********
“I know you’re kidding, Mom,” Edward said.
She shook her head. “Nope, you get to sleep on the couch.” She gestured towards the basement couch.
“Let me get this straight, you have a problem with me sharing a room with my pregnant fiancé?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yup, you know the house rules. No unmarried couples share a room,” Eleanor said as she made up the couch for him.
“Stop giving your mom a hard time. It’s fine. I plan on having the same rules for our kids,” Dana said.
He scoffed.
“Do you like the idea of Elizabeth sharing a bed with a boyfriend two doors down from us?”
Edward looked appalled. “That’s different.”
“How?”
“Because she’s my little girl and I’ll kill any boy that touches her,” Edward informed her.
Dana and Eleanor laughed as they said goodnight to him and made their way upstairs. It wasn’t over, far from it. Now that he had a green light from the doctor and ten weeks of fantasies, all featuring Dana, there was no way he was being kept away from her tonight, no way in hell.
She was sleeping in his old room. That would work in his favor. There was a terrace right beneath the window. He already snuck up there an hour ago and unlocked it, knowing his parents were going to do this. They were extremely old fashioned when it came to what happened beneath their roof. They were more than fine with Dana’s pregnancy because they knew more than a month ago that he was going to propose.
He turned the television on and threw a DVD in, knowing that all he had to do was buy some time. The kids were in the guest rooms, Amy was in her old room, and his parents were notorious for going to bed by nine o’clock sharp. He would just wait until eleven, sneak outside, climb into Dana’s room, and show her how much he missed and loved her.
It was only ten o’clock when he couldn’t wait any longer. He left his shirt crumbled on the floor and made his way towards her. Ten weeks was too much to ask of a man when he has someone as incredible in bed as Dana. The things they did made his eyes roll back in his head.
He already knew five things he was going to do with her by the time he snuck out the back door and made his way to the front of the house. He was careful not to make any noise as he made his way around. None of the lights were on except for his old room. It made him smile to think that she was waiting for him. He wouldn’t keep her waiting for long, oh hell no.
Edward carefully climbed up the old terrace. “Ouch!” He winced as a thorn bit into his knee. His mother was trying her hand at gardening, a very recent hobby. He pulled himself up to the window and tested the window by gently pushing it up. It moved. He smiled and pushed it the rest of the way up. Without pausing, he pulled himself through the window and dropped on the floor with a loud “oomph!”
He looked up to see his parents sitting on the edge of his old bed with their arms folded across their chests, staring at him with amused expressions on their faces.
What the hell?
“Pay up,” his father said. He watched as his mother slapped a twenty in his hand.
“How did you know he wouldn’t be able to wait past ten?” she asked grumpily.
“He’s been away for nine weeks and she’s been on bed rest for almost a week.” His father spoke as if he wasn’t in the room. “I knew the doctor gave him the green light by the way he was drooling after her tonight.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t that difficult. I’m more surprised you let me take ten o’clock and even more surprised that you bet he would come up here after one in the morning.”
She looked irritated. “I thought he would use his brain and wait until he thought we were deeply asleep and the kids were asleep before making his way up here.” She narrowed her eyes on Edward. “You just cost me twenty bucks, young man. You’re doing the breakfast dishes in the morning.”
James chuckled. “Thanks son, you just earned me twenty dollars and an easy morning.” He winked.
Edward pulled himself to his feet. “Um, so where’s Dana?” he asked as casually as he could despite the situation.
“She’s sleeping with Cole. He had a nightmare about a half hour ago. He was looking for you, but we told him you were downstairs and he didn’t want to wait,” Eleanor said.
He nodded. “So, she’s asleep with Cole right now-”
“And you’re going to let her sleep. Poor thing’s been through so much, plus she’s carrying two of my grandbabies so you leave her alone and hop in a cold shower,” Eleanor said.
“Mom!” he said shocked.
“Don’t 'Mom' me, young man. You’re lucky I don’t take you over my knee for this little stunt,” she said firmly and he knew without a doubt she would if she got the chance.
“You can sleep here, son. No need to go downstairs. I think Dana’s perfectly safe with Cole by her side,” James said, chuckling. They waited until Eleanor left the room to say anything else.
“Dad, come on,” he pleaded.
James put his hands up in the air. “What can I do?”
“Ten long weeks, Dad, come on, help me out,” Edward said, almost begging.
“Sorry, son, if I help you out I’ll lose twenty dollars in,” he looked at his wrist watch, “I would say three hours, well I don’t think you’ll last two before you try to sneak her out of that room.”
“You’re using my frustration to make money?” he asked, appalled.
“Yes,” he said shamelessly, “See you in the morning, son. Oh, and thanks for doing the dishes for me, I really appreciate that.” He grinned as he closed the door behind him.
Edward dropped on his bed. “Damn it,” he mumbled to himself. There was no way he was going to embarrass himself again and help his Dad make twenty more dollars at his expense. He had more self-respect than that. He closed his eyes, adjusting his painful erection in his pants and fell asleep beyond frustrated.
A small noise woke him up sometime later.
“Oops, sorry, did I wake you?” Dana asked.
He shot up in bed fully awake. “No, of course not.”
He turned on the light above his bed, expecting, hell hoping, she was tearing off her clothes to join him. Instead he found her pulling on her sneakers. She was fully dressed in a tight tee shirt and cargo khaki pants.
“What’s going on?” he asked more than a little baffled. “What time is it?”