“What are you doing here?” she asks once we enter our bedroom. “Why are they with you?”
“I texted you this morning. Didn’t you get it?”
She picks her phone up from the dresser. “Oh. I missed it. You’re going to clear out the room for the nursery?”
I nod. “Yeah. The guys are here to help. Free labor.” She’s looking at me like she’s having an emotional reaction, so I add, “Everything still going in the building? What do you want to stay in the house?”
That helps snap her out of it. She starts telling me her plans and once she’s done, I nod once before leaving her to get dressed. I have to remove the sheets from the bed first. We move that into the building. By the time we come back, Hadley has planted herself right outside of the room, watching us. The bed and the nightstand are the main things she wanted in the building. While Darryl and James move the dresser, which is going in my workout room for the time being, Andre and I take apart the bed frame.
“Hadley, it looks like you’ve only put on ten pounds. My poor wife is up to twenty almost and eating everything in sight.” Andre gives Hadley a quick glance of acknowledgement when she begins to reply.
“I’ve gained twelve and nothing in my closet fits right. I had to buy all new stuff. Last night, I woke up at one in the morning to go to Taco Bell because I had to have nachos with a ton of cheese.”
“You should have made Luca go.” Andre gives me a disapproving look.
“Oh, um, he was asleep and I didn’t want to disturb him,” she lies.
Andre shakes his head.
“Let’s take the headboard first. They can grab the foot,” I say. I almost wish Andre wouldn’t ask Hadley questions. I don’t know any of what she’s telling him. He assumes I do because as far as everyone knows, we’re a happy couple, waiting for our first child.
When we return, I hear Hadley laugh at a joke Darryl told her. This was a bad idea for me to offer. It hurts too much to be around her like this. I’ll suck it up for now, so I can finish helping her with this. Help that I might not offer again, especially if Andre doesn’t shut the hell up.
“Have you at least made him rub your feet? Isabella’s are swelling a lot. If hockey doesn’t work out, I’ll start massaging people for a living,” he jokes.
“Well, it’s my lower back a lot of the times,” Hadley corrects. “And my fingers seem to swell more too.”
Andre nods like that makes sense with his thinking. “Ah, that’s why you aren’t wearing that rock Luca gave you then.”
My eyes are begging me to look for Hadley’s reaction, but I don’t. She manages to keep her voice normal as she replies, “Um, right, too painful right now.”
“Stop talking and help me lift this,” I snap at him with her answer. We’re about to move a large bookcase that was in the room. James and Darryl have already taken everything off it and just left with the other half of it.
He stops chatting, but it’s mostly because Hadley goes to the kitchen, offering to fix us something to drink. While she’s gone, we take it down and move the rest. All the knickknacks, decorations, and lamps are put away in tubs and stored in my workout room until Hadley decides where she wants it. With there being four of us, it doesn’t take any time at all.
We go into the kitchen where Hadley has four glasses of ice water, plus an array of snacks. Andre is still in baby-talking mode.
“Have you felt the baby move yet? Do you know what it is? Isabella is twenty weeks and we’re having a boy. I’m very excited.” His grin could be seen from space, I’m sure.
“I’m only fourteen. The next time I go to the doctor, I’ll find out what I’m having. It’ll help me with the decorations for the nursery.”
She’ll know if the baby is a boy or a girl soon. I’m not sure how I feel about this piece of information.
“Thanks for helping Luca, you guys” she says.
“Anything for our captain and his girl,” Darryl tells her. “We should go, though.”
They start shuffling out the door. Once they’re gone, I turn to Hadley.
“Thanks, Luca.”
I debate saying anything to her or just leaving. She seems to want me to say something, but the best I can do is, “If you want to paint the room once you find out, I know someone who can do it. I’ll text you his info.” She nods. “Bye, Hadley.” Then, I leave.
Chapter Thirteen
Hadley
I’m dying.