, even with her new boyfriend who seemed to be a great guy, sitting right next to her.
Pandora waved her hand. “I’ve only been with Derrik, and he never used any lines and I was always too shy.”
Sia’s new boyfriend, Dank, snorted. “From what I have heard, you seem to be lying.”
Pandora glared at him and then at Sia as the others laughed.
“Hey, he’s right. You may not remember, but you had to have given baby daddy some great line, or he gave you some. If not, Sweet and Pea wouldn’t be here. So stop telling fibs and just make up some shit,” Sia joked.
“Wouldn’t making it up be lying?” Pandora asked and the guys just grinned at her.
“Nope, that’s just storytelling at its finest,” Dank commented and everyone dissolved into laughter again.
Pandora covered her mouth and laughed. She noticed someone familiar from the corner of her eyes and turned her head fully to see Benjamin and his wife Maisey.
“What?” everyone at the table asked in unison.
“Benjamin’s here,” she said to them and they looked at her in confusion. “My OBGYN. His name is Benjamin. He’s here with his wife, Pandora whispered to
them.
“Where?” the girls all yelled and leaned over the table.
“Over there,” she pointed, “setting up the pool table,” she whispered again as she tried to shush them.
“Oh, sweet Jesus, he’s hot. Much hotter than you made him out to be,” Keira stuttered out, as she fanned herself with a tissue paper.
“He’s married,” she gritted out.
Why don’t we boys have a game of pool?” Ron smirked.
“Yeah,” everyone yells, as Pandora said, ‘no,‘ which is quickly lost among their second, round of “yeahs.”
“Oh, he’s looking over at us,” Dank chuckled.
1/2
Pandora turned her head to the side, trying to have a sly look, and sure enough he was looking at the table. Her eyes stayed locked on his face.
“He’s not wearing his glasses,” she mindlessly said, as she slowly stood up. Just as I was about to walk over to him, and see those eyes she had been desperate to see, he turned to pick up his cellphone.
He hung up the call quickly, kissed his wife’s cheek, and then grabbed his jacket before walking out.
Pandora pouted over the fact she didn’t get to talk to him, but worse she couldn’t see his eyes from where they were. Why did they have to be seated so far away?
“What was that?” Kiera asked.
“What was
what?” Pandora muttered as she dropped her eyes down.
“Ah, I think she’s talking about your almost floating to your Doctor Dreamy, whom you call by his first name,” Sia said in her matter–of–fact voice.
“I was not,” she snorted out, but found that she didn’t even believe herself. “He’s my doctor,” she whined to them. “And he’s married,” she pouted.
“Hmm,” Kiera said with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Let’s go to an open mic.”
She sighed, knowing as the rest of them had been drinking, they would be doing that and she would be the only sober one who would be unable to forget.
Pandora took some breaths as she stood outside the courtroom. She was waiting for Milton so they could go in front of a judge to get the full restraining order against Derrik. He hadn’t come near Pandora since he was arrested, and she had found having that piece of paper gave her some peace of mind.
“Pandora, Milton called and she spun around smiling at him, but it fell right away.
“Pandora,” her dad said.
“Dad, what are you doing here?” she asked as she hugged him.
“I wasn’t letting my pregnant daughter do this alone.”
She pulled back, knowing there was no point in arguing with him.
“We’ll be first seen,” Milton told them as he handed her a hot chocolate.
“How did you know?” Pandora asked, bringing it to her face, breathing it in.
Milton shook his head and laughed. “All part of my job, Pandora.”
“How is that case you were worried about?” her dad asked, and she tilted her head a little because it sounded as if her father had been talking to Milton about other things, as well.
“It went well, Walter,” Milton said.
******** been talking a lot.‘
first
ame,
they’ve
‘Yep, they’ve been talking. Milton
Her dad wouldn’t let Derrik call him by
name
“We got a guilty verdict and he got sentenced
for the first three years of their marriage.
to thirty years,” Milton carried on.
