Page 128 of Delirium
“I-it’s just,” she choked, cackling as we crossed the street. “The look on your face when they offered you the weight loss pills…” she lost it. Her body bent like a pretzel, laughing at me and the fiasco that just happened in the mall.
We came here to buy some baby clothes, because as much as I loved doing things at the very last minute, I couldn’t wait until the twins were born and for them to have some actual clothes. Storm’s solution was to order them online, but I needed to get out of the house to see other people. I loved the man, but once I entered into the last trimester, it was as if the switch was flipped on in his head and he held me as close as possible to him at all times.
I knew it wasn’t only the pregnancy.
The fact that we still hadn’t managed to catch Belladonna, the fact that we had no idea who she was or what she’d been doing, was worrying all of us, not only him. But he didn’t want to take any chances, so wherever I went, he had at least two guys following me.
But not today. Oh no.
I had to get away from all of them, and Zoe offered to accompany me on my obviously failed shopping spree. The only thing I managed to buy were some baby onesies and that was it. Just looking at all those clothes made me want to cry.
And then that fucker offered me weight loss pills as if I wasn’t eight months pregnant. Who the fuck employed those people, honestly?
“Slow down, Phee,” Zoe called out, trying to catch up with me.
“If I go any slower, I’ll be crawling, Zoe,” I bit back, too pissed off to look at her. When the guy offered me the pills, she burst into laughter. I had never wanted to slap her so much. I loved her, okay, but… Not today.
I woke up cranky, hungry, with the twins sitting right on top of my bladder, playing soccer or something, because there was no way that they were just chilling there with the way they were kicking me. To say that I was uncomfortable would be an understatement of the year, and Storm wasn’t helping. The man couldn’t keep his hands off me, while I felt like a bubble filled with water, ready to burst.
“If you continue running like that, you’re going to give birth today and not in two weeks!” she yelled out just as I came to the area where she parked her car.
“Good!” I blasted, turning to look at her. “Then maybe I’ll be able to sleep through the night without having to get up every hour to pee. Or hell, maybe I’ll be able to have sex with Storm without crying in the end, because everything was so beautiful, and emotional, and… I don’t know, okay!”
“Phee.” She chuckled. “I hate to break it to you, but once the twins are born, you won’t be sleeping at all.”
“I know,” I groaned. “I know all of that, but I’m trying not to think about diapers, vomit, sleepless nights, the two of them crying and whatnot. I just want to feel like my old self.” I pouted.
I took all those things for granted, and while I was thankful and excited for these kids, I just wanted to feel like my old self. I wanted to be able to climb up the stairs without having to rest in the middle of the stairs.
I wanted to be able to run, and drive a bike, and get into a ring to fight with someone, and if that made me selfish, so be it. I was aware that my life would change once the kids were here, and while I loved being pregnant for the majority of it, these last two months were insufferable. No one ever told you that your back would hurt this much, or that no matter how fit you were, you wouldn’t be able to walk for a long period of time because you would get tired. And we were not going to talk about Braxton Hicks.
Two weeks ago, we rushed to the ER because I thought I was in labor. The expression on Storm’s face was priceless as he rushed around the house, collecting the things he thought I might need in the hospital. But I had to admit—it was kinda cute as well.
“Phee,” Zoe murmured, placing a hand on my shoulder. “You’re going to be back to your old self in no time, trust me. I know it’s frustrating. Well, I don’t know, but you get what I’m saying. These two are going to be here in no time, and you guys are going to have a great time. You’ll see.”
“I know,” I answered with a sigh. “I just… It’s hard sometimes. I worry about them and the fact that they’re being brought into this fucked-up world. I worry I’m going to do a terrible job or that I’m going to fuck them up somehow.”
“Babe.” She smiled. “You’re already doing a better job than a lot of the parents out there. You love them, you want the best for them, and that’s what matters.”
“I know, I just—”
The sound of screeching tires stopped me mid-sentence. I looked to my left and noticed a large black van barreling toward us, with the speed that was nowhere near acceptable for the parking lot.
“Watch out!” Zoe yelled, pulling me back into her as the van stopped right in front of us. “What the—”
Four masked men jumped from the side of the van as the doors opened, balaclavas over their heads, and headed straight toward us.
“Run, Ophelia!” Zoe bellowed, pushing me to the side, and stepping right in front of the men. But she wasn’t a match for them, and I couldn’t leave her.
“No, Zoe.”
“Run!” she thundered, her eyes filling with worry and fear. “Call Storm. Call him!”
I started retreating, turning to run, as a guy I hadn’t seen with the other four, stepped in front of me, his eyes filled with menace and anger. Violence oozed from his body, rendering me speechless, and I knew we were fucked.
“No.” I shook my head as he walked toward me, tilting his head to the side, as the sounds of Zoe fighting with the other four echoed through my ears. “Please, don’t.”
I wasn’t above begging. I wasn’t a fool. I knew this was coming, one way or another, but I hoped the kids would be safe, that they wouldn’t be attached to me anymore.
