“Well Harper, things look great, as does he. Continue to hold off on almost all activities and lets cross our fingers that you last at least another week. You'll technically be considered full term by then, but really he would be fine if he came out now. I want to start seeing you once a week now, though I don't know how many more appointments we'll get out of him.” Dr. Lowdry's smile was warm as she spoke. “Are you both ready? Do you have any questions or concerns? Are you familiar with the hospital?”
“We took the tour and all of that earlier this week, and I don't think I have any questions. I'm just ready for him to be here. I don't sleep at all.”
Dr. Lowdry laughed and patted my leg, “That's common to be uncomfortable, just think of it as your baby preparing you for waking up all hours of the night.” She laughed again. “Brandon, what about you?”
“I think I'm good, I'm just worried she's going to go into labor and I'm not going to be at the house.” He gripped my thigh, “I don't want her to be alone when that happens.”
“I understand, but even if you aren't, most women won't have the baby for hours after their water breaks, so you'll have plenty of time to get to her and bring her to the hospital.”
He nodded, but I knew that didn't help much. Every time he left for a fight he would tell Liam if he had to come into the world that night, at least wait until he was back from the fight. Brandon wouldn't even say hi to me when he called afterward, first thing out of his mouth was always, “I love you. Did anything happen? How are you feeling?” If I wasn't so afraid he'd come home with a broken something or other, I would laugh at him for simultaneously kicking the crap out of people and being terrified his fiancée was about to go into labor.
“Well!” Dr. Lowdry stood and gave me a hug, “If anything happens or you need anything at all, just call me. If not, I'll see you both in a week.”
We thanked her and headed home for another fun filled night on the couch. Okay, I really needed to stop whining. Things could be so much worse. Brandon could not care, or he could be irritated with my moods, or worse, he could not be here at all. And I loved our nights at home, after dinner he would prop my feet up on his lap and rub them until the swelling went down. After, he would crawl next to me and press me close to his chest just so he could hold me while we watched TV. Like I said, he's amazing. I've just been super irritable lately.
“Brandon? Do you think we could do something tonight? Like maybe just go for a drive, or go to the beach? I'm not ready to be cooped up in the house again.”
He bit the inside of his cheek and looked at me for a few seconds before reversing out of our driveway we'd just arrived in. “As long as you promise to tell me if you get tired.”
I was already wide awake and practically bouncing in my seat knowing we were going somewhere, anywhere. “Promise! Where are we going?”
“Well it's your night, where do you want to go?”
“Beach and Pinkberry.” Seriously, I had frozen yogurt or ice cream every day now. It was bad.
Brandon's husky laugh gave me goose bumps and I couldn't help but smile just listening to it, “Beach and Pinkberry it is.”
He pulled the blanket out of the back of his Jeep and walked me towards the shore before laying it down and sitting me between his legs, my back pressed against him. After rolling my shirt up over my stomach, he started tracing delicate patterns on me. Liam instantly started wiggling as soon as Brandon's hands were on my bare skin.
“I'm so excited to meet him,” His deep voice filled my body, “but I'm going to miss this. You're the most beautiful pregnant woman I've ever seen Harper.”
I sighed and molded my body to his even more, “Have I told you how amazing you are and how much I love you recently?”
“I love you too.” He brushed my hair away and pressed his lips to my neck. “What are you most excited for?”
“Watching you teach him things. Like how to throw a ball and surf…” I said quickly, I thought about that all day long. “You?”
“Everything.”
“That's not fair babe! You have to say something.”
He thought for a minute, “I want to see you hold him.”
“You want to see me hold him?” I deadpanned.
“Yeah. The way you hold yourself whenever he moves or you're thinking about him, makes me fall in love with you that much more. It's tender, and full of love even though he isn't here yet. So I can't wait to see you actually hold him.”
“Oh.” And that right there made me fall in love with you more. I turned so I could face him and pressed a quick kiss to his neck, “You're going to be an amazing father Brandon. Your dad would be so proud of who you are.”
“I hope so.”
“I know he would.”
He shrugged but was smiling at me, “I don't think he wanted me to fight for a living. He was a business man, I always thought I'd do that too.”
“Do you want to? Someday, I mean.”
“I'm really not sure. I should probably figure that out soon. I can't fight forever.”
Thank God for that. “We have time, we have enough money to last us for a long time. I want you to just be with me for the first few months, I don't want you to worry about a career yet, okay?”
“Not likely, but thank you. I will stay home with you as much as possible for a while, but I've already been worrying about a career for some time now, I just don't know what I want to get into.”