Page 18 of A Seed Of Peril

“You can but after a nap. Rest is more important.”

There was no point in arguing with him, so I sighed and nodded.

“Okay, but please wake me up for lunch. I’ll take Katrina and I out somewhere to eat. I know she’s been asking for a Happy Meal® for the longest time, and a burger and fries sounds like heaven.”

A chuckle vibrated deep in Dominic’s chest. “I will.”

“And Dominic, please don’t tell anyone yet that we’re having a boy. I want us to do that together.”

“Understood.” He let me go and took my hand. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”

The smell of delicious,unhealthy food while sitting at the restaurant drive-thru had been borderline tortuous, and as I took my food out of the bag, I fought not to become outright feral and tear into it.

My appetite was becoming rather insatiable lately, but it was a nice welcome after a lot of nausea in my first trimester. I also began noticing a slight uptick in my craving for animal blood and meat, particularly rare-cooked steak. Until I got pregnant, I preferred any and all meat cooked well-done. Not anymore. Well, except for hamburgers.

I bit into my Big Mac, savoring its flavor and smells. I chewed slowly, leaning back in my seat, sauce dripping down my hands. Thankfully, I remembered to put some napkins on my lap. Sonny got extra, plus some of those little individual wet wipes.

“Good?” Sonny asked, parking the SUV. He didn’t want anything at McDonald’s®. His loss. While he was giving me a look, I could see he wanted to laugh at my mess. I nodded, taking another bite.

“Mhmm,” I answered.

He set the soda he was sipping on into his cup holder. “How’s your food?” he asked Katrina, looking in the rearview mirror.

Katrina was sitting in the backseat of Sonny’s Escalade, eating the chicken nuggets that came with her Happy Meal®. He bought her chocolate milk to drink. It made her day. “Good! But they need to give kids more chicken nuggets. They’re cheap.” Sonny and I laughed, watching the people coming in and out of the establishment.

Taking a sip of my soda, I dug into the fries, nearly moaning in delight. I decided on a lemonade to drink. My son was a fan of my choice for lunch too, kicking me as I ate. He tended to kick and move more when I ate certain foods. Rare meat being another of his favorites.

“Lulu, can we go to the playground after we go shopping?”

“Maybe,” I said. “It all depends on when we’re done.” Truthfully, it depended on how I felt after we finished with the thrift store. If my back and/or feet hurt too badly, then I would have Sonny bring me home, and then, he could go take her to play.

“Okay,” she said, sad with my answer. It broke my heart when I had to tell her no, but that was my own guilt that I had to overcome. “Apple?”

I looked at the back seat to see Katrina offering me one of the fruits’ slices that came with her meal. Smiling, I said, “No, thank you.”

She put the apple slice in her mouth, talking with her mouth full, shrugging her shoulders. “Suit yourself.”

Laughing, I went back to attacking my burger.

* * *

“Do they have Barbies here?”Katrina asked me. “I want some new ones.”

I held her hand on our way to the entrance to Consign Hive thrift store. Sonny walked behind us, staying close. I honestly didn’t mind having a personal bodyguard every time I went out. Whoever it was on each trip would linger but would give me enough space so their presence wasn’t smothering.

“I’m not sure,” I told Katrina. “It depends on if anyone donated some.” I looked down at her and smiled. “But we’ll see.”

“Okay! I hope they do. Katie needs more friends. She does and Stephanie does and so does Jessica. Samantha has enough friends.”

It was cute to me that she named each of her dolls and gave them the personalities she did when playing with them.

The crowd was on the lighter side today here at Consign Hive. I preferred it that way; it made it easier to browse without others practically breathing down my neck.

I had always enjoyed thrifting. It was a nice way to relax. I wanted to visit our local shop today to hopefully find more pajamas and browse the men’s section for more baggy T-shirts and basketball shorts. Comfort was a necessity during this pregnancy. I would’ve borrowed Dominic’s shirts, but my belly was getting too big for them.

“Hello,” greeted the female employee, a friendly smile on her face. She was in the middle of putting away clothes.

“Hi!” Katrina replied.

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