Fragile (26 page)

“Go away, Rick. I don’t want you to see me like this.”

“I’m not leaving you, so spill it. What’s going on?”

She sniffed and I passed her some tissues. “I don’t know.” Her sobs got louder, so I wrapped my body around hers while she cried herself to sleep.

It was good having Mather around too. She knew what to do when I didn’t. Ray was much the same. We stayed back when Lu needed a mother. Dad and Tray lingered too. As the pregnancy progressed, so did the lingering family. Lu was never alone. If I wasn’t there, someone else was. I made sure of it.

Ray and Mather officially moved up. Lu gave them her apartment, and we went back to mine…ours. Tray stayed with Dad, but did spend nights with Lu and me.

We were at Dad’s place for breakfast one morning. It was a thing we all did now. Mather was insistent that we spend as much time as possible together, so we did. The girls were in the kitchen, and we boys were killing each other on the Playstation. We heard a glass drop and shatter and we all turned to see Lu standing still with tears running down her face. She looked scared.

“Lu?” I ran over to her.

“Something’s wrong,” she whispered. Her hands were on her belly, and I gently put mine over them.

“Someone, call for an ambulance.” I said over my shoulder.

“Lucy.” Mum stood beside me. Lu looked to her, her eyes full of tears. “Explain to me what you’re feeling.”

“It...It’s a...” More tears fell and I got scared. “I can’t explain it.” Mum took a step closer and put her hands on Lu’s belly. Our connected hands fell away. I turned to see if someone had called an ambulance, and saw Tray with his phone to his ear.

“Is it pain?” Mather continued to ask.

Lu was breathing hard. She shook her head, “N...no.” Mather’s hands move around Lu’s belly. “There.” Lu put her hands on top of Mum’s, stopping them from moving anymore.

Mum pushed down a bit and looked up at Lu, a smile on her face. “They’re kicking.” Lu took a shattered breath, but didn’t say anything.

“Is an ambulance on the way?” I asked, turning to Tray.

“Yeah, it’s on the way.” We all stood where we were. No one was moving. I think we were all too scared. Lu was still crying which scared me. I felt helpless, a feeling I didn’t like. We heard sirens in the background. The paramedics entered the apartment and assessed Lu. They wanted to take her to the hospital as a precaution, and before we knew it, we were on our way.

We were at the hospital for hours. Once we get there, they ran blood tests and hooked Lu up to a machine that monitored the babies’ heart rates. The sound was fed through speakers and it was one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. The doctors confirmed what Mather knew. They were just moving around. They were worried that Lu could feel them this early on in the pregnancy, but with twins, everything happens a bit earlier. We got to see our children. A picture was printed out, and I made plans to get a frame and put it up in the house.

When we got home, I took Lu to bed where she slept beside me. She was so tired, her feet and breasts swollen, that exhaustion took her instantly.

LUCY

There was a fluttering in my belly, and I now knew it was the twins moving about. The feeling made me happy. “I can’t feel anything.” Rick moved his hands around my tummy, trying to feel their kicks.

“You will soon.”

“Not soon enough,” he grumbled. He spoke to my belly regularly and made sure that I always had something in my hand, either food or water.

We were at Mark’s, having dinner out the back, when the front door opened. “Expecting someone?” Mather asked.

“No.” Mark got up and went inside to see who was in his house. We heard arguing, the voice all too familiar.

“Stay here,” I was instructed by Rick before he got up and joined Mark in the house.

Dad came and sat beside me, holding my hand. Mather had also gone inside. “What do I do, Dad? Do I leave or...”

“We stay right here, sweetheart.” Dad patted my hands as we waited.

Rick emerged, his hand out stretched, “We’re leaving.” His voice was tight, and he wasn’t happy. I grabbed his hand and he helped me up from the chair.

“What’s going on?” Dad stood up next to me.

“Ireland’s here.” We walked into the house. Ireland, Mark and Mather were arguing in a room to the side. Dad stayed, and Rick took me home without another word.

We walked into the apartment in silence. Rick was angry that Ireland was back and I didn’t blame him. I sat down on the couch with Aiden, as Rick disappeared. I think he needed some time alone. I fell asleep on the couch to the feeling of the twins moving. I woke when Rick picked me up. He looked down at me and kissed my forehead as we headed toward the bedroom.

“Are you ok?” I asked him once he laid me down on the bed. Rick climbed over me, but only as far as my belly. Lifting my shirt, he exposed my growing belly, kissing it gently.

“No, I’m not.” I put my hand in his hair. “I don’t like that Ireland’s here,” he continued, kissing my belly again.

“We’ll stay out of her way.” I ran a finger down the side of his face. He caught my finger and kissed it, crawling up the rest of my body until he met my lips.

“We shouldn’t have to.” He rolled to my side and bundled me up in his arms. “I don’t want her near you or our babies.” I cuddled up to him and fell back to sleep.

RICK

Ray and Mather told me that Ireland wasn’t staying with them, which meant that she was staying at Dad’s. “Where is she?” I asked Dad when I saw him later that night. Lu was passed out at home, and it didn’t sit well with me that Ireland was here.

“She’s in the spare bedroom.” I moved toward the room with Dad in tow. I didn’t knock when I entered, just walked in. Ireland was lying down on the bed, her baby to the side. She looked at me from where she sat.

“Why are you here?” I snapped.

“My family is here.” She sat up in the bed.

“The family you destroyed doesn’t want you here.” I could see the tears start to well in her eyes, but I didn’t care.

“I know you don’t want me here...”

“It’s not just me, Ireland.”

She looked down at her lap. “I know,” she whispered. “I had nowhere else to go.” She looked up at me and Dad. “Luke left me. He doesn’t want me or Claire.”

