I busy myself with cleaning the house while Rayne lays out all that’s happened for Dash. I can hear him every once in a while, gasping and I’ve even heard ‘no he didn’t’ a few times.
As I bend over to place a few toys in the toy box I’ve gathered from Hadley’s floor, the room begins to spin and flashes of white speckles begin to dance behind my eyelids. I sit on the ground before I lose my balance and fall. With my luck, I’d face-plant into the toy box and end up with a black eye or a concussion. Either one is a possibility. I remember when I was pregnant… Wait a minute! Fuck! I begin calculating my last period and when it dawns on me that I should’ve started three days ago I begin to panic. I’m never late, ever. I can almost count my cycles down to the very minute I’ll start.
Gently standing up, I rush as quickly as I can without causing myself to go off-balance and make my way to my bedroom. There, I pull out my mini calendar from the bedside drawer and open it up to the current month. I count from last month, then count again.
“Three days, don’t panic just yet,” I mumble to myself, trying to calm my racing heart so that it doesn’t jump its way out of my chest.
“Why are we not panicking over three days, Jace?” I hear Rayne’s baritone voice question me from the doorjamb. I swivel my head in his direction and take in the way his muscles are bunching together as he casually leans against the frame. His body is a work of art and one that I’d be taking further time to investigate and appreciate if I wasn’t trying to talk myself off of the ledge. “Jace?” He quizzically looks at me, as I take a minute to collect my thoughts, before sharing with him why I’m potentially acting like a crazy woman. He has no clue that if what I’m suspecting to be true, how much worse and crazed I’ll become the next few months. This will really be a test for our relationship. I’ve been known to fly off the handle at the smallest thing when I’m carrying his spawn.
“Three days, Rayne. I’m late for my period,” I exasperatedly inform him as a gush of air leaves my lungs.
“Are you telling me…?” He leaves his sentence wide open as his hand waves in my vicinity.
“I’m not telling you anything for certain. Nothing’s a known fact, just that it’s a high possibility. One that I’m worried is true. I’m never late, Rayne—like ever!” As I keep my eyes on him, I see his face go blank as his mind begins to wonder about what all this could mean.
Yeah, buddy, you and me both, I can’t help but think as a display of emotions run across his face. I see exhilaration, wonderment, then finally worry. The moment that feeling hits him, his countenance loses all color.
26
Rayne
My heart is leaping in my chest with the possibility. I wanted this to happen, hell, I prayed for it to, but the timing is all wrong. Now I’ll not only be protecting Jacey’s person, but the precious cargo she could be carrying. Motherfucker, I’m gonna have to double her security… no fuck that, I’ll triple it. I’ll have Lucky hire a few more of his buddies from his military days. Jacey won’t be able to so much as take a piss without having her every move followed. I will take no chances with her and our unborn baby. Baby… damn, I’m gonna get to experience everything I missed with Hadley. I’ll get to watch as Jacey’s belly rounds with the growth of our child. I’ll get to experience all of those crazy cravings I’ve heard so much about. I’ll get to be her hero when I willingly leave without any argument at two o’clock in the morning when she wakes up craving something we don’t have in the house. I’ll get to be in the delivery room and hear our baby’s first cries as he or she enters the world. There’s so much to look forward to—first steps, first tooth, midnight feedings. Doctor appointments; I want to experience them all and be by her side for everything.
“Rayne, are you alright? You’re looking a little pale over there,” Jacey whispers, breaking into my internal thoughts.
“I’m happy, Jacey, but I’m also petrified with having a madman on the loose. One that we have no clue what his next move will be. I’ll get to experience all of the baby’s firsts and hold your hand as you deliver him or her. All while wearing my ring on your finger. I’ll get to watch as the doctor shows us our baby on that monitor thingy that they do. Wait a minute, doctor, we need to get you into the doctor… like right now.” I don’t know why it took so long for that light bulb to click into place over my head. That should’ve been my first thought, not everything we’re gonna do and the monster we need to fight. She and the baby come first and I’ve already fallen down on that important job.
“What in the world is going on in here?” Dash asks as he comes up behind me. Suddenly, the room begins to grow dim as I find it hard to breathe. I bend over and place the palms of my hands on my knees as I fight the currents running through me. Waves of emotions hit me all at once as I figure out what a failure I already am at this impending fatherhood business. I didn’t do anything with Hadley, so I’m at a loss of the right and wrong things to do this go around. “She…” I point an accusing finger at Jacey as I try to find the right words to share. “Um, dude, she’s late. We might be having a baby, we need to get to the doctor, like right now!”
Finding the strength to stand back up, I notice that Dash’s eyes are comically wild as his head bobbles from Jacey then back to me. “Well, what are we waiting for? Get your woman and let’s hit the road. There has to be a doctor open in this podunk town we can get her to.”
I nod my head at his words then look at my woman. When she doesn’t move a muscle, I narrow my eyes in her direction. “Woman,” I snap. “Now is not the time to hang out inspecting the carpet. We need to get you to a doctor. Get a move on it.” Marching over to the closet, I grab tennis shoes and then head to first my dresser, then hers as I grab a pair of socks for each of us. When I turn around, I notice that her head is tilted down and her shoulders are shaking. Fearing that I broke her internal faucet, and she’s now leaking because of my harsh demands, I walk over to her and lower myself down to bended knees. My body, feeling like a lead weighted boulder is holding it down, lost as to what I should do, I take a moment to collect my thoughts.
“Jacey, my love, please don’t cry,” I all but beg her. Her tears have the capability of breaking me. I lift my hand and place my thumb under her chin as I raise her head. When I do, imagine my surprise to discover she’s not crying, she’s laughing. “What in the world do you find so amusing?” I huff out the question, upset that I took all of that time out of what we should be doing to comfort her in her time of need.
“And here I was thinking,” she wheezes out, “that I’d be the crazy, emotional one. Yet you’re freaking out and we haven’t even taken a home pregnancy test yet to confirm. Rayne, honey, the doctor won’t see me as an emergency case just to take a simple urine sample from me. We need to hit the pharmacy in town, confirm our suspicions, then make an appointment at my eight-week mark.”
“Eight weeks!” I shout out at the horror of what she just shared with me. “Why so fucking long? That’s ridiculous. You should be monitored from the get-go. I think your doctor and I should have an in-depth conversation over his care of his patients.”