SNOWFALL
For the first time since she'd met him, Taylor made Winn nervous. He didn't say much. He made her a cup of hot tea and then he'd set to work, bringing wood in from the garage and placing it in a rack on the hearth of his beautiful stone fireplace. The power was still on and the house felt fine, so a fire really wasn't necessary. Winn suspected that the busier he kept himself, the less he would have to speak.
Attempting to break the ice, she asked quietly, "Is there, uh, anything you need me to do?"
"No," he replied curtly. Then he stood up and he headed back to the garage.
Winn gripped her hot mug without drinking any of the tea. She didn't have an appetite, though the hot liquid smelled amazing. She sat there on the edge of the couch, her knees tight together, her shoulders slightly hunched, her stomach a ball of nerves. She swallowed multiple times to keep from crying. She was sick of crying. She'd never cried so much in her life as much as she had the past month. She used to pride herself in not being a crier. But now? Hell, half the time she couldn't even help it. Puppies made her cry...marshmallows made her cry....
Taylor's silence damn near killed her.
She knew she needed to tell him. She needed to just blurt it out. All of it. 'I love you and we're having a baby.' Just out in the open. Except his mood was so fickle, she was afraid that even telling him something good would cause him to lose his temper. She tried to time it just right.
She watched him walk back into the room, more logs in his arms. He looked so hot, she couldn't take her eyes off of him. Another thing she was noticing about herself was that, when she wasn't nauseous or craving food or crying over laundry detergent commercials, she was turned on ALL the time. And aside from his sour mood and impossible stubbornness, she'd looked at Taylor as if he were nothing more than a hunk of meat--and she couldn't wait to sink her teeth in.
As he loaded more wood into the rack, she let out a breath. "Tay, we need to talk..."
"We'll talk when I'm not busy." Then he stood and put his hands on his hips as he looked around. "And I have a lot to do."
Her eyes fell back into her tea. Then she put it down on the coffee table. "Um, I wanna go change into my slippers..."
"Your stuff's upstairs in the bedroom," he said, waving her off nonchalantly as he readjusted the firewood on the hearth. "Don't mind the mess," he muttered. "I didn't get a chance to clean."
Winn was confused. "Uh, mess?"
"Yeah. There's, I dunno, clothes in the floor and shit."
Winn's eyes widened and she blinked. "Oh. You mean--my stuff's in your room?"
He stood up and he looked at her as if she were contagious. "Yeah. Where did you think you were gonna sleep? You know, unless you don't want to sleep with me, either. We can just add that to the growing list of things I'm learning today. If you want, you can move into one of the downstairs guest bedrooms since staying as far away from me as possible seems to be your number one priority in life right now." Then he shook his head and went back to work on the hearth. "Do whatever you want, I don't care."
She looked at him as his back turned to her and she rose from the couch. She'd really messed up, staying away from him for so long. He was harboring a lot of resentment, apparently. And as unfair as she felt it was, she allowed him to take it out on her. And she knew she did it because she felt incredibly guilty and she was willing to do whatever it took to make him feel better. And if that meant being his punching bag for a few minutes well, then, she'd take the punches.
She tiptoed up the staircase, that was freestanding across the living room, as if she were afraid to provoke him with the sound of her feet. She stopped at the balcony across from his bedroom door and she glanced down at him in just enough time to watch him turn his head away from her. Glowering at the back of his head, she crossed the balcony and stepped into his bedroom.
It was a large room, dimly lit, the drapes closed, and a dim lamp shining by the side of the bed he slept on. To her immediate left was a walk-in closet and then the bathroom on the same wall across from the bed. The queen-sized bed sat in the middle of the room and to the far right of the room was a small area set off by itself with a couple of arm chairs and a small round table between them that faced the window.
He wasn't kidding about the mess, but that took a backseat to her curiosity for the moment as she crossed the room and opened the thick drapes that covered the window. She gasped as the bright light from outside shone in the room and the snow fell hard in large flakes outside the window as she looked out onto blankets of white snow as far as the eye could see. She could sit at this window forever as long as the weather continued to do beautiful things.
Then she felt the boots on her feet and she was brought back to reality. Now that the window was open, and more light flowed into the room, she spied her suitcase next to one of the armchairs beside her. Quickly she sat down and pulled out her ridiculously large, white bunny slippers and smiled as she slid them on her now bare feet. It was the small joys in life. The small joys.
As her toes squished into the comfy padding of her slippers, she walked back into the middle of Taylor's bedroom. The first thing she noticed was how it looked as if he'd wrestled a bear in the middle of the night. God, was he one of THOSE sleepers? If he was a kicker and a cover-stealer, she might have to take him up on his offer of one of the guest bedrooms...
In spite of herself, she found herself sitting on the edge of his side of the bed by the end table and she looked around for a moment. She turned her body and she looked at his pillow beside her. And then, with a little less shame than she maybe should have shown, she picked up his pillow and she pressed it against her face and breathed it in. Then she closed her eyes and she smiled and she hugged it against her chest. It smelled like him. She loved the way he smelled. He smelled of faint musk with a hint of shampoo mixed in with his natural scent. And then she opened her eyes and looked around the room again, still smiling. 'Let him be mad for now,' she decided. 'Because he won't be mad for long and then he'll feel like an idiot. Serves him right for acting this way.' So she decided to let his foul mood roll off her back and go about her business.
