Chapter 28
MADDISON
“ I can walk, you know.” I keep my arms clutched tight around his neck as he carries me from the stable to the house.
“Why walk when you can be carried?” he smirks, kicking the door shut behind him and heading straight for the stairs.
“I must be heavy, you can put me down now.”
“You ain’t heavy, at all,” he promises, though I do notice he’s a little out of breath when we get to the top.
“I’m sorry I threw a plate at your head, I was feeling… emotional,” I admit, knowing that what I did was bat shit crazy and completely uncalled for. “I just really needed to hear you say that you loved me this morning, and you were so busy, I–”
“It’s my fault, you should never feel like you need to be told. I should be showin’ ya.” He places me on the bed and spreads open my legs.
“You do. Everyday. It’s just…” Shit, I’m going to have to tell him.
“I’m just getting really anxious,” I cop out, and although it’s not a lie, it’s not the thing I should be telling him. “My due date’s getting closer, these tits are leaking more every day, reminding me that this baby is actually going to come soon. We don’t have his room ready, we don’t have a plan to get to the hospital, and it seems like every woman in Clearwater Creek who's ever been through labor wants to tell me her horror story. Did you know that Eleanor had to have a blood transfusion when she gave birth to Hayden? She almost died.”
“You're not gonna die, and I’m gonna get ya to the hospital in plenty of time,” he assures me. “I’ve already been looking at alternative routes and I’ve got a traffic report app on my phone for when we get closer to the city. I totally got it covered.”
“If only there was a road that led straight to the freeway.” I rest back on my elbows allowing my huge, heavy belly to stick out between us.
“That's not funny.” He points his finger at me but the smile on his face assures me he’s not mad.
“And Daphne was totally right, I am way bigger than I should be. You saw that woman at our appointment, last week, she was nowhere near the size I am and she was having twins!” I pout.
“Stop worrying about all the things you can’t control. The doc said you and the baby are doing great, you're looking incredible, and aside from all this shit you're worrying about, you're feeling good too, right?”
“Yeah.” I nod, then smile to myself when I feel little JJ shift into a new position. Jace must notice my tummy move because he touches his palm over it.
“I’ll get started on the baby room as soon as we finish branding the herd, then we can head into the city and pick up all the things our little guy needs. And as for the whole giving birth thing, I’m gonna be right there. I’m gonna be holding your hand and doing all that breathing thing you practice. Do ya honestly think I’d let anything happen to either of you?” Once again, Jace somehow seems to put my mind at ease, which is a miracle since I had to hear Jean’s detailed description of what passing a baby's head through your birth canal feels like.
“Now, you were telling me about some discomfort you needed help with.” Jace takes one of my breasts in his hand and lowers his mouth to it, engulfing my nipple with his warm breath and flicking it with his tongue. The idea of him tasting what I’m supposed to be producing for our son freaked me out a little to start with but I have to admit, I’m starting to find it as pleasurable as it is helpful when he gives them his attention.
“You taste incredible,” he tells me, as he draws me gently through his teeth. “D’ya know how proud I am of you?” His hand makes long, slow circles over my stomach and when he feels his son kick against his palm, he looks up at me, somehow managing to suck me and smile at the same time, I nod my head in response. Jace is always telling me how proud I make him, and I love the way it feels.
“Better, Baby Momma?” he asks before his cheeks hollow, and his sucking intensifies. It’s not painful, it’s a relief. My tits have been so heavy and swollen these past few days that I’ve needed his attention on them every night. He takes my other breast in his hand and tests the weight of it before teasing my nipple with long strokes of his tongue that make my insides clench with need.
“Did you mean what you said out there, about getting me pregnant again?” I question him, feeling that stir in my lower belly turn into a throbbing ache.
“Of course, I did. I got a vision, darlin’, and in it, you're still lookin’ like this and there's a whole bunch of little JJs runnin’ around keepin’ us busy.”
I smile to myself dreamily when I picture that vision for myself. I may be nervous about having to give birth but I already know I want to be pregnant with Jace’s child again. I’ve never felt so special. The way he looks, and touches me, like I’m the most precious thing in the world is addictive and aside from all the sickness and feeling tired, being pregnant so far has been a great experience.
“Mads.” Jace kisses his way up my neck and when he slides his tongue, between my lips I taste the sweetness from his lips.
“Yes?” I whisper, sliding my hand into his hair to make sure he stays close.
