Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
SAVANNAH
“PJs. Check . Wipes. Check . Baby clothes. Check . Diapers. Check . Pads. Check . Little makeup bag. Check . Going home clothes. Check .”
With each item I check off, I place it into the open suitcase on my bed.
“What else am I missing?” I nibble at my lip, tapping my pen against my jaw, as I glance down at the list. “May?—”
“Are you talking to yourself now?”
I jump in surprise and turn around to find Blake leaning against the doorway of my bedroom; fingers casually looped around the hoops of his jeans and a teasing smile playing on his mouth.
“Blake! You scared the crap out of me.”
He just raises his brow. “Next time, you might try locking the door.” He pushes from the doorway and enters the room. “What are you doing?”
“Packing my hospital bag. You heard Dr. Gonzales, the baby could come any day now, and we don’t have anything ready. My bag isn’t packed. I didn’t wash any of the baby clothes. The nursery isn’t put together.” I shake my head, the panic rising inside my belly and making it hard to breathe the longer I think about it. “Munchkin could be here, and we’re not ready?—”
“Hey…” Blake’s hands land on my shoulders, and turn me to face him, his palms cradling my cheeks as he looks at me. “ Breathe. ”
Those intense gray eyes bore into mine. A shudder goes through my body as I suck in a long breath, and the vise grip around my lungs loosens a bit.
“Dr. Gonzales also said your blood pressure and sugar are higher than she’d like, and you should take it easy. No stress.”
He’s right, dammit. I hate it when he’s right.
But it was easier said than done when all I could think about was that my stuff was scattered between two houses, and there were a bunch of things we had yet to do.
Before I can stress any more about it, my phone rings from somewhere on the bed. Blake lets his hands drop, and I go in search of the device, which is conveniently at the bottom of the mess I’ve made.
“Hello?” I ask, my voice coming out breathless.
There is a pause, and for a moment, I think the call was disconnected when Becky’s voice comes through the line, “Please tell me you’re not having sex to induce the labor.”
I’m pretty sure my eyes turn into saucers. “Wh-what? No. I was trying to find my phone in the mess that’s my bed.”
Becky sighs dramatically. “That’s not fun. Oh, well, in case you need it, it does help.”
“Becky!” I chastise, feeling my cheeks heat.
Blake just arcs his brows, an amused expression on his face as he mouths, “I’d be down for it.”
Why was I not surprised?
I glare at him as Becky continues, “What? It’s true. Try it, and you can thank me later.”
These two… “Was there a point to this phone call?”
“As a matter of fact, there was. Can you come to the Reading Nook? I’m thinking of making some improvements, and I need another set of eyes.”
“I don’t know, Becky.” My gaze falls to the mountain of stuff on my bed. “Can you send me a photo? I have to finish packing the hospital bag, and?—”
“She’ll come,” Blake says loudly, his arms wrapping around my middle.
“Blake, we just talked about it?—”
“Yes, we did.” He gives me a pointed look. “And we agreed that all this stress isn’t good for you or the baby. A couple of hours won’t change anything.”
I bite the inside of my cheek as I think his words through. I guess he was right, and I could always ask Becky what she took with her. It was a win-win.
“I’ll get that tea you like going,” Becky offers, and my mouth waters immediately at the suggestion.
“Fine.” I let out a sigh. “I’ll come. But just for a fe?—”
“Perfect!” Becky chimes happily. “I’ll see you soon.”
Putting Blake’s truck in park, I unbuckle my seat belt. He insisted that if I wanted to drive on my own, I better take his truck because it was safer. And since it was higher and easier for me to get in and out of, who was I to fight him on it?
Locking the door, I go toward the café, the warm air and scent of coffee hitting me in the face when I open the door.
“I really hope my te?—”
“Surprise!”
My heart flips inside my chest. I come to a stop, my mouth falling open as I take in the space. “Wha?—“
The room has been completely transformed. There are silvery-white balloons filling the space, and an “Oh, baby!” sign is hanging from the wall. Somebody moved around the furniture. A few tables were pushed together on one side of the room, and there was food, desserts, and drinks next to a bunch of gift bags sitting on another table.
I look at the expectant faces of the women in the room, all smiling widely at me. “Wh-what’s going on here?”
“We threw you a surprise baby shower, of course!” Mrs. Miller chimes excitedly.
