Chapter 13 #2
I left the appointment feeling panicked.
Noah had told me my regular schedule would be Monday to Friday.
I don’t know how he would feel about me needing to take an afternoon off every week.
I could get a doctor’s note, but it’d clue him in on why I needed to go to those appointments.
Which meant I needed to tell him sooner rather than later, and that terrified me.
Not to mention, I’d be out for peak-season, and I knew that wouldn’t align with what the resort needed from its full-time receptionist.
When I pulled into my designated parking spot at Tabitha and Parker’s after my appointment, Tabitha was getting the kids out of the van from school pickup. She had Daphne with her, who immediately ran over to give me a hug.
“Hi, Auntie Nell!” she exclaimed, nuzzling into me.
“Hey buddy, how was your day?” I asked, feeling lighter than I had since my appointment.
One of the best parts about moving to Hartwood Creek and being near my bestie again was moments like this; getting to see Daphne as much as I had before, if not more. Tabitha watched her every day after school while Sage worked at the hardware store.
“It was good! We had a spelling test and I aced it!” Daphne replied, giving me a wide grin that showcased her missing tooth.
“That’s awesome! Way to go,” I ruffled her hair and looked up to see Tabitha walking towards us, carrying Bryson in her arms. He looked grumpy as all get out, all bundled up in a blanket with his hat on over his ears.
“Feel like coming in for a tea?” Tabitha asked, smiling at me warmly.
“Oh yes! Come inside, we can put on a fashion show for you!” Daphne pleaded, grabbing my hand and tugging.
I didn’t have anything pressing to do, and sitting alone in my apartment with my thoughts sounded like a bad time anyway. Tabitha was sweet, and she went out of her way to talk to me each time she saw me.
“Sounds like fun,” I said, following Tabitha while Daphne continued holding my hand. The twins had already run ahead and had unlocked the front door, leaving Tabitha’s keys in the lock and the door wide open.
They’d taken off their winter boots and snow gear in a whirl of chaos, leaving their coats and snowpants in a pile by the stairs.
“We’re working on that,” Tabitha chuckled, retrieving her keys, and waiting for me and Daphne to step inside, closing the door behind us.
Daphne removed her coat and boots, hanging her coat up and setting her boots on the rack, then she started pulling her snowpants off.
“Come on, Daphne! Let’s get ready for the fashion show!” one of the twins yelled from the top of the stairs.
“Brielle, Bella, before you do that, come put your boots and snow stuff away, please.” Tabitha instructed as she freed Bryson from his cozy blanket and warm hat.
“Ugh, fine!”
The girls stomped down the stairs and did as they were told, hanging their coats and snowpants on the hooks by the door and setting their boots on the shoe rack. By that point, Daphne had finally gotten her snowpants off and hung them up, then the three of them raced back upstairs.
The chaos was a little preview of what was to come, and I loved it.
I followed Tabitha into the kitchen, where she set to filling the kettle and put it on the stove to heat, still holding Bryson on her hip.
“What kind of tea can I interest you in? I have English breakfast, green tea, and I restocked the herbal blend I discovered while pregnant with Bryson. It’s a blend of fennel, linden, and cinnamon, and it doesn’t have caffeine.
It’s tasty and it helped relieve some of those pesky early trimester symptoms.”
“Oh, I’ll try that one,” I said. I’d always loved herbal teas, but I was relying heavily on them now.
Tabitha grabbed down two mugs and set them down on the island, then she grabbed the sugar bowl and tea from the cupboard.
“Can I help?”
“I’ve got it! You relax. I’ve become an expert at doing everything one-handed. You will too,” Tabitha chuckled, pressing a kiss to Bryson’s forehead. He giggled and squealed, grabbing at her face and returning the kiss with a drooly one of his own.
I smiled tightly, hoping that was true. Dr. Kramer’s cautions still bouncing around in my head.
“Everything okay?” Tabitha caught the strain in my smile, and concern lined her expression.
“Oh, yeah. It’s fine, I guess. I had my first OB appointment today. Everything’s going well, for now, but the OB wants to see me every week because I’m considered high risk.”
“Why are you considered high risk?”
“I have endometriosis,” I explained with a shrug. “It puts me at a higher risk of miscarriage or preterm birth.”
“I’m so sorry.” Tabitha put her hand over mine.
“It’s why I didn’t want everybody knowing until I’m out of the woods for miscarriage.” I sighed.
“That makes total sense.” Tabitha nodded, her eyes soft and understanding.
“But I’m going to have to tell Noah soon. I can’t expect him to let me take an afternoon off every week without explaining why.”
“He’ll understand,” she assured me.
I sent her a doubtful look, a million worst-case scenarios running through my head.
“It might take him a minute to come to terms with the news that he might be the father, but he’ll understand you need the time off and happily give it to you.” She said with a wry smile.
“I hope so,” my stomach still twisted with nerves. Although Sage and Tabitha both assured me I wouldn’t lose my job over being pregnant, I was still in the probationary period. They technically didn’t need to give a reason to let me go, they could say it wasn’t working out.
Bryson started whining and wiggling, pointing to the floor.
Tabitha pressed another kiss to his head and set him down, letting him crawl over to the cabinets.
He pulled a drawer open, revealing a collection of Tupperware, and started pulling containers out one by one.
Tabitha didn’t seem to mind in the slightest.
“Sage should be here any minute,” she told me, setting the kettle on a different burner on the stove and grabbing another mug down and moved towards the Keurig.
“I figured I’d brew her one too. I’m going to stick to coffee, since that one kept me up all night.
