The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, chapter 9
*Sadie's POV*
The trip was amazing. I couldn't thank Joe enough for taking me. I've always wanted to go there, and frankly it was more than I had ever imagined. It was so perfect. The island itself was like a painting. The food was great, I purchased some new clothes, and I got some great new ideas for my winter line.
I've been noticing my stomach getting bigger. The rumors will start flying any day now. I definitely won't be wearing anything tight. It would be all too obvious really. I want to avoid attention from the press for as long as possible. It's bad enough they stalk me around the city as it is. But hey, it's my job. I learn to live with it.
At this very moment, Joe was opening the door to the house. My Dad came to pick us up from the airport before, and he was getting my bag out of the car. Apparently pregnant women aren't supposed to carry heavy objects. Joe was struggling with the keys to the door, which gave Dad some time to close the trunk and meet us at the doorstep. Joe finally got the door open, and we all stepped inside.
"Damn Sadie what did you bring back in this bag? The whole beach? It's so friggin heavy," Dad laughed. He set the bag down in the foyer and put his glasses on.
"I know it's heavy. I had to pay a big fine at the airport since it was too heavy. Like, fifty bucks or something," I said.
"Fifty bucks? That's ridiculous. Hey, let's take this up to your room," Dad said, lifting up the bag again.
"You sure you don't want me to carry it?" I asked.
"No way in hell are you gonna carry this. It's dangerous for you," Dad said. Ah Dad, always the worrier.
"Alright fine," I said, walking up the stairs behind Dad. Joe trailed behind me with his bag in tow. Man, I was tired. Like, really tired. I had to take a break in the middle of the stairs just for a quick breather.
"You okay?" Dad asked.
"Yeah, I've just been so exhausted the past while. Okay... I'm good now," I sighed.
We continued to walk up the stairs, but once we got to the fourth floor, Dad headed towards the wrong door.
"Dad, the bedroom's the other door."
But he ignored me. He just opened the door and walked inside.
I walked up to him to see what he was doing, but instead, saw the most amazing sight. The bedroom that was once plain, empty and useless was now the most beautiful nursery I had ever seen. It was complete with two cradles, a rocking chair, patio furniture on the balcony, white drapes, and stuffed toys all set up in a corner.
I gasped at the sight, and looked over at Dad.
"Oh my God. W-who planned this? It's incredible!" I said, my eyes brimming with tears. I don't even think that was the hormones kicking in. This, bluntly, was one of the sweetest things I had ever witnessed.
"Hey, don't look at me. It was Joe's idea. Mark, Mike and I did the project itself though."
I turned around to face Joe, who was smiling shyly. I sauntered towards him and hugged him lovingly.
"Thank you Joe, this is so thoughtful of you."
"My pleasure dear."
***
*Joe's POV*
Days passed. I worked on my articles as usual, and Sadie got some new sketches down, and received some ideas and designs from the employees that worked for her.
It was the end of November, and the pregnancy rumors were really flying. Sadie was already on the cover of two magazines, showing a photo of her walking down the beach with me, showing her growing stomach quite clearly.
"Joe, I think we should tell them today. The constant running away from photographers and reporters is getting really annoying. I just want to get it over with now," Sadie said, tying the straps to her brown, knee length beach-type dress.
"Yeah? Well, okay. If that's what you want. We can tell them today when a bunch of people hoard us while we walk down the street like they've been doing for the past week."
"Exactly. So, we're meeting my Dad at Jack's Bistro in ten minutes. I guess we'll just tell reporters when they see us."
"Okay," I said with some hesitance. I hated reporters and paparazzi with a passion. I tried to avoid them as much as possible, but somehow I always ended up inside Us Weekly. It's not always that bad though. Like when, I'm placed in an article along the lines of 'This Year's Hottest Guys' or something like that. Hey, I love flattery.
I went to my collection of hats and picked out one of many newsboy caps. I looked over at Sadie who was pulling on a pair of knee high, rainbow socks.
"You ready?" I asked her.
"Yup. Let's head out."
We walked down the stairs and to the front door, where one of Sadie's Army Surplus bags sat. She picked it up and slipped on her checkered slip-on Vans. I grabbed the car keys to my Hybrid and we left the house. We stepped into my car and drove out of the driveway, making our way to the Bistro. My Frank Zappa CD played 'Valley Girl,' and Sadie started talking to me in a voice reminiscent of Moon Unit's dead on impersonation of a Valley Girl.
