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“I’m here with Amber,” he announced to the instructor.
“Oh…um…wonderful.”
Amber’s face lit up and a huge smile of appreciation rested on her beautiful soft lips. Okay, it wasn’t the way he planned his day. But heck, some things were worth more than money and this was one of those moments.
CHAPTER THREE
Adrenaline pumped through Amber’s body as excitement coursed through her veins. Overwhelming emotion fluttered inside her chest. Jules had offered to be her partner for the workshop, even though he had prior commitments.
Though she vowed after her crazy ex, she’d never have a man in her life again, she was grateful like sin to have Jules by her side right now. Really thankful.
Amber would never forget this moment as long as she lived.
“Now,” the resource nurse started, “as you know, this is a very special session for moms and dads. The topic of this session is: Parenting Together. Many of you may wonder why a father is important or two parents during the process of childbirth. In this case, dads, the most important thing you can give your partner is support. Just to be there. Nothing is more important than emotional support during this time. Making sure that mom’s needs are tended to. The baby, most of all, is the focus and mom is carrying your precious bundle, or bundles, of joy and she really needs that extra care. It is a wonderful, and in some cases, overwhelming journey to bring a baby into the world.”
Amber’s heart melted. Of course, she could have done this all alone, but the resource nurse was right. Carrying a live human being within her and having to give birth one day was an incredible experience. Life transforming. What had she been thinking? There was nothing like having emotional support by your side. Amber took a quick glance around and saw most of the couples snuggling up to each other.
She glanced at Jules who seemed to be listening intently to the instructor, his arm extending across her back in a supportive position. He seemed to be really taking this all in. Oh, what she would give for him to be the father of her child. Just the mere thought that he wanted to be there to lend her support meant the world to her.
Amber felt her baby swiftly kick about in her belly at that instant. A warm smile crept on her face. She hadn’t notice that Jules’s attention had turned to her. He was grinning from ear-to-ear.
“I think our little one agrees,” he said, gesturing to her belly. He must have seen Amber’s abdomen stretch while tiny feet pressed against the inside of her abdominal wall.
Amber smiled but then her smile was replaced with the look of astonishment. Did Jules just say, our little one?
Jules snaked his arm around Amber and gave her a loving squeeze. A jolt of electricity pumped through her body. Her baby also gave her a pleasant bounce kick below her rib. It seemed as if mom and baby were both enjoying Jules’s presence and support. She’d never felt the baby so active.
Amber was tickled inside by this overwhelming show of affection. There was a spark in the air. A connection that was indescribable between the two of them—all three of them. She didn’t quite know what it was. The faint delicious scent of Jules’s aftershave delighted her nostrils when he took one hand and unbuttoned his suit jacket to get more comfortable. His aroma was so pleasurable. It had been a while since she’d inhaled the sexy scent of a man. Since she’d inhaled Jules’s sweet essence. It was as if they’d never broken up and they were quickly bonding again—this time over her unborn child.
Ignore that feeling, Amber. You’ve sworn off men, remember? Look at what Rex did to you in the end. It starts off sweet and charming and then…
But if she were honest with herself, she’d realize that Jules and Rex were two completely different specimens. She should have had Jules as her first love, not Rex the Jerk.
But who was she to question Jules coming to her rescue at just the right time? She would have been so alone—felt so inadequate during this special session today. Of all the prenatal sessions in this program, she had to start with this one. The class that required two parents to be present—or at least a supportive partner for the mom.
During the remainder of the session the instructor guided the couples through loving support techniques, a labor and delivery/birth refresher, comfort measures, parenting together, practice runs on changing the diaper on a lifelike baby doll and coordinated pushing during labor.
Amber felt a fluttery sense in her chest and her internal temperature climb at the thought of having Jules by her side during the class. It was a delight to see him fumble with the practice baby doll, attempting to change its diaper. Amber giggled at times when he pulled his usual funny faces that always got her going. The endorphins rushing through her blood at that time were a pleasant muscle relaxant that Amber really needed. Before Jules came into the classroom, she’d felt herself tensing up again—her nerves had taken hold of her. But not now. She was more relaxed and felt more comfortable than she’d been in a long time.
“Man, I hope the real deal is not going to be as awkward,” he commented and she smiled at his response. The other dads were also having a hell of a time getting it right. Changing the diaper for a pretend newborn the way the instructor had demonstrated.
Amber admitted she missed Jules’s quirky sense of humor. Rex was always the serious type with an ulterior motive to everything whenever he did lighten up. Rex just never knew how to have sincere fun. Right now he would have made her feel like an idiot if she had screwed up in the diaper-changing lesson in this workshop.
At times Amber gave Jules a sheepish grin and appreciative smile. “Thank you,” she’d said so many times, whispering in his ears as she watched lovingly while he proceeded to pat the doll’s back gently.
What a full session it was turning out to be.
But then her body core temperature plummeted when she realized Jules was there just to save face. What would she do when the actual due date arrived? It was one thing to plan everything but now seeing how happy all the couples looked in that session and feeling the warmth and support of having Jules by her side, even though it was a prenatal class, caused her muscles to tighten at the thought of not having him with her. Funny thing, even if the father of her child was present, Amber would not feel the same as having Jules by her side. Jules was lovable, warm and had one heck of a sense of ice-breaking humor. He would crack a joke from time to time to get her to loosen up or lighten up, or say something witty and charming to melt her defences.
Amber appreciated the fact that Jules was a natural at this. He was affectionate and protective over her. He always was. That’s why it ripped her to shreds when she had to part ways with him before they could become intimate. She really didn’t want to but she couldn’t risk him finding out about her. It would have been all too painful to go through—at least that’s what she believed at the time—thanks to her deranged ex. Talk about making the wrong choice!
“Breathe deeply, Amber,” Jules coached, his soft, low voice mellowing inside her. He gave her another affectionate squeeze at her side and she gushed.
“Thanks.”
“Now, I know you have something on your mind; you look far away,” he continued, whispering to her discreetly.
Then she turned to him and gasped at his boyish grin. His smiles were always infectious and she smiled in response. Suddenly, whatever Amber was thinking about was wiped clear out of her mind at that moment.
“That’s better,” he said. “And don’t let me catch you holding your breath like that again. Our little guy needs as much oxygen as he can get.”
She chuckled. “Okay, Jules. I’ll try to remember.” Amber noted that Jules referred to her baby as “our little guy” again. Of course, Amber realized quickly that couples were seated close to them. Was Jules just keeping up the pretence that he was the baby’s real daddy? Or did he really mean what he said? Of course, he could not have. The baby wasn’t his and he knew it.
A sinking feeling settled inside Amber. Gosh, she had no idea how emotional this session would be for her.
Jules didn’t know what had gotten into him all of a sudden. His mind kept obsessing over Amber’s well-being and how she would cope bringing a child into the world alone. What was she thinking? She’d left him to be with some lowlife who didn’t even have the decency to stick around? If Jules ever got his hands on that creep! Why was she keeping his identity a secret? He could probably figure it out with the help of his agency but he decided to let it rest—for now.
“Hey, you look as if you’re in a different world,” Amber commented, as she gathered her bag and her sweater off the table.
The prenatal session had just finished and the rest of the couples proceeded to make their way out of the room.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Jules lied. What was he going to say to her? That he was royally peeved that she’d left him for a deadbeat? Some Rex without-a-surname guy. The guy’s name might as well have been John Doe. Jules would never have left Amber to attend prenatal classes on her own or removed himself from the picture if she was carrying his child. A guy not sticking around for the mother of his child was just plain wrong in so many ways.
