by Raine, Alice
Rebecca sniffed, as if feeling a bit emotional all of a sudden, then nodded. ‘In which case, you have my permission to fuss away as much as you want,’ she agreed softly, before suddenly narrowing her eyes. ‘I can’t promise I’ll always accept it graciously, though. My hormones are making me crazy some days.’
Rolling my lips tight, I nodded, trying to suppress my smile, because she was right about that; there had been several days where I’d almost wanted to don protective armour to withstand her mood swings.
‘To be honest, I didn’t want to burden you. I know you’ve got a lot on with your concert schedule at the moment.’
‘It wouldn’t be a burden, trust me.’
‘OK then, well, I’ll draw up a list of things we can do together,’ Rebecca said with a smile. ‘The baby really likes massages and bubble baths, so you know, anytime you feel like arranging them I’m sure Bump would love it.’
Grinning at the playful glint in Rebecca’s eye, I narrowed my eyes. ‘Oh, the baby likes those, does it?’
‘Mmm hmm. And milk chocolate …’ she added hopefully before linking her fingers with mine and smiling up at me.
‘I’m sure all of those things can be arranged,’ I said, rather liking the idea of pampering my girl for the next few months.
After a moment of silence where she simply played with my fingers, Rebecca gave my hand a squeeze that drew my gaze up to hers.
‘I have an idea that might make you feel more involved …’ she said speculatively.
Narrowing my eyes at both her tone and the look on her face, I was cautious as I answered. ‘OK …’
‘You could talk to the baby.’
Blinking several times, I ran her words through my mind again, trying to work out exactly what she meant. ‘What, now?’
Rebecca grinned happily at my apparent acceptance of her idea, but I was still unsure. I mean, talking to her was nice, but talking to a tiny bunch of chromosomes buried inside her stomach? That just sounded crazy.
‘Yeah. I talk to the bump all the time. Just go for it.’
Looking at her belly then back at her again I frowned. ‘Um … what do I say?’
‘Anything! Just say hello!’ Rebecca shrugged as she settled herself back onto the armrest so her belly was fully exposed to me.
Licking my lips, I placed my hands on her bump and tried to work out what the hell I should say.
‘Um … hello …’ As soon as I started speaking I felt stupid. I sat back with a huffed breath and looked at Rebecca. ‘I feel ridiculous.’
Raising her eyebrows at my pathetic attempt, she thought for a second, then seemed to have an idea because she suddenly leaned over the side of the sofa and grabbed her MP3 player and headphones. ‘What about if I don’t listen?’ she asked, waggling the music player in my face. ‘These are sound-cancelling headphones; you know how well they work. I’ll put them on and I won’t be able to hear a word you say.’
Without waiting for me to agree or not, she popped the headphones on, closed her eyes, and rested back as she started to bob her head in time to whatever she was listening to.
Looking back at her bump, I kept my hands gently moving across her belly as I did my best to put my reluctance aside and try again. ‘Hello, Baby. So, I guess I’ll be meeting you in a few months. That seems a kind of strange idea …’
Becky had been right, it was easier without her listening in, and once I started, I suddenly couldn’t seem to stop. I told the bump about my piano, my love of music, and how I had met Rebecca. I was just about to move on to tell it how amazing she was when Rebecca opened her eyes and grinned at me. She wouldn’t be able to hear me, so I carried on, but the rate at which my lips were moving surely gave away the fact that I was in full conversation flow now.
Suddenly, Rebecca ripped the headphones off and propped herself up on her elbows. ‘Oh my God, did you feel that? The baby just kicked!’
My eyes widened and I quickly splayed my hands wider on her belly, trying to feel for any movements. ‘That’s a good thing, right?’
‘Yes! It’s the first time the baby has done it.’ Rebecca joined her hands with mine as we both sat there in silence, feeling her stomach, but there wasn’t any more movement. ‘It’s stopped. Maybe it was because you were talking to it?’ she speculated quietly. ‘Do you like your daddy’s voice little one?’ she asked, staring expectantly at her belly. ‘Speak again, Nicholas!’
