Chapter 44 - Juliana
B eans delicately licks her paw while Bert circles my puffy ankles as Nell walks me into their house. “You’re lucky being a cat, Beans. You’d only have to endure pregnancy for sixty-five days. And, the birth of course.”
She stares back at me as if to say, “Thanks, but I’m happy to be spayed, bitch.”
Glancing down at Bert, I tell him, “And, you wouldn’t be troubled by any of it, would you, you furry bastard?”
He rubs against my legs, adoringly, his version of a kitty apology for simply being male, I suppose.
“I made pumpkin pie for us,” Wendy calls cheerfully from the kitchen. I can hear Amelia shrieking ‘PIE!’ from her high chair where she’s been supervising her mother’s baking endeavors.
“Yippee. Something else that will give me heartburn,” I grumble while lowering myself to their sofa with all the grace of a wounded water buffalo.
“You look as comfortable as a plump turkey this time of year. Speaking of which, I guess you didn’t need to borrow our turkey baster, huh?”
Smirking, I shake my head at Nell’s teasing. “Nope, the old-fashioned method worked out fine. I am wondering who exactly wanted this again?” I point to my protruding belly and the inescapable discomfort it causes lately.
“That would be you, girl,” Nell replies, cackling. “Wendy, make sure you cut a slice for her to take to Liam. I have a feeling my poor guy is getting his ass handed to him at home on the regular now.”
I grimace because she’s not completely off-base.
I love him and love how sweet and attentive he is, but I am grouchy as hell lately.
Thirty-nine weeks pregnant. One week to go if I make it to my due date.
This shit is not for wimps. My back aches.
My everything aches. And, even if I know it’s going to disagree with me later, I gobble down two slices of pumpkin pie when it’s sat in front of me.
“How was Becca today?” Wendy asks, lifting Amelia into her lap. I gaze affectionately at my niece, happy to think about giving her a cousin very soon… and evicting the little tap dancer from my uterus at last.
“She was good. I think I badgered her more with questions about childbirth than what I’m supposed to be there for, but she indulged me. We’ll be taking a little break from our office sessions for the first six weeks, but she’s told me to call her any time if the baby blues strike.”
Nell nods. “That’s good, but Wendy and I are here, too.”
I give them a thankful smile, glad to have their support.
“Addison called me yesterday. She’s doing well with her daughter.”
The sweet giant of a bouncer from Sable, Teo, asked me if I would mind if she called me. I’d told him it would be fine. I’m glad to think maybe she found a new friend in her darkest hour, just as I once did. I don’t know that Addison and I will ever be friends, but perhaps our girls might be.
“I told her maybe sometime we could introduce our little ones over coffee,” I tell Nell and Wendy.
“I won’t pretend that doesn’t surprise me,” Nell admits. I can tell Wendy agrees.
“I get it. I think Liam was surprised, too, but I know what she’s going through.”
My ex-husband’s wife has been awarded full custody of their daughter.
I hope she takes Chad for his very last cent.
She’s going through a divorce at a difficult time, something that can already leave painful wounds.
But, I believe she’ll come out stronger in the long run.
I lived through mine, and she will manage in the end, too.
Glancing at the time, I groan and start to heave myself up off the sofa. Nell gives me a hand up. “I’d better pee before Miles arrives. You know how he is if I disappear into the bathroom for too long.”
They snicker with understanding.
Once I finished the changes on the university library project for Culver, I put all other work on hold.
But, rather than take the leave money I was offering, Miles elected to make a deal with Liam.
My assistant has become Liam’s eyes and ears during the day, his number one informer of my every move.
He sticks close to me whenever Liam’s at work and has even become my personal driver.
If I sneeze twice in a row, Liam’s being told of it before I can say ‘beg pardon.’ I can’t escape the concertos and well-intentioned mollycoddling, no matter how often I ply him with cookies and gummy bears.
In my sister’s guest bathroom, I have a contraction, but I’m used to these ‘test runs’ as Dr. Mallard describes them.
I just saw him yesterday and he told me everything was still ‘closed up tighter than a drum’ during the physical exam.
Liam looked ready to rip his head off, and I might’ve been tempted to give him the go-ahead.
I’m afraid Dr. Quack earned himself a spot on my shit list not giving me any hope that this would be over sooner.
Chatting with Maura later on though, she told me not to be disheartened that my body wasn’t showing obvious signs that birth was imminent yet.
“Every woman’s different and every labor follows its own schedule.
” Of course, she also followed that up with a story about one of her patient’s being fourteen days overdue.
I cringed at the thought of three more weeks of this.
As I’m drying my hands, Liam calls. “How’s my sexy baby mama?”
I shake my head. Mostly at myself. How can he annoy me so much at times lately but still make me grin like a giddy girl? “Full of pumpkin pie and not feeling remotely sexy at the moment. I’ve got a slice boxed up for you.”
“Pumpkin for our little pumpkin,” he chuckles. “Ask Miles to bring you to the club instead of heading straight home. I’m almost finished with Santi and Hudson. I’ll take you out for dinner.”
“I think I’d prefer a tub of ice cream and a backrub at home tonight.”
“Your wish is my command.”
Outside, I tell Miles to take me to the club and I’ll ride home with Liam. Home. What felt like a temporary move at one point has become the only place I think of that way.
As Miles pulls away from my sister’s house, I wince when he nails a particularly nasty pothole. “Sorry.” I nod in acknowledgement but can’t hide my grimace. The effects of the jarring bump don’t seem to fade. “Juliana? ”
“I’m fine,” I grit out as a low but powerful ache spreads throughout my back. “Just drive.”
He gives me a concerned look, but the ache fades enough for me to distract him.
Some might enjoy being pampered, but I’m a surly pregnant lady lately, and he knows it, bless him.
He’s met a new guy, one of the dancers at Sable as it so happens, and we chat about the club as we head over the Bay Bridge.
The wistfulness in his voice over the new relationship makes me smile, but I’m glad that what I have with Liam is rock solid.
Never thought I’d want to be tied down again.
Funny enough, it was the night Liam tied me up that he started fully claiming my heart.
There’s a tightening sensation in my abdomen again, and the dull ache returns.
It continues as we drive through the city, coming and going.
I’ve changed my mind about evicting our little blueberry.
She can stay right where she is if it’ll make this ache go away.
It’s like menstrual cramps on steroids, and all the moms I’ve polled mentioned that being a sign of labor.
I breathe in and out, slowly, telling myself not to panic.
No need to panic. We’re all good. It’s just some cramping that will probably disappear the second I suggest going to the hospital.
If I mention the H word, I know Miles would take me straight there no matter what.
He’d probably turn into an Indy driver on the way and scare the bejesus out of me.
We’ve just made it to Sable, and I smile seeing Liam’s Jeep parked beside Santi’s Bugatti.
There’s a doctor in the house, and something just clicks for me.
This feels right somehow. Like the night she was conceived, fate seems to agree with me, and the dull ache in my back transcends into the most powerful contraction I’ve yet experienced.
Our little blueberry will not be ignored.
My knuckles are turning white, clutching the seat.
I debate about calling Liam rather than trying to walk inside first when there’s a warm trickling sensation between my legs. My panties and leggings are damp. This is really it. Fear starts clawing at my chest, but I shove it down. I can do this. I was built for this.
“Miles, I think it might be… time.”
He takes one look at me and yelps, “Oh, shit!” before he jumps out of the car like it’s on fire, darting into the club.
Less than a minute later, I see Liam thundering toward the car with Santi hot on his heels.