Chapter 30 - Juliana
I t’s past noon on our fourth day and we’re relaxing in the hammock after a morning of touristy things.
The pink and blue kite we built together yesterday from local wood, fabric and string is flapping in the breeze above our bungalow when the hum of an engine draws our eye to a small plane trailing a kite of its own.
“No, that’s not a kite. It’s a banner,” Liam says.
Yes, it is. It looks like an advertisement and reminds me of the time I traveled to an overcrowded beach with my roommate for Spring Break back in college. It’s an unexpected sight here at a posh resort in French Polynesia.
My eyes go wide when it’s close enough to read the message –
Visit Sable in San Francisco before planning your next Babymoon!
“I’m going to murder him,” Liam growls, tossing pillows aside to search for his phone.
“Santi? Or Hudson? Or both?” I ask, choking back laughter. I wonder how much effort it took to arrange this.
“Possibly both but I have a feeling this is all Santi.”
I have a similar feeling, but Dr. Morales wisely chooses not to answer his phone. “He may be busy saving lives.”
“He’s going to need saving when I get home,” Liam says, typing a message.
The plane makes its way up the beach along the shoreline and I convince him to lie back down beside me. “It might be good advertising. Lots of wealthy people here who might like to play.”
He rolls his eyes at me defending his friend but pulls me closer for a kiss. I stroke his cheek, wishing we could stay in our little bubble forever. A vibration against my side restrains me from suggesting that aloud. “The good doctor will see you now,” I tease as Liam grabs his phone.
“It’s not Santi. It’s my father,” he says before answering.
Whatever his dad has called about, I know it’s not the airplane.
Indistinct but irritated words reach my ears before Liam’s expression hardens and he carefully rolls off the hammock.
“Yes, I approved them.” His eyes flick toward me and I wonder if he means something I’ve designed. “It’s what they wanted for… hang on.”
He strides down the wooden planks toward the beach. Clearly, this is something he doesn’t want me to overhear.
I try to relax under the sun again, but a strange little twinge in my lower abdomen makes me frown. There’s another when I sit up. As I ease my way out of the hammock, it sharpens into more of a stabbing pain, brief but impossible to ignore and leaving me gasping for breath.
“Is everything okay in there?” I whisper, suddenly terrified. Our little blueberry is the size of a lemon this week and has so much growing to do. The answer to my question is another pain, one that’s enough to have me yelping in surprise and worry.
“Jules?” Looking up, I see Liam is back by my side. He kneels in front of me, his eyes anxious as he observes my frightened expression and the way my hands cradle my bump.
“It’s too soon to feel her moving, isn’t it? Her moving wouldn’t hurt, would it? Why does it hurt?” I can’t help the way my voice breaks. He swallows hard, looking as lost as I feel. “Don’t murder Santi. We need him.”
He nods and starts calling. This time Santi answers. “No, this isn’t about the banner. Fuck the goddamn banner. This is about Juliana,” he says, frantically.
I want to tell him to calm down - his anxiety isn’t helping my own - but another twinge has me on the verge of hyperventilating. Maura! I think. We should call Maura. She’s actually on the same island as us and -
“Round ligament pain?” Liam repeats, breaking in on my frantic thoughts. A lightbulb blazes and my terror decreases substantially. Yes, that could definitely be the cause. It’s common around this time and it’s nothing to be frightened of.
“Sex can exacerbate it, huh?” he says next with a smirk. I feel myself flushing. I’d read that, too, back when I didn’t expect to be having much sex while pregnant. “Okay, I’ll get her checked out to be safe. Yeah, I’ll call you back.”
∞∞∞
Bora Bora has a medical center rather than a standard hospital, but Maura never goes anywhere without the tools of her trade. Santi’s diagnostic guess is soon confirmed by the experienced obstetrician.
I learn more about their son, George while we’re chatting. He took the job in Japan after he caught his girlfriend cheating with an acquaintance of theirs. I have to take a deep breath, recalling how the discovery felt. “He needed a change,” I state, understanding why.
Maura nods, sadly.“Yes.He thought she was the one.So did we.”
“I, uh… I understand George even if I’ve never met him.
It was the same for me. My husband and his assistant.
” Maura makes a strange little noise between extreme fury and loving comfort in response.
It’s a funny sound but also kind and appreciated.
“I planned to have this baby on my own because it was something I really wanted, with or without a partner.”
