by Sian Ceinwen
“Yup, I was wondering when you’d figure that out. You’ll hit Cruise Control bingo this weekend.” Lita laughed.
After they’d finished dinner, Hayden grabbed some board games that he’d brought with him for them to play. They chose a co-operative game where you had to stop a global pandemic but ultimately lost when Sebastian flipped a card that caused an outbreak in Baghdad.
“Way to go, Seb,” Harrison teased him.
“Hey, Hayden’s the one who shuffled the cards.” Sebastian grinned at him.
Gabriel got them all another round of drinks, and they moved on to a card game where one person reads the black card out loud, and the rest of the players had to choose their funniest white card to fill in the blank. They were all in hysterics by the time they’d played a few rounds.
“They should totally make a Cruise Control version of this game,” Lita said as she laughed so hard that she had tears in her eyes.
“Oh my god. Speaking of Cruise Control games, when is the game being released?” Becky asked her.
“It needs a little bit more work, but then I’ll get you and some other people to beta test it. I thought that Gabriel’s birthday might be a good day to release it.” Lita looked up at Gabriel. “If you’re okay with that, of course.”
“Sounds great, Lita.” Gabriel smiled at her.
It was after one in the morning when they said goodbye to Gabriel and Ariana and headed downstairs so they could go home. Sebastian had his arm around Lita, and she was starting to feel sleepy as Daryl drove them home. She’d had a great evening, and even Blake hadn’t managed to ruin it.
As she drifted off, she heard Becky say, “Today has been, hands down, the best day of my life.”
Lita yawned when she woke up the next morning. Sebastian wasn’t in bed, and she could tell that she’d slept in. Mirabella was kicking her painfully.
“Ouch, bella, that hurts,” she told her, but Mirabella kept kicking anyway.
Lita put on some sweatpants and a t-shirt, then wandered out toward the kitchen. She found Sebastian and Becky sitting and talking at the dining table, the remnants of their breakfasts in front of them.
“Morning, sleepyhead,” Becky said with a grin when she saw her.
Sebastian walked over to her and kissed her. “I would’ve woken you, but I thought you might need the sleep after such a late night.”
“Thanks.” She smiled at him.
Lita got herself some toast and a glass of orange juice, then joined them at the table.
“I was just planning with Becky for her to come to Chicago for the first night of the tour,” Sebastian told her.
“Oh, that would be brilliant. It would be great to have you there.” Lita smiled at Becky.
“I’ve told her that she could come to any concerts she wants. If she just lets me know when she’s free, I can organize flights and stuff.”
Lita was stunned by his generosity, and Becky grinned at her. “I know, I was shocked as well. I’m about two seconds from quitting my job and coming on tour with you.”
“Oh my god, that would be so epic,” Lita gasped.
“I’m kidding, of course,” Becky told her.
“I know, but how cool would that be?!” Lita said.
“I know. I’ll see what time I can get off work, though, and there’s always weekends.”
“A bit different from Heart Wide Open, right? Remember lining up for hours to try and get a good spot?” Lita smiled at Becky.
“Oh, no, I can get you guys tickets, but they’re just general admission; you’ll still have to line up to see us,” Sebastian teased them.
Becky laughed. “Yup, I can totally see it. Lita will get out of your limo, then go line up with the rest of the fans with your daughter in a baby carrier.”
“Sounds totally safe and fine; I don’t have a problem with it,” Lita smirked.
“Well, damn, now that you put it that way, I guess I’ll have to take you guys backstage with me instead. I’ll see if I can pull some strings or something. I know the drummer from Cruise Control, you know. He can probably sort something out for you.”
“You know Hayden Vega?” Lita gasped. “He’s my favorite band member, you know.”
Sebastian grinned at her. “I do know that. If you’re lucky, I might be able to sneak you into a meet and greet or something.”
“Sounds exciting,” Lita said.
Becky took the first shower to get ready to go out. Lita and Sebastian were sitting on the sofa and talking when Lita brought up him inviting Becky to come to some of the concerts.