Which, at the moment, her business became cleaning this sty. Don't mind the mess, her ass. It was a little more than a few articles of clothing in the floor. No. There were clothes ALL OVER the floor, multiple cameras hanging from the bedposts and the closet doorknob. So she started by sorting clothes. Hanging ones that were still clean, tossing dirty ones into a pile. She gathered his cameras and found a nifty cubby-hole organizer in the walk-in closet that she fit each one snuggly into. She sorted his shoes out in his closet--Jesus, was it normal for a man to own this many pair of shoes? She tore all the bedding off of the bed, adjusted the sheets and then remade the bed neatly, fluffing the pillows and arranging them neatly against the headboard.
Then she tackled the mess that was his bedside table. Apparently he had allergies? Man, she had so much to learn. The table was covered in medicine packaging for sinus congestion, headache--hell, maybe he wouldn't be sick all the time if he dusted a little. And maybe got a real diagnosis from a doctor instead of living on this over-the-counter crap. She cleaned up the trash, compiled what was left of his meds in a neat...pile...near his lamp, snapped his glasses back into their case, placed his eye drops near the rest of the medication, and dusted off the table. She wanted to giggle when she looked at the alarm clock. That thing had to be at least a decade old. And if it wasn't, then she giggled harder. Who used an alarm clock nowadays? She guessed she couldn't rag on him too much. He DID help her put up a Christmas tree furnished with vintage, decades-old decorations from Salvation Army. She decided to keep her queries to herself. And turn off the alarm. He had it set, but he wouldn't be needing it.
His bathroom nearly made her cry. At least the facilities were clean, so she was grateful for that. But his countertop was atrocious and she threw away empty bottles of product, a flattened tube of toothpaste, and wiped the counter clean. The rest of his house wasn't nearly this bad. Not even his kitchen. It was like he LIVED upstairs and merely visited downstairs. She was beginning to see what a workaholic hermit he really was.
She stood in the middle of the bedroom once again and looked around, pleased with herself. She smiled at her surroundings. It was a nice room. And then she spied her suitcase in the same place where she left it and she scowled. She didn't know how long she was staying or how long the snowstorm was going to last and how long they'd be snowed in or whichever came first. But she wasn't going to live out of a suitcase, either. So, she spied the chest of drawers, opened up the top one, cleaned it out and shifted his clothes elsewhere, and moved herself in. She didn't really care what he had to say about it. He would get over his pissy mood soon and it didn't seem like he wanted to kick her out of his bedroom, so she went with it.
Winn held on to the railing of the stairs as she descended in her oversized fluffy bunny slippers. If those didn't make him crack a smile, it was hopeless.
And hopeless, it was. Apparently he was content with brooding. He was still crouched down in front of the fireplace. And she knew she'd been upstairs for awhile. He'd obviously been in and out because now his coat was gone and he only sported a gray sweater and jeans. He didn't even look at her as she came down the stairs.
She sat back on the couch in her previous spot and she leaned over, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand as she watched Taylor poke and prod at the fireplace. It wasn't lighting and he was getting frustrated. The show he was putting on was beginning to get old.
"We don't NEED a fire," she mumbled matter-of-factly. "If you do that now, you're gonna feel like a fool when the power actually DOES go out and we've used up good resources."
"I already DO feel like a fool, Winn," he spat as he stopped what he was doing and stared into the fireplace. "Every time you open your mouth I feel like a fucking fool. So will you just let me sit here and make my goddamn fire? Is that too much to ask?"
"Is shutting your mouth and LISTENING to me too much for ME to ask? Or is it just that much more enjoyable to wallow in your own self-pity? Because you're right, you've got way too much house here for me to stick around for THAT."
"Whatever," he muttered as he stoked the unlit firewood. "Do what you want."
"Stop it."
"Just--just let me think..."
Sighing, she stood up from the couch and she walked over to him, crouching down behind him and sliding her arms around his shoulders, leaning her face into his ear. "Tay, STOP," she said firmly.
Defeated, he let out an exasperated sigh and tossed the metal poker forcefully onto the stone hearth.
"I love you," she whispered. He turned his head toward her and she kissed his cheek gently. "So much. And I know you know I do. And I'm sorry it took me so long and I'm sorry I pushed you away, but--we both had our own things to take care of. We both needed that time."
"Winn, I don't--I don't really know how to feel right now, to be honest--"
She tightened her arms around his shoulders and held him tighter. "The baby is yours, Tay. It's not his. And--and I love you, but I hate how you jump to conclusions the way you do. I need you to--to listen more and talk less. Then we can avoid situations like this one, where you're brooding all day and--"
"Go back to the part where the baby's mine."
"We're having a baby," she repeated quietly. "We're having a baby and--and I'm scared. But I'm SO happy. All wrapped up into one, it's kind of surreal."
Taylor was silent and Winn's heart pounded. Then, underneath her, he turned his body around to face her. "Are you sure?"
She found herself smiling as she reached for his hand. "Come on. Come sit with me and we'll talk." When he hesitated and looked back at the fireplace, she stood up and she tugged on his hand a little bit. "Don't worry about that, we don't need a fire right now. I'll keep you warm."
Reluctantly, he stood and allowed her to lead him to the couch, where she sat against the arm of it and bent her knees, leaving a gap in between them. She patted the upholstery in front of her. "Sit right here."
He narrowed his eyes at her and he did as she said and she pulled him back against her and wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders. "There," she said. "Better to do this now before I can't do it anymore."
"What in the HELL do you have on your feet?"
She lifted her feet and danced her slippers around a little. "Aren't they adorable? Everyone needs bunny slippers. I'm gonna get some for the baby just like these. Even if it's a boy, I don't care what you have to say about it."
