Epilogue - Kacie
“Stop it! That tickles!” I giggled, pulling away from Brody.
“You really want me to stop?”
“No,” I pouted dramatically, sticking out my bottom lip. “You’re not done yet.”
“Then stop moving so I can concentrate.” He laughed.
I held as still as possible as his hand curved around the bottom of my foot, gripping it lightly as he dragged the nail polish brush across my toenail. The tip of his tongue popped out of his mouth just a bit as he frowned, focusing on not getting any hot pink polish on the surrounding skin.
I scrunched my eyes shut and tensed my whole body, trying not to wiggle too much, but every time he moved his hand against my foot, I damn near jumped out of my skin.
“Ah!” Yelling out, I pulled my foot back again.
Brody glared at me playfully, his beautiful green eyes shaded by his not-really-angry brows as he exhaled through his nose like a bull. “Do I have to hold you down?”
I rubbed my very swollen pregnant belly. “Isn’t that how we got into this predicament in the first place?”
“Psh, whatever.” He rolled his eyes. “There was no holding you down for that. It was more like trying to cover your mouth as you were screaming, ‘More, Brody! More,’” he teased in a high-pitched voice as he humped the air. “Now hold still and let me finish.”
“That’s what he said.” I giggled.
Brody huffed as he finished up the last couple toes, flashing me warning glances out of the corner of his eye.
“You ready to go up to bed?” He asked as he blew on my pinky toe.
“Yeah, I think tonight is the night. I can feel it.” I said confidently, rubbing my belly again.
“You’ve said that the last two nights, babe.” He patted my butt as I turned out the family room light, and we headed upstairs to our room. We’d been in our brand new house for less than a month and it still smelled like fresh wood and new carpet. I loved it. We had decided on a large five-bedroom craftsman-style model with clean lines and a cozy, woodsy interior. Brody had been such a trooper about helping me decorate and get everything ready before the birth of Little Murphy, even when I was too tired to go to the stores myself. He was constantly texting me pictures of furniture and lamps, schlepping home items that I’d given the thumbs-up to. And now, we were down to the wire.
“No, I mean it, I’ve been very crampy today and my back is killing me.” I eased into bed, trying to convince myself that this would be the last night with this tiny alien in my belly. “Plus, I went on an extra long walk with the girls today, even though I almost froze my tush off, and I ate two bowls of mom’s chili at dinner.”
“Two bowls of chili?” Brody teased. “Maybe I should sleep on the couch.”
“Very funny. Get over here and snuggle me.”
My due date was only one week away, but I was not-so-silently begging this baby to come out tonight while Brody was home. He’d be leaving in the morning for a three-day road trip with the Wild, and while I knew it was a possibility, I really didn’t want to have our baby without him.
“You know,”—he pulled the covers back and crawled in next to me, his arm muscles flexing with each movement—“I’ve heard that vigorous sex sometimes triggers labor.”
“I’m a labor and delivery nurse. You think I don’t know that?” I rolled my eyes at him. “Plus, you used that last night and nothing.”
“Nothing?” Brody sounded dramatically pained by my answer. “You called God’s name so many times last night that either you were enjoying yourself or you were having a massive prayer session while in bed with me.”
I smacked his chest and rolled onto my left side, facing him, so I could breathe easier.
“If you change your mind, you let me know.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you too.” I sighed happily.
He lifted my T-shirt and kissed my belly. “And I love you, baby.”
He had done that every night he’d been home, and I swear the baby knew when he was there, responding with lots of little kicks after Brody talked to him, or her. It would be nice to know what we were having, but karma came around and smacked me in the face for teasing Alexa about not finding out. Brody refused. He wanted it to be a surprise. I would never admit it, because everyone knows I like to be prepared, but I was excited for the surprise too. My whole relationship with Brody had been surprise after surprise, right down to this pregnancy, so it just seemed fitting that the sex of the baby be a surprise too.
The next morning, Lucy, Piper, and I sadly kissed Brody good-bye, and I switched from begging Little Murphy to come out to begging it to stay in. Brody would be home in three days. I could keep my legs together until then.
