Chapter 42

Chapte r 42

Amber

I turn away and focus on anything but on how good he looks. How I want to jump the man. How all that bronzed, tattooed skin is on display as well as his defined muscles. Not helping.

" Amber?" I squeeze my eyes shut. Even his voice is delicious. Stupid hormones. " What are you doing?" I can hear the humor in his voice.

"I'm not looking at you," I say with my eyes still closed.

"Yeah, I got that. The question is...why?"

"Because if I look at you, something very bad is going to happen."

"Like what?" he asks. I'm pretty sure he's trying not to laugh.

"Like jumping you," I say, and he goes quiet. I peek an eye open and meet his eyes, immediately wishing I hadn't. He's no longer laughing. I close my eyes quickly, but it's too late. I feel him step close, feel his hands run up my arms and to my shoulders.

"And what happens if you jump me?" he asks in a low voice that is pure seduction.

"I can't do that," I whisper, still closing my eyes.

"Why not, Baby? Do I look fragile to you?" There's an edge of one hundred percent masculine pride in his voice.

"Nope. Pretty sure there is nothing fragile about you, Rico." I almost don't recognize my voice.

He steps closer and puts his hands on my hips and pulls me forward gently, until my belly bumps into him. "Then jump me, Love," he whispers right before his lips meet mine in a kiss that's as hungry for me as I am for him. I open my mouth immediately and let him in, and he takes full advantage, plundering my mouth. Before I realize what's happening, he's walking us backwards to the bed. In a smooth move, he turns us and pulls me down into his lap, somehow managing not to break our kiss. He drives me further and further towards temptation. When I feel him start to pull my shirt up, I reach out and snag his hands. He instantly stops and pulls back. His eyes are heated as they meet mine. I can see the question there and the longing.

"You said you didn't want to do anything until the baby came," I remind him.

He looks pained. "Yeah. That's what you want right?"

"Me? No way! I thought that's what you wanted. I thought because I was pregnant you wanted to wait. I'm not exactly desirable material in my condition. I'm just trying to give you full disclosure," I tell him, grinning slowly.

"I'll take my chances," he whispers. That's the last talking we do for quite a while.

_____________

Our weekend is absolutely magical. We spend so much time connecting, eating good food, and just celebrating our relationship. When Monday morning comes, I can barely stand the thought of him leaving, which is a tell of how much I've fallen for this man. I've never been a clingy person—never needed people. But I need Rico like I need my next breath.

"Man, I wish I didn't have to leave you," he says after kissing me senseless.

I dig deep. "It's okay. You need to go. I'll be here when you get back."

"You still have over two weeks until you're due, right?"

I nod, even though we've been over this at least five times. "Yes, and it's my first. My doctor said she will most likely come late; most first pregnancies go past their due date. I will call you if anything changes."

He takes a breath. "Okay. I'm only gone a few days. I'll be back on Friday."

I smile. "I know. You told me...about six times." He grimaces and runs a hand over his chest. I pick up his large hand and hold it in the two of mine. "I'll be fine."

"How's the newlyweds?" Sebastian asks, joining us and draping an arm over Rico's shoulder. Rico knocks it off.

"We're good," I tell him.

"Aiden," Seb calls out. Aiden walks over to our group. "Okay, we have to know. How did Saturday night go?" Rico turns and gives him a murderous look, and Sebastian laughs. "Okay. That came out weird, even for me. We just have to know. Did you or did you not do it? Inquiring minds want to know."

"Did we do it?" I repeat. "What are we? In junior high?"

Sebastian's eyes widen comically. "You were doing it in junior high?"

Rico shoves him back with one hand. "Would you back off?"

Aiden just shakes his head. "You are such a mess."

Sebastian grins, totally unfazed. "Aiden and I have a bet going that our boy would cave."

I look at Aiden, and he just shrugs. "Nobody could have kept me away from my wife on the night of our wedding."

I scrunch up my nose. "Okay, first, TMI. That's my sister. Second, if you both bet the same thing, it's not a bet."

"Sure, it is," Sebastian says. "Now back to the question?"

I turn to look at Rico, and he's already looking at me. "Nothing happened," he says absolutely straight-faced. When both Aiden and Sebastian turn to look at me, Rico winks. I do my best to keep a straight face.

"What he said."

"Nuh uh. Really?" Sebastian looks between the two of us. "No way. I don't buy it. Do you, Aiden?"

Aiden smirks and walks away. I'm pretty sure he knows. They leave us in peace for a minute. "I gotta go. I love you. I'll be back soon." He kisses me, and then he jogs over to join his teammates. With a last wave, he disappears inside the building. I make my way over to my new car and make the drive over to the college. After the incredible weekend I had with Rico, it feels weird to sit in class. But I need to see this through. I'm so close. I've already got it set up to be able to finish online once the baby comes. The day drags on and on. Rico texts me often, which gives me something to look forward to. Finally, my shift at the library ends and I get to head home. The house is so empty without Rico. Thankfully, I'm exhausted and can head straight to bed. I put my phone next to me, so I don't miss Rico's call.

My phone wakes me up, and I reach out for it. It takes me a minute to realize it's Rico calling. I quickly swipe. "Hey, Love."

He pauses. "Baby, I'm sorry. Go back to sleep; I'll call you tomorrow."

"No, I'm okay." But a huge yawn belies my words.

"Sleep, Love, while you can. I love you." I'm going to argue with him, but he's gone before I can. I debate calling him back but have a feeling he'll just argue with me. Besides, he's right. I should probably sleep while I can. I'm up a thousand times a night right now.