"Yeah, about that..."
"Oh, yes. That. Well...'twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house...not a creature was stirring...except for the two having a naughty romp in the sack."
For the first time since she'd seen him that day, Taylor laughed. He hooked his elbows around her knees and let his arms rest there. "Winn," he said when he calmed down.
She grew serious again. "I'm due September 20. Based on the math the doctor did with me, based on the first day of my last period, my projected conception dates are between December 24 and January first." She hugged him tighter and rested her cheek against the side of his head. "I haven't, um, done anything since you."
Taylor was silent for a moment. Then he rested his head back against her shoulder and he paused in thought. "Yeah, but--that's just conception. That egg could have come from--"
"The last time Ike and I...you know...was the day before I got my period. It was the last time, too. After that, I ovulated, had sex with you and bam. Here we are. You knocked me up, Tay. It's official."
"It just--it just doesn't seem right...how far along are you?"
"Goddammit, Tay, Ike pulled out. Okay? Every time. He was...he was very careful. Unlike you, who...didn't. It's your baby. Period. Get used to it." Then she calmed down and she tightened her arms around him. "I'm five weeks."
"It's been five weeks since Christmas..."
"Ding ding! We have a winner. Tell him what he's won! Well, Mr. Hanson, you've won yourself a bouncing baby...something! Congratulations!"
"Okay, okay," he chuckled. "You can stop being an asshole now."
"I'm not the one who was an asshole today."
Taylor sighed and took hold of one of her hands as it rested on his chest close to his neck. "I know...I know...I just...I've learned to expect the worst, I guess. And then I just...react..."
"Ike and I are still friends," she said quietly. "We, uh, we patched things up."
"I know."
"I understand if that's weird."
"It's...a little unnerving...I mean, not that you're friends NOW, just that...you know...I mean, what did you even see in that guy anyway?"
Winn scoffed a laugh. " 'That guy' is your brother."
"You know what I mean."
"Do we really need to go into this?"
"Well--I mean--I don't know, I just--you seemed to cling to him, like--like something there just--blocked your vision of...of me."
She hugged him tighter and leaned her face closer to his. "My vision of you was perfect," she said quietly. "I was just afraid of it. You and I had such a good thing going that I was so afraid to mess it up. And Ike and I, we--we understood each other. To an extent. But he and I were--deep down we both knew it wasn't going to happen from the start. We were like...scapegoats for each other. When life got weird, at least we weren't alone."
"You weren't alone, you had me."
"I liked him. I mean, I'm sorry, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. And I didn't know any better. To be honest, I thought you weren't interested--"
"What?" He said, turning his head and shifting his body to look over his shoulder. "Are you serious?"
Winn shrugged a shoulder. "You never asked me out on a date. And the only time you ever showed any real interest in me was when we were drunk."
"You're crazy."
"I'm serious. Think about it. That was all you had to do. 'Hey, Winn, you wanna grab a cup of coffee with me?' 'Would you like to have dinner with me?' 'Can I take you to lunch?' Very simple. But you never did, so I assumed you weren't interested. And Ike was there and he was nice and...well, the rest is history."
"You gotta be kidding me..."
"Nope. Totally serious. All you had to do was ask me out and things would have gone a lot differently. But...I liked being your friend. We had fun. It was nice, I wouldn't trade any of it."
"You're still my friend," he said. "I mean it's...it's a little weird, yeah. It probably will be for awhile. But, uh, Ike and I made up today--"
Winn smiled. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "Yeah, we, uh, he apologized to me, said some things...it was really nice to hear. I think--I think we might be back on track. And we haven't been on track for a long time."
"I'm glad," she whispered.
"Me, too. Did you, uh, tell him you're pregnant? What does he think?"
"He knows."
"Wow. Who else knew before me?"
"Just my mother and Kate. It's not like I volunteered the info to him or anything. He busted me. I wasn't gonna tell him."
"So...he knows it's not his?"
"Yeah, he knows. And he's glad for it, too. And, um...so am I." She let out a breath. "Look. I know this is a lot to take in. We've kinda been through it and this is all just very sudden, but--Tay, as soon as the doctor did the math for me and I realized it was yours, a part of me leapt for joy on the inside. I was happy. I'm still happy. And it's okay if you're nervous or if you need a little time to process it. It's--it's even okay if--if, you know, you're not ready to--"
"So, you haven't had sex in a month, huh?" He said, changing the subject and running a hand over her jeans. "Neither have I."
Winn found herself giggling and hitting him playfully. "I know you haven't."
"What?" He said defensively. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Come on," she replied. "Seriously."
"I'm serious. You don't know. For all you know, that could be why I skipped town. Maybe I have skeletons in my closet you don't know about. Maybe I lead a secret double life with a very lucrative...pimping...business...for--for all you know, I could have been getting laid every single DAY for the past month. Okay?"
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "Except pimping isn't getting laid every day. It's just collecting money while other guys get their kicks."
"Hey. Maybe...maybe I test out my merchandise. I mean, if my name's on it, it's gotta be quality."
Winn couldn't help herself. She laughed. Hard. Tears formed in her eyes. "Oh god, please," she wheezed. "Please tell me what the name of this business is!"
Taylor was chuckling, too. "Hanson Hoes 'R' Us. How have you not heard of it?"
"Oh my god," she said, her laugh calming down. Then she shook her head. "Yeah, I don't see that becoming the family business around here."
