Mother in law

Monday, May 16, 2016

Melissa's House

13 weeks...

"Wake up," a soft voice said, standing over Lexi as she slept. Then a gentle tap came, followed by a singsong "Wakey wakey sleepyhead." Her eyelids fluttered open, then closed again upon finding it was Melissa trying to wake her... again.

"Can't you ever leave me to sleep in peace?" she grumbled, not making an effort to open her eyes. She pulled the duvet over her head. "At least Trey let me sleep."

Melissa paused, a smile taking over at the realization that her bestfriend was healing. The mere fact that she was able to say his name without breaking down like she had done in the past week was proof of that. Nevertheless, she was a girl on a mission.

"Wake up!" She shook Alexandra, groaning when Lexi sent a kick her way, landing her on the other side of the bed. "What the - " She huffed angrily, scampering off the bed and straightening her clothes. "If you weren't pregnant, I'd drag your ass out of that bed. Wake up! I don't have time for this!"

Alexandra snuggled deeper into her pillow, bent on ignoring Melissa's attempts till she got tired and left. "Lexi, come on! We have a lot of shit to do today, remember? We're going dress fitting with Sierra today!"

"A few more minutes and I'll be up, promise," Lexi pleaded in a muffled voice.

"We don't have a few more minutes!" Melissa was beyond exasperated. She knew Lexi needed more sleep, but sometimes, she couldn't help feeling like Lexi was using it as an opportunity to lay in bed and sulk. That was one thing she wasn't going to allow under her roof - sulking. After that bad day Lexi had had at Trey's, she'd allowed her sulk for a week, and enough was enough.

"My stepmom is here! She had to come all the way here from LA and this is how you welcome her?"

Lexi sat up suddenly, her head pounding. "Ashley is here?" she queried in a panicked voice.

"Why would I lie to you?" Melissa asked instead, letting her exasperation show.

"You would if that's what it took to get me out of bed," she stated factually, narrowing her eyes to slits.

"Yes, I agree I have done that a few times, but I wouldn't lie about Ashley being here. You know she moved away and doesn't live here much like we do because she hates the weather," Melissa stated, moving away from the bed towards the door.

"Are you being serious?" Alexandra asked again, wondering if her mother-in-law was really downstairs. She wondered what the woman thought of her now with the scandal that had broken out. She and Trey hadn't even talked it out yet!

Melissa raised her hands to the sky, about to say something when a sweet voice yelled from downstairs, "Melissa dear, where do you keep your waffle maker? Tony and I are feeling like having waffles for breakfast this morning!"

Alexandra's eyes went wide with surprise. Technically, she shouldn't be because Melissa did tell her Ashley was here. But she'd been so sure Melissa was just trying to get her out of bed no matter what it took.

"Just start mixing your ingredients! Help yourself to anything from the pantry! I'll be right down to get you the waffle maker!" Melissa shouted back, then turned to Alexandra with a 'do you believe me now' look.

"Okay!" Ashley replied.

Lexi just sat stunned, her thoughts racing at a thousand per minute. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Melissa prompted, waving her hands around.

Alexandra rushed off the bed and into the bathroom. "Tell her to give me thirty minutes max!" She yelled to Melissa from the bathroom.

Melissa shook her head with a tiny smile, before remembering she wanted to be angry at her. "You know, I should be paid to be your bestfriend!" She yelled back, smiling victoriously when Lexi's head popped back out of the bathroom.

"You do not mean that," she said with narrowed eyes.

Melissa leaned against the door, arms folded across her chest. "And what if I do?" she questioned challengingly.

"So help me - "

"Get your ass in that bathroom if you want to make it down in thirty minutes!" Melissa snapped, cutting her off.

"I'm going, I'm going!"

Melissa went out to help Ashley make breakfast - which would be a lot, considering her friend could eat all of their breakfasts combined. Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but the point was, Lexi could eat a lot.

Lexi went into the toilet first to do her business, grumbling about how her babies were already squishing her bladder. Then she stood in front of the mirror admiring her bump, before rushing off when she suddenly remembered she had to be quick.

She decided against a bath because refreshing as it would be, it was a waste time - a resource she had very little of at the moment. She stepped inside the shower, turned on the water to wet her skin before turning it off. She reached for her body wash, rubbing it all over herself. Then grabbed her loofah, scrubbing her skin in order to get clean fast. She turned on the water again, rinsing off the soap and dirt.

She turned off the water and rushed out so fast that she slipped, having to grab the glass door's handle to keep from falling. Her clumsiness was going to be the death of her... literally.

