7. Peyton

7

Since we were already in town, as Noah likes to call Los Angeles, we trekked over to Xander's gym. Deep down, I sort of liked the idea of Xander being the one to give me my shots, mostly because I know how much Noah stresses about things that hurt me. This one time, I had a knot in my back, and I needed him to press the Theragun against my skin. He did and I flinched. It hurt, but so did the knot and it prevented me from sitting at my desk. After fifteen minutes, we stopped and when I looked at my husband, he had tears in his eyes. Noah's sensitive when it comes to me, and I don't know if it's because of our history or because of the accident. Maybe it's because I'm his wife. I really don't know.

What I do know is Xander's more than capable of jabbing my stomach with a needle. The problem is going to be time and distance. I'm certainly not driving to L.A. twice a day and I don't expect him to drive out to Malibu. Best case scenario, it's an hour drive. That's with zero traffic. This area hasn't been traffic free since the seventies. I wasn't alive then, so I'm speculating.

Noah pulls into the parking lot, shuts the car off and comes around to let me out. I'll never tire of him being this gentleman, and hope our son follows in his footsteps or our daughter sees how she should be treated. Instead of walking into the gym, Noah retreats to the rear of our car, opens the back and then closes it. When he comes back to where I'm standing, I see the bag in his hand and roll my eyes.

Hard.

"Really? You just happened to have your gym bag in the car?"

Noah looks at me sheepishly and runs his hand through his hair. "I . . . uh . . ."

I shake my head and walk away. This was probably his plan all along, offer up Xander to stick me so Noah can get a workout in, when all he had to do was say he wanted to work out with my uncle.

We head inside. The gym's bustling. Weights clank, music plays from the speakers overhead, and almost every machine has someone on it, getting their cardio workout in. After my accident, my uncle managed my rehabilitation once I was out of the hospital. I knew he'd push me to levels other professionals wouldn't and he'd know when to stop. He had me walking ahead of schedule, which I'm thankful for.

"Hi, welcome. Are you here for a tour?" A peppy tall blonde comes toward us, dressed in workout gear. She doesn't look at me, only Noah. "I'm Clover."

Clover? If that isn't a California name, I don't know what is.

"Hi, I'm Peyton Westbury." I stick my hand out, forcing her to shake it. "This is my husband, Noah." I emphasize "my" because she needs to know I see her looking at him. "We're here to see Xander."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Mr. Knight is with a client. I'll happily show you around though."

"Xander's my uncle," I tell her. "Can you please let him know his niece is here."

Clover smiles, but it's a very meh smile. She apprises me and then she twinkles her eyes at Noah.

"Ugh."

"Stop, feisty." Noah quietly reprimands me.

"She twinkled her eyes at you."

Noah laughs. "How does that even work?"

I roll my eyes, hoping he knows I'm not impressed with Clover.

Minutes later, Xander comes out of the backroom. He claps his hands once when he sees us. We meet him halfway, exchange hugs and then follow him to the back where his office is. "To what do I owe the pleasure and does Yvie know you're here?"

"We need a favor and no. This is a very last-minute trip, and we were sort of in the area," I tell him. Instead of going to his office, he takes us to the break room, where surprise, Clover is making herself a smoothie.

"Did you guys meet Clover?" Xander asks.

"Sure did," I say and give her a little finger wave.

Noah leans close to my ear. "Down, kitty."

I should elbow him, but I don't because my elbow is lined up with a part of his body that I love very, very much. When Clover leaves the room, I turn to him.

"I told you to change those damn sweatpants." My eyes travel south, and while my husband isn't hard or even sporting a semi, the outline of his penis is there and extremely noticeable.

"Sorry," he mutters while Xander quietly chuckles to himself.

Noah and I sit at the table in the breakroom. Xander offers us water to drink and sits across from us. "I just texted Yvie, she'll be over in a minute."

"Doesn't she have class?"

Xander looks at his watch. "Yeah, but she's probably not teaching. She has so many teachers on staff now, I think she only teaches the elite classes."

My Aunt Yvie is a dancer, who thanks to my dad and the early success of 4225 West, was able to go to dance school. After my Uncle Jimmy got shot and had to have rehab, my dad hired Xander to come to Beaumont, where he fell in love with Yvie.

"So, what's up?" Xander asks.

Noah gets up and shuts the door, giving us some privacy. As much as I'd like to do this in his office, I don't want to ask him to move us over there. "As you know, the accident did a lot of damage to my pelvis. I had and still have some scarring but most of it was removed back in December, in hopes I can carry a child. Up until now I haven't been able to get pregnant and today I got my first IVF shot."

"Congratulations." Xander gives Noah a high-five, as if he got the shot or something.

"Anyway," I say, getting their attention. "I'm afraid of needles, so Noah has to give me the shot, twice a day."

