Page 24 of Protecting Addison
“Well, I’m not sure I’d really make any more money, and I’d be required to be there for set hours and wouldn’t be able to pick and choose the projects I want to do. As it is now, I get requests online for cakes and a rough idea of what people want. I’m able to filter through and pick the ones I want to do, based on my available time and experience. And…with all of Ellory’s health issues, it wouldn’t work out anyway, me working full time outside the house. Being on my own, I can take the time to go to her appointments. If there’s an emergency, I can drop everything to be at the hospital with her.”
“Vincent told me a little about her condition,” Remi said. “I have to admit that I didn’t know anything about Crohn’s disease.”
“Me either,” Maggie agreed. “It sounds horrible.”
“It is,” Addison agreed. “I feel so helpless when she’s hurting and there’s nothing I can do.”
“It’s rare that kids her age get it, isn’t it?” Wren asked. “I researched it a little so I wouldn’t sound like a doofus when we met.”
The thought that the other woman had gone out of her way to try to learn about Crohn’s meant a lot to Addison. “Yeah. Which is why it was so hard to diagnose her. The doctors thought it was just about everything else before they finally decided it was Crohn’s. We’re just starting to get to the point where we’re figuring out how best to treat her, but of course there are always wrenches in the plan. Just when we think she’s good, she’ll have an especially bad inflammation.”
“That sucks,” Josie said.
Addison agreed.
“She’s a great kid,” Remi said. “So polite. And the way she helped Yana with her cake earlier was adorable. I hate that she wasn’t able to have any herself.”
“I felt bad about that myself for a long while, that she couldn’t eat a lot of the sugary stuff kids love. But I’m so proud of her for learning what triggers the inflammation. I don’t think she even misses it most days anymore. And yes, she’s a huge help with Yana and the boys.”
“How are they all doing?” Maggie asked. “Things were…they weren’t good over there. If you could’ve seen how they were living. In the ruins of buildings, scrounging for food and water. It was heartbreaking.”
“They’re okay. They have their moments where they miss their home and their parents, and when they struggle with the culture here, but the fact that they’re together helps a lot, I think. How areyoudoing?” Ricky had told Addison all about what happened in the Ukraine. How Maggie had been kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend, a high-ranking naval officer, who’d used his connections to have the SEAL team of hernewboyfriend, Preacher, almost leave her in the country in the middle of a war zone.
“I’m good,” Maggie said, one hand resting on her belly unconsciously. “Tired, but I feel really amazing, considering I’m growing a human inside my body.”
Everyone laughed.
“I need to pee what seems like every ten minutes, and I’m starting to get weird food cravings, like peanut butter and pickles. What’s up with that? I mean, pickles I get, that seems to be the stereotypical pregnancy craving…but with peanut butter? I grossmyselfout sometimes.”
“I wasn’t too bad with wanting weird things in my first trimester, but in the second? I was an eating machine,” Addison said. “Bananas and ketchup? The most delicious thing ever back then. Now even thinking about it makes me want to puke. But one thing that I ate just about every day for three months was tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches. I can still eat those today.”
The others laughed.
“I’m scared,” Maggie blurted.
“Of what?” Wren asked, her brow furrowed in concern.
“Everything. Of the actual birth; I know it’s gonna hurt and I’m not a fan of pain. That my baby won’t be healthy, of Shawn being gone when I go into labor, of screwing this kid up…pretty mucheverything.”
“I think that’s probably normal,” Josie said.
“I know, but I can’t stop thinking about all the things that might go wrong,” Maggie said, her voice hitching.
Addison scooted her chair closer to the other woman and put a hand on her arm. “I didn’t know I was pregnant with Ellory for four months. And in the meantime, I was still going out to bars, drinking, being around people who smoked…so when Ididfinally realize I was knocked up, I freaked. I thought I’d hurt the baby for sure. Even when the doctor told me that everything looked fine, I didn’t really believe him. And I was dating at the time, but still pretty much on my own. My boyfriend didn’t seem to have much interest in anything to do with the pregnancy. That should’ve been a clue, but I was still living in a fairytale land where we’d end up happily ever after.
“Anyway, Icantell you that the fears in your head are way worse than reality. The drugs they have these days for birth are really good, which cuts down on a lot of the pain, and one thing I’ve learned is that even if your baby isn’t completely healthy, you’ll still love them just as much as if they were. Of course, my baby wasn’t a newborn when I learned that lesson. But I love Ellory even more today than I did the moment she was born, when I thought she was perfect.
“And you aren’t going to mess your kid up. Because you and Preacher are…you’re good people. From everything I’ve heard from Ricky about you guys, you’re going to be amazing parents. And if Preacher and the guys happen to be gone when you go into labor, I’ll be there for you.”
“Me too,” Remi said immediately.
“And me,” Wren chimed in.
“And of course me too,” Josie agreed.
“It’ll suck if Preacher misses the birth of his baby, but being present at the actual birth doesn’t make a man a good father. It’s how he acts after they’re here,” Addison said.
“You’re thinking about MacGyver,” Remi said knowingly.
