“Great,” Kane grumbled.
I walked by Kane and tried to ignore how different he was being. He looked deep in thought, a million miles away even though he was right next to me.
“Are you okay?” I asked as we walked down the stairs.
Kane glanced at me. “Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine, babydoll.”
I didn’t believe him.
Mentioning this Big Phil person changed him.
“Okay,” I said, not wanting to the press the issue.
We walked down the stairs side by side, but Kane let me go first into the kitchen. I checked his blood sugar level then gave him his second and final injection of the day. When that was done, I made myself a bowl of cereal because I didn’t want to wait around for something to cook. Kane sat and played around with his phone while I ate my food.
I didn’t exactly feel awkward, but I did feel a little uneasy. Something was bothering Kane, I could tell. He was avoiding eye contact with me and playing with his phone, his shoulders slumped and his head bowed. He looked like one of my students when they were hiding something from me.
I thought of something to talk about, and my flowers at school quickly entered my mind.
“Thank you for my flowers.”
Kane looked at me. “What flowers?”
I frowned. “The flowers I received at school today… you sent them, right?”
Kane shook his head. “No.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Who sent them then?”
“I have no idea, but it wasn’t me.”
Huh.
That was weird.
I stood up when I finished my cereal and Kane followed suit. He walked over to the kitchen door and waited for me to put my bowl in the sink. I walked out ahead of him and sighed when I got to the stairs. “I wish there was a lift in this house.”
Kane snorted behind me and placed his hands on my hips. “Let’s go, babydoll.”
I huffed and puffed up the stairs and sighed in relief when I got to the second floor and headed for the sitting room. Kane was still behind me, but his hands were no longer on my hips. I kind of missed his touch, but I forced myself to believe that was because he gave me a boost and made moving around easier.
That was my story and I was sticking to it.
“Finally!” Bronagh stated when Kane and I entered the room.
I held up my hands. “Sorry, I was hungry.”
Bronagh waved me off. “Play the DVD. I wanna see me niece.”
“Nephew,” Nico mumbled.
I rolled my eyes at him and picked up the remote to the television. “Is the disc loaded?”
“Duh,” Bronagh and Alannah said in unison before they high-fived.
I snorted and hit play. I walked over to the largest settee in the room and sat down next to Kane, who apparently had the spot saved for me.
“It’s a boy!” Nico stated proudly six or seven minutes into the DVD.
I rolled my eyes. “We don’t know the gender so pipe down, you.”
“I can see that the baby is Slater boy,” Nico cheered, ignoring me.
I pulled a face and looked at the television and instantly laughed when I saw what he saw. “That is a leg, not a penis, you freak.”
“Whatever. It’s a boy. I can tell.”
Everyone laughed at Nico.
Bronagh looked at her sister. “Do you know what the gender is?”
Branna tilted her head as she looked at the screen. “Not from this video. The legs are crossed so it’s too hard for me to tell. Then again, I’m a midwife, not an ultrasound technician.”
I was glad she couldn’t tell because I really wanted the gender to be a surprise at the birth. It made everything more exciting for me, and hopefully for Kane.
“How cool would it be if you were on a shift when I go into labour.” I smiled to Branna.
Branna squealed, “I’ll swap patients to make sure I have you in me care.”
I leaned over and high-fived her. “I’m holdin’ you to that.”
We sat back then and watched the rest of the DVD, which was just the most amazing thing ever. The girls awed when the baby’s four-dimensional face came on screen, and the lads smiled when the heartbeat played.
“This child is goin’ to be so spoiled,” Alannah commented as she stared at the screen.
I snorted, “You’re tellin’ me. Me brothers are already fightin’ over which football team she will support.”
“He,” Kane murmured.
I looked at him and glared. “Stop that.”
He smiled. “Can’t help it, feels like ‘he’ is the right thing to say.”
“Bro. Yes. We’re on the same wavelength.” Nico beamed.
I rolled my eyes at the brothers and smiled as I looked around the room. I felt happy and content with how everything was turning out for me. I was no longer terrified of having this baby. Sure I was scared, but I was also excited now, and so was everyone else.
I jumped when Dominic’s phone rang. I glanced at him when he dug his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. He smiled wide.
“Damien is FaceTiming me.”
I squealed, “Answer it so he can see the video too.”
Dominic tapped on the screen of his phone.