The next two days drag. By Thursday, I'm dying. I don't feel good. My stomach's been cramping all day. Something I ate has been making me sick; I haven't been able to stop going to the bathroom all day. And I miss Rico so much, I want to cry. I watched his game Tuesday night all by myself on the couch. Bri invited me to her house, but I had too much to do. I've been washing and folding all the baby clothes and blankets. By the time I'm nearing the end of my shift Thursday night, I'm so ready for this day to be over.

"Are you still not feeling good?" Mrs. Randolph asks.

I shift uncomfortably in my chair. "Yeah. I must have eaten something that made me sick."

"You sure you're not in labor?" she asks.

"Yeah. I just ate something that's not settling with me. I'm not due for a little bit yet." I stand to my feet and feel an odd sensation. My eyes widen, and I stare down at myself. "Oh my word."

"What?" she asks, eyes narrowing.

I take a breath, trying to stay calm. "Well, either I just peed my pants, or my water just broke." A cramp takes over, and I suck in a breath and breathe through it.

"Good thing you're not in labor," she says, shaking her head. She helps me sit down. "Now call that husband of yours and tell him to come pick you up and take you to the hospital."

"Oh no." It hits me.

"What?" she asks.

"He's not here."

"Well, of course he's not here. He doesn't work here," she retorts.

"No," I swallow. "He's out of town...for a hockey game."

Her eyebrows rise above her spectacles. "Well, I suggest you call him," she says pointedly. "And tell him to get his tight backside back home."

I shake my head but let it go. Now is not the time. I look at my phone and shake my head. "I can't."

"And why ever not?"

"His game starts at nine. That's less than ten minutes. If I call him now, it'll just distract him." Another cramp hits, and I take a deep breath. "I'll just wait until his game is done."

Mrs. Randolph stares at me a moment and then lets out the longest laugh. "I'm sorry," she says, wiping her eyes. "I just thought you said you were just going to wait. Honey, that babe is not waiting until you feel like having a baby. She's coming whether you're ready or not."

And just like that, the panic I was trying to avoid hits me full on. I stand to my feet abruptly. "I have to get to the hospital."

"Yeah. That's how this works," she says, shaking her head.

I grab my bag and slide my phone into my pocket. "Okay. Okay. I'm just going to..." I turn back around. "Is it okay if I leave early?"

"I worry about you. Go!" She shoos me on.

"Thank you." I start towards the door when I hear her call my name. I turn back.

"You're not going to drive, right?" I look at her blankly. She shakes her head, muttering something about silly young women and something else I can't quite hear. She walks back over to the desk. A moment later, I hear her voice over the PA system. "The library is closing right now. I've got a woman in labor. Everybody out right now if you don't want to be traumatized and never have a child."

I try to hide against the wall, but it's pretty hard to miss the big, pregnant woman. Mrs. Randolph comes over to me a few minutes later with her purse in her hands. "Wow, thank you for that," I say.

"You're welcome. Now less chit chat. Let's get a move on." When we get outside, she marches towards the parking lot. "This way."

I waddle after her, stopping once to catch my breath. "My car is over there."

"I'm driving you, Child."

I open my mouth to argue with her but quickly shut it when another cramp hits. When it passes, I follow her to her car. At this point, I'm not sure if I could talk her out of driving me. And I don't want to wait around for an Uber. So catching a ride to the hospital with Mrs. Randolph it is.

I decide that I will never ride with her again. She blows past two stop signs, telling me that they're optional. And we go straight through a red light that she told me had "just turned red." It didn't. Not at all. It was clearly red. By the time we get to the hospital, I'm just thankful to be alive. "Thank you, Mrs. Randolph." She opens her door and climbs out of the car. I try to do the same, but it takes me a good bit to get out of the car. "What are you doing?" I finally manage to ask.

"Let's go," she calls out over her shoulder as she strides to the door. I stare at her back before I finally start moving forward. By the time we make it inside, I'm sweating.

"You didn't feel like you needed to help the pregnant woman?" I mutter.

"Nope," she says without turning back. "The more you move, the quicker you'll get that baby out."

Not caring an ounce, I drop into the nearest chair, trying to catch my breath. I watch her march up to the counter and start pointing back at me. With a sigh, I stand up and make my way to the counter.

Two long hours later, I'm finally admitted to a room. Mrs. Randolph mutters the entire walk to the room. Something about incompetent hospitals, labor, paperwork, and I don't know what else. I sort of tune her out. Once I'm in a room, it's a blur of activity for a little while. "Have you called anyone to come be with you?" Mrs. Randolph asks when there's a lull. She surprises me; I kind of forgot she was still here.

"I was going to wait until I confirm that I'm actually in labor. I don't want to get everybody worked up if it's a false alarm."

"Child, I don't know how much more you need to understand that this is labor. That baby is making its way down south and is going to be splitting you wide open in the next few hours."

"Wow. Thank you for that lovely visual." She just grins at me and sits in the chair next to me. "You really don't have to stay."

"I'm staying until somebody comes here to relieve me."

Because I really don't want to be alone, I reach out and hold her hand. "Thank you."

When it's confirmed that I'm actually in labor, I pull out my phone and begin the calls. The only problem is it's almost midnight, and everybody must have their phones on silent for the night. My mom and Rico's mom don't answer. I try Bri, but she doesn't answer either. She probably put it on silent to go to sleep after the game finished. Speaking of the game, I wait until I thought Rico should be done with the post-game stuff; and then I make the call.

"Hey Love, congrats on the win. You played amazing. So, um, I just wanted you to know that I'm in the hospital. Nothing to panic about yet. The doctor said I'm probably several hours away yet from giving birth, but my water broke and I'm having contractions. Um, yeah, so I just wanted you to know. I love you. Maybe call when you get this message because I really just need to hear your voice. I mean, whenever is fine. I'm totally fine. I just wanted to see maybe how far away you were, but I'm fine. Anyway, love you. Call me."