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Hi lovelies!
Thank you for being so patient with me and I'm so sorry that you've all had to wait for so long for this chapter! Sixth form is honestly taking over my life and I'm applying to University + I have so much work to do, so I can't fit writing into my schedule at all.
But I've sacrificied some time for all of you to get this! I always read all of your comments and lovely messages and I try to reply to most of them, but sorry if I don't get to reply! I appreciate all of you so much! Also, when I posted chapter 36, there were 723,000 reads and now there are 830,000+ which is crazy! Thank you all for reading and please promote TNTCE to your friends and famiies and on social networking sites because my goal is 1 MILLION reads!
Finally, in my opinion (and I know I've said this a lot) but this isn't one of my best chapters. However, the next couple of chapters, which will be the final chapters, will be amazing! I'm so excited to write them! And Rosie will be making another appearance!
I hope you enjoy this chapter and as usual, please vote and comment! I love you all and have a lovely week.
Chelcia xx
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Kayla: 37 weeks pregnant
"Okay," Doctor Anne says as finishes typing up my notes onto her computer, before turning to face Damion and I. She smiles, taking off her glasses and resting them in front of her keyboard before continuing, "Well I'm glad to see that you and the baby are both healthy, and Daddy over there doesn't seem too bad," she says, nodding at Damion. He smiles a small smile at her and she then continues, "I'm sure that you're happy to know that the baby's head is now engaged," and I smile as my hand strays down to my belly, and I rub it consciously. "I know it will feel like you can finally breathe properly as you'll more lung capacity back, but you will be feeling a lot more pressure on your pelvis as the baby prepares its position for birth."
"Does that mean he could come early?" I ask.
"This is not an indication that you'll go into labour any sooner or later than your due date, so it is hard to tell," she explains.
With excitement and nervousness coursing through me, I continue to ask Dr. Anne questions, despite having come across most of the answers in all of the pregnancy books that I have read and classes that I've attended.
Dr. Anne continues to answer the rest of my questions and before we finish she asks, "Is there anything else you would like to know?"I immediately feel my cheeks flush to the colour of my red dress, and she raises an eyebrow at me as if she's currently reading my mind. Damion looks at me in expectation but his face is expressionless. Dr. Anne takes hold of her glasses and holds them momentarily, before putting them on. "Well, if there is anything else that comes to mind or you do feel anything unusual or any early signs of la-"
"Is there like a certain time," I pause, clearing my throat, "A certain time that we should stop having sex?" Her eyebrows raise, but she smiles as if she was waiting for that question, "It's just that I don't want it to affect the baby," I quickly add.
I glance at Damion from the corner of my eye, aware that he's looking at me and he's got a lingering smile on his face. He brings his hand to his mouth, trying to cover it as he looks to the floor and I roll my eyes, biting the corner of my lip as I do so, in order to stop myself from laughing. I can never be serious when he's around me!
"Great question and a very common one," Dr. Anne then says as she leans forward, "But no, you can have sexual intercourse up until your water breaks. You are having a perfectly healthy pregnancy, Kayla, and there are no indications that sex should be a problem. As long as you're comfortable and it does not hurt, then you should be fine. If you start to have any vaginal bleeding, then it is very advisable that you stop and seek immediate medical attention, okay?" I nod and I begin to thank her as the appointment comes to an end. "One final thing," she says, standing and making her way to the door, "If the numbness in your hands worsens, then please do not hesitate to come in, you won't have to book an appointment. But now that you're wearing a splint, it should help and but you must also try not to sleep on your hands, and if you feel pain, try shaking your hands until the tingling reduces and continue to flex your wrists and fingers regularly throughout the day," she explains.
"Thank you," I say and as I stand, I'm suddenly reminded of the discomfort that I've been feeling for these past couple of days. Ever since the baby's head has been engaged, I sometimes have these shooting pains down my thighs and it feels like I'm walking with a bowling ball between my legs, not to mention that I've finally mastered that embarrassing pregnancy waddle.
"Take care of yourself now and don't do anything too stressful, you should spend a majority of your day resting," Dr. Anne says.
