Black Jack: A nail biting, hair-raising thriller (Jack Ryder Book 4)

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B
LACK JACK
: A card game in which the player attempts to approach 21 but not exceed it.

H
aving
a baby was by far the greatest thing to have happened to Susan Murray. She knew it would be, since they all said so, literally
everyone
who touched her stomach told her that it was the biggest thing she was ever going to experience in life.

And she believed them.

But they hadn’t told her the entire truth had they? They hadn’t exactly told her how hard it was going to be nor had they mentioned the many endless
sleepless nights. Well that’s not exactly true, her friend Marley had said she would lose sleep, but she had added that it
would be totally worth it.

She hadn’t mentioned the fact that Susan was going to feel like she was constantly run over by a dumb truck. Nor had she mentioned that she and her husband, Bob was going to be yelling at each other in the middle of the night because she simply couldn’t take being waken up yet again, because the baby had to eat.

And so far it had been only twenty-one days.

Susan sighed and looked at her husband sitting across the table from her while shoveling in granola and yoghurt. In front of her lingered a bowl of cereal that she was way too exhausted to eat. She had Chandelle on her arm, as she was still breastfeeding and had been all morning.

Doesn’t this baby ever take a break?

Susan knew she was supposed to sleep whenever the baby did, but so far she had hardly slept at all. Not more than an hour here and there.

“Try and eat something,” Bob said flatly, leftover milk in his beard. “You need the strength.”

Susan grabbed the spoon in the one free hand and leaned over to eat. But as she did, the baby started to fuss.

“She’s doing it again,” Susan said with a deep sigh and dropped the spoon back in the bowl. She gazed frustrated at her husband even if she knew he couldn’t do anything about it. “It’s like she can’t suck properly.”

Bob sighed and looked at his watch. “Listen, babe. I have to get to work.”

Of course he did. For the first time in their marriage Susan was actually jealous of him. She used to be a teacher, but when she married Bob and became pregnant he told her it was time to quit, that now she was becoming a mother and had to take care of their child.

Susan had loved the idea. She wasn’t very fond of teaching. It hadn’t quite lived up to her expectations when dreaming about becoming a teacher. Kids could be monsters from time to time.

But right now she would take a day with her second-graders anytime over this. The thought of spending yet another day alone with this small baby, doing nothing but breastfeeding and changing diapers all day, was devastating. She missed leaving the house; she missed talking to her colleagues at the school.

She even missed the kids.

Bob got up from his chair, grabbed his car keys and kissed Susan on the forehead. That was the most intimate they had been for weeks.

“It’ll get better,” he whispered. “I know it is hard right now. But that’s expected, right? Everyone goes through this, but they all say it’ll get better.”

Susan nodded and closed her eyes while thinking
easy for you to say, you don’t have to stay inside all day while someone is literally sucking life right out of you.

“I’m really proud of you,” he said before he closed the door behind him and left her alone once again.

Chandelle fussed in her arms struggling to get enough out of her breast. Susan hushed her and stroked her head gently.

“There now. Just take it easy. It’ll get better.”

And just as she said the words, Chandelle reached out and grabbed Susan’s finger in her hand and held on to it. The emotion rolling through Susan’s body was overwhelming, overpowering and soon she found herself crying, sobbing in happiness, completely forgetting the sleepless hours and the loneliness. At least for a few seconds.

Yes, having a baby surely was the greatest thing that had ever happened to Susan. And even if it was tough right now, she was going to long desperately to have this time back, for many years to come.