* * *
I inhales deeply as I smell a sweet and thick aroma in the air. Very close to me. I open my eyes to see Delaney sitting cross legged on the bed with a small plate of pancakes in front of her.
“Why didn’t you wake me up? I would have gotten that for you.” my voice comes out much more gravely than usual. I stretch waking up my muscles even more.
“If I woke you up, you’d be running around and I wouldn’t be able to watch you sleeping so peacefully.” She jokes with me, mimicking the sound of me snoring. I chuckle and sit up. She cuts a piece of her pancake and holds it out for me to take a bite which I take happily.
Delaney looks over my shoulder and worries her bottom lip, “It’s getting pretty late. Don’t you have to head to work?”
I raise an eyebrow at her, “Are you kicking me out?” I joke but part of me is wondering if she’s needing her space or something to that magnitude.
“No! Never. I just know what time you usually get to work. I don’t want you to be late. You’re going to work right?” her eyebrows furrow in as she puts her plate down in front of her and now gives me her undivided attention.
“Actually, no. I’m not going in today. I can understand if you need some space but i’ll feel much better if I’m by your side as much as possible. I don’t like the idea of you being stuck here on bed rest and no one around to help you out.”
“But what about the hotel, you can’t just leave it unattended. I’d like a job to come back to.” She laughs slightly.
“I know, I’m actually leaving Tom in charge while I’m away. The bastard grumble the whole time I told him what the responsibilities were but I think I know for sure that I can trust him.” Tom knows almost as much as I do by now. He’s just going to have to get over his aversion of leading.
“That’s a good idea, Tom is suited for it but what if there’s an emergency. He’s not going to know what to do.” Delaney is still not sold on this but I did have another idea this morning that I think she might go along with.
“I was thinking about that as well, I had an idea and I want to know how you feel about it.” I lean forward and rub a hand up and down her calf, “What do you think about moving into the hotel for a little while. That way I can stay on site for emergencies. We still have a comfortable place to be. There’s food and you’re familiar with the place.”
She bites her lips and scrunches her face in indecision but I have one small part that may put her over the edge. “Also if Jennifer absolutely had no other choice and we were about to lose the client, she could come up and visit with you to get your opinions.”
Delaney’s eyes light up with the prospect of working. The doctor told us that she was to do nothing besides pee and eat. I’m going to make sure that’s what happens, but I know she’ll be much more at ease if she were nearby when events were happening at the hotel.
“You know that might be a great idea. Bran’s not going to be around too much, and I don’t want to be around Keeva and Theo. They’re going to have to leave at some point too, and that’s just fine with me. I didn’t even know she was here, aye! She followed you for- for. . . I don’t remember why, but it was some shite reason. I gave her a right piece of me mind at the hospital.”
“Sure, sure, that’s exactly what I was thinking.” I say whatever I can to ease her mind. Whatever happened between Delaney and Keeva clearly still pains her, and I don’t want to add to the stress.
“Aye. I’m on board, when do we start moving?” Delaney waggles her eyebrows in jest and I can’t help the raucous laughter that booms out of my mouth. Happiness threads its way through my entire body as I pull her into my arms and hold her close. I don’t know how I ever survived without this woman.
CHAPTER18
DELANEY
“Doctor Morris,” I stand up as she holds the door open for me and smiles welcomingly. “Thank you again for making time for me.”
“Ah, of course, of course! I prefer having a private practice, but volunteering at the hospital is always a good opportunity to meet people who sincerely need help,” she replies cheerily, and I follow her into a small exam room. “So, it’s been a week since you were in the hospital for that fall. How’s your side and ribs?”
“It’s painful, but not as painful as sitting on my arse doing nothing,” I grumble, crossing my arms over my chest before Doctor Morris gestures me to the scale. “I swear, aye? Being bored and stuck on bed rest is more stressful than I expected.”
“Where’d your boyfriend wander off to? I saw him sitting next to you just a moment ago.” Morris asks curiously, a knowing smile stretching her lips as she turns on the scale. I fight a groan.
“I asked him to go across the street and get me some lunch. He’s not stifling, but it’s been a week. We’re starting to grate on each other, I think,” I admit sheepishly, a slight guilt crawling up the back of my throat. She hums in acknowledgment, watching the scale numbers dilate before settling. “I’ve really gained a kilogram and a half in just one week?”
“How’s your eating habits?” She poses the question as I step off the scale, moving to scribble on the paper on the counter. I move to sit on the exam table, the paper crunching under me as I take a second to think on it.
“I haven’t changed anything about my diet, but you did say not to move around too much. With my ribs still aching, it’s not that difficult to lazy around, though. At the hospital, you said I was 10 weeks along; could going into my second trimester be the reason?” Combatting her question with my own, I watch Morris glance at me briefly.
“A kilogram isn’t anything to worry about, but yes. It’s probably due to a combination of ‘lazying around’ and your general eating habits. You’re used to being very active, so suddenly not walking so much or going through your other physical routines is a factor.”
“Aye. I usually walk to and from work, and I’ve been staying at the hotel, so that’s out. Traversing the hotel has been cut down dramatically as well. Baron doesn’t try to stop me from walking around on my own. Lord, I’d probably strangle him,” I snigger despite being grateful. “Baron might be on high alert, but he’s doing a good job actively resisting treating me like I’m glass.”
“Do you mind taking your arm out of your sleeve, Delaney?” Morris says before grabbing a blood pressure cuff, and I nod. She walks over to me, waiting patiently as I do as she asked. “I know, at the hospital, using the vaginal ultrasound was hard on you. Thankfully, I have the money here for more sensitive equipment than the mobile units at the hospital. You should be able to hear the fetal heartbeat with a dermal wand, but it might take some doing to find it.”
Doctor Morris pauses as she wraps the cuff around my arm and squeezes the pump. The silence rings in my ears, and I take that moment to marvel at what she said.
