The afternoon flew by too quickly and Trinity was sorry to leave. She was enjoying her time with Jasmine; already a strong friendship was forming. The two women hugged before Drew led her back out to his car. She waved goodbye and sat back sleepily in the car’s comfortable seat.
The next few days flew by for Trinity. Drew was there every waking moment and the more she was around him, the harder a time she had with trying to keep her distance. He was there to help her at work. He was constantly bringing her delicious food and he was touching her every chance he got.
With him back in the picture, her body had awakened, more than ever before. He was touching her casually so often, she was close to screaming. She needed so much more from him, than a quick brush of his fingers but she knew she couldn’t go there. The more time she was with him, the harder it was to remember the purpose of her boundaries.
The man was so incredibly attractive and what made it worse was she remembered how his hands felt touching her all over. She was frustrated and completely unsatisfied. It was making her incredibly grumpy and he was even being a great sport about her snapping at him. He was far too perfect.
She had went and looked at the building with Jasmine and fell in love with the place. It was so perfect. There was ample space for everything and it wouldn’t be too hard to remodel it how they wanted. Jasmine was looking into things and would get back to her soon with some numbers.
Trinity knew Jasmine could afford to foot the entire purchase but she wanted to feel as if she was an equal partner. She’d do whatever she could to make it happen. She was currently renting her building and paying a really high amount, so by taking on a partner and having a mortgage instead of a rent payment, may actually save her money. She’d also be able to make more if she had more merchandise.
She hadn’t heard back from Jasmine yet, so she was getting worried she’d possibly changed her mind, deciding it was just too risky. She couldn’t believe how bummed that made her feel. She had been the one who was leery to go into such a large investment but after she’d really thought about it, she wanted it more than anything. It would be so nice to have a business partner, someone to share her successes with and someone to have around to talk with. She shook off her mood and got back to work.
“Hello beautiful, how are you feeling today?” Drew asked as he walked in her doors a few minutes after she opened. Her face split in a smile at the sight of him, before she could stop herself.
“Don’t you have a business to run?” she asked him, trying to sound stern but failing miserably.
“The nice thing with being the boss is I can take off whenever I want,” he responded with a wicked grin. He then came over to her and kissed her on the lips. He was doing that too often as well. She’d given up telling him no. Who was she fooling anyway? She craved his touch.
“I have a doctor appointment today if you’d like to come along?” she asked him shyly.
“I’d love to come,” he answered her with real enthusiasm.
“I’ll be closing early today so if you want to be back here around two then we can go together,” she offered.
“I have nothing going on today, so I’ll just hang out here with you,” he said instead and sat down on her couch and pulled out his laptop, which was a normal habit for him now.
“If you insist,” she replied and got to work on her arrangements. The further along she was getting, the harder it was for her to stand for long periods of time, without her back hurting. After about an hour she was reaching around and rubbing on her lower back, without even thinking about it.
She felt Drew’s arms wrap around her and she was being tugged over to the couch. He sat her down and started giving her a back rub. She had to fight not to groan out loud at the pure pleasure he was creating.
“I should be working,” she tried to protest but not with much effort behind the words.
“You need to take better care of yourself. It’s obvious you’re in pain,” he countered her and continued with the back rub. She leaned forward, so he could reach lower and stopped protesting. She didn’t know how much time passed but when the bell on her door rang, she felt like growling at the person who dared to interrupt.
The person picked out a couple of pre made arrangements and was soon on their way. The door rang again and a young girl walked in.
“Can I help you?” Trinity asked her.
“I just graduated floral school and would like to apply for a job,” the girl said shyly. Trinity spoke with her for several minutes and liked her instantly. She was eager and excited. She took her in the back and had her show some of her techniques. The girl had a really good eye for colors and picked up on designs quickly.
“I was planning on waiting another month before hiring but you have come in at a really good time because my back is hurting more than usual,” Trinity told her. She hired the girl on the spot and she’d start the next day.
“Thank you so much,” she replied excitedly and rushed out the door.
“I’m glad you decided to take on an employee,” Drew told her. She got back to work and soon it was time to leave for the doctor’s office.
Drew led her to his car and she climbed into the luxurious interior. It was really nice to be taken care of and she was fighting the urge to just let go completely and lean on him. They made it to the office in no time and soon they were being taken back to a private room.
The doctor came in and Drew introduced himself. “I bet you’re excited to hear the heartbeat,” the doctor said to him.
