Page 56 of Interference
“Have you told my brother yet?” Cora asks.
“Not yet, but I will. I actually need to tell him and Beckett they are going to be uncles too. I just haven’t had time to call them. That doesn’t seem like something you text, you know?”
Emery squeezes my leg. “So make time.”
“What she said. You know they will be happy for you two,” Kellan says.
Cora laughs. “Five bucks says that Peyton and Grace will go shopping for baby stuff immediately.”
“You’re not wrong,” Kellan muses.
The conversation shifts once again. I can’t help but watch Emery as she eats and really gets to know my friends.
I like it.
I like how she fits in here, like she was a missing puzzle piece to our makeshift family.
Permanent.
This feels permanent, and I like it. Like it was always meant to be like this.
fourteen
Ihate pregnancy.
That is such a shitty thing to think, but it’s true. I mean, I love my baby, but I cannot stand the changes my body is going through. My baby bump is small. I hide it easily with looser clothes, but that’s not all that is changing.
My puking habits haven’t gotten much better. Sometimes it can be a whiff of someone’s cologne that sets me off. It’s rather inconvenient. Then I try to sleep and, well, that’s not working out well either. The only time I have slept well is with Brett, but I can’t move in with him this early. I mean, we just decided to start dating for real.
I wish my skin would stop, though. I constantly feel like my skin is crawling, and I have no idea how to stop it. I’ve slathered myself in lotion, hoping it helps, but it doesn’t.
I want to feel normal again, which only makes me feel guilty. I’m growing a baby. All the rest of this stuff should be trivial, but it’s making me miserable.
“You look tired,” Brett says as he presses a kiss to my temple.
I ignore the waiting tea and curl myself around him. He wraps me in his embrace, careful not to scald me with the hot beverage.
“How can I make it better?” he whispers against my ear.
How did I miss this about Brett? He is the most caring person I have ever met. In hindsight, he has always been like this toward me, but I brushed it off. I thought it was part of his game. Little did I know he ended his game years ago.
I feel like a fool.
I sniffle, hating the sudden bout of emotions.
“Pregnancy is kicking my ass. Want to carry our baby for a while? I’d love to not cry at stupid shit anymore,” I tell him, nuzzling into his neck.
“You know if I would, I could. I would break every bone in my body if it meant you didn’t have to feel an ounce of discomfort.”
He would too. I know he would, but I would never want him to.
Pulling back, I press a kiss to his lips. “I’m okay. Sometimes I need to feel the emotions and move past them. Thank you for giving me comfort.”
“Always, buttercup. I am always here for your comfort,” he promises me.
Stepping out of his arms, I grab my tea before I turn and start walking. He falls into step beside me, his arm falling over my shoulder.
It’s moments like this that I can appreciate what this pregnancy has done for me. It opened my eyes to so many things.
