But Who's Counting?

Chapter Twenty-Two

After being thoroughly pleased last night, I woke up as satisfied as ever. The only problem I had was the cold, unoccupied spot next to me. I know for a fact that I remember Alexander coming in here last night and getting into the bed with me.

I sit up, patting around for my phone. It's 12:11 pm and the house is dead silent.

Did Alexander leave?

He probably realized the mistake he made and ran. I wouldn't blame him. I tried to run, even if it was just to another room, but of course Alexander came after me.

Sighing, I sit up. So much happened last night it was hard for me to process. From Family dinner to Alex admitting his feelings for me, it was overwhelming.

As much as I want to believe Alexander was lying about everything I said last night, I can't. He seemed too hurt and emotional to just SAY stuff like that.

If he confirmed everything he said last night, today, while he was completely sober, then I would be all in. Just like that.

But if he didn't, then I would just downplay it. Obviously he should at least assume we had s*x since we were in the same bed, practically naked together.

I swing my legs to the side of the bed, attempting to make my way across the room. My legs felt like jelly from Alexander rough pounding and my core ached. I toughened it out though, forcing myself to get to the bathroom to pee and brush my teeth.  When I get finished, I grab my phone and exit the room.

The whole house is silent except for the light humming of the heat. I let out a sigh. Alexander left.

I walk down the hall to the stairs and practically gasp. Immediately when I look down the steps, I see Alexander sitting on the floor with his phone pressed between his ear and shoulder while he scribbled at something in front of him. On the table, there's a small tray that's looks to have a mango, bacon, eggs, a bagel, and a glass of orange juice on it.

Alexander is talking low, so low I can barely tell he's talking but he sounds panicked.

"I know I f****d up, I'll fix it ." He says before switching the phone from one ear to the other. He takes a large swing from one of the three water bottles sitting next to him before starting to scribble again.

I make my way down the rest of the stairs, surprisingly not alerting Alexander from any creaking of the steps.

Once I'm all the way downstairs, I see a gift bag along with a basket.

I felt weird with Alexander not know I was down here.

"Alex?" I say, softly. I see him tense up before mumbling into the phone. He slowly puts it down before turning around.

"Good afternoon." Alexander voice was full of emotion. His wild black hair was a mess. It look like his hand had been running through it. It looked my hand had been running through it.

He had a pair of sweatpants on a long with a matching hoodie. He sported a pair of black socks, none of which he had on earlier.. last night.

"Hey. What're you doing?" I attempt to peek around his shoulder but he blocks me. With a swiftness he stands up without letting me see what was in front of him and now he's standing in front of me, only this time, my back was facing where he previously sat.

"I didn't run. I-" he starts, running a hand through his hair. I could tell her didn't know what to say so I saved him the trouble.

"It's fine."

"I went to get you breakfast." He spits out, nervously looking into my eyes. He smiles softly and I return it. His hand are now on my shoulder and he looks likes he's about to say something.

"Why?" I had a sarcastic remark planned but this probably isn't the time.

"Because everything I told you last night was true.  I promise you." His eyes close as if he's waiting for me to reject him.

What did I say earlier?

If he confirmed everything he said last night, today, while he was completely sober, then I would be all in. Just like that.

"Alex,"

"Please don't say it."

"I'm jus-"

"I know you don't feel the same way but please just le-"

"Can yo-" He's talking over me.

"-t me shower you in all my love and affection? I won't stop trying." He has a determined gaze on his face as he grips my shoulders.

"Alexander Makai!"

"Sophia, I do-"

"Can you please let me talk?" I beg. Alexander finally opens his eyes and exhales. He nods before shutting up.

"I was trying to say, it's okay. I know. I feel the same way about you too." I admit, seeing the grown man in front of me nearly breakdown. He toughens it out before letting out the brightest smile ever.

"I need to learn to shut up."

