Chapter 26
twenty-six
GREER
Even in semi-unconsciousness, I know it’s Jude in bed with me. Enveloped in his arms, there’s a sense of familiarity and comfort I’ve never known before.
His voice is heavy with sleep. “Babe, you’re sleeping through your alarm.” As if it helps the matter, he draws me tighter against him and runs a gentle hand down my bare back.
“I need to get up,” I groan, glancing at my phone with bleary eyes. With no remorse, I slap the snooze button.
“Do you always wake up this groggy?
“I clunked out pretty hard.” An arrogant smirk tugs at his lips, confident in the knowledge that his cock and mouth are the reason I’ve been lulled into the deepest of slumbers.
We doze together until the annoying buzzing noise begins again. I groan when Jude moves away, taking his warmth with him. “I’ll take care of the gremlin. His insulin dosages are posted on the fridge, right?”
“No, no, I’ll do it.” I’ve never allowed anyone else to tend to Hank’s diabetes. When I travel, I go to pet friendly hotels and bring him with me. I have his diabetes regiment written down, though, just in case there’s an emergency.
By the time I’ve crawled out of bed and put on my robe, Jude is already dressed. He strolls ahead of me to the kitchen in his bare feet, flipping on lights and opening up the curtains so the morning light streams in through the windows the way I like.
As I go through Hank’s morning routine of blood sugar check, insulin, and food, Jude busies himself in the kitchen, assembling a quick breakfast. After I lay the food at Hank’s feet and kiss his little nose, Jude hands me a yogurt parfait with fresh fruit.
“I counted the carbohydrates for you. It’s twenty grams for the whole thing.
” He reaches for another plastic bowl, digging into his own serving.
I blink in surprise. Not once has a man even considered reading the nutritional value of the food we share and calculating the carbohydrates. As I remember what he said about too polite gratitude, I bat my eyelashes and say, “Thank you, snuggle muffin.”
He shuts his eyes with a laugh, and shakes his head. “Don’t forget about the blueberries. They’re full of antioxidants.”
“Are you feeding me a nutritionally sound breakfast on the off chance that I’m pregnant?” I accuse.
“Yep. Making sure you’re properly fed so your body can nourish anyone who might be growing inside of you.”
“I should have known you had a breeding kink.”
His body stills, “With you, yes.”
He starts to tease his lips on my neck and whispers, “What about you? What dirty fantasies are rolling around in your head?”
My face turns warm at the tables being turned. “I know you like being pinned,” he says with a smirk. “You clamped down so hard on my cock last night that I came before I was ready.”
I roll my lips and look away. “That was pretty hot. It wasn’t just being pinned down, though, it was what you were saying…” He told me I was his good girl for taking his cock so deep, and it fried my last brain cell.
You’re so tight around me. It’s like you were made just for me.
Tell me this pussy is all mine.
Look at how gorgeous you are full of my cum. Shut your thighs, I want it kept in you all night.
He licks his spoon, reminding me of exactly what he does with that tongue. The ache between my legs returns, never completely satisfied when he’s near.
Jude said that imagining creating a baby with me is his heroin. Jude is mine, and I’m willing to make a deal with the devil for a hit. No wonder I let him come inside of me last night.
My periods are regular. I’m either already pregnant or I’m not.
People use the rhythm method all the damn time, right? You can't conceive if there’s no egg to fertilize.
“I’d better go get ready,” I say, already pivoting to leave. If I linger, I’ll only end up back in bed with Jude, and late for work.
Jude grabs my hand to get my attention. When I turn back to face him, he’s wearing an unreadable expression. “We need to have a little chat.”
“What’s up?” I ask, worry obvious in my tone.
“Do you plan on stopping by the pharmacy for a morning-after pill?” he demands.
I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind, “Do they even carry it at that small pharmacy?”
“I don’t want you taking that shit, especially if you’re already pregnant.”
“I’m a nurse. I’m aware that emergency contraceptive medications only work to prevent ovulation. I’m too far in my cycle for that to be a concern. Taking a pill will do nothing except spike my blood sugar.”
“Good. Gotta say fucking you bareback is the thrill of a lifetime.”
Don’t I know it. The risk only heightens the already explosive experience. It’s like throwing gasoline on a forest fire.
“I guess it’s a good thing I have an appointment for the gynecologist to discuss hormone-free birth control options.”
“You go right ahead and do that, Baby Doll,” he says as if it’s a dare.
“What’s with the tone? We’re going to be lucky as hell if we aren’t expecting now. I’m not playing this game month after month.”
“We’ll have to see what happens,” he says with a little shrug.
“I don’t understand your thinking with this.”
With the ease of a man giving directions to a lost traveler, Jude says, “Because when I saw you, everything clicked. It felt like I’ve been waiting my whole life for you to pull up to that red light and just now my life is finally beginning.
I know you’re the one without a doubt in my head.
A kid is an irrevocable bond that lasts as long as there are descendants.
It spans longer than anybody’s memories over time and distance.
I think it’s a beautiful thing. I want that with you, only you. ”
I pull in a deep breath only to find my lungs unwilling to expel the air. How can something said so casually make me feel this amazing? He pulls me close, with one hand on each hip until our noses are almost pressed against one another. “You’ll catch up to me,” he says confidently.
When he lets me go, any trace of irritation is gone. “You’re crazy,” I breathe out, nuzzling into him.
I’m still worried that things will die as fast as they sparked to life with Jude.
That I might be on the path to motherhood a lot sooner than I’ve planned.
Right now, with Jude rubbing soothing circles on my back, his scent surrounding me, all of that feels like background noise.
