“No sneaking.” Luke came around to sit beside her on the couch. “I just came to see how things were going with work. You’re done with all the arrangements for maternity leave, right?”
“I suppose.” Bella sighed. “It feels very strange that I won’t be working at all for the next few months, beyond checking in with the chefs now and then.”
“I can imagine.” Luke nodded. “Giving up your work, even for a little while, is hard, but it’s the right call.”
“Thanks.”
“That crib, on the other hand, is not the right call. See that ruffle? It’s a suffocation hazard. We need something a little plainer and safer.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “Sure, sure.”
“No, I’m serious. I work in an ER. I’ve seen enough parents come in with their children that I know we should be careful.”
“Fair enough.” Though Bella pretended to find his suggestions unreasonable, secretly she found his protectiveness sweet. He wanted the best for their baby, just like she did. “Want to look at the other things I picked out and offer your feedback?”
Luke chuckled. Then his expression grew serious. “Actually, yes. Can I?”
Grinning, Bella opened her cart and showed him the items she’d picked out.
“Most of this looks great,” he said. “But we should go for a stroller with a better safety rating. I haven’t heard of any particular issues with this model, but there are definitely better ones. Let me see…” He took her laptop and typed into the search bar, then pointed to one of the results. “This one is really secure.”
“All right.” Bella clicked to replace the stroller she’d chosen with the one Luke had picked out.
“Is the list ready?” Luke asked. “Can we go ahead and buy everything, or are you hoping to get some things at your baby shower?”
“Baby shower?” Bella asked. Luke frowned.
“Your baby shower.” His frown deepened. “You know, where you celebrate becoming a mother. Am I missing something?”
“I’m not having a baby shower.” Bella looked away. “I only told my best friend about the pregnancy last month. She’s been great, though. You met her last week when she came by to drop off a card from her class — you know, Stacy.”
“She was nice,” Luke agreed. “But she seemed very interested in figuring out whether we were dating or not.”
Bella flushed. “She was.”
“What about the other woman who came by, the cheerful blonde who brought all those cookies and news about your business?”
“That’s Callie,” Bella explained. “She was one of my servers. Well, she’s still a server for The Cherry on Top. We aren’t close friends, but she was the one who brought me into the hospital when I started having the Braxton-Hicks contractions.”
“Then she’s my favorite,” Luke said, smiling.
“But I can’t have a baby shower with just two people, and those are basically all my friends,” Bella finished. “It would be silly.”
“Maybe we can have a little celebration, just us,” Luke suggested. Bella smiled at him.
“Sure.”
“We can go right now.” He stood, took the laptop off her lap, and shut it. Then he held out his hands to help her up. “You need a break, anyway, and a walk is just what the doctor ordered.”
“Fine, fine.” Bella let him pull her to her feet. “So much for bed rest.”
“You’re out of the danger zone now,” Luke told her, “since you haven’t had any more practice contractions. And I’ll keep an eye on you.”
They headed out. Luke’s beautiful house was in Southeast Portland, an area filled with leafy parks and wide boulevards for bikes. They strolled down Luke’s street towards Laurelhurst Park, their steps slow and relaxed.
“So, how exactly is this a celebration?” Bella asked teasingly. “Because it just feels like a walk.”
“First, we’ll talk about baby names,” Luke informed her. “Then, when we get home, we can play some baby-shower games.”
