Lily knew that the situation she had with Maggie was very unique. There weren't many surrogate mothers who were as involved with the child's life as she was. She was so grateful that Caroline and Wyatt had been open to it. She couldn't imagine how drab and empty her life would feel if she never got to see Maggie.
She gazed at Maggie's sleeping face for just a moment longer, then headed upstairs to take a shower. Between the playing and movie watching, she had somehow found a few moments during the day to get her suitcases up to her bedroom. They were still unpacked, though, piled up on her bed.
After a bit of digging, she found her favorite night shirt. It was just a simple white t-shirt with the logo of her favorite band, The Dominions, on it. She'd got it at a concert years before, but it fit well and was super comfortable. It was the perfect shirt to sleep in.
She grabbed a pair of white panties and headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. As the warm water washed over her, she realized just how happy she was to be staying at the house. It made her feel closer to Maggie than ever before and she really liked that feeling. For the first time in a long time, it was like she actually belonged somewhere. Of course, she didn't let any of it go to her head or to her heart. This was only a temporary situation, one that would be long gone in ten days. Still, for the moment, while it was there, it was nice.
Once she had washed and conditioned her hair, she dried off and slipped on her panties and t-shirt. Then she headed back downstairs to check on Maggie and make sure that she was still asleep. It was only ten thirty and she didn't expect Wyatt to get home until around midnight like he had said, so she wasn't too concerned about what she was wearing as she walked through the house.
I hope I'm strong enough to carry Maggie up to her bed, she thought. She's a lot heavier than she used to be.
Lily got to the bottom of the stairs and turned toward the living room. The only light was coming from there was the flickering caused by the TV. She approached the couch, noticing that Maggie had not moved a single inch in the past fifteen minutes. She was still sound asleep, with a little smirk on her face as she laid dreaming.
“Time to get you to bed, sweetie,” Lily said, stooping down to pick her up.
She had just slipped her hands under Maggie's back, when she heard the front door of the house open up. A moment later, Wyatt stepped around the corner and into the living room. Lily glanced up and gasped. She was surprised to see him, but clearly not as surprised as he was to see her.
Lily quickly stood up from the couch and did her best to cover herself up. She put one hand across her chest, where her nipples were protruding through her t-shirt. Her other hand was placed over the front part of her panties. She suddenly felt very exposed.
“Shit, I'm sorry,” Wyatt said, turning away. “I, um, uh, sorry.”
“No, no,” Lily said, her cheeks lighting on fire and she blushed. “I didn't think you'd be coming home until a little bit later. I was just about to take Maggie upstairs and tuck her in.”
“I should have texted you to tell you that I was coming home a little bit early,” Wyatt said. “It's my bad. Didn't mean to walk in on you.”
“I probably shouldn't have been hanging out in my underwear. I had just taken a shower and was only running down here really quick to check on Maggie and to take her upstairs to her bedroom.”
“It's totally fine,” Wyatt said. “For the next ten days, this is your house, too. You can do whatever you like. I just feel bad that I walked in without you knowing.”
Lily grabbed one of the blankets that was draped over the back of the couch and used it to cover herself up. “You can look. I've got a blanket on now.”
Wyatt slowly turned to face her once again. His face was illuminated by the light of the television and Lily could tell that she wasn't the only one who was embarrassed. Even Wyatt's cheeks looked a little bit red from the confrontation.
“Well, um, how did the night go with Maggie?” he asked. “Hope she wasn't too much trouble for you.”
“No trouble at all.” Lily pulled the blanket up a bit, making sure that it covered her front completely. She felt so awkward that she could puke. “We just watched a couple of movies and ordered a pizza. It was pretty relaxing actually. As you can see, she fell asleep. You were right, too. She was out way before ten o'clock.”
“Since I'm home now, I'm happy to carry her up to bed if you'd like,” Wyatt said.
Lily nodded. “Yeah, okay. That sounds good. Thanks for doing that. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to carry her up there without waking her up.”
Wyatt smiled and stepped toward the couch. “Thanks for taking care of her tonight. Tomorrow should be fun. I'm looking forward to going grocery shopping with you two. We'll get stocked up on some good food for the next week.”
“Yes, I'm looking forward to it, too,” Lily said, turning to leave Wyatt and Maggie. “I guess I'll see you in the morning, then?”
Wyatt nodded. “Yeah, that sounds great. You have a good night.”
“Goodnight,” Lily said, turning around the rest of the way.
I can't believe I was so dumb as to come down here wearing nothing but a tight t-shirt and some skimpy underwear, she thought, as she walked through the living room, tightly pressing the blanket to the front of her body, as if it could somehow erase the last five minutes. I know he said that this is my house, too, but I doubt he was expecting to see me like this.
The word “embarrassed” didn't do justice to the way Lily felt right then. She felt like crawling into a hole somewhere and just hiding for a while. Instead, though, she went upstairs to her bedroom and closed the door.
I'm probably just overthinking it, she thought, as she closed the bedroom door and laid on top of her bed. She glanced down and noticed that her nipples were hard, poking proudly through the thin cotton of her shirt. She was sure that Wyatt had seen them. How could he not have? They were so blatant. Maybe it wasn't that big of a deal to him, though. He probably hasn't even given it a second thought.
Chapter 5
Wyatt