Blush (22 page)

I sigh. “I know.“ And now I want to cry
again. Damn it. Hormones are out of control. Dr. Donovan knew I was
knocked up in the hospital and, apparently, had told me when we
were alone but I didn't remember. I feel so stupid. I can't be held
responsible for what I'm like when I'm under the influence of
hardly-any-stronger-than-Tylenol pain meds. I'm such a light
weight. For real. Tylenol with Codeine. I'm surprised Jesse didn't
laugh in my face, but then again he's been amazing with this whole
thing. At first I was sure it was guilt, but now I know it's just
him being him.

“What's wrong, Luce?“ Xander asks, putting
his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.

“Nothing.“

He gives me a look.

“Seriously,“ I tell him with a lop-sided
grin. “Just being you know,“ I flit a hand in the air.

“Uh-oh,“ he nods. “Gonna be a long nine
months.“

“Who're you telling,“ I snap.

“Whoa, Cujo,“ he chuckles. “Just sayin'. And
I put a call in to the old man. He said you're doing good with the
vitamin water, especially with the shows and to keep it up. He said
to take,“ he pauses and looks around then leans in close,
“something called folic acid and prenatal vitamins so I went and
picked some up while you were in sound check.“

“Aww,“ I sniffle. Tears flow and I can't stop
them. “See?“ I say with a stomp of my foot.

“Aww, Luce my goose.“ He hugs me close and
strokes my hair.

“How am I going to get through the ballad?“ I
whine.

He pulls back, holding my shoulders,
shrinking down to meet my gaze at eye level. “You got this.“

My lip quivers and he raises a brow.

I suck in a breath and shake back my hair,
blinking rapidly to clear the tears.

“You got this,“ he reaffirms.

I nod, holding back a sniffle. He smiles
softly.

“Yeah, you got this.“ He pulls me back into
his side.

Celeste comes bounding up. “Finally I catch
you while you're not in the middle of sexing up that rock god
husband of yours or singing your gorgeous lungs out.“

I snicker. “What's up?“

She hands me an envelope.

“What's this?“

“Your name change is official.“

“What?“ I ask.

“You're officially Luciana Antonia
Kingston.“

My lip quivers and Xander chuckles. “Aww,
Luce.“

“This… it's such perfect timing. Thank you so
much, Celeste.“

Celeste just shrugs me off. Apparently my
being a watering pot isn't a shock to her. When she walks away and
heads toward Damian, I look to Xander.

“Jeez, she didn't even blink when I started
bawling. Am I always like this?“ I ask.

“Nah,“ he shakes his head. “Only when it
comes to love and Jesse. Well, and me, of course.“

“Of course,“ I agree with a wink.

“Luciana Kingston, get your ass in this room
and in the chair so I can try to fix your insane blotchiness from
your happy crying,“ Spenser commands, everyone looking in our
direction.

I lift my chin and straighten my shoulders.
Xander chuckles then smacks my ass as I walk away. I don't look
back but I do wiggle my ass extra for him. I hear him laugh louder
before I close the door behind me.

THE CONCERT IS going amazingly well even if I am
sweating like a pig running from a crowd of people shouting,
“Bacon!“

“How are you feeling out there, Denver?“ I
rest my casted hand on my head and shout to the overwhelmingly
large and boisterous crowd. Their roar brings grins to all of our
faces. Sera, Meggie, and Jace all strum riffs while Trace drums out
a beat.

“All right! This crowd means business! I like
it. I like it a whole fuck of a lot! You know we've got one song
left before our duet with Falling Down and it's a special one.
We've decided to make a new tradition. A Blush tradition.“

The crowd starts to chant “Blush Baby“ and I
frown, Sera notices and steps up to her mic.

“Uh-oh. Don't look now Denver but you've got
little Mrs. Kingston pouting over there.“ The crowd responds with a
mix of emotion. “You see, our little Lucy, she may love pink as you
can see from her cast—and let's applaud her for bitchslapping a
skank in need of a reality check.“ The crowd cheers, hoots and
hollers their approval and I grin.

