Chapter two hundred and thirty:

Christy pulled on an old t-shirt and slipped into bed. She had just made it with the new sheets they had bought on their honeymoon. She opened a furniture catalogue and flipped through it to the baby gear. By the sheer size of the section, she was amazed at how much stuff one tiny little baby needed.

She flipped to a page with cribs on it and examined each one carefully, reading the various safety features and the prices.

“Good news honey!” Isaac came into the room. “I managed to get the phone and TV both hooked up, and I’ve got the internet working in my office.”

Christy smiled up at him. “Is that what you were doing?”

“Yeah,” He laughed. “And the appliances we decided on are coming in the morning.”

“That’s wonderful. I can make you breakfast.”

He smiled, “You don’t have to do that.” He pulled his t-shirt over his head and dropped it into an empty box. He crossed the room and sat down next to her on the bed. “What are you looking at?”

“Baby stuff.”

“Already?” He asked with a smile.

“We’ve got to think about it sometime.”

“True… Maybe we should wait a bit though. I just ordered a bunch of appliances on my credit card, I’m pretty sure it’s maxed out.” He laughed.

 “I know. I’m just curious to see what we’re getting into. We still need to paint and get furniture for the living room and dining room.”

He smiled. “You’re really into this, huh?”

“Uh-huh. I want to raise our baby in a pretty and happy home.”

He grinned. “Me too.”

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Becky woke early the next morning, with a smile immediately surfacing on her lips.

Christy’s advice had gone over extremely well,

She moved to get out of bed, but Zac’s arms tightened around her, pulling her close. He had fallen asleep curled up next to her, with his head rested on her chest. He groaned in his sleep as she tried to move.

“Zaccy,” She giggled. “If you’re not ready to get up, the least you can do is let me up.”

“No, stay!” He protested.

She giggled as he buried his face in her neck.

“Becca, last night was so… amazing.” He grinned, kissing her shoulder lightly.

She smiled. “I know… If you let me up I’ll start breakfast.”

“No, stay!” He protested.

“Zac,” She smiled. “It’s almost noon. I can’t stay in bed all day.” She kissed him and slipped out of bed, and began pulling on clothes.

“Awww…” He sat up. “Don’t put on clothes!”

Becky laughed, seeing his hair sticking up at every angle. She pulled on a dress she had left in Zac’s closet due to lack of space in her own.

She climbed over the bed and sat on Zac’s abdomen, bending to kiss him.

He grinned and returned her kisses. “Stay, babe!” He urged.

“I can’t, I’m supposed to look after Jen this morning. Luke has classes and Taylor’s taking the afternoon shift.”

“She’s just across the hall, she can yell if she needs us!” He protested.

Becky playfully shoved him and climbed out of bed.

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After Taylor was sure Jen had taken an adequate nap, he went upstairs with a cold bottle of water for her and quietly let himself into her room. She was awake with a book in her hands. This had meant that she had gotten out of bed to get it, even when she wasn’t supposed to for fear of tearing her stitches. He decided not to press the issue.

“Hey, Jen. Did you sleep well enough?” He asked carefully, kneeling next to her bed.

She nodded.

“Can I make you a cup of tea or anything?”

“No, I’m okay.” She offered him a smile. “I do need you to do one thing for me…”

Taylor smiled. “What’s that?”

“I need you to change the bandage for me… the doctors said to do it when it needed it, and it definitely needs it.”

“Okay, but… wouldn’t you be more comfortable with Becky or Christy-“

“Becky is terribly squeamish. She can’t stand the sight of blood. And Christy’s got the whole morning sickness thing going on…”

“And Luke?”

“He has class all day. I don’t know if it can wait.”

“Alright.” He forced a smile, ‘I can do it.”

“There’s a box on Becky’s bed with all the stuff.” She instructed.

Taylor turned on his knees and retrieved the box. When he turned back, Jen had lifted her shirt and folded it around her bust line, and pulled her pajamas down on one side to show a bare hip and quite an amount of exposed skin.

Taylor cleared his throat and swallowed hard. He dropped his gaze back to the box of medical supplies and rummaged through it, producing the hand-written note from the nurse.

“I want to leave it. It’s gross and I don’t want to look at it either.” Jen replied, anxious to fill the awkward silence. “I imagine it will hurt too.”

“I’ll try not to hurt you.” He looked up into her eyes. “I’ll try.”

He examined the note from the nurse and got up to wash his hands. He returned and dropped back to his knees. “Okay…” He sat staring at the bandage for a moment. Jen was right; it did need to be changed. It was gross. He stopped himself from looking at the expanse of smooth skin, and reached out to remove the surgical tape.

She winced.

“Sorry!” He removed his hand. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, I just… I was expecting it to hurt…” She smiled. “It’s ok.”

He ran his fingers gently along her skin, releasing the tape. His warm fingers grazing her flesh caused her to tense, and break into goose bumps.

“Are you cold?” He asked