“Okay, okay,” she said with a wince, placing her hands on her belly as she sat up in the tub, really wishing he’d stop kicking her for five minutes so that she could relax. It was bad enough that he kept her up all night, but he really didn’t need to wreck the first bath she’d had in over a month, Melanie thought miserably as she shifted to get comfortable only to stop with a groan when her baby boy started kicking again.
“Come on, sweetie, just let mommy relax for a minute,” she said, closing her eyes and slowly exhaling as she waited for him to calm down, but she had a feeling that she was in for another long night.
“Is there something that you want to tell me?” Aidan suddenly asked, taking her by surprise and making her realize that the yelling had stopped.
When she opened her eyes and found Aidan sitting on the edge of the tub, watching her, she realized that yes, yes, she did, in fact, have several things that she would very much like to tell him.
*-*-*-*
“Shit!”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Melanie demanded just as Aidan ducked out of the way of the shampoo bottle only to get nailed in the chest by a soaking wet facecloth.
“Melanie, I-shit!” he finished with a grunt as he was forced to once again duck as he stumbled back out of the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him just as the bottle of conditioner made contact with the door.
“Learn to knock!” the ungrateful woman snapped, while Aidan stood there, glaring at the door as he yanked his soaked shirt off and tossed it aside.
“I was only trying to help!” he snapped back, toeing his shoes off so that he could shove his body wash-coated pants off.
“You can help from out there!”
“Really?” he couldn’t help but ask. “And how exactly were you planning on getting out of that tub?”
There was a long pause before Melanie asked, “Is your mother still here?” sounding really fucking hopeful.
“No,” Aidan bit out, with a glare at the door as he mentally went over everything that had been within her reach and realized that she still had a can of shaving gel and her bottle of conditioner left.
“Stop being so damn stubborn and let me help,” he said, shaking his head in disgust even as he couldn’t help but wonder why she was being such a big baby about this.
“No!”
“Melanie, you need my help,” he reminded her, which should have been more than obvious to the stubborn woman after today’s incident.
“I’m fine,” the irrational woman mumbled, making him shake his head in disbelief because she was anything but fine.
“Melanie, you’re not fine,” Aidan said, running his hands roughly down his face as he tried to figure out what to do with the damn woman.
“Everything’s fine,” Melanie stubbornly argued as he calculated the risk to his balls and decided to chance it because he wasn’t having this conversation through a door.
“Are you going to let me help you?” he asked after a slight pause, hoping that she’d make this easy for him.
“Is there any chance that you’d be willing to call Rebecca or my mother to come help?” she asked as he opened the bathroom door and strolled inside with, “Not a chance in hell.”
Ignoring her startled scream, Aidan grabbed a large towel on his way over to the bathtub, reached down, pulled the plug, threw the towel over his shoulder, and reached down and helped her to her feet before she could slap him. He decided that it would be for the best for everyone involved if he kept his movements professional and his gaze north of the most amazing pair of breasts that he’d ever seen in his life.
Just when he thought he’d lose the battle and release a groan that would make this situation a hell of a lot more complicated, he ignored her sputtered protests, wrapped the towel around her, grabbed her hand, and led her out of the bathroom. From there, he managed to get her into one of his tee-shirts, a pair of his boxers, and into his bed without her tearing into him.
Deciding that he’d put this off for long enough, Aidan climbed into the bed next to her, pulled her into his arms and said, “Now, let’s have a talk, shall we?”
“And we couldn’t have this talk somewhere else?” Melanie asked, squirming as she tried to sit up when he shifted back, pulled her against him so that she was laying on her side with her head on his shoulder, and-
“Oh, my god!” Melanie gasped, closing her eyes with a groan even as she snuggled closer.
“Better?” Aidan asked, feeling his lips twitch.
“You have no idea,” she practically moaned as she snuggled closer to him.
“You ready to talk?” he asked, reaching over with his free hand, and after a slight hesitation, placed it on her large belly.
“About your manhandling ways or the fact that you have a death wish?” she asked with a dreamy little sigh, making him wonder if they should hold off on this conversation until after she had a chance to get some sleep, but then he remembered who he was dealing with here and decided that his best bet was to have this conversation now.
“I was thinking that we could talk about all those things that you’re keeping from me,” Aidan drawled, absently noting that she’d gone still against him as he felt their baby push against his hand.
“What are you talking about?” she asked after a slight hesitation, damn near making him roll his eyes because she knew damn well what he was talking about.
“All those things that you told my mother, but for some reason decided not to tell me,” he said, still angry with himself for not realizing that she was having so many damn problems.
“I didn’t want to bother you,” she grumbled sleepily.
“And is that why you didn’t tell me that your nausea medication wasn’t working anymore or that you were having problems sleeping because you didn’t want to bother me?” he asked, unable to help but smile when his son pushed against his hand.
“I had it handled.”
“By passing out on the bathroom floor?” Aidan asked, gently rubbing her belly as he settled back and closed his eyes.
“I was taking a break.”
“And the bathroom floor seemed like the best place to do that?” he asked, chuckling.
“Yes, yes, it did,” Melanie mumbled as she snuggled closer.
“Comfy?” he couldn’t help but ask.
“Quite,” she said with a little sniffle that had his lips twitching.
“You want to tell me anything else?” he asked, more than ready to call it a night even though they had one last thing that they needed to discuss.
“Not really,” she mumbled sleepily as she laid her arm across his chest.
“I see,” he drawled, matching her yawn with one of his own as he struggled to stay awake, but the feel of her in his arms and his son pushing against his hand was slowly lulling him to sleep.
“Good,” Melanie mumbled her agreement and as he felt her relax against him, Aidan realized just how badly he wanted to make this work and not just to do the right thing anymore, but because he wanted his son.
Chapter 13