Player of Life (Perception Book 4)

by Shandi Boyes

  I ended up convincing Nick that we should still move into our house. He stipulated only on one condition. His dad is going to stay with me when he is on the road. I would have agreed to anything if it meant we were going to have a little more space. Once Nick is confident no one is following us, we made our way to our new house. It is the cutest house you could possibly imagine. The front porch is big enough that we will be able to get a swinging chair like Nick has on his porch at home. Nick and I had spent hours out there swinging and talking the past few months and I want one for our own house. The kitchen has been newly remodelled and had a whole heap of stainless steel appliances I am still learning how to use. We have four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large lounge room and a small backyard. It is everything we could possibly need and it is perfect for our little family.

  The bright and sunny room at the front of the house is the one we have picked to turn into the nursery. Nick and I had just finished assembling the cot and change table that was finally removed from storage. The theme for the nursery is lullabies. I thought it was fitting considering our son’s dad is a musician. We have decals of musical notes throughout the room and little baby blue guitars on a boarder around the middle. It has taken us nearly all day, but the nursery is finally complete and it is perfect.

  I am lying on the ground in the middle of the nursery, exhausted and ecstatic that it is finally done. It looks just as I had envisioned. Nick walks into the room and smiles, before joining me down on the ground, his eyes slowly roaming over my face. My smile beams out of me when he hands me a little blue teddy bear that is holding an electric guitar. I giggle loudly when he pushes the button and the teddy starts rocking and rolling, swinging it hips in beat to the music. My giggles start to die down when I notice something sparking on the blue ribbon that is tied around the teddy’s neck.

  When my excited eyes turn to Nick, he removes the teddy from my hand and unties the ribbon. My heart races as he scoots closer to me, our stomachs now touching. He lifts his empty hand and runs the back of it down my cheeks. His eyes staring deep within mine before he smiles his trademark smirk.

  “You’ve always been my rule breaker” he informs softly, his voice riddled with nerves.

  “I wanted to do something fancy, at a nice restaurant or during a sunset, but I don’t think I could have found a more perfect setting than right here” he advises as his eyes look around at our son’s nursery. I smile while nodding my head, I couldn’t agree more.

  “There has never been anyone else bar you, there will never again be anyone else bar you. You have ruined me for eternity and I have loved every single minute of it” he informs. I eagerly nod my head and place a long and steaming kiss against his lips, causing Nick to chuckle.

  “I haven’t asked you yet” he laughs against my lips. When he pulls away from my embrace, my bottom lip drops. He uses his thumb to rub along my lips, before he gently nibbles on them. When he moves in closer to me, we are that close our noses are touching.

  “Will you marry me?” he whispers softly while his dark blue eyes stare directly into mine.

  “No” I reply, causing his eyebrows to pull together tightly. “One else” I continue, triggering him to smile brightly.

  “No one else” he replies as he slips the diamond ring on my finger.

  I lift the sparkling diamond ring up for a closer inspection. It has three round brilliant cut diamonds in the middle of a thick white gold band. The diamonds are large in size but not extravagant or over the top.

  “It symbolises us. You, me and our son” he advises as he points to the three diamonds.

  This time when I devour his delicious mouth and lips, he doesn’t pull away.

  Two days later, Nick had to go back onto the road. The album had been even more successful than what they were hoping for. They have two singles in the top twenty and ‘Surrender Me’ looks like it is about to become a top ten hit. Nick’s dad Harrison stayed with me as Nick requested. It is lucky we both get along so well. I see a lot of Nick’s personality in him. He appears quiet but when you watch him you realise his eyes are always scanning his surroundings, absorbing every little detail, just like Nick.

  I have an appointment this morning with my obstetrician Dr Morgan. I don’t think there is any possibility my stomach could get any larger. I am busting out of every maternity shirt I own. I always found it fascinating looking at all the different baby bumps on display. Some women were huge like me, were others have teeny tiny little bumps. The lady sitting next to me bump is completely flat.

  “How far are you?’ I question kindly. She smiles brightly at me before she places her hand on her flat stomach.

  “A few months” she replies smiling. “I’m having a girl” she continues excitedly.

  “Congratulations” I reply, trying to mask my shock. Her belly is that small I didn’t think she would have been far enough along to know what her baby’s gender is.

  “Jenni Murphy” calls the nurse from the hallway.

  “That’s me” I respond, while eagerly jumping out of my seat. “It was nice meeting you” I inform the lady sitting next to me, before making my way towards the nurse.

  I love attending my antenatal appointments as Dr Morgan always does a quick ultrasound at every appointment. The baby has grown so much from that first little bean I saw on the screen. Now he looks like a real baby. As I am walking out of my appointment, I take a photo of the ultrasound picture and send it to Nick. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going that I accidentally run into someone standing on the footpath, causing the contents of her handbag to be scattered all over the concrete ground.