“It’s so kind of you to offer to fly Becky out to concerts,” Lita said in amazement.
Sebastian smiled at her. “It’s no big deal. I figured that you might like to have her there, well, as much as she can be there.”
“Thank you, Seb. You’re the best.” Lita kissed him.
“Plus, she might babysit for us so we can have sex.” He winked at her, and she laughed.
“Ah, so there are strings attached to your offer. I see how it is.” Becky walked into the room wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a red jacket and shoes.
Sebastian laughed. “Oh no, you’ve found me out.”
“Let’s see, what you’re saying is that all I have to do to get backstage at a Cruise Control concert is be willing to babysit probably the cutest baby I’ll ever have seen? I’d heard you had to be willing to do a lot dirtier stuff than that to get backstage.” Becky winked at him.
Sebastian frowned and didn’t reply immediately, then he sighed. “Yeah, that has definitely been the case in the past. I’ve even encouraged it. Not anymore, honestly, and I’d hate for anyone to treat Mirabella the way that I’ve treated women in the past.”
“Mirabella?!” Becky gasped.
“Oh, shit! I didn’t mean to say that.” Sebastian grimaced.
“Not a word, Becky,” Lita warned her.
“My lips are sealed. Oh my god, that’s such a sweet name. What’s her middle name?”
“Nope. Not telling,” Lita laughed.
“I thought we didn’t have secrets, bitch?” Becky raised an eyebrow at her.
“As I told you when you tried that last time, this is different, and I will totally respect your right to keep any baby names from me in the future if you don’t want to tell.” Lita smiled at her.
“Pregnant women are smug.” Becky poked her tongue out at her, and Lita flipped her the bird. “God, I’ve missed you, Lita.”
Lita went to have a shower, and when she had her underwear on, she called Becky into the bedroom.
“Come look at all the clothes Heather has made for me.”
Becky gasped when she saw inside the closet. “Okay, two things. First…holy fuck, this is Sebastian Fox’s bedroom”—Lita laughed at her comment—“and two, those clothes are amazing. I can’t believe that Heather Fletcher is personally designing your entire wardrobe.”
“Only while I’m pregnant. Her maternity line is definitely going to be amazing, though. She’s going to design a whole range from the start of pregnancy through to the end. The early clothes will all be designed to help hide a pregnancy before you’re ready to tell anyone, and then the later ones are all like this.”
Becky helped her choose a dress to wear, then they headed back out and said goodbye to Sebastian before Ben took them to Heather and Harrison’s apartment for the baby shower. When they knocked on the door, Heather answered it and let them in.
The apartment had been decorated with lots of pink baby decorations and a massive banner and balloons that said, “It’s a girl!”. All of the other guests were already there. Antonella and her nonna had flown in on a flight from Seattle this morning and come straight to the shower. She greeted both of them as well as Ariana, Bianca, and Sebastian’s nonna.
It was a good afternoon, Heather had gotten catering, and the food was delicious, far above the usual party food that Lita was used to. They played a few baby shower games, including one where people had to smell mel
ted chocolate in a diaper and guess what type of chocolate bar had been melted, which caused great hysterics amongst the group.
Eventually, they were all sitting around, and Lita opened the presents that people had brought. She’d asked for them to bring their favorite children’s books and to write a message to the baby in the front. Lita got teary reading some of the messages.
“Here, Lita,” Ariana said as she handed her a tissue.
“Thanks,” Lita said and laughed. “These hormones are going to be the death of me.”
“Not much longer to go,” Antonella smiled at her. “Just be thankful you’re not having twins.”
Lita’s eyes widened as she remembered how big Antonella had been by the end of her pregnancy. “Holy heck, I have no idea how you managed it.”
“I had no choice. It definitely wasn’t fun, though.” Antonella’s eyes flickered to the airplane necklace hanging around Lita’s neck. “I can’t believe you’re engaged to Sebastian Fox.”