"Indeed." I let out a laugh while staring at the overly happy man in front of me. I couldn't lie, I'm a bit happy too. It was like me bein a kid having my cookie taken away from me when I tried to store my feelings away. Now that I have told him about my feelings, it's like my mother bought me a whole pack of cookies.. just for me.

Weird analogy. I know.

"Can I kiss you?" Alexander's voice snaps me out of my thoughts as I feel his warm hands caressing my cheek.

I responded by closing the space between our lips, kissing him. He holds my face to his while his tongue snakes into my mouth, molding against mine. Alexander takes my bottom lip into his mouth, harshly sucking it. I could feel the blood begin to rush to that area as he tugged on it. A moan escaped my mouth as he pulled away.

"Come on, I want you to eat." He says.. really he demands it, pulling me away before I even have the chance to catchy breath. He walks me up the stairs and into his bedroom before pushing me onto his bed.

"I thought I was eating?" I say, seeing him retreat.

"You are... breakfast in bed. I'll be back. After you eat, I can get my breakfast." He sends a wink my way before departing from the room,  leaving me a hot, blushing mess.

What was it with Alex leaving me high and dry - wet - these past couple days?

I sit around for a minute before hearing Alexander return. He kicks open the door, the gift bag on his arm while he left the tray that had the food on it. He puts the tray on the bed next to me since my stomach provides no more lap room. The gift bag goes on the floor next to me and Alexander sits on my bed. His bed.

"I have something for you. I got this for you for Christmas, but it was too soon." He explained before reaching into the bag.

I looked at the bag, seeing the words. 'HAPPY VALENTINES DAY' it read.

It was February 14th already?

Alexander pulls out a medium sized velvet box, opening it slowly. The box opens to reveal a necklace and a ring. The necklace had a A on it, standing for Alexander I'm sure. By the way the sun hit the necklace, I could see their was a inscription on it.

The ring matched the necklace but it just the infinity sign with diamonds engraved.

"What's this for?"

"Just because I love you. You can think of it as a push gift." Alexander has a goofy smile on his face when I look over at him. He takes the ring out and slips it onto my finger.

"Just do you know, forever and always. I'll love you forever. Nothing can change that. Leah could comeback from the dead and I'd still only want you. You're it for me. I'll put the necklace on you later."

"Alex, I love it." I pout, my eyes trained on the ring that say on my finger. I wiggle my fingers around, seeing the diamond shine in the light. The ring was beautiful. The thought alone bought tears to my eyes.

I'm a pregnant woman. I can't control my emotions.

"What's wrong?" Alexander spring to his feet, placing the black box onto his night stand and moving closer to me. He puts my hands into his hands while staring into my soul.

"It's just so beautiful." That's all I can say before I start full on sobbing. I feel the tears stream down my face as Alex pulls me up. He pulls my face into his chest as I clutch to him for dear life.

"Just like you mamas, just like you." He whispers in my ear. We stay like this for a couple of minutes until my back begins to ache and the twins begin to kick at the barrier between them and the outside world. Alexander pulls away and rubs at my stomach. He presses a kiss to my forehead before telling me to eat before the food gets cold.

I doubt it's still warm but I pull the plate up anyways and begin to eat. The food is warm, almost room temperature, but warm. I can't take my eyes off of Alex, who's now on his phone and pressing it to his ear. I eat quietly as he speaks on the phone.

"Hey lovebug. I'll come get you later."

I could barely hear Maya on the other side of the receiver but I did manage to pick up 'why can't Uncle Tony and Drew..'

"Ask them. Make sure you have all your stuff. Yeah, your shoes came today." He says. He turns around and looks at me. His eyes go to the food as if he's telling me to finish eating.

Sorry, indigestion is bad for the babies.

Alexander's hoodie somehow got discarded from when he left the room to now, because he was now pacing the room in nothing but his sweatpants. His bare chest showed off his delicious abs as he brought a hand to his hair. His whole body flexed at the movement.

I take a rather large gulp of orange juice before pushing the tray away. I was hungry but not for this.