“Now I'm sure you're figuring out that Lucy
is pretty bad ass so she doesn't like being called the Blush Baby,
as cute as the title is.“ They boo and Sera laughs. “Hold up for a
second… just hold up. You see, Lucy doesn't want that title but
she's not going to leave you hanging.“

“Hell no!“ Jace shouts.

“That just wouldn't be our Luce,“ Meggie
adds.

“So, the ever-wonderful Luciana Antonia
Russo-Kingston has stepped up and she's found not one but two Blush
Babies: a female and a male!“ The crowd screams and Sera nods.
“That's right. Lucy went the extra mile for you, Denver, so what
d'ya say you go the extra mile for her. Spread the word that Miss
Lucy just too bad ass to be the Blush Baby and there'll be an
announcement of just who is the Blush Baby very, very soon! Don't
forget to mention, we're equal opportunity Blush Babies—we've got a
female and a male. Plenty of ogle-worthy awesomeness for both
sexes!“

I let out a laugh as I step up. “What d'ya
say, Denver? Think you can help clear this up for me?“ I ask.

I get a deafening affirmation from the crowd
and nod my approval.

“We picked the perfect location to start our
new tradition! Denver is more than deserving of this honor, don't
you all think?“ I ask the band, who sound off.

“Alright Denver. What we're starting tonight
is for Blush to close out the show with something from someone
else, past or present: so here we go.“

Meggie strums the first chords to Crazy
Little Thing Called Love by Queen and I look to the side of the
stage where the guys are standing and Jesse smirks.

“This thing, called love…“

About halfway through the song, they all come
out and joins us, Jesse sharing my mic, standing next to me, his
lips inches from mine as we sing the end of the song. The crowd
goes nuts. I mean nuts.

“Well, lookie here what we have boys and
girls. The fabulous Falling Down has decided to come out a little
early for you.“

The screams are insane and I laugh.
“Jesse.“

“Yeah, Cupcake.“

“I think the crowd likes you, just a little
bit.“ I hold up my thumb and index finger.

“Nah. If they really liked us they'd show us
more lovin' than that.“

“That wasn't enough for you?“

He shakes his head no.

“How much do you all love Falling Down… no
holding back now. Give it to 'em straight, all you've got.“

The screams are off the charts and this time
Jesse grins.

“Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about
Denver! I'm feeling your love! How you doing tonight, Denver?“

More screams.

“Did you enjoy Blush?“

More screams.

“Well, it sounds like they liked you all,“
Jesse says, turning in a circle. “That last song was kick ass.
Let's hear it for Blush!“

The crowd goes nuts.

“They rocked this joint!“

More screams.

“Why thank you,“ I say with a grin.

“But, Cupcake, you know I can't let you walk
off this stage until I respond to your challenge.“

I raise a brow. “I didn't know it was a
challenge.“

“You did. But we're up for it, right
guys?“

Xander pounds on the drums while Kennedy,
Ethan, and Ben wail on their guitars.

“By all means. Far be it from me to stop
you.“

Jesse grins that panty-melter and winks as
Xander taps his sticks together to count it out.

I laugh when I hear the first chords of
Robert Palmer's Bad Case of Loving You. Jesse wraps an arm around
my waist and I join in on the chorus. When the song ends, he kisses
me and I don't mean just a brushing of the lips. We're talking
tongue tangling, toe curling, nipple-hardening, no-holds-barred
kiss.

The crowd hoots and hollers as does the band.
When we pull apart, I look to the crowd.

“Whew. I've got to tell you ladies, his
kisses are toe-curlers.“

They all scream.

We all rock out the Falling Down duet and
Jesse lays another lip lock on me.

“Jesse, I think you pissed off about fifty
thousand women.“

“Nah. They don't mind, do you ladies?“

There's a mix of “no's“ and “yeses“.

“And you know why they don't mind?“

I know what's coming and God, Jesse Kingston
is smooth.