I cleared my throat and leaned a little closer, wondering what the hell I should say this time. ‘Hey, Baby. Ummm … so, I forgot to introduce myself last time. I’m your daddy.’ Just as I was finishing I felt a jolt under my right hand and Rebecca drew in a thrilled gasp.
‘Again, Nicholas!’
Seeing her elated expression, I tried to improvise. ‘I … I mean, me and your mummy can’t wait to meet you …’
There was another kick and both Rebecca and I gasped and looked at each other. ‘Feeling more involved now?’ she asked tearfully, and I nodded my reply, feeling a bit too choked up to answer audibly. My baby liked the sound of my voice. It was all the involvement I’d wanted, and so much more.
Chapter Nine – Rebecca
It was now four weeks since Nicholas and I had discovered that we were expecting a baby, and we still hadn’t told anyone. It had been murder keeping it from Stella, but she and Nathan had been busy preparing for the move to their new house, so we hadn’t seen them as regularly as usual.
We’d waited because we’d wanted to get it officially confirmed by a doctor, and also, because we’d had a couple of failed attempts in the past six months, we had decided to play it safe and wait for our twelve-week scan. That had been yesterday, and as it had turned out, we were probably a little further on than we had expected, with the doctor suggesting that we were probably nearer to the four-and-a-half-month mark. How the bloody hell I hadn’t realised I was pregnant sooner was beyond me, but the doctor had told me that it was surprisingly common.
I still couldn’t believe I had a little life growing inside of me, a life that Nicholas and I had created together, and I dropped my hand instinctively to the curve of my belly to give a fond rub, even though it was hidden behind my woollen jumper.
Today we had popped around to Nathan and Stella’s house and were finally going to break the news. I was excited; she’d been hinting for months that she was hoping for a niece or nephew, and now she was going to get her wish.
‘Hi!’ Opening the door with her usual smile, Stella looked down at the bottle of champagne that Nicholas was holding and her expression transformed to a grin as she was joined by Nathan. ‘Well, this is a nice surprise!’ Glancing at her watch, she wiggled her eyebrows. ‘It’s a little early, but we may as well crack this open. Go on through to the lounge; I’ll grab some glasses.’
We followed Nathan to the lounge as she disappeared off in the direction of the kitchen which left me in the daunting company of both the Jackson brothers.
Not that I found them particularly daunting any more, I reflected, watching fondly as Nathan shifted William on his shoulder and patted his back. I’d been terrified of Nicholas’s blond-haired brother when I’d first met him, and now look at him, a doting daddy. As if sensing that I was thinking about him, Nathan suddenly looked directly at me with his icy blue stare and my earlier thoughts fell away as his gaze instantly made me tense.
I knew he was intrinsically a nice guy, but wow, he could still be so intimidating. Swallowing hard, I tried to smile back and then awkwardly turned away and sunk into the nearest sofa to escape.
Nicholas began to peel the foil from the bottle as Stella came back in with four champagne flutes. ‘We were talking this morning about how good that weekend in Stow was over New Year,’ he commented as he smiled down at me and flashed me a wink.
‘It really was. We had a great time, too,’ Nathan said, as he fixed Stella with a heated stare behind his brother’s back. The resulting flush of desire that rose to her cheeks almost made me feel uncomfortable, but
it seemed that the bond between the two of them was similar in intensity to what Nicholas and I shared. One look from Nicholas could have me on edge and aroused in under a minute.
Nicholas turned to his brother with a smirk, lips twitching in a half smile. ‘I’m sure you did.’ Nicholas was clearly referring to the night we babysat for them so that Stella and Nathan could have some uninterrupted time together. It didn’t take a genius to work out what they had spent that time doing.
The cork popped from the bottle and Nicholas quickly took a glass from Stella and began to pour, thankfully drawing us away from the previous conversation. From what Stella had told me, she and Nathan were extremely sexual, just as Nicholas and I were, but as much fun as it was to gossip about it with her in private, it wasn’t exactly something I wanted to chat about with the brothers in the room.
Nicholas poured three full glasses and one half glass and then set the bottle down.
‘Actually, Nicholas, I’m not breastfeeding William any more, so I can have a full glass.’ Stella hadn’t been drinking a great deal while she’d been breastfeeding, so her assumption that the half glass was for her made sense. Little did she know that it was for me.