We exit the doctor's clinic, saying our final goodbyes and thank you to Dr. Anne, before making our way to my car that's parked up in the parking lot. Feeling too tired to drive; I let Damion drive us home. I've been feeling so tired recently and it really sucks, especially since I've got so much that I want to do. These past days, I've been fast asleep by the time Damion returns home from work, and I do miss our little late night cuddles as we tell each other about our days before I drift off to sleep. I usually feel the warmth of his body as he climbs into bed beside me and buries his nose into my hair, but other times I feel too hot and I don't even want him to touch me. Pregnancy has made my moods pretty unpredictable.
After stopping at a small smoothie bar for freshly made banana and strawberry smoothie, we make our way back to the apartment. As we're driving along the highway, soft, rich, classical music drifts through the car as a woman pours her soul out into the song and she's singing ever so passionately. It was my mother's selection and it's surprisingly good. It's not usually my type of music but it is very relaxing and the baby seems to love it since he doesn't seem to keep still when it's playing. The corners of my lips turn upright into a smile as my hand soothes over my stomach.
I turn to look at Damion, but my brows immediately furrow together. Something's not right here... He's got a cheeky boyish grin on his face as if he's concealing the world's juiciest secret and he feels pretty smug about it. I turn in my seat to face him and arch an eyebrow at him. "What is it?" I ask, "You're hiding something from me."
"Am I?" he teases, quickly glancing at me as he drives his hand through his blond and unruly curls, but I can see the humour in his eyes. I roll my eyes but smile as he pulls up to a traffic light. He turns towards me, leaning against the door with his elbow resting on the steering wheel. His eyes are glistening with excitement and mischief as he says, "And what could I possibly be hiding from you?"
I purse my lips, and I'm not sure whether to be excited or worried, but I'm feeling a little more on the excited side. "Well whatever it is that you're hiding," I say, smirking at him, "It better not require me to leave the house because I'm honestly too tired, baby," I say.
He turns and faces forward as the traffic light turns green, with a knowing smile spread across his face, "Oh don't worry, you won't."
"Oh, please tell me what it is," I whine.
"Okay," he says, "Well, Jesse and Kerri are going out for some sort of date night."
"Yes, and?" I ask, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.
"And they were looking for someone to babysit their daughter, Isabella," he continues, "And I kind of said we would do it."
My face falls, "B-babysit?" I ask, the shock palpable in my voice. I shake my head and run my fingers through my hair, "I'd love to but I don't think right now is the best time."
"I've already told them that we would do it," he says.
"Well thanks for letting me know, babe"
"I wanted it to be a surprise!"
I exhale and look outside of the window. I know Jesse pretty well and I've met Kerri on a couple of occasions, and they're nice, decent people. I've seen pictures of their daughter and she's adorable, but I could spend the rest of the day sleeping if it was up to me. I'm not sure if I'm in the mood to babysit, although I would love to.
"Okay," I mumble, "I guess it will be fun."
The rest of the day drifts by and before I know it, it's six o'clock, and Jesse and Kerri arrive with Isabella. They're both dressed up and they look stunning and you can almost feel their excitement to have the evening by themselves.
"We'll be back by ten, is that alright?" Kerri asks. I cock my head to the side and swallow hard, trying to conceal my unease as I look inside of the stroller. Isabella's beady brown eyes blink up at me, and she looks exactly like her mother, especially with her long eyelashes and plump upper lip. Her mouth is dribbling but it doesn't seem to bother her as she devours on her solid, silicone teething ring.
I look back at Kerri and nod, somewhat speechless, but Damion then says, "Yeah of course, you guys make sure you enjoy yourself."
Kerri smiles a thankful smile at us and I return a warm smile. They probably both really need this break, and it's the least we could do. She then turns to the stroller and crouches down and smiles brightly at Isabella, who immediately smiles at her Mother. "Guess who's going to spend a little time with Uncle Damion and Auntie Kayla?" she asks in an animated, high pitched voice. Isabella gurgles a response and Kerri smiles as she unstraps her from her stroller and lifts her up. "She takes a little while to get comfortable around new people and she can be grumpy when she's tired, especially now that she's teething," Kerri explains.