"Okay. Call me when you and Uncle Drew leave, okay? I love you." Alexander throws his phone onto the bed before making his way towards me.

He ate, for sure.

-

"Daddy, why can't we watch princess and the frog again?" Maya's voice asked from below us. She had dragged her purple Princess and the frog themed chair out of her room and sat in front of the couch as Alexander scrolled for a movie for us to watch.

Maya returned five hours after Alex and her had the conversation on the phone. In those five hours, Alexander ate, I ate, and I got stuffed.

As soon as Maya came back, she gave me a box of chocolates along with a card that she said cake from her Uncle, Anthony. Alexander wasn't as excited about that as I was but he just put it to the side and distracted Maya.

"I'm tired of seeing frogs, Maya."

"You look like a frog." Maya retorted, popping a cheese cube in her mouth. I held in my chuckle as my eyes peered over to Alexander who was rolling his eyes. He continued to scroll down the iPad as we sat in silence. Maya had set up her own damn buffet for the movie. She had two bags of cheese cubes, a whole bag of cherries, one half a bin of strawberries and her drink container that contained a all green smoothie. Alexander had his water bottle and some cherries as well while I had avocado fries and a glass of peach juice.

"Little rascals?" Alexander suggested, looking up at us. Maya turned her head back before saying 'sure'. I shrugged my shoulders as well as he pressed the play button and broadcasted it to the television.

Alfalfa's voice soon filled the air as well as Maya's.

"Daddy?"

"Maya."

"Why does alfalfa have his hair like that? That's how Sebastian and Stella look when they get theirs poo'd!"

"He likes it like that."

They were both quiet for the next couple minutes until Maya spoke up again, this time addressing her question towards me.

"Sophia? Do you think Alflafa is cute?"

"Well, I think he's charming.."

"I think Spanky is cute. Actually, I love Spanky. His name is Spanky. That's weird. Alfalfa has weird hair but Spanky? He is cute and has nice hair. Don't ya think?"

"Spanky is cute." I agreed. Maya stood up before turning to look at her father and I.

"How is Spanky cute to you when he looks nothing like daddy?" She said, frowning. Out the corner of my eyes, I could see Alexander chuckled softly. His eyes looked over to me with interest and amusement.

"You don't- everybody you think is cute doesn't have to look the same. They can have long hair, short hair, blue eyes, green eyes. It all depends." I explained softly toying with my hands. I unconsciously chipped pieces of my nail polish off while watching Maya sit back down.

We all sat in silence for about thirty minutes before Maya decided to spill some tea. She popped a cherry in her mouth before spitting out the pit and speaking by calling both Alexander and I's names:

"Yes?" We answered in unison. She sucked her teeth before speaking again.

"You know we all saw you guys kiss.. right? Uncle Drew said he had 300 on it. Aunt Bella And Uncle Tony were soooo mad! Nana said she called it. Why did Uncle Drew have 300 on it? What does that mean?" She questioned with the most serious tone on her face. 

"What?" Alex choked out. I couldn't even speak from how surprised I was.

"We all saw you kiss. When we went to Nana's house and we had pizza and I accidentally told them about the baby? We saw you kiss. Then Nana and I went shopping for the baby but we did it online. I picked out some cute shirts but since we don't know if it's a boy or a girl we just got everything. Nana got a crib and a stroller. Plus we were on a website where you can make your own diaper bag! I made one for the baby. It has a P on it because our last name is Parker. Is the baby's last name going to be Parker? If not, it's too late so you should just make it Parker. The diaper bag is grey but the P is purple. I picked out a charm to go on it. There's a green dinosaur charm and there's a daisy flower charm. Then I made a diaper bag for when the baby is with you, Daddy. Your diaper bag is black and your P is blue, like the sky. Your charms are a Mickey Mouse charm and a dinosaur too. I like the dinosaurs. Then we bought bottles, like two hundred! They are just regular bottles but Nana said 'these are the best bottles because it helps babies develop a grip for the n****e'. I'm not sure what that means. We also got strollers that match the diaper bags! Nana bought wipes because on the side of the diaper bag, you put the wipes in. What else did we get? Oh, socks. We are never going to run out of socks! Nana stocked us up! She also got me a new baby alive because I told her that I needed to practice for when the babies comes because I want to be prepared. Nana is going to turn her office into a room for the babies for when we want to come over! She bought stuff for her house too! We got these cute pacifiers. One of them makes the baby looks like they have vampire teeth. Guess how much money we spent! Three thousand dollars!" Maya rambled, turning around and sitting on her heels. She had a wide smile on her face as she talked about the items they bought that night Alexander and I kissed. The kiss we thought no one saw. 