"Like Oh my Gawd. Like, barf me out! Gag me with a spoon! Totally Grody! Yeah, Grody to the max! So NOT bitchin'! Oh my God... This guy walks up to me, and he's like 'Oh my Gawd are you into S&M?' I'm like oh yeah sure! Can you even see me wearing a leather teddy like, 'Oooh hurt me hurt me!' Totally gross. Like... yeah."
I laughed hysterically at Sadie's voice. She was really good at impressions.
"How do you do impressions so well?" I asked her.
Still speaking like a Valley Girl, Sadie replied.
"Like, to do a Valley Girl voice, you like, have to talk like your mouth has a couple marbles in it. And you have to say 'Like' and 'Sure' a lot. And you like, have to use certain sayings over and over again. Like, 'Gag me with a spoon!"
"Gag me with a spoon?"
"Totally... For sure."
I laughed, shaking my head, and headed towards the bistro. Sadie hummed along to the lines in the song as I pulled into the lot at Jack's. I could see Sadie's Dad's SUV parked, so he must have been waiting for us.
We got out of the car, and walked to the restaurant. But before we could, almost out of nowhere, some people ran across the street with cameras and voice recorders.
Okay... here we go.
"Miss Wright! Mr. Armstrong! Are the rumors true? Are you expecting a child around early-May?"
I turned to Sadie, as the people started snapping photos of us. She smiled at them and grasped my hand.
"Yeah, they're semi-true. We're expecting twins in late May."
"Did you get that on the recorder Jordan?" one of the reporters asked one of the others.
"Yeah man. Hey Sadie and Joe, can you just look like your walking so we can take some shots of you?"
"Sorry sir, I'm meeting someone. I don't have the time," Sadie said turning away and walking to the restaurant. The reporter called back at us before we went inside.
"Whatever bitch! I have a fucking family to feed here! All I fucking asked was for you to pose for one shot!"
Another reason I hate photographers. They always harass us. I usually reacted the same way.
"Fuck off," I said, giving them the finger. "There's a fucking photo op for you."
I walked into the restaurant with a Sadie, who looked kind of pissed.
"You okay?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I just really hate people like that. It kind of puts me in a bad mood when they do that. But really, whatever they say, says a lot more about them than it does about me."
"Exactly," I said, spotting Sadie's Dad sitting at one of the tables with his glasses on and a book in his hands. We walked over to him and sat down next to him.
"Oh hey kiddies," Dad said, putting his book down. "How are things?"
"Pretty good. We confirmed that we were having twins today. So basically, the press knows," Sadie said.
"Ah. They weren't harassing you again were they?"
"Unfortunately they were," I said.
"What? Jeez, that must suck. Just ignore them. They're all assholes."
"Yeah I know. Well, on a different note, how's Mona doing? She's due pretty soon," I asked.
"She's great. I talked to her this morning. But Christopher and Brock both have the flu, so they aren't doing great."
"Oh, that's not good. I hope Mona doesn't catch it," Sadie said.
"Well they've been in bed all day since Friday, so Mona hasn't been around them too much. It just sucks because she's really not in the right state to be looking after them all day. She's been really tired and her feet are sore, so she really shouldn't be cooking for them and waiting on their hand and foot. So basically, I've decided that I'm gonna fly in to see her. I'll look after all of them. Lisea would, but she's busy with some new photography exhibit she's doing."
"Really? You're gonna fly in? For how long?" Sadie asked.
"I'm thinking, until the baby's born. I wanna be there when she has the baby, and I want to be able to see it a couple times before leaving. Get some good pictures."
"I see. Man, Ramona's been changing the name for that baby every week. There was Carla, then Alice, then Bailey, and yesterday she called my saying that she didn't like that name anymore and she had run out of good names. She asked me what she should name it even," Sadie said, sipping a coffee that a waitress had just poured for her.
"What? Really? What'd you say?" I asked, knowing whatever Sadie said was really funny.
"I told her name it Rosita. She's my favourite character or Sesame Street. Oh, I also said to name it Gumby."
"What? Gumby? No!" Tre said, what with his loathe for Gumby.
"Well, I was kidding with the Gumby one. But she should totally name her kid Rosita."
"Sadie, I don't think Ramona's the type of person who'd name her daughter after a Spanish monster. And I'm not either so, don't get any ideas." I laughed.
"Damn! Well, what about a middle name? Whatever Rosita Armstrong. It's nice," Sadie insisted.
"Fine. But I get to give the girl whatever first name I want. Grier is back on the table," I said.
"No deal. No one likes that name. Wait, we might not even get a girl anyways," I said.
"True. Okay then, no Grier, no Rosita."
"Deal."
Tre looked at us with an amused expression.