As she reached for the bottle to top herself up, Nicholas stopped her and handed the glass to me, causing my friend to look across at me and widen her eyes.
‘Rebecca and I have some news …’
Judging from the expectant look now crossing Stella’s face she’d already guessed what Nicholas was about to say, but he pulled me close to his side and smiled down at me before speaking anyway. ‘We’re pregnant. William is going to have a cousin.’
Stella bundled me into a hug, then gave Nicholas a quick, slightly awkward embrace before standing back with a grin. ‘Wow, congratulations! I like the way you said “we’re pregnant”, that’s so sweet.’
It was kind of sweet, but I laughed and rolled my eyes before poking Nicholas playfully in the ribs. ‘We? I don’t see you jumping up at five in the morning to throw your guts up, or needing to pee continuously.’
‘I do get up and hold your hair back when you’re throwing up, though,’ he added quietly, which was true. I couldn’t moan really. Since the day we’d done the test and Nicholas had declared that he “wanted to be involved in every step”, he had done exactly that. He attended doctor’s appointments with me, had researched the best foods for me and the baby, had taken over the majority of the housework, and, yes, when I was suffering with morning sickness he did indeed hold my hair back and get me drinks of water and ginger tea.
I gave him a reassuring smile and turned back to Stella and Nathan just as Nathan was holding his glass aloft to toast. ‘Congratulations!’
We all chinked glasses and took a sip, and I had to smile at the way that Nicholas watched me drink like a hawk. ‘Not too much, baby.’
‘A few sips won’t hurt, Nicholas. Anyway, you barely poured me a thimbleful, so there’s no risk of me having too much!’
I could see that this was difficult for him. Nicholas’s impulsive side was desperate to assert his control and stop me drinking, but his sensible head also knew that what I said was true so he was trying to hold back. Bless him. He was so much better at suppressing his irrational outbursts now, but I suspected this pregnancy was really going to test him and his need to protect me.
‘We would have told you sooner, but couldn’t get the scan done until yesterday. My usual consultant was away, and the only person available to do the three-month scan was less senior,’ I explained, before giving Nicholas another amused glance.
My man was having none of it, though, and he straightened his shoulders and fixed me with an unrelenting stare, completely unwilling to back down. ‘Nicholas was uncomfortable with that, so we waited for Dr Reece to return from her holiday.’
Stella almost spat out her champagne at that and then giggled. ‘Let me guess, you only wanted the best doctors for Rebecca?’
Glancing up at my fella, I saw him narrowing his eyes at her question, but she had hit the nail right on the head.
‘It’s OK, don’t look embarrassed. Nathan was the same. I think we had the most expensive private consultant in London at my first scan!’ she replied casually. I had suspected Nathan would have been similarly protective. As brothers went, these two had more than just their good looks in common; their demand for perfection in everything was incredibly similar, too.
Now both of our Jackson brothers looked irritated, something which Stella also noticed because she flashed me a glance that seemed to say “oops” and quickly changed the subject. ‘So you’ve already had your three-month scan, then?’
‘Yep, the doctor actually thinks we might be closer to four and a half months along.’
Stella’s face lit up, then her gaze dropped to my stomach, obviously looking for a bump.
‘I have started to show in the last few weeks, but being cold it’s been easy to hide it under my baggy jumpers.’
Pulling my top tight made the bump obvious, and Stella made a goofy face as she looked at it.
‘I’ve got some pregnancy books upstairs. Do you want to borrow them?’
‘Ooh, yes please. Nicholas has bought us some already, but let’s have a look at what you’ve got.’ I took another small sip of my fizz before popping it on the table and following her from the room.
Stella
‘This is so exciting, Becky!’ I squeaked as we made our way up the stairs.
‘I know! It feels like we’ve been trying for ages, so when we got the tests half of me had expected it to be another false alarm. But nope!’
I pulled the stack of books from the shelf, then stood up and dumped them on the bed before turning back to Rebecca.
