Chapter 39
JACK
“Are you sure you're okay?” I check. Holding Gracie's hand as the doctor examines her.
“I’m fine,” she promises, smiling bravely but clutching my fingers tight.
“Well, you’re not in established labour quite yet, but we’re getting close.
You're two centimetres dilated,” Dr. Stratton explains, pulling off her gloves and discarding them in the bin.
“It feels pretty fucking established to me,” Gracie tells her, shifting up the bed and stroking her round stomach.
“It could be a little while yet, so make yourself comfortable and keep a track of those contractions,” she explains as she starts listening to the baby's heartbeat. “He sounds happy enough in there.” She smiles to let us both know she’s satisfied.
“Now, this isn’t a usual circumstance for me; you’ll have to let me know where you want me.” Placing her machine back in her bag, she looks up at us dutifully.
“Downstairs.” Grace talks before I do. “I want us to be alone through this as much as possible.” The way she looks up at me so vulnerably has me looking to the doctor and agreeing.
“I’ll have my staff make you some refreshments; anything you need, just ask.” I dismiss her, fluffing the pillow that's now propping up Gracie.“Let me know if you have any worries; I’ll be right downstairs.” She leaves the room, and Gracie sighs with relief as I close the door behind her.
“Looks like he’s on his way.” I smile, excitedly stepping back to my girl and taking her hand. “Now, before you get distracted by another contraction, we need to talk about what you said.”
“How about we talk about the fact that you killed my ex-boyfriend?” I adore how she still attempts to be clever, even while in labour.
“That was necessary,” I point out, still in shock over the way she reacted. I know she’s going to have questions. She’s going to doubt me, not just as a man, but as a human, but I’m clinging to the hope that right now she seems more relieved than anything else.
“Gracie, you said you loved me,” I remind her, my smile growing wider, as I rest my hand on her belly and lower my head to kiss her lips.
“I did not say I loved you.” She pulls back, staring at me in denial.
“Yes, you did; you just got interrupted." I tap her tummy proudly. Trust our child to choose such a pivotal moment to signal his arrival.
“Jack, I don’t think now’s the time for us to be talking about this.” She starts breathing heavier, her forehead creasing, and a scared look washing over her eyes. “I’m having another one.” She takes one of my hands and squeezes, while her belly goes firm and tight under the other.
“Breathe, sweetheart. Just breathe,” I remind her, glad I took the advice from Alex and invested in some online coaching sessions. I can see these contractions hurt, and they’re only going to get worse. She needs me to be strong through this.
“It’s passed.” She relaxes. “Did you time how long it lasted?”
“Just over thirty seconds,” I tell her, kissing her cheek and letting her know how proud I am of her already.
“And how long since the last one?” she checks.
“About twenty minutes." I rest on the edge of the bed beside her. “Do you need anything?” I check, rubbing her ankle.
“I’ve got what I need, right here. Just promise not to leave me.” She looks a little rattled by that last contraction, maybe she’s regretting doing this here.
“Will you do the same?” I ask, pushing my luck and hoping we have time before her next contraction to talk about this.
“Jack…” She shakes her head and looks overwhelmed.
“Just hear me out…I know what I did to Jonah is scary, but doesn't it prove that I can take care of you?” I cling to whatever hope I can, that knowing what she does now will change her mind.
“I never doubted that you could.” She closes her eyes to avoid mine.
“Yes, you did. And you made the wrong judgement. You don’t know who I am and what I’ve done.
Gracie, Jonah wasn’t the first man I’ve killed.
” I decide she deserves the truth, even if it’s bad fucking timing.
“I can live with it on my conscience, because all the men before him were bad too, but I want to put all that behind me, now. I want to change the way my father ran things. I want to live straight. And more than anything, I want us to be a family.” I lay it all out on the table for her.
“I’m not scared of who you are, Jack. Deep down, I’ve always known what you were.
” I fluff her pillow some more when she struggles to get comfortable.
“You said you didn’t want this. You said you didn’t want a wife or to be committed.
” She reminds me of what I said that night we made our deal.
The man who said those words feels like a stranger to me, now.
“You changed my mind. You made me fall in love. You fucking changed me, Gracie.” I laugh at how all this has played out.
“Now, all I want is this child to be ours.” I rest my hand on her stomach again.