” She jerked her head in Bryson’s direction, who was still happily pulling every single Tupperware out of the drawer.
“Teething?” I asked, taking a guess from his pink cheeks and the amount of drool dripping down his little chin.
“Yup, he’s getting some molars. I’ll be glad when all his teeth are in! He’s much more dramatic about it than the girls were. You’d think two babies teething would be more of a nightmare, but they were easy about it. Bryson, however, likes to make his discomfort known.”
“Poor guy,” I felt for him, and myself. There were so many facets to parenting that I hadn’t even considered yet.
A baby keeping me up all night teething was another one of them, but I decided to worry about that in the future.
For now, my focus was on how to get those afternoons off and telling Noah about my pregnancy.
“As for my cousin,” Tabitha said, grabbing the creamer from the refrigerator. “You’re probably making up worst-case scenarios in your head, and I can pretty much guarantee that none of them will come to pass. Noah’s great, really. You couldn’t have chosen a better sperm donor.”
“Potential sperm donor,” I reminded her.
“Either way. He’s very family oriented. I don’t know if you’ve seen him with his nieces, but he spoils those little girls. My kids all love him, too. Just because he hasn’t found the right one yet to settle down with, it doesn’t mean he’s destined for a life of bachelorhood.”
“I don’t doubt that he’s incredible with kids,” I sighed. “I’m worried my current situation will be too much—for us both.”
“I promise he’ll understand and accommodate your OB appointments. You can always offer to make up the time you’d be missing, maybe offer to come in on the weekend.”
“Good call.” Bartering time off could work in my favour, especially if I dangled a Saturday morning sleep in for Noah.
Not that he seemed to be the type that slept in.
He was always at the resort before I arrived and stayed after I left.
From what I’d gathered, he was there more and longer than either of his brothers.
“He works hard, and he should take more time off. It’s difficult when your family runs it, though.
” Tabitha remarked as she put the creamer back in the refrigerator.
She sounded as if she was speaking from experience.
“My family owns Stonewood Farm; there’s really no such thing as days off.
I’m the only one of my siblings with kids, so I’ve taken a bit of a step back, but even I go in sometimes to help when they’re overwhelmed. ”
“Oh yeah, I remember Noah telling me that when he was explaining the winter and March Break programs. I guess you guys outsource your horsedrawn carriage rides to the resort?”
“Yup,” Tabitha smiled.
The front door opened and closed, and Sage called out. “Sorry for running late! I hope I didn’t miss the fashion show!”
“We’re still getting ready!” Daphne yelled back from somewhere upstairs.
“Excellent,” Sage said as she came into the kitchen. She didn’t seem surprised at all to see me sitting at the island. “Hello, hello! Oh boy, what a day. Seemed like everyone in town came into the hardware store.”
“Everyone must be starting their New Year’s projects,” Tabitha said, fixing her coffee. “I made a tea for you, it’s that herbal blend I was telling you about.”
“Perfect! You are an angel,” Sage sank down in the stool beside me and turned to face me. “How’d it go today?”
“It went. Everything looks good, but Dr. Kramer wants me to come in every week.”
Sage put a comforting hand on my arm. “That means you’ll get to hear the baby’s heartbeat more frequently than the average expectant mother,” she winked.
“How’s your pain been?” she added, referring to my endometriosis.
She’d offered to come with me to my appointments, but Sage had her own life, and I hadn’t wanted to lean too heavily on her.
It was something I felt I needed to do myself.
“Not as bad as usual,” I replied. With the absence of my monthly, my pelvic pain wasn’t as severe as it usually was during my period. I still experienced some discomfort and pain, but it was manageable with the occasional Tylenol and a heat pack.
“That’s good. By my calculations, we’re officially at the twelve-week mark. When are you going to tell Noah?”
“I have no clue,” I replied. My stomach twisted a little at her words. I knew I had to tell him soon, and I would. But I was scared, and it wasn’t only the fear of losing my new job holding me back.
“He seemed pretty bummed out when you took off at New Year’s,” Sage said, taking a sip of her tea.
“He really was,” Tabitha confirmed with a smirk. “He left not long after you did.”
“Really?” I asked, surprised to hear that.
“Why did you run off? And don’t feed me that ‘I was tired’ bull. I’ve never seen you move that fast.”
“He, uh…” I started, staring intently at my mug. “We almost kissed. I think, anyway. But I called him Boss, and then he told me he wished all my dreams would come true. And I panicked.”
“Him wishing your dreams would come true made you panic?” Tabitha asked.
I swallowed hard. “Yeah, because my dreams involve having a baby that might be his. And he looked like he wanted to kiss me.”
“He probably did want to kiss you. He wants you; we all saw the way he was looking at you,” Sage chuckled.
“He’s just a flirt, that’s all.” I frowned.
“You’re right, he is a big flirt, but I noticed he was into you that night in the park. New Year’s Eve solidified it. I haven’t seen him pay this much attention to anyone since…well, since his high school girlfriend. His first—and last, I might add—serious relationship.” Tabitha said.
“What happened?” I asked Tabitha, unable to help myself. I was curious.
“Like most high school relationships, it ended,” Tabitha shrugged. “She moved away for college and dumped him. He decided he’d rather play the field than let himself be vulnerable to that kind of heartbreak again.”
“Kind of like you, Nell,” Sage said, gently prodding me with her elbow. “They really are a match made in heaven.”
“You’re both getting way ahead of yourselves.” I rolled my eyes.
“I know my cousin, and I can tell he’s very interested in you.” Tabitha smiled gently.