Because she was due any day, she was now off work so that she didn’t scare a high school full of impressionable teenagers by giving birth in front of them. That meant that I got to cuddle into her and enjoy these last days with just the two of us.
So, rolling over, I threw my arm around her waist and buried my face in the back of her neck. It used to be that I could get my arm all the way around her, but now I was lucky if my fingers touched the mattress thanks to her bump. And I loved every inch of her.
Except she really needed to wash her hair.
Even after she’d had the cast taken off I loved washing it for her, so it was no chore if she said yes. “Pretty girl, do you want me to wash your hair for you?”
There was a low growl from her, which made me smile.
This time when I nuzzled my nose into her, her hair felt weird. Short, prickly, and not at all like the long raven strands I knew so well.
That’s when it all made sense—I was spooning my fucking dog. Again!
Clyde had a habit of jumping up on the bed when there was just one of us in it, and I was trying to break him out of it. It was like with the baby on the way, he was worried about being left out of things and forgotten. Like we could. He’d saved our lives, plus he was an integral part of our family.
Still.
“Clyde, if you don’t get your ass off this bed in the next two seconds, I’m gonna—”
“Don’t you dare threaten my baby again,” Tamsin clipped, appearing behind me. “I’ve got to go into work for an hour to talk to one of the seniors. Get some sleep and apologize to him when you get up.” Then, flashing me a sweet smile, she gave me a quick kiss, not minding my morning breath at all. “Love you!”
And then she was gone. That was life with Tamsin Evans, though. It was an adventure with highs and lows, but the lows were absorbed into the highs, and you never doubted how much she loved you.
It didn’t mean I wasn’t going to do as I was told, though…
Two hours later…
I hadn’t set the alarm, but the fucking thing kept going off. I was just leaning up to throw my phone across the room when I saw Tamsin’s name on the screen.
“’Lo?”
I could hear her panting slightly, and it woke me up immediately. Even though Gjorka wasn’t a part of this world anymore—thanks to someone who had an issue with him in the prison he’d eventually been sent to after a lengthy trial—going through that had stuck with me, so it was instinct to panic whenever there was something wrong.
“Honey, I’ve got a problem.”
The sleep fog dropped instantly, and I was on my feet the second she stopped talking. “What is it, baby?”
Putting the phone on speaker, I grabbed a pair of dark grey sweats out of my drawer and a t-shirt and yanked them on, thanking all that was holy that I’d had a shower when I got in this morning. I never went to bed with the dirt from work on me.
“Um, you see, I stopped in to congratulate one of the classes on getting good grades in their exams—they went from all getting C’s to B’s, Garrett. Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah, baby, that’s great,” I murmured, quickly brushing my teeth and then grabbing my keys on the way to the door. “Now, what’s the problem?”
“Well, I walked into the room and jumped when they started calling my name and clapping…” she trailed off, leaving me staring at the wheel of my new Expedition.
“And then?”
“I just wasn’t expecting it. I’ve spent a lot of time with them, I know, but they were so excited.”
Fuck it. I’d start driving to the school while she got to the point.
“And then?”
“I jumped, and it felt like the baby bounced inside me, but I know they’re okay.”
“Uh-huh, so you bounced, and the baby did it as well. And then?” Christ, I felt like the woman out of Dude, Where’s My Car?
Huffing out a breath, she sniffed, “Well, either I peed my pants in front of the class, or my water broke.”
Ah, shit.
Seeing as how she needed me to stay calm according to the classes we’d gone to, I cracked my neck and kept my voice as level as I could. “I’ll be with you in ten minutes. Do you think you can hold on that long?”
“Tabby’s with me, and I’m not feeling any pain, so I think I’ll be okay.” I could hear whispering from Tabby, and then Tamsin came back on the line. “So, how was your day? Did you manage to watch Downton Abbey like I told you to? It suits my ring, doesn’t it?”