Chapter 49 Grace
GRACE
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Kerry Winsor: Moving on from the . . . incident. Let’s talk about something fun! Will anyone be at the farmers market???
Comments:
Jade Clark: Oh, Grace got her GOOD. I’ve never seen Kerry move on from anything.
Kerry Winsor: Helloooooo, I wanna know about the farmers market, Jade! No more talk about how I was wrong.
Mollie Wilson: I had a good harvest this year. I’ll have some strawberries and blueberries.
Kerry Winsor: Yes! Oh, and I bet we’ll finally have good coffee this year too! @Theo Murf, are you attending?
Theo Murf: The shop’ll be open. You all can come in.
Kerry Winsor: But you can never chat when you’re working! Someone needs a social life . . .
I knew the third trimester wasn’t going to be fun, but this was worse than I could’ve ever imagined. My cramps were terrible, but I’d heard of women thinking Braxton-Hicks contractions were the real deal, and I refused to drive to the hospital for anything but something serious.
Add that to the fact that I had to deal with what my sister had done, and I was feeling even worse.
I was sure this was stress from processing the incidents with Brooke while also figuring out the best way to make sure that she got what she deserved. Some days, I felt like the worst sister in the world. Other days, I felt like I was doing exactly what I should have been.
All of it had taken its toll, though. Over time, I started to feel worse and worse, and now that I was at the end of pregnancy, there was a physical exhaustion to add to it all.
“Listen,” I told both Dean and Virginia.
We were sitting at the table with coffee, talking about how we were going to deal with Brooke.
I’d spent the morning looking into what it would cost to hire an attorney and keep her in jail.
“I just want a restraining order at this point. At least for what she did to me.”
“She assaulted a pregnant woman,” Virginia reminded. “That’s a serious offense.”
“But we also have to think about the medical bills that are coming up. Having this baby won’t be free, and there isn’t going to be some magical thing that saves us.”
“I want to do it all.” Dean said it shortly. “She can’t get away with this.”
“Technically, she’d be getting a restraining order,” I said softly, but even I knew that it wasn’t enough.
“Mom, you’re on my side here, right?”
Virginia pressed her lips together and thought about it, then sighed. “Sometimes this is how justice goes. Only those with enough money get it.”
“I can work with Clyde more,” he added. “I can save up for both.”
“Don’t you wanna be here with the baby, though?” I asked.
That got him.
He sighed and leaned back. “Yeah, I do.”
I fought against a twinge in my stomach, another reminder that what was coming was imminent. We were on limited time. Even if I made it to forty weeks, that was only a month away. I didn’t want to spend that in court if I didn’t have to.
“So, a restraining order for both of us,” I said.
“And I’m asking the town to keep a lookout,” Dean added. “Some have offered.”
“That’ll also help. I’m sorry we can’t do more.”
“It’s okay. She’ll be away from us.”
There was a part of me that was sad it had come to this. Maybe I always would be, but me being sad didn’t mean I was making the wrong decision. It just meant that I felt something about it.
She was the one who pushed me too far, and I knew without a doubt that my life would be more peaceful without her in it.
“Are you opening your shop today, Grace?” Virginia asked. “I could go and help out.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“We’re family,” she reminded softly. “And I haven’t gotten nearly enough practice to take it over when the baby is here.”
I’d been taking too many days off and knew I had to go in, even if it was just for a distraction.
But I did not feel up to it.
“You know what? I should open it today. Dean, would you like to join? You don’t have a job right now.”
“I’m tempted to find one for extra money,” he muttered, but then sighed. “But I won’t. I don’t think Wren or Clyde would let me work with how little sleep I’ve had.”
“And I don’t think I will either. You didn’t sleep well, did you?” Virginia asked.
He sighed. “Not really. Or maybe I did but I’m just too exhausted.”
“Get some rest,” I said. “I’ll be back tonight.”
Dean fought it up until he broke out into a loud yawn and knew he had lost the battle. Virginia and I got ready and headed down to the shop.
I tried to keep it cool, but I was feeling worse and worse. The contractions went from being dull and achy to more and more intense. I couldn’t wait for them to stop.
“You know,” she said as she folded clothes, “Dean came pretty early.”
“Really?”
“He was the size of a full-term baby too. Sometimes, PCOS can make the babies a little bit bigger. It’s probably good that they come early.”
“I’ll have to keep that in mind for when I really go into labor.”
She eyed me. “So, how are you feeling today?”
“I’m mostly fine. I’m glad that the town texted Dean to apologize and that Brooke shouldn’t be bothering us anymore. I’m still emotionally all over the place, and that’s causing other things.”
“Like the way you keep wincing?”
Looked like I was caught. “Braxton-Hicks,” I said. “It’s nothing major.”
“You could finish out the day and get that checked out.”
“I don’t wanna be one of those moms who panics and goes for nothing.” I waved my hand. “I’ve heard so many stories about being turned away at the hospital. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“How long has it been going on?”
As I said the answer, I knew what she was going to think. “Since this morning.”
Virginia’s eyebrows went up. “It’s been quite a few hours. Normally they’re supposed to stop if they’re Braxton-Hicks contractions.”
“It would be my luck that my body wanted a little bit of extra practice before the real event. Besides, there’s still time for them to stop.”
“Are they regular? Do they have a pattern?”
I wanted to say no, but they had been pretty regular. Though, I could have been making that up considering I wasn’t timing them and my mind had been focused on other seemingly more-pressing events.
“I’ll be fine. I bet this is nothing.” I waved her off again, convinced that I was right.
Of course, my body must have had a great sense of humor.
Because that was when my water broke.