  “I’m so sorry” I apologize as I dart down as quick as my pregnant belly will allow to collect her items. Once I have her pink lipstick, tissues and a few sanitary napkins gathered, I stand back up to hand them over to her. When I peer into her hazel eyes, I realize I had just bumped into the lady that I was talking to earlier in the waiting room.

  “I’ve been such a klutz since becoming pregnant” she informs giggling, while removing the items out of my grasp. She hastily shoves them back into her purse, before her eyes turn down to look at the ultrasound picture in my hand.

  “Oh, how adorable” she gushes.

  I stay standing on the footpath talking all things pregnancy related with my new found friend for the next twenty minutes. It was only after I left did I realise that I never asked her what her name was.

  I guess I will have to ask her at the coffee catch up we have organised for next weekend.

  Chapter 37

  Nick

  “Fuck” Noah curses harshly as he throws his phone down hard against the tiled floor, causing it to shatter on impact.

  I watch the scene unfold from the corner of the room. Slater and Marcus talk to Noah and try to calm him down since his phone call to Emily hadn’t gone well. I’ve overheard Jenni talking to a sniffling Emily a handful of times the past two months. I only decided to intervene when Noah walked over to the bar in the green room and gulped whiskey down like it was water. He had gone down a similar route after his brother Chris died and I wasn’t going to watch him flush everything he has worked so hard for the past few years down the toilet.

  “You aren’t your fucking dad Noah” I informed as I snatched the bottle from his hand. Once I had screwed the lid back on, I placed the bottle back on the bar.

  “Emily fucking left me” he retaliates angrily, the darkness of his eyes cutting through mine like a knife.

  “We are going to go and perform the shit out of this song, and then you and I are going to go and sort this shit out tomorrow” I advise sternly.

  I had never use to consider Noah a friend, but now I realise that he is. He is the only one that had my back with everything that was going on with Jenni, and now I will have his.

  “Sing to her Noah, Jenni will make sure she is watching. Sing your heart out to Emily and let her know how much she means to you” Marcus suggests while moving closer to Noah and I.r />
  Noah’s dark eyes flick between his band mates that are watching him cautiously. He appears deep in thought before he eventually nods his head. I immediately called Jenni.

  “Hi baby” she states groggily into the phone. My eyes dart up to the clock displayed on the wall, showing that it is should only be a little after seven pm at home.

  “Are you okay?” I question, concerned by how tired she sounds.

  “Yeah, I think so” she replies quietly, triggering my heart to start racing.

  “I think I have a tummy bug” she continues, making me slightly chuckle.

  “It’s called a baby, I thought we had worked that out already” I respond. Her small giggles help to settle down the erratic beating of my heart.

  I end up telling Jenni that Noah is going to be performing an acoustic version of ‘Surrender Me’ on MTV. She said she would try her hardest to get Emily to watch the performance. Around an hour later, Jenni texted saying Emily had gone to bed before watching the show. The devastation on Noah’s face when I told him Emily didn’t watch his declaration of love was heart wrenching. He hardly spoke a word the entire six-hour flight home. Once we exited the plane he took off on foot for the closest taxi. Not wanting to wait for me collect my baggage or truck.

  The instant I walk in the front door of our home, Jenni greets me like she does every time I return home. She is smiling brightly as she slowly makes her way to me. She is still as gorgeous as ever, although she does look tired.

  “Did you sleep last night?” I question as I run my hand gently down her face. I haven’t seen her the past two weeks and it nearly fucking killed me.

  “A little” she replies. “I’m worried about them” she continues, nodding her head towards the kitchen. I pull her into my chest and kiss the top of her head.

  “They’ll work it out” I reply confidently.

  When I walk into the kitchen, Noah’s dark eyes look up at me. “How’d you go?” I question.

  “I haven’t talked to her yet” he replies sullenly.

  “Emily is still sleeping Nick” Jenni informs, before she wraps her arms around my waist.

  Noah sits quietly on the barstool for the next hour not saying a word. Anytime he would look over towards me, I would give him a little nod of my head and a quick smirk. Jenni had prepared a full breakfast for us, but Noah didn’t eat a thing. I can imagine how much his stomach is swirling right now, mine was doing the exact same thing only a few months ago.

  “What are you drinking?” I question Jenni when I noticed she was drinking some weird looking tea out of a glass mug.

  “Some herbal tea a friend made for me” she advises while screwing up her nose. “It’s disgusting” she continues. I can’t help but laugh when she continues to take small sips. If she hates it so much, why is she drinking it?

  Since Emily was still sleeping, I decided to grab a quick shower. It was one of the quickest showers I have ever had in my life since we had absolutely no hot water. After changing my clothes and unpacking my suitcase, I walked into the kitchen. When my feet get a stabbing sensation, my eyes dart down to the ground and notice smashed glass and a pink colored liquid all over our white tiles. My heart races when I hear a tormented and ragged scream. I bolt towards the noise, not concerned that the broken glass is cutting my feet. Jenni is crouched down leaning against the refrigerator, her arms cradling her stomach as her face constricts with pain. I freeze for mere seconds, panicked, before I rush towards her.