The first two days were a breeze. Lucy and Piper went to school during the day and I lay on the couch over at my mom’s, keeping her company while they finished their own construction. With the money from the land she’d sold to Brody, she’d slowly redone all of the guest rooms and completely gutted the bathrooms on the guest wing of the inn. Now, she was working on her and Fred’s end. She knocked down a few walls and reconfigured the apartment, downsizing from three to two bedrooms by combining two of the rooms into a large master suite. She was elated that construction was almost done and she’d soon have her apartment back. She was keeping the smaller bedroom as a playroom/guest room for Lucy and Piper, and eventually Little Murphy, to come and play at Gigi’s house.
The third day was a little tougher. Braxton Hicks contractions were kicking my butt, making everything sore. Mom took the girls to school for me while I once again parked it on her couch.
Zach would be picking Lucy and Piper up from school and taking them to his house for the weekend, but he was on notification that if Little Murphy decided to come out, we wanted the girls to come to the hospital.
“How ya feeling?” Fred asked, bringing me a blueberry bagel with plain cream cheese—my favorite.
I sighed. “Like I have an eight-pound bowling ball trying to drop out of me every second.”
“Wow.” Fred shook the image from his head and disappeared back into the kitchen.
After scarfing my bagel down like I was in a race with somebody, I decided that maybe a shower would be a good idea. I carried my plate to the kitchen. “All right, Fred. I’m gonna head home and shower.”
He turned around from the sink and pulled his brows in tight, peeking at me over his glasses. “Want me to walk you?”
“Nah, I’m okay.” I turned to leave and felt a big sneeze coming. Leaning against the island, I crossed my legs at my ankles and squeezed tight, prepping for the sneeze in advance. “Ah-choo!”
“Bless you.”
“Thanks.” I started walking out of the kitchen and exactly what I didn’t want to happen, happened. Pee started dripping down my leg like an upside down fountain.
“Uh…” Fred froze as he walked around the corner to inspect the splat noise he was hearing on his kitchen floor.
Wait.
That was a lot of pee. I clenched my muscles together to make it stop, but it didn’t work. Holy crap, that wasn’t pee—my water just broke!
“Fred!” I panicked, my eyes flashing to his.
“Do you need help to the bathroom?” He stuttered, reaching for some paper towels.
“My water just broke!” I yelled, waving my hands around like a completely insane first-time mom, not the calm and cool nurse I was supposed to be.
Fred’s face turned red as he rubbed the back of his neck, staring at the puddle underneath me. “Uhhh… I don’t know what that means.”
I rubbed my eyes with my hands, praying this was all a dream and that I’d wake up and be sleeping on the couch. “It means that my water just broke and the baby is coming today.”
Fred started running in circles from the island to the kitchen table, back to the island, back to the table.
“Fred!” I didn’t want to move and slip and hurt myself or the baby. “Grab the phone and call my mom.”
He took his phone out of his pocket, but before he could dial, the front door opened.
“Soph!” Fred called out, still staring at the puddle on the floor like he was afraid it was going to get up and start running after him.
“What’s all the yelling about—” Mom froze when she walked around the corner. “Did you pee?”
“No. My water broke.”
She gasped. “Holy shit!”
My mom never swore. I wanted to laugh, but I was afraid the pressure on my belly would force poor Little Murphy to slide out and land in the puddle on the kitchen floor.
“Here’s what we have to do: Mom, you grab a towel and lay it on the seat of your car. Then we’re going to drive to my house and grab the bag in the closet by the front door, and you’re gonna drive me to the hospital. Fred, I know he’s practicing before his game, but can you try and get a hold of Brody?”
“Sure thing. Do we know where he is?” Fred asked.
I sighed. “Chicago.” All I could do was pray that the stars would align and he’d be able to get back in time.
Everyone started moving all at once. Mom grabbed a wad of paper towels and cleaned up the floor so that I could walk to the front door safely. Fred helped me down the steps and into the car while mom ignored my plan and instead sprinted along the trail through the woods to my house and grabbed the bag. She sprinted back, threw it in the car, and we were off.