Just A Dream (completed)

Chapter 53: A Day Of Mood Swings Gone Wild

He walks around to the passengers side and opens the door for Jenna. Once she is out, he closes the door and wraps his arm around her waist. As they get closer to the entrance, they find themselves surrouded by paparazzi. James takes a deep breath and tightens his arm around Jenna. He's gonna stay calm. He's gonna stay calm for Jenna and MacKenzie.

"James, your wife looks pretty fat today! Is she nine months already?" One of the photographers laughs. Jenna's eyes fill with tears and James starts to lunge at the guy, but Jenna quickly leads him into the building. She looks at James's face, frowning at the anger in his eyes. She lowers her head so she's looking at the ground, letting a few tears fall. Great, she really does look fat. All her family and friends say "You're not fat! You're pregnant," but they only say that because they have to. If they weren't her family and friends, they wouldn't be so nice to her.

"I guess I do look terrible." She says softly, following James into the elevator.

When James hears those words, he turns around to face his wife. His expression softens at the saddened look on her face. He can't believe that the paparazzi would be so mean to a pregnant woman. She's already sensitive about her new figure, so jokes about her weight don't really make her feel any better. She needs compassion and reassurance.

"Baby, you don't look terrible." He says, cupping his hands over her cheeks. "You're beautiful."

"Jay, those paparazzi called me fat!" Jenna cries.

"They're just mean people." James says, pulling her into a hug. "You shouldn't care what they think."

"Jay, look at me!" Jenna whines, pulling away from him. James smiles softly and rubs his wife's baby bump, chuckling when MacKenzie kicks his hand. He kisses Jenna's forehead before they leave the elevator. When they enter apartment 5M, they immediately go to the nursery. They've been spending a lot more time in the nursery lately, getting it ready for MacKenzie's arrival. Jo sent them two stuffed bears (A mommy bear and a baby bear) that is now sitting on the floor at the end of the crib.

"Don't listen to the haters." He says, hugging her from behind.

"I can't help it." Jenna says as she starts to pick the two stuffed bears off the ground. When James sees her bending over, he quickly stops her.

"Hey, be careful." He says, grabbing the two stuffed animals.

"Why are you being so controlling?" Jenna snaps.

"What-" James asks, a hurt expression on his face.

"You're treating me like I'm a child!" Jenna rants. "I don't need you to treat me like an invalid, okay? I can pick stuff up on my own, I can get out of bed on my own, I can get out of the car on my own, I can do plenty of stuff on my own. So I would really appreciate if you would stop being so annoying and just back off!"

"Fine." James says quietly, leaving the room.

As soon as he is gone, Jenna realizes her mistake. She sits the stuffed bears in the crib and follows her husband, desperate to apologize for her behavior. Stupid pregnancy hormones. They ruin everything! She snapped at the Jennifers the other day because they were rude to Carlos, then Carlos started talking about hot they are and she snapped at him. Pregnancy is making her be mean to everyone. She feels really bad about it, too. Unfortunately, she really can't help it. Before she can even stop herself, she ends up saying stuff that she regrets.

"Jay!" She says, grabbing James's wrist. "I'm sorry! My hormones are all out of whack!"

"I just want to make sure that you and the baby are safe." James tells her. "I don't mean to smother you, but we've gotta think about both you and MacKenzie. You wan't her to be healthy and happy, don't you?"