Instead of looking at the books she was looking at my necklace with a smile. ‘Wow, I never noticed before just how well the jewels in your necklace match your ring. It’s like they were made as a set.’ Leaning in closer, she examined my collar in greater detail and nodded. ‘Now you’ll never be able to take it off.’
Ha! If only she knew! Not that I would ever want to remove my collar, but I literally couldn’t take it off, because it had been locked by Nathan and the key was currently tucked away in his safe. Not that Becky was aware of that, of course. I’d simply told her that it was my favourite necklace, and given that as the excuse for why I always wore it.
‘So, while I have you alone I have to ask you what Nathan was like during your pregnancy, because Nicholas is already driving me nuts!’ Rebecca gave me a knowing look and sunk down onto the side of the bed as she began to flick through the first book.
‘A little over-protective, is he?’ I asked, before a full-on belly laugh escaped my throat as I fondly remembered how stressed Nathan had got himself in his desperation at keeping me “safe”.
‘God, yes. It’s sweet, really, but I just wondered if it was something both brothers did.’
Sitting down beside her, I nodded and gave my best sympathetic smile. ‘If Nicholas is even half as bad as Nathan was then you’ll have to get used to it. He even tried to cut up my food for me for several weeks in case I choked …’
‘Seriously?’ Rebecca squeaked, her eyes widening.
‘Yep. We had his chef friend Marcus living with us for a while, too, to make sure I was eating balanced meals that were good for me and Will.’
‘Oh my God. It seems I’m getting off lightly at the moment!’ Rebecca laughed, before a slightly concerned look crossed her face. ‘I shouldn’t complain. It’s lovely that he’s so interested in it all. I know some women have to do it all alone.’
‘Very true. Our fellas might be a little OTT on the possessive and protective fronts, but it’s kinda sweet really. I think we’re both pretty lucky, actually.’
‘We are,’ Rebecca agreed with a nod. ‘Maybe we should get back downstairs, though, just in case Nathan is giving Nicholas any more ideas …’
Chapter Ten – Nicholas
Clearing my throat, I glanced at Nathan and deci
ded to spit my question out while I had the chance. ‘While the girls are upstairs there’s something I wanted to ask you, brother.’
Nathan looked intrigued, folding his arms and nodding. ‘Of course, fire away.’
‘I was just wondering … well, I mean …’ Bloody hell, this was far harder than I’d thought. ‘I wanted to ask about Rebecca’s pregnancy, and … sex.’
‘Good question.’ Leaning forwards, Nathan rested his hands onto his knees and gave a slow, solemn nod as if he were about to impart some great secret upon me. ‘Yes, sex is indeed how she got pregnant.’
It took a second for his lame attempt at a joke to sink in, especially because his facial expression was so serious, but when it finally clicked I rolled my eyes and hit out at him with a punch to the arm. ‘Piss off, Nathan.’ My fuckwad brother threw his head back and laughed, and the sound made me pause for a second in surprise. I could probably count on one hand the times I’d heard him laugh when we were growing up. He’d been so grave and intense as a kid – we both had, I suppose – but now, since meeting Stella and having William, he laughed a lot more frequently. It was really good to see, but didn’t lessen the fact that he was teasing me now, when I actually wanted his advice.
‘You know what I mean.’ It was embarrassing enough asking this stuff in the first place, but to have him take the piss as well meant that my cheeks were now burning.
‘Sorry, I couldn’t resist winding you up. What did you want to know?’
Pulling in a breath, I shrugged self-consciously, not sure I wanted to carry on the conversation any more. ‘I’ve read a load of the pregnancy books and they say we’re OK to have sex right the way through the pregnancy, but I can’t help worrying that I’ll hurt Becky, or the baby. I just wondered how you dealt with it?’
Nodding his head in understanding, he rubbed at his jaw as he considered his answer, thankfully seeming to take it seriously now. ‘I had the same concerns, so I spoke to a doctor when Stella was carrying Will. He said the same. Sex is fine.’ Nathan paused, then flashed me a filthy grin. ‘Even with tackle the size of mine.’ I wasn’t exactly small in that department, either, and it had been one of the reasons for my concern. Big dicks – it was probably the only thing we had to thank our miserable excuse of a father for, but I let out a relieved breath and joined my brother in a grin.