The Next Day

by Chrissy

It wasn't until the next day that Grace told them she was pregnant.

"What!?" exclaimed Vince in shock, his mouth full of Grace's famous fried chicken. "You're gonna have a kid?!? When the hell did this happen? Who's the father?"

Grace glared back angrily, her eyes blazing. "It's Cesar's of course! What kind of woman do you think I am, Vince? I only sleep with one man at a time!"

Vince grinned widely and turned to a stunned Cesar. He slapped his friend's muscled back. "Hey man! You're gonna be a daddy. You're a papa. You're gonna have a kid, man!"

Cesar's eyes would have widened in disbelief had they not been swollen almost shut by the beating he'd received from Vince the day before, during their fight in Vegas. He threw down the piece of chicken in his hand, the chunks of food in his mouth almost choking him. He could not talk. There was no way he could talk. Not even a word of Spanish could pass his lips!

But it didn't matter because Vince was doing all the talking for him. "How far along are you? I mean, when's the thing due?" Vince asked.

"Baby! - Vince! - it's a baby. I'm not expecting a new kitchen table! I'm three month's pregnant."

"Well, you don't look it," he returned, the wide grin still filling his face. His eyes wandered down to her stomach. "You looked pretty hot in that red dress. Who would've guessed you're knocked up."

"Well, that's a pleasant way of putting it."

"But why didn't you say anything, Grace? All those hours in the car yesterday and you never said a word."

Grace jerked her head toward Cesar, "I was afraid he would freeze up before the fight. And from the looks of him I was right." She turned to Cesar who sat next to her at the table obviously overwhelmed into paralysis by the news.

She had invited the two of them over for fried chicken and to watch the video of their Vegas fight. She had been given a copy of the tape at the party before the sleazy hotel owner, Hank, had smacked her in the mouth. Actually, she hadn't meant to tell anyone about the pregnancy, but somehow the words had slipped out.

She turned to look upon a stunned Cesar as he stared unblinking down at his plate. The incredible news beginning to assimilate inside his brain. Grace's heart softened as she looked at Cesar.

Even with his eyes so swollen, he was an incredibly handsome man. She had always been struck by his Latin good looks. No matter how many times that face had been pummeled it remained smoothly handsome. He seemed totally unaware of his good looks or of the way both women and men looked so hungrily at him. She smiled inwardly. If the baby took after its father, it would be beautiful, for sure. Boy or girl - it didn't matter, she hoped it would resemble Cesar. The guy had great genes. She chuckled inwardly - his tight little ass looked great in a pair of jeans too!

Vince continued nagging at her, his words spilling from his lips. The news had come as a total shock to him. He was having a hard time taking it in and, whereas Cesar was stunned into frozen silence, Vince could not stop talking.

"But, before. I mean before the Vegas fight. You must have known for a while. Why didn't you tell him when you found out?"

Grace was silent. She swallowed the bile that suddenly rose into her throat. She had suffered badly from morning sickness for the past few weeks and she thought for a terrible moment she was going to toss up the two pieces of chicken in her heaving stomach. She didn't need all these questions from Vince.

"I wasn't going to tell him. I wasn't going to tell either of you. I was just going to go to New York and…"

"Wait a minute," Vince cut into her quick words. "You're going to New York?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna sell the 442 and head east. I think I can unload my ideas in New York. LA is dead from the neck up."

"You mean live there?! You mean you're going settle there?"

"Yeah, I've been offered twelve thousand for the 442. That's enough to get me started."

"But what about the baby? What about me and Cesar?"

"What about you?"

"Well," Vince gathered his thoughts, all these bombshells at once were spinning his brain. "We might not want to go to New York. Cesar might not want to go. You can't just decide to up and leave just like that."

"I can do what I want!" she snapped back. "And who the hell said you guys were coming with me?"

Vince was about to respond hotly, when another voice in the room stopped him.

"Why did you tell me it was over between us?"