Having regained her composure, she let go of the door and grabbed two towels - wrapping her hair in one, then used the other to dry herself. She hurried back into the room, still drying off, and into the closet to get dressed.

At a point, she ditched the towel and put on a strapless maternity bra she'd brought back from Trey's, as well as panties, then proceeded to rummage through her clothes, looking for something that could hide her bump.

Considering the fact that this outing was Jason and Sierra's wedding oriented, and that Trey was the best man, there was a very high possibility of he being there.

A small part of her said to dress to impress, but another part of her wondered why she would want to do that. He was soon going to be her ex-husband, so she didn't need to impress him.

With a heavy exhale, she opted for something that she would normally wear... and would also cover the bump.

A light pink flowy knee-length off-shoulder dress, paired with strappy block heels of the same color. She paused to look at herself in the full-length mirror, satisfied with the result. It looked very much like something she would wear, not something to impress Trey.

Not to say that Trey didn't let her wear what she wanted, or that he chose her clothing for her, no. He'd always let her wear what she felt comfortable with, provided it was expensive, because he'd felt she deserved to be treated like a queen, and spending money on her was not a problem.

She noticed her bump peeking out a little whenever the dress stuck to her, and she hoped it wasn't very windy out today, because she didn't have time to change into a new outfit.

She unwrapped the towel she had wound around her head and began to dry her hair aggressively. She grabbed a random black handbag and picked up the other towel she had ditched earlier, returning to the bathroom and dumped them in the laundry basket. Then on her way out of the bedroom, pulled her still wet hair into a messy bun, leaving it to airdry. She hurried down the stairs, pausing at the last to take in a big lungful of air as she had no idea what to expect.

The pleasantly sweet aroma of waffles and pancakes made her mouth water. They'd been eating out for a time since Melissa had to work on new designs for her annual fashion show, and she had also been busy sulking instead of being useful.

She redirected to the kitchen, wanting to get her meet with Ashley over with, as well as get her and the babies some nourishment. As soon as she stepped into the kitchen, she was greeted with the sight of Tony's arms wrapped around Ashley who was busy flipping a pancake.

Ashley pretended to be unaware of his presence as he tried to sweettalk her into making him bacon in addition to the waffles and pancakes. He poked her sides, smiling when she jumped in surprise and turned to him with a stern face.

"Melissa said no bacon in this house yet because my daughter in law is pregnant, and bacon makes her sick," she told him while Lexi stared on, slack jawed. It shouldn't surprise her that Ashley already knew of the pregnancy considering Melissa adored the woman even more than her biological mother, but it did.

'Who else knows?' she wondered.

"So sorry, but no bacon for you," she ended with a sweet smile, smacking his cheeks playfully.

"Actually," Lexi said, stepping into the kitchen, smiling at how thoughtful Ashley was over her well-being, "My morning sickness has receded so he can have the bacon."

Tony winked at her, saying, "And this is why you're my favorite girl." She laughed and hugged him. "I'm going to see if I can get any bacon from the pantry. If not, I'll just go out and get some. Don't miss me too much," he added, kissing Ashley goodbye.

She picked up the last pancake off the pan with the flipper and turned off the stove. Then took her sweet time arranging the plates filled with pancakes on the kitchen island while Lexi shifted from foot to foot nervously.

Ashley turned to the tap to wash her hands, dumping the paper towel in the trash can after she'd dried her hands. She leaned her hip on the island and watched Alexandra squirm till she couldn't take it anymore.

She burst out laughing, leaving Lexi more confused than relieved. "Why are you standing there, looking at me like I'm going to pounce on you any minute?" She asked when the laughter had subsided.

"I... I guess I'm scared you're going to be angry at me for breaking your son's heart," she replied quietly.

Ashely smiled, walking over to her. Lexi met her halfway. "I'm not angry at you because I believe you haven't done anything. I'm curious though." Lexi held her breath. "Why didn't you tell Trey about Ethan's appearance at your house? How he infiltrated the tight security is questionable enough. Trey should know."

Alexandra groaned. "Does Melissa tell you everything about me?"

"I honestly don't know. She does all the hard work for you though," Ashley replied, smiling so wide that the flesh around her eyes crinkled. Lexi rolled her eyes. "Back to my question. Why didn't you tell him? Personally, I feel like it is all connected."

"I know, but I didn't think it was necessary. Believe me, I regret not saying anything now," she replied honestly. There was something about Ashley that made her spill everything she was feeling.

"Yeah... but I also think my son is a jerk," she stated bluntly and out of the blue. "How could he make you sign divorce papers openly, giving the paparazzi a field day? I don't care about his reasons for doing so, but I was certain I raised him better than that."

