Best Friends to Lovers

Chapter 9

As we sat in the living room waiting for Mason to come back to talk to us, I had to dart off to the bathroom to empty my stomach. Hayden comes and holds my hair. “Do you need me to do things, baby doll?”

“I need a sandwich, baby; maybe if I eat something, I will feel a little better,” I say.

“Why don’t you go lay on the sofa. I will fix you a grilled Ham and cheese. How does that sound?”

“That sounds perfect, babe,” 

“Let me help you to the sofa, kitten,” he says. He helped me to the couch. I lay down. He rubs my tummy, “You little ones need to go a little easier on your mommy. She has been sick all day.”

Smiling at him, “They are just letting me know that they are doing okay,” I tell Hayden.

“I know, baby doll. I am going to fix that sandwich. Relax, I will be back,” Hayden says, bending down kissing me.

When Hayden walks away, I place my hand on my stomach, “you guys are going to love your daddy. He is a great man that will be the best daddy ever,” I say. I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to the smell of food when I set up. Hayden has set my plate on the end table with a glass of lemon aid. I grab the plate to eat my sandwich, which was cold and walk into the kitchen.

“Kitten, did you have a nice nap? Are you feeling better now?’ Hayden asked, looking at me from the stove.

“Yes, I feel much better. How long was I asleep?” 

“About three hours. You looked so peaceful that I didn’t want to wake you. Mason and a few officers are out looking for Tanner. They got the arrest warrant about an hour ago. He said he would call us when they pick him up,”

“Great, I hope it doesn’t take them too long. The guy has me terrified to even get in a car and I have to have blood work done tomorrow,” I say.

“ I called the doctor’s office and asked if they could send someone here since you are so sick in the morning. The doctor will be here at about nine o’clock. She wants to make sure that you and the babies are doing fine.” Hayden says.

“How did I get lucky enough to catch a man like you? You are too good to me?’ 

“I am showing you how you deserve to get treated like a queen. You have my babies in your tummy. I should be treating you like the queen you are to me,”

“I am still hungry. What are you cooking,”

Hayden chuckles, “ Cheeseburgers and fries. So you think you can handle that.”

“Yes, the smell of it woke me up. It smells delicious. As I said, I am still hungry,” I say, kissing him. “I will set the table,”

“Good, I will have it done in a few minutes.”

After dinner, Hayden tells me that he has a surprise he wants to show me and that Maddison and Brenden will be picking us up to bring us there.

“What is it?” I ask, excited.

“You will have to wait and see,” 

“Aw crap, I was hoping you would tell me.”

“And ruin the surprise I don’t think so,”

“Okay, I am going to freshen up. Is there anything special I should wear? I ask. 

“Nice try, babe, but you can wear anything you want,”

I walk down to my room and start looking for something to put on. As I look through the closet, I feel arms wrap around me. “I love the way you smell, taste, and can’t get you out of my head when I hear you are going to be naked. How about a quickie,” Hayden whispers in my ear.

“You sure do know how to get me wet in seconds. I want you,” I say as I feel Hayden touch my core. 

***

Brenden and Maddison take us to a ranch house out in the country. It has a gate that requires a password to open. As we drive up the driveway, I see a beautiful victorian style house with a wrap-around porch. It was beautiful. The flower bed has every color of rose bushes there is. I was in love with this place and hadn’t seen the inside yet.

“Hayden, babe, why are we here.” 

“Because this is our new home, baby doll. All we need to do is sign the paperwork,”

“Oh my gosh, can we go in? I want to look around.”

“Yes, we can, babe. It is our let’s go inside.”

As soon as we went inside, I was speechless. The house has a victorian design but looks so modern; I love it. The ground floor has an open floor concept. Once you walk in the door, you see the living room, kitchen, and dining room. I noticed a formal dining room as we looked around the ground floor. On the other side of the living room are a couple more doors. When I looked in the room, I saw that these are offices. 

“I love it, Hayden. This home is ours,” I say.

“Yes, Kitten, this is ours. Everything in here stays. It is move-in ready,’ Hayden says, wrapping his arms around me. “Why don’t we have Brenden and Maddison come in and see our new home. I am sure they want to see the inside.” Hayden says with his hands resting on my tummy, rubbing his thumb over it.

I turn and wrap my arms around his neck, “I love you. I can’t believe you found this place for us; this will be a great place to raise our kids.” I say, kissing him.

We pull away from each other and walk out of the house. We spot Maddison and Brendon standing by the car, “Come on, you two, you can come and look around. It is fantastic. I love it.” I say, smiling.

We all walk into the house. I hear Maddison take a deep breath. “Mel, this is beautiful. I love it. I can’t believe that this is going to be your home.”

“I know I can either,” I say.

“When are you guys going to be moving in?” Brenden asked.

“As soon as I can get someone out here to set up cameras, I want to make sure that Melinda is safe when I am not here. I don’t want her hurt or the pregnancy compromised. The tech guys said they were coming out tomorrow to look around and see where the best place to install the camera is. I told them that I wanted a view of the whole house and around the house. I think that we should be in by the weekend.” Hayden says.

“Cool, I am truly happy for you guys. I am glad that things are the way they should be now,” Maddison says, hugging me.

After looking around the house more, we checked out the property. I noticed a smaller place than ours at the property’s south border. “Hey babe, is this part of our property as well?” I ask Hayden. 

“Yes, it is. This house is the in-law sweet.” He says, then adds, “Or a home for our best friends to live,” he says, smiling at Maddison and Brenden. 

