Falling Apart (On Hold)

Chapter Nineteen

Sorry for short chapter! I'll try to make the next chapter long! There's going to be some more drama in that one. This is dedicated to SinaidKincaid16 for her wonderfully written stories! I bet you all know her :D

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"Hello, Tessa," the attractive, male sonographer said as he smiled at me warmly. "Are you ready for your scan?" he asked, glancing from Cash to me.

It was a week after I told Cash about the baby and he was quick to book me an appointment. But now that we were here and he had seen our sonographer, a scowl took over his face and he put his hand possessively on my lower back.

"We're ready for our scan," he said, putting extra emphasis on 'we're'. I could easily tell it was a warning to the other man to back off.

The sonographer, whose name was Daniel, smiled in understanding. "First child?" he asked.

I nodded in barely contained excitement. "Yup. I'm hoping for a little boy. When can I find out the gender?"

Daniel chuckled. "Fourth to fifth month," he explained. "Now if you would please just lift up your shirt to the underside of your breasts..." he trailed off as he quickly began to gather the things he needed. I blushed at his words, but it was obvious he had uttered them many times. So I began to roll up my shirt only for Cash to stop me quickly.

"You are not going to do that! Why does she even need to?" he demanded, glaring at Daniel.

I bit my lip and couldn't help, but find his possessive streak ridiculously endearing. Daniel glanced over at us and amusement was clear in his eyes. It just seemed to make Cash angrier. "Well, I can't perform the ultrasound with her shirt in the way."

"Isn't there a girl that can take your place?" Cash asked. "It might make Tessa uncomfortable." When it was obvious that he was the only one uncomfortable with the situation.

"Cash, it's okay," I laughed a little. "But please, will you hurry? I want to see our baby."

About ten minutes later, Daniel was pointing out our child which looked more like a blob than a baby. I frowned at it and tilted my head, trying to make out a face or hands or feet or something. "It looks like an alien," I said.

Daniel laughed in obvious amusement, but there was a mixture of shock and something like...pain in Cash's eyes as he stared at our child on the screen. But it disappeared in three seconds flat and a smile took over his face. "My alien," he declared, leaning in to kiss my stomach. He stopped when he realized the gel was still smeared over it and kissed my palm instead.

I stared at Cash fondly and cupped his cheek, bringing his face closer to mine. I could see from my peripheral vision that Daniel was leaving to give us out privacy. I pressed my forehead to my husband's. "You and our alien are my world," I whispered.

-

"Hey, what do you like more? Strawberry or chocolate poptart?" I asked Pierce as I weighed the two similar, but different boxes in each hand.

Pierce was talking back to Tanner who wouldn't stop cooing at the new, amazing, male figure in his life, but he looked up when he heard my voice. Pierce's eyes surveyed the poptart boxes and he pursed his lips. "Chocolate," he said, nodding like he had made a very serious decision.

I bit my lip and then just put both of the poptarts in the cart that was half-filled with food already. Then I moved on from that section, knowing I'd have to get way more because ever since Pierce started sleeping over more and more, all my food started to disappear. It was unbelievable how much Pierce could eat.

"Tell you mommy that the strawberry poptart is yucky," I heard Pierce say, could almost hear the smile in his voice. My heart fluttered like it actually had wings. "She has horrible tastes, doesn't she?"

Looking over my shoulder, I just scowled at my boyfriend, but my baby was laughing in his arms. It was impossible to keep the smile from curling up my mouth at the beautiful sight. Despite the noticable differences between Pierce and me and how unlikely it'd be for us to create a brown haired child, anyone who saw them together would say Pierce was definitely Tanner's father.

Another fifteen minutes passed and we continued to shop until Pierce decided to wander away towards the toy section. I just rolled my eyes and made my choice of icecream. When I turned around to put it in the cart, I spotted a beautiful brunette standing a couple yards from me.

I wouldn't have really regarded her presence as I had never seen her before, but she was staring straight at me. It was unnerving. "Is there a problem?" I called to her, moving to my cart and putting the icecream carton down.

She didn't reply, but her lips were pressed together in a grim line. Her brown hair was pulled back in a French braid, I assumed and she had stunning brown eyes that would've looked much better if she had some happiness in them.

"Um, hello?" I questioned awkwardly, unsure of what else to say with this stranger just staring at me.

"You and Pierce are together?" she asked finally, her eyebrows furrowing the slightest bit as a frown etched across her face, replacing that emotioness expression.

I finally understood what this was all about. This was another one of Pierce's ex-girlfriends, probably still bitter about the break-up.

"Yes," I responded after a brief pause, annoyance lacing my words. "He's my boyfriend. Why does that matter to you?" I asked, trying not to sneer. I was done being threatened by beautiful ex-girlfriends of Pierce because I knew there was more than two.

"That's your son, right? The one with Pierce? I'm guessing the baby is not his since the dates don't match up," she stated simply and I could feel myself get more agitated.

"No, Tanner isn't," I replied. "Why does that matter?" I demanded.

The girl came closer until she was only a yard away from me. "You should get away from Pierce while you can," she said, her voice low.

"Excuse me?" I sputtered. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

A scowl took over her face. "I know who he is and I know what he's like and he's only going to hurt you," she insisted.

"Don't be ridiculous," I laughed sarcastically though I felt like throwing up. Why were women so bitter sometimes?

"He's only getting closer to you and your baby, but when you fully trust him, he's going to show you his true colors," she told me.

"I've known Pierce since I was six years old. So if this is some stupid ploy to break us up, then it's not going to work," I snapped angrily before turning away, pushing my cart with me. "Please don't bother us anymore," I called over my shoulder, giving her a fake smile. I walked off to find Pierce and Tanner. I was sick of people warning me away from Pierce. They couldn't give me a good reason for it? What the hell was so 'dangerous' about him? Why would he hurt me? I hated that they were talking in codes!

"What's wrong?" Pierce asked when I approached him. He was holding a soccerball that was small and looked soft.

I frowned at it. "Tanner isn't big enough to play with that," I pointed out.

"Yeah I know," Pierce said, putting it down before shifting Tanner in his arms. I noticed he had fallen asleep on Pierce's shoulders, drooling slightly. "What's wrong, baby?"

"I met another one of your ex-girlfriends," I said angrily, reaching over to take Tanner. I wasn't expecting Pierce to step back as he tensed.

"What did she say?" he asked, stiffly.

I rolled my eyes. "About how you're only going to hurt me. Seriously, Pierce? This is the second time. Am I going to be approached by your ex-toys and have them 'warn me off' of you?" I demanded.

Pierce sighed, but there was something that flashed across his face. I didn't know what it was because it was gone as quick as it had come. He shuffled towards me and pulled me to him with his free arm. "Tessa, I'm so sorry. They're just jealous."

"Why did you have to date all the freaking gorgeous ones?" I grumbled, putting my hands around his torso and resting my head against his chest.

"They have nothing on you, Tessa. You're way prettier than any of them," he assured me. He couldn't see it, but I smiled. "Besides, I never loved them. I love you. You and Tanner," he said firmly.

I laughed now, joy filling me and all the anger from before disappearing. "I love you, too."