  “Jen, what’s wrong? Is it the baby?” I question. Her tear filled eyes turn up to look at me and when another screams expels from her body without warning, I quickly gather her in my arms and start making my way out of the kitchen, ensuring I kept her feet away from the glass. I sit her on the sofa so I can run up the stairs to grab my wallet and keys off our bedside table. By the time I make it back downstairs, Jenni is on her hands and knees in the hallway. When I notice a trail of blood that has run down her nightie, my heart plummets into my stomach.

  I gently grab her and place her under the crock of my arm as I hastily make my way to the front door.

  “Noah, hurry” I scream, my voice echoing loudly. Emily rushes towards Jenni, offering her comfort and support.

  “It’s too early Emily” Jenni whispers harshly before another ragged scream tears through her. Emily offers her words of comfort as I gently place her in the passenger seat of my truck.

  “My bag, I haven’t packed my hospital bag” Jenni advises between screams.

  Noah offers to pack a bag and bring it to the hospital. I offer my thanks while throwing him my set of keys. I grab my spare key out of the sunglasses department and fire up my truck, before taking off down the street. My heart is racing and my stomach won’t stop swirling. My eyes flicking between the road and Jenni as I race towards the hospital. Her long ragged screams change to a scream of panic, and when I turn to face her, she is looking down at her hands that are covered in blood.

  “Hold on baby” I state panicked as I push hard on my accelerator that it now sits flat on the floor of my truck.

  I mount the curb outside of the maternity department entrance before rushing around to the passenger side. Jenni is white and her nightie is saturated through with bright red blood. I gather her in my arms and dart inside the maternity ward.

  “Nick” she murmurs weakly as a team of doctors and midwifes rush towards us.

  “She is haemorrhaging, call theatre immediately” advises a dark grey haired male doctor with urgency. He motions for me to place Jenni down on a bed in a small room. He pushes on her stomach harshly, making me note how low her belly is now sitting.

  “How far is she?” he questions quickly while a flurry of midwifes move around the room.

  “Thirty-five-weeks” I respond while moving towards the top end of the bed so I am not in the way of the doctor that is completing observations on her.

  “She is fully dilated, cancel theatre it is going to take too long, we need to do an extraction” he instructs the team of people around him. They all rush around the room as I lean in to whisper in Jenni’s ear.

  “It’s okay baby, you’re okay” I advise while running my hand down her whitened cheeks.

  “What is her name?” the doctor questions as two midwifes lifts Jenni’s legs and places them in stirrups.

  “Jenni” I reply dazed.

  “Jenni, I don’t know if you can hear me, but I need you to push if you can, we are going to help you, but if you can push it will help the baby, okay?” he instructs loudly.

  A midwife places her hand on Jenni’s belly and when she nods at the doctor, he instructs for Jenni to push while a little machine next to her bed starts vibrating. The midwife pushes down hard on Jenni’s belly causing her to whimper in pain.

  “Push Jenni, push as hard as you can” instructs the doctor.

  When I notice the blood covering the doctor’s white gloves, I feel woozy and the room starts to spin. The dizziness overwhelms me that I become unsteady on my feet. All the noises around me fade into the distance. Then all I see in blackness.

  I am awoken by the sound of tiny cries. When I slowly start to blink my eyes, it suddenly dawns on me where I am. I jump out of the reclining chair that quick, I hit my head on a stainless steel light that is lowered down from the ceiling. I nearly faint again when I hear the small giggles of Jenni.

  “Welcome back” states the doctor sarcastically. He stands from the stool he was sitting on and switches off the large light, before raising it back towards the ceiling.

  I rush towards Jenni who is sitting up in the bed next to me. My eyes dart down to her stomach and notice that the large bump has significantly reduced in size. My eyes open wide in shock before they flick around the room, where I spot a teeny little baby in the corner of the room being looked over by two doctors and a midwife.

  “I’m so sorry” I apologize, mortified at the fact that I had fainted and missed the entire birth.

  “It’s okay” she replies quiet
ly, while offering me a small smile. When I roam my eyes over her beautiful face, I notice that her cheeks are lacking their normal pink hue. She looks exhausted and a little scared. Her small smile is replaced with her knock out smile when the midwife walks towards us with our son wrapped in a blue blanket.

  How could I have ever said I would never fall in love? Just one look at his little face and strawberry blonde hair and I am smitten.

  Chapter 38

  Jenni

  Nick’s bandmates are never going to let him live down the fact that he fainted during the birth of our son. To be honest, I can’t say I am any better. I have no recollection of the entire birth either. The doctor informed me that they had to extract Jasper since I was haemorrhaging. I was close to needing a blood transfusion, but managed to avoid one since the birth was so quick. The instant the placenta was delivered, I stopped bleeding. I’m still physically exhausted and in absolute agony downstairs. Nick can shove his stance on never using protection as I’m never going through labor ever again.