Page 88 of Sometimes You Fall

“It’s fine,” I say, not wanting to dwell on her family because she and I are the only thing I plan to focus on this weekend. “Are you all packed?”

“Yes. My bags are inside. I just need to use the bathroom and then we can go,” she says, opening the front door and leading the way inside.

“I’ll grab your stuff.”

“And I’m just warning you, Grady,” she says, pulling my attention to her as she rubs her stomach. “This kid likes to eat and put pressure on my bladder, so there might be a few more stops on our journey than you planned.”

“Scottie, I’ll stop a thousand times if you need it, okay?”

Her smile is soft and directed right at me. “Okay.”

I watch her walk down the hallway and then I grab her small suitcase and bag. I head out to my truck to deposit them in the back seat. A few minutes later, Scottie emerges, locking the door behind her. She traipses down the steps over to the passenger side of the truck, where I’m waiting to help her inside.

“I guess chivalry isn’t dead,” she says as I open the door, take her hand in mine, and help her up into the truck.

“Definitely not. But it’s also about the risk of you falling while trying to get in my truck.”

“I’m not a klutz, Grady.”

Brushing her curls from her face, I cup her jaw and direct her gaze to mine. “Didn’t say you were. I’m just taking extra precautions since the last thing I want is for one slip to jeopardize you or our baby, Scottie.”She blinks a few times but doesn’t say anything, so I press a quick kiss to her forehead, shut her door, and then round the hood to hop into my seat. “Seat belts on.”

“Yes, Dad.”

“The daddy kink isn’t one I’m interested in, unless it really does it for you. Then I might reconsider.”

She smacks my shoulder as I back out of the driveway and head for the highway, drawing a laugh from me. And as soon as we get on the open road, my pulse returns to normal, even though the clock just started ticking and I still have a lot of work to do.

***

“Bye, bye, bye!” Scottie sings while doing the famous hand movements that accompany the NSYNC song she’s currently torturing me with. “God, I still know all the words all these years later.”

“I can see that,” I grumble before signaling and switching lanes on the highway.

She cackles beside me as she scrolls through her phone for her next choice of punishment. “Okay, I can take a hint. I honestly haven’t listened to boy bands in years, but I had to torture you a bit just for old times’ sake.”

“Hey, if it makes you and the baby happy, then I can handle it.”

Scottie adjusts herself in her seat, selecting a country station that I appreciate wholeheartedly, and then turning toward me. We’re only an hour into our drive, but already I feel like having her in my passenger seat is the only way I ever want to drive anywhere again. “You know, it doesn’t have to always be about me and the baby, Grady.”

“Yes, it does.”

“What about you? What doyouwant?”

I shoot her a glance over my shoulder, a look that says she knows what I want, and that shuts her up instantly. “Exactly.”

She turns back to face forward and then silence stretches through the cab as we cruise along the highway. After about fifteen minutes, she says, “Are we driving all the way to Coal City today?”

“No. We’re gonna stop in St. Paul, Virginia tonight. I have a hotel room booked and we’ll finish the drive in the morning. I’m sure you’ll want to move instead of sitting for the entire eight-hour drive. I figured we’d want to stretch our legs, get some dinner, and relax a bit.”

“I could have made it the entire trip, Grady. I wish you would have asked.”

Yeah, but if I did, then I wouldn’t have had the excuse to take you to dinner tonight and stay in a hotel room with you.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind. I’m just grateful you agreed to come with me. It gives us time to talk, you know?” I’m also drowning in the scent of her perfume that’s embedding itself in the interior of my truck, which means it’s going to smell like her for weeks. And I’m definitely not complaining.

She clears her throat. “Ah, yes. The parenting advice that you wanted. Well, no time like the present. Ask away, Grady.”

I nod, checking the navigation on my dash, making sure I’m not going to miss a turn for a while and then start the first place my mind goes. “Do you want an epidural when you deliver?”

---