“I’d say she’s surprised, all right, Trish.” Mrs. Tyson nudges her friend.
I shake my head, still unable to wrap my mind around it. “But Becky said…”
“I had to get you out of the house somehow.” A smug grin flashes on Becky’s lips. “What do you think? Do you like it?”
Like it?
“It’s…” I shake my head, my throat feeling tight from all the emotions swelling inside my chest.
They did this. For me.
As I try to compose myself, I notice more details.
An elephant pattern on the napkins, just like the wallpaper I chose for Munchkin’s nursery.
And flowers.
And not just any flowers.
The bouquets of wildflowers had poppies scattered in between whites, yellows, and greens.
“It’s stunning.” Tears fill my eyes, blurring my vision, but I blink them away. “You didn’t have to go through all the trouble to do this. It’s way too much. We have every?—”
“Nonsense!” Mrs. Miller answers immediately. “Every upcoming mother deserves to be pampered a little bit.”
“Mrs. Miller is right, honey.” Mrs. Santiago smiles at me.
“We’ve already organized the party, so you might as well just enjoy it.” Becky grins at me.
“She’s right.” Mrs. Fernandez nods. “Besides, you deserve every bit of it.”
Mrs. Tyson lifts one of the cupcakes. “You should try some of the desserts Becky made. They’re divine.”
I clear my throat, but before I can say anything, Becky sneaks an arm around my waist and pushes me to the chair. “Don’t worry; they’re all low sugar and gluten-free.”
“Try the peanut butter cookies.” Jessica winks. “I don’t know what she put in them, but they’re addicting.”
I grab the cookie and take a tentative bite, the rich flavor exploding on my tongue and making me moan.
Shit, that’s good.
“What did I tell you? I’ve been begging Becky to add it to the menu. People will fight over them.”
“She isn’t wrong.”
“We’ll see. But enough about me; today is all about Sav and her baby.” Becky claps her hands excitedly. “You should open your presents!”
Everybody sits down with their desserts while Becky hands me bag after bag for me to open. There were picture books, diapers, toys, and clothes—so many tiny, adorable clothes—along with some stuff for me—face masks, perfume, and books, as well as one set of silky PJs.
Becky bursts into laughter when she sees it and turns to Mrs. Miller. “That’s a good one.”
“I know.” The older woman smirks. “Somebody’s gotta get her something fun around here.”
I glance at the sheer material. “More like scandalous.”
“Hey, you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. Babies don’t make themselves; you youngsters should know that better than anybody. Coach can thank me later.” Mrs. Miller wiggles her brows, and I can feel my cheeks heat, which causes more laughing. “You’ve found a good one there. He’s a good dad. A good man .”
“He is,” I whisper softly, the corner of my mouth lifting. “Although, I’m not really sure I can take credit for that.”
I never planned on meeting Blake. He just came into my life when I least expected him and turned it upside down.
One year.
It’s been less than a year, and everything was so different than it was before.
I was different.
A hand lands on my shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. I look up to find Mrs. Miller watching me with a serious expression. “Are you ready?”
I rub at the swell of my stomach, feeling Munchkin move. “I hope so.”
“Your Grams would be proud.”
My eyes turn misty at the compliment. “You think so?”
Mrs. Miller huffs out a laugh and pulls me into a hug. “I know so.”
Slipping out of the truck, I go to the bed and grab as many bags as I can. Not an easy task since there were so many. I still couldn’t believe they did all of that for me.
Once people left, I offered to help Becky clean up the mess, but she just shooed me out of the café before I could even finish the question.
My gaze darts to the house across the street. My back was killing me, and all I could think about was Blake’s enormous bed, and his arms wrapped around me as I told him what just happened.
But first, I had to drop all these things at my place. Because that’s where the nursery was. Or what is going to be the nursery. If I ever got around to finishing it.
I guess in order to do that, I should spend some time at my house.
Something that was happening less and less these days because I was at Blake’s place more often than not.
Turning around, I climb to the porch and slide the bags into one hand and pull out the key to my place. Unlocking the door, I close it with my hip as I climb up the stairs.
Muffled voices coming from down the hallway have me stopping in my tracks.
What the hell ? —
“Hand me a screwdriver?”
The question is followed by clinking and cursing coming from the nursery. Letting my hand drop, I follow the sounds. The door to the nursery is left ajar, just enough so I can see a tall figure hunched on the floor, muscles flexing as he works on tightening the screw.
