Eric by Jody Kaye (uplifting novels .TXT) 📕

I watch Eric’s dissatisfaction rise while rinsing dinner dishes in the sink. “Would it bother you if I tried solving it?” 

Eric’s always been a whiz at math, so the simple equations when his online seminar in economics began were a breeze for him. As the course has intensified, he can’t seem to find the correct answer compounding interest for a product. He’s also beat from working this week at a Cavanaugh Construction site. The heat steaming off his neck is one part frustration and another the end result of days in the sun.

“Knock yourself out.” Eric pushes back from the tiny table we eat dinner at, letting me take his place in front of the laptop and loose leaf paper he’s chicken scratched all over.

He places his hands on the shoulders of my red work shirt, brushing my long blonde hair over my back, and watching me hunch over the “bump in the road” splitting my middle.

“It’s not due till next week, so don’t—”

“Got it. Right there. See?” I scoot the other chair over so Eric will sit down next while I explain the math.

“You should have still gone to school,” he remarks when we’re finished, proud of my teaching skills.

My brow arches and I poke my swollen belly. It’s grown again in the past week.

Given our current situation, there’s no way it would have worked out for this semester anyhow. At this point, I’m resigned to asking customers if they are “saving five percent today” the same way anyone else inquires, “do you want fries with that?” I’m damn lucky to have a job with close to full-time hours since the summer help has disappeared. I get an additional discount on the things we have to buy and it’s the icing on the cake I need nowadays.

“Fútbol!”

Eric and I locked eyes hearing the wail from the other side of the wall. Mateo is never loud.

“How about you watch the Quasimodo movie again instead?”

“NO! Fútbol!”

“Fine, I’ll ask!” Cris shouts back, losing his patience.

A knock from outside follows. Eric walks across the room to answer the door. He’s greeted by a glowering Cris and optimistic Mateo who holds a soccer ball.

“I’m sorry to interrupt.” Cris puts a squirming Mateo down.

The hopeful toddler stands there rolling his lips to hide an adorable smile. 

“I’ve tried everything, even playing soccer with him. But he thinks you are better than I am, so he won’t play with me. Can you help me out for ten minutes?” Cris begs. “It’s past bedtime and, at the rate Mateo’s going, unless the kid burns off some energy, hitting the sack won’t happen anytime soon.”

“Sure.” Eric squats down to Mateo’s height, switching between English and Spanish. “Can I juego with you?”

Mateo hands the ball over and points to Eric’s eyes.

“¿Dónde está Esmeralda?”

“Esmeralda?” Eric questions Cris, frowning.

“He misses your sister. Daveigh looks like the girl in the movie he keeps watching. I’m counting the days till she’s back for Thanksgiving since her leaving for Texas State coincided with when the terrible twos kicked in.” He scrubs his beard. Daveigh babysat a lot for Cris over the summer while they settled in at Kingsbrier.

“Esmeralda estará en casa pronto.” Eric tells the little boy as if he’s trying to convince himself she’ll come home soon.

Saying goodbye to Colton in July was hard enough for Eric. However, the day his three other siblings left the nest was as if he’d been drawn and quartered. His right arm is stationed in Pensacola and his left is now in Virginia. His right leg went to College Station and the other on to San Marcos.

I finish the last of the dishes while they kick the ball in the stableyard and go to rest my swollen ankles. A half an hour later, Eric comes back into the apartment. He shucks his jeans and clamors onto the bed like a kid, settling down on his elbows. Then he kisses my belly through my nightshirt.

“I’m exhausted,” he grunts.

It’s after eight at night. He’s worked all day, done homework, and played with the neighbor’s kid.

I touch his sweaty blonde locks. “Mateo is good practice.”

Eric leans his face against my stomach, getting poked in return by the baby’s shifting limb.

“It’s like you have Colton in there sometimes.” He jerks, pretending he’s been waylaid by his twin’s punch, making us laugh.

“Have you heard from him?”

“Not at all. Maybe it’s what is getting to me lately. Colton is like Adam, but different. Sort of the same way I love my sisters for being complete opposites. We looked after Colton for so long. Even though he left before they did it’s still weird not having to keep tabs on him. Knowing he is someone else’s problem is strange. What if that someone isn’t invested in making sure he doesn’t fuck up? All I know is without the four of them around, sometimes I feel like my head is about to explode.”

“Your brothers and sisters probably feel the same way. Besides, Colton hasn’t washed out of any program yet. Maybe he fits in the Navy like a round peg in a round hole and at Kingsbrier he was hammering himself into a square one. You know, like those mallet toys we had when we were kids.”

“Douche used to hit us all with that damn hammer. My momma took it away and he used his head to get the shapes through.”

“He did not!”

“Did too. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating. We need to think positive, though.”

“That your brother is doing okay?”

“No, that the baby won’t turn out like him!”

“You’re worrying too much. Sometimes I feel like it’s all we do.” I snuggle down against the pillows. Eric shimmies up toward the headboard.

“Are you happy, Sugar?”

I frown, but my voice is light. “I am. I completely messed up our whole lives and at the end of the day when you fall asleep beside me, I couldn’t feel more blessed.”

“Me too.” His voice is soft. “I’m glad you’re still here.”

I doubt this spring, he’d felt the same way.

“Where else would I be? I love you.”

He won’t return the sentiment. Eric hasn’t told me he loves me in months. Attempting to let him keep his pride, I roll to the side and push my bottom against his front.

A moan escapes me as Eric’s hands roam up to my breasts. He slides my panties down and pulls my top leg up, burying himself inside of me. Because of my size, we’re resorting to new positions. Blissful ones we should’ve tried before I was pregnant.