I shook my head. "You don't have to fill their shoes. Worry about your own shoes. I keep finding them all over the house."
He huffed out a laugh then. "Yeah, you've mentioned that before. Sorry."
"All we can do is our best, Jay, and I know that you know how to do that."
He squeezed my hand. "Okay, okay. But I'm still nervous."
I rolled my eyes and released him. "Then be nervous."
He laughed again and we both went about getting ready.
I'd told him the truth—I was more excited than nervous. A week ago, several pregnancy books arrived in the mail, all from my Amazon wish list. I assumed my mother had been the one to send them but when I called to thank her, she said she hadn't sent them.
Then, she asked me what an Amazon wish list was and how she could make one to send to my father. Something about how she might actually get a birthday present she wanted if he had a list to work from.
After I walked her through the process, I sat in front of my computer, mulling it over. She was the only one who knew about my wish list, or at least I thought she was.
Finally, I texted all my brothers and asked them. By the end of the day, they'd all replied in the negative that they hadn't sent the books, followed by hesitant questions about stuff I'd need for the baby. I wasn't sure if they were weirded out by the fact that their baby sister was pregnant, or they just didn't know what babies needed. Even my brothers with kids seemed clueless, which made me admire their wives all the more.
It took a special kind of woman to put up with my brothers. I loved them, but they were oblivious in a lot of ways.
By the end of the day, I was thoroughly confused. I mentioned the books in passing while I was working with Cam and she'd grinned and clapped her hands.
"Oh, I'm so glad they came!" she exclaimed.
I looked at her in confusion. "You sent them?"
She shook her head. "No, J.J. did. He asked me if I knew what sort of books you wanted and I mentioned that I'd seen you adding stuff to your Amazon wish list the other day. I have no idea how he found the list, but he did, and he ordered you some books. I thought it was so sweet."
It was sweet. He could have asked me, the way my brothers had, but instead he'd gone out of his way to surprise me. My wish list was public so my mother and father could see it but I'd never considered that my husband would have looked at it.
I'd called him on my dinner break that night and thanked him. He surprised me further by asking me to make a list just for the two of us so we could pick out things for the baby and discuss what would be necessary or wouldn't.
And he'd already added several items.
"Ready?"
J.J.'s question snapped me out of my musings and I glanced down at my half-dressed body.
"Uh, no."
He chuckled and left the room. "We have to leave in ten minutes if we're going to be on time."
I made a face at his back and he said, "I saw that. I'm just reminding you because I know how much it stresses you out when you're late."
He was right. I sighed. It was strange how well he seemed to know me even though we hadn't spent much time together since our childhood. I mean, before we had sex and got married.
Okay, so I didn't know what I meant, but it made sense to me.
I finished putting on my clothes and hurried into the bathroom to put a little powder and mascara on my face.
I walked into the kitchen seven minutes later, which made J.J. grin and say, "I knew that would get you moving."
"You're such a huge help," I stated dryly.
"I aim to please."
J.J. tried to drive but I planted my butt in the driver's seat before he could. He tried to argue with me, so I just buckled in, started the car, and revved the engine a couple of times. I knew he wasn't going to try to wrestle me out of the driver's seat.
