“Welcome home, dear. I’m going to bed,” he says listlessly before turning his back to me and walking to the bedroom.
I let go of a heavy sigh wrapped in disappointment. All I wanted was to come home to a clean house and happy husband—you know what I mean, the fantasy we create in our minds, and when it doesn’t go our way, we are left with the disillusionment of reality.
I slip on a pair of pajamas and leave my suitcase lying open in the middle of the closet when I go upstairs to check on the girls. I walk into Emily’s room where she’s wriggled her way down beneath her blanket. I pull it back and give her a kiss on the forehead. My little four-year-old baby is growing so fast. Faster than what I’m ready for. I stroke my fingers through her blonde hair and give her one more kiss.
When I walk into Jill’s room, my big first grader, I sit on the edge of her bed and stare down at my first born. Her face is thinning out of the rounded baby cheeks she once had. My little lady won’t even let me call her my baby anymore. I think back to the day this angel pie made me a mommy for the first time.
“Landon,” I call out from the bathtub where I’ve been soaking for the past hour. “I need help.”
“Coming.”
I’m two days overdue and beyond the point of wanting to die. Every bone and tendon in my body is constantly on fire with pain. I’ve been spending most of my time trying to soothe the aches, but the warm water only attempts to assuage.
“Are you feeling any better?” Landon asks when he walks into the bathroom.
“I feel like it’s getting worse. It’s all through my back.”
He reaches down, and I grab on to him as he helps me to my feet. I wait for him to hand me a towel, and when I start drying off, I notice him staring at my body.
“What?”
“You want me to clean you up down there?”
I follow his eyes, which are zoned between my legs, and huff, “Are you kidding me right now?”
“Come on, babe.”
“I gave up shaving down there two weeks ago.”
He laughs. “I can tell.”
“Don’t be an ass.”
I wrap the towel around my chest and hold Landon’s hand as he helps me step out of the tub, all the while, finding humor in the fact that my lady parts have gone National Geographic.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve teasing me when I’m this hormonal,” I tell him as I give his ribs a jab, and when I do, I instantly feel a weird pop in my belly.
“Oh, shit!”
“What?”
With a look of shock on his face, Landon steps back from me. “I think you pissed yourself, babe.”
As if this pregnancy hasn’t robbed my sex appeal enough. But when I look down at the puddle of fluid I’m standing in, I realize it’s not pee.
“I think my water just broke.”
Landon’s face drops, and I’ve never seen such alarm in his eyes.
“Landon?” He doesn’t respond as he stares at me. “Are you okay?”
In a flash, he jumps into motion like a maniac and rushes out of the bathroom, leaving me standing here, dripping wet, wearing only a towel.
“Holy shit. Shit. Shit.” He continues to ramble incoherent obscenities as he runs around the house.
I hear drawers opening and closing, along with cabinets and doors, and I have no clue what the hell he is doing. I proceed to drop my towel and grab a couple more to soak up the mess on the floor. I then do my best to clean myself up before slipping on a pair of underwear.
Landon then zips through the bathroom in a mild panic. “Where the hell is the hospital bag?”
“It’s in the closet, and can you please calm down?”
He turns to face me, and nearly yells, “You’re having a baby!” as if I had no clue. He then freezes for a second before grabbing my face and elating with utter joy, “We’re having a baby!” He wraps his arms around me, radiating with excitement, and when he draws back, I look into the eyes of my husband who’s about to become a daddy.
“I’m scared,” I admit. “I don’t think I’m ready for this.”
He cups my cheeks and dips his head so he can meet my eyes straight on and assures, “You’ve got this. You’re the strongest woman I know, and I have no