“You telling me that doesn’t make me worry any less,” I snapped. Luc was about to shove the ice cream back in the freezer when I took it from his hands again. “Mia, you’re going to ruin your appetite.”
“It’s not me. It’s your son.”
“You know you won’t be able to use that excuse for much longer.” We were a week away from our due date. A week until we’d have an additional member in the family. The thought made me both excited and nervous.
“I’m going to make the most out of it then.”
Luc rolled his eyes and I sat down at the table, directing him on how to make falafel from scratch. His shirt was rolled up to his elbows, tattoos on display as he molded them between his hands and set them aside to cook. He was far from a domestic God, but I wouldn’t be without him. Leaving the ice cream on the table, I walked over to him. “Am I not doing it right?” he asked, looking down at me.
“You’re doing it fine.” Pride was a hard pill to swallow. “I didn’t mean what I said earlier.”
“Oh, I know. I’m the funniest man on the planet.”
“Forget it.”
Luc wrapped an arm around me before I could even move. “Sorry. Go on. What didn’t you mean?”
I sighed. “That I wouldn’t marry you. I’m going to marry you.”
“What a relief,” he deadpanned. “You and that conscience. What did I say to you?”
“I can’t keep everyone happy and not everyone will like me,” I repeated back to him. “But you like me, right?”
“Mia.” Luc put down everything in his hands and looked at me. “I love you.”
“And I love you too.”
Luc leaned down to kiss me. “Good. Now that we’re clear that we both still love each other, put the damn ice cream away and help.”
I shuffled off to do as he said, but as I reached the table, I felt something warm and wet trickle between my legs and I couldn’t stop it. “Oh no,” I breathed. Looking down, the grey of my sweatpants had turned dark with a small wet patch.
“Did you just piss yourself?” Luc asked, looking over to me.
“No!” God help me with this man tonight. “I think my water just broke.”
The traces of amusement left Luc’s face and he wiped his hands on a towel. “What do you need?”
“Let’s start with pants.”
The food was left forgotten in the kitchen as Luc and I moved upstairs. I changed into fresh pants and understood that the twinges I was feeling were my body’s way of trying to communicate that I was going to have my baby. The panic balled up in my chest and I tried not to give into it as Luc stuffed things into a bag for the hospital. I hadn’t gotten anything ready yet, leaving it on my list for later in the week because I believed this baby would hold on until it was due. Apparently, he had other plans.
“Are you sure you have everything?”
We walked down the stairs and I paused as the cramp took over my abdomen. “If we don’t, I don’t care,” I told him when the pain subsided.
Luc nodded and we managed to make it out of the house, the last time we would leave as a twosome. He almost vibrated with energy as we got into the car and he set off toward the hospital. “Mia.” The grin on his face was possibly the widest I’d seen it. “We’re about to have a baby.”
Chapter Thirty Nine
Lucas
When we arrived at the hospital, Mia was settled into a room. I’d made a few calls to let those close to us know the situation, but it was taken as a bat signal because soon enough we had visitors. Despite my reluctance to admit them, Mia seemed more than happy for Dante, Dom and Lydia to join us.
Dante was sitting on the bed next to Mia, both of them drinking milkshakes while he grilled her. “I know they’re painful, but what do theyfeellike?” His current line of questioning was regarding her contractions as they slowly became more regular.
Dom, sitting in a chair beside the bed, reached out and slapped his leg. The crack of the motion echoing in the room. “Let the lady give birth in peace.”
“Slap me again and I’m going to swing,” Dante told him.