“I love ya,” he tells me, pulling back and assuring me that he means every word just from the look in his eyes. “I love ya in a way that makes me feel like I can’t breathe, and I’ll give you as many babies as you agree to carry for me.” His hand strokes the underside of my stomach affectionately, and when I roll onto my side to give him easier access, I reach my hand back around his neck as he slowly slips his cock inside me.
“That feels really nice,” I tell him, as he takes his time, slowly feeding me his cock as he kisses my neck and caresses my tummy. There’s no rush or desperation like there was outside, this is just him, doing what he does best and making me feel treasured.
“Jace, I need to tell you something and you can’t get mad because stress isn’t good for the baby.” I rehearse my speech in front of the bathroom mirror, I guess reminding him of that fact is my best form of defense.
“Tell me what?”
I jump when I see him step into the reflection and I already know that curious smile he’s wearing won’t last long once he hears what I have to say.
“I thought you were branding the herd today?” I laugh nervously as he steps up behind me. It sounds to me like it’s a big job, all the cattle need rounding up before they can even get started. Sawyer’s coming over to help and Jace has a few extra men staying in the bunkhouse too.
“We are, I just came to say goodbye.” He wraps his arms around my middle and kisses my cheek.
“I’m leaving town today,” I blurt out the words and close my eyes because I know they’re going to piss him off.
“What do ya mean you're leavin’ town?” He scowls at me.
“My mom messaged me yesterday, she wants to meet me. She doesn’t want to come all the way here, so I agreed to drive back home.”
“Absolutely not.” He screws his face up as if I’m insane.
“C’mon, Jace, you know how important having my family on board with this is, it really sounds as if she’s coming round to the idea. She even asked if the baby was okay.”
He looks anything but impressed with her efforts.
“It’s too far for you to drive. Just give me a few days and I can take ya myself.”
“They’re leaving to go on one of their traveling adventures, tomorrow night. They’re touring Asia for a whole month. Which means I might not get a chance to see them again until after the baby comes.” I look down and stroke my stomach, reminding him of the fact I’m giving him a child.
“You're killin’ me,” he tells me, shaking his head.
“I know, but I really need to do this.”
“What if Adam’s there? Or what if this is some kinda intervention?” He narrows his eyes and takes the bottle of Bio-Oil from my hand, shaking some out onto his palm before soothing it over my stretched-out skin.
“I think you gave Adam a pretty fair warning last time you saw him. He’s not going to be there, Jace, and this isn’t an intervention, this is just me and Mom building bridges.”
“It’s a four-hour drive,” he reminds me. Keeping his eyes focused on his hand as he continues to oil me.
“I’ll stay the night, I still have some stuff in my old room that I’d like to bring back, anyway.”
“And you really wanna do this?” He frowns the way he always does when he’s about to let me get my way.
“I’ll get to see Kendra.” I give him another reason why this trip is so important. I haven’t seen my best friend from home in months and she’s been very supportive of the decisions I’ve made. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to her on the phone and she always sounds so excited to hear about what's happening in my life now. I’m hoping her positive energy will rub off on Mom.
“Okay,” Jace sighs in defeat. “But you have to stop for regular breaks, and I wanna know the second you get there.”
I clap my hands together and although I want to jump on my feet, I know my body won’t quite let me.
“You’re taking my truck too, no arguments. At least I know if you hit anything in that thing, they're coming off worse.”
“I’m not going to hit anything, I’m a great driver,” I assure him, turning all the way around so I can kiss him.
I squeal with excitement as I head off to pack and send Kendra a text letting her know I’ll be seeing her tonight. These days I can barely keep my eyes open past ten o’clock, so I tell her to come to my parents’ place at seven, it’ll give me plenty of time to travel there and speak to my parents before she arrives.
Jace is checking the truck’s oil when I come out the door and when he sees me carrying my overnight bag he growls, and rushes over to take it from my shoulder.
“You have got to be the most impatient person I’ve ever met. Couldn't you have left that on the bed for me to carry down?” He tosses it across to the passenger side before adjusting the driver's seat so I can get behind the wheel.
“You’ll probably have to stop for gas but don’t use self-service, the fumes ain’t good for–”
“Will you stop panicking? We’re going to be just fine.” I take his hand and heave myself up into his truck, feeling a little embarrassed when he has to re-adjust the seat a little more to accommodate my bump.
“You just remember to text as soon as you get there.” He fixes my belt in place.
