“I can get my own tea,” Gracie insisted as I lifted our one-year-old off her chest and set him in the crib.
We’d gone ahead and started our family on that very quiet, very secluded island honeymoon of ours. Several weeks of loud, sweaty, outdoor sex that would forever be some of my favorite memories.
Gracie had been sick as fuck on the plane ride home. At first, we’d figured she’d picked up a bug somewhere along the way.
But, nope.
The stick turned the right color, and we were gonna be three instead of two.
Luckily for us, the house had finally been done, and all we needed to do was decorate the nursery to be ready for the next phase of our lives.
The thing was, well, Duke and Penny had taken the baby so we could have a weekend away.
And we’d gone ahead and taken advantage of a lot of naked adult time and gotten Gracie pregnant again.
“You need to rest.”
“You’ve barely let me lift a finger all morning,” she reminded me.
“Good. You don’t need to. I got you.”
“My doctorandmy midwife both agreed that activity is good for me and the baby.”
“Maybe. I want a third opinion. Maybe a fourth and fifth too.”
To that, she laughed softly as she got to her feet.
“If you try to carry me, I swear to God,” she warned.
I held up my hands and followed her out into the living room, where she immediately dropped down on the couch and reached for a blanket.
She could say she wanted activity all she wanted, but the first few months of a pregnancy took the piss out of her. She was always sick. And when she wasn’t sick, she was exhausted from being sick.
She needed all the rest she could get.
If this pregnancy was anything like the last, once she got to the fifth-month mark, she would magically feel better and be ready to take on the world.
Until then, I didn’t mind picking up the slack.
“Want some crackers with your tea?” I asked.
She looked momentarily green at the idea but nodded. “Yeah, I guess.” She needed the calories, even if we both knew she’d rather just starve her way through these days.
I was back in a few minutes with the ginger tea and crackers.
“Just stay as still as possible,” I reminded her after she managed to choke down a few before washing them down with tea.
“You know why women have the babies?” she asked, leaning her head against my chest.
“Because there’s no way I’d be signing up for this kind of torture?” I asked, fingers drifting through her hair.
“Yep,” she agreed. “Remember when you had the flu last year?”
I’d been a big fucking baby about it, I’m willing to admit now. Especially after seeing her go through pregnancy, childbirth, and the recovery from both.
“You should have shipped me off to the clubhouse to suffer.”
“Nah,” she said, her fingers tracing over the tattoo that peeked out of my neckline. “I like taking care of you.”