She sounded so hurt that Lexi hugged her. "It's okay. I do hope it is resolved before I give birth."

"True," Ashley murmured hugging Lexi back, "We don't want them to get caught up in this." She stepped back to look into Alexandra's eyes. "Is he really divorcing you?"

"Yes. We've already began with the process."

"He doesn't know you're pregnant, does he?" She asked, guiding Lexi over to a stool.

"No," she said simply, thanking Ashley when she placed a plate of pancakes in front of her, alongside a glass of orange juice.

"Well, his loss," she said with a dazzling smile. She noticed her bump when she sat on the stool. "Didn't Melissa say you're twelve - now thirteen weeks pregnant?"

"Yes," she answered around a mouthful of pancake. "Why do you ask?"

She pointed to the bump. "You're big for someone whose thirteen weeks pregnant."

"Oh that." She drank a bit of juice to help her swallow quickly. When the food in her mouth was finished, she said, "I'm carrying twins actually."

Ashley looked like she was about to tear up. "Aww that's great," she cooed. "Congrats."

"Thank you," Lexi replied with a smile. "Don't cry, else you'll make me cry too. My hormones are all over the place."

Ashley let out a laugh. "I hope these ones last and come out healthy."

"I hope so too."

"Enough of the pity party," Sierra said, wiping the bottom of her eyes, ridding them of tears not present. She smiled, striding confidently into the kitchen in her red-soled Louboutin heels. "Hey Ashley," she greeted, hugging her.

"Hi!" Ashley responded cheerfully. "Today's all about you so no more pity parties from us," she promised.

Alexandra shook her head, stuffing her mouth with more pancakes. "Pretending you haven't seen me because you want to finish your pancakes, eh?" Alexandra looked up with a closed-mouth smile.

"She woke up late," Melissa supplied, appearing at the entrance of the kitchen and headed towards the fridge.

"I can tell," Sierra agreed. "But she's helping out despite her condition so I'm still grateful."

Lexi swallowed. "Thank you for being appreciative," she said, one hand over her chest.

Melissa closed the fridge door narrowing her eyes at Lexi. "You better not be talking to me."

"I didn't say your name," Lexi replied innocently. "But even if I was talking to you, what would you do about it?"

Melissa smiled, leaning forward on the kitchen island. "Do you really want to know?" she inquired in a low voice.

Sierra interrupted, "Guys! We're behind time," she said, tapping her wristwatch. "Let's not do this now, please."

"Fine," they both grumbled while Ashley stood watching, looking thoroughly amused.

"In all honesty though, I'm sorry for making it hard on you when you tried to wake me," Alexandra said, shoving a large piece of pancake into her mouth. "In my defense, you always try waking me early even when there's nothing to do."

"You're forgiven," Melissa said smiling.

"Can we go now?"

"I'm going to get my purse. I'll be right down," Melissa said going out of the kitchen. "Tear her away from the food else we're going nowhere soon."

Ashley levelled a glare on Sierra who looked prepared to take Lexi's plate away. "Let her eat for my grandchildren."

Sierra dropped the plate, completely forgetting about that when a word caught her attention. She looked up at Lexi. "You didn't tell me it has been confirmed that you're having multiple babies," she whined, sporting a sad look. "How many?"

"Two lovely babies," Ashley supplied happily.

Lexi smiled at how happy she looked. "We told Jason though, even gave him a picture. We assumed he'd tell you. I'm so sorry," she mumbled.

"It's fine," she assured Lexi. "I'll take it up with Jason."

Melissa reappeared. "Ashley, Tony left this. I think it's yours," she said, handing her folded paper.

Ashley opened it, smiling by the time she was done reading. "He said he didn't get any bacon from your pantry, so he left to get some. He also said not to wait up because he'll just join the guys right after," she told them, pocketing the paper.

"Alright then. I'm ready," Melissa stated looking over at Ashley and Sierra who nodded in agreement. When she turned to Alexandra though, she was busy stuffing her face with more pancakes. "Lexi I'll buy you more food. Let's go."

Alexandra looked from Melissa the food and back. "Promise?"

"I promise."

Reluctantly, she stood up and walked away from the pancakes, grabbing her bag off the kitchen island.

Sierra took the plate and covered it with another, putting it in the fridge. "You'll have it when you get back."

"Stop talking to me like a kid," Lexi warned. "Just because I want more food doesn't warrant your treating me like a child who can't think for herself."

"I agree," Ashley chimed in while Sierra simply stared back in shock.

"Then stop acting up," Melissa said, sticking her tongue out.

"Let's just go," Sierra muttered, leading the group out of the kitchen.