"That's a shame. I was hoping to make you my main hoe. I mean, I already tested the merchandise, everything seems to be in working order..."
"You got that right," she smiled. "Apparently I was so good, you had to make sure EVERYTHING was in working order."
The laughing subsided and the pair grew quiet. Finally, he said quietly. "I got lost that night. In everything. You're right, you were that good. And, I'm sorry, I couldn't control myself there in the end. I didn't mean to--"
"Don't apologize," she whispered. "That was the most magical night of my life. I knew it at that moment."
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Taylor was in heaven. On cloud nine. Even despite the slight uneasiness he felt about the news he'd gotten. The truth was, he knew nothing about the nature of Isaac's and Winn's relationship. He didn't know if they had sex once or twice or every single day. He had no idea. But apparently it was infrequent enough to go a week or two without it and ultimately result in Taylor fathering Winn's child.
For the time being, he lay there and enjoyed the closeness. Wrapped up in Winn's arms was the one place he'd dreamed of being since the day he met her. And now he was, and he was every bit as content and intoxicated as he knew he would be. There was no place on Earth he'd rather be. Except...
The talk about their night on Christmas Eve invoked images in his mind that began to turn him on. He thought about that night constantly, morning, noon, and night. Lately, that memory was what he lived for. The moment where he felt her in his veins, the moment he knew she loved him, too. And now that he'd finally heard her say it...
He sat up and then he turned around and wrapped one of her bunny-slippered feet around his waist as he rested his body against hers. He moved her hair away from her face and he kissed her, his hips strategically grinding against her. He kissed her deeper and let his hand trail from her face down to her hip as his hand gripped her side a little tighter. After a moment, he broke their kiss and he whispered, "You wanna go upstairs?"
"Um, upstairs?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "Upstairs. To the bedroom."
"The bedroom?" She squeaked.
He smirked at her. "Surely you're not being shy NOW."
"No, I just...I don't want to go upstairs and kill the mood."
He furrowed his brow at her. "Going upstairs would not kill the mood..."
"It might if you saw that I did up there."
"You cleaned, didn't you? Is that why you were up there so long?"
"I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. Please don't be offended."
"Well, offended isn't the word. A little embarrassed maybe."
"Oh," she said sadly. "I'm so sorry..."
Then he smirked at her. "Guess that means you owe me."
"On the contrary," she argued. "I cleaned your room. You owe ME."
"So let's go upstairs and let me make good on that."
He started in on her neck, pulling the material of her collar down for better access, when she giggled and pushed him away. "Hold on a minute, now. You can't just--just take me upstairs like that. We haven't even been out on a date, yet!"
"Really? You sure weren't worried about a date last month when my hand was between your--"
"That was different," she said, shaking her hair from her shoulder and blinking her eyes. "That was--that was a gift."
Taylor scoffed a laugh at her and looked at her. "A gift? Wow..."
"Yes. A gift. I don't know what kind of woman you think I am, but I at least expect dinner before I go crawling into bed with random men."
"Oh," Taylor nodded. "I see. But letting random men impregnate you is no biggie."
Winn smiled, stars in her eyes. "Oh, but that was a completely different situation. If you'd have seen that man, you'd have let him impregnate you, too. He was SO sexy--"
Taylor smiled. "Yeah?"
"Oh yeah. So sexy. He knew exactly how to touch me, exactly how to talk to me...he did EVERYTHING right..."
He bit his lip as he watched her swoon. Having his ego stroked like that was a huge turn-on. He loved how she wanted him. But he decided to play along. "I bet I'm better than him."
"I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "He was amazing..."
He kissed her again, hard, and he moaned into her mouth. Then he sat up and took her by the hand. "Come on."
"Tay," she objected with a laugh. "Come on, I'm serious. Make an honest woman out of me! Ask me out."
He huffed. "Winifred, it is snowing outside. We cannot get out of the garage. Please stop being so difficult and kindly accompany me up the staircase."
She shook her head regretfully. "That's not a very good pickup line..."
He looked at her for a moment, witnessing the sparkle in her eye, and then he decided to play her game. "Okay, then." He cleared his throat. "Winn? Do you, um, you wanna go out with me tonight?"
She bit her lip and she grinned, nodding. "I thought you'd never ask." Then she muttered, "Literally..."
He scowled at her.
"So where are we going?" She asked eagerly.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah. You asked me out, what's the plan?"
He sat there and he looked around in thought. "Um...I dunno...dinner...maybe a movie or some music...a walk in the snow..."
Her eyes lit up and she nodded rapidly. "Yes. Yes, I'll go out with you, I love it! When are you picking me up?"
Taylor chuckled and he shook his head. "You gotta be kidding--"
"I gotta know when I need to be ready."
"I don't know," he said, throwing a hand up in defeat. "A few hours, maybe? I'll call you."
She giggled and she pulled him back down on top of her by his collar. "Good. That gives me a little extra time before I have to start getting ready."
He smiled as he kissed her again and then, suddenly, she froze, her body tensing up underneath him. Her eyes snapped open. "Get up," she commanded.
Taylor was caught off guard. "Do what?"
She started to push him away. "Get up. Get off me." When he didn't move fast enough, she grew impatient. "Tay, I said get OFF of me!"
When he moved, she darted out from underneath him and ran into the downstairs bathroom underneath the staircase. She hadn't gotten the door shut all the way before he could hear her throwing up into the toilet. He let out a breath and wiped his brow with his palm. All of a sudden, it all became very real--they were pregnant.
