K. Golland - Attainment

“Who’s it fo—“ she cuts herself off and sighs. “Bryce, BB’s not even born yet.”

The buzzer to the door sounds, indicating Rick’s arrival to pick up Nate and Charli for the weekend. Standing in the kitchen, I’m in the midst of preparing a spinach, cheese, and tomato omelette for Alexis’ lunch, the dish being high in protein, folic acid, and magnesium which I found out is not only good for her but also good for our baby.

Wiping my hands on the tea towel, I toss it on the bench top and head for the lounge. When I walk into the room, I spot Rick behind Alexis, his hand on her shoulder and the other pushed firmly into her lower back.

Neither of them seem to notice me at first, any as I stand there watching him place his hands on her, assisting with whatever the fuck he is assisting with, it makes my blood boil.

“Is it there?” Rick asks her.

“Yeah,” she winces. “It’s not as bad as when I carried Charli, but it still hurts.”

“Thought as much. I could tell straight away when I walked in that it was bothering you.”

Not being able to stand there any longer and watch their exchange, wanting to know what is hurting Alexis and why Rick knows about it and I don’t, I make my presence known. “Is everything alright?” I ask, desperately trying to curb my resentment.

Rick drops his hands and takes a step back just as Alexis straightens and stretches, arching her back and poking out her tummy. The discomfort on her face is obviously present. Where the fuck has this soreness come from?

“Yeah,” she murmurs, unaware of the fact that what I just witnessed between her and Rick has unsettled me.

“Bryce,” Rick says with a nod of his head while extending his hand.

The last thing I want to do is shake the fucker’s hand, instead wanting to break it for providing relief to my pregnant fiancé’s back. I really can’t help it. Seeing him with her pisses me off, infusing me with jealousy. But, at the same time, I do know deep down inside that my reaction to their interaction with one another is completely unreasonable. Regardless, he still irritates me.

I honestly hate feeling this way. I’m not normally the jealous type. And I’m not afraid to say the reason for this is probably due to the fact that I always get what I want, therefore never being in a position to be jealous in the first place. That being said, this feeling is somewhat foreign to me, only having felt it one time before—when Alexis was married.

Begrudgingly, I shake Rick’s hand as I stand by Alexis and instantly place mine on her lower back, wanting to remove his touch and replace it with my own.

“Not long to go now,” Rick insinuates, nodding toward Alexis’ stomach.

“No. Four weeks and two days,” I reply, wanting to reiterate that I know exactly how long.

“Well, yeah, if she delivers on her due date. Alexis tends to go into labour early.” He smiles at her knowingly, and it takes all the restraint I have to refrain from knocking him the fuck out.

“Dad!” Charli yells, as she comes around the large central pillar that leads to the stairs.

“Princess! Come and give me a big hug.”

Charli drops her shiny pink suitcase and launches herself at Rick.

He lifts her up and places her on his hip, grimacing playfully. “You’ve grown again since I saw you last.”

“Well yeah, Dad,” Charli rolls her eyes. “I slept four times since then, so I’ve grown four times. Miss James says you grow in your sleep. Did you know that?”

“I do now. Where’s my kiss?” Rick asks, puckering his lips like an idiot.

I notice Alexis smiling at their exchange and it irritates me even more.

“Nate, come on,” Ricks yells. “We’ve got the footy this afternoon.”

“Coming, geez, don’t go all loco on me,” Nate answers while entering the room.

“Loco?”

“Don’t ask, Rick,” Alexis says before giving both Nate and Charli a kiss goodbye. “Now be good, and I’ll see you after school on Monday.”

They hug their mum before fist-bumping me and then walking out the door.

After they are gone, I waste no time in finding out what the hell is wrong with Alexis’ back. “Wanna tell me what’s wrong with your back?” I ask, my tone deliberately snappy.

She gives me an unsure look. “I get back spasms. Why? What’s wrong? Why are you angry?”

“Because this is the first I’m hearing of it. Yet he seems to know all about them.”

I hate speaking to her with such anger in my voice, but I can’t help it. Her ex-husband just pisses me right off. Look, there’s not a day that goes by where I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty for moving in on Alexis when she was married to the scumbag. After all, I’m not a heartless bastard. I think that what angers me where Rick is concerned is what he did to her—cheating on her right after she gave birth to Charlotte when she was at her most vulnerable. The thing is, if he hadn’t fucked up on an epic scale like he had, she may still be married to him. So it’s bittersweet in a way.