“I want us to watch him grow up together; to argue over what time he goes to bed. I want to make more like him. Cram this whole house with kids and keep this belly crammed, too.” I watch her laugh with me, while praying to a higher force that she wants it too.
“But this is us, Jack. We clash; we get on each other's nerves. We spend more time arguing than anything else. What if these feelings are just because I’m pregnant? My hormones and your instincts combined to create something disastrous.”
“So what if it is? So what if we clash and fight for the next fifty years? There's no one in the world I’d rather have piss me off.” I laugh, taking her hand and kissing her fingertips.
“You're not exactly selling this,” she smirks, starting to breathe deep again. “Shit, I’m getting another, already.” She leans forward, tensing her body and stroking the side of her belly.
“What do you want me to do?” I feel so fucking helpless; suddenly, I’ve forgotten all I was taught on that stupid course. I don’t know if I should rub her back or her belly. Should I get on the bed behind her and squeeze her hips together?
Suddenly, I feel her take my hand, and instead of squeezing it like she has the times before, she guides it towards somewhere that shocks me.
“Noooo….not now.” I shake my head because she can’t be fucking serious.
“You heard what she said. This could take a while. I need a distraction.” She starts rolling her hips seductively against my hand.
“Yeah, and she also said you were two centimetres dilated,” I point out, feeling her wet pussy drench my fingers as she uses them to create friction.
“I read that sex is safe, right up until your waters break, and mine are still intact,” she reminds me, with that needy look on her face.
“Of all the things you could have researched on pregnancy and birth, you researched that.” Nothing fails to shock me with this woman.
“Jack, you can’t say no to me when I’m birthing your child.” She rubs her belly with her free hand, lifting up the night gown she’s wearing to expose it to me fully.
“Fuck.” There's no way I’m going to be able to resist her, not when she’s ready to pop and soaking my hand.
“What do we do if you get a contraction?” I ask, slowly edging the tip of my finger inside her dilating pussy, and starting to stroke her on the inside.
“We’ll see how it plays out. I can always ask you to stop.” She looks so fucking victorious when I slide another finger inside her.
“You're crazy,” I tell her, not sure if this is appropriate, but not fucking caring.
“You created the monster, Jack; now you have to satisfy its hunger,” she whispers as I stroke her clit with my thumb and do exactly that.
I keep steadily finger-fucking her until I feel her body tense.
“Orgasm or baby?” I check, feeling her walls crush my fingers.
“Baby… and this one's…. intense.” She struggles to speak
“Shall I—”
“Don’t stop.” She shakes her head with her eyes squeezed shut. “Keep going.”
“Gracie, you're contracting.” I keep doing what she needs, but cautiously.
“I fucking know that, Jack!” she growls back at me, resting her head back and holding her rigid tummy.
“You like me being inside you when you have a contraction?” I see her pain and know what I have to do. Her face eases as I stroke her clit and distract her from the pain.
“Yes,” she admits without shame.
“You like me stretching you with my fingers, helping your body prepare to deliver my heir?” I slide a third one inside her and make her moan loudly.
“Fuck, Jack. Keep going.” Her body relaxes around my fingers as she sighs.
“How about we try something for the next one?” I apply more pressure to my thumb, giving her clit the attention it needs.
“What?” She leans slightly forward to kiss me, licking her lips like she’s starved of them.
“Next one, I want you to come for me,” I whisper, pulling my head back and refusing to give her my mouth until she’s completed my challenge.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able t—” Her eyes widen when I take away my hand and open my trousers.
“Not even if I give you my cock?” I check, spreading her thighs and checking out her pussy; it looks no different from the outside, but knowing that it’ll soon be stretched to its limit has me dripping with pre-cum.
“Yes.” She nods, already starting to shift on the bed so her legs hang over the mattress; it’s proven to be the only way we can fuck with her on her back, lately.
“You ready?” I take hold of her belly and steer myself inside her, growling when I feel how fucking tight and wet she is.
“Does it feel different?” she asks, trying to peek over her huge stomach, looking all cute and paranoid.
“It feels fucking perfect.” I stroke her tummy, as I slowly start moving inside her. “Let me know when you feel another coming; I can pull out,” I tell her, still mesmerised at how incredible she is.
“I want you inside me.” She shakes her head defiantly, making me feel on top of the fucking world.
“Jack, I’m going to come,” she tells me breathlessly, as I fuck her steadily, and savour every thrust.