She shakes her head. “I’m okay.” Her hand reaches out for me blindly and I quickly grab onto it. “I just need a minute.” She smiles weakly.
“Can I do something to help?”I hate seeing her like this.Cupcake rises to her back paws, sniffing Aubrey’s hair on the side of the bed and whimpers, sensing something is off with her mommy.
“Water,” she answers as she takes in deep breaths.
I quickly move over to the foot of the bed and grab a water bottle from one of the trays, hurrying back to her side as I unscrew the cap. I help her into a sitting position against me as she keeps her eyes closed, and hand her the bottle. She takes a few sips, her hands shaking in the process.
After what feels like an eternity, she sighs and opens her eyes slowly, leaning her head on my shoulder. “Thank you,” she says quietly.
“Did I hurt you?” I ask, my stomach churning at the thought of ever hurting her.
“No, Shane. You made me feel good. I just got a little lightheaded at the end,” she reassures me, kissing my neck.
“Okay, but no more of that. I don’t like seeing you like this. We only have six more weeks, Aubrey. We can wait.” She nods, but I can tell something’s on her mind with how quiet she gets. “Talk to me, sweetheart.”
“What if I don’t get better?” she whispers in a broken voice.
I place my finger under her chin, tilting her face up to me. “Angel…”
“No, Shane. I mean it. What if I don’t get better? What if once I give birth, things don’t go back to normal? What if they find out it’s not the pregnancy but something else causing it?” She pushes my hand away, looking to the side and refusing to make eye contact.
“They ran tests, Aubrey. Twice. Everything came back clear,” I tell her confidently, even though she’s hit a thought I’ve refused to think about from the very start.
She scoots away from me, trying to bring her legs up to her body, but her baby bump stops her from doing so. Instead, she lets her knees drop to one side and uses her arms to cover her breast.
We’re still naked on the bed, outside in the middle of the night, with four pups cuddled up on the floor and one listening to our exchange. She feels exposed right now. Vulnerable. I quickly grab the blanket and wrap it around her body as she wipes her tears away.
“Tests aren’t always accurate, Shane. They make mistakes all the time. Misdiagnoses happen every day,” she cries quietly and my heart breaks. “What if I’m one of them?”
I cup her cheeks, pressing my lips desperately to hers as she sobs softly. “Then we’ll deal with it. We’ll get through it just as we are now. Dr. Carlson said there was medication that could help with hypotension. We wanted to avoid it during the pregnancy, but if you’re still experiencing it after the birth, then we can try that,” I say, resting my forehead against hers.
When I pull away, she keeps her eyes closed, still refusing to look at me as tears continue to fall past her closed lids. “Look at me. Sweetheart, please look at me,” I beg, and finally she does.
“Nothing, and I meannothing, can ever stop me from loving you. Nothing will change between us if that does turn out to be the case. It will just be another one of our obstacles to overcome.” I lean in, caressing my lips against hers. “And I’ll hold your hand the whole way through it.”
“Thank you… I needed to hear that.” She exhales like my words have done their job and soothed her worries. She looks up at me and smiles, but then her eyes travel to my bare shoulder, seconds before she lifts her hand and smacks it hard.
“Ow!” I jerk away and furrow my brows.
“I’m sorry!” She giggles, her mood finally lifted. “You had a mosquito.”
When I look at my shoulder, I spot the tiny red dot with a squashed bug beside it. I shake my head and chuckle. “I’m pretty certain those things have been eating at me since we took off our clothes.”
“I think one bit my butt while we were having sex.” She laughs harder.
“Well, now I’m just jealous. When are you going to let me near there?” I wrap my arms around her, biting at her neck and shoulder until she laughs uncontrollably. I love this playful side to Aubrey.
“Never,” she squeals, her face turning a deep red.
“Never? Really? What will I have to do to convince you?” I nibble her earlobe next as she tries to push me away. “Get you five more dogs? Buy you your own bakery? How about an island and changing its name to yours? We can do that if you want,” I suggest jokingly, although I definitely could do that.
The truth is, I really don’t care if she never wants to try anal. It’s really not a necessity to me and I’m satisfied with whatever she’s willing to give me. But I know talking about anal sex makes her uncomfortable and I love seeing her blush wildly.
“You’re being ridiculous.” She smacks my chest playfully before wrapping her arms around my neck as mine go to her waist.
“How about a boat? Private jet? What if I got Julian to kidnap your favorite pastry chef and we hold him captive in our home? Force him to make you everything your heart desires,” I offer next as she bursts with laughter.
“Okay, that would definitely get you in. But I’d also have a lot of questions. Mainly, who did I marry? And why would Julian dothe kidnapping and not you?” she asks, getting invested in my ridiculous ideas.