“Really, Bryce? You’re angry because Rick knows that I get back spasms?” she asks with a roll of her eyes.

Her blatant dismissal of my unease at being kept in the dark angers me even more. “I’m pissed off because I don’t know about them.”

“Well, sorrrryyy,” she says, sardonically drawing out the word. “I didn’t realise I needed to tell you absolutely everything. How about I make you a list?” She places her hands on her hips. “Number one...” she explains, raising her hands and pointing to her finger. “My feet have begun to swell and look like little bloated piglets, see?” she kicks off her shoe, sending it hurtling through the air and into the lounge. “Feel free to oink at them, they may respond.”

The notion that her feet can resemble piglets makes me want to laugh, and I feel my anger toward her slipping away.

“Two...” she points to another finger, clearly not finished with her defensive tirade. “My nipples are dry and sore and starting to leak colostrum. Would you like to hear more?” she asks, pausing only for a second. “Good, ‘cause I’ll give you more,” she continues, not allowing me the option to refuse. “I have the constant need to urinate. I feel like I could shit a brick. I have heartburn from hell. And I am so hungry I could eat a horse.”

Colostrum? What the fuck is colostrum? And why is it leaking from her nipples?

I don’t answer her for a minute as I try to process the list she has just heatedly rattled off, a list I need to get onto. The fact she could eat a horse stands out to me as the first problem I can solve.

My absent reply—I can only assume—frustrates her further as she huffs and starts to turn away. “They are just back spasms, Bryce. I didn’t think it was that important.”

I soften my voice, feeling like an absolute piece of shit for making her upset. “Hunny, everything to do with you and our baby is important.”

She stops, turns back around and sighs, exhaustion clearly present. “Honestly, they come and go. They haven’t bothered me until recently. I used to get them a lot when I was pregnant with Charli which is why Rick caught onto it straight away. I’m not deliberately keeping my ailments from you.”

I take the remaining steps between us and place my hands on her shoulders. “I want to know everything, EVERYTHING that is happening with that body of yours. I can’t help if you don’t tell me what is going on.”

Wrapping her hands around my waist, she closes the remaining distance between us as she pulls herself to me, the gorgeous bulge in her belly preventing our complete unity. “Okay, but you can’t help me shit a brick, or stop me from constantly peeing.”

“No, but I can dish you up a horse.”

She laughs. “I know my cravings are crazy, but steed sandwiches are definitely a no no.”

“What’s colostrum?” I ask, my thoughts back to her nipples.

She pulls away and smiles then lets out an adorable giggle. “It’s pre-breast milk.”

Pre-breast milk? I can’t help but look at her breasts.

Suddenly, I feel a slap and a push to my chest and she is no longer in my arms.

“I’m not going to drown you in it, you know,” Alexis deadpans as she walks away.

“What? I...I didn’t say that.”

I quickly take off, capturing her and holding her back to my front.

“You didn’t have to,” she says in a sulky voice. “You looked at my breasts as though they were ready to shoot at you like a fire hose.”

I laugh out loud. “I did not. Although...”

Feeling her struggle to free herself from my arms, I hold her tighter, her freedom not even in the cards. “I’m kidding. No, seriously, I just thought they couldn’t leak anything until after BB is born. And speaking of BB, can we please discuss names? I really cannot bring myself to call him that anymore.”

“Why not? It’s cute.” She drops her head back onto my shoulder and looks up at me with a smirk. “I was actually thinking of calling him that officially.”

I squint at her, narrowing my gaze and trying to assess whether she is bluffing or not. “Don’t kid a kidder, my love”

“I’m not.”

“You better be, because there is no way in hell we are naming our son BB.”

She bites the inside of her bottom lip and smiles. “Fine, but I at least want his name to begin with B.”

“Why?”

“No reason,” she shrugs.

Leaning forward, I plant a quick kiss on her forehead, causing her eyes to close momentarily. I love how her eyelids fall heavy for the smallest of moments when I kiss her. It shows her vulnerability to my touch. “Okay, the letter B it is. It’s a good letter,” I confidently grin at her.