For the first time since she'd met him, Taylor made Winn nervous. He didn't say much. He made her a cup of hot tea and then he'd set to work, bringing wood in from the garage and placing it in a rack on the hearth of his beautiful stone fireplace. The power was still on and the house felt fine, so a fire really wasn't necessary. Winn suspected that the busier he kept himself, the less he would have to speak.
Attempting to break the ice, she asked quietly, "Is there, uh, anything you need me to do?"
"No," he replied curtly. Then he stood up and he headed back to the garage.
Winn gripped her hot mug without drinking any of the tea. She didn't have an appetite, though the hot liquid smelled amazing. She sat there on the edge of the couch, her knees tight together, her shoulders slightly hunched, her stomach a ball of nerves. She swallowed multiple times to keep from crying. She was sick of crying. She'd never cried so much in her life as much as she had the past month. She used to pride herself in not being a crier. But now? Hell, half the time she couldn't even help it. Puppies made her cry...marshmallows made her cry....
Taylor's silence damn near killed her.
She knew she needed to tell him. She needed to just blurt it out. All of it. 'I love you and we're having a baby.' Just out in the open. Except his mood was so fickle, she was afraid that even telling him something good would cause him to lose his temper. She tried to time it just right.
She watched him walk back into the room, more logs in his arms. He looked so hot, she couldn't take her eyes off of him. Another thing she was noticing about herself was that, when she wasn't nauseous or craving food or crying over laundry detergent commercials, she was turned on ALL the time. And aside from his sour mood and impossible stubbornness, she'd looked at Taylor as if he were nothing more than a hunk of meat--and she couldn't wait to sink her teeth in.
As he loaded more wood into the rack, she let out a breath. "Tay, we need to talk..."
"We'll talk when I'm not busy." Then he stood and put his hands on his hips as he looked around. "And I have a lot to do."
Her eyes fell back into her tea. Then she put it down on the coffee table. "Um, I wanna go change into my slippers..."
"Your stuff's upstairs in the bedroom," he said, waving her off nonchalantly as he readjusted the firewood on the hearth. "Don't mind the mess," he muttered. "I didn't get a chance to clean."
Winn was confused. "Uh, mess?"
"Yeah. There's, I dunno, clothes in the floor and shit."
Winn's eyes widened and she blinked. "Oh. You mean--my stuff's in your room?"
He stood up and he looked at her as if she were contagious. "Yeah. Where did you think you were gonna sleep? You know, unless you don't want to sleep with me, either. We can just add that to the growing list of things I'm learning today. If you want, you can move into one of the downstairs guest bedrooms since staying as far away from me as possible seems to be your number one priority in life right now." Then he shook his head and went back to work on the hearth. "Do whatever you want, I don't care."
She looked at him as his back turned to her and she rose from the couch. She'd really messed up, staying away from him for so long. He was harboring a lot of resentment, apparently. And as unfair as she felt it was, she allowed him to take it out on her. And she knew she did it because she felt incredibly guilty and she was willing to do whatever it took to make him feel better. And if that meant being his punching bag for a few minutes well, then, she'd take the punches.
She tiptoed up the staircase, that was freestanding across the living room, as if she were afraid to provoke him with the sound of her feet. She stopped at the balcony across from his bedroom door and she glanced down at him in just enough time to watch him turn his head away from her. Glowering at the back of his head, she crossed the balcony and stepped into his bedroom.
It was a large room, dimly lit, the drapes closed, and a dim lamp shining by the side of the bed he slept on. To her immediate left was a walk-in closet and then the bathroom on the same wall across from the bed. The queen-sized bed sat in the middle of the room and to the far right of the room was a small area set off by itself with a couple of arm chairs and a small round table between them that faced the window.
He wasn't kidding about the mess, but that took a backseat to her curiosity for the moment as she crossed the room and opened the thick drapes that covered the window. She gasped as the bright light from outside shone in the room and the snow fell hard in large flakes outside the window as she looked out onto blankets of white snow as far as the eye could see. She could sit at this window forever as long as the weather continued to do beautiful things.
Then she felt the boots on her feet and she was brought back to reality. Now that the window was open, and more light flowed into the room, she spied her suitcase next to one of the armchairs beside her. Quickly she sat down and pulled out her ridiculously large, white bunny slippers and smiled as she slid them on her now bare feet. It was the small joys in life. The small joys.
As her toes squished into the comfy padding of her slippers, she walked back into the middle of Taylor's bedroom. The first thing she noticed was how it looked as if he'd wrestled a bear in the middle of the night. God, was he one of THOSE sleepers? If he was a kicker and a cover-stealer, she might have to take him up on his offer of one of the guest bedrooms...
In spite of herself, she found herself sitting on the edge of his side of the bed by the end table and she looked around for a moment. She turned her body and she looked at his pillow beside her. And then, with a little less shame than she maybe should have shown, she picked up his pillow and she pressed it against her face and breathed it in. Then she closed her eyes and she smiled and she hugged it against her chest. It smelled like him. She loved the way he smelled. He smelled of faint musk with a hint of shampoo mixed in with his natural scent. And then she opened her eyes and looked around the room again, still smiling. 'Let him be mad for now,' she decided. 'Because he won't be mad for long and then he'll feel like an idiot. Serves him right for acting this way.' So she decided to let his foul mood roll off her back and go about her business.