Maw Maw says I worry too much. I hope she’s right.
But still, I count the days on my calendar app, then set a reminder in my phone to have a blood test. The results will show sooner and more accurately if I’m expecting.
The tricky part is going to be asking my freaking boss…
Jude walks me to work with his arm around my back.
Every time I try to pick up the pace, he slows our stride.
A quick kiss at the back door, then a not so quick smooch before he tells me, “Hurry up so you can get home.” As I start to walk away, he slaps my ass.
When I look back he’s wearing a cocky grin and shrugs.
I leave laughing, but that’s Jude’s effect on me. Okay so I’m not early for work for once. There’s nothing wrong with being on time.
I blame being a military brat on my philosophy on tardiness. They say in the Army that if you aren’t five minutes early, you’re already late.
The stroll to work helped set a chill vibe, so different from my normal half jog, as I make my way through the back door and down the hallway.
Jenn’s long dark microbraids cover her face as she seems to study the schedule on a monitor. “How packed is the schedule today?” I ask.
“Not too bad at all. It’s mainly little kids with respiratory infections.”
I lift an eyebrow for an explanation when Jenn cracks a smile, “There’s some gossip going around town about Dr. Sully. Hopefully it’ll put some of the women off.”
“Welcome to life in a small town,” I say with a little scoff.
I don’t ask what the rumor might be, or if it’s even true.
I wouldn’t want people talking about me like that.
Two women walk in together, both primped like they’re headed to a first date.
Guess the rumor either hasn’t spread or the duo doesn’t care.
After checking the two patients in, Jenn closes the sliding glass partition down and complains, “I wish they all didn’t bathe in perfume. It stinks up the whole office.”
“If they only knew Sully preaches about the evils of synthetic fragrance in beauty products.”
“They don’t care who he is as a person, honey. They see that handsome face and the medical degree on the wall.”
By habit, I reach into the mini fridge we keep in the office and pull out one of the glass bottled coffees, then gulp down a couple of swigs.
The lecture of a not that long ago professor runs through my head.
Risks of caffeine in pregnancy. Increased risk of fetal growth restrictions, higher rate of miscarriage.
An expectant mother is allowed eight ounces a day.
I’ve consumed far less than that, but I still screw on the lid and toss it in the garbage.
The thing about Jude is that I believe him when he says that he wants me to know he’s getting me pregnant.
While I might have convinced myself it was safe, I’ve heard of so many women conceiving after their spouses have vasectomies, or miracle babies through infertility.
I was thinking with the wrong part of my anatomy, just like Jude.
So I can’t completely blame him for this, even though he knew good and well we were risking a pregnancy with no room to deny it.
Jude’s right. We were playing fast and loose with birth control.
Now it’s a waiting game to find out what the future holds.
I’m in the waiting room about to call the first patient to the back when Allie appears at the clinic door.
She’s wearing a hoodie from her university, hair in a ponytail.
Her trademark heart sunglasses cover her eyes, hiding her expression from me.
Her leg is finally free of a walking boot. “Hey look at you. Free at last.”
“It feels so weird,” she says, looking down at her newly free foot.
“Just be careful. It’s easy to re-injure yourself.”
“Yes, Nurse Guidry,” she says with a tinge of pride in her tone.
Nobody rides harder to support those they love more than Allie.
My graduation party from college was over the top with yard signs and elaborate decorations.
Mom told me later that Allie sent packages to the house for weeks, and flew in early to help set up.
She’d just finished exams herself and had to be exhausted.
“So are you just here to show off those great legs of yours or did you need something.”
She winces, “I came for goodbye hugs.”
My smile falls, and I move to embrace her, “I thought you weren’t leaving until tomorrow.”
“I found out Boudreaux Hall has an earlier move in date.”
“So you’re moving in without any help?”
“I’m a big girl. Besides, they need to stay with Maw Maw, remember?”
She has a point. Maw Maw is still recovering from her wrist surgery. When I called to check on her yesterday, she was complaining about my aunts and uncles hovering. She distinctly told my aunt to “Stop making a fuss and get out from underneath me because I’m trying to watch my show.”
The program in question? An explicit hockey romance with two male leads called Heated Rivalry. I’m supposed to bring her the books when I visit.
Something is just off with Allie though. I can sense it. “Everything went okay at the hospital with Kira?” I prompt. C’mon, tell me something, Allie. I’m worried here.
“She has a concussion. Her parents drove to the hospital and took her home.”
I study her with narrowed eyes, prepared to have it out with her. She tilts her head, prepared to say something when the light hits her face differently. A pimple patch works as a makeshift bandage over a swollen lip. She’s tried unsuccessfully to hide it with plum colored lipstick.
“What happened!” I demand. I already know the answer. She was hurt at the arena. How did I not notice it?
“It’s fine, really.” Her smile’s fake, shoulders slumped.
“I can’t believe you tried to hide it from me.”
“Because I knew you’d freak out, like you are now.”
“Where else are you hurt? I don’t like you going to his bouts,” I whisper.
She looks down at the ground. “This didn’t even happen there. I got it beforehand and you didn’t notice it because of my make-up. I’ve got to get on the road. We’ll talk about this later, ‘kay?”
Great. Weeks without seeing one another. I’m popping in to visit very soon. Her body is stiff while we hug. “I love you. Drive safe.”
“Love you too cous.”
“Text me when you get there.”
“You’re only ten months older than me…you don’t have to act like a big sister.”
“I wish you’d talk to me.” I whisper.
“Talking to you now, cous,” she retorts. Then she disappears out the door without a backward glance.
It’s not until much later that I wonder when and how Allie’s lip was busted.