Page 96 of Yours and Mine (Friends with Benefits)

I sighed.

Looking at his arm muscles and remembering the strength with which he had spun me when he lifted me in the air when I found out I was pregnant, I was pretty sure that he had plenty of practice with his own hose.

“I’m pretty sure you know how to handle a hose,” I said.

“Wait, was that a joke from Joelle Kagen?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, well, well. I guess we are good friends, after all.”

I stopped at the sudden sharp pain around my navel.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, the baby just kicked me a bit harder.” Which was odd because the baby was usually asleep at this time, no matter how much I walked. I picked up my pace again, my hand remaining over my baby bump, anxiousness swirling through my veins. Was this a good time to pull a fast one on Carter?

“Ahhh!” I screamed, grabbing Carter’s hand and squeezing it as tight as I thought a woman in labor would.

“Is it time? Oh, my God! Jo, we gotta get you to the hospital.”

“No, Carter. It’s coming right now!” I widened my stance, pretending that I was giving birth.

“You want me to catch it?” he asked.

I stood up straight and let go of my stomach, cocking my head to the side.

“Catch it? Why would you even say that? You say, ‘Lie down,’ or at least ask me to sit.” I rested my hands on my hips, somewhat forgetting that I was supposed to be pulling a joke on him.

He carefully looked me over, braced his hand on his hip, and leaned a little to the side.

Busted!

“Ouch?”

“Are you pretending?”

“Well, yeah. But you deserved it. I almost died when you pretended to faint at the clinic.”

“Jo, don’t ever do that to me again. You almost gave me a heart attack. And I’m serious this time.”

“I highly doubt that. I can’t believe you wanted to catch my baby.”

“I panicked, okay?”

“Panicked? You’re not allowed to panic, Carter. What if it was for real?”

“So, were you like testing me to see if I could be in the room?”

“No, I wasn’t testing you. Like I said, there’s—” A sharp pain tore through my lower abdomen, and I grasped Carter’s arm, squeezing my fingers around it.

“Jo, I’m not falling for that again.”

I felt my knees shake a little as water dripped down my leg.

“You know, if you wanted to pee we could have stopped at my house.”

“Carter,” I said between my teeth. “That’s not pee, that’s amniotic fluid.”

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