Page 41 of Everything After (Everything Trilogy)

LILY

The Saturday we flew back from London was the first day that I hadn’t been sick since I’d been pregnant. Once I’d had a good night’s sleep without the need to get out of bed to throw up, my world felt like a brighter place.

Alfie’s confidence in parenthood had begun to rub off on me and, although I wasn’t totally convinced that I could be everything our baby needed, knowing how excited he was, gave me hope.

The sun had barely rose in the sky when I woke and felt Alfie’s warm, protective hand splayed wide across my stomach. He was spooning me from behind, and from his slow, deep breaths fanning across my neck, I knew he wasn’t awake.

My heart felt full to the brim as I laid there still and completely contented, waiting for him to stir.

My mind wandered back to his reaction to me being pregnant, and how supportive he’d been from the moment he’d learned he was going to be a father. I’d been astonished by his maturity and understanding when he’d taken my fears seriously about being a mum.

Alfie had been known to be frivolous with my feelings in the past, and I’d expected him to dismiss my extremely real concerns as irrational, hormonal paranoia or something. But instead, he’d shown genuine empathy and shown consideration of my feelings.

An incoming text message alert appeared to break through Alfie’s unconscious state because he stirred. As he did so, he gently rolled away onto his back and his hand slid off my stomach. Lifting my cell phone from the nightstand, I pulled the charging wire out and read the message.

Cody: Missed you. Can’t wait to see you at the studio today. It’s going to be a blast.

I turned my cell phone face down on the nightstand without replying and turned to face Alfie.

“Who is that?” he muttered with his eyes still closed and lips that barely moved.

“Cody,” I answered truthfully.

Alfie stiffened and grumbled, “Of course it is. That was a stupid question. I should have guessed.”

“Stop it. He just said see you at the studio.”

“Does Lenny, Shawn or Digs send you text messages like that?”

I frowned. “What? No,” I admitted.

“Exactly. The guy’s a stalker.”

“No, he isn’t,” I protested. “It’s just his… way,” I suggested.

“Alright, then you won’t mind if I tag along to the studio today.”

“To the studio?” I asked, immediately envisioning a showdown.

“Yeah. I’ve nothing better to do. I’ve arranged to check in with Delilah much later today. It’ll be nice… we could have lunch together.”

In the past, Alfie had only attended the studio a handful of times to see us recording. He knew how self-conscious I became when he watched me recording. And apart from that, there was the potential of Alfie clashing with Cody.

“I suppose so,” I agreed hesitantly despite my misgivings, knowing any refusal by me would heighten his suspicions that I was intentionally keeping him and Cody apart.

“Unless there’s another reason you might not want me there?” he proposed, obviously picking up on my hesitation.

“No reason, I’m just surprised is all… and self-conscious about you watching me work,” I muttered, recovering my composure.

“Then it’s settled. I’m coming. What time do you need to be there?”

“In about an hour,” I replied, noting the time on the nightstand alarm clock when I peered over his head.

“Good, there’s time for a quickie with this absolute siren here in my bed, then a shower,” Alfie suggested, flashing me his sexy smile. Before I could reply, he’d turned onto his side, wrapped me in his arms and began to rub his morning wood against my stomach. How could a girl say no to that?

Our ‘quickie’ lasted forty-five minutes. Eight minutes after that, I’d showered, and finished dressing in the car, tying my still wet hair into a bun since he’d left me no time to dry it.

“This is nice, right?” he asked, sliding his warm hand in mine as he drove. Lifting my hand to his mouth he pressed small kisses to each of my knuckles.

“It is,” I said as I tried to muster the enthusiasm and convince myself that Alfie would play nice with my bandmates.

“Promise me you won’t say anything about the past few weeks or start an argument with Cody. We’re supposed to be getting creative today.”

“Depends if he pisses me off or not,” he replied flatly as he turned on the blinker and took a hard right into the studio car lot.

“Alfie,” I warned, silencing him with a glare.

