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“Yes.” Brynne nodded and then looked at me. “Constantly.”
“Ahh, well, that’s an issue. It’s harmful for fetus development if you to ingest fumes that contain lead, and since you work with very old pieces, that is precisely what you’d be in contact with. Modern household paints are no problem, it’s the older chemical compounds that are worrisome. You’ll have to stop that immediately. Can you request some other form of work during your pregnancy?”
“I don’t know.” She looked troubled now. “It’s my job. How do I just tell them I can’t touch solvents for the next eight months?”
Dr. Burnsley lifted his chin and offered a pleasant expression that didn’t fool us for a moment. “Do you want a healthy baby, Miss Bennett?”
“Of course I do. I just didn’t expect—” She gripped the arms of the chair and took a deep breath. “I’ll figure it out somehow. I mean, I can’t be the first conservationist to get pregnant.” She waved her hand and then pulled it through her hair. “I’ll talk to my advisor at the university and see what they can do.”
Brynne gave him a fake smile that told me she wasn’t happy with this little development, but she wasn’t going to argue with his medical advice. My girl was sensible about the stuff that mattered.
I knew how important her job was to her. She loved her work. She was brilliant at it. But if there were dangers with the chemicals, then the job would have to go for the time being. Money was never an issue with her and me. We’d never really talked about it at all. For all intents and purposes she was already moved into my flat, and there was no question of where we were headed down the road. She would be my wife, and what was mine would be hers. We were having a child. Our path was clear, but the nuts and bolts of organizing everything had yet to be sorted. I knew what I wanted, but the timing was so hellish right now there were literally no spare minutes to delve into plans. Not until the Olympics were behind me, at least.
After the weekend pregnancy bomb dropped on our heads, we’d raced back to London and back into work. We hadn’t even told our parents yet, and had my sister and Fred on secret squirrel, under threat of death if they spilled the news before we did.
We were trying to acclimate to everything on top of the immense buildup of obligations for my business, the Games being only twenty-one days off. There was hardly time for this meeting right now. I wished for a smoke. Or three.
Once we were out of the doctor’s office, I put my arm around her and kissed her on the top of the head. “That was fun, baby. Dr. Burnsley is a charming fellow, don’t you agree?”
“Yeah, he’s awesome,” she said sarcastically with arms folded beneath her breasts.
“Aww, come on, he wasn’t that bad,” I cajoled, “he used the banana probe on you.”
“Oh my God, you are a jackass!” She shoved at my shoulder and laughed silently. “Only you could make a joke about that hideous situation and make it funny!”
“But it worked, and that is the point of it,” I told her as we walked.
“I’m kind of worried about my job. I never thought of the possibility I’d have to stop.” She sounded down about it.
“Maybe a leave of absence would be a good thing, though. It would give you time to plan for what we’ve got coming.” I looked down at her stomach but tried to be optimistic and light about it. Best to not delve too deeply and remind her she was going to have to give up something she loved for the next months. “I know I would adore having you home more and you’ll need to have plenty of rest. Maybe this way you can start a project or something that you’ve wanted to work on but didn’t have time for before.”
“Yeah,” she answered noncommittally. I thought I could see the cogs in her pretty head turning with ideas. Hard to say what, because if Brynne wasn’t in a sharing mood, then I certainly wouldn’t know. “I’ll figure it out.”
“Of course you will.” I squeezed, bringing her a little closer, hating that I had to leave her and go back to my office. I wanted hours in bed just wrapped up in each other. It was really all I wanted.
I stopped us on the sidewalk and turned her to me. “But please don’t worry about it too much. I’m taking care of both of you.” I put my hands on her belly. “You and the little bugg—er . . . um, I mean . . . blueberry, are my top priority now.”
She smiled and then her bottom lip started trembling, and her lovely eyes that were very greenish-brown under the summer sky got very wet. She put her hand over both of mine. I watched as one lone tear dripped down my girl’s beautiful face.
I widened my mouth into a smile I could feel. I loved having her like this. Needing me to take care of her and knowing she was going to let me. I really didn’t need a lot. Just her love and the acceptance of mine along with my care.
She rolled her eyes in embarrassment. “Look at me. I am such an emotional freak mess right now!”
“I am looking, and you forgot something, baby. You’re a gorgeous emotional freak mess.” I brushed away the tear with my thumb and licked it off. “I mean, if you’re going to go all out and be a freak mess, you might as well look gorgeous doing it.”
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I got her to laugh a little. “Now, do you fancy a sandwich for lunch?” I looked at my watch. “I wish I had longer for something a litter nicer than takeaway.”
“No, that’s fine. I have to get back too.” She sighed and then smiled at me. “I have an announcement to make at work, it seems.” She took my hand and curled hers around it as we walked.
We happened to be right across the street from the saltwater aquarium shop when we came out of the delicatessen with our sandwiches and settled on a bench to eat. I pointed it out to her and asked if we could stop in quickly as soon as we finished because I wanted to arrange service for the six-month checkup for my tank.
Brynne took a second look at the shop and grinned. “Fountaine’s Aquarium.” Her grin got wider as she took a bite of her turkey sandwich.
“What? What’s making you grin like the Cheshire Cat?”
She didn’t answer my question, but instead asked one of her own. “Ethan, when did you get Simba?”
