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Leah’s Point of View

Everyone was coming over for brunch today. I was busy preparing for all the hungry mouths. The quiches were in the oven. The muffins were cooling off on the counter. Now I was in the process of making a gigantic fruit salad.

Brian walked into the kitchen. He poured himself a cup of coffee and placed a kiss on my cheek. “Good morning Lee. Last night was wonderful.” He sat down at the island.

“It certainly was. I missed that.” I continued cutting up strawberries.

“I think we should go away for a weekend when I get back.” He stole a grape.

“That sounds great. I think you should get dressed before our friends arrive.” I looked at him in his boxers.

“I thought you liked this look” He gave me his best cheeky smile. He put his cup in the sink.

“I do when we’re alone. Now go get dressed.”

After Brian left, I got busy again with my hostess duties. I took the plates, cups, and silverware outside. It was a gorgeous sunny day. I was looking forward to spending time with my friends.

“Mom, have you seen my black Converse’s?” Eden yelled out the window.

“Why are you yelling out the window?” I called up to her. “You’re going to wake the neighbors.”

“Mom, its ten thirty on a Sunday everyone but us heathens is at church.” I shook my head at my daughter. I was definitely seeing AJ’s personality coming out of her.

“Check your closet or under the bed.”

“Thanks mom!” She closed the window.

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“Everything looks delicious.” Jackie complimented.

“Thank you. I love cooking.” I sat down next to Brian. He was chowing down on his food, but squeezed my hand.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Howie and Sadie were feeding their kids. AJ was sitting next to his mom and Eden. Denise and Jackie were talking. Nick looked like he had a long night. I’m sure that was because he left the ball with one of my co-workers. Brian and his dad were talking about golf. It was nice to seeing everyone happy.

I looked at my food. It looked unappetizing to me. I was hungry, so I decided to eat it anyway. It was weird because food never bothered me before. I was going to chalk it up to the little bit of champagne I had the night before. Drinking was never my thing. I only did it occasionally. I put a forkful of quiche to my mouth. All of a sudden the smell made me sick and my stomach started to churn. I put my fork down and decided to stick with fruit.

“Are you okay?” Brian looked at me with concern.

“I’m fine. My stomach is just a little bit queasy today.” I smiled to assure him I was fine, when I was really feeling like crap. I decided to eat some fruit. Maybe that would settle my stomach. I took a bite watermelon. It was cold and tasted yummy. So I continued to eat more.

“Mom, can you give dad the recipe for the red velvet cheesecake you make? Eden asked.

The thought of red velvet anything made me want to gag. I pushed my chair back and ran toward the house. I made it to the bathroom just in time. I hunched over the toilet spilling my guts when someone came in.

“Sweetheart are you alright?” Brian kneeled down next to me.

I leaned against his body trying to calm down. I hated being sick. I felt sweaty and my mouth tasted nasty. I had no energy to move let alone talk. Brian rubbed my arm comforting me. I didn’t feel comforted. Tears dropped from my eyes. A panic attack was coming on.  I could feel my chest tightening up and I couldn’t breathe. I willed myself to relax.

“Lee what’s wrong?” The look on Brian’s face show worry and love.

I took a few breaths and the anxiety started to go away. “I’m fine, Bri. I think I’ve been overdoing it with the ball. I just need time to relax.”

“Are you sure?” He brushed the hair off my forehead. “I can stay here you instead of spending the week with my parents.”

“I’ll be fine. I have the week off. I’m just going to relax and read.” I looked at him. He was staring at me with such love. “Go have fun with Eden and your parents.”

“Are you sure? You can always come with us.”

“Nah. I just want a week to myself.”

“I understand. You feel any better?”

“Actually I am.” I wasn’t feeling nauseous at all. “Let me brush my teeth and we can go back outside.”

After I finished brushing my teeth, we made our way back to the backyard. Everyone was watching our moves. Jackie had a smile on her face. I knew what she was thinking. It saddened me that she had the hopes of being a grandma, knowing that Brian couldn’t even tell her the truth. There wasn’t a chance in hell that I was pregnant.

“Is everything okay?” Denise asked me.

“I’m fine. I think it’s just all the stress I’ve been under, but I’m okay.” I assured everyone.

“That is good. I hate to leave, but my flight leaves at four. AJ’s going to drive me to the airport.” She gave me a hug. “It was great spending time with you. I miss you Leah. You’re like a daughter to me.”

“Denise, I love you. You have to visit more often.” I hugged her back. Denise was truly the mom I never had. In the beginning we didn’t get along as well as we did now. There were times I actually hated her, but it was because she cared about me and my well-being. Once I became a mother I understood what she was doing.

AJ walked over to me after saying goodbye to Eden. He didn’t pull me into a hug or anything because Brian was standing next to me.

“I just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful food. These past few days were awesome.” His eyes bore into mine. I had to look away for a minute. “Rok, it’s been like old times. See you after the break.”

With that AJ and his mom left.

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After everyone left, I settled on the couch with a movie. The house was quiet and I was enjoying it. A soft rain was falling outside. Within minutes I was fast asleep. Apparently I didn’t realize how tired I was.

When I woke up it was dark. I looked at the clock it was nine o’clock. I sat up and stretched. My stomach growled telling me that I was famished. I went into the kitchen to get something to eat. I found some waffles and decided to add some whipped cream and strawberries to them. As I was putting them in the toaster the doorbell rang. I quickly walked to the front door. Who would be visiting me at this time of night? I opened the door.

“What are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?” I gawked at him. He was wet from head to toe. Damn he looked fine.

I wondered what he wanted. How long had he been standing in the rain? I backed away from the door to let him in.

“We need to talk.” He brushed against me as he moved past me. My body reacted in ways I didn’t expect or want it to. I was in trouble.