Chapter 10
Chapter ten
Shane
Eleven Months Later
“Here or closer to the window?” I stopped to get Melissa’s input on the placement of the glider on top of the brightly colored rug. This was the fourth time I had moved it, but I wasn’t about to complain. My part in this was easy compared to hers.
“I like it there.” She smiled, one hand resting on the swell of her belly. We were almost seven months into this, and I still hadn’t gotten tired of seeing her heavy and full and round. “What do you think?”
“I’m happy if you’re happy.” I held out my hands, silently beckoning her closer. I gently guided her over to the glider and helped her sit. “Well? Comfy?”
“Very.” She glanced around the nursery with such love in her eyes. “We’ve made this a really beautiful space for her.”
“We have.” Over the last five weeks, I had refinished the floors, replaced doors and hardware and painted the room a relaxing shade of lilac.
I had hung new wooden blinds, the super safe ones without cords, and curtains that complimented the rug.
All of the baby furniture was brand new and a gift from Eddie except for the crib I had designed, milled and built myself.
“Joanna is such a good artist,” Melissa remarked, her gaze on the happy little mural my receptionist had painted for us last week.
Well, not just my receptionist anymore. She and Eddie had been an item for almost six months and were talking about moving in together. Half the time I saw Eddie these days, he had Joanna’s grandkids with him, and Joanna had stepped into the void of mother-slash-mother-in-law for us.
“Dad’s lucky he found her.” Melissa winced as she rubbed her toes on the rug.
“Very lucky.” I pulled the ottoman a little closer and sat down on it. Patting my leg, I instructed, “Come on. Give ‘em to me.”
She laughed and plopped her bare feet onto my lap. “Sorry.”
“Don’t.” I eyed her swollen toes with guilt. “This is my fault anyway.”
“Hardly your fault alone,” she argued. “I seem to remember this was my bright idea.” She pointed to her belly. “I was the one who basically begged you to get me pregnant.”
“Yeah? And? Did you hear me complaining about the fun part?” She shook her head. “Exactly. So I’m not about to complain about this either.”
She sighed with relief as I started to massage her feet.
I worried about the swelling, especially since her blood pressure had been a little high at her checkup a few days ago.
Her OB had mentioned pre-eclampsia, and it had scared the absolute shit out of me to read the pamphlet I had been handed.
Seizures. Strokes. Kidney failure. Death.
“Hey,” she said softly, “don’t catastrophize, Shane.”
“Hard not to,” I muttered, my throat feeling thick and tight. “You’re my wife. You’re carrying my baby girl. I promised I’d protect you, but I don’t know how to fix this.”
“You do what you’ve been doing this whole time I’ve been pregnant. You make sure I rest, eat healthy and take my evening walks. You go with me to my appointments. You help advocate for me when I can’t.”
That was the part that really scared me. What if I made the wrong call? What if something went wrong in labor and I made the wrong choice?
“You’re worrying again.” She pointed at the frown lines that deepened when I was in thought.
“I’m allowed to worry. I’m your husband.”
“Well, if I’d known that, I would have put something in our vows about it.”
I smiled warmly at the memory of our wedding. We had done a very small ceremony, just close friends and family, on the Friday that started Spring Break. We had enjoyed a weeklong honeymoon cruise before returning to Galveston to start our married life.
“Oh.” Melissa shifted slightly and pressed a hand against her belly. Our daughter had taken to curling up on her side and stretching out all the way, jamming her tiny little baby feet into Melissa’s lungs and ribs. “This kid might have inherited whatever Barajas genes made Nataly an athlete.”
“Well, it’ll save us money on college tuition if she gets a sports scholarship.”
Melissa laughed, and I swept my hands up and down her calves before moving back to her feet. “You’re really good at this.”
“I’d offer to rub something else but that’s what got us into this mess,” I teased with a lopsided grin.
She clicked her teeth and rolled her eyes. “I can’t even believe that you still want any part of this.” She gestured to her pregnant curves. “I’m as big as a whale.”
“You’re exactly as big as you’re supposed to be.” I pinned her in place with a heated gaze. “If you remember correctly from last night, I wanted every part of this.”
She blushed. “I really am getting too big for some of that, Shane. I thought I’d suffocated you when my knees got wobbly last night.”
I laughed at the memory of her losing control while riding my face. “It would have been a good way to go.”
“Stop!” She swatted at me, her cheeks red with embarrassment.
“Can’t blame me for trying to enjoy you as much as I can before the baby comes.” I shrugged and kept massaging her feet. “It might be six months before you let me touch you again.”
Her eyes widened. “Six months!”
“Well, to hear it from all the dads I know, that’s the way it goes sometimes.
Not that I mind,” I clarified, wanting to make sure she understood there would be no pressure from me when it came to lovemaking again.
“Your body is going through a marathon, and it’s going to be completely different when it’s all over.
You’ve earned the right to be left alone. ”
“Be that as it may,” she said, pushing her toes into my crotch in a deviously playful way, “I can’t imagine not wanting this for six months.”
“You keep that up and you’re about to get this in about six seconds,” I warned, biting back a groan as her mischievous toes kneaded my cock through my jeans. I shot her a meaningful look. “Melissa.”
“Shane,” she replied, her eyes glimmering with interest and lust.
I carefully set her feet down on the rug and reached for her waist. As she giggled with excitement, I brushed my lips across hers. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you...”