Page 59 of Going Home

"Got it."

"That makes sense to you?" Psycho asks.

"Pregnancy thinking tends to be pretty irrational, which makes it completely rational."

"Okay, then."

Lex rolls her eyes at the guys and moves to crouch in front of Lacey. "What does it feel like?"

"Fluttering at first, and now it's... I don't know how to explain it. Not really a pain but discomfort. I feel it right here," she says and takes Lex's hand to press against the side of her belly.

Bowing her head, Colt catches Lex's smile. Psycho doesn't and hurries over. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Give me your hand," she says, placing it where hers had just been. "Do you feel that?"

"Yeah," he says, alarm in his voice. "What is it?"

"That's your baby," she says. "He or she is kicking."

Panic immediately changes to amazement as they both stare down at Psycho's hand. Colt remembers the first time he felt Noah kick in Lex's belly, and he can't stop his smile. It's an amazing feeling to feel the child you made with the person you love more than anything in the world. The life being brought into this world, and it still awes him how women can grow a literal human inside of them. It's both amazing and freaky.

"Kicking?" Lacey asks, her tears turning happy. "Our baby's kicking."

"Oh my God," Psycho whispers and kneels to place his cheek against her belly.

Standing, Lex runs a hand over Lacey's hair and smiles at her. "You're fine, Lacey. This is a good thing. You need to stop assuming the worst, okay? Your baby is healthy, and it's telling you it's in there. Just wait, though. The kicking on your bladder around eight months is going to get really fucking annoying."

"I can't wait," she whispers.

Colt waits for Psycho to come back to reality and taps him on the shoulder. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh, yeah," he says, wiping his eyes and standing. He shakes his head in amazement and follows Colt outside to the front porch. "Look, I'm sorry, man—"

"Lex is going through something," he says, his voice low to avoid being heard inside.

Both sit on the top step of the porch, and Psycho looks at him. "What's going on?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

He runs a hand over his face and tugs on his beard. A whiff of Lex's need from their quick round before she fell asleep hits his nose, but even that doesn't make him smile. "She can't tell me yet. She's not sleeping, and tonight was the first night she actually passed out. Granted, I think it was from exhaustion, but it's more than she's had since we moved back."

"Colt, I'm sorry—"

"I get it, man. You're scared. I was, too, and we didn't have the history you guys do. But I need you to lean off Lex a little bit. She needs a break somewhere, and there just aren't that many areas to take off her plate, you know?"

He looks up at the sky and nods. "This probably seems really silly."

"It's not. I swear. I've gone through it twice now, and trust me, the scariest part you'll go through is when that kid's coming. You're going to see Lacey in more pain than she's ever been in before, and probably more pain than you'll ever experience, to be honest. But she'll be a fucking rockstar. A superhero. Then you'll really have the fear kick in when they let you walk out of that hospital with the baby. Like you know what the fuck you're doing."

Laughing, Psycho shakes his head. "That's not really reassuring."

"That woman will know exactly what to do. There'll be moments of panic and phone calls, but she has instincts she doesn't even know she has. Ones you'll never understand. Watching her nurse your baby will be fucking amazing. Erotic as shit, too. The body you loved to create that baby is being nourished from it. And she'll know what each cry means. This tiny human, a perfect mix of the two of you, will be here before you know it. It's pretty fucking awesome."

He finally smiles and nods his head. "I'm excited but scared shitless. It's hard not to worry something bad is still gonna happen. At this point, it's not just an idea, you know? We've seen pictures. Ultrasounds, but the new 3D ones they have are basically pictures. It's going to be different than any time before if we lose it."

"You're not going to. You've made it this far. Hell, she went, what, five months before finding out she was pregnant? If nothing happened in that timeframe, you're probably solid. I'm not a doctor, but the stars aligned for you both."

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