"And I hate seeing her in pain," Noah added. "Earlier, when we were in the doctor's office, I held her and talked her through it, and she didn't feel a thing. But I'm afraid of hurting her."

"That's where you come in," I say to Xander. "We're wondering if you wouldn't mind coming to the house in the morning or evening to give me my shot? I would only need you to come out for one week."

"Sure," he said without hesitation. "Gives me an excuse to go surfing with Quinn. Count me in."

If there wasn't a table between us, I'd hug my uncle. "Thank you."

"Who's going to do the second one?"

"I'm going to beg my mother," I tell him.

Xander laughs. "Your dad won't do it," he says matter-of-factly. The thing is, Xander's not wrong. Dad's very much like Noah and won't do anything to hurt any of us.

"My mom's sadistic though," I say. "She'll love sticking me with a needle."

This time, Noah rolls his eyes. "Are you kidding me? Your mom wants a grandchild. She'll do whatever she can to help you. My mom as well."

"I know, but I still think she'll like causing me pain. She'll drudge up some agony I caused her back when I was a kid. I'm telling you, she's sadistic. Mark my words."

Noah and Xander laugh.

The door opens and in walks my pixie loving aunt, who I swear doesn't age and always looks like she's about to take the stage. She flutters over to us as if she has fairy wings, and gives us both a hug.

"This is a happy surprise," she says as she sits next to Xander.

"We were in the area," I tell her. "At our fertility appointment."

Yvie's eyes widen. "Am I going to be an auntie again?"

I nod, even though I'm not pregnant. "That's the plan. Elle too."

She covers her mouth and squeals. "This is the best news ever. Yay, thank you for sharing."

"Well, we're not there yet." I tell her why we stopped by.

"Fabulous, idea. You should call Quinn and tell him you're going to need a regular surf buddy."

Xander holds his phone up. "Already texted him."

"Wow," she says, sighing. "Babies. I remember when Quinn was a newborn. Your dad didn't know anything about a baby. He had no idea how to hold him, or feed or change him. Our mom took over, taught him everything and now he's going to be a grandpa."

The room went quiet and then Yvie's mouth drops open. "Oh my, God. Your dad!" she points at Noah. "The sexy rock god grandfather."

Noah groans.

"Oh yes, the women are going to lose their ever-loving minds when they see him holding a baby. You must make him and my brother do a calendar or something. Shirtless. Show off all their tattoos. You know JD would be up for it, too. Holy shit, that would sell like hot cakes. Imagine if we sold them here. All those women would snatch them up. As is, you can only have Harrison come in after hours to work out."

"As much as I wish you were joking, I think this is a brilliant idea," I tell my aunt.

"No," Noah says. "My dad's ego is already large enough. We don't need to feed it with this sexy grandpa shit. Besides, he'd never go for it."

"He would if I asked him." I bat my eyelashes at my husband. "Maybe, you, Quinn, and Xander should do it as well. Pose with your shirt off, holding a baby. Oh, Ben too!"

"No," he says just as Yvie yells, "Yes!"

"I can see it now; Portland Pioneers quarterback poses with his son or daughter. It's a nice headline."

"It's garbage and you know it."

"And yet, you'll do it because you know we'd donate the proceeds to some worthy charity."

Noah gives up the fight. He knows I've won.

Xander offers to work Noah out and he gladly accepts the offer. They leave Yvie and I in the breakroom.

"Did you meet Clover?"

I nod. "She had a hard time keeping eye contact with me though."

"She has amazing credentials, but I'm not a fan. I trust my husband, but I don't trust her. I asked Xander to make sure she's always gone when he locks up. I don't want her here when the doors are locked and they're alone. I can't stomach it."

"It's weird. I know Noah loves me and he'd never do anything to hurt me, but I worry, all the time. More so now because my body is going to change and once we have a child, things will be different. I'll be different. He'll still be him."

"Does he know how you feel?"

I shake my head. "I'm afraid if I say something, he'll think I don't trust him. It's society I don't trust. It's not like I can keep my husband locked in the basement or be with him twenty-four-seven. We do need our own space."

"Peyton, it's time to accept we married hotness."

I cackle and cover my mouth. "I can't believe you said that."

Yvie shrugs. "It's true. You know, it's funny, your dad didn't reach any level of hot until after he became a drummer, and then all the women wanted him. Yet, he never dated anyone. No exes in the closet or anything."

"Well, there's Alicia."

"What she did to my brother." Yvie pauses and shakes her head. "I love my nephew more than anything, but that woman deserved jail time. Still to this day, I see nothing but rage. And then to pull that shit with Quinn a few years ago. I swear, if I ever meet her . . ." She trails off.

What my dad and Quinn went through is still fresh in my mind. Sometimes, I look at Nola and wonder how he stayed with her. I guess when you've met the one you're supposed to be with, it doesn't matter how they ended up in your life.