Almost seven months of waking up, puking my guts up, intolerable mood swings, and made to not do anything...
I was going stir crazy.
Mason has been insufferable. Since we went to the first visit, it was like he was walking on glass around me. Spit hadn't let him near me much either, which didn't help much. I'd been falling asleep on the couch more often than not these last two weeks because he wouldn't touch me.
I was in the home stretch now. I just wanted this little monster out of me so I could sleep without the gymnastics in my belly.
I needed the little bastard out so I could go back on my medication. Sounds horrible, I know, but it was the truth. It's not that I didn't want the baby. I just wanted it out of me.
Agnes had became a mother hen, chiding me if I even looked like I was going to run out of the house. A short half-mile walk down the trail was as far as I went with her.
"What's the pregnant lady concoction today?" Agnes asked, already started on dinner.
"I'm really not hungry for the first time throughout this whole thing." She hummed, ushering me to go sit down.
"A sign the little one might be on its way soon." She went back to the kitchen, and came back with a cup of apple mango tea, placing it right on top of my bump. Her humor was definitely the one thing getting me through this. She literally put dishes on my stomach since I couldn't help myself up, and was rather amused with herself.
"I'm making chicken Alfredo with broccoli if you do get hungry later." She opened the door to let Spit go for his perimeter run, but he wouldn't budge from my side. "Possibly another sign."
"Are you kidding? He's been glued to my side since before we found out." I scratched his head. He whined slightly when I stopped. The door opened and Mason came in. He looked disheveled, like he'd been out drinking.
"Sorry... Lucifer was in town." It was his only remaining brother from his squad. If I could, I'd be in the same position.
"Did you have a nice time?" I kept petting Spit to keep him from growling or snapping at him as he came to sit beside me.
"He's going through a divorce... Mostly him drinking away his misery." He eyed Spit, who was glaring at him.
"Behave." I told the dog, which elicited a whine. "Dare I ask the reason?"
"Same reason I never had a woman warm my bed for several years. Night terrors." He sighed, kicking his feet up. "His have been becoming worse as of lately... They always do around this time of year."
When his squad went down in the exfil... Their helo went down and he and Lucifer were the only ones who were miraculously alive.
"That's why you've been sleeping out here or the other room..."
"Exactly. I didn't want to hurt you." Normally, I'd be fine. Right now, not so much.
"She knew what she was signing up for when she agreed to marry a soldier. A front line, none the less." He shook his head.
"Brenda has always been a greedy bitch. It had to be all about her. When he accidentally knocked her up, she went behind his back, got an abortion, and didn't even consult him. Even though I'm all for women's rights, I don't think she wanted to be stuck with him forever like that." I blinked. "And no, I don't think of you that way. I'm not insinuating that you're stuck with me, I'm just explaining the way it is with them."
"Why would he marry her knowing that?"
"Love blinds people. He did love her, she only loved his money." Agnes peered out and announced that dinner was ready. If anything, her garlic bread made my stomach rumble.
I had fallen asleep on the couch during one of the movies we were watching, only to wake up to some soft noise from a TV show put on for background noise. I rubbed my stomach, warning myself a kick from the life inside me.
"Yeah, yeah, you little shit. I'm going." I pulled myself to my feet using the arm of the sofa, and waddled to the bathroom. Mason was fast asleep in bed, tossing in a fit.
I quickly relieved myself, washing my hands, and grabbed his medication, and a glass of water. I tossed half of it on him, which immediately woke him up. "Here." He looked stupid me, probably still in a trance. "You're not there, you're here." I set down the glass of water, and put his hand on my stomach where the baby was kicking. It took him a few moments but he took the pill from my hand and drank it down.
"Thanks." He closed his eyes, resting his head on my stomach, and hugged me to him. I ran my hands through his hair. "What time is it?" I looked at the clock.
"Oh-two." He had to be up in four hours.
"Stay." He meant in bed. "Please."
"Of course." I kissed the top of his head, getting into bed beside him. I'd been doing his translations from the video chat, which had been mostly successful. Other times I had to be on the phone because video didn't work.
I could do it on little sleep... He, however, needed to think.
Once I felt him relax, and his breathing slow, I knew he was asleep, but the baby was keeping me awake. Kick after kick, I wanted to curse Mason for doing this, but at the same time, I felt like I had a piece of me back... or a piece of a piece.
I closed my eyes and forced myself to find some peace.
I wasn't woken up by Mason in the morning, but I was practically stuck in bed. I groaned, calling for Agnes, but she wasn't around. I got the walkie, and radioed.
"Wilkins, did Agnes leave?"
"Yes, ma'am. Are you in need of help?"
"Please." He came in, helping my fat ass out of bed. "Thanks."
"Is there anything else you need, ma'am?" I shook my head, trying to make my way to the bathroom.
Instead, a contraction lanced through my abdomen, and he noticed. "How often have you been having contractions?"
"This is the first one." It finally eased, and I stood as straight as I could.
"I used to be an EMT, you know. You might want to call Mr. Clairmont."
"No, not yet." I made it to the bathroom, having two more contractions within a span of five minutes apart. The little shit decided to try to come when there was nobody around.
Just my luck.
"Wilkins?" He was waiting by the bedroom door. "Now might be a good time to call him." He nodded, and pulled out his phone. We had the bags ready for a few weeks now.
"He's en-route now."
"Just grab these bags..." He followed every order. By time Mason was back, I wanted to put a bullet in him because the pain sucked something fierce. I wasn't in this much pain after Israel.
"How far apart?" I shook my head. All I knew is that they were coming fast.
"Too close together. She denied calling a bus."
"Shit..." He ushered out the guard. "I've only ever delivered one baby, and I really hope I don't have to do it again." He tugged me back to the bed, and went to the bathroom, coming back with gloves on.
"Oh, no. No, you are not-"
"Leysa? For once, do not tell me what to do." His authoritative tone said everything. He wasn't joking. I felt him prod around. "We still have time." He snapped the gloves off, helping me to my feet. He walked with me as quickly as I could, helping me into the Tahoe, and drove us as quickly to the hospital as he could without getting ticketed.
Halfway there, I almost felt as if I wet myself.
Nope. Water broke.
"You need to speed it up before I have this baby in this car." I hissed at him, squeezing my eyes shut, and wrapping my arms around my contracting belly. I just focused on breathing through it, but god damn, it hurt.
"Just hang in there."
Yes. An update. A quick one, too.
Dad is recovering well from the accident, finally back to his old self. He got his stitches taken out of his hand today, meaning he gets to scrub for surgery again. He's loving his new car, I'm thoroughly enjoying it myself, and everything is back to normal.
I quit my security job, but have another lined up. When you get death threats every day, have a gun pointed at your head and rendering yours useless, get deliberately driven at by a drunk driver, and a crazy crack head... it's enough to make you quit your job, and give you PTSD in the process.
I'm going to try to finish this book. It will be over within a few chapters. I have another, a sequel, lined up, but not planned out. I also have another series planned out, which I have been busy writing and preparing for publishing.
Patience is key. This story is still considered ON HOLD, meaning UPDATES ARE NOT SCHEDULED. You might be waiting a week to a month, maybe longer, BUT I AM ACTIVELY WORKING ON IT BIT BY BIT EVERY DAY.
Much love and appreciation.
-Shay.