Lita reached up, softly touched the pendant, and smiled as she remembered Sebastian’s proposal. “Me either, but I’m really happy.”
“I’m glad, Lita. I was worried when you first introduced us, but I’m glad you guys worked it out. Just…stay safe, okay?”
“Thanks, Antonella, I will.” Lita remembered Hayden’s crash and frowned. “Sebastian is really protective of me, and I know he’ll be protective of her as well.” She rubbed her bump.
The concerns about security weighed on Lita’s mind, but she pushed them away to enjoy the rest of the baby shower. She’d had a great weekend with Becky, and it was so nice to see her family out here. Her parents would be flying back to Seattle with Becky, Antonella, and her nonna, tomorrow, then coming back to Chicago closer to the birth.
Lita rubbed her bump and played with the airplane hanging around her neck. It wouldn’t be long, and she would get to meet her baby girl.
39
LEVEL 40.1 – Srećan Trideset Prvi Rođendan, Gabrijele
Your baby is the size of Pikachu.
YOU DID IT! You’ve reached your due date. If you’re still pregnant, you probably just hate your life. Don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon. Whether you have a vaginal birth or a c-section, whether you breastfeed or formula feed, you are a fricking champion, and your baby will think you’re the best person in the world, even if you don’t.
When you look into that tiny face, you’ll also forget all of the pain, all of the hassle, and that time you peed yourself in the middle of the supermarket. Welcome to the rest of your life; you will never not be a parent again.
Lita groaned as she heaved her body out of the SUV in the underground garage of Gabriel and Ariana’s apartment building. She rubbed her bump, which felt tight and hard. It felt as though every part of her body was aching.
“I can’t wait until tomorrow; I am done,” she told Sebastian, who smiled at her.
“I know, princess, you’ve only told me about a thousand times since Friday.”
“Well, let me tell you one more time: done.” Lita emphasized the word heavily.
Sebastian laughed. “Got it. From tomorrow, I’ll be able to carry her sometimes, so you don’t have to.”
Hayden was getting out of the SUV he’d come here in, and they waited as he and his bodyguard, Jesse Howell, walked over to them.
“Hey, guys.” He greeted them with a smile that didn’t quite wipe the frown from his face.
“Everything okay, bro?” Sebastian asked him.
“I’ll tell everyone when we’re upstairs,” he said, then he smiled a little wider. “The game release was a smash, Lita. Well done.”
“Thanks.” She smiled at him. “I couldn’t have made it half as good without your help. Where’s Blake?”
Hayden looked uncomfortable. “He couldn’t make it tonight. He’s going out with some friends.”
“I see,” Sebastian said in a cold tone.
“Don’t start, Seb,” Hayden said quietly.
“I wasn’t starting anything. I just said, ‘I see.’” Sebastian shrugged.
They traveled upstairs in silence, and Lita felt bad for Hayden because she knew he probably wanted him to be here. Even though Blake seemed to have pulled his head in since New Year’s Eve, she was glad he wasn’t here tonight. After Ariana let them into the apartment, they greeted Gabriel and wished him a happy birthday.
“So, tomorrow’s the big day, Lita,” Heather smiled at her. “Are you excited?”
“Just ready to be not pregnant, that’s for sure.” She rubbed her bump again as she said it.
It still felt tight and hard, and she felt an ache in her back as well as her stomach. Mirabella was kicking her, and all in all, Lita couldn’t wait to evict her tomorrow.
“Well, I wanted to thank you for all the help with my maternity line; your feedback has been amazing. So detailed, I couldn’t have asked for a better model.” Heather smiled at Lita.
“Thanks, I tried to give as much constructive feedback as I could.”
Lita had actually sent whole documents outlining all the details of exactly what had worked, what hadn’t, and why. She knew she’d gone a bit overboard, but she also wanted to be as helpful as possible in exchange for Heather’s generosity in making the clothes for her.
When they were sitting down to eat, Hayden said, “So, I heard from the Chicago PD today that they’ve found something.”
Everyone looked at him at once, and Lita saw various expressions of curiosity and fear on their faces.