I nod and Jessie then hands Damion the baby bag and says, "If you need us just call us, we'll pick up straight away."
"She'll be fine," I then say, "You guys just enjoy yourselves."
He then kisses Isabella's forehead and wipes a couple tendrils of her glossy brown hair from her face and then Kerri does the same. She then looks at me and softly smiles as she hands Isabella to me, "You'll be okay, that natural motherly instinct will kick in and you'll be great" she murmurs, "So don't look so worried."
I smile, unable to form a sentence as it feels like there's a ball stuck in my throat and a fear created knot in my stomach. Isabella's soft brows burrow together as she looks up at me, her chocolate eyes locked with mine as she inspects my face. I smile down at her and mouth hello, but her frown deepens and her mouth parts. She then looks back at her parents and within seconds, her face twists as she stretches out one of her tiny arms in their direction. Tears spring to her eyes as she starts to cry, and Kerri and Jessie look at her before looking at each other.
"We're just going to leave unless she won't stop" Kerri says, and she kisses her fingers and blows the kiss at Isabella. Isabella stretches out her little hands at her parents as Damion leads them to the door and my eyes widen as I look down at Isabella. Lord, help me.
"It's okay, baby," I then say in a soft voice, "Don't cry," and I walk to the great windows and begin to pace back and forth in front them, but her cry intensifies. I look at the door as Damion closes it, and I'm tempted to tell him to open it back and tell Kerri and Jessie that I can't do it. Damion looks at me as I cradle the crying baby, and he puts his hands on his hips and exhales. I roll my eyes at him and decide to sit down with her. I stand her up on my lap and hold her by her hands, and she stops crying as she stares at me, but her bottom lip is still trembling. I smile at her and say, "Hey sweetie, why are you crying?" and her lip stops trembling, but her eyes are still filled with tears. I tighten my hold on her as I carefully wipe her cheeks with the tip of my fingers, but almost immediately, she begins to cry again.
I rest her against my chest and gently rub her back, "It's okay, Isabella," I say, "Mummy and Daddy will be back soon."
Damion comes and sits down beside and says, "They weren't kidding when they said she takes a while relax around new people."
I sigh and continue to rub her back, lightly bouncing her up and down and after a couple of minutes of doing the same thing, her cries begin to weaken. I then slowly sit her down on my knees and her bright eyes stare up at me and I smile. She then turns to look at Damion with her eyebrows still furrowed together and he smiles.
He brushes his finger against her nose and says, "Hey."
Her expression remains the same and she then looks back at me, leaning back as if examining a freak in a freak show. She then reaches for the white flannel in his hand and he gives it to her. She then places it directly into her mouth and her face softens immediately as she begins to suck on the white cloth.
"Can you hold her while I look at what's inside of her bag?"
Damion raises his eyebrows and asks, "But she's only just stopped crying, what if she starts again?"
"Then you rock her or try to make her laugh," I explain as I carefully place Isabella onto his lap. He looks down at her and she stops chewing and her eyes widen. He then sits her up on his lap and rests her back against his arm before tickling her stomach. Her eyes soften and for the first time since her parents have gone, she smiles.
"See that wasn't so hard."
Damion's shoulders visibly relax and I walk over to the dining table and open up her grey travel bag. Inside are two thermal bottle holders with two bottles of milk, a bottle of water and some sort of berry juice, alongside diapers, wipes, a changing mat, a blanket, soft toys and a thick, three paged story book. I take out one of the bottles of milk and look at Isabella who's now inspecting Damion's face with her little hands, and wonder, how I will know when she's hungry?
"Er, Kayla," Damion calls, and I look at him to see that he's holding her in the air and sniffing her diaper, "I think she needs changing."
My eyebrows burrow and I say, "Okay, let's do this." Damion stands with her and I take the bag, "Should we change her in our room?"
"In our room?" he repeats, "But then our room will smell of poop."
I roll my eyes and say, "Damion, you do realise that we're having a baby in three weeks, so the least of your worries should be a baby being changed in our room."
I lead the way to our room and he follows behind me, "What about the baby's room?"
"No, he's going to be a newborn; I want him to be the first in there."