It was Cesar. He had finally found his voice. He was looking intently at Grace. "In the car - yesterday in the car, why did you tell me it was over, Grace?" he questioned again, his words slow, his accent strong.

"Because it IS over," she returned too quickly. She could not meet the puzzled, hurt look in his eyes.

"But it's not over," he insisted. "It's just starting. WE are just starting. We are going to have a baby. We will get married and then…"

She snorted nastily. "I'm NOT marrying you Cesar. I have no intention of marrying anyone."

"But we must be married," his eyes were wide and serious, his voice passionately earnest. "We must be married before the baby is here."

With a huge sigh, Grace stood up, noisily scraping back her chair as she removed the dirty plates from the table. She wished she had kept the news of the baby to herself. Now she had the two of them glaring at her. She moved toward the small kitchenette in her cluttered apartment.

"I am NOT marrying you Cesar," she repeated with emphasis. "I don't want to be tied down to a has-been boxer and shove out a baby every coupla years."

"Has-been?" Cesar turned to Vince, "What means this has-been?"

"It's waaay better than never-been," Vince flashed back, his angry eyes on Grace.

Cesar shook his head in confusion. "This fucking crazy language."

Vince stood up from the table and strode the three steps it took to be in the kitchen with Grace.

"So you're saying you are going alone to New York? You're going there by yourself? Knocked up with a baby on the way?"

"Yeah," she returned with a hard look. She angrily brushed back some stray hairs from her eyes. "That's exactly what I'm telling you. There's no room in my life for you or Cesar. I've got too many ideas. Too many things I want to do."

"And what about Cesar?"

"What about him?"

"He don't have no say in this?"

"Why should he have a say?"

"Because it's his kid, DAMMIT!"

Their words had grown loud and harsh, echoing in the small apartment. They glared angrily, their eyes burning into each others. So intent were they, it was a few seconds before either one became aware of the sound across the room - the sound of sobbing.

Cesar had fallen to his knees, with his head in his hands he was weeping in total abandon - the sounds of his sobs filling the humid air.

With a resigned sigh Grace crossed to Cesar and stood before him, hands on hips.

"Cesar, stop crying," she snapped, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

His sobs grew louder. Without a word, Vince took a couple of table napkins and held them to his friend. Cesar never seemed to have a Kleenex, no matter how often he cried - which was quite often. It was in his blood, Vince figured, all this crying shit. The Spanish were very passionate and Cesar's emotions always seemed to be brewing just below the surface.

But Cesar ignored the offered napkin, instead his arms went around Grace's thighs, almost knocking her off balance as he hugged her tightly to him. His puffy, swollen eyes were now swimming with hot tears as he looked imploringly up at her.

"Marry me, Grace," he sobbed. "I am on my knees before you. I am asking you to marry me. You can not leave me. Please I beg you. Don't take my child away from me." She could almost taste his pain. "You must stay here with me."

But Grace shook her head and her pretty face hardened at his words. "I should never have said anything. I wish I had kept quiet." She pulled his arms from her and shoved him roughly away.

"Listen!" she yelled angrily, "I didn't want my life cluttered with a baby. But now that it's happened I am going to have to put up with it. But I certainly don't want my life cluttered with YOU, Cesar! You have no plans, no future. You' re going nowhere. Me, I want to go somewhere. I want to be something. I don't want to be stuck with a deadweight rundown boxer. Like I said in the car yesterday, you and me are finished. It's over!"

Cesar visibly flinched at every one of her cruel words, but he stopped crying. His head hung for several moments as he pulled himself together with deep breaths. He wiped his eyes with the heel of his hand and then, slowly, he stood to his feet. With slow deliberate movements, his shoulders slouched heavy with despair, he walked to the door and left. They both watched as the door closed softly behind him.

Vince spun on Grace, "You hard hearted bitch! You're a fucking nice piece of work, you are! How could you do that to him?"

"It's the truth!" Grace flared back, "Cesar will slow me down. I'm going places."