"You guys are crazy."
***
*Sadie's POV*
The days kept passing by. I went to my head office lots, and had meetings with the people who worker for me. I didn't design all my clothes. Lots of people submitted things to me so I could see them, and then I approved of the clothes and put them in my lines. I spoke to them about what situation we would be in when I took my maternity leave, which wouldn't be that long since Joe stays home too. The leave itself wouldn't alter anything much because I can take days off at a time. I just design the clothes, approve of other peoples designs, and attend shows and galas. I do attend meetings sometimes, but they aren't that frequent. One of my employees, Gilda, directs the fashion shows, so I don't have to attend all of those meeting. I don't hire the models either. Francis and Jared do that.
With every passing day I was hoarded by the paparazzi, snapping shots of my growing stomach. It's true, I was a little bigger than I was supposed to be. Even with twins, I was kind of big for three and a half months. I was already in maternity clothes.
Dad had already flown in to be there when Ramona had her daughter, which she and Brock had finally named Betty. Her birthday was surprisingly enough, on Dad's birthday. Dad was back on the eleventh with several pictures of Mona, Brock, Christopher and Betty. Today we are celebrating his 48th birthday at his favourite pool hall. Loads of people arrived. At least seventy people came. Even Ben and his new girlfriend Lauren came. At the moment I was sitting on one of the sofas with Ben. We were still really close.
"So, where'd Lauren head off to?" I asked, sipping my alcohol-free cocktail.
"Eh, I dunno. She's probably making out with some rock star somewhere."
"What?" I asked, almost choking on my drink.
"She really doesn't seem too interested in me. None of my past girlfriends were."
"Ben, you just aren't looking in the right places. There's loads of girls who'd love to be with you. I mean it."
"Yeah sure. Then why don't I have a girlfriend yet?"
"You aren't trying hard enough. Seriously Ben. You're a total stud."
"If I'm such a stud then why aren't you all over me?" Ben laughed. I laughed and shook my head.
"You're one of my closest friends. Dating you would be weird. Plus, you know I'm taken."
"That's true."
I sipped my drink, and looked over Ben's shoulder, to see Lauren flirting with some guy at one of the pool tables.
"Yeah, I wouldn't get your hopes up with that Lauren girl. Hey, I'll find you someone though. By summer of next year you'll be surrounded by the ladies," I laughed.
The trip was amazing. I couldn't thank Joe enough for taking me. I've always wanted to go there, and frankly it was more than I had ever imagined. It was so perfect. The island itself was like a painting. The food was great, I purchased some new clothes, and I got some great new ideas for my winter line.
I've been noticing my stomach getting bigger. The rumors will start flying any day now. I definitely won't be wearing anything tight. It would be all too obvious really. I want to avoid attention from the press for as long as possible. It's bad enough they stalk me around the city as it is. But hey, it's my job. I learn to live with it.
At this very moment, Joe was opening the door to the house. My Dad came to pick us up from the airport before, and he was getting my bag out of the car. Apparently pregnant women aren't supposed to carry heavy objects. Joe was struggling with the keys to the door, which gave Dad some time to close the trunk and meet us at the doorstep. Joe finally got the door open, and we all stepped inside.
"Damn Sadie what did you bring back in this bag? The whole beach? It's so friggin heavy," Dad laughed. He set the bag down in the foyer and put his glasses on.
"I know it's heavy. I had to pay a big fine at the airport since it was too heavy. Like, fifty bucks or something," I said.
"Fifty bucks? That's ridiculous. Hey, let's take this up to your room," Dad said, lifting up the bag again.
"You sure you don't want me to carry it?" I asked.
"No way in hell are you gonna carry this. It's dangerous for you," Dad said. Ah Dad, always the worrier.
"Alright fine," I said, walking up the stairs behind Dad. Joe trailed behind me with his bag in tow. Man, I was tired. Like, really tired. I had to take a break in the middle of the stairs just for a quick breather.
"You okay?" Dad asked.
"Yeah, I've just been so exhausted the past while. Okay... I'm good now," I sighed.
We continued to walk up the stairs, but once we got to the fourth floor, Dad headed towards the wrong door.
"Dad, the bedroom's the other door."
But he ignored me. He just opened the door and walked inside.
I walked up to him to see what he was doing, but instead, saw the most amazing sight. The bedroom that was once plain, empty and useless was now the most beautiful nursery I had ever seen. It was complete with two cradles, a rocking chair, patio furniture on the balcony, white drapes, and stuffed toys all set up in a corner.
I gasped at the sight, and looked over at Dad.