We enter our room and Damion places Isabella on our bed. Her beady eyes look around the room as she continues to suck on her flannel. I take out her changing mat, a new diaper and Pampers wipes and then place her on the changing mat.
Placing my hands on my hips, I turn to look at Damion and arch an eyebrow. "Will you like to take the honours?"
He raises his hands to his chest and shakes his head, taking a step back as he says, "I'll watch."
I chuckle at him, before looking down at the nine month old as she kicks her legs in the air. I inhale deeply and lift up her pink dress, pushing it up to her stomach, before removing her white stockings. I then swallow hard as I undue the strap of her diaper, wincing as I open it up.
It takes me over five minutes to change her diaper and handing Damion her nappy bag was probably the highlight of my day. He looked like he was about to pass out and I laughed so much to myself that it even made Isabella giggle. I change her into her white baby grow and carry her back into the living room. Damion's sat in the couch and I sit beside him with Isabella in my arm.
"I don't think this will be too hard," I then say. He turns and looks at me and then at Isabella, who is still chewing on her flannel, and smiles. She then takes the flannel out of her mouth and throws it on the floor, instead beginning to root around my chest. She then begins to pull on my dress as she lies back in my arm, and she begins to fidget. Her face starts to screw up and her lips part as small cry escapes her mouth, but she then presses her lips against my chest and begins to suck at my dress.
"Are you hungry, sweetie?" I ask, and a louder cry is her response. "Damion, can you get her milk from out of her bag." He quickly jumps to his feet and goes towards the bedroom, where I left it. She then opens her mouth and presses it against my chest once more, her small hand trying to open my dress. I smile and rock her in my arm, "That milk's not for you, baby, yours is coming."
Damion then returns with her bag and takes out a bottle of milk from the thermal cup holder, "Is this it?"
I nod and continue to rock her as hunger and attention draws out a louder cry. "Test it first on the back of your hand to see if it's too hot," I instruct.
He opens it and squirts a little drop of milk onto the back of his hand and burrows his brows. "I don't know if this is alright," he then says as he does it once more, "You feel it."
"Here, take her," I say and I pass Isabella to him, who is now crying hysterically. He hands me her bottle and then stands and rocks her, whilst pacing back and forth as he coos something to her.
After testing the milk and finding the temperature okay, I hold out the bottle to him, "Here, you feed her."
"Me?"
"Yes," I chuckle.
He takes the bottle and sits back down with her and it's as she calms immediately at the sight of her milk. He sits her up and then takes the bottle from me and places it her mouth. She clasps her hands around the bottle, her plump lips suckling at the bottle's nipple as if she hasn't eaten the whole day. I watch her, smiling as she makes little suckling noises and relaxes into Damion's arms and he too watches her, smiling as well.
"You look good with a baby," I then say, and he looks at me through and smiles.
The following hours past and all three of us are curled up in the couch when there's a knock on the door. Damion stands and makes his way to the door, opening it, to reveal Kerri and Jessie both standing outside, smiling. Kerri looks flushed, young and excited and I can't help but smile, she definitely enjoyed her evening.
She looks at Isabella and I and smile as she takes a seat next to me, "How was she?" she whispers.
"She's been great," I say, smiling down at her. Her long, dark lashes are pressed against her cheeks and she looks so peaceful as she sleeps. "Damion was reading to her and within minutes, her little eyes were closed and she was sound asleep," I explain.
Jessie walks over to us and bends down to look at his daughter, "Awe, you got her to sleep," he says, "Thanks so much for looking after her."
"No problem."
"Jess, can you put her in her stroller, please?" Kerri then says and he carefully takes her from my arms, trying not to wake her.
"Thank you so much," Kerri then smiles, rubbing her hand through her dark brown hair as she lets out a yawn, "I really appreciate it."
"Don't worry about it, it was a pleasure."
"It hasn't scared you off has it?" She asks in a lowered voice, her brows burrowing together in worry.
I smile and shake my head, "Of course not. I thought it would be difficult and it was, but in weird way, it's probably made me excited more than anything."
