Page 89 of Interference
He leans forward, kissing me lightly before turning back to the teacher.
“Let’s talk about hormones, sex, and the natural way to induce labor.”
My eyes widen.
This class might kill me.
I am really glad I brought Emery to the class tonight. This was an intro class, and it went over a basic overview of a lot of things. Then we got to see the labor and delivery ward along with the nursery.
We haven’t discussed birth plans yet, but I really don’t want our kid going to the nursery. I want to keep them in the room with us.
I don’t broach the subject, though. Not seeing how freaked out Emery was the whole class. As I drive us home, I keep peeking over at her. She looks like a nervous wreck.
“Em, baby. What’s going on in that head of yours?” I ask, turning onto our street.
“It’s a lot. I don’t feel like I’ve learned enough. What if I am damaging our baby because I have been going with the flow instead of educating myself?”
“You are not hurting our baby. You follow your body’s needs and do everything you can to protect our child. I see the way you cradle your belly when you move. You can’t tell me that you truly think you would hurt your child,” I tell her as we pull into the drive.
“No. Not intentionally, but I had no idea about some of that stuff. I don’t want to be a bad mom.”
“You won’t be. Parenting isn’t a one-size-fits-all, buttercup. It’s a lot of trial and error and seeing what will or won’t work for our child. They give you the foundation to start raising your child, but it is up to us to decide what our child needs. Not every person is the same, and the same can be said for children. Our firstborn might need to hear things to learn them, while our secondborn might need visual aids. Everyone is different and that’s okay.”
“Second born? You think I’m going to go through this again someday?” she asks.
“We talked about this the other night on our date. If you’ve changed your mind, that’s fine. I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to, but I thought we might have at least two, if not three, kids,” I admit.
I hate the thought of having an only child, but I can get over it if I have to. Besides, it’s not like our friends won’t start popping out kids in the next few years. Hell, Beckett and Peyton are already married, who knows what they have planned?
She starts breathing heavier. “We did. We totally did, but that sounds like way too far in the future. What if…”
“No what-ifs. Em, you are freaking out. Let’s go inside and figure it out together.”
She looks over at me then nods. “Okay.”
I exit my side of the vehicle going to open her door. Then I escort her inside the hockey house.
“Hey, guys. We are going up to my room,” I call out to Wyatt and Kellan, who are playing video games.
They aren’t even paying attention as they mumble their response. I don’t linger, though. My girl is struggling, and I need to help her.
Once we are in my room, I lead her to the bed and have her sit down on the edge. Then I kneel beside her.
“Buttercup, what do you need from me? Do you want to talk about it? I can run you a room-temperature bath to relax in. We can cuddle. You can scream at me. What do you need?” I ask her.
She looks up at me, fear clear in her eyes.
“You are going to be a great dad. You already have so many skills down. You were the only dad in that room who could put the diaper on without issues. You swaddled that baby doll like a damn pro. I’m scared that I’m not on the same level as you. That I will fail you and this child,” she admits.
I lean forward, cupping her cheeks as I look up at her. “You are going to be an amazing mom. None of this shit matters. Do you know what matters most to a child? Love. I had nannies and butlers and you name it taking care of all these needs for me, but none of that mattered. It helped me survive, but it didn’t help methrive. I didn’t have the love I needed. That’s all our child needs from you.”
She sucks in a breath. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. It’s making me hormonal.”
I can see the tears glistening in her eyes.
“No sad hormones. How about some sex hormones? I hear those are good.” I wiggle my eyebrows, making her laugh.
“You’re ridiculous.”