“They’ve been going through my fan mail, and they didn’t find anything in the physical mail, so they started trawling through our emails. There was one sent to the Cruise Control email the day after we were run off the road that they think might be from the person who did it. It mentioned the accident and stuff that people wouldn’t know unless they were there.”
There had been a few reports about his accident, but nothing that mentioned any other car being involved. Most of the reports had actually implied that Hayden had been drink-driving when the accident occurred.
“Are they worried?” Heather asked.
“Yeah, they are. Nothing’s happened since, but whatever was in the email has them spooked.” Hayden cringed.
“You haven’t read it?” Gabriel said.
“Not yet. I’m going to see Cooper tomorrow. He’s talking about hiring some specialist security person for the tour, and even Jesse said that he thinks it’s a good idea.”
Harrison breathed out slowly. “Shit, you know it’s bad when your bodyguard thinks you need a better bodyguard.”
“They’re worried about how exposed I’ll be during the tour. I mean, the slightly good news is that they’re not worried about any of you, just me.” Hayden gave them a tight smile.
“That’s not good for you, though.” Lita frowned. “I mean, I’m glad because I obviously want to know that the baby will be safe coming on the tour, but I’m worried about you.”
“Thanks, Lita. Look, we’ll just make sure there’s lots and lots of security. Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine,” Hayden told her.
“You’re my friend, Hayden; of course I’ll keep worrying about you.” Lita shrugged.
Sebastian smiled and broke the tension by saying, “Lita would be devastated if anything happened to her favorite member of Cruise Control.”
“Exactly,” Lita laughed. “None of you would be able to keep time at your concerts, and that would be terrible.”
She rubbed her bump, which was feeling tight and painful again, as they cleared up their dinner things and moved into the living area to sit on the sofas there and talk.
Ariana sat down next to Lita and smiled at her. “I’m going to be coming on the tour too.”
“Really? When did you decide that? What about your job?” Lita was surprised but excited by this news.
“I gave my notice on Friday. I’ve loved being a real estate agent, but Gabriel and I have been getting more and more concerned about how exposed I am
when doing it. Hayden’s accident really highlighted to us how dangerous it could be. If I hadn’t done it last week, I’d be doing it tomorrow after what Hayden told us tonight.”
Lita nodded. “I can see that. It’ll be great to have some company on tour since Heather won’t be there.”
“I’ll be able to get some practice in by babysitting for you.” Ariana blushed.
“You’re pregnant?” Lita gasped.
“Not yet.” Ariana shook her head. “But Gabriel and I are trying. You’ll have to give me advice when it happens.”
Lita cringed as her belly tightened, and she rubbed her bump again. It felt like it was getting more painful every time.
“My advice right now would be not to do it, but ask me again tomorrow after she’s out.” Lita laughed and then winced as a twinge of pain ran across her stomach.
“Are you all right, Lita?” Ariana asked, looking concerned.
“Yeah, I’m fine. She’s kicking away at me, and it’s painful.”
Sebastian looked around from where he’d been in discussion with Gabriel and Harrison as Lita said it. “You’re definitely okay, princess?”
Everyone was looking at her now, and she rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. I get pain in my bump every now and again. It’s a thing! I can feel her kicking me; it’s all good. I can’t wait to be induced tomorrow, though.”
As she finished speaking, she felt another painful tightening of her bump and couldn’t stop herself from wincing again.
“If you’ll excuse me, I just need to use the bathroom.”
Lita got up from the sofa and went to the guest bathroom that was off the hallway nearby. She was stuck on the toilet for so long that Ariana came and knocked on the door.
“Everything okay, Lita? Sebastian’s worried about you.”
“I’m fine,” Lita called out. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
She breathed heavily as another wave of pain rolled across her stomach. Lita was beginning to think that maybe this was more than her usual Braxton Hicks contractions. After another few minutes passed, she cleaned up and washed her hands in the sink next to the toilet before she experienced another painful tightening across her bump.