Page 42 of Matlock
“I’m sorry, Grace. What did you ask?”
Grace studied me; her eyes roamed over my face. All at once, I realized what she was asking.
“Oh, this?” I laughed it off as I waved my hand in a circle over my face. “Cletus and I had a difference of opinion.”
“And did Matlock help Cletus see your side of things?” she asked, standing with her arms crossed over her bulging stomach.
“He did,” I answered then quickly aimed the attention on her. “Look at you!”
Her hands rubbed over her belly. “I know. I’m as big as a house.” She smirked at me. “I’m a duplex!” she cried.
I laughed out loud. I’d missed Grace. She was the only other person I knew who had a love for the showFriendsthat rivaledmy own. We often quoted obscure lines that only a true fan would know.
“How are you feeling?” I asked as I looked around the room. It was more of an efficiency apartment than it was a room.
“Pretty good. I have about six weeks left, and I’m hoping King makes it that long.”
“King?”
“I might kill him before then. He’s driving me crazy. I was going to meet you in the common room, but when he said the only way he would let me downstairs was if he carried me, I said no.”
I rolled my lips between my teeth. “Do you want to sneak downstairs now that he’s gone?”
“No,” she said with a sigh.
I smiled at her and grabbed a chair from the small kitchen table in the corner. “Have a seat, my love. Let’s get you freshened up. You should have called me sooner. I could have come every six weeks for a trim.”
“I think I want to cut it all off.”
I gasped, and my hand flew to my chest. “Absolutely not. Hair decisions are not something you make on the fly.”
“I’m just so tired of messing with it. I don’t have the energy.”
“And once that baby is born, you won’t be able to pull it up out of your face. No, ma’am. We will not be cutting more than an inch or two off this hair.”
Grace had gorgeous honey-gold hair. It was long and fell in waves that could almost be called curls. “Trust me, Grace. I have had too many clients whine about making a drastic change while their hormones were out of whack.”
“Fine,” she huffed. “Can you braid it for me when you’re done so I can have a day or two that I don’t have to deal with it?”
“Girl, I will come over every couple of days and re-braid your hair until you have this baby if that’s what you need.”
“Simon, you’re the best!”
I got to work trimming Grace’s hair, and she sat quietly withher eyes closed. I knew she was trying to relax. Every so often, she would wince.
“You okay?” I asked when her hand rubbed at the side of her stomach.
“Yeah, here.” She grabbed my hand and placed it where hers had been. I didn’t have to wait long before the baby kicked.
“Oh my God,” I cried.
I’d felt babies move hundreds of times. Every time I had a pregnant woman in my chair, she wanted me to feel the baby move. But somehow with Grace it was different. Knowing everything she’d been through. The weeks of stress from not knowing if the baby was King’s.
Tony had told me everything. There wasn’t much we kept from each other. We both knew he wasn’t supposed to share club business with me, but given how many secrets we kept from our friends and the club, a few more didn’t make much difference.
I stared at my hand. I loved being a man; I loved having a dick. But there was a part of me that had always wished I could carry my own child. It would never be a reality. Sure, I could be a father someday. But I’d need a surrogate, and I might have to do it on my own, but no matter the advancements in medical science, I’d never feel what Grace was feeling.
“How are you doing with everything, Simon? I didn’t even ask.”
