AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And even though I read romance novels like I used to, these days I read them to my babies. Or more like I talk to them while reading, teach them about things such as knowing your worth, being brave and courageous enough to be vulnerable and have feelings. Most importantly I teach them to fall in love with the right person, or if they don’t, then have the strength to leave and put themselves first.
But the biggest change in my life has been when I started working at my bookstore: Burning the Midnight Candle. I’m one of the sales reps, an expert in the romance genre. I never really thought about getting a job before. I guess for all my efforts to be different than the rest of the crowd surrounding me, they did rub off on me some. No girl around me has ever worked; they’ve never needed to. We all have trust funds and rich fathers or husbands. And even though I always hated my father and never wanted anything from him, I didn’t have the same problem with touching my grandfather’s money.
But now that I’m going to have my babies soon, it finally occurred to me that I need to lead by example. If I want them to be responsible and independent and a force to be reckoned with in this day and age, then I need to show them how it’s done. Granted, getting a sales job at a local bookstore isn’t exactly the top of the career ladder, but we all start somewhere, don’t we?
And I like it.
I like talking to people about books, sharing my favorite books, giving someone the gift of a favorite writer or a story. I’m also finding that apart from romance, I also love children’s books. Probably because I love interacting with children and manning the children’s section gives me an opportunity to do that.
But yeah, life’s different and I think I like it.
Well, mostly like it.
Or again, somedays I do and somedays I don’t.
Today’s been kind of a bad day and I knew it would be. Because it’s game day, and another one of the things that I’ve started doing differently — or rather, haven’t stopped doing after picking up the habit of it while living with him; similar to resuming reading my romance novels — is watching his games. I think it’s important and I should get used to it for our babies’ sake.
They should know who their daddy is.
What he does. What he loves and how good he is at that.
And he is good.
He is.
His comeback has been good for the team. They’re on a winning streak and it looks like they’ll take the championship trophy this year. Something that hasn’t happened in a long, long time. And it’s all thanks to Ledger. In fact, the press is saying that Ledger has proven to be the shiniest star from the Thorne clan this season and it could arguably be said that it’s not the Thorne brothers’ magic but his and his alone that’s making a difference.
And I’m so proud of him.
So fucking proud of him that I’m literally bursting with it.
Our babies are proud too because every game night, they move like crazy. They roll and kick and punch, sometimes hiccup too, making a ruckus. And I always have to soothe them by rubbing my swollen belly while telling them how amazing their daddy is. How he loves them both and I know that he’s away right now — mommy told him to be — but once they’re out of me, he’ll come visit.
Which inevitably makes me cry and sob.
Tonight though, something else is happening in addition to my waterworks.
Something that can only be described as pain.
Stabbing and bordering on excruciating.
Actually it’s been happening all day now, attacking my pelvic region and spanning back to my spine; attacking my pubic region too and radiating out to my thighs. Plus my belly, on and off, has felt like a heavy bag of cement. My doctor did warn me about Braxton Hicks contractions and since I’m carrying twins, they may be more painful and have an early onset. But Jesus Christ, she never said that they would be this painful.
I’m about to call her and check in when a pain so bright and flashing grips my middle that I have to lie on my side and curl into a ball.
When it looks like it won’t pass at all like the other stabbing pains I’ve had all day, I somehow reach for my phone and call my brother. I don’t know what I say to him but I think he understood me because he barks, “I’m coming, all right? Just hang on.”
And then I black out.
I wake up groggy.
Way groggier than I usually am.
And at first, I have no clue where I am and why every part of my body is sore. But then I hear a mechanical beeping sound, the sounds of rubber soles squeaking on the floor, the quiet whooshing of doors opening and closing, and I realize I’m in the hospital, lying on a bed.
