Booby Trapped and Baby Proofed (18 page)

“Can I at least get up and sit at the table with you guys to eat dinner? I promise I won’t over do it.”

“Just this once,” Harrison said.

Angel removed her feet from the pillows and turned slowly until she found the edge of the bed. She tried to get to her feet.

Harrison must have sensed her dilemma and came to assist. She actually ended up in his arms. He tightened them around her.

“I have to pee,” she told him.

Harrison released her.

Angel waddled into the master backroom and re-entered a few minutes later. She couldn’t help but notice the look in his eyes as she tried stretching her gown around her hips and breasts. Everything had grown in size. Did he not find her desirable anymore?

“You look simply edible,” he told her.

“I do not,” Angel said, wiggling out his arms. She waddled toward the bedroom door while Harrison scooped up Ethan.

“Look at that ass,” Harrison said, following behind her to the kitchen.

“Are you flirting with me?” she asked.

“Yes. I think we need some alone time together after Ethan goes to sleep.”

Angel smirked. The doctor had put her on bed rest and gave her till the end of the week to end all sexual activities. Then poor Harrison would have to wait almost two months before they could resume intercourse again. “I’ll pencil you onto my schedule,” she said when they finally reached the kitchen.

Harrison had removed the high chair and a booster seat sat in its place. She looked at Ethan prepared for him to have a fit, but the child surprised her by getting into the new seat without a complaint.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Harrison told her. “We are the parents around here, not him.”

He must have been like this with the younger Marines. Make a suggestion and then take action when they failed to cooperate. She suspected Ethan might still be too young to toss into the brig, but she wasn’t going to test the theory.

Harrison spooned up the bowls with soup, making sure Ethan had more vegetables than beef and broth so he could feed himself. He took the crackers out of the cabinet and the butter from the refrigerator and placed them before her.

Angel buttered up a couple of crackers while Ethan watched. She handed one to him.

Ethan sampled the butter with his tongue, and then bit a piece of the cracker. He smiled.

“He likes crackers,” Angel informed Harrison while he fixed iced tea for the adults and water for Ethan.

“I’m glad. They go good with soup.” He finally sat down and began to eat.

Angel noticed how tired he looked. Harrison had dark circles under his eyes. His original plan was to teach karate once or twice a week. Now he taught four days.

“Why don’t you hire another instructor to take over a couple of your classes?” Angel suggested.

“Why are you suggesting this all of a sudden?”

“Because you have dark circles under your eyes. You must be tired after working, and then coming home to take care of us.”

“Funny you should mention it. I have taken an ad out for another instructor. But it has nothing to do with me being tired. I want to be home to help with the baby, and taking care of you guys is my number one priority. I hired good instructors and I have no problem running a business from home.”

She knew he meant her with that last statement. She wondered how long he would last being home with Sweet Pea.

Angel went back to eating her soup.

“Do you think you’ll be up to spending Thanksgiving with Trudy and Jeb?” Harrison asked.

“I won’t know until Thursday morning. I really want to spend some time with them, but I have to make sure I don’t overdo it.”

Harrison looked over toward her. “Haven’t you been feeling well?”

“I have my good days and my bad days. Today is a good day. The swelling has gone down some. Sweet Pea has moved in position, so now it’s just a waiting game.” Her due date was just a couple of weeks away. Angel noticed the concerned looked on Harrison’s face. “We’ll take it nice and slow tonight, because we have to savor it,” she said.

He nodded. “We’ll just have to be more created and less invasive.” He ran his tongue over his lips.

“Bad boy,” Angel said to him.

Ethan looked at her. “Not you baby, Daddy. Put Daddy in time out,” he suggested, going back to his food.

Harrison chuckled. “After tonight, Daddy will be in time out.”

****

Angel woke up having a good day on Thanksgiving morning. Harrison dressed Ethan while she got ready. They went to church first, and then drove past the beach to Trudy and Jeb’s house.

“Ooh, look at you,” Jeb said to Angel after Harrison helped her out of the car and to the door. “You look like you’re ready to pop.”

“I feel like it too,” Angel said, stepping inside the house and allowing Jeb to help her out of her coat.

