Page 101 of A Lifetime of Afters
I withdrew my hand. It was a shame to wake him. All my tossing and turning the past few nights had kept him up as well. Maybe I could go back to sleep for a couple of hours. First babies were notoriously slow in coming.
Hawkley’s soft snores lulled me back to that soft place between sleep and wake then sent me drifting into a dream.
A table set up in my parents’ backyard. My dad and Dan manning the grill. Lou and my mom laughing as they set bowls of potato chips and potato salad down on the table. Mom heading back into the house, her hand gentle on my head as she passed.
I watched ten-year-old me smile.
Max was young here, too. So was Hawkley.
Harley stood with her hands on her hips, yelling at them about something, but I knew she wasn’t mad. She was a distraction.
Hunter snuck up behind them with the hose.
A memory encapsulated in a dream.
My laughter broke the spell and catapulted me back to my bed.
Hawkley let out an obnoxious snort.
And another pain, this one more serious, ripped across my womb.
What the hell was I thinking? I didn’t know the first thing about having a baby. Especially not a big-headed Bennett.
“Hawkley,” I said louder, shaking his shoulder.
“Yes, baby?” he mumbled. “You want water? More ice cream?”
My eyebrows lowered as I pressed my lips together. I hadn’t eaten that much ice cream.
“It’s time, baby.”
“Again?” He chuckled as he rolled to his back and opened his arms. “Hop up, baby.”
It was a tempting offer. Any other time I would have taken him up on it. But with my luck, his dick would drill a hole right through my cervix to our baby’s head. Nobody wants to explain that kind of dent to their kid.
“Time to go have our baby.”
He laughed sleepily. “Okay, baby.” Two seconds passed. And then my words hit home.
His sleepy eyes wide, hair adorably rumpled, he sat up and demanded, “What? It’s time? Shit!”
Rolling back to his side of the bed, his feet tangled in the blankets. He tumbled out and landed on his ass on the floor.
I snorted with laughter, falling back on the bed. Rolling to my side, I pointed at him as he struggled to disentangle himself. “Pussy phobia!”
His face broke out in a broad grin. “I’m tallying, sweetheart. You’re racking up quite a debt.”
Another pain gripped my womb. “Hawk,” I choked out. The cramps were coming quickly. Too quickly. “Holy moly!” I gasped.
The blood drained from Hawkley’s face.
“Don’t you dare pass out!” I ordered, then laughed at the insulted look on his face. My entire stomach hurt. Half from laughing. “I have to pee. Bad. Help me get to the bathroom.”
In the bathroom, I freshened up for the hospital.
Hawkley gathered my bags and our supplies, cursing his sister and her baby shower games that had even him splitting his guts laughing when he crashed with Max.
Just like the old days.