“Why's that?“

“Because we're going to love them all night!“
Love You All Night is Falling Down's number one song right now.

“Be sure you love 'em right, baby,“ I say
with a wink as the band and I head off stage.

“That was fucking awesome,“ Jace says with a
laugh. “Every show gets better and better.“

“Our name's getting out there,“ I reply with
a smile.

“Connections to Jesse Kingston don't hurt
either,“ someone says from behind us. I look around but can't see
who said it.

“What did you say? Who said that?“ Fuck that.
We've been working our asses off to get recognition. Yeah it helps
to be on tour with Falling Down, but if we hadn't toured with them
we'd have toured with Burners and the amazing Lucian Cordero, and
they're second runners to Falling Down.

“That shit right there?“ I say with a sneer.
“Pisses me the fuck off.“

“Don't let it get to you, Luce,“ Sera
says.

“I'm going to shower quickly. I'll be back
and then we can celebrate with some rum,“ I lie.

“Rum, baby!“ Sera says with a laugh. I shake
my head and make my way to the bus with Mike following behind. I'm
not sure why they called in Russo security, part of my personal
security team at that, but I'm sure it has something to do with the
size of the crowds and their rowdy attitudes.

“Hiya Gio,“ I greet as I reach the bus.

“Hey Lucy.“

“I'm going to grab a quick shower.“

They both nod. “We'll wait for you here,
Lucy.“

“Thanks guys.“ I give them a forced smile and
head inside. I can hear Falling Down's music all the way out behind
the stadium and I can't help but turn my forced smile into a real
one.

I strip off my sweat-saturate clothes and
take a seat on the lid of the toilet. Nausea rolls through my
stomach as it's been doing the past three days. I'd been able to
control it and keep it at bay so Jesse didn't freak out thinking
I'd gotten the same thing as Sera, but now that we know I'm
pregnant I won't have to hide it too much—at least from Jesse and
Xander.

I take a sip of vitamin water and immediately
regret it. Oh shit.

I stand up, flip the lid and vomit. And
vomit. And vomit. Tiny baby, please don't make mama sick. I know
you're in there and I'm working to stay hydrated and eat healthy
for you so you grow strong.

There's a soft knock on the door as I catch
my breath from heaving.

“Lucy?“ Misty asks.

“Unh.“

“Are you alright?“

“Unh.“

I rest my head against the coolness of the
porcelain rim, my naked ass on the cold linoleum floor.

“Can I come in?“

“Unh.“ I hope she's not expecting more. I
just don't have it in me.

She opens the door cautiously and eyes me
warily.

“Oh no. You're sick now too?“

I close my eyes and nod a small nod.

“Goodness.“ She reaches for a washcloth and
wets it with cold water then blots the sweat from my brow and face.
“We should try to take your makeup off. Do you have to go back out
for the after party?“

I nod again.

“We can leave your eye makeup on but get the
rest of this off before you shower.“

“K,“ is all I manage.

She bites her lip.

“Remover is in there,“ I tell her, pointing
to my small cosmetic case. She grabs the bottle and some cotton
balls and begins cleaning off my face. When she finishes she just
looks at me.

“Peppermint Life Saver.“

“What?“ she asks.

“Can you get me a peppermint Life Saver,
please? I dropped the one Jesse gave me on stage.“

“Right away.“

She leaves the bathroom and I pull myself up
on shaky limbs. When I look in the mirror my coloring looks a bit
green. Well, that's pretty much how I feel. I turn the water on and
Misty knocks again before entering.

She unwraps the candy and puts it on my
tongue. “I brought you some ginger ale to sip. Also, try not to
make the water too hot. The heat will make the nausea worse.“

I nod. “You are a godsend, Misty. Thank you
so much.“

She nods. “Anything you need.“

“Sorry for flashing the goods at ya,“ I tell
her with a little smile.

She laughs. “Nothing I haven't seen before,“
she tells me as she cups her own breasts. Now it's my turn to let
out a laugh.

“I'll find you something comfortable but
appropriate to wear while you cool down.“