Chapter 232

A week later, Richie entered their huge walk-in closet to find Tori, wearing a bra and jeans, frowning at her rack of pants. His gaze flicked over her in appreciation. “What’s wrong angel? Can’t decide what pants to wear?”

She smiled ruefully. “Can’t find any that fit anymore.” When she turned to face him he glanced down and noticed that her jeans were unfastened. She gripped both sides and showed him that the button wouldn’t reach the buttonhole. “Peanut’s growing.”

He grinned and approached her, reached out and curved his warm hand over her now slightly rounded belly. “Mmmhmm, I noticed that a little while ago.” He spent long minutes every night exploring her body and noting every change. His other hand lifted and he ran his fingertips lightly over the flesh swelling above the top edges of her bra. “These are growing too.”

She snorted. “You can hardly wait to see how big they’re going to get can you?”

He waggled his eyebrows and licked his lips. “Looking forward to it!”

She swatted his arm, stepped away and reached for a pair of sweats. Shucking her jeans, she pulled on the sweats and a sweatshirt. He chuckled and reached for his own jeans.



“So how are you feeling?” Karin asked.

Tori leaned back on the couch, propped her feet up on the coffee table and switched the phone to her other hand. “I feel great, but my jeans have finally given up the fight.”

“Won’t stay done up?”

“Stay done up?” Tori snorted. “That would mean that I could get them done up in the first place. Nope, not happening. But I’m not big enough for maternity clothes yet, so I’m hanging out in sweats for now.”

“Well at least you’re comfortable.”

“Yeah, and quite the fashion plate too.”

“Who cares? Who are you worrying about impressing? The vultures? Does Richie care what your clothes look like?”

Tori snorted. “Are you kidding? He’d rather I not wear clothes at all – at least around the house.”

“See, there you go.”

“Yeah, but you don’t live in the land of the beautiful people.”

“Do you really care what they think? That’s not the Tori I know. You’re pregnant. In another couple of months that will be very obvious and anyone who makes a comment about how you look now will look like an idiot.”

“Yeah, I guess. Has Shirley recovered yet?” She changed the subject. She normally didn’t care what people thought about what she was wearing on a casual day. She was always neat and tidy. But this was L.A. and there were always people taking pictures – either paparazzi or fans. For the most part she’d gotten used to it, and it didn’t bother her like it used to, but it did make her more aware of her appearance, knowing that it could show up in a magazine. She no longer left the house without makeup.

“You mean from his self induced flagellation? Yeah, he’s fine. He’s got thick skin to go with that thick skull.”

Tori snickered, then sobered. “I was pretty hard on him. I feel bad that it always seemed that I was taking my temper out on him – well him and an asshole t-shirt supplier.”

Karin snorted. “Don’t feel guilty Tori, he did it on purpose.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he purposely provoked your temper.”

Tori frowned. “But…why would he do that?”

“Because he’d rather deal with your temper than your tears – but you didn’t hear that from me.”

“Gotcha. Hmpf. Men are funny creatures. Richie, on the other hand, would rather deal with the tears. He’s very careful not to ‘poke the bear’ as he calls it. If he sees the temper coming he either cracks a joke or says something to channel my emotions to tears instead. Then he holds me until they stop.”

“Hmmm. He’s even smarter than I thought. Where is he by the way?”

“He went to pick up Ava. It’s our weekend with her.”

“Got any big plans?”

“Oh we’re going to be busy. We’re hosting a sleepover tomorrow night with three of her friends.”

“Richie and a houseful of females. Is he sticking around to help or is he going to run for cover?”

“Are you kidding? He’ll be in his glory. Apparently, eleven year old girls think he’s hilarious. God only knows what he’ll do.”

Suddenly Tori heard the buzz of the gate, followed shortly by the opening of the door, and Ava’s running footsteps. “Tori! Where are you? Tori!” She skidded to a halt in the living room and clapped a hand over her mouth when she saw that Tori was on the phone. “Sorry.” She whispered.

Tori smiled at her and waved her closer.

“Was that Ava or a herd of elephants?” Karin chuckled at the loud noise at the other end of the line.

“Yeah, it’s Ava. I’m still trying to figure out how one young girl can make so much noise just walking.”

“I’ve got big feet like Daddy.” Ava lifted a foot to illustrate her point as she sat down beside Tori. She reached for Tori’s stomach, then hesitated and looked at Tori who smiled, nodded at her and moved her arm out of the way. Lifting the sweatshirt, Ava’s eyes widened at the slight bulge she could see. She looked back at Tori again. Tori winked at her. “Hi Peanut.” Ava kissed the warm skin.

“You know what they say about big feet.” Richie leaned over the back of the couch and murmured in her ear. Tori swatted him.

“I heard that!” Karin informed her. “Tell him to quit bragging. Regardless of what he thinks it’s not all about size.”

“Karin says you should quit bragging and it’s not all about size.” Tori murmured to him. Their eyes met and she grinned.

“She’s just jealous. After all, look what she’s stuck with. Poor girl. She probably has to lend a hand to get any satisfaction at all.”

“RICHIE!” Tori swatted him again, a little harder this time.

“What’d he do?” Ava asked wide eyed.

“Oh he’s just saying some not very nice things about Uncle David.”

“Oh.” Ava quickly lost interest. Verbal sparring matches between her dad and Uncle David were a normal part of life for her.

“Tell him I appreciate his concern, but not to worry, David’s looking after me just fine.”

“I’m sure he is, and I’m sure it’s none of our business, well, none of Richie’s anyway.” They’d always told each other everything. All the gory and the far from gory details. “Unless of course he hurts you, then I’ll have to send Richie to set him straight.”

Richie smiled and kissed her neck. He loved how fiercely protective she was of the ones she loved.

Karin laughed. “I’ll let you know if I need the brute squad sent in. I’d better let you go. I’m heading down to Jersey for the weekend and my ride to the airport will be here in about ten minutes.”

“Have a good weekend. Say hi to Shirley for us..oh wait a minute, Ava wants to say hi.” Tori handed over the phone. “You’ll have to be quick Bean, she’s got to catch a plane.”

“Hi Aunt Charlie.”

“Hi Ava how are you?” Karin had resigned herself to the nickname Richie had pinned on her. By the time she’d left Jon and Dorothea’s at New Year’s even Romeo was calling her ‘Aunt Charlie’. The only ones who didn’t, obviously, were David and his kids.

“I’m good. You should see Tori’s stomach! It’s like a little pot belly!” Her awe and excitement were very clear.

Karin chuckled. “You’ll have to keep watching and let me know how big she gets.”

“I will. I’ll take pictures for you.”

Tori felt Richie’s hands settle on her shoulders. “Peanut’s first photo album, apparently.” She nodded and reached up to squeeze his hand.

Karin chuckled. “You do that Ava. Look sweetie, I really need to run. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Okay. Say hi to Uncle Shirley for me. Bye Aunt Charlie.”

“Bye Ava.”