“I am,” Drew confirmed. She was fixated on his face, as the sound of their child’s heartbeat filled the room. He had such a look of wonder on it tears sprung to her eyes. “Can we do that picture thing?” he asked the doctor.
“She had an ultrasound a couple months ago and everything checked out. They are a pretty expensive procedure, when it’s not needed,” the doctor explained.
“I don’t care how much it costs, I really want to have it done,” Drew said. The doctor sent them to a different room.
“Drew, I can’t afford to have one of those done,” Trinity tried to explain to him.
“I’m taking care of all the baby’s expenses,” Drew told her and his tone said the issue wasn’t up for debate. She didn’t have any insurance and had been struggling to pay for the whole thing but she didn’t appreciate his taking control of her pregnancy.
“You don’t need to take care of everything but if you want another ultrasound then you can take care of that,” she finally conceded.
“I’m in far too good of a mood to argue, so we’ll leave that discussion for another time,” he finally said. She lay on the table and glared at him for a moment. Soon another doctor came in the room and began rubbing some cold goo on her stomach.
“Have you seen one of our three dimensional ultrasounds before?” she asked them both.
“I had one done a couple months ago,” Trinity said.
“I saw the picture but I wasn’t here when it was done,” Drew said as he stared at the screen. Suddenly his child’s head was there in front of him. She was moving around and he saw the profile, then the back of her head. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life. He could stare at that monitor the entire day and never get bored.
He couldn’t believe how much it showed of his daughter. It was like he was looking through a glass bowl or something. It was amazing. He wanted to reach out and run his fingers along her delicate cheekbones.
“Your daughter is healthy and active. Do you want to take home some more pictures?” the woman asked.
“Yes please,” Drew answered enthusiastically before Trinity had a chance to speak.
“It sounds as if your husband is excited to be a father. This must be your first child,” the woman said with a smile.
“I can’t believe she will be here in a few short months,” Drew said. Trinity was silent. She wasn’t going to bother trying to correct the woman and she was finding it pretty endearing how excited Drew was.
She printed off some pictures and sent them both back to the doctor’s office. He came right in. Trinity guessed it was helpful having Drew with her because she’d never had such quick service.
“The baby is healthy and everything is right on schedule but you’re not doing as well. Your blood pressure is too high for my liking and puts you at risk for getting toxemia. I need to put you on bed rest for at least two weeks, then we can reassess. You also need to eat more because you’re feeding the baby well but not yourself. You’re under what I’d like to see your weight at,” he told her.
“I can’t take work off,” she tried to argue with the doctor.
“If you don’t take my advice, you’re risking yourself and your baby. You could go into early labor and the chances of survival aren’t good at this point in your pregnancy,” he said sternly.
“She will go on complete bed rest doctor,” Drew said and looked over at her. She wasn’t happy with him or the doctor at that point but she wouldn’t let her own temper harm her child. She’d just have to close the shop for a while. She couldn’t imagine what that was going to do to her income.
They walked out of the doctor’s office and he took her to a restaurant, where she picked at her food. She was too stressed to eat much at all.
“The doctor said you needed more calories, please eat for the baby’s sake,” he pleaded with her. She forced herself to eat more, although she had a hard time getting it down her throat.
“I’m going to have to close the shop, it just stresses me out,” she finally said.
“Stress isn’t good for your condition. You need to let me help you,” he told her.
“I know Drew, and I don’t need your help,” she said.
“You obviously need my help. I’ll call a temp agency and get someone in to work the shop, plus you have the new employee you just hired. I’ll pay their wages and quit shaking your head at me. You can’t be stressed and worried about how to pay them. I’m also going to stay with you for now to make sure you’re taking better care of yourself,” he said.
She continued to try and argue with him but she may as well have been speaking to a brick wall because he wasn’t listening. He led her from the restaurant and made his phone calls and drove her home.
As they stepped into her tiny apartment, he decided he was going to start really searching for a new place. He couldn’t stand to stay in the claustrophobic apartment for too long. His child needed more space anyway, with a real yard.
Trinity went in to take a nap and he searched the web for some homes. He found a couple of prospective places, which weren’t far from his cousin. He made appointments for that evening and after checking on Trinity, left to go see them.
He fell in love instantly with one of the houses. The home was empty, as the previous owners had lost it. It was bank owned, which made things so much easier for him. It was huge, not quite as big as Derek’s but pretty dang close. It had about ten acres of property and a pool. There was even a tennis court. He knew Trinity would love it.