Page 19 of Dubious Match
“Nova!” she says warmly. “How are you?”
“I’m much better now,” I say with a grin. “Do you have to pee now for the test, or do you want me to do vitals first?”
Adira bites her bottom lip as she thinks. It’s that internal check in that a lot of moms-to-be do when I ask that question. It’ll trigger the need to go, or bury it.
“I actually do need to go,” she decides, standing. “I’ve been chugging water today.”
Internally, I wince because I was half an hour late. I’m surprised she didn't use the bathroom earlier than this, causing us to miss our window.
Pulling out the pH strip that I use to check urine to be sure that the baby is safe and sound, I hand it over to Adira with a plastic cup.
“Perfect timing then,” I say cheerfully.
Adira leaves the room while I sink down onto the large sofa to wait. My lips twitch in happiness as I see that Kane has a baby doll in a ring sling strapped to his chest, perfectly placed.
“How is your collection of carriers going?” I ask him. “You always find such great patterns.”
Kane is a baby carrier junkie, and I love it so much. He doesn’t care what he looks like, while I just see a really excited father to be. There are rainbow wovens, ring slings with safari animals, and structured carriers with kites and bicycles. We’ve discussed appropriate ways to put newborns into baby carriers so that their legs are in the froggy or M position to protect their hips, and he’s shown me how he does it to make sure it’s safe for the baby.
I have to say, I’m impressed with how prepared and excited he is. I’m well aware of what their jobs are and it doesn’t faze me. It doesn’t affect how I’ll care for baby and mom, nor how I’ll support her pack as we move through their journey together of becoming parents.
“I found a woven that I’m thinking about turning into a structured carrier. I’m just worried I’ll fuck it up,” Kane says honestly.
“We bought a sewing machine,” Damon says, sighing.
“Oh!” I say excitedly. “There are tutorials to help with that, Kane. You can turn the scraps left over into covers for cloth diapers if you want.”
“I started reading up on cloth,” Jed says. “It seems really complicated.”
“I promise it’s not,” I say. “I have a couple at home that I use to show parents how to use them. It’s just something I added to my collection of things.”
I shrug with a smile and the guys look excited about it. There’s no other reason for me to have cloth diapers. I don’thave a pack or any prospects with how often I move. However, I collect baby things anyway, and tend to create care packages for my clients in an effort to purge some of it.
Otherwise, I just feel like I’m deluding myself. I’m destined to catch babies, but never have one for myself. That’s just how it is.
Kane brings me the softest woven material ever, and I sigh happily as I run my fingers over it.
“I’ve been braiding it to get rid of its stiffness,” he reports.
Woven material for wrapping sometimes starts out very stiff, but the more you touch, braid, and play with it, the softer it becomes.
“Look at you,” I say with a grin. “It feels like butter. I can send over some tutorials so you can start if you’d like. I’ve been making my own clothes for years, but when I started I had no idea what I was doing. The tutorials saved my life.”
Adira comes back in at the tail end of the conversation, brows raised. “Did you make your skirt by chance? It’s so full, I can’t ever find anything like that.”
Running my hand over my skirt, I nod. “It’s really good stress relief too, and then you end up with something you made,” I explain.
“It’s beautiful,” she says, handing me the litmus test in the cup. I put on a pair of gloves before picking it up. Gazing down at it, I see that everything is where it should be.
“Looks like we’re doing good,” I say. “Let’s do vitals and listen to the baby.”
Jed takes the cup from my hand and disposes of it, while I continue the visit. Forty minutes later, I finish up and begin to answer any questions they have. I think they hold onto them until I come back. This is my last visit before I’m done for the day, so I take my gloves off and dispose of them as I relax into the cushions and answer the questions that are directed at me.
“Can Adira still sleep on her stomach?” Jed asks, glancing carefully at his omega.
In the power dynamics of things, she is very much in charge, and I can tell. They exist solely for her.
“Yes,” I reply. “She’s still barely showing. It’ll get uncomfortable as she continues. A pregnancy pillow will really help with that.”
