Page 39 of Connected By Christmas
“You guys made it!” Bella says as we approach the table.
“We weren’t sure if we were going to get a call and have to meet at the hospital instead,” Sophia grins.
“Not yet.” I sit down on the chair Noah pulled out for me. “I have been feeling a lot of small contractions lately, but they don’t seem to be getting worse, so it must be false alarms.”
“I tried to keep her home to rest, but she won’t have it,” Noah chuckles.
“That’s because I’m feeling fine and wanted Joe’s hamburger.”
“Don’t ever get in the way of a pregnancy craving,” Travis laughs. “Ryder has told me horror stories. Just give them whatever they want.”
“Good advice,” Sophia grins at her husband. “Remember that.”
“You too,” Bella looks at Maverick.
“Babe, you get whatever you want anyway. Why change it up now?” He laughs.
“True,” she giggles.
Sally comes by to take our orders and refill our drinks. I feel my belly tighten again and rub my hand over it until it stops. I quickly dismiss it as we start talking about the wedding in May.
“Here you go, love. Joe said he made this one for you. It has extra pickles on it, just like you like it.” Sally sets the plate in front of me, and my mouth starts to water from the smell.
“Thanks, Sally. Tell Joe thank you, too.”
I hear Noah chuckle beside me. “Told you he was smitten. I don’t see anyone else at this table gettingextrapickles.”
I take a big bite and moan as the flavors hit me. “Don’t worry, he’s too old to be any competition, but if he was younger and made me burgers like this…then you may have to worry.” I grin and take another bite.
“Very funny,” he says, trying to hide his smile at my teasing.
I push my empty plate away when I’m done and lean over to Noah.
“I’ll be right back. My bladder is the size of a pea when she’s squishing it like this,” I softly laugh.
“Do you need me to go with you?” He asks when I stand up.
“To the bathroom? No, I think I can still pee on my own.” I laugh when he rolls his eyes at me before I waddle to the bathroom door.
I empty my bladder and feel ten times better. I’m reapplying my lip gloss when a sudden contraction has me gripping the counter top. I feel my black leggings get wet seconds later. I breathe through the tightness surrounding my belly before walking back to the table.
“Um, Noah,” I say, standing next to his chair.
“Did you decide you needed my help after all?” He chuckles and looks up at me.
“I do need your help. I need you to drive me to the hospital. My water just broke.”
The conversation at the table stops before everyone starts talking at once and jumps up from their chairs.
“Are you sure?” Noah asks, grabbing his phone and keys from the table.
“Unless I just peed my pants, I’m pretty positive,” I laugh.
“This is so exciting! I’m going to be an Aunt!” Bella squeals.
“You guys go. We’ll take care of the tab and then meet you at the hospital.” Travis waves down Sally for the check.
“Do you need me to get your bag from the house?” Sophia asks, grabbing their things from the table in a hurry. “We can stop by and bring it to you.”