Vince snorted, "Going places? Huh! You're gonna swap one loser life for another - only it gets fucking cold in New York!"

"Well, thank you for your vote of confidence," Grace snapped back.

They both fell into an angry silence, but it was Vince who broke it, his words now soft and pondering.

"I remember the first time I met Cesar," he smiled at the memory. "The guy could hardly speak English and he had this pony tail half way down his back. Jesus Christ! A boxer with long curly hair in a pony tail. He used to braid it for fights. Looked just like a fucking schoolgirl. And that pretty face of his! Those big brown eyes and those pouty lips. He looked soft but - man - could he punch!! The first time he sparred with me I saw stars. I didn't tell him that, though." Vince fell quiet again.

Grace smiled to herself. Vince was so caught up in his words he was oblivious to the fact that he had cursed the name of Jesus.

"So I kind of took him under my wing," Vince continued as if lost in his memories. "He's such a sweet guy. Still is. I would trust Cesar with my life. He was unlucky at the Garden. Boxing all comes down to luck sometimes. I guess it wasn't meant to be. But he was unlucky, that's all. It had nothing to do with his ability. Man, he's got some punch." Vince rubbed his jaw, "I still hurt, you know."

"Shall I make some coffee?" Grace asked gently. "We can sit and talk."

"Yeah, sure," returned Vince. He moved to the worn sofa and sat down. "He's my very best friend, you know. In fact, he's the only real friend I ever had. We understand each other. Oh sure, we argue. He drives me crazy sometimes, but we're buddies. Good buddies."

"Well if you are such good buddies - how come you didn't know about Cesar's gay tendencies?"

Vince frowned. "Shit! That's was some shock, Grace! I had no idea. But I guess he swings both ways, eh? When you think about it, it's not so bad. It's got it's advantages - when he wants sex he's happy with whatever he finds in their pants."

"Vince! Don't be crude!"

He grinned. "Sorry. I guess I'm not as upset about it now I've got used to the idea. It pisses me off that he told you about it and never said a word to me."

"Well, he knew you'd overreact as usual."

"But we are supposed to be buddies. Anyway, during the years I've know him he never seemed particularly interested in anything but boxing. But he certainly had his admirers. Especially women. Sometimes he had to fight them off." He turned to Grace, "You sure liked the looks of him. I've seen the way you look at him. Even when we were dating, I saw the gleam in your eye when Cesar was around."

Grace smiled and brought the filled coffee cups and placed them on the table before them. She sat down next to Vince.

"Well, Cesar is a very handsome man," she returned with a smile

Vince grinned playfully, "Oh? and I'm not?" he grinned.

"You've got a nice face, Vince," Grace said sipping her coffee, "But Cesar - well Cesar he's got THAT look, you know. Classic good looks. He looks like one of those male models you see in the fancy magazines. He sure don't look like no boxer."

"Oh? And what's a boxer supposed to look like?"

"Aw, come ON, Vince! You've seen those guys hanging around the Broadway Gym. You know the ones I mean. The guys whose faces look like crumpled newspaper."

"So that's what I look like? Is that what you're saying."

"No, no. You don't look like a boxer either, Vince. I just mean that Cesar is an extremely good looking man. "

"Whereas I'm just a pile of ugly shit," Vince declared contemptuously. The conversation was beginning to annoy him.

Grace took his hand and squeezed it. "You are a fine looking man, Vince."

"Oh sure!"

"You have a lovely shaped head. I love your bald head," she finished weakly hoping she had appeased him.

They both fell silent again.

"Do you know what Cesar is to me?" Vince asked after a while.

"Your best friend?"

"Yeah - but to me he's like - he's like -" Vince looked at Grace, "Jesus."

"Jesus??!!"

"Yeah. Cesar is like Jesus - with an accent - and a wicked right hook!" Vince gingerly rubbed his jaw again.

"Now you're being silly," Grace returned with a snort.

"Well, it's hard to explain. But the guy is decent. Good inside. You know what? He's smart, too," declared Vince.