Which, at the moment, her business became cleaning this sty. Don't mind the mess, her ass. It was a little more than a few articles of clothing in the floor. No. There were clothes ALL OVER the floor, multiple cameras hanging from the bedposts and the closet doorknob. So she started by sorting clothes. Hanging ones that were still clean, tossing dirty ones into a pile. She gathered his cameras and found a nifty cubby-hole organizer in the walk-in closet that she fit each one snuggly into. She sorted his shoes out in his closet--Jesus, was it normal for a man to own this many pair of shoes? She tore all the bedding off of the bed, adjusted the sheets and then remade the bed neatly, fluffing the pillows and arranging them neatly against the headboard.
Then she tackled the mess that was his bedside table. Apparently he had allergies? Man, she had so much to learn. The table was covered in medicine packaging for sinus congestion, headache--hell, maybe he wouldn't be sick all the time if he dusted a little. And maybe got a real diagnosis from a doctor instead of living on this over-the-counter crap. She cleaned up the trash, compiled what was left of his meds in a neat...pile...near his lamp, snapped his glasses back into their case, placed his eye drops near the rest of the medication, and dusted off the table. She wanted to giggle when she looked at the alarm clock. That thing had to be at least a decade old. And if it wasn't, then she giggled harder. Who used an alarm clock nowadays? She guessed she couldn't rag on him too much. He DID help her put up a Christmas tree furnished with vintage, decades-old decorations from Salvation Army. She decided to keep her queries to herself. And turn off the alarm. He had it set, but he wouldn't be needing it.
His bathroom nearly made her cry. At least the facilities were clean, so she was grateful for that. But his countertop was atrocious and she threw away empty bottles of product, a flattened tube of toothpaste, and wiped the counter clean. The rest of his house wasn't nearly this bad. Not even his kitchen. It was like he LIVED upstairs and merely visited downstairs. She was beginning to see what a workaholic hermit he really was.
She stood in the middle of the bedroom once again and looked around, pleased with herself. She smiled at her surroundings. It was a nice room. And then she spied her suitcase in the same place where she left it and she scowled. She didn't know how long she was staying or how long the snowstorm was going to last and how long they'd be snowed in or whichever came first. But she wasn't going to live out of a suitcase, either. So, she spied the chest of drawers, opened up the top one, cleaned it out and shifted his clothes elsewhere, and moved herself in. She didn't really care what he had to say about it. He would get over his pissy mood soon and it didn't seem like he wanted to kick her out of his bedroom, so she went with it.
Winn held on to the railing of the stairs as she descended in her oversized fluffy bunny slippers. If those didn't make him crack a smile, it was hopeless.
And hopeless, it was. Apparently he was content with brooding. He was still crouched down in front of the fireplace. And she knew she'd been upstairs for awhile. He'd obviously been in and out because now his coat was gone and he only sported a gray sweater and jeans. He didn't even look at her as she came down the stairs.
She sat back on the couch in her previous spot and she leaned over, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand as she watched Taylor poke and prod at the fireplace. It wasn't lighting and he was getting frustrated. The show he was putting on was beginning to get old.
"We don't NEED a fire," she mumbled matter-of-factly. "If you do that now, you're gonna feel like a fool when the power actually DOES go out and we've used up good resources."
"I already DO feel like a fool, Winn," he spat as he stopped what he was doing and stared into the fireplace. "Every time you open your mouth I feel like a fucking fool. So will you just let me sit here and make my goddamn fire? Is that too much to ask?"
"Is shutting your mouth and LISTENING to me too much for ME to ask? Or is it just that much more enjoyable to wallow in your own self-pity? Because you're right, you've got way too much house here for me to stick around for THAT."
"Whatever," he muttered as he stoked the unlit firewood. "Do what you want."
"Stop it."
"Just--just let me think..."
Sighing, she stood up from the couch and she walked over to him, crouching down behind him and sliding her arms around his shoulders, leaning her face into his ear. "Tay, STOP," she said firmly.
Defeated, he let out an exasperated sigh and tossed the metal poker forcefully onto the stone hearth.
"I love you," she whispered. He turned his head toward her and she kissed his cheek gently. "So much. And I know you know I do. And I'm sorry it took me so long and I'm sorry I pushed you away, but--we both had our own things to take care of. We both needed that time."
"Winn, I don't--I don't really know how to feel right now, to be honest--"
She tightened her arms around his shoulders and held him tighter. "The baby is yours, Tay. It's not his. And--and I love you, but I hate how you jump to conclusions the way you do. I need you to--to listen more and talk less. Then we can avoid situations like this one, where you're brooding all day and--"
"Go back to the part where the baby's mine."
"We're having a baby," she repeated quietly. "We're having a baby and--and I'm scared. But I'm SO happy. All wrapped up into one, it's kind of surreal."
Taylor was silent and Winn's heart pounded. Then, underneath her, he turned his body around to face her. "Are you sure?"
She found herself smiling as she reached for his hand. "Come on. Come sit with me and we'll talk." When he hesitated and looked back at the fireplace, she stood up and she tugged on his hand a little bit. "Don't worry about that, we don't need a fire right now. I'll keep you warm."
Reluctantly, he stood and allowed her to lead him to the couch, where she sat against the arm of it and bent her knees, leaving a gap in between them. She patted the upholstery in front of her. "Sit right here."
He narrowed his eyes at her and he did as she said and she pulled him back against her and wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders. "There," she said. "Better to do this now before I can't do it anymore."
"What in the HELL do you have on your feet?"
She lifted her feet and danced her slippers around a little. "Aren't they adorable? Everyone needs bunny slippers. I'm gonna get some for the baby just like these. Even if it's a boy, I don't care what you have to say about it."
