“Yeah, I hope so. I’m looking to the future.”
As we waited for the elevator, Devyn asked if I’d mind if he went to his studio. It was a tiny office he’d rented where he could paint. “Once the baby arrives, I won’t be able to work for a while and I have a piece I need to finish.”
I told him to go because I was headed to my favorite place: bed. As the end of my pregnancy drew closer, I spent most of my time lying down.
We kissed and Devyn brought me a sandwich and made one for Dad. After eating, I slept but something woke me two hours later. My tummy was rumbling but I wasn’t hungry. I was a little grouchy with tiny pains jabbing at my belly on and off.
I trudged to the bathroom before making my way to the living room where Dad was watching TV.
“Devyn not back yet?” I lowered myself onto the sofa.
“Nope.” My dad’s gaze didn’t leave the screen. This was one of his most beloved soap operas and his attention was on the ups and downs of the plot.
I grimaced and tried to get comfortable but I needed to pee again. I hauled myself up and then decided I didn’t need to go after all.
“I’m going back to bed ‘cause I feel lousy.”
Dad muted his program. “Describe lousy.”
I grumbled because I wasn’t in the mood to come up with adjectives. “I’m experiencing cramps.”
My dad’s brows shot up and he asked me how long this had been happening.
“A while.”
“My darling, your baby is on the way.”
Chapter 38
A false alarm—or is it?
Devyn
“We really should stay home,” I said by way of a greeting as I walked in the kitchen.
When I woke up that morning, Heston had already been awake for a while—I wasn’t sure how long—probably hours, given the fact that he had a full-on feast on the counter and was packing it in the cooler.
“Why should we stay home? The doctor said that it was Braxton Hicks and it was no big deal,”
He was right. After his cramping and the rush to the ER, where they sent him up to triage, the doctors determined he wasn’t in labor, and the contractions subsided. But that didn’t mean I wanted us to be away from home, and I definitely didn’t want him away from me. Thankfully he was on board with the latter.
“I think you only heard what you wanted to hear from the doctor,” I said and immediately regretted it.
He gave me side-eye. “Don’t even begin to patronize me.”
“I’m not… I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that they said to take it easy.”
“Yeah, they said that. But what else did they say?”
I shrugged, unsure what he was getting at.
“They said I had no restrictions. None. And no restrictions means we can go and have a picnic where you first showed me your beast. Now, either you’re going to help me pack the cooler, or you can find us a nice blanket and some pillows. I don’t care which.”
“I’ll help you with the cooler, and then I’ll go get the pillows.” If we were going to do this, I wasn’t going to have him bear the brunt of the work, though he’d already cooked so most of the work was done.
And really, there was no point arguing. Arguing wouldn’t do any good anyway. My pregnant mate had been pretty feisty lately.
I crossed over to him, kissed his cheek, “Good morning. I forgot that part.”
