You and Me Forever (Oh Captain, My Captain 6)

“Just fine. Has she been taking it easy like she’s supposed to?”

“She has, but she’s not doing everything she should,” I reply.

“What are you talking about?”

“Her doctor told her to eat better,” I start as Hadley turns to me, shaking her head. “And she has resorted to sneaking french fries into the house while I’m shopping for the fruits and vegetables she’s supposed to be eating instead.” Hadley glares at me. “I had to pry them out of her hands. Maybe you should talk some sense into her.”

“Let me talk to her,” Mama says briskly.

“You’re mean,” Hadley whispers when I hand her the phone. “Don’t listen to him, Mama,” she tells my mother. “He’s exaggerating.”

I walk away chuckling as Hadley tries to soothe my mother.

Painters had come earlier this week to paint the nursery lilac and all that’s left to do now is fill it up with stuff. I look around the mostly empty room. Well, I never expected to have a purple room in my house, but then, I didn’t think I would have a kid either. Maybe people are right and it’ll be different when it’s my own. Who knows?

The crib is still in the box, which is leaning against one of the walls. Papa didn’t want Hadley doing it. I might as well do it today. The room looks weird without stuff in it. I take the pieces out of the box and look over the directions to see if there is are any tools I might need. Hadley is still chatting and reassuring Mama when I gather what I need. She doesn’t even notice me.

The directions make it appear as if this will be a simple process. Guess we’ll find out. After about fifteen minutes, I’m starting to get frustrated. It’s like only half of the directions are here. What’s the point of having instructions if they aren’t helpful?

“You’re the only man I know who even looks at instructions, much less follows them.”

I glance up from studying the papers at the sound of Hadley’s voice. “You should send this back.”

“Why? What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s unassembled. We should see if we can buy one already done right off the floor of the store.”

Hadley laughs. “Let me see them.” Once she walks into the room and is close enough, I hand over the papers. She looks them over and then says, “This doesn’t look that hard, Luca.” I huff. That was my first thought, too. She starts telling me what I’m supposed to do. I guess I was reading them wrong or something because I’m able t

o put the damn thing together.

Once it’s done, we stand back and take a look at our handiwork. She picked a nice, white crib that looks perfect against the color of the walls. I wrap an arm around her waist. In a few months, the quiet of my house will be disrupted. In a few months, there’s going to be a tiny human sleeping in that crib in this room down the hall from our bedroom. It’s a bit of a distance from room to room.

“We should get cameras or monitors or something to install in here,” I tell Hadley. Something so we can keep an eye on the baby from other places in the house, something to ease my nerves and prevent me from the hovering I’m sure I would do to make sure everything is as it should be.

“Okay,” she agrees. After a moment, she looks up at me, so I glance down at her. “What made you decide to put the crib together, Luca?”

“I don’t know,” I say honestly. I don’t think she really likes that answer, so I add, “The room looked empty and it was there. She’ll need a place to sleep, and now she does.” I’ve been careful not to think of the baby with the name she’ll have. It’s crazy to do since I’ll eventually have to say it, but for the time being, all I see in my head when I think of ‘Valeria’ is my sister.

“Well, thank you.” Hadley drags me out of my thoughts. “C’mon, let’s go fix dinner.” She pulls me out of the room and I’m a bit thankful for it.

~ ~ ~

With Hadley being pregnant, for once, it takes her longer to get ready than me. I’m sitting on the edge of our bed, flipping through one of her books about pregnancy that was on the nightstand while she fusses from the bathroom about not having anything to wear. My eyes stop skimming and start reading the chapter where she has her bookmark.

My heart beats faster with every horrid word. My stomach churns, my eyebrows bunch together, and the panic starts to rise. What the hell kind of book is this? God, I must be an idiot to not think of some of these things and part of me is relieved that I hadn’t.

“Hadley!” I yell, my eyes still glued to the words on the page.

“What?” she asks from the doorway.

“Why the fuck are you reading this shit?” I finally close the book and hold it up to her.

“What are you talking about?” she questions with confusion.

“How is this not scaring the hell out of you? All it’s talking about is every freaking thing that can go wrong! If I keep reading, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t end with you or the baby coming out of this alive. I didn’t even think about any complications. Oh, God. I’m not going to be able to stop thinking about it now and December is so far away.”

“Luca, calm down. That is a what if. Nothing is going to happen. I’m in good health. You heard the doctor.”