Page 98 of Unexpecting

″How do you—you’re still reading those baby books, aren’t you?” I accused.

″Well, what do you expect? I like to know what’s going on with you,” he said defensively.

The pain abated, and I took a deep breath. “If something like that is going to hurt that bad, then I wish it would just be the real thing,” I complained.

″I really hope it’s not the real thing,” J.B. said. “We haven’t got a crib or car seats or a stroller…”

″We’ve got lots of time,” I told him, snuggling back under my blanket. “At least two more months.”

″Have you felt the trips kick a lot?” J.B. asked eagerly. It was Cooper who first called the babies the trips, and the nickname stuck. Cooper also began trying out new and unusual names—he would lean up to my stomach and start calling out, “Mabel, Maxim, Mohammed—anybody awake in there?” Or my favourite, “Xander, Xavier, Xorianda—stop kicking Mommy’s bladder.”

″I honestly think I might have the next David Beckham in my uterus. I’m going to blame you for that. They really get going when I’m trying to sleep or sitting still.”

″Can I… touch… you?” he carefully asked. I just knew he was thinking about the other night.

″If you like.” I moved closer and so did he, so that we were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the couch. J.B. put his big warm hand on my belly, but this time didn’t ask to see it naked. He scratched it gently.

″I’m sorry about the other night,” he said quietly after we’d been sitting like that for a few minutes. “When I—when you…”

″It was my fault,” I told him. “Hormones and stuff.”

″It’s not like I didn’t want to,” he assured me. “Or that I didn’t want you.”

″I get it.” I could feel the blush start at my neck and work its way up through my face. I wished he’d stop talking about it so I could stop thinking about it.

″I thought,” J.B. stammered, “I thought we could take things slow.”

″Slow?” I couldn’t help the snort of laughter. “I think we’re past the slow part.”

″I was thinking,” J.B. said slowly, his fingers still moving along my stomach. “We’ll be kind of busy when these guys come out…”

″Kind of,” I smiled.

″Well, I was thinking, maybe you’d want to go to a movie or something before they’re born. Maybe dinner and a movie one night. Or something,” he paused, keeping his attention on the television.

″It sounds like you’re asking me on a date,” I whispered.

″I guess I am. Trying to get to know you a little more before we jump into anything. There’s a lot we don’t know about each other.”

I bite my lip trying not to laugh again. Jump into anything? “Okay,” I whispered.

″Why are you whispering?” he asked, also in a whisper.

″I don’t—I don’t know,” I said in my normal voice.

″How about Tuesday night?”

″I’m working at the store until six, but after… okay.”

″Okay. We’ll do dinner and save the movie until next time.”

″Next time,” I parroted.

″Well, yeah,” J.B. said, turning to me with a smile. “I thought we should maybe go out a couple of times before we become parents. It’s a little backward, I know, but it still works for me. If you want to, that is.” He suddenly sounded nervous.

″Okay” was all I could bring myself to tell him. But I couldn’t stop smiling.

Chapter Forty-Three

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