44. Hazel
Chapter 44
Hazel
“ I can’t believe I have another month of this!” I growled, plopping down on the sofa.
“The baby will be here before you know it,” Roman said, sitting down next to me and handing me a bottle of water he had just opened.
I accepted the drink reluctantly, taking a sip.
“You need to drink more,” Phillip encouraged from where he was leaning against the doorframe. “I’ve hardly seen you drink anything today.”
“It’s difficult when your gigantic child is squishing every one of my organs!” I growled, grabbing a throw pillow and tossing it at him.
He batted it away with ease. “You’re just uncomfortable. How about a shower and nest cuddles? Seb and Cormac will be home soon, and I can get them to bring Chinese food. Have your Braxton Hicks been getting worse?”
I groaned. “That does sound good, but I have a few bits of classwork to finish before I can take time off with the baby. The Braxton Hicks are the same—if this is practice labor, I’m scared for the real thing.”
“Okay.” Roman kissed the top of my head. “How about we cover the sofa in blankets, make you a mini nest you can work in, and get you Chinese food?”
Narrowing my eyes at him, I spoke. “That sounds annoyingly good.”
“We want our omega to be comfortable,” Roman said, leaning forward and kissing the mark he had left on my neck. The simple touch made my body feel mushy with need.
“No!” I shouted, shoving him away. “My body aches and my back is on fire, thanks to carrying around your heffalump of a child. There will be zero sexy times happening right now, so stay the heck away from my marks,” I growled at him.
His only response was to pout. All of the guys had been obsessed with their marks, and I couldn’t really blame them. I loved seeing my marks on them.
Being bonded was amazing. We were now so attuned to each other, I could sense their emotions, and they could sense mine.
Not that mine made much sense, thanks to pregnancy hormones running riot in my body.
“Have you heard anything from your mother?” I asked, turning to look at Roman as I rubbed my stomach.
“Nothing yet. Terry is certain that a judge will throw out the case the moment he sees it, especially now that we’re bonded.”
“I don’t like waiting,” I grumbled, hissing when the baby moved.
“Are you okay?” Phillip asked, crouching down in front of me.
“Fine, the baby is just having a dance party in there,” I grumbled, taking his hand and guiding it to the spot on my belly with the most movement.
He grinned. “She’s a wiggler.”
“Could still be a he,” I grumbled.
“We really should have found out.” Roman laughed as I shook my head.
Everything was getting more difficult, and it was making me easily irritable. Walking up a set of stairs left me huffing and puffing like I had just run a mile. I had near-constant acid reflux, and my belly was now so large, I couldn’t sleep comfortably or even walk properly.
I was waddling like a bloated, cranky duck.
The guys were taking it all in stride, though. The nursery was set up and ready, despite me constantly rearranging it.
Cormac had bought several books on what to expect with a new baby, and I had found all the guys reading them at various times.
“Don’t you guys have an away game soon?” I asked with a frown.
“I’m staying back,” Phillip said. “Coach agreed that one of us will always be home, so we are going to rotate.”
“Can I come to the next home game? I want to see Sunny again.”
“Sure, if you’re up to it.”
Sunny and I had been texting fairly regularly. Mostly, it was me moaning about how large and pregnant I felt, but she had some amazing advice about teas that helped heartburn and sleeping positions that actually worked.
Through our conversations, I had found out she was totally on her own—no alphas in sight—and I hated that for her. She seemed happy enough, though, and I didn’t feel like I was close enough with her yet to pry into why she was alone.
Groaning, I threw my head back as the baby moved again. My insides felt bruised and battered.
“Hey, Peanut, stop hurting your mama,” Phillip scolded my belly lightly, his hand resting on either side of my bump as he spoke to it.
“He’s not the size of a peanut anymore,” Roman commented. “He’s the size of a whole peanut tree!”
I frowned. “Peanuts don’t grow on trees.”
“They don’t?” Roman asked dumbly.
“They’re from the ground, like potatoes,” Phillip said.
That was a semi-decent explanation, so I just nodded. “Anyway,” I turned to look at Roman. “Are you saying I look like I’m carrying a tree in my stomach?”
“No! Not at all. You look beautiful, perfect, and sexy. Most of all, you look like mine .” He beamed, pulling me in for a hug. I grumbled, even as I snuggled into his side.
“Can we get tacos and Chinese food tonight?” I asked in a grumpy voice.
Roman laughed, kissing the top of my head as Phillip grimaced at the idea of such a combination. “Anything you want, Duchess.”
“Maybe we can add in a vegetable?” my sometimes too-responsible mate suggested.
I pursued my lips in thought. “Beef and broccoli counts, surely? Or cilantro on a taco? Wait, tacos have lettuce!” I declared triumphantly.
Phillip opened his mouth to speak, but clearly thought better of it, shaking his head and giving me a good-natured smile. “It counts.”
Studying wasn’t going to happen.
With a sigh, I slammed my laptop shut, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“Everything okay?” Phillip asked, putting down his tablet he had been reading on.
“I can’t concentrate. Peanut won’t stop moving, and I’m uncomfortable, no matter what I do,” I grumbled. My paper wasn’t due for two weeks, but the sooner I got it done, the better, considering I was weeks away from having a newborn dependent on me for everything.
“Here.” Phillip took the laptop away, placing it on the small coffee table before grabbing my sock-covered feet and lifting them into his lap. He gently tugged off each sock.
“What are you—oh!” My words were cut off when he dug his finger into the arch of my foot. “Carry on…” I trailed off in a blissed-out voice.
Phillip chuckled, but went to work giving me possibly the best damn foot rub of my life. My feet had been swollen lately and were constantly sore. My ankles were retaining so much water, I could probably open an aquarium.
“Can you quit studying and hockey and just rub my feet all day?” I asked in a dreamy voice.
“If you want, but I think you’ll get sick of me after a few days.”
“Not if your hands are doing this,” I muttered, making him laugh.
“You need to be resting more. I’ll give you a lower back rub tonight, okay?”
“Stop saying such sexy things, Phillip. Soon, I’ll be able to rest more. One more paper, and then I can just be a potato for the next month until the peanut makes an appearance,” I assured him.
“How about I run you a bath? By the time you’re done, Roman will have dinner.”
“I thought baths were a no-no when pregnant?” I could have sworn I had read that somewhere.
“According to the baby books, they’re fine if they’re not too hot.”
I frowned. “What’s the point of a bath if it’s not hot enough to scald your skin off?”
Phillip laughed, shaking his head. “It may help with your hip pain?”
“Fine! Let’s do it,” I groaned. It wouldn’t feel as good as a hot bath, but it would do. “After a few more minutes of this,” I said, looking down at where he was massaging my feet. The hip pain hadn’t been pleasant, but if it meant my body was loosening up for birth, I was grateful.
“Sure thing. If Roman brings the food before you’re done, I can always feed you Chinese food in the bath.”
I stared at Phillip for a moment, resisting the urge to jump his bones. “That is possibly the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard a man say.”