"Who saw it?" Alexander asked, sitting up. He didn't seem to be as worried about it as he was a couple seconds ago but I, on the other hand, was freaking out.

"Everybody! Even Stella and Sebastian. They were standing against the door." She said, frowning.

Alexander shrugged before eating another cherry.

So, just like that? He didn't care that his whole family just saw us kiss minutes after we told them we were just friends? Am I the only one freaking out or am I exaggerating?

Perhaps, it's not that big of a deal.

I just need to cool down.

We aren't just friends now.

Right?

We never exactly clarified what we were. We can keep it how it is with no labels but I'm sure that'll confuse Maya.

We can always just cross that bridge when we get to it.

"Well, that's what people who like each other do. They kiss."

"Nana said you looovvveee her. You love her daddy? I love you Sophia. You're the coolest." Maya blasts and throws herself back onto the couch. Alexander looks at me over Maya head before winking at me. I smile as I slide a fry into my mouth.

"Yeah, she is." Alexander winks at me over Amaya's head as it begins to get quiet. But not even five minutes later, Maya had something to say again.

"So.. when the babies get here, are they going to live with Daddy and I or with Sophia? Sophia lives with us so they'll live with us, right?" I didn't even have time to digest what she said because Alexander answered her with a quick 'Sure' before telling her to watch the movie.

So, we watched the movie. Maya fell asleep just when the talent show scene came on, so Alexander carried her into her room and put her in her bed. He came back out and sat in his previous spot.

"You know my mom is going to want to throw a baby shower right?"

"I've been told. I don't mind a baby shower but do I have to go?"

"It's your baby shower!" He laughs, throwing his arm over the couch. I shake my head, staring at my pregnant belly.

"It's our baby shower. I just hate being the center of attention." I say, shrugging. Alexander rolls his eyes before saying he thinks my mom already threw the baby shower for us since she bought so much stuff.

"What about your mom?"

"Well, I'm going to have to see her soon. My brother is getting married so I'll have no choice."

"When?"

"March? Pretty soon. I actually need to figure out because I haven't bought a ticket."

"You're not going to drive?" He questions and I resist the urge to throw something at him. Pregnant me + driving to California from New York? It doesn't add up.

"Of course not, I'm not driving to California."

"You can't fly." He says, confused. I understand what he means; the whole 'you can't fly while pregnant' thing, which I was sure only applied to people about to pop.

"Yes, I can. I'll only be 7 months."

"I'm almost certain you can't fly at 7 months."

"I'm almost certain you can." I retort. I honesty wasn't sure, I just enjoyed arguing with him.

"How much do you want to bet?" He challenges, leaning closer to me.

"My first born." I smile at Alex, his head throwing back in laughter.

"That doesn't count because your first born is my child, still." He recovers from his short burst of slaughter and gets his serious demeanor back. Alexander's eyes are trained on mine with a slightly goofy smile on his face.

"What are you betting? You can pay for my plane ticket."

"I'm betting a kiss. Now, pass me my phone." He demands, so I reach over and grab his phone for him.

I watch as Alexander as he grabs his phone from me, unlocking it with a simple look and typing. He throws me a smile as he scrolls up and down the page. He begins mumbling before speaking clearly.

