“It’s just this pain I get in my groin area. It’s like the baby moves and pinches something.”
“She’s already being a pain, huh?”
She lets out a small laugh then starts making her way to the couch. I walk with her, holding her forearm since she could fall at any moment.
“I’m okay, really. I just need to sit down.”
“I really wish you would stay home.”
She sits on the couch, pulling me down next to her.
“I’m all alone out there. Jacob is at work, my neighbors are two acres away. What if I go into labor?”
“I understand.”
“I would rather sit on this couch all day, hang out with you and talk to customers.”
She pulls me into a hug, and I wrap my arm around her.
“I promise, after the baby is born, I will leave you alone for at least six weeks,” she says, making us both laugh.
I pull away from her and put my hand on her belly. I lean in and whisper, “If you could hurry up, that would be great. Your mom is driving me crazy.”
My sister swats at my head. I get up quickly laughing. Just as I am getting to the front counter, the bell above the door chimes.
“Hi Laura, what can we help you with today?” I hear my sister ask.
Laura works at the local vet office. We supply their groomer with bandanas, tiny bows and pet cookies.
“We ran out of bandanas and our groomer has five larger dogs today. Came by to see if you have any extras.”
“I sure do,” I tell her. “I’ll go grab them from the back.”
I usually bring stuff over once a week on Mondays. That gives me the weekend to cook new batches of treats. I grab a small stack of bandanas and bring them to her.
“This should last today, yeah?” I ask her.
“Yes, perfect. Thank you.”
“And I’ll be by Monday with the usual.”
“Great. See you then,” Laura replies, then leaves the store.
“I heard a rumor that Dr. Madris is selling her practice,” my sister says nonchalantly as she stands and walks over to the coffee corner.
“Oh, why?” I ask her.
“Well, she is like in her late sixties, she probably wants to retire.”
“That makes sense. Hopefully whoever buys it is as awesome as she is.”
The day goes by pretty slowly. Layla left a few hours early so she could nap on something a little more comfortable than our couch. And I only checked my phone one hundred times to see if Vance texted me.
I know, pathetic.
I finish up the nightly chores and pull out the few cookies that are left from the week. I like to put them on my back porch for the squirrels and neighborhood cat to snack on. As I go to turn the lights off, my phone dings. I pause in my tracks and my heart starts racing. I take a deep breath. It’s probably just Layla.
I grab my phone from the counter, it lights up immediately and I see Vance’s name pop across the screen. A little giggle escapes past my lips as I unlock my phone and open the text.