The Zulu Maiden

CHAPTER 12

The next morning(Monday) Jason dropped Liz and Lu off at Liz's job. They had agreed that since Liz didn't want to quit her job and Rose was fine with having Lu there, Jason would drop them off in the mornings and pick them up in the afternoons. They'd also agreed that Liz would go home every wekend.

This morning Liz wasn't feeling well. She had some stomach cramps and backache. She needed to remember to get more pain meds. She was almost out. She could feel her period coming on and she wasn't looking forward  to it at all, especially this week of all weeks. But you can't argue with mother nature can you?

When she got to work, Sam was waiting for her." Tell me everything!" She shouted. "How was the move? What's the house like, and his parent's? What are they like?" Liz groaned. "Hello to you too" she said. "Can I atleast put the baby down before you start asking questions? And can you ask one question at a time please. You're giving me a headache."
"Fine" Sam said taking the baby and putting her in a empty cot and taking the daiper bag as well. "Okay, now spill" she said as she turned around. Liz was learning over one of the cots and rubbing her back. "Why do you have such a pained look on your face?" Sam asked her. "Period pain" Liz mumbled. "Ohhh! Sorry babe, did you take something for the pain?" She asked. Liz nodded. "Remind me to get more later on. I'm almost all out." She said. " I'll do that. Now sit down and I'll make you some herbal tea and then you can tell me everything." Sam said as she headed for the kitchen.

Sam came back to find Liz sitting comfortably and waiting for her. "Do you feel any better?" She asked, handing her the cup of tea. "I took two more pills, the pain is starting to fade and this tea should help it along. Thank you." Liz replied. She proceeded to tell Sam everything from the move, to meeting Jason's parents and finally the passing of Lu's mom. Sam sat there open mouthed. "Wow, your life right now is like a t.v show. And this granny? Seriously? People still behave that way in this day and age?" Sam was shocked to say the least. Liz shrugged "I really don't care what she thinks. As long as I don't have to deal with her on the daily, I'm cool. Anyway thanks for the tea. I'm feeling better so let me go start my class." Liz said getting up.

Liz went into her classroom and greeted her pupils. She got them to settle down and she marked the register. Just as she finished Sam came to tell her that the boss wanted to see her. "Why? What did I do?"
"I may have told her about Lu's mom passing away." Sam answered looking guilty. "Why on earth would you do that?" Liz asked confused. "It just slipped out and then she remembered  that you said Lu was your cousin's baby. I think she wants to give you time off or something." Sam said.

So Liz went off to see Rose, offered her condolences and then gave Liz a week's leave to prepare for the funeral. Liz was about to politely decline when she felt her cramps coming back. As if the cramps weren't bad enough there was still the mood swings to come. She really didn't want her pupils to see all that. So she accepted the leave, said thank you and went to gather her bags. She found Sam and thanked her for her big mouth that actually did some good for a change. Sam laughed and said it was her pleasure. After saying good bye to Sam, Liz went to the baby room to pick up Lu, who needed a nappy change. Before she got to the room her phone rang. It was Jason informing her that he had decided to work from home for the rest of the week. Apparently people kept barging into his office to offer their condolences and he wasn't getting any work done. Liz asked him to pick them up after telling him that she had been given a week's leave.

They were now back at Jason's place. Liz had finally gotten Lu to sleep about 10 minutes ago. She was now laying on the couch with the empty pill box in her hand. She'd forgotten to get more and now her cramps were back with a vengence. She felt like she was being cut in half. Jason came in from the kitchen to find Liz groaning in pain and holding her stomach.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"DOES IT LOOK LIKE MY OKAY?!!" Liz shouted. Cure the mood swings. Liz thought as she looked at a very confused Jason. "What's wrong with you?" He asked cautiously. Liz groaned again and tried not to shout.
"Cramps" she said through clenched teeth. Jason looked even more helpless. "Have you taken pain meds?" He asked. "I'm all out" Liz said throwing the box at him. "Hey, there's no need to be violent." He said ducking out of the way. She was about to answer when she felt a pull in her uterus that made her groan and roll into a foetal position. Now Jason was really panicking. "I don't have any pain meds in the house, I'll have to go buy some." He said quickly. Liz lifted her head from the pillow to see him just standing there and staring at her.
"Could you get some today please?" She asked sweetly even smiled at him.
"You seem to be fine now though"
"NOW!!"
"Okay don't shout, you'll wake the baby."
"I DON'T CARE, I WANT THOSE PILLS. NOW ALREADY!" Jason put his hands up "Okay, okay I'm going. Do you need anything else? You know like tampons or something" he asked awkwardly.
"No, I  don't want tampons. I want pads. Get a pen and paper and write this down cause I know you will forget and bring me the wrong thing." Jason rolled his eyes."man you're in a mood today." He said, getting the pen and paper. Liz just glared at him. "Okay, I need pads, day and night, unscented with wings." She said as Jason started writing. "Pain meds, and- she stopped as another cramp hit. Jason was starting to sweat. "Pain meds and what else? Come on."
"Tea." She said "what kind of tea?"
"Anything herbal and maybe a hot water bottle if you can find one."
"Okay, I'm leaving now. Will you be fine with the baby or should I take her with me?" He asked. "Go, just go already the sooner you leave the sooner you come back." Liz said.
He ran out. Liz lay there for a while after he was gone waiting for the cramps to subside enough so she could get up and check on Lu. She checked her daiper, gave her a bottle and put her back in the crib. Then she lay down on the carpet next to the crib to wait for Jason.