“That’s sad, but really, Ireland? You expected him to stick around?”

“I don’t know. This wasn’t planned, Rick.”

I laughed. “You think?” She sniffed. “You need to stay away from Lu and the babies. I don’t want to hear that you’ve gone near her, not even by accident.”

She looked over my shoulder to where Dad was. “Lucy’s pregnant?”

“Don’t start, Ireland,” Dad warned, and her eyes shifted between the two of us.

“She did it on purpose, Rick. She’s trapping you. Lucy’s psychotic about her contraceptive. She would never get pregnant by accident...”

“Stop!” I yelled. “I will not hear another word from you. I came over here to tell you to stay away from us.” I turned and left Ireland behind, heading back home to Lu.

Lu ran to me as soon as I entered the apartment. “There you are!” she said, wrapping her body around mine.

“What’s wrong?” I carried her down the hallway.

“I woke and you weren’t here, and you weren’t answering your phone. I was worried.”

I put Lu’s feet down on the steps to see if what I suspect was happening, and it is. She was crying, “Honey.” I wiped her tears away with my thumb.

“I’m sorry. I can’t control it.” I kissed her nose, lifted her up, and carried her back to bed.

LUCY

I cried a lot. I tried to hide it, but Rick always knew. I think it was Aiden who gave it away. He was always with me. I left a sleeping Rick and headed to work. I was bombarded as soon as I stepped through the front door. There was an accident on the highway. It was late when I arrived home, tired and sore, I just wanted to have a bath and then head to bed. I was greeted by Aiden, as usual, and Rick wasn’t far behind. “What are you still doing up? It’s late.”

He collected me in his arms and carried me to the bathroom, “I was waiting for you.” I kissed him when he set me on the vanity unit in the bathroom, and watched as he started the bath.

“Tray moved in with Mather and Ray today,” Rick informed me as I sat in the bath and Rick poured water over my back.

“Yeah, how come?”

“He can’t stand to be around Ireland.”

I thought about how that must be affecting Mark, “What does Mark think about that?”

“He was upset, but understands. Speaking of which, what would you say about Dad moving in here with us?”

“That would be cool. I don’t mind.”

“Yeah? Because Ireland is pissing a lot of people off but they don’t have the heart to kick her and Claire out. Mather has told her that she can’t live with her and Ray, she isn’t welcome here, and Dad has had enough.”

I stood up and Rick moved to get a towel for me and wrapped it around me. “I love Mark. It would be cool having him here.” Rick kissed me and we walked to the bedroom then to the kitchen where Rick fed me.

Mark moved in over the next week, and it was nice having him there. “I’m taking Aiden for a walk. Want to join me?” Mark held Aiden’s harness in his hand.

“Yes. Don’t tell Rick though, he doesn’t like me leaving the apartment when he’s not here. He’s worried that something will happen, or he’ll miss something.”

“We won’t tell him.”

“It’s getting harder to get up and down.”

“It’s only temporary,” Mark assured me. We harnessed Aiden up and began our walk. Aiden ran around the dog park while we sat and talked about everything.

Mark’s phone started to ring. “Hey, Rick. “Yes, she’s with me. We took Aiden to the park.” Mark listened to what Rick was saying, “Son, she’s fine. I won’t let anything happen to her.” More listening, then he handed the phone over to me.

“Hey,” I said, unsure of if he was angry with me or not.

“Are you ok? Are the babies ok?”

“Yes, we’re all fine. I just needed some fresh air and sunshine.”

“I’m just worried.”

“We’re all fine, Rick. Go back to work.” I could almost see him rubbing his face in frustration.

“Yeah, ok. I love you.”

“I’ll see you tonight.”

“He’s just looking out for you,” Mark said as he took the phone back.

“I know, but sometimes it’s suffocating.”

“It will be over soon.” Mark patted my hand.

“Yeah, three months to go.”

RICK

I called out for Lu as soon as I stepped into the apartment. I went to her, engulfing her in a hug. “How was your walk?” I asked, talking into her hair.

“It was good, relaxing.” I pulled back to look at her face. “Are you hungry? Mark cooked.”

“Yeah, sounds great. Let me get out of my work clothes.”

Lu ended up going to bed early. Her walk wore her out more then she wanted to admit. When I called it a night, I watched my Lu sleep. Her hand was resting on her belly. Wrapping my arms around her, I fell asleep with my family secure in my arms.

“Rick.” My body shook and I felt a small hand on my shoulder. “Rick.”

I sat up in a panic. “What is it? Is it the babies?” I searched Lu’s eyes, but she was smiling.

“Here.” She lifted my hands and put them on her belly. It took a moment to realise what I was feeling; small bumps and movements. My face split into a grin, and my eyes met Lu’s, who was still smiling with tears in her eyes.

“I can feel them.” I looked back down to her belly, “I can finally feel them. It’s beautiful,” I whispered to her belly. Lu lay back down, and I kept a hand on her belly as we drifted back off to sleep. I didn’t how she could sleep with the amount of movement that was going on in her belly, but she did.

I woke again when Lu moved out from under me. “What are you doing?” I mumbled into the pillow.

“I have work.”

I stretched my hand, searching for her belly. “They’re not moving,” I sulked.

Lu laughed. “No, they are not.”

I leant over and kissed her belly before sitting up and kissing Lu’s lips. “I love you,” I declared.

Lu responded with an, “Mm,” before giving me one last kiss and disappearing behind the bathroom door.

LUCY

People had their hands on my belly all day. As soon as they heard that movement can be felt, they were all on it. I had to hide at one point. All the hands were getting to be too much for me to handle. When I emerged from my hiding spot, I walked outside to get some fresh air, and immediately regretted it.