"For flights less than four hours, you can travel up to the end of the 40th week in a single pregnancy and the 36th week for a multiple pregnancy. But some airlines may require women traveling after 28 weeks of pregnancy to carry a note from their doctor or midwife confirming their due date and pregnancy details." He looks at me with a triumphant smile before shoving his phone in my face.

"Okay, but how many months is 36 weeks? Definitely not 7 months."

"7 months."

"Hey Siri," I begin, attempting to prove my point. My phone pings, alerting me that Siri was waiting for me to finish speaking. "What is 36 weeks converted to months?"

"36 weeks is 8.28 months." The automated voice says, causing me to smile at  the man in front of me. He throws his head back, groaning.

"I was really looking forward to that first born." He pouts before speaking again. "I really wanted to keep my kiss." He lies, licking his lips. He leans forward, attempting to kiss me but I pull back.

"What about my plane ticket?" I fake pout. He chuckles before whispering, 'I can get that for you too,' jokingly before pressing his lips against mine.

This wasn't a sexually-arisen kiss. This was just a pure, yet harsh, in the moment kiss. There was no lip pulling, tongue massaging, hickey giving. There was just the softness of Alexander's lips against mine for a brief 3 seconds.

Alexander pulls away first, licking his lips again before look at me with a smile on his face. He's been touchy all day and I was loving it. My hormones were loving it.

"What about your parents? Tell me about them."

"What do you want to know?" I ask. He shrugs in response before leaning back, his green eyes casted upon me.

"Well, my moms name is Stephanie. She's mixed. Her mom is black and her dad is Asian. I look almost nothing like her. You've probably met her. My father and her own a company on the westside. She's really funny and cool. She's just protective sometimes. She's nothing like my dad, so it's weird that they are even together. They have nothing in common but have been in love with each other since they were like 11. My dad, he's albino, but both his parents are black. He has red hair and no eyes brows, at all. He's funny and really tall. Almost taller than you. Maybe taller than you. He's 6'4. He has eyes like you. My mom has brown eyes. I got my features from her but my curly hair and height? My father. Oh! They're foster parents. I have a brother, you know him. Quincy. That's the one that's getting married. He's not that much older than me, you'd like him. You'd probably think we were twins. We look exactly alike, only difference is I have more hair and he has muscles." I rambled, smiling while thinking of my family. I missed them and to have to hold such a huge secret back from them was hard. 

The truth would come out eventually.

"So why didn't you move back in with them when Quincy did?" He innocently questioned. I shrugged.

"I just couldn't go back. I'm fine here."

"But you were planning on moving back there?" He said, confusion written across his face. I rub a hand down my face.

"Yeah. Job offers. I don't have them anymore so I am here for the time being."

"I offered you a job!"

"Not officially. Besides, I don't want the job because I'm having your children."

"Someone put in a letter of recommendation for you."

"Wh- Chance?"

"Nope." He smiles. I roll my eyes before shaking my head. "You can't put in a letter of recommendation for someone you've never seen work!"

"It's literally my company. I can do whatever."

"Technically, it's Chances company as well. Speaking of companies, why aren't you at work?"

"Week off. I was beginning to stress out. I closed all deals except one and my assistant is staring to piss me off because she does the dumbest things." He rants, groaning at the end. He picks at a cherry before grabbing the bag and the rest of the things. I grab my plate, not really knowing what to say besides 'boo hoo' and follow him into the kitchen.

"Well, at least since you're the boss you can give yourself the week off. Why do you need a company lawyer?"

"I fired the other one."

"Why?" I demanded, looking back at the scowling man. "Don't worry about it."

I roll my eyes before walking back into the living room. "Maya's game is tomorrow. Are you coming?" He asks, bending down and picking up a pair of Maya's sneakers. Alex sets them next to her bedroom door and turns back towards me, awaiting a answer.

"The championship? Yeah. I'd love to." I had nothing to do anyways. All I would probably do is sit in bed and scroll on my phone or read a book.

"Good because I made you a shirt."