"Good," she smiles and we both stand and walk towards Damion and Jesse. "Take it from me that as soon as you see your beautiful baby and hold him in your arms, the amount of love you have for him will multiply and you'll be willing to endure and do anything for that little person," she explains. I beam at her and clasp my stomach with both hands around my stomach and my smile increases as I stare down at my belly. "Can I?" she asks, looking down at my stomach. I nod and she softly traces her hand over my stomach and smiles, "How long have you got left?" she then asks.
"Three weeks," I smile as I place my hand on my back, and I really want to sit down, "He should be here on the fourteenth of October."
"Well good luck, and trust me Hun, labour is not as scary as people make it out to be, but it isn't easy either," she explains, "And whenever you need us to babysit, we'll definitely return the favour, or they can have little play dates. She looks at Isabella who's still fast asleep and wrapped up in her pram and arches an eyebrow, "Babies take up all of your time, but every now and again, you guys will need to take out some time for yourselves."
I exhale, "I'm so scared but I'm trying not to think about it," I explain, "As long as Damion's with me, then I'm sure I'll be okay."
She smiles and then hugs me, "You'll be okay and thank you for looking after her. She then turns to Damion and hugs him as well, "And thank you for offering to do it."
"Thanks for trusting us with your kid," he chuckles, "It was a great experience for us."
She laughs as she pulls the blanket up to Isabella's neck and her pink lips part at her mother's touch, but she doesn't drift from her deep slumber. Jesse takes Isabella's travel bag and puts it over his shoulder, as Kerri steers the stroller towards the door. Damion opens the door and we bid them our final farewell. Damion then turns around and he exhales deeply as he looks at me and smiles.
He then walks up to me and reaching across, he spreads his hands over my bump as he leans forward and presses a kiss onto my lips. I exhale and smile, closing my eyes as I absorb the tranquillity and serenity of the room and the delicate touch of his lips against mine.
"That was..." he pauses, trying to think of the right word, "Definitely something."
"You were so good with her," I then say.
He gazes down at me, eyes bright, and I drape my hands around his waist and his chest presses against my stomach as his hands lower to my hips. "So were you," he exhales, "That was only a couple of hours and I'm already exhausted. Imagine when this little invader is born, it's going to be crazy," he says to my belly.
"I'm so used to it just being the two of us," I say, "When we will find time for each other?"
His breath is soft as he murmurs into my next, "Well, I'll still find time to do this," and he presses a kiss beneath my earlobe, "And this," he says and he grins as his hands navigate to my backside. I bite my lip as he continues, "And most importantly, I'll still be able to do this." He then lightly kisses my lips and then kisses my temple. "Do you know what?" he asks, returning his hands to my hips. I raise my eyebrows in expectation as I look up at him and he continues, "You're going to make such a great Mom. You're caring; you're loving, patient, kind, fun and you just always know what to do."
I tilt my head to one side and beam at him, "Really?"
He chuckles, "Yes, really."
"I can't help but think that you're the best mistake to ever happen to me," I then say, looking directly into his raw, blue eyes, "I love you."
I lean my head against his chest and he softly kisses my hair before taking my hand, "I love you too but come on, let's put you to bed," and he leads me to the bedroom.
I catch a glimpse at the clock and it's nearly eleven. I haven't been awake at this time for so long, and I'm exhausted. I sit down on the bed and take off my dress, before sliding on a t-shirt, and I automatically know that it's his because of its chestnut smell. I lean back into the bed and my whole body relaxes as my head sinks into the pillow. I am so ready to sleep. Damion climbs in beside me and I trace my hand against his jaw, his stubble tickling against my fingers.
"Goodnight," he says, "As much as I'd like to cuddle you right now and probably do a couple of other things..." I arch an eyebrow and turn my head to look at him, and he grins as he continues, "You're exhausted and you need to get some rest. When I come back to, I'll expect you to be asleep."
Well somebody's being bossy tonight. "Thank you for being here for me," I mumble and I sleepily kiss his chest.
"Where else would I be?" he asks, "I'd be stupid to be anywhere else." kisses my stomach and then says, "Goodnight my son," to my belly.
I close my eyes and smile to myself, too tired to say anything else but, "I love you."