Page 66 of Under His Embrace

“There’s not a lot of room for food anymore,” I advised.

“I suppose,” he said.

Nina entered the kitchen then, the same as the head housekeeper and Nicky. He hurried to sit with Caleb, fitting right in despite the employment barrier his mom had.

“I’ll tell you,” Nina said with a wince. “There’s not a lot of room for this baby anymore, either.” She put her hand on her back as she sat on a high stool.

Dante dropped the spatula and hurried to her side. “Are you okay?”

“I think the baby is coming today.”

Dante shared a look with Eva. “But Danicia isn’t here. She’s on vacation this week.”

“Then you have to take me to the hospital and someone else can help me have this baby!”

I patted Caleb’s head as I walked past him. “Cereal or eggs?” I asked him.

Nicky slid a box of cereal over. “Want these?”

Caleb nodded, taking a bowl from the stack. He glanced at Nina and looked at me. “Is shereallyhaving a baby today? Here?”

I shrugged.Doubt it.

“How are you feeling?” I asked Nina.

She grimaced but morphed the expression into something of a surprised smile. “Hey! You know how this feels. Help.”

I laughed. “What do you feel?”

“Like I’m having a baby.”

I nodded. “All right… Did your water break?”

She shook her head, then frowned and looked at Dante. “Did I?”

He shook his head as well. “No…? The bed was dry.”

I cleared my throat and sat next to Nina. “It’s early yet.”

“That’s why I’m freaking out!”

“Have you started feeling Braxton-Hicks yet?” I laid my hand on her arm and rubbed softly. If she was having her baby, comforting touches might help. It did for me, but no two women were the same.

She gripped my hand, ceasing movement.

Okay. She’s not a touchy-feely type.

“I don’t know!” she wailed. “I can’t tell what they feel like, if I’ve felt them, or how they should feel. When Danicia and my other doctor explain them, it sounds like nothing I can understand.”

“Okay. Okay. So they feel like real contractions?—”

“That doesn’t help.”

“But they don’t increase and last as long as the real ones do.” I smiled, hoping to reassure her. “When it’s time for the baby to come, you’ll know.”

She narrowed her eyes. “How?”

I shrugged and winced a bit. “I don’t know. Honestly, I think it’s just a saying people tell you to throw you off.”

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