Page 141 of Bae

“You just leave it all to me,” Valerie interjected. “I’ll have all this moved into the house and the nursery all decorated and organized in no time. You just rest.”

“Thank you,” I told her sincerely.

“No, thank you,” Tony said, coming forward to hug me. In my ear, he whispered, “This is the happiest I’ve seen her in a long, long time.”

Babies had a way of doing that. “I’m glad,” I whispered back.

“All the other gifts from the guests I’ll have brought into the house, and you can open them later.” Valerie went on.

I nodded. Just the thought of opening it all made me kinda tired. I was sure it would be a good job for Nova.

Absentmindedly, I rubbed my lower back as I stared over the haul of beautiful things. I recognized it all from my list. I had no idea how they tracked all that down from Pinterest. That had to have taken forever.

The next thing I knew, I was lifted off my feet. I gazed up at Romeo, who was looking at me with concern on his face. “Your back hurts.”

“Just a little.”

“When’s the last time you ate?” he asked.

I sighed. “I just ate a pickle.”

He glowered at me. “Something other than a pickle.”

I groaned and pointed to my stomach. “Look at me, Romeo. There is no room inside me for a babyandfood.”

“Go sit.” Valerie shooed us away. “I’ll make you a plate, Rimmel.”

Romeo agreed, like I didn’t just say I wasn’t hungry, and started toward our table.

“Let me down.” I squirmed, uncomfortable. “I want to walk.”

“Cranky,” he muttered but stopped and placed me gently on the grass.

“You’d be cranky too if you felt like you were about to explode,” I retorted.

“I know, baby.” He caught my hand and threaded our fingers together. “C’mon.”

On the way to the table, I tugged him toward the fountain. It wasn’t small. It was taller than Romeo and very wide and round. Pennies littered the bottom already.

Once the shower was over and the fountain was drained, all the pennies were going to be taken to the bank and put into an account in the baby’s name.

Romeo produced a penny from his pocket and held it out. “Wish?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“I’ll make one for you, then,” Romeo replied, accepting my superstition.

I nodded and smiled. He closed his eyes and put the penny between his palms. A few seconds later, he smiled and tossed it into the water, where it made a light splash and sank instantly to the bottom.

“It was a good one,” he sang and took my hand so we could go sit.

A few steps later, I stopped, wrapping a hand around my belly.

“Rim?” Romeo said, spinning around with worry in his voice. “Rimmel.” His hands were on my sides. I felt the fear in his stare, and I wasn’t even looking at him.

Warm liquid trickled down the insides of my legs, beneath the white, flowy fabric of my dress.

I guessed all those Braxton Hicks weren’t really after all. No wonder my back was hurting a little more than usual today and I wasn’t all that hungry.

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