He turned off the engine, turned and held my face in his hands, his favorite way of holding my attention. A slow, lopsided smile made his eyes shine with love. “I’m here for you, baby. I don’t plan on getting into it with anyone.”

“Good,” I said, leaning in to press a kiss to his plump lips. “Come on, let’s get in there and see what magic the band can perform.”

We were two steps away from the studio door when I grabbed his arm. “Please don’t say anything to the rest of the band about the baby until I’m around the twelve-week mark,” I pleaded.

“Twelve weeks?” he questioned. A flash of disappointment registered in his eyes before he frowned, and his shoulders tensed.

“Things can go wrong during the first trimester and...” I shrugged, not wanting to voice the rest. “Plus, I don’t want any fuss. I’d like to leave it for as long as I can… maybe even until I begin to show.”

“But scheduling will need to know,” he argued.

“We’re not due to tour for a while. They won’t start planning until after the album’s been cut.”

Alfie shrugged, then nodded. “Our secret… and Elle’s, Drew’s, Jack’s, Mya’s and your parents’, right?” he mumbled with his mouth twisted in a playful, conspiratorial way. “Okay, because I’ve yet to tell my sister Layla too,” he added.

“Our secret,” I agreed and chuckled, although my heart squeezed with guilt again about how he’d found out about the baby.

“Morning, gorgeous,” Cody blurted the second I’d walked through the door. His smiley facial expression fell the second he saw Alfie walking in behind me.

“Hey, Lily, sorry your London trip got cut short, but I hope the production on this album will make it worth it,” Lennie muttered as he stood. “Oh, Alfie, I didn’t see you there, buddy. Is this a visit or are you staying?”

“Nothing better to do, so I figured I’d accompany my beautiful wife and maybe take her to lunch when there’s a short break,” Alfie replied.

“Ah, we don’t usually take a lunch… just grab a sandwich on the go while we’re recording,” Lennie informed him.

Alfie frowned and eyed me, and I guessed exactly what he was thinking. She’s pregnant, she needs to eat.

“Guys, Lily and I have already been apart too much this year. Surely you can spare a half hour at some point during the day,” Alfie insisted.

Lennie glanced toward me as if to say, ‘What the fuck’, but he shrugged his shoulders and gestured toward me. “Alright, it’s your call, Lily.”

Digs came out of the sound booth and shook Alfie’s hand. “It’s been a while again, man,” he muttered. “Are you staying?”

“That was the plan,” Alfie responded.

“Awesome. I can’t wait to hear what you think of the new bass composition I made up to go with the first song we’re recording.”

Alfie grinned and slapped Digs’ back. “Honored to be one of the first to hear it,” he agreed.

Maz, the producer, shook Alfie’s hand. “Hey, Alfie, good to meet you,” he said before he turned his attention to us. “Okay, guys, are we ready to start? Time is money,” Maz muttered as he took his seat at the mixing board, tied his long blond hair in a manbun and nodded toward the recording booth.

Lennie and Digs headed toward the booth where Shawn was already beating out an arrangement on his drums. Alfie grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. “Breathe, baby. You look magnificent today,” he offered and pulled me in for a small kiss.

“Lily,” Cody muttered still holding the door to the recording booth open.

“She’ll be there in a minute. I just want a moment with my wife,” Alfie insisted.

I had guessed he’d been about to let me go until Cody had uttered those words, but instead he gave me another long and lingering kiss.

While he did this, he untied my hair and sifted his fingers through my long damp hair.

Eventually, I pulled away and noted that Cody had gone inside the booth, and when I caught Alfie’s satisfied smile in the booth window, I knew he had noticed it too.

Turning to face Alfie, he pressed another small kiss to my nose and winked. “Go. Knock ‘em dead with that husky voice.” The playful tone in his voice did nothing to calm the growing tension in my body.

As I walked into the recording booth, I considered that it might have been day one of our time in the studio, but it was far from the first time that tensions brewed between the two men that were essential to my identity for completely different reasons.

All I could do was pray that someday my bandmate Cody would find a woman that took his breath away, and in turn, would alleviate the frustrations that Alfie felt about his fascination with me.