“But then Liam came along.” Her knowing grin tells me she’s reading a lot into that. I’m not sure I want to correct her today. She’s not incorrect either.
Liam came along even if he’d been by my side for years and the whole plan has changed. I realize I don’t hate that. “There’s no way I’d ever deny him having a relationship with this child. There’s no way I’d deny my baby their wonderful father.”
“Whatever happens between you two, he’ll be a good dad and you’ll be a good mum,” Maura says, reinforcing my hopes and swatting my insecurities aside.
“Thanks. I’m really glad you invited us to crash your lunch the other day,” I admit.
She hugs me in response, a motherly sort of hug I didn’t realize I needed so much until that moment. I’m forced to wipe a few tears away as she rubs my back. “Everything will work out as it should, love. You’ll see.”
I hope she’s right.
∞∞∞
After we left Maura and Thomas’s suite that day, I’d called Wendy, glad to have someone close to me that’s done this pregnancy and motherhood business recently.
Some extra rest had me feeling completely well again the following day, and Liam and I resumed certain activities, though I could tell he was nervous about causing me any pain.
It still hasn’t stopped us from banging like bunnies here.
As for the call from Liam’s dad, he’s been tight-lipped about it. “Did it have to do with the new university library?” I ask.
“It’s not worth discussing during our vacation. Leave it to him to try to spoil our last few hours here,” Liam grumbles against my shoulder. I’m glad his anger is marginally contained when he’s holding me, but he didn’t answer my question.
“Okay,” I say, deciding to let it go for now.
Liam may have been frightened of him as a boy, but I know he’s not afraid to fight things out with his father when it comes to work.
And, if there was a problem with my design, I can make adjustments.
Work is work and we have our own things to figure out.
I nestle beside him, letting my worries slip away.
It’s the day of our departure. We awoke before dawn and we’re currently waiting to watch the sun rise from our hammock.
“Looks like a big fat lemon,” Liam says as the enormous yellow star slowly extracts itself from the sea.
We’re silent until it has cleared the surface, going from a squashed oval shape to a perfect ball before our eyes. Soon, it’s too intense to look at it.
“I’m going to miss this place so much,” I sigh.
He nuzzles my neck, his hand resting on my belly. “Me, too, honey. Maybe we’ll come back with our blueberry someday.” My heart speeds up thinking about that. “When we get home, I don’t want to go back to sleeping in separate beds,” he adds, hesitantly.
“Me neither,” I say at once and my hand covers his. Our vacation may be ending but our intimacy isn’t. “Maybe during our long flight we can start a list of names? It’s still early but…”
“I like that idea,” he says, his voice husky with emotion. “You referred to our baby as a girl the other day when you were scared. Was that a woman's intuition?”
I shake my head. “Maybe because my sister has a little girl, I picture having one, too, but I’d adore a little boy every bit as much.”
“Me, too. If she is a girl, I’m sure Santi will suggest we name her Sable.” I laugh, but I wouldn’t put it past him.
“If it’s a boy, I like your middle name.”
“Archibald? Oh, hell no,” he says, shaking his head.
“I do!” I protest.
“Whatever the baby’s gender, there’s a couple of things I’d ask, Juliana. You can say no, of course, but I really would like for the baby to have my last name… if you’d be okay with that.”
“I would be,” I answer, realizing I mean it. We’ve been growing closer for three years, but these past few months things have been changing between us in other ways. No matter what our future holds, we’ll forever be linked by this child.
Liam’s pleased smile makes my heart glow. “I’d like for the two of you to live with me, too.”
My pulse pounds frantically. That’s a huge step. “I’m living with you now,” I hedge.
“I mean on a more permanent basis. I want the three of us under one roof every night.”
God, that’s fast to decide, but maybe it’s not fast to him. “I’d have to give up my house,” I say.
“I’ll pay off your house. You can hold on to it… until you’re sure.”
Until I’m sure. When will that be? I feel like I am, but I was confident in my marriage until it fell apart. “I’ll consider it. Okay?”
He nods. “Tell me something you want since you’re already giving me so much,” he says, gazing out at the horizon.
“We’ve told our immediate circle about the baby, but I want everyone to know once we get home. Neighbors, coworkers, parents… everyone. I want them to share our joy.”
For just a moment, he stiffens beside me before relaxing again and murmuring, “Then, that’s just what we’ll do.”