teaching.
Chapter 3
I was dreaming.
Nicolas pressed me up against the back doors of his living room, the bright, California sunshine making everything seem brighter than it really was. He was saying something, but I couldn’t hear him. At the same time, his hands slid over my ribs and I realized that I was no longer pregnant. My body had returned to the way it’d been before, curvy, but slender. I tried to ask him where the babies were, but my voice didn’t seem capable of sound, either. It was like we were standing in a vacuum that stole every word before it left our lips.
A pain sliced through my back. I thought that maybe the glass door had shattered, that a piece of glass had pierced my skin. But then the pain let up.
I touched the side of Nicolas’ face and drew him close to me. Our lips brushed. He stole my breath as he always did whenever he kissed me. And then he stole more than that, the tip of his tongue asking for entrance as he tugged my body closer to his—
Then the pain was back. This time it sliced through my lower back and then radiated around my belly. I wanted to touch that spot, to see what it was that was causing the pain, but Nicolas grabbed my hand and tugged it back up to his chest.
I wanted to lose myself in Nicolas. I wanted to enjoy his kiss; I wanted to enjoy the feel of his body against mine; I wanted to anticipate what came next. But that pain…
I moaned as it came again. The dream began to fade. I whispered his name, “Nico,” as he disappeared and the pain became all I was aware of.
“I’m here,” his voice whispered, but it wasn’t the dream Nicolas.
I opened my eyes, and he was sitting in the chair Daniel had vacated hours ago. He leaned forward and brushed a piece of hair out of my face, the first touch he’d offered since Thanksgiving Day.
And the pain sliced through me again.
“Oh, God,” I hissed, my hand brushing over my enormously swollen belly.
“What is it?” Nicolas asked softly.
“It hurts.”
He immediately jumped up and grabbed the remote wrapped around the safety bar of my hospital bed and pushed the call button. A nurse’s fuzzy voice answered a second later over the intercom system.
“How can I help you?”
“She’s in pain.”
“Okay. Someone will be there in a minute.”
The pain wrapped around my back again, like a belt that someone had pulled too tight. My belly hardened under my hand, a boulder threatening to suffocate the babies. I whimpered, tears forming in my eyes despite the fact that I really didn’t want to look so weak in front of Nicolas. I wanted him to go away; I wanted him to go back into my dream. I didn’t want him to see me like this.
But he didn’t. He moved close to me, his face inches from mine as he slid his hand into mine.
“They’ll be here in a minute.”
The pain again. I squeezed his hand harder than I’d thought myself capable of. He didn’t flinch, didn’t try to pull away. He squeezed back, as he brushed more hair out of my face with his other hand.
“You’re okay, baby,” he said. “They’ll be here soon.”
“It hurts.”
“I know.” He glanced over at the door, but he didn’t move away. Instead, he slid a little closer to me, so close that his nose was nearly touching mine. “You’re going to be okay. This is going to be over very soon.”
I barely heard his last words. The pain radiated around my belly again, slicing through me like a Thor’s hammer through a boulder. I cried out, pulling my legs up toward my belly as I instinctively tried to move into a fetal position. Ironic, really. But it didn’t help. It made it worse somehow.
The door opened and a nurse came over to the bed.
“What seems to be wrong?”
I just groaned. I couldn’t even speak.
“What do you think? She’s in pain!”
The nurse moved around the bed and glanced at the machine monitoring the babies. I thought for a minute that the monitor belts had shifted again. Or that the heartbeats
Chapter 3
I was dreaming.
Nicolas pressed me up against the back doors of his living room, the bright, California sunshine making everything seem brighter than it really was. He was saying something, but I couldn’t hear him. At the same time, his hands slid over my ribs and I realized that I was no longer pregnant. My body had returned to the way it’d been before, curvy, but slender. I tried to ask him where the babies were, but my voice didn’t seem capable of sound, either. It was like we were standing in a vacuum that stole every word before it left our lips.
A pain sliced through my back. I thought that maybe the glass door had shattered, that a piece of glass had pierced my skin. But then the pain let up.
I touched the side of Nicolas’ face and drew him close to me. Our lips brushed. He stole my breath as he always did whenever he kissed me. And then he stole more than that, the tip of his tongue asking for entrance as he tugged my body closer to his—
Then the pain was back. This time it sliced through my lower back and then radiated around my belly. I wanted to touch that spot, to see what it was that was causing the pain, but Nicolas grabbed my hand and tugged it back up to his chest.
I wanted to lose myself in Nicolas. I wanted to enjoy his kiss; I wanted to enjoy the feel of his body against mine; I wanted to anticipate what came next. But that pain…
I moaned as it came again. The dream began to fade. I whispered his name, “Nico,” as he disappeared and the pain became all I was aware of.
“I’m here,” his voice whispered, but it wasn’t the dream Nicolas.
I opened my eyes, and he was sitting in the chair Daniel had vacated hours ago. He leaned forward and brushed a piece of hair out of my face, the first touch he’d offered since Thanksgiving Day.
And the pain sliced through me again.
“Oh, God,” I hissed, my hand brushing over my enormously swollen belly.
“What is it?” Nicolas asked softly.
“It hurts.”
He immediately jumped up and grabbed the remote wrapped around the safety bar of my hospital bed and pushed the call button. A nurse’s fuzzy voice answered a second later over the intercom system.
“How can I help you?”
“She’s in pain.”
“Okay. Someone will be there in a minute.”
The pain wrapped around my back again, like a belt that someone had pulled too tight. My belly hardened under my hand, a boulder threatening to suffocate the babies. I whimpered, tears forming in my eyes despite the fact that I really didn’t want to look so weak in front of Nicolas. I wanted him to go away; I wanted him to go back into my dream. I didn’t want him to see me like this.
But he didn’t. He moved close to me, his face inches from mine as he slid his hand into mine.
“They’ll be here in a minute.”
The pain again. I squeezed his hand harder than I’d thought myself capable of. He didn’t flinch, didn’t try to pull away. He squeezed back, as he brushed more hair out of my face with his other hand.
“You’re okay, baby,” he said. “They’ll be here soon.”
“It hurts.”
“I know.” He glanced over at the door, but he didn’t move away. Instead, he slid a little closer to me, so close that his nose was nearly touching mine. “You’re going to be okay. This is going to be over very soon.”
I barely heard his last words. The pain radiated around my belly again, slicing through me like a Thor’s hammer through a boulder. I cried out, pulling my legs up toward my belly as I instinctively tried to move into a fetal position. Ironic, really. But it didn’t help. It made it worse somehow.
The door opened and a nurse came over to the bed.
“What seems to be wrong?”
I just groaned. I couldn’t even speak.
“What do you think? She’s in pain!”
The nurse moved around the bed and glanced at the machine monitoring the babies. I thought for a minute that the monitor belts had shifted again. Or that the heartbeats
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