Grace smiled as she sipped her coffee, "Are you trying to sell me on Cesar, Vince?"

"I'm just telling you the truth, Grace. He is a good man and he's smart too -- like Jesus. I'll tell you something, he's way smarter than me. He learned English so fucking fast. I just couldn't believe it. And he knows things. He reads a lot and he can talk about all that political shit, and I'm just lost. And he can do figuring like crazy. He can figure shit that I can't even begin to understand. I should've let him study those fucking contracts."

Grace turned to him. "Oh come on - who are you kidding? Cesar is a sweet guy, but smart? No way."

"But you're wrong, Grace. He's very sharp. It's just the language that holds him back. You don't give him a chance. You just talk all over his words. You never listen to him. You always think you're right. You never listen to anyone. "

"Well, if he's so smart how come he's always broke? He doesn't have a car, he doesn't have much of a job. He never, ever has any money."

"Well, he spends all his time training."

"Training for what?! If he's so smart, he should realize it's over. How old is he? 33 years old? It's time to get out and start a new career. Boxing's for the young. I worry about him. I worry about the both of you. I want you guys to look beyond boxing. Cesar especially. His whole life is boxing. He thinks about nothing else. Well, it ain't going to happen for him. The whole damn game is rife with money hungry managers. And, anyway, it's all a crap shoot. You said that yourself. Cesar needs to look for something else. He needs to look for a good paying job and save some money."

"Well, if you give the guy a chance he just might do that. Now he's gonna be a dad, he might be different. He might settle down. Get a decent job. I know he's got the brains."

Grace was quiet as she finished her coffee. She was thinking about Vince's words. Maybe it was true, maybe she never did give Cesar the benefit of the doubt. She was the stronger personality. She always tended to take control, especially with sweet-natured Cesar. She took his gentleness to be weakness.

"Why did you tell him it was over?" asked Vince, suddenly changing the subject.

Grace looked down into her coffee, "He was beginning to get under my skin, Vince. I found myself caring about him. Really caring. It wasn't just the great sex and the company any more. I found myself worrying about Cesar. I worried about him getting hurt in the ring. And then I worried about him not having a proper job. And then when I found out I was gonna have his kid I got scared. Real scared. You know what I'm like with commitment. I get panicky. I feel trapped. I had to end it with Cesar. Anyway, I thought it would be best. I was just going to leave for New York and send a postcard when I got settled."

"Don't go. Please don't go," Vince cried suddenly biting passionately into her words. She was surprised at the earnestness of his pleas. "Give Cesar a chance, Grace. Don't do this to him. Don't run away with his kid. You saw his face. He's tore up. You've just ripped him apart. Don't leave him."

Grace yielded. "Well, it does get cold in New York," she smiled.

Vince kissed her quickly on the cheek. "That's my girl! I knew you'd see sense after a while. Listen, I'm gonna head home. But I want you to think about this. Think about the future. It ain't gonna be much fun alone. You, me and Cesar - well, we go back a long way."

Grace pondered Vince words as she scrubbed dishes and cleaned the kitchen. The prospect of life in New York suddenly seemed to lose its appeal. It was true, she would be totally alone in a cold city with a baby. And New York was filled with people with ideas just like her. By the time she entered the small bathroom for a shower she had decided she would stay in LA.

When she emerged from the shower she was totally taken aback to see Cesar sitting in her living room chair.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" she cried, pulling the towel tightly around her..

"The door was unlocked," Cesar returned. He sat in a shaft of sunlight and as she looked she was struck by his eyes. The brilliance of the sun accentuated their beautiful shade of amber. She had never really noticed before. She wondered briefly if the baby she carried would have its father's eyes. She hoped so.

She watched as he licked his full lips, and felt a sensual stirring in her loins as she remembered what he could do with just a flick of that tongue. She made a strong effort to push the thought away.

He began talking, his words fast and passionate. "I'm no has-been," he cried, the noble Spaniard out in full force. He held his head proudly.