“Is that your way of asking if we will move into this house?” Brenden asked.

Hayden nods his head, yes. Maddison looks at me, “If we move in here, we are going to pay rent. I am not a freeloader. I won’t live somewhere free. Which means we will pay for water and electricity as well,” she says, looking to Hayden.

“That sounds good to me. What do you say, Brenden?” Hayden says.

“I love the idea. Can I get a dog?” Brenden asked.

Hayden laughs, “It is only fair; we are going to get one. So, you can have one as well,”

“Why don’t we go look inside? I want to see what it looks like.” I say as I walk to the door.

Hayden opens the door wide and we all walk in. “Mel, this place is amazing. I love it. It looks like a miniature version of your house,” she says as we continue your tour of the house,”

“It does. It has an extra room, but if you guys outgrow this house, we will have it built on to so it will expand with your family,” Hayden says, then adds you can set the nursery up as soon as you move in. How many are you having?”

“How in the hell did you know I was pregnant?” Maddison asked. 

“Well, over the last few weeks, I have noticed that Brenden would drink his beer and then start drinking yours. How far along are you?” Hayden asked.

“She is fifteen weeks. We are only having one. We will find out what it is in a few weeks.” Brenden says with a big goofy smile.

“Maddison May, why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant? I am your best friend, damn it,” I say, with tears running down my cheeks.

“I was going to the night you caught Tanner cheating. That was the main reason I wanted to meet you. Then after everything happened, I just never found the right time. I am so sorry, Mel,” Maddison says, crying.

“Look at us, pregnant and hormonal together,” I say, laughing.

“I guess our babies are going to grow up together. That is pretty awesome,” Maddison says, smiling.

 “Yes, and you know what? The twins could come early.” Hayden says.

“So, You ladies being pregnant get to supervise us men moving things in. Since both homes are move-in ready, we need to decide what things we want to bring here,” Brenden says as we head back to the main house.

“Hey Maddison, have you told Deacon that you are pregnant yet?” 

“Yeah, I told him yesterday. He said Melinda and you do everything together. I should have known you would tell me you were expecting. He even asked me if I was going to quit on him. I told him that I wasn’t sure. He has me training a couple of new girls to run things while on maturity leave. He said he wants them to be broken in before I have the baby. The poor guy is going to lose his mine,” Maddison says, laughing.

“So, how was your morning sickness? Mine last until after lunch most days.”

“It was bad for a couple of weeks but got better after that,”

“Is it gone completely now?” 

“Yes, for the most part, I need to keep from letting my tummy be empty. If I forget to eat something small, I will get sick. I think it’s away that the baby is letting me know it’s okay.’

***

Over the last couple of months, Hayden and I have settled into our new house. We got a labrador puppy. That Hayden and I are training. He is pretty intelligent. He has caught on very well. 

I am now about fifteen weeks pregnant. The babies and I are doing good. We have decided that we are going to keep the gender a surprise. We found out a month ago that our twins are identical. We are starting to get their room set up. We painted the walls grey, the cribs, dressers, and changing tables are oak. The room looks terrific.

As for Maddison, she is having a girl. They have her room finished. They are currently trying to find a name. Maddison is still working. Man, that girl’s moody. She may be my best friend, but damn she needs to chill a little. I can’t believe that Brenden puts up with her. Last night we had them and their puppy over for dinner. Brenden let the puppies outside. Maddison flips out because the babies’ are outside by themselves.

“They are dogs. They will be fine, sweetheart. They don’t venture away from the houses,” Brenden says.

Maddison said something it had caused me to cry. She and I are very emotional. I feel sorry for the guys. They have to put up with us.

“Kitten, why are you crying?” Hayden asked.

“Who knows, babe. It seems that I am always crying. If I am not yelling, I am mad, crying or laughing. I am a mess,”

“You are my mess, baby doll. I love you.”

“I love you, Hayden. You are the best husband a woman could ever wish for,” I say, pecking his lips, then add, ”You will be a great dad,” 

“Did you guys forget we were here? Brenden says with a chuckle.

“No, I mean, you guys make out all the time, so why can’t we,” I say.

“Let’s move into the Living room and watch a movie after we let the puppies back in,” Maddison says, trying to hide a yawn.

“Are you up for that? You look a little sleepy, babe,” Brenden asked.

“I am fine, just a little worn out, but okay. My body looks like a beached whale and I can’t see my feet anymore. Melinda is bigger than me and carrying twins; look at her; she is glowing,” Maddison says with a pout.

“Maddison, trust me, I feel like I am as big as a house. My feet and back hurt. I get up a lot in the middle of the night to pee. If anyone is glowing, it is you.” 

“Kitten, I am going to let Callie and Rex in,” Hayden says, standing up. “You two are not getting a comment from me. I don’t want to get trouble,”

“Alright, babe. I am not complaining at all. I consider myself blessed. I have a man who is madly in love with me and loves our children. I don’t want much of anything except for Tanner to get caught.” I say.

“You mean to tell me that no good prick is still running from the police. Where in the hell is he hiding, I wonder,” Maddie says with her face turning red. 

“ I don’t know. Tanner has been by the other house a few times. But, unfortunately, it isn’t consistent, so they haven’t been able to pick him up.”

As Maddison and I talked, we Heard some arguing outside, so we stood up and went to the front door.

“What do you mean you think you found him dead can’t you identify the body,” Hayden says. There was no sound, then Hayden said, “When will you get the DNA back.’ followed by more silence. “Keep me informed, Mason. My wife and kids are not safe if he is running amuck. Talk to you later,”