Harrison got Ethan out of his coat and Ethan ran off to find Trudy. He helped Angel to the sofa so she could rest. Earlier, he’d helped her with her hair, taking sheer delight in picking out her killer afro. A few minutes later, Trudy came down the stairs carrying baby Marsha with Ethan bringing up the rear. Trudy had lost most of the baby weight, but her stomach still appeared to be swollen.

“Let me see the baby,” Angel said excitedly.

“Sure,” Trudy said. “Be careful, she weighs a ton.” Trudy gently put the baby in Angel’s arms and the baby rested on her abdomen.

Ethan came around Trudy and sat down on the sofa next to Angel. “Baby” he said, pointing to the infant.

Harrison watched his son’s reaction to his new cousin. Ethan just stared at the baby and then at Angel.

“She’s such a good baby,” Angel said, now rocking Marsha in her arms. “Do you want to hold the baby, Ethan?”

“No,” Ethan said, scooting over on the sofa.

“Oh, oh,” Jeb said.

“Go say hello to your new cousin,” Harrison told Ethan.

“No,” Ethan said.

Harrison walked over and asked to hold the baby. He bent over and Angel put the infant into his arms. Harrison cuddled the baby. Marsha had dark brown hair like Jeb, but she had Trudy’s blue eyes. The baby moved around in his arms. “See, Daddy’s not afraid of the baby.”

Ethan scooted back over to Angel and tried to hug her. His arms couldn’t quite reach around her belly. “My Angel.”

“Oh, he’s jealous,” Trudy said, sitting down in a chair. “What are you two going to do?”

“I kind of suspected this would happen,” Angel said, reaching down and stroking Ethan’s curls. “He’s become so attached to me. I just hope we can get him to understand that I’m the baby’s mama too.”

Harrison walked the back over to Trudy and placed Marsha into her arms. “He has no choice but to get used to the idea. Sweet Pea will be here shortly and we’re bringing her home from the hospital.”

“Sweet Pea?” Trudy asked.

Angel smiled. “It’s Harrison’s nickname for the baby.”

“Are you having a girl?” Jeb asked.

Angel shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t want the doctor to tell us. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“It’s a girl,” Harrison said. “I just know it.”

“You’re full of crap,” Trudy told him. “It could be a boy.”

“Nope,” Harrison said. “Sweet Pea is definitely a girl. She’s going to be the first female Marine in the family.”

Jeb laughed. “What about Ethan? Is he going to be a Marine too?”

Harrison shook his head. “No, he’s going to be the President of the United States.”

“Not if he doesn’t learn to share,” Angel said. “A president must show diplomacy.”

“He’s three,” Harrison told her. “He has plenty of time to learn to govern a nation.”

Ethan moved his arm quickly off Angel’s stomach.

“What’s wrong with him?” Harrison asked.

“Sweet Pea just kicked him,” Angel said with a smile.

“Sweet Pea kicked me,” Ethan said. “Bad baby.”

****

After sharing a delicious meal of roasted turkey, stuffing, potato salad, and cranberry sauce with Jeb and Trudy, Harrison escorted his family back to the car and took them home.

Ethan fell asleep in his car seat, and Harrison had to lift him and carry the sleeping child into the house. Ethan never warmed up to Marsha and stayed as far away from her as he could all day. The child’s attitude worried him, and he wondered how he would act once Sweet Pea moved into the nursery.

He didn’t think Ethan would hurt the baby, but he couldn’t be sure. He got along with Roy and he hadn’t heard of the two of them fighting or arguing.

Angel had already undressed and was in bed by the time he arrived in their room. She wore a black negligee that showed her fuller breasts. “Is Ethan still asleep?” she asked, watching him undress.

Harrison nodded. “He’s out like a light.” Harrison continued to strip out of his clothes. “Now no more talk about him. This is our time.” He’d been waiting so patiently for the day to go by so he could cuddle with his wife. They could no longer have intercourse, but there were other ways to express their feelings.

Angel still had the warmest mouth in town and had no problems using it on his cock. But she wouldn’t allow him to go down on her, fearing an orgasm might send her into labor prematurely. It didn’t seem fair to him, but he understood.