“And there's a spare tire in the back, right? You know, in case I get a blowout and have to change it.” I bite my thumbnail and watch his face turn blank. “Relax, I’m kidding. If anything like that happens I’ll call roadside assistance.” I put his mind at rest.
“It’s a damn good job you're beautiful.” He kisses me, then leans lower to kiss my stomach. “Don’t give momma any shit,” he whispers before straightening up and checking my seat belt, again.
“Don’t break any speed limits, and if you get there in any less than four and half hours I’ll?—”
“Punish me,” I interrupt, letting him know just how much I’d like that, by licking my lips.
“Just go steady. You got no idea how much I hate this.”
I have to admit I’m surprised he’s letting me go, I’m assuming it’s got something to do with the fact I called him an overbearing asshole during the last fight we had.
“I love you, and we’ll be just fine.” I close the door and lean out the window so I can kiss him one last time.
“Remember what I said, self-service,” he calls out at me as I pull away. When I look back in the rearview mirror and see him watching me leave, I stroke my hand over my stomach and smile to myself.
“I think your daddy’s really going to miss us.”
I take a photo of the guy filling the truck with gas and send it to Jace so he knows I’m behaving, and have to take the final hour of my journey a little steadier to make up the time I gained on the freeway. I’m not prepared to admit to him that I got a little throttle-happy while listening to Taylor Swift and forgot to check the speedometer.
When I eventually pull up onto my parents’ drive I’m feeling nervous, and excited at the same time. I’ve thought about being able to talk baby names and nursery ideas with my mom the whole trip here, and I just know that when I tell her more about Jace and how he takes care of us, she's going to view him differently. I doubt my mom would have ever met a man like him before. She’s judgy by nature and won’t have seen much past his rugged look and tattoos when she first met him. I’m determined to make her see how good he is for me.
I text Jace to tell him I’ve arrived, then take a deep breath for courage before I head for the front door. I try to let myself in, and when it won’t open I realize it’s locked.
Mom knows what time I was supposed to get here, I’m sure she would have had at least someone here for my arrival. I call out and when I see no sign of my parents or Stella through the window, I stretch up on my toes and feel across the door ledge for the spare key.
Once it’s successfully retrieved, I open the door and let myself inside. It’s strange that there’s no one home, at all. Stella is always here during the day and when I call her name and get no answer, I check the laundry room and the kitchen in case she is too busy to hear the door. She’s nowhere to be found and the house is so silent you could hear a pin drop. My phone starts to ring and when I see Isabel’s name on the screen I give up searching so I can answer.
“Hey, I heard you took a trip back home.” I’m glad to hear her sound a little more cheery. We’ve grown close over the past few months, and I’ve noticed that lately, she’s been kind of down. I tried asking her how she felt last week, but she gave that same fake smile that she gives all the town folk and promised me she was fine.
“Does anything stay secret in Clearwater Creek?” I laugh as I open the refrigerator door to see what there is to snack on.
“Well, Miles stopped by the diner to place the guys’ food order for tonight, and he told Jean, who then told–”
“I know how it goes,” I moan as I press my palm into the base of my spine to straighten my back. Sitting in one position for so long has really made it ache.
“You good?” Isabel sounds concerned
“Yeah, just my back playing up. Nothing to worry about.”
“You're not going into labor, are you? Remember what Jean said about the three days of slow labor she suffered, all that excruciating pain was in her back,” she reminds me with a sarcastic laugh. “I swear that woman makes it her mission to put the fear of God into people.”
“It’s far too early for any of that, this is from driving and not listening to Jace. I should have made more rest stops.”
I hear a knock at the door and keep her on the line as I move through the house so I can answer it. “To be honest I was expecting to have to stop more so I could pee. I’m usually lucky to last more than an hour. Hang on, just let me get the door…” I cradle my phone between my ear and my shoulder as I open it and I’m shocked to see who’s standing on the other side.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” I smile politely and then gasp in fear when that person grabs hold of my throat, forcing me backward.
“ Isabel!” I scream as I feel their fingers grip around me, cutting off my oxygen and making me drop my phone. I claw at the skin on their forearm because I can’t scream anymore, and I can just about hear Isabel calling my name down the phone as I get forced back toward the wall beside the stairs. My head cracks against the brickwork, and a pain like I’ve never felt before explodes in the back of my head.
“I think you and I need to have a talk.” The words ring in my head before my head goes light, and I completely black out.