"Oh my God. W-who planned this? It's incredible!" I said, my eyes brimming with tears. I don't even think that was the hormones kicking in. This, bluntly, was one of the sweetest things I had ever witnessed.
"Hey, don't look at me. It was Joe's idea. Mark, Mike and I did the project itself though."
I turned around to face Joe, who was smiling shyly. I sauntered towards him and hugged him lovingly.
"Thank you Joe, this is so thoughtful of you."
"My pleasure dear."
***
*Joe's POV*
Days passed. I worked on my articles as usual, and Sadie got some new sketches down, and received some ideas and designs from the employees that worked for her.
It was the end of November, and the pregnancy rumors were really flying. Sadie was already on the cover of two magazines, showing a photo of her walking down the beach with me, showing her growing stomach quite clearly.
"Joe, I think we should tell them today. The constant running away from photographers and reporters is getting really annoying. I just want to get it over with now," Sadie said, tying the straps to her brown, knee length beach-type dress.
"Yeah? Well, okay. If that's what you want. We can tell them today when a bunch of people hoard us while we walk down the street like they've been doing for the past week."
"Exactly. So, we're meeting my Dad at Jack's Bistro in ten minutes. I guess we'll just tell reporters when they see us."
"Okay," I said with some hesitance. I hated reporters and paparazzi with a passion. I tried to avoid them as much as possible, but somehow I always ended up inside Us Weekly. It's not always that bad though. Like when, I'm placed in an article along the lines of 'This Year's Hottest Guys' or something like that. Hey, I love flattery.
I went to my collection of hats and picked out one of many newsboy caps. I looked over at Sadie who was pulling on a pair of knee high, rainbow socks.
"You ready?" I asked her.
"Yup. Let's head out."
We walked down the stairs and to the front door, where one of Sadie's Army Surplus bags sat. She picked it up and slipped on her checkered slip-on Vans. I grabbed the car keys to my Hybrid and we left the house. We stepped into my car and drove out of the driveway, making our way to the Bistro. My Frank Zappa CD played 'Valley Girl,' and Sadie started talking to me in a voice reminiscent of Moon Unit's dead on impersonation of a Valley Girl.
"Like Oh my Gawd. Like, barf me out! Gag me with a spoon! Totally Grody! Yeah, Grody to the max! So NOT bitchin'! Oh my God... This guy walks up to me, and he's like 'Oh my Gawd are you into S&M?' I'm like oh yeah sure! Can you even see me wearing a leather teddy like, 'Oooh hurt me hurt me!' Totally gross. Like... yeah."
I laughed hysterically at Sadie's voice. She was really good at impressions.
"How do you do impressions so well?" I asked her.
Still speaking like a Valley Girl, Sadie replied.
"Like, to do a Valley Girl voice, you like, have to talk like your mouth has a couple marbles in it. And you have to say 'Like' and 'Sure' a lot. And you like, have to use certain sayings over and over again. Like, 'Gag me with a spoon!"
"Gag me with a spoon?"
"Totally... For sure."
I laughed, shaking my head, and headed towards the bistro. Sadie hummed along to the lines in the song as I pulled into the lot at Jack's. I could see Sadie's Dad's SUV parked, so he must have been waiting for us.
We got out of the car, and walked to the restaurant. But before we could, almost out of nowhere, some people ran across the street with cameras and voice recorders.
Okay... here we go.
"Miss Wright! Mr. Armstrong! Are the rumors true? Are you expecting a child around early-May?"
I turned to Sadie, as the people started snapping photos of us. She smiled at them and grasped my hand.
"Yeah, they're semi-true. We're expecting twins in late May."
"Did you get that on the recorder Jordan?" one of the reporters asked one of the others.
"Yeah man. Hey Sadie and Joe, can you just look like your walking so we can take some shots of you?"
"Sorry sir, I'm meeting someone. I don't have the time," Sadie said turning away and walking to the restaurant. The reporter called back at us before we went inside.
"Whatever bitch! I have a fucking family to feed here! All I fucking asked was for you to pose for one shot!"
Another reason I hate photographers. They always harass us. I usually reacted the same way.
"Fuck off," I said, giving them the finger. "There's a fucking photo op for you."
I walked into the restaurant with a Sadie, who looked kind of pissed.
"You okay?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I just really hate people like that. It kind of puts me in a bad mood when they do that. But really, whatever they say, says a lot more about them than it does about me."
"Exactly," I said, spotting Sadie's Dad sitting at one of the tables with his glasses on and a book in his hands. We walked over to him and sat down next to him.
"Oh hey kiddies," Dad said, putting his book down. "How are things?"
