“I know what your kind of nap means,” I laugh, knowing that it wouldn’t be a nap at all. It would start with a little cuddling, which would turn to kissing, and then that would lead to kissing me everywhere, then him on top of me, making me scream his name.
His face turns serious, lines appearing in his forehead. “Stay inside. I don’t want you near the water.”
“Sean, I know how to swim.”
“Baby, please. Give me peace of mind while I’m gone.”
Grabbing his face with both hands, I dig my fingers into his beard. “I’ll stay inside and dream of you.”
“Thank you, little fox.” He moves in for another kiss, this one deep but slow. His mouth moves against mine like we’re making love.
When he finally pulls back, I keep a strong hold on his face, pulling a little at his beard.
“I’m not cutting it,” he says for the sixth time this morning, his eyes going a little big. I caught him in the bathroom about to shave it this morning. He said it was just a summer cut. I might have lost it a little. I even threatened to go on a shaving strike of my own if he did, but he said I could turn into werewolf and he was still getting inside me. In the end I won. Facial hair was staying, and I was still keeping myself well groomed.
“Better not.”
He kisses me on the forehead and heads out the door. I sit at the table, sipping my orange juice while Marie does the dishes for a few moments.
“Okay. I can’t wait! Give it to me.” I jump up from my chair and rush over to Marie as she pulls a pregnancy test out of her apron.
The last two tests I’d done with Sean, and both times they came out negative. He acted like it was no big deal, but I could see the disappointment on his face. I want to make sure that the next time the subject comes up, I’ll know for sure if I’m pregnant or not.
“I thought he’d never leave.” Marie shakes her head, wiping her hands off on her apron.
“I know. I thought for sure he knew I was faking about the headache. I’m the world’s worst liar,” I grimace. God, I hate lying to him.
“Come on now. Let’s see if we’re going to have a baby around here soon,” Marie says as we both rush to my bathroom. Quickly, I ready the test and do it, placing the stick on the sink when I’m done. I open the door for Marie to come into the bathroom, and we both just stare down at the test and wait.
“What are you doing?”
I scream out in surprise, jumping around to face Sean is standing in the bathroom doorway.
“I…oh…” I look to Marie for help, but she just stands there. “I thought you left,” I finally finish, stumbling over my words.
“I tried.” He runs his hands through his hair. “Just felt like something was off.” He takes a step into the bathroom, and I try to move further back, wanting to block the test, but my ass is already against the sink.
“Baby, you’re kind of freaking me out here.” He takes a few more steps until he’s right in front of me, and I have to lean my head back to look at him. He must see the test on the sink behind me, because a smile breaks out across his face.
Suddenly, he’s dropping to his knees in front of me.
I feel Marie move beside me, then her words hit me. “Two lines.”
Sean places his face against my stomach, echoing her words “Two lines.”
“We’re having a baby,” I whisper, and run my fingers through his hair.
“I love you,” Sean says to my stomach, and I feel a tear slip free.
Then he’s picking me up and carrying me to our bed. Marie is long gone. Probably off to tell Sal they’re going to be grandparents.
“We should leave the island. It’s not safe here. Then maybe—”
I cut him off. “Calm down. You planned for this. Think about it, Sean. We have Marie and the two midwives. It doesn’t take long to get to the main island, and we can stay on the main island when the due date gets closer. We aren’t leaving. This is our home. The home we’ve made for the family we’re going to have. We’ll make this work.”
“You’re right, little fox. We can do anything.”
Epilogue
Sean
Nine months later…
“Wake up, baby. I think my water broke.”
I shoot out of bed, nearly knocking Tessa to the floor. Luckily, my reflexes are good when it comes to her, and I grab her by both arms, picking her up in my arms before she can tumble back.
“The baby? It’s here?”
She giggles at me and nods. This isn’t a time for giggling. We have to move. Now.
“When did your water break?” I ask, striding around the room, not really having any kind of direction. I’m just walking around, holding her in my arms while she has our baby in the middle of the room.
“Sean. Calm down.”
Tessa agreed we would go off the island tomorrow and spend the last week of her pregnancy in town. It’s our first baby, and we thought for sure she would go over her due date.
I begged her to go before, but she wouldn’t. Finally, after dinner last night, I had to get on my knees and beg her to take the boat over in the morning. I couldn’t handle the stress of being so far from the hospital with the baby so close to being born.
“Tessa.” There’s a warning in my tone that wants to tell her ‘I told you so’. But I’ll do that later. Goddamn it, I knew this would happen!
“I’ve already paged Sal. He and Marie are by the docks, ready to go. Our bags are packed, and it won’t take us fifteen minutes to get there. I’ve got time. Just breathe.”