"Yeah, about that..."
"Oh, yes. That. Well...'twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house...not a creature was stirring...except for the two having a naughty romp in the sack."
For the first time since she'd seen him that day, Taylor laughed. He hooked his elbows around her knees and let his arms rest there. "Winn," he said when he calmed down.
She grew serious again. "I'm due September 20. Based on the math the doctor did with me, based on the first day of my last period, my projected conception dates are between December 24 and January first." She hugged him tighter and rested her cheek against the side of his head. "I haven't, um, done anything since you."
Taylor was silent for a moment. Then he rested his head back against her shoulder and he paused in thought. "Yeah, but--that's just conception. That egg could have come from--"
"The last time Ike and I...you know...was the day before I got my period. It was the last time, too. After that, I ovulated, had sex with you and bam. Here we are. You knocked me up, Tay. It's official."
"It just--it just doesn't seem right...how far along are you?"
"Goddammit, Tay, Ike pulled out. Okay? Every time. He was...he was very careful. Unlike you, who...didn't. It's your baby. Period. Get used to it." Then she calmed down and she tightened her arms around him. "I'm five weeks."
"It's been five weeks since Christmas..."
"Ding ding! We have a winner. Tell him what he's won! Well, Mr. Hanson, you've won yourself a bouncing baby...something! Congratulations!"
"Okay, okay," he chuckled. "You can stop being an asshole now."
"I'm not the one who was an asshole today."
Taylor sighed and took hold of one of her hands as it rested on his chest close to his neck. "I know...I know...I just...I've learned to expect the worst, I guess. And then I just...react..."
"Ike and I are still friends," she said quietly. "We, uh, we patched things up."
"I know."
"I understand if that's weird."
"It's...a little unnerving...I mean, not that you're friends NOW, just that...you know...I mean, what did you even see in that guy anyway?"
Winn scoffed a laugh. " 'That guy' is your brother."
"You know what I mean."
"Do we really need to go into this?"
"Well--I mean--I don't know, I just--you seemed to cling to him, like--like something there just--blocked your vision of...of me."
She hugged him tighter and leaned her face closer to his. "My vision of you was perfect," she said quietly. "I was just afraid of it. You and I had such a good thing going that I was so afraid to mess it up. And Ike and I, we--we understood each other. To an extent. But he and I were--deep down we both knew it wasn't going to happen from the start. We were like...scapegoats for each other. When life got weird, at least we weren't alone."
"You weren't alone, you had me."
"I liked him. I mean, I'm sorry, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. And I didn't know any better. To be honest, I thought you weren't interested--"
"What?" He said, turning his head and shifting his body to look over his shoulder. "Are you serious?"
Winn shrugged a shoulder. "You never asked me out on a date. And the only time you ever showed any real interest in me was when we were drunk."
"You're crazy."
"I'm serious. Think about it. That was all you had to do. 'Hey, Winn, you wanna grab a cup of coffee with me?' 'Would you like to have dinner with me?' 'Can I take you to lunch?' Very simple. But you never did, so I assumed you weren't interested. And Ike was there and he was nice and...well, the rest is history."
"You gotta be kidding me..."
"Nope. Totally serious. All you had to do was ask me out and things would have gone a lot differently. But...I liked being your friend. We had fun. It was nice, I wouldn't trade any of it."
"You're still my friend," he said. "I mean it's...it's a little weird, yeah. It probably will be for awhile. But, uh, Ike and I made up today--"
Winn smiled. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "Yeah, we, uh, he apologized to me, said some things...it was really nice to hear. I think--I think we might be back on track. And we haven't been on track for a long time."
"I'm glad," she whispered.
"Me, too. Did you, uh, tell him you're pregnant? What does he think?"
"He knows."
"Wow. Who else knew before me?"
"Just my mother and Kate. It's not like I volunteered the info to him or anything. He busted me. I wasn't gonna tell him."
"So...he knows it's not his?"
"Yeah, he knows. And he's glad for it, too. And, um...so am I." She let out a breath. "Look. I know this is a lot to take in. We've kinda been through it and this is all just very sudden, but--Tay, as soon as the doctor did the math for me and I realized it was yours, a part of me leapt for joy on the inside. I was happy. I'm still happy. And it's okay if you're nervous or if you need a little time to process it. It's--it's even okay if--if, you know, you're not ready to--"
"So, you haven't had sex in a month, huh?" He said, changing the subject and running a hand over her jeans. "Neither have I."
Winn found herself giggling and hitting him playfully. "I know you haven't."
"What?" He said defensively. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Come on," she replied. "Seriously."
"I'm serious. You don't know. For all you know, that could be why I skipped town. Maybe I have skeletons in my closet you don't know about. Maybe I lead a secret double life with a very lucrative...pimping...business...for--for all you know, I could have been getting laid every single DAY for the past month. Okay?"
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "Except pimping isn't getting laid every day. It's just collecting money while other guys get their kicks."
"Hey. Maybe...maybe I test out my merchandise. I mean, if my name's on it, it's gotta be quality."
Winn couldn't help herself. She laughed. Hard. Tears formed in her eyes. "Oh god, please," she wheezed. "Please tell me what the name of this business is!"
Taylor was chuckling, too. "Hanson Hoes 'R' Us. How have you not heard of it?"
"Oh my god," she said, her laugh calming down. Then she shook her head. "Yeah, I don't see that becoming the family business around here."
