Tamsyn Bester - Precious Consequences

Her curls bounce as she nods yes, so I push my chair out a little, pick Ari up and settle her on my knee. I look up and see my mother and Candice both wearing shocked expressions on their faces. And who can blame them? I sure as hell wasn’t expecting it either. Hayley reaches over and brushes her hand over Ari’s hair and gives me the most breathtaking smile known to man. God knows I want to put it there every damn day.

The conversation around the table starts up again and soon enough it’s time for dessert. My mother starts slicing up some homemade pumpkin pie and chocolate cake, which is my personal favorite even if chocolate is for women.

“Oh shit,” Candice mutters, dropping her fork. We all stop what we’re doing. She bites her lip.

“Candice, honey, are you okay?” Brett asks next to her.

“Um, I think…my…my water just broke.”

“You’re sure?”

She smiles at Brett. “Yes, I’m sure.”

“Okay, I’ll bring the car around, and we’ll head straight to the hospital.” He smiles back at her, kissing her forehead, and I wonder how they’re so damn calm?

Candice starts breathing in short bursts. “Oh, dear, this baby isn’t waiting….oww.”

I jump up, handing Ari over to Hayley, and help Candice out of her chair just as Brett comes running back in. He helps her to the car and my mother follows.

A hand touches my arm and I look to the side. Hayley’s green eyes greet me. “You should go with them, Cam. We’ll stay here and then go home in a little while.”

“I don’t want to leave you here,” I reply.

“Your family needs you, Cam. You should go. We’ll be fine here.”

“We’ll take her and Ari home,” Noah says. “Go, become an uncle.”

I nod reluctantly. “Okay, but I’ll call you later?”

She kisses me on the cheek. “I’ll be at home.”

I lay a kiss on her lips and fight the urge to stay right here. But she’s right. My family needs me. With one last glance back, I run out the door.

~ Hayley ~

Once I’ve put Ari to bed, I crawl under my thick, plush duvet and rub my arms to create some warmth. Noah and Hannah dropped Ari and me off a few hours ago, after Cameron rushed to the hospital with his mother. He sent me a text earlier, letting me know that Candice was having a difficult delivery and that he’d let me know as soon as the baby was born. I knew these things could take long, especially when it was a natural birth, so I didn’t expect to hear anything for a while. My thoughts start drifting over the events of earlier today, to when I met his mother and his sister and how they welcomed me with open arms. I could see myself getting attached to them, bonding with them, and the idea frightened me to some extent. They were also very excited to meet Ari, and knowing that Cameron had obviously told them about her left a warm, fuzzy feeling budding in the confines of my chest. Although meeting Cameron’s family had certainly been important, it didn’t quite live up to the stature of the moment when Ari silently asked if she could sit on Cameron’s lap and the way he willingly received her. I had to bite the inside of my cheek fairly hard before I started blubbering like an idiot. It was such a simple thing to have witnessed, but for me, the gravity of it weighed heavy on my heart. The reality is that if things were to end, it wouldn’t only be my heart that would need mending. It would be Ari’s heart too. The more time I spent with Cameron, the more attached I become, and the more attached Ari becomes, too. At the root of all my fears, lies this inevitable truth. Any relationship I have, I not only put my heart and feelings on the line, but my daughter’s too.

I roll onto back, chastising myself. You are overanalyzing, Hayley, I tell myself sternly. I am already worried about what will happen when Cameron leaves me when we’ve only been together for a few days. But he doesn’t know everything, I remind myself. Guilt buries itself in my subconscious and starts to grow, slow like a weed yet invasive like a parasite. There are things about my past that Cameron doesn’t know, that he can’t know, and the closer we become, the more intimate we become, the harder it is for me to keep it from him. But keeping it from him isn’t about him, not really. It’s about Arianna, and protecting her from my past.

I doze off for what feels like an hour when my phone vibrates next to my bed. My bedside clock reads two a.m. and I wonder who would be texting me so late, or early, depending on which way you look at it. I can’t help the sleepy grin that slides onto my face when I see its Cameron.

I’m outside.

I throw my duvet off, not bothering about my robe, and race downstairs, careful not to wake my grandmother or Ari. I open the front door, regretting my decision to go sans my robe as soon as the cool breeze hits my exposed legs and arms. Cameron comes in quickly and I shut the door again.

“What are you doing here?” I ask in a hushed voice.

He smirks and I catch a glimpse of his face in the moonlight. It bounces off his face brilliantly and casts an alluring shadow across his shape features. Taking a step closer, he touches a hand to my cheek and I shiver, both from the contact and his cold skin.

“I wanted to see you,” he whispers, leaning his head closer.

“C’mon,” I say, grabbing his hand before he can kiss me. “It’s cold down here and I’m sure you’re freezing.”

We walk up the stairs, a little slower as to keep Cameron’s feet from making a noise, and I lead him to my room. I close the door behind us quietly and turn to Cameron as he starts shedding his clothes. I wrap my arms around him from behind, getting lost in his scent. “How’s Candice?” I ask.

Cameron twists in my arms and I look up into the gray pools of his eyes. “She’s doing great.” He kisses the side of my mouth and I suck in a breath.

“And the baby?”

He gives me a heart-shattering smile. “She’s perfect.” His eyes gleam, showing me the love and adoration he has for his family and its newest little member. “She has these big, blue eyes, and these perfect little lips, and hair like Candice’s.”

I can’t help but return his smile. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“I’ll take you to the hospital tomorrow.” Cameron kisses me, signaling that our conversation is over and I don’t complain. I help him undress until he’s wearing nothing but his boxer briefs, and we climb into bed. What starts off as light pecks on the mouth soon becomes heated, hungry and almost desperate. Cameron rolls until I’m beneath him and settles between my legs. He rests his weight on his forearms on each side of my head and threads his fingers through my hair while I trace invisible patterns up and down his back. He pushes his hips into me and I feel his erection on my inner thigh, hot and hard. I moan into his mouth, savoring the taste of him, the feel of him. I want him, there’s no doubt he can feel my wetness through the thin material of my pajama bottoms, but knowing my grandmother and daughter are on either sides of my bedroom somehow makes this feel a little less appealing. Cameron’s hips roll a third time and I bite his lip to silence my whimper. The things he is doing to my body right now doesn’t need to be made audible for the whole house to hear. I pull away, panting and wanting. “Cameron,” I breathe. “We have to stop.”

He lifts his head, peering down at me with lust-filled eyes that I’m sure match mine. “You’re worried about being heard?”

I nod, wondering how he was able to voice my internal concern when I didn’t say anything. “I’m not comfortable with Gama and Ari being so close. It’s a little weird. Please, don’t be mad.”