much of a romantic hero he was pretending to be, he had to know it, too.
But I said nothing at all as I allowed him to touch me, kiss me… claim me. We christened our marriage bed and he rolled over and fell into a sated, contented sleep.
He was gone before I rose the next morning.
I felt positively green as I lumbered down to the kitchen. “Ma’am,” Cleo greeted with a warm smile as she handed me a cup of decaffeinated tea.
“You know better than that,” I corrected with a wink. “I’m still Rachel. That hasn’t changed.”
She mirrored my smile but I could tell orders from a higher authority than me overrode my friendly offer. I sat at the table and ate the egg whites and plain toast she had prepared for me. I nibbled cautiously and washed it down with some apple juice. I had already gotten sick when I attempted to brush my teeth, so I ate slowly. Jonathan, who had grown tired of waiting for me in our office, finally came to find me.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he hopped on the chair next to me.
“Some mornings are better than others,” I answered with a smile.
“Was it like this last time?” he probed gently.
I thought back to my first pregnancy. I had been just as sick, only with no one to take care of me. It made those first few months even harder than they had to be. I finally nodded. “Comes with the territory, I guess.”
“We can take the day off if you’d like,” he offered but I shook my head.
“No way. I cannot handle one more day of doing nothing more than turning oxygen into carbon dioxide.”
“You’re doing much more than that,” he corrected. “You’re g rowing a baby. Which reminds me; I have another surprise.”
He led me to our workspace, where a folder lay on top of my desk. “What’s this?”
“Open it!” he grinned.
I opened the flap and there were all kinds of assignments that he had completed, assignments I had never given him.
“I found it online,” he said. “Eighth grade health. I think I’m ready, don’t you?”
I laughed. “You are more than ready as always, Jonathan.”
He ran over to the bookshelf. “I bought this really cool book. It has lots of photos from inside the womb. This way I can watch how the baby is growing and developing. I even downloaded a calendar,” he said as he opened up his tablet computer.
“At this rate, you’ll be a doctor,” I grinned.
He shrugged. “Like I have the choice,” he said. “My career was decided for me before I was even born.”
His resignation to his fate made me sad. “You always have a choice, Jonathan. I’m sure your father will understand if you find your passion elsewhere.”
He gave me a knowing side-eye glance with a cocked eyebrow. It only made me giggle in spite of myself. I amended it to say, “Well, you aren’t taking over FEI yet. So do what makes you happy.” While you still can , I added in my head.
That afternoon we began his eighth grade curriculum. He already had a head start in health and biology, so I was tasked filling in the rest. As I stared at the computer, I found myself nodding off yet again, which frustrated me. I wasn’t used to my body fighting me when it came to the more fast-paced schedule I had begun almost two years ago with Jonathan. There had been relatively few limitations to our curriculum before. If we wanted to go, we went. If we wanted to finish a project, we finished it. I was always ahead of the curve, but my body had other priorities.
Jonathan finally insisted that I take a nap, and walked me upstairs to the master suite to ensure I took one. “Yes, Doc,” I grinned as I crawled into bed. He poured me a glass of water and perched on the edge of the bed. I took his hand in mine. “Thanks again for the nursery, Jonathan. That was so sweet and so unexpected. I still don’t know how you pulled it off.”
He shrugged. “I had a lot of help,” he dismissed humbly.
I raised my eyebrows and waited. Finally he relented with a sheepish
But I said nothing at all as I allowed him to touch me, kiss me… claim me. We christened our marriage bed and he rolled over and fell into a sated, contented sleep.
He was gone before I rose the next morning.
I felt positively green as I lumbered down to the kitchen. “Ma’am,” Cleo greeted with a warm smile as she handed me a cup of decaffeinated tea.
“You know better than that,” I corrected with a wink. “I’m still Rachel. That hasn’t changed.”
She mirrored my smile but I could tell orders from a higher authority than me overrode my friendly offer. I sat at the table and ate the egg whites and plain toast she had prepared for me. I nibbled cautiously and washed it down with some apple juice. I had already gotten sick when I attempted to brush my teeth, so I ate slowly. Jonathan, who had grown tired of waiting for me in our office, finally came to find me.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he hopped on the chair next to me.
“Some mornings are better than others,” I answered with a smile.
“Was it like this last time?” he probed gently.
I thought back to my first pregnancy. I had been just as sick, only with no one to take care of me. It made those first few months even harder than they had to be. I finally nodded. “Comes with the territory, I guess.”
“We can take the day off if you’d like,” he offered but I shook my head.
“No way. I cannot handle one more day of doing nothing more than turning oxygen into carbon dioxide.”
“You’re doing much more than that,” he corrected. “You’re g rowing a baby. Which reminds me; I have another surprise.”
He led me to our workspace, where a folder lay on top of my desk. “What’s this?”
“Open it!” he grinned.
I opened the flap and there were all kinds of assignments that he had completed, assignments I had never given him.
“I found it online,” he said. “Eighth grade health. I think I’m ready, don’t you?”
I laughed. “You are more than ready as always, Jonathan.”
He ran over to the bookshelf. “I bought this really cool book. It has lots of photos from inside the womb. This way I can watch how the baby is growing and developing. I even downloaded a calendar,” he said as he opened up his tablet computer.
“At this rate, you’ll be a doctor,” I grinned.
He shrugged. “Like I have the choice,” he said. “My career was decided for me before I was even born.”
His resignation to his fate made me sad. “You always have a choice, Jonathan. I’m sure your father will understand if you find your passion elsewhere.”
He gave me a knowing side-eye glance with a cocked eyebrow. It only made me giggle in spite of myself. I amended it to say, “Well, you aren’t taking over FEI yet. So do what makes you happy.” While you still can , I added in my head.
That afternoon we began his eighth grade curriculum. He already had a head start in health and biology, so I was tasked filling in the rest. As I stared at the computer, I found myself nodding off yet again, which frustrated me. I wasn’t used to my body fighting me when it came to the more fast-paced schedule I had begun almost two years ago with Jonathan. There had been relatively few limitations to our curriculum before. If we wanted to go, we went. If we wanted to finish a project, we finished it. I was always ahead of the curve, but my body had other priorities.
Jonathan finally insisted that I take a nap, and walked me upstairs to the master suite to ensure I took one. “Yes, Doc,” I grinned as I crawled into bed. He poured me a glass of water and perched on the edge of the bed. I took his hand in mine. “Thanks again for the nursery, Jonathan. That was so sweet and so unexpected. I still don’t know how you pulled it off.”
He shrugged. “I had a lot of help,” he dismissed humbly.
I raised my eyebrows and waited. Finally he relented with a sheepish
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