"Pretty good. We confirmed that we were having twins today. So basically, the press knows," Sadie said.
"Ah. They weren't harassing you again were they?"
"Unfortunately they were," I said.
"What? Jeez, that must suck. Just ignore them. They're all assholes."
"Yeah I know. Well, on a different note, how's Mona doing? She's due pretty soon," I asked.
"She's great. I talked to her this morning. But Christopher and Brock both have the flu, so they aren't doing great."
"Oh, that's not good. I hope Mona doesn't catch it," Sadie said.
"Well they've been in bed all day since Friday, so Mona hasn't been around them too much. It just sucks because she's really not in the right state to be looking after them all day. She's been really tired and her feet are sore, so she really shouldn't be cooking for them and waiting on their hand and foot. So basically, I've decided that I'm gonna fly in to see her. I'll look after all of them. Lisea would, but she's busy with some new photography exhibit she's doing."
"Really? You're gonna fly in? For how long?" Sadie asked.
"I'm thinking, until the baby's born. I wanna be there when she has the baby, and I want to be able to see it a couple times before leaving. Get some good pictures."
"I see. Man, Ramona's been changing the name for that baby every week. There was Carla, then Alice, then Bailey, and yesterday she called my saying that she didn't like that name anymore and she had run out of good names. She asked me what she should name it even," Sadie said, sipping a coffee that a waitress had just poured for her.
"What? Really? What'd you say?" I asked, knowing whatever Sadie said was really funny.
"I told her name it Rosita. She's my favourite character or Sesame Street. Oh, I also said to name it Gumby."
"What? Gumby? No!" Tre said, what with his loathe for Gumby.
"Well, I was kidding with the Gumby one. But she should totally name her kid Rosita."
"Sadie, I don't think Ramona's the type of person who'd name her daughter after a Spanish monster. And I'm not either so, don't get any ideas." I laughed.
"Damn! Well, what about a middle name? Whatever Rosita Armstrong. It's nice," Sadie insisted.
"Fine. But I get to give the girl whatever first name I want. Grier is back on the table," I said.
"No deal. No one likes that name. Wait, we might not even get a girl anyways," I said.
"True. Okay then, no Grier, no Rosita."
"Deal."
Tre looked at us with an amused expression.
"You guys are crazy."
***
*Sadie's POV*
The days kept passing by. I went to my head office lots, and had meetings with the people who worker for me. I didn't design all my clothes. Lots of people submitted things to me so I could see them, and then I approved of the clothes and put them in my lines. I spoke to them about what situation we would be in when I took my maternity leave, which wouldn't be that long since Joe stays home too. The leave itself wouldn't alter anything much because I can take days off at a time. I just design the clothes, approve of other peoples designs, and attend shows and galas. I do attend meetings sometimes, but they aren't that frequent. One of my employees, Gilda, directs the fashion shows, so I don't have to attend all of those meeting. I don't hire the models either. Francis and Jared do that.
With every passing day I was hoarded by the paparazzi, snapping shots of my growing stomach. It's true, I was a little bigger than I was supposed to be. Even with twins, I was kind of big for three and a half months. I was already in maternity clothes.
Dad had already flown in to be there when Ramona had her daughter, which she and Brock had finally named Betty. Her birthday was surprisingly enough, on Dad's birthday. Dad was back on the eleventh with several pictures of Mona, Brock, Christopher and Betty. Today we are celebrating his 48th birthday at his favourite pool hall. Loads of people arrived. At least seventy people came. Even Ben and his new girlfriend Lauren came. At the moment I was sitting on one of the sofas with Ben. We were still really close.
"So, where'd Lauren head off to?" I asked, sipping my alcohol-free cocktail.
"Eh, I dunno. She's probably making out with some rock star somewhere."
"What?" I asked, almost choking on my drink.
"She really doesn't seem too interested in me. None of my past girlfriends were."
"Ben, you just aren't looking in the right places. There's loads of girls who'd love to be with you. I mean it."
"Yeah sure. Then why don't I have a girlfriend yet?"
"You aren't trying hard enough. Seriously Ben. You're a total stud."
"If I'm such a stud then why aren't you all over me?" Ben laughed. I laughed and shook my head.
"You're one of my closest friends. Dating you would be weird. Plus, you know I'm taken."
"That's true."
I sipped my drink, and looked over Ben's shoulder, to see Lauren flirting with some guy at one of the pool tables.
"Yeah, I wouldn't get your hopes up with that Lauren girl. Hey, I'll find you someone though. By summer of next year you'll be surrounded by the ladies," I laughed.