"That's a shame. I was hoping to make you my main hoe. I mean, I already tested the merchandise, everything seems to be in working order..."
"You got that right," she smiled. "Apparently I was so good, you had to make sure EVERYTHING was in working order."
The laughing subsided and the pair grew quiet. Finally, he said quietly. "I got lost that night. In everything. You're right, you were that good. And, I'm sorry, I couldn't control myself there in the end. I didn't mean to--"
"Don't apologize," she whispered. "That was the most magical night of my life. I knew it at that moment."
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Taylor was in heaven. On cloud nine. Even despite the slight uneasiness he felt about the news he'd gotten. The truth was, he knew nothing about the nature of Isaac's and Winn's relationship. He didn't know if they had sex once or twice or every single day. He had no idea. But apparently it was infrequent enough to go a week or two without it and ultimately result in Taylor fathering Winn's child.
For the time being, he lay there and enjoyed the closeness. Wrapped up in Winn's arms was the one place he'd dreamed of being since the day he met her. And now he was, and he was every bit as content and intoxicated as he knew he would be. There was no place on Earth he'd rather be. Except...
The talk about their night on Christmas Eve invoked images in his mind that began to turn him on. He thought about that night constantly, morning, noon, and night. Lately, that memory was what he lived for. The moment where he felt her in his veins, the moment he knew she loved him, too. And now that he'd finally heard her say it...
He sat up and then he turned around and wrapped one of her bunny-slippered feet around his waist as he rested his body against hers. He moved her hair away from her face and he kissed her, his hips strategically grinding against her. He kissed her deeper and let his hand trail from her face down to her hip as his hand gripped her side a little tighter. After a moment, he broke their kiss and he whispered, "You wanna go upstairs?"
"Um, upstairs?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "Upstairs. To the bedroom."
"The bedroom?" She squeaked.
He smirked at her. "Surely you're not being shy NOW."
"No, I just...I don't want to go upstairs and kill the mood."
He furrowed his brow at her. "Going upstairs would not kill the mood..."
"It might if you saw that I did up there."
"You cleaned, didn't you? Is that why you were up there so long?"
"I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. Please don't be offended."
"Well, offended isn't the word. A little embarrassed maybe."
"Oh," she said sadly. "I'm so sorry..."
Then he smirked at her. "Guess that means you owe me."
"On the contrary," she argued. "I cleaned your room. You owe ME."
"So let's go upstairs and let me make good on that."
He started in on her neck, pulling the material of her collar down for better access, when she giggled and pushed him away. "Hold on a minute, now. You can't just--just take me upstairs like that. We haven't even been out on a date, yet!"
"Really? You sure weren't worried about a date last month when my hand was between your--"
"That was different," she said, shaking her hair from her shoulder and blinking her eyes. "That was--that was a gift."
Taylor scoffed a laugh at her and looked at her. "A gift? Wow..."
"Yes. A gift. I don't know what kind of woman you think I am, but I at least expect dinner before I go crawling into bed with random men."
"Oh," Taylor nodded. "I see. But letting random men impregnate you is no biggie."
Winn smiled, stars in her eyes. "Oh, but that was a completely different situation. If you'd have seen that man, you'd have let him impregnate you, too. He was SO sexy--"
Taylor smiled. "Yeah?"
"Oh yeah. So sexy. He knew exactly how to touch me, exactly how to talk to me...he did EVERYTHING right..."
He bit his lip as he watched her swoon. Having his ego stroked like that was a huge turn-on. He loved how she wanted him. But he decided to play along. "I bet I'm better than him."
"I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "He was amazing..."
He kissed her again, hard, and he moaned into her mouth. Then he sat up and took her by the hand. "Come on."
"Tay," she objected with a laugh. "Come on, I'm serious. Make an honest woman out of me! Ask me out."
He huffed. "Winifred, it is snowing outside. We cannot get out of the garage. Please stop being so difficult and kindly accompany me up the staircase."
She shook her head regretfully. "That's not a very good pickup line..."
He looked at her for a moment, witnessing the sparkle in her eye, and then he decided to play her game. "Okay, then." He cleared his throat. "Winn? Do you, um, you wanna go out with me tonight?"
She bit her lip and she grinned, nodding. "I thought you'd never ask." Then she muttered, "Literally..."
He scowled at her.
"So where are we going?" She asked eagerly.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah. You asked me out, what's the plan?"
He sat there and he looked around in thought. "Um...I dunno...dinner...maybe a movie or some music...a walk in the snow..."
Her eyes lit up and she nodded rapidly. "Yes. Yes, I'll go out with you, I love it! When are you picking me up?"
Taylor chuckled and he shook his head. "You gotta be kidding--"
"I gotta know when I need to be ready."
"I don't know," he said, throwing a hand up in defeat. "A few hours, maybe? I'll call you."
She giggled and she pulled him back down on top of her by his collar. "Good. That gives me a little extra time before I have to start getting ready."
He smiled as he kissed her again and then, suddenly, she froze, her body tensing up underneath him. Her eyes snapped open. "Get up," she commanded.
Taylor was caught off guard. "Do what?"
She started to push him away. "Get up. Get off me." When he didn't move fast enough, she grew impatient. "Tay, I said get OFF of me!"
When he moved, she darted out from underneath him and ran into the downstairs bathroom underneath the staircase. She hadn't gotten the door shut all the way before he could hear her throwing up into the toilet. He let out a breath and wiped his brow with his palm. All of a sudden, it all became very real--they were pregnant.