Chapter Fifteen

The day care center was closed for the day because one of the main water pipes had frozen and burst, and the plumbers would be working all day to correct the problem. So Ethan had to stay home with her while Harrison went off to work and to check on the plumbing at the dojo.

After breakfast, he spent the morning in his newly decorated room watching Sesame Street and drawing. For lunch, Angel got out of bed and made him a tuna fish sandwich, but nothing for her. She didn’t have much of an appetite and she felt so tired. She’d had her last doctor’s appointment yesterday. The swelling had gone down in her legs and ankles, and he told her that the baby’s heart sounded strong. He also told her not to go anywhere because she could go into labor any day now.

Angel put on the central heating. It had started to sleet outside and she’d been feeling a draft all morning. She checked on Ethan and then took out her laptop to check on the Christmas gifts she and Harrison had ordered for him.

Harrison had put up the tree and decorations right after Thanksgiving and Ethan had helped him.

The baby moved around in her stomach. Angel gently massaged the spot. Sweet Pea had become frisky lately and always seemed more active in the afternoon and at night. But today she must be in a good mood because she had been kicking since early this morning.

Angel peeped in on Ethan again and found him napping in his new bed, snuggled under his new SpongeBob comforter. She tiptoed into his room and turned off the television. Angel was just about to go back into her room when she got a sharp pain in the lower part of her stomach. “Oh,” she groaned. It felt like a very strong menstrual cramp.
Maybe I’m moving around too much
. She turned and tired to make it to her room, but she felt another pain. She grabbed her stomach. This one was more painful than the first one.
Maybe I should go lie down
.

Pain shot down both legs as she walked back to her bedroom. She got back into bed and tried to go back to sleep, but the pain kept her awake. She groaned as her forehead beaded with sweat.
Maybe I should turn the heater off
.

Pain shot through her as she rose from the bed. A warm liquid seeped from her vagina. “Oh, oh,” she said aloud.
My water just broke
. She turned and headed to the dresser to get clean underwear and to hunt for a change of clothes. Her stomach ached like she needed to use the toilet. Angel waddled to the bathroom to clean herself up. The pains continued to come, and Sweet Pea kicked her fiercely in the ribs.

It took everything she had to wash up and put on a clean dress. She put on a sanitary pad so she wouldn’t mess up her underwear. She had just made it back to the bed when a big pain hit. It felt like someone stuck a red hot poker between her legs. Angel cried out loudly from the pain. She had to call Harrison, but she didn’t think she could make it over to the telephone on the dresser. Another pain hit. She clutched her stomach and groaned.

“What’s wrong, my Angel?”

Her groaning had awoken Ethan. He stood at the side of the bed staring at her.

“Angel’s stomach hurts,” she told him as another pain shot through her gut. She cried out again. “I have to call Daddy.”

Ethan came closer and felt her forehead. “Your head is wet,” he told her.

“Yes. Go get the telephone off the dresser so I can call Daddy.”

Ethan looked at her and then walked over to the dresser and picked up the phone.

Angel got another pain.

“I call Daddy,” Ethan said.

Angel groaned and felt like she was about to pass out.

****

“Hello?” Harrison said, answering the phone. He recognized the house phone number.

“Hey, Daddy.”

“Ethan?”
Who taught him how to dial the phone
?

“My Angel is sick.”

“Put My Angel on the phone,” Harrison told him.

“Angel’s crying,” Ethan said. “Her stomach hurts.”

Shit
, Harrison thought.
Angel’s in labor
.

“Tell Angel I’m on my way.”

“Daddy’s coming home,” he heard the child say as he dashed through the dojo with the cell phone on his ear. It would take him about ten minutes to get to his car and to get home. “What is My Angel doing?” he asked Ethan.

“Crying,” Ethan said. “Her stomach hurts.”

Harrison told Bill what was going on as he rushed through the dojo. He ran outside and jumped into his car. All the while he could hear Angel moaning in the background. A few minutes later, the phone went dead.

Harrison drove home as quickly as he could. The sleet was coming down harder and the roads were slippery. He made it home about fifteen minutes later, left the car running, and hurried into the house. He found Angel on the bed with Ethan seated next to her, stroking her brow. “Angel, baby, can you hear me?”

Angel opened her eyes slowly. “Yes,” she said.