Chapter Twenty-Six

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I scurry around the house, placing things neatly on their places, packing away things. I bump into someone and send Daniel a smile, "I'll be done soon." I keep on working. "We need to leave, there are still a few things we need to get for the nursery. And we wanted to get to the store early, remember?" I roll my eyes, "Alright, alright. Do you have somewhere else to be?"

He stuffs his hands into his pockets, "Yes, I do, Linds. Abby and I have a date." I turn away from him, biting my lip and grabbing my handbag. "Right, then we better leave." I walk past him, not looking at him.

The drive to the mall is silent, the radio playing softly. "We have a plan right?" Daniel asks as we get out of the car at the mall. I shrug, "I assume we do." He raises a brow at me, "I have a budget Linds. And do keep in mind your baby shower is still coming up." I cringe at the mention of the dreaded shower. Abby has taken over and has Amanda wrapped around her finger. I can almost see all the pink and glitter she has thrown into the shower.

"We need a few things, Daniel. Bottles, a pump, maybe a few special bras for me, a blanket or two and maybe some other stuff. Small stuff." He raises a brow at me. "Linds." I walk past him and head into the mall. He catches up, "We have a budget." He says before we enter the baby store.

Inside the store, I almost feel overwhelmed. My eye catches everything and I want to buy everything. I head to the one shelf where they have a toy puppy with lots of buttons to push and flashing lights.

Two hands wrap around my shoulders and start steering me away from the toy. I look up and see Daniel, almost glaring at nothing in particular. "I just wanted to look." I protest. He rolls his eyes but doesn't respond.

We stop in front of the shelf with all the bottles. I pick out a few and place them in the basket I didn't notice Daniel had. "Are you sure these are enough?" I shrug, "I'll just have to remember to wash them often." He rolls his eyes and dumps in more bottles.

We move on and find a pump that wouldn't leave Daniel or me in the red. As we scroll through the shelves, Daniel steering me effortlessly, I see a lot of things I would have loved to buy, or just look at.

He stops and we're in front of the special bra's that make it easier for the baby to feed. Daniel stuffs his hands back into his pocket and looks at his shoes as a pink tint covers his face. I smile to myself before looking around.

"How about this one?" Daniel looks up and his face is redder than before. I was only holding a plain black bra in front of me. He shrugs and looks away. "Daniel." I groan with irritation. "What?" He mumbles. "I need your opinion. I need you to look at it and tell me if it will be fine." He looks up from where he was staring at the ground. "Why? Does it matter? It's not like anyone is going to be looking." His words stung more than they should have, I so badly want to blame it on the hormones, but I know it would be a lie. I put down the bra and start walking on.

"What? Did I say something?" Daniel asks when he catches up with me again. I ignore him and look at a few things I didn't mention before we came in. I feel his hand softly on my arm, but ignore it and just walk away.

"Talk to me." He says jumping in front of me. "Daniel, let's just get this over with. You want to get to your date and I want to get home. So, let's just buy these things and leave." I try to walk past him but he blocks me. "Then what about the special bra? I thought you needed some?" I shake my head, "I'll come back." He rolls his eyes, "We're already here. Just get it." I glare at him, "I am not getting it."

"You're so full of nonsense, just go get it so-" I let out a loud scream and grab a hold of my stomach. I take a few deep breaths before another shot of pain goes through me. "What- what's happening?" Daniel is very scared and very frantic. "What should I do?"

A few other people came to us, looking just as worried as Daniel. "How far along are you dear?" An older woman asks, her stomach just as swollen up as mine. I let out a scream, though I intended to answer her. I vaguely hear Daniel answer her. "Oh, those are normal. Just breath through them. No need to alarm anyone. It's just false labour." She rubs circles on my back. "This is my third, it doesn't get easier." She whispers to me as I breathe heavily. I want to laugh but the pain is too great and I let out another scream. After a few more minutes the pain lessened until it went away.

Daniel paid for our things and we left. It was silent in the car as we just sat for a moment. "You were horrible." I say softly. "What?" "You, you didn't do anything, what if that had been the real thing? You froze." "At least it wasn't the real thing." He says, sounding quite irritated.

I start laughing to myself silently. "What's so funny?" He asks, still having a silent tantrum. "That was so embarrassing." First, he just stares at me as if I'm crazy, then he joins in, "It was kind of embarrassing." Our laughter dies down until it's only a chuckle and then, nothing.

"Let's get you and Baby home." He starts the car and we drive home in silence. At home, Daniel makes us a pot of tea and grabs some of the biscuits his mother gave me. He hands me my cup and two biscuits. He sinks down next to me into the couch. "You have to promise to be better when it really happens." I mumble before I have a bite of the cookie. He lets out a chuckle, "I'll definitely try." I shrug, "I guess that's as good as it's going to get." He nods and gobbles up his whole biscuit before downing his tea. He pulls a face and jumps up, "Nope, I have to have coffee." He disappears into the kitchen and I smile to myself.

I get up and walk to the bag with our new baby items and start unpacking them. At the bottom of the bag, there are two of the special bras that I wanted to buy. I look over my shoulder and bite my lip. I guess this is one of the reasons why I love him. 

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