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“There’s so much of you in this house,” I said, looking around. “Your work is everywhere.”
“You didn’t buy a bunch of my furniture so I’d sleep with you, did you?” Theo asked, setting down the hammer she’d used to put up the last of my gallery wall in the living room.
“I mean, no, but now that it’s happened, it wouldn’t have been a bad plan.” Damn.
“I can’t be bought so cheaply,” Theo said, putting her arms around me.
“Oh, it wasn’t cheap. I have the receipts.”
Theo laughed and leaned down to kiss me. “Happy?”
“Ecstatic,” I said, smiling up at her.
“Good.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Don’t be nervous, you’re going to be fine,” Theo said as I fussed with my dress. We were going over to her brother’s house for dinner. Her sister-in-law was ready to pop, so this was one of the last times they’d be a family of three until their little boy arrived.
Since Clint and Kim were so tired, we were picking up food at the Grille and bringing it over.
“You have literally met them before,” Theo said.
“I know, but now we’re together. I’m not just a random person, I’m their sister’s girlfriend.”
I messed with my hair until Theo took both of my hands in hers.
“You’ve got to stop stressing. Mia already adores you, and so does Kim. Clint doesn’t really like anyone, so he’s a lost cause. There. Feel better?”
I shook my head and Theo kissed the backs of my hands. “Come on.”
Mia wanted to sit next to me at dinner and wouldn’t stop asking about the bookstore, which was nice. Kim was also interested, so I got to talk about some of the things I’d learned. Clint grunted out a few comments, and they were actually helpful, so I made it a point to thank him.
“Oof,” Kim said, grabbing her belly.
“Is it time?” Clint asked, and I’d never seen so much emotion on his face.
“I’m not sure,” Kim said, rubbing her belly. “Let’s just give it a few minutes and see.”
We all stared at her and about ten minutes later, she had another pain.
“I’m calling the doctor,” Clint said in a way that no one argued with.
“Clint, I’m okay,” Kim said, but then she had another pain, and then everything happened very quickly.
“I’m going to take her to get checked out,” Clint said, ushering his wife to the car and grabbing a bag by the door.
“We’ll stay with Mia. Call when you can,” Theo said, giving Clint a fierce hug before he knelt down and hugged his daughter and whispered something in her ear.
“I will, Daddy.”
Mia seemed scared, so I took one of her hands in mine and squeezed it as Clint peeled out of the driveway and raced to the hospital in Hartford.
“Mommy’s going to be okay, right?” Mia said, looking up at Theo with tears in her eyes.
“Yes, your mommy is going to be fine. The doctors are going to take care of her and then you’ll get to meet your baby brother,” Theo said, her voice soft. She met my eyes and we shared a look. Things could go wrong during labor, but there was no need to scare Mia if we didn’t need to.
“Can we snuggle?” Mia asked, putting her arms in the air.
“Of course we can,” Theo said, picking her up.
We both went back inside with Mia and I wanted to do something, so I cleaned up from dinner and made sure to start the dishwasher.
“Is there anything else they might need done?” I asked. Theo was on the couch with Mia, who had passed out.
“Let’s wait and see if she’s in active labor. It might be a false start and they’ll come home after she’s checked.”
As if her phone had been listening, it went off with a new message. Theo quickly scanned it.
“Okay, never mind. Her water broke the second they put a gown on her to get some tests done, so it’s baby time.”
Mia stirred, and Theo pulled the blanket over her.
“Should we do something?” I asked. I didn’t have a whole lot of experience with any of this.
“It’s a lot of waiting. Could be days. She was in labor for nearly forty hours with this one,” Theo said, pointing to Mia.
“Jesus Christ,” I said. “I think my uterus just screamed.”
“It was brutal. I really hope this one will be nicer on Kim.”
I shivered. “Me too.”
There was a lot of waiting, and we eventually took Mia back to Theo’s house with us and put her to bed on the couch while Theo and I stayed up. I’d never really been one for biting my nails, but I was thinking about taking up the habit now.
“You should go to sleep,” Theo said, stroking my hair. “You’re wired right now.”
“I know, I know,” I said. “I think I’ve entered a new state of consciousness.”
Theo snorted. “Okay, you’re getting some tea, some melatonin and you’re going to sleep.”
