His sweats are a little tight on me, but they do the job.

Outside the bathroom, I shoot him a thumbs-up, and he asks me if there’s someone he should call.

“Your husband?” Then he tenses. “Er…or girlfriend?” he says with an I don’t judge shrug. “Or how about an ambulance?”

I laugh and wave off his concern. “Oh no, Lenny, I’m fine. Would you mind helping me get over to a cash register though? I still need to buy these groceries.”

“Okay, but I really think you should call someone.”

“All right, if it makes you feel better, I’ll call my fiancé, but he’s probably still in surgery so he won’t answer.”

He does though. It takes him a second because he was still scrubbing out when I first called, but then he’s on the other end of the line, asking me if everything is okay.

“Of course. It’s totally fine. I’m just here at the grocery store with Lenny.” I hold the phone away from my face. “Lenny, what’s your last name?”

“Steinman.”

“Lenny Steinman,” I repeat into the phone. “He’s really nice. He’s helping me out, let me borrow his sweatpants.”

“Why did you need his sweatpants?” Connor asks, not quite catching on.

“Oh, just, y’know, one of those things that happens. I think I peed my pants in the meat aisle.”

“Natalie…”

“It sounds worse than it was. Hardly anyone saw it happen.”

“You peed your pants or your water broke?”

I hum. “Who’s to say, really? My contractions haven’t hurt that badly. Oh, hold on—”

Another one is starting up, so I have to lean over, clutch my knees, and breathe through it. Lenny’s hand hits my shoulder and he coaches me through it. His soothing voice does the trick. I’m thinking of inviting him into the delivery room.

“Natalie!” Connor shouts through the phone, getting my attention.

“Anyway, yeah…” I groan as the last tinges of pain finally ebb. “Like I said, they haven’t been that bad.”

“What grocery store are you at?”

“Deluca’s on Charles Street.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”Ten minutes later, I’m sitting out front on one of the grocery store’s wooden benches with at least twenty bags of food littering the sidewalk at my feet. Lenny is sitting beside me, talking my ear off.

A cab pulls up and screeches to a halt. Connor leaps out in his scrubs and his white coat. I smile. He looks ridiculous. He didn’t need to rush straight here. He didn’t even remember to take off his surgical cap.

“That’s my fiancé,” I tell Lenny, leaning in close. “Isn’t he handsome?”

He hums in agreement. “Seems very capable.”

Capable—yes, that’s my fiancé. Well, usually. Right now, he’s a little flustered. I think the grocery bags are really throwing him off. I might have bought too much.

“Are you okay?” he asks first, checking me from top to bottom.

I give him a thumbs-up. It’s been three minutes since my last contraction, so I should be good for a little while.

“What’s all this?” he asks, eyeing the bags at my feet.

“Our groceries for the next month.”

“The next month?” His hand reaches up and yanks off his scrub cap. He’s overreacting, I think.

“Yes,” I say, my voice remarkably calm given the situation. “I read somewhere that we won’t have time to shop, so I thought I’d do it all today.”

“Natalie, Jesus. We have to go to the hospital.”

I frown. “What do I do with all this food? I just spent a small fortune. I’m supposed to go home and chop and prep freezer meals. I can’t just let it all go to waste.”

“Sure, okay.” He’s talking to me like I’m a psych patient: hands outstretched in front of him, words spaced far apart with long gaps in between. “Tell you what, why don’t we leave this food here and I’ll come back and grab it in a little bit.”

It sounds like he’s lying to me. Why is he lying to me?

“No, you know what?” I say, all smiles. “We have time. Let’s take this stuff back to the house and we can put it all away nice and neat. Maybe I’ll start making the pot roast, just to get things going. We’ll head to the hospital later. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Natalie, your water broke.”

“We can’t be certain. I might have just peed.”

This is when Lenny finally pipes up. “It wasn’t pee. I should know. I was the one who cleaned it up, after all.”

Connor seizes on this. “See? The man agrees with me. Lenny, thank you for taking care of my fiancée. Truly, I appreciate it.” Then his gaze snaps back to me, his eyebrows tugged together in concern. “Now, Natalie, I think we should get you to the hospital.”

“Don’t be silly. I’m not going to be one of those women who rushes in for every ache and pain.”

“That’s not what this is.”

A slow, rolling cramp starts to seize my uterus and I try hard to train my face to stay relaxed, but it’s impossible.

Tags: R.S. Grey Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net