"I am no washed up, or over the hill, or any of these things you said. I am a man. I am a winner. I almost won at the Garden. I am now going to have a child and you are not going to take that child away from me, Grace. I won't let you. I don't care what I have to do to stop you. But I WILL stop you. I want to be part of my kid's life. You will not get rid of Cesar Dominguez very easy. Oh no. Not very easy."

His earnest, impassioned words stabbed at the hardness of her heart. She couldn't help the smile as she sat down next to him.

"I'm not going to New York," she said gently. "Vince has convinced me not to go. I'm staying right here, Cesar."

With a loud elated yelp Cesar seized her and the wind was knocked from her lungs as he clutched her tightly in his strong muscled arms.

The news that she was staying filled him with a joy that he could not contain. Since leaving the apartment, he had paced around the block at least fifty times, his head filled with words he would say to her. He had returned ready to give a million arguments why she should not go to New York. But now he didn't have to convince her. Grace was staying in town.

Grace found herself crushed against Cesar's hard body. She struggled to move so that she could breathe but his lips found hers and suddenly he was kissing her passionately. She felt his tongue move into her mouth and for a moment she allowed herself to sink into the pleasurable sensation of being kissed by Cesar. What was the point in struggling? This man knew his way around a kiss. His lips moved from hers and he began nibbling and kissing her ears, her neck - all the time he rambled in crazy, excited Spanish. She stopped him as his lips moved down to the towel covering her breasts.

"Hey, hey," she giggled. "This is how I got knocked up in the first place."

"Knocked up?" he asked, his breathing elevated. He sometimes had a difficult time with slang expressions.

"Well, pregnant," she continued smiling. "This is how I got pregnant."

"Of course, I know that," Cesar returned haughtily. He never knew with Grace. Was she laughing at him? "We have fucked many times. I know what happens when people fuck."

"Cesar!!" she exclaimed with a giggle, "You have GOT to watch your language."

"Why?" he returned, "You swear more than me."

"Well, we both have to quit. I don't want this baby picking up bad language."

Her words thrilled Cesar. "You mean we will be together? We will marry now?"

"Well, I don't know about marriage. But I'm not going anywhere."

His delight was obvious. With renewed rapture he began nibbling and kissing her again. His lips were so soft, so wonderful. Despite the hot night air, she shivered with the total pleasure of Cesar's warm breath on her skin. He really was the most sensuous man.

Cesar was having his usual strong physical effect on her. She was conscious of a warm, moistness between her legs. She yearned for him. She experienced that sensation known to all aroused women, the urgent need to have a big hard man deep inside.

She leaned back on the sofa and opened her mouth as Cesar kissed her, his tongue playing with hers. She did not protest as he removed the wet towel from her still damp body and dropped it to the floor. He pushed her back onto the cushions of the sofa and his warm lips left her mouth to cover the pert, aroused nipples.

"Oh God, Cesar," she squirmed under his touch, "What are you doing to me?"

His mouth moved down her stomach. "You don't know what it is I am doing? I've done it many times before," he licked her hot skin. "You like it don't you?"

She squirmed. "Of course I do. Let's move to the bed, it's more comfortable."

They stood and walked to the small bedroom that ran off the living room. Cesar eagerly removed his clothes as they approached the bed.

Within seconds they lay naked next to each other. "You have such a great body," Grace murmured, her hands wandering over him, her breath quick.

"So do you," he returned. "Nice and soft."

"I don't like soft," she whispered. "I like hard. I like hard and muscled. Not an ounce of fat. That's what I like in a man's body and that's what you've got."

"Well, I train hard," he replied, moving to kiss her. He didn't want to talk. He wanted to fuck. "You know that."

"You've got a great butt too," Grace sighed as her palms found his round ass and she squeezed it's firmness, "It's a shame those boxing shorts are so damn baggy."

His breathing was heavy as he slid his mouth down her body to her stomach. "You are not too much pregnant. Your belly is still flat" he remarked licking her smooth, taunt skin. His tongue played in her belly-button.

"Well, it won't last long. Soon I'll look like I swallowed a beach ball," she giggled.

"And I will love you still."

She looked down at him in surprise. "Do you love me, Cesar?" she asked.

"I think I do."

"You know what? I think I love you too. I never really thought about it before. But I think I do love you." She was speaking the total truth and it was a revelation to her. Why had she never realized this before?

"We will marry," Cesar stated with the typical certainty of the Spanish male.

He moved his head between her legs.

"Oh God!" she cried as her world caught fire. They did not speak for many minutes as orgasm upon orgasm erupted inside Grace. Finally Cesar took his tongue from her and he moved up her body until they were face to face once again.

"You know what?" Grace whispered, looking up into his eyes. She could see the familiar vein in his forehead. His amber eyes gazed down at her tenderly, the swelling already beginning to subside. How could she resist him? He was SO fucking sexy.

"What?" With his hand he guided his rigid penis inside the warm moist confines of her body. He gasped out loud at the powerfully pleasurable sensation.

"When I said you were the best lover, I meant it you know," Grace sighed, her body squirming with his.

"I know," he said confidently. He began slowly thrusting. She was so tight. It was SO GOOD.

"Oh God!" she sighed again, her hips rose higher to meet each delicious pump, "I really did, Cesar. You are the fucking best fuck in the world."

"Hey," he chided, "No more swearing, remember?"

"Okay, darling" she found herself replying. Darling? She had never called anyone darling in her life. Was she becoming soft?

She closed her eyes and sunk into the total delirium of lovemaking with Cesar. He was so big. So hard. So beautiful. So sweet. Vince was right. Cesar WAS something special. He certainly was good in bed.

Their climax was fast approaching as Cesar's hoarse words filled her ears.

"We will marry, eh?" he asked huskily.

The climax hit them both with great force, their bodies jerked and shuddered, they clung to each other sweat pouring from them.

"Yes," she replied, gasping for breath. " We will marry."

He held her tightly against him, his own breath coming in gulps.

"I love you," he said, raising his head to look down at her.

"I love you, " she returned with conviction, wrapping her legs around him as they rolled onto their sides. "Oh, how I love you."

She smiled into Cesar's hard chest. Why hadn't she noticed? How could she have been so blind? So stupid? She had almost let Cesar slip through her fingers. She had almost lost this man. She had almost lost the man she loved. The most beautiful man in the whole wide world.

Her smiled turned smug. Everything was going to be fine. Just fine.

"You know what?" Cesar broke into her thoughts.

"What?"

"That idea you have for socks. Well, it's a good idea - thick cotton for the foot and thin silk for the part that shows, it's good -- but the whole sock should be the same colour. Don't you think?"

She laughed. "Yeah, you're right. Hey! that's a good idea, Cesar."

"I've got lots of them," he returned confidently. "In fact, I have another idea,"

"Well, spit it out,"

"Vince will be Godfather to our baby."

"Sure - okay, that's another good idea."

"And I have one more idea"

"Oh my God! Another one? What is it?"

"What?"

"If our baby is a boy - we will name him Cesar Vincent."

Grace rolled her eyes and snuggled into the confines of Cesar's muscled chest.

"Anything you say, darling. Anything you say."

Then she spoke again, "Now it's my turn to have an idea. Tomorrow you go out and get yourself a job, okay? A proper job."

"I will do that, Grace. And I will work very hard, I promise you. We will have many nice things for our baby. I will bring home good money for us. Don't worry, no more times wasted at the gym."

"Oh! I don't want you to stop training, Cesar," she broke in quickly, "Don't lose that cute butt."

"I will do it all for you, Grace," he whispered, a teasing smile on his face. "I will work hard and bring home much money. I will train hard at the gym and keep my cute butt in shape and I will have many good ideas for you."

She smiled with contentment and kissed him.

Everything was going to be just fine.