An Echo in the Mafia (Echo Reid, Reid Family Book #1)

Epilogue

"They can have her!" Luke said but Echo knew he was joking.

He'd mentioned on more than one occasion that he'd like to have her home full time. Echo had said over and over again that she should be living at home, not some boarding school, but Luke wanted to give her the best chances at a good college. It warmed her heart when he talked about it, it wasn't just that she would get a more comprehensive education at the boarding school than at the high school nearby, it was that he wanted to give her a chance to experience life outside of North Town... outside of the family.

"That's the wrong foot." She said after the seemed to be struggling with the same shoe. Luke frowned, looking down. 

"No... it's just the wrong shoe." He said, reaching for the other one and making her roll her eyes. 

"Whatever." She said as he finally accomplished the task. She felt so... awkward. She couldn't even put her shoes on by herself, no matter how much she tried. She'd blown up in the last month and her mother had warned her that she was probably going to get even bigger. 

HOW WOULD THAT WORK? Even now as Luke helped her back up to her feet and she stared at herself in the mirror, she wondered hopelessly how she was going to manage to squeeze out this baby.  What if it was impossible? What if she had to have a c section?

Luke had been ready to make as many babies as possible since day one. It had sort of surprised her that he was so ready and eager to be a father, even going so far as to declare that they had to beat her parent's record. Echo, on the other hand, had a lot of fear and anxiety around the prospect of giving birth. 

Pregnancy was not an easy thing. There was so much to consider- your cholesterol, glucose test, UTI's, vaginal tears, perineal lacerations... Ever heard of diastasis recti? Not to mention the obvious, swollen feet, weight gain, lactation, stretch marks and the very dreaded, very real possibility of evacuating your bowels during childbirth. Yes, it was disgusting. Being pregnant was not as pretty as in the movies or ads. It was literal torture on the woman's body and Echo being Echo, she was convinced anything and everything that could go wrong would go wrong. 

So how had she ever agreed to do this? Simple- Echo wanted to be a mother and so it really was worth it. Or it would be, once this baby got here. But these had been the slowest six months of her life. They just dragged on and on and on. She was fortunate to have Luke, who, as always, was a source of support and reassurance. He'd been patient with her- giving her space and time to make up her own mind before having a baby. He'd listened to all her concerns,  and understood the very real fact that it was her that was going to have to do this process. He committed himself to softening the process for her as much as possible, made sure she had emotional support when she freaked out and reminded her of all the great things they would get to do once the baby was here. 

Now she turned to him as he stared at himself in the ridiculous santa suit once again. God, he was handsome. Even though he had turned out to be a big softy, at least when it came to her, he hadn't lost his arrogant flair and he still had the type of confidence that buckled her knees. She watched him pull the pillow out from under the shirt he was wearing and shook his head. She would have laughed at how silly he looked but once she caught a glimpse of the muscles that rippled perfectly underneath that shirt it was other ideas that took control...

She stared with her mouth parted, drool practically gathering at the corners. This whole pregnancy thing was also messing with her hormones. As it was, she was extremely attracted to her husband but now, with a baby on the way, she was ashamed to admit that most of the time it was Luke on her brain. He'd teased her about being forgetful, about getting confused or loosing things- baby brain, right? WRONG. It was Luke. Luke on her brain constantly.