He makes a muffled noise in agreement.
“Does Riley have it?”
He lets out a heavy exhale. “Yes, and I don’t know what to do. I thought seeing her nauseous during the first trimester was bad. Seeing her in pain is worse.”
The heartbreak in his tone shoots straight to my own heart. He loves her so much. I’m so happy he found his person, that they all found their happily ever after together.
“Putting heat on it can help, and maybe try some stretching.”
“Okay.”
I can’t see him, but I know he’s bobbing his head up and down, and more than likely jotting it down somewhere so he can remember it later.
“What kind of stretches?”
“Mav is seven, Cole. I don’t fucking remember.”
“But you do this medical stuff for a living!”
“You do know I’m an ER nurse and not a physical therapist, right?” I ask, rolling my eyes.
“I’m perfectly fucking aware.”
He is so annoying sometimes. “I don’t know what the stretches are called, but anything that stretches the glutes. Just Google it, and you’ll find some, I’m sure.”
“I’m pretty sure if I Google that, I’m going to find something completely different that will definitely not help Riley right now.”
I burst out laughing because I’m surebutt stretchingwould render some interesting results, most of which wouldn’t help my dear friend. “True. Maybe go with ‘sciatica stretches’ or ‘glute stretches’ instead.”
“I’m sure the government official in charge of monitoring my search history would appreciate it, too,” he says, laughing.
People think Cole is serious all the time, but they’re wrong. He’s serious a lot of the time, but once you get to know him, he really is funny.
Another thought pops into my head. “A massage might help, too.”
His voice brightens. “Are you saying I get to massage her ass?”
I chuckle to myself. “Yes, that’s what I’m saying from a strictly medical perspective here, friend.”
“Right… right… medical.”
I can tell his mind has ventured elsewhere, probably picturing things I don’t want to think about two of my good friends doing. He starts mumbling about massage oil and new pillows.
“Okay, so on that note, I’m going to go.”
“Okay,” he says distractedly.
“Bye, Cole.”
He doesn’t even get the full word “bye” out before the call ends.Damn.I guess someone is eager to go give their woman a massage.
I shake my head and go back to putting away the groceries I had started on before Cole called with all his ass questions.
A wisp of sadness settles over me like it often does when I think about Riley and her pregnancy. My overwhelming reaction is happiness for all four of them.
They deserve this. And I’m so excited to see Mav be a big brother. He’s going to steal the show with his new role, like he has been preparing for it his whole life.
Yet, I can’t help the tiny sliver of heaviness that seeps in because I’m disconnected from it all. I always wanted to have more kids, but that isn’t what life dealt me.