“Seriously, I don’t know who the idiot is who wrote those damn instructions, but he should be fired,” Blake mutters as he gets up and dusts his hands on his sweatpants.
“You said a bad word, Dad,” Levi chimes in from somewhere in the background.
“Tell you what, when you’re older and you’re putting together furniture, you have my blessing to say as many bad words as you’d like. Deal?”
Levi’s giggles fill the room. “Deal.”
Blake pushes to his feet. “C’mon, help me get this up.”
Daniel joins him, and together, they lift whatever they’ve been working on off the ground.
Daniel hands him another piece that Blake puts inside it and tests the stability before he moves to the side, and I can finally see what they’ve been up to.
The crib.
I suck in a sharp breath and cover my mouth, but not quickly enough because Blake turns around, a weary expression on his face.
“Blondie, you’re home.”
“You put together the crib,” I whisper, my lip wobbling slightly as I look up just as Blake crosses the room, his tall frame filling the doorway of the nursery.
“You said the nursery wasn’t finished.” Blake shrugs.
As if that’s all it takes.
I shake my head. “You put together the crib.”
“Actually…” Blake’s eyes twinkle with excitement. “Promise you won’t freak out?”
“What—”
He pulls back and pushes the door so I can get a good look at the nursery.
“We wanted to surprise you, and if these damn instructions were correct, we would have finished by now…”
The dark gray nursing chair was sitting in the corner, next to the space where the crib would go. On the other side of the chair was a small bookshelf filled with books and a small light on top of it. They put in the new curtain rod and hung the striped—white and gray curtains. Grams’ old dresser, freshly repainted, was placed underneath the window. On the opposite side, there was another shelf filled with more toys and books.
“Blake, this is…” I shake my head, tears filling my eyes all over again as I turn to face them.
Levi’s smile falls, his face turning serious. “You’re sad again. Don’t you like it?”
The worry on his face makes my heart melt. This little boy will be my undoing.
Wiping at my cheeks, I smile at him. “I love it. This is perfect.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
I open my arms, and Levi runs to me, wrapping his hands around my middle. “I don’t like seeing you sad, Sav.”
“These are happy tears. Thank you for doing this for me.” I look over Levi’s head at the two older Walker boys. “All of you.”
“Of course.” Blake tips his chin at me. “What’s with the bags? Did Becky convince you to go rogue and shop?”
“No. I got all of this. Ladies from the book club organized a surprise baby shower for me.”
Levi pulls back, his brows furrowing. “What’s a baby shower? The baby’s in your belly; it can’t take a shower.”
Blake and I exchange a look, both of us trying to hold back our laughter but unsuccessfully.
“That’s not what she meant,” Daniel chuckles.
“That’s what she said!” Levi purses his lips, clearly unhappy to be left out. “I’m right. Baby can’t have a shower.”
“You’re absolutely right. This is a different kind of shower. It means they threw me a party and gave me a gift. Well, they gave me gifts for Munchkin.”
Levi’s eyes grow big. “I want that kind of shower.”
“It’s the best,” I chuckle softly at his comment. “Wanna help me open them?”
“Yes.” He stands taller. “I already put books on the shelf, and Dad said I can put toys in the bed once they’re done.”
“I can see that. You did a great job.”
I sit down on the chair and let the bags fall on the floor. Together, we unpack all of the stuff for Munchkin, and I pile together all the clothes so I can wash them while Blake and Daniel finish with the crib.
I’m putting away the final things in the dresser when Blake’s arms wrap around me from the back. “Done?”
“Yeah.” Closing the drawer, I turn around and wrap my arms around Blake’s shoulders. “I can’t believe this is it. Thank you for putting this together.”
“Anytime.” Blake leans down, his mouth pressing against mine. “Let’s go home?”
Home.
Only this was my home.
Mine and Munchkin’s.
Some of the excitement I felt only moments ago dissipates, doubt creeping in.
Because he was referring to his house.
What would happen once Munchkin was here? Blake didn’t bring the topic of living together up again, but I couldn’t very well go back and forth with a little baby, now could I? Should I bring it up? Were we ready for something like this? Were the boys ready?
That familiar feeling of unease rises in the pit of my stomach as more and more questions pop to the surface, but I push them down. “Yeah, sure.”