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I take a deep breath. I wanted to wait but I can’t. “I’ve been thinking.” She stiffens. “I was reading that book and I just... I’m sorry. I had no idea what all went into a pregnancy. I’m not going to hold you to the two kids thing in the prenup. I’m a hundred percent good with this being our only child. There are so many things that can go wrong. We can have children other ways, or hell, I’m okay with not having any more children. I’m not okay with all the different ways I can’t have you if something goes wrong.”
She blinks; damn, a few tears spill over. “I’m fine. I’m healthy. I am not okay with not having half a dozen kids. Are you trying to get out of our agreement, Mr. Sabatini? Am I going to have to call your lawyer?”
While I understand she’s trying to joke, to play it off so she doesn’t ugly cry as she calls it, I can’t joke about it. “I mean it, Chloe. I want it on the record. If you don’t want any more, whether it’s after this pregnancy or the next, I’m okay with that.”
Wiping her eyes, she nods. “Okay. Message received. Right now though, I’m asking if you really don’t think it will be weird to move a boy into a pink room, in case the next baby is a boy.”
“Are you trying to argue? We can paint the walls. I don’t think whether a room is blue or pink or yellow matters all that much to a child. It’s just a color.”
“What will you think if our daughter or any son we might have is gay or...”
Her forehead furrows; I don’t like it. I trace a finger over the lines. I’m aware the question means a lot to her. “I’ll be glad they know who they are. I’ll be worried, their life won’t be an easy one because of all the challenges they’ll face. The one thing I won’t do is question it or stop loving them. It’s our job to make sure they grow up to be kind, honest, work hard for what they want, have respect and empathy for others, for them to always trust we’re here for them, we have their back, we won’t do the work for them but we’ll hand them the tools they need. Anything beyond that has nothing to do with us.”
She sags against me. Bump moves, for some reason we refer to the baby as “bump,” as for a while we weren’t sure on a name. I’m forever fascinated by the way she’s growing our baby. I run a hand over her stomach in wonder, and almost immediately a kick answers against my hand. “You were worried I would say she was no child of mine and toss her out of the house?”
Her eyes slide away from mine. “Sometimes you don’t have much patience when things don’t go exactly the way you want them to.”
I catch her chin, drawing her eyes back to mine. “I’m sorry. I’ll admit that I’ve had my way for far too long. There weren’t many people who dared to deliver or be anything other than what I wanted and expected. I am trying to do better, to be better. I might fall short, but I won’t stop trying.”
26
Chloe
Oh my god, I love this baby already, but I’m so ready for this to be over. Sliding out of bed doesn’t happen as easily as it used to. I swear everything is swollen, even my eyelids. I’m in the shower for way too long. Going downstairs, I don’t even care it’s already after nine thirty; if I could I’d go back upstairs and go straight back to bed. My phone beeps, fuck, I forgot today is a doctor’s appointment right at the beginning of the day.
“Hey, sleepyhead. I was worried I’d have to go wake you up.” Enzo’s arm goes around me as he kisses my forehead. “What do you want for breakfast?”
I’m not really hungry but don’t dare say it. “Oatmeal and toast. What are you doing home?”
He shrugs. “I had a light morning anyway. I figured why go in for a few hours when I could work from home.”
It never ceases to amaze me when he’s all nonchalant about not going into work. Even if his home office is almost an exact replica of his office at work, I’m still wondering when he’s going to grumble about not being able to do something he could at work. Instead he laughs and says if anything, his relationship with Pauline has improved.
Huh, even though I wasn’t hungry I eat the large bowl of oatmeal and three pieces of toast.
We don’t have to wait long before Whitney is in to see us. At first she does her usual chat of asking how everything is going, then she looks through her notes. “Okay, let’s check your blood pressure again.”
“We just did that,” I mutter.
“Yep, and we’re doing it again.” It’s annoying how chipper she is. Nodding, she notes the numbers. “And you’re high. You were elevated slightly when you were in two weeks ago. I’m going to need you to bring it down. Naps, still?” I nod as I look to Enzo. He’s been merciless about the naps. His hand swallows mine. “Okay, I’m going to want you to pull back on work, maybe go half days. You’re at thirty-two weeks, you’re close but any extra time we can buy the baby is good. With your blood pressure increasing week after week, I don’t like it.” She looks to Enzo. “Dad, I want her checking her pressure four times a day, morning, afternoon, evening and at bedtime. In two days call in with the numbers. If they aren’t bad we’ll go with updates every two days.”
Enzo is frowning. “And if they’re bad?”
“Then we get Chloe on bed rest to see if that helps, if not we look at early delivery. Right now, she could go into labor and both she and the baby will be fine. But again, lung health is what we want to consider. She’s not crazy high; however, I am concerned.”
Frowning. “If they are both fine to deliver now, can’t we do that? I’m not willing to take chances with my wife’s health. I’ve read about babies being delivered before this date and were perfectly fine.”
“Enzo, the baby’s lungs. I’m scared too but I feel good. The longer we wait the better for both of us.”
“Mr. Sabatini, I know what I’m doing. I will not take chances with either your wife’s or your child’s health.”
“Fine. She’s going on bed rest as soon as we leave here. I want that noted.”
“Bed rest—”
“Either you go willingly or I tie your ass down,” Enzo snaps.
Whitney’s lips flatten as she tries not to laugh. “I’ll leave you two to discuss how that’s going to work. Be back in two weeks, two days call in to the office, Mr. Sabatini.”
