I know this brings with it a lot of complications," I went on, my stomach tying itself in knots. "Huck?" I asked when he slid out from under me, standing, and rushing out of the room.
As I stood, stomach flip-flopping, I could hear him calling his men, tone borderline frantic. And for a man as laid-back as Huck, that was really saying something.
I mean, I'd once seen him after his bike got clipped by a drunk tourist, sending him flying through the air, and ripping most of the skin off his arm, a bone sticking out through the skin, and he'd been sitting there waiting for the ambulance while cracking jokes with Remy, Che, Seeley, and McCoy.
Huck was not a man who panicked.
But, clearly, he was panicking now.
My heart felt heavy.
I guess a part of me had been hoping that once the initial surprise wore off, he would be happy, would sit with me and quell my fears, talk about our future.
Taking a deep breath, I moved to stand, deciding a cup of hot chocolate might help take some of the sting away.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Huck asked, rushing back in the room, eyes wide, wild, hands raised, his palms facing out.
"I, ah, what? I'm going to get some hot chocolate," I explained.
"Remy!" he yelled, loud enough that I shrank away from the sound, my shoulders rising up toward my ears. "Hot chocolate. Now. Not too hot, though," he added as Remy agreed and rushed off, almost seeming as frantic and weird as Huck was. "Sit down. You can't be walking around right now," he insisted, grabbing my arm, leading me back to the couch, pressing me down.
"I can't walk around?" I asked, shaking my head. "Why not?"
"It's not safe," he said, rolling his eyes as he reached for his phone, shooting off a rapid text.
"Huck, I'm going to need you to—" I started, getting to my feet.
"Jesus Christ. Sit down," he demanded, hands going to my shoulders.
"Hey," I said, getting a little worried, not sure if maybe I should have been calling Teddy or his sister, maybe even the president of the mother chapter, Reign. "You're kind of going full-on crazy-eyed right now," I told him, taking my cue from Teddy all those months ago, choosing to be blunt with Huck who definitely responded better to it. I mean, I had some lush gardens going. Even if I had killed a lot of the plants in my learning phase. "Why do you keep making me sit down?" I asked, grabbing his hand as he pushed me to sit again, forcing him down with me.
"Because it's not safe for you to be fucking walking around now."
"I'm not following. Why can't I walk around now?"
"Because you're pregnant."
"Yeah, you know, I'm pretty sure I've seen pregnant women walking around before. In fact, I think they encourage it," I said.
"Yeah, but not you. You can't do anything alone anymore. Someone has to be with you full-time. I am going to ask Gus to recommend someone she used to work with at the old folks home to come and help you out."
"Huck, I'm not old. And I don't need help."
"What about the seizures? You can't be having seizures now," he told me. "You could fall, hurt yourself and the baby. That can't happen. Someone needs to be watching you and with you all the time. So if you need anything, even just someone to hand you the remote you dropped, you just call. We are going to get some intercoms installed or something. I have to talk to Booker. McCoy, get a call out to Booker," he demanded as McCoy came in the room, holding a notepad and pen, jotting something down rapidly.
"Okay. What the heck is going on right now?" I asked, looking at McCoy because he was always the most level-headed of the group.
"We're going to need to block out all kinds of light too," McCoy said, talking to Huck, the two of them fluent in crazy. "Dim the TVs, cover up any flashing lights on the electronics. Maybe get some blackout curtains for all the windows."
"Why not get me a sensory deprivation tank to sit in for the next nine months?" I suggested, watching as interest lit their eyes. "Oh, my God. I'm joking. Joking. You guys need to dial it back about ten notches. I agree that we need to be careful about my seizures, but we don't need to get too crazy about it all.
"Crazy?" Huck repeated