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He grinned at her, and a small smile of her own tilted her lips. “That’s all I ask.”
10
Stephen
Ileaned against the doorjamb to Bailey’s and Seth’s room, watching as Bailey tugged on her sandals. Her belly was beginning to get in the way of her doing things, so she was now having to sit down to tug on shoes. Which was also making this pregnancy harder and harder for her to ignore. And the harder it was for her to ignore it, the more I saw her withdrawing.
Seth and I both thought she looked adorable as fuck pregnant, but we kept it to ourselves. She’d been doing good the past few days, and we wanted to keep her in good spirits.
So, if she wanted to pretend her pregnancy wasn’t happening as much as she could, then around her, we would, too. Yeah, it was enabling her, but fuck, we didn’t know what else to do at this point.
But today, wehadto go shopping for the nursery. And while I knew she wasn’t excited about getting the baby the things it needed, she knew as well as Seth and I did that this had to be done sooner rather than later.
Hell, she was already almost in her third trimester.
“I’m ready,” she grumbled right as Seth popped out of their bathroom.
He leaned down to kiss her. “Proud of you for doing this,” he told her. He grabbed her hand in his. “You driving or me?” he asked, looking over at me.
I shrugged. “You can drive. It’ll be easier to fit everything in the back of your truck.”
He nodded and led Bailey past me out of the room. I followed them down the stairs. While Seth locked the house up, I led Bailey out to the truck and lifted her up into it. She looked down at me as I strapped her in, something I did as a way for me to take care of her. And she never complained.
“Can I at least get a milkshake before we go shopping?” she asked me.
I leaned up to kiss her. “We can get whatever you want, baby girl.”
I closed her door and hopped into the backseat. I always let her have the front passenger seat when we went somewhere in Seth’s truck, and Seth always did the same when we went somewhere in my car. This way, she felt surrounded by us, and it was easy for both of us to touch her if she needed that silent reassurance.
Seth slid in and backed up before turning to go up the long drive. “I heard something about a milkshake,” he said, glancing over at Bailey.
She shrugged. “It’s hot, and I want a milkshake.”
He grinned at her and grabbed her hand in his. “Then, I’ll get you a milkshake.”
This girl had no idea just how spoiled she really was, and Seth and I enjoyed doing it. Besides, a milkshake was a simple price to pay to put a smile on her face and keep her in mostly good spirits.
* * *
Bailey sighed,her hand held in mine as she sipped at her milkshake, looking around the store like she wanted to be anywhere else but here, surrounded by all this baby stuff. Seth and I had already driven off two sales associates that instantly wanted to gush over Bailey’s belly.
This trip was already hard enough for her as it was. I wanted the damned sales associates to stay as far away as possible.
“What about this?” Seth asked Bailey, pointing out a dark brown crib that had a changing table attached. He was doing his best to try to get her engaged, but she wasn’t having a single bit of it. She was doing her damnest to stay detached from it all.
She shrugged. “I guess,” she mumbled. “I like dark.”
I gently squeezed her hand in encouragement. Seth grabbed one of the cribs and put it on the L-cart we were using before strolling off with us following to go find a dresser to match.
“You okay?” I softly asked her. I’d probably already asked her this a dozen damn times, but I didn’t want her slipping too far into her head before I could get her back out of it.
She nodded. “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.”
Yet, she still looked absolutely miserable. I prayed for when she had this baby. I had a feeling postpartum depression was going to take over her life.
And I knew she would never choose adoption because I knew she didn’t want to rip Seth of his kid. I knew Seth would agree if he thought it was what she wanted, but she wouldn’t decide on it, and fuck, we wouldn’t force her because it might do her more harm than good.
But even now, we both still occasionally brought up the thought of adoption to her, but she was standing her ground.
