He knew she didn't mean it, when she cried on the phone earlier, but it still made him feel guilty. It wasn't his fault the boss was making him stay.
"At least I get overtime, right?" He had tried telling her, only for her tears to quicken.
It was one in the morning when Danny finally came home. He hated working past midnight almost as much as his wife hated him doing it. He locked the door behind him, and was surprised to see Linda sleeping on the couch. Shouldn't she be in bed?
She was wearing his pajamas, her cooling eye mask was on her face, and the heat pad was draped over her stomach. There was an empty bowl of chocolate ice cream, and ice was melting in her water glass.
Another one of those nights, Danny thought, having pity for her. He couldn't even begin to imagine the kind of pain she was in. If she was waking up, crying from pain, it had to be bad. He had woken up from pain before, but hadn't ever cried. He supposed that was because he wasn't a crier, and he didn't have raging hormones but still.
Danny felt the heat pad- it was cold, which meant she had had it on for at least two hours. He brushed his fingers across her cheek, and she stirred just a little bit.
"Danny?" Linda asked sleepily, not opening her eyes.
"Yeah, it's me. Bad night, huh?"
"You have no idea."
"I'm sorry, baby, this must really suck."
"You have no idea," she repeated. "What time is it?"
"One o'clock."
She nodded but made no effort to move.
"Why are you down here anyways? I thought the bed would be comfier."
"I can't use the heat pad up there. Remember? You said it was a fire hazard. So I was using it down here, knowing you'd be back soon and make me go back up."
"It's cold now- how long have you been sleeping?"
"Hmm... since eleven?"
He leaned down to kiss her forehead, but scrunched his nose at the eye mask. "I can't kiss you with that thing on your head."
Linda pushed it off and tipped her head up for a kiss. He kissed her lips then her forehead.
"Why don't you head upstairs and I'll clean this up?"
"I need the heat pad," Linda felt tears pricking her eyes. "Or else I can't sleep."
Danny screwed his lips in contemplation. "I can find something else to help. Come on- go get comfy and I'll take care of things."
"Okay," she had trouble sitting up, so he helped her.
"What kind of headache do you have?"
"A migraine. It's gone now. Shhh," she pressed her fingers to her lips. They had a joke about pain- if they talked about it once it was gone, it'd be back in no time at all. There was absolutely no logic behind that, but neither of them cared.
He mirrored her motion, "do you need help with the stairs?"
"No," her voice cracked as she shook her head.
Still, Danny watched her walk up the stairs, and waited until she was in their room before cleaning up.
He had everything cleaned and put away in no time at all, but now he was stuck with figuring out the heating element. He really wished Linda could just have the heat pad, but he wasn't taking any chances.
Maybe one of the ice packs could be heated as well? He opened the freezer and took one out, laughing a little when it said hot-and-cold pack.
He read the instructions on how to heat it, and he figured boiling it would be best— because if it exploded, it would only ruin a pot and not a nine-hundred dollar microwave. It took longer than he would've liked, and he just hoped Linda had fallen asleep again.
********
He dried off the hot pack then dropped it into a vacant pillow case he had found in the linen closet. His heart sank when he heard Linda sobbing from their bedroom. He walked in quickly, his heart breaking for her. He laid down next to her, wrapping an arm around her.
"It's okay, Linda. You're going to be okay," he knew what to say. He had asked her once so he didn't put his foot in his mouth and upset her further.
She nodded against him, "it hurts. It hurts so damn much."
"I'm sorry, honey. I wish I could take away the pain for you. But I can't. I did bring you a hot pack though."
"What?" She shifted slightly.
"Here," he handed her the pillow case wrapped hot pack. "I hope it helps. I'll heat it up again once it gets cold later on." But hopefully you'll be asleep by then.
"Thank you," Linda mumbled, pressing the makeshift heat pad to her aching stomach. It was too small, but she thought it would work.
"Have you taken anything?" She shook her head. "Do you want anything? Tylenol and NyQuil?"
She nodded, feeling so pathetic.
He kissed her forehead, "okay. I'll be right back."
A minute later, Linda sat up enough to take the pills. She sighed as she laid back down, "I'm so pathetic."
"Hey. No you're not. Okay? You told me it's basically a mini labor, right?" He waited for her confirmation. "Then you have every right to be crying and lying in bed! F***, Linda, I don't know how the hell you do it. You're f***ing strong!"
She moaned, "I love it when you're a feminist."
"Well I have a good teacher," he pecked her lips, pushing her hair away from her face.
She smiled a little bit, moving her hand to caress his cheek. "I love you."
"I love you more." He kissed her again, "try to get some sleep."
"I can't," she said, tears evident in her voice.
"Yes, you can, baby, come on," Danny put his hand bebe the her shirt, and started to rub and lightly scratch her back. "Just relax. Focus on... the burgers I'll make you tomorrow for dinner."
Linda smiled a little. "You're too good to me."
"I'm pretty sure taking care of you when you're feeling lousy is bare minimum," he kissed her shoulder. "Now close your eyes and think about those burgers. The NyQuil should kick in soon."
"I love you, Danny. A whole lot. You have no idea."
"I love you most," he kissed her cheek, hoping she'd have a good night.