Jason had managed to get everything on Liz's list with the help of the saleslady at the mall and he'd even asked the cashier for her recommendations on what helped to ease period pain. He left the shop with 3 full bags. Then he realised that she couldn't take the meds on an empty stomach so he got some pizza. He got home and took the pizza in first then went back for the bags. Liz wasn't on the couch where he had left her. She wasn't in her room either. He finally found her on the floor of the nursery. He shook her. "Liz? Come on. Get off the floor." He said. "Give me my pills" she said clutching her stomach. "You have to eat first. I bought pizza" He says. "Fine. Where's  my stuff? I want to take a bath first."
"Stay here. I'll bring it up"
"O my gosh! Did you buy the whole shop?" She asked as she saw the bags. "Of course not" he said blushing. "I didn't know what brands you used, so I bought a few of each." Liz was looking threw the packets with a shocked look on her face." 5 types of tea? 3 brands of pads? Icecream, chocolate and what's this? Hot water bottles?" She asked. "You see this one" he said holding up a flat  rubber bottle. "This one you boil water and put it in here and then put it wherever you feel the pain. And this one you just throw it in the microwave for a few minutes and then you use it. I think this one's safer. The ladies in the shop said ice cream and chocolate helps too. And I also got these pain relief patches. You just peel it and stick it where it hurts and voila." He said. Liz was speechless. All she'd wanted was pain meds and a few pads. She got up and gave him a hug. "Thank you so much. I'm going to take a bath now. Don't forget to put the icecream in the fridge." She said as she walked to the bathroom. She soaked for a while in the tub in hot water. She then got dressed in her favorite  pair of PJ's and went downstairs after checking on the baby

She found Jason in the kitchen warming the pizza. "How are you feeling?" He asked "sore, where's my meds?"
"You're not taking  those until you eat something. Why don't you try out those patches for now?"
"Fine. Bring it on"
Jason found them and handed them to Liz who just looked at them.
"What now?"
"I  won't be able to put those on myself. You'll have to help."
"That's fine. Just show me where to put it." He said opening the package and removing a patch.
"My back " she said turning around and lifting her top. Jason almost chocked on his saliva when he saw all that  smooth chocolate skin bared to his eyes. "My lower back" Liz said placing her hand where she wanted the patch to be. Jason snapped out of his daze and placed the patch on her skin. "Oooo that's cold" Liz moaned making him close his eyes as he imagined her moaning like that for him. He shook his head, trying to get the image out. Liz pulled down her shirt and he remembered the pizza. "Sit down on the couch and I'll  bring the food to you" he said. Liz went and sat down and noticed the dvd player was on pause. "Where you watching a movie?" She asked. "No" he said coming out with two plates of food. "We are going to watch a movie while we eat." He dropped down next to her and handed her one plate. He then pressed play. "Thanks, what movie are we watching?" She asked. He smiled mysteriously. "Wait and see" he said as the opening sequence started. "Is this? This looks like.... wow it's Alladen!!. I haven't seen this in ages" she exclaimed. "Let's refresh your memory then" he said as he started eating. They watched the movie in silence until Jason broke the silence by offering Liz some chocolate. Liz broke a piece off and put it in her mouth. She closed her eyes and moaned at how good the chocolate was. She opened her eyes to find Jason staring at her. "What?" She asked. Jason just shook his head. She broke off a piece and offered it to him. He hesitated so she just stuck it in his mouth. "Good?" She asked "yeah" he said clearing his throat. "That's really good." He wondered if Liz tasted that good. Then he wondered why on earth he was wondering that about his NANNY. NANNY. He had to keep reminding himself. She was the NANNY. "Did the ladies at the store tell you to get this movie?" She asked pulling him out of his day dreams about her chocolaty skin. "They suggested a movie as a way to help you relax. But I chose the movie." He answered. "You chose well.    You managed to get everything I need to ease my pain except one thing" she said. "And what's that?"
"Cuddles" she said moving closer and laying her head on his chest.  He automatically put his arm around her and pulled her closer and dropped a kiss on the top of her head before he could stop himself. They sat like that for a while, until he wondered if he should get those pain meds she wanted. He was about to ask her when he realised she was fast asleep.

He ended up watching the rest of the movie by himself with Liz sleeping peacefully in his arms. Despite all the running around to the shops he realised he actually enjoyed his day. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this relaxed and this comfortable.