A Time for Hope (Lexi, #3)(83)
“I think that’s an excellent idea. Lexi’s already on her last warning with the flight crew. It would probably look bad if our publicist got jacked up and hauled off when we landed.” Alex kissed my neck, his hand still gently pressed across my belly - it didn’t look like he would be moving it soon and I was ok with that.
“No one is getting jacked up!” I assured them. “Now move back to your seats. There is nothing more to see here.” I gently shoved Alex forward, encouraging the others to follow suit.
“So bossy.” Alex chuckled as he shuffled his way with the others back to our seat.
“Well get used to it. I fully expect these hormones to make me a raving psycho before this baby is born and there is no way I’m leaving this tour, so you are just going to have to deal with it.” I followed closely behind him, unashamedly staring at his perfect ass. The journey back to our luxurious leather seats seemed infinitely closer now that I didn’t have the pressing urge to pee or the steep gradient of take-off to deal with.
“Is it wrong to tell you that I’m so hard right now?” Alex bit his lip as he sunk into his seat, allowing me to take mine before adding, “and I can think of nothing sexier than making love to my beautiful, pregnant and bossy wife.”
“Is it wrong to tell you that apparently when my next trimester kicks in I’m going to turn into an even bigger sex fiend than I am already? Expect your next few months to consist of playing guitar and having sex with me exclusively.” I leaned over our shared armrest and nibbled on his ear.
“Fuck,” he groaned through his gritted teeth. “I plan on getting you pregnant a lot.” His gaze locked on mine as his voice turned serious. “I love you Lexi, you are my forever.”
I swallowed hard as a single tear escaped from the corner of my eye, “And you are mine.”
As the others slowly found their way back to their seats, their animated chatter carried through the cabin. Dan grumbled that no one would give him alcohol. Jason and Troy bandied around insults and threatened to substitute Dan’s lube for crazy glue. James and Hannah lovingly played with Noah who babbled quietly in their arms and Matt worked intently on his laptop. Then there was Alex who squeezed my hand and wouldn’t let go. His fingers gently pressed against my knuckles as he brought them to his mouth, his lips brushing against the back of my hand. The flight attendant strode past, giving me a heated stare on her way to the jump seat as the fasten seatbelt sign clicked back on, indicating we were on final approach into Kansas City.
I stared out of the airplane window as the city came into view. The world looked so small from here, so inconsequential and it finally all made sense. I had made peace with my past. I had let go of the demons that had tormented me, that had threated to tear me apart. All the evilness that had consumed me, all the hatred, all the self-loathing, and all the doubt could never infect what I had now. I was loved, unconditionally loved. Not just by Alex but by myself. I had been through hell but I’d come out the other side, stronger and happier than I’d ever been but most importantly, in the end, I was whole.
Epilogue
“MOTHERFUCKING HELL!” I collapsed onto the bed, puffing and covered in sweat. It felt like my insides were being torn out. This was the most intense pain imaginable and I needed it to stop.
“Lexi, June says you need to breathe through the contractions. Stop holding your breath.” Taylah rubbed my back as the tail end of another contraction slowly eased out of my body. I couldn’t believe I’d only been doing this for ten hours, it had felt like five f*cking days.
“Where the f*ck is Alex? I’m not having this baby without him!” I snapped, the gamut of emotions swung wildly as I tried to regulate my breathing. This was so much harder than it looked and it looked impossible. How do women ever go back for another baby after they have been through it once? Knowingly putting themselves through this again and again… It was the epitome of insanity.
“Lexi, he is in the air and on his way. You have got to calm down. He will get here the minute he lands.” Taylah handed me a cup of crushed ice chips. “You need to stay hydrated, suck on these.”
I had pushed the boundaries as far as I could on the tour but as I had entered my final trimester and my due date loomed, there had been no choice but for me to fly back to New York. The thought of leaving Alex on the road and returning to an empty house was heartbreaking but it was for the greater good, that of our child. I had received state-of-the-art prenatal care throughout the cities and countries we had visited but we both knew that I needed to go home and prepare to welcome our son or daughter into the world. We had made provisions for a plane to be on standby but I had hoped Alex would be home before the birth, my due date tentatively projected for the week after the tour wrapped. I had found a wonderful obstetrician and with the support of Taylah and Dave, I waddled my way through the last couple of weeks.
Of course the tour wasn’t going to be over for another two weeks and Baby Stone (although we had tried to find out the gender, he/she had been uncooperative all three times, so we decided to give up and just find out at the birth) had decided it was now the time to make his or her grand entrance. What had started off as a twinge and me being slightly uncomfortable ended up ten hours later as full-blown contractions. And while I had stupidly asked in anti-natal classes how I would know when I was actually in labour, it was exactly as it had been described. When you were in active labour, there was no f*cking doubt.