SAFEHOUSE

I sighed, nodding in agreement. "Fine. But you're not allowed to keep anything from me like that, ever again. Period. Bien?" I added, using his favorite turn of phrase on him. He was always ending his questions or statements with it. With all the French-speaking that was going on around me constantly, it made sense that I was finally starting to pick some of it up. About time, too.

He laughed at this, cupping my face with his warm hand. "Oui, bien note. I will not make the same mistake again."

I had been pouting at him but in the end, smiled anyway. "And don't you forget it."

I was willing to put on the happy housewife attitude for now. But I wouldn't forget him keeping things for me, for a long, long time. I trusted him with all my heart but I needed to know when I was in danger… For the sake of our child.

(Back to Table of Contents)

Chapter 30

It was hard not to pace as I waited in Julien’s carefully remodeled obstetrics room. Dr. Thibodeau and Julien were due any minute now. I was nineteen weeks along now, and so much had changed. I made sure no one was coming down the hallway, before shoving another piece of Gervaise's cherry tart in my face. He had been getting me into all things pastry-related and I loved him for it.

I wanted to keep checking my phone to see if Julien had pulled up yet. I knew he wasn't going to miss this.

After treading the same floor space for the millionth time, I finally heard his nice shoes clacking down the hallway coming towards me. It sounded like Dr. Thibodeau was along with him. Good, we can hurry up and get this over with. And maybe I could get back to eating…okay, sneaking the rest of this tart.

He burst into the room with the widest grin on his face. Julien had seemed to let go of all reservations when it came to the baby ever since we had a big fight a few weeks back. There was nothing false about his excitement—he was truly overjoyed…

And somehow, that made him even sexier than before.

I gave Dr. Thibodeau a smile as she strolled in, her medical back in tote.

"Are we ready for the big day, everyone?" she asked, a knowing smile on her face.

I glanced over at Julien, quickly nodding along with him. “I think so.”

It seemed silly to be so nervous, considering what we were finding out. But that didn’t stop me from being that way. Too much had been on my mind lately, and it was hard to toss that aside, even when I was this anxious and excited.

Ever since our last argument about the information Julien was keeping from me, my attempts at bringing up possible safety measures had all been met with resistance from him. He clearly did not want to talk about it, even though he had promised that we would do so at some point. I was beginning to think that ‘some point’ was just a joke.

“All right then. Let me just go ahead and set everything up, and then we can get started,” Dr. Thibodeau said.

Julien helped me over to the antique waiting screen, being patient with me as I tried to shimmy out of my clothes and put on the dressing gown for Dr. Thibodeau to examine me in. I hated wearing the thing, but if it made her job easier, then so be it.

Besides, I couldn't help but giggle as Julien kept sneaking glances around the screen.

Once I was finished I hopped up on the table, carefully positioning myself just so. The table was a little narrower than I would've liked, especially with my wide hips practically barreling over the sides. I didn't want seem like a complete diva, so I never made a comment about it one way or the other.

Dr. Thibodeau rolled over the sonogram machine, prepping the sonogram Doppler with the freezing cold goop I hated. She flipped on the screen, keying in a few things here and there before she set to work, smearing the cold substance on my belly. I always had to have a shower afterward. Something about that stuff made me feel rather gross.

"It looks like I might need to do something real quick on machine, to get it in full function for what we need today. If you will just excuse me for a moment here…" Her voice trailed off, as she narrowed her eyes at the blinking screen in front of her.

I looked up at Julien, trying to read his expression. Yep, he was totally over the moon. I wondered if now was a good time to bring it up, finally.

"So, sweetheart… I was thinking maybe we should discuss what exactly is gonna happen once the baby’s born."

He raised his brow. "Haven't we already done that?"

I snorted. "Not exactly. You always seem to find some way to get out of it. But not this time. I just want to go ahead and get it out of the way, that way I will feel better, you'll feel better, and everything will be all straight. Right?"

He eyed me warily, knowing that nothing was ever quite that easy when talking with me about something. I shrugged my shoulders innocently at him.

"I suppose. I rather figured that we could have the baby sleep in our room for the first few months, possibly in a bassinet. A

t least that's what I've heard would be a good idea. Of course it's up to you –"

"That's not exactly what I mean, Julien. Although that's actually a good idea, so I'll remember that. What are we gonna do as far as safety goes? You know I've been thinking about it lately, and I'm not really sure how you working will go. At least once the baby’s born. You have a job that's very prevalent in the business industry, you're a very well-known face. You’re really a celebrity of sorts. How do the baby and I work into that? At some point someone is going to end up finding out that you have a baby, and then from there people are only going to connect the dots. Someone will find me, some way or another. It's only a matter of time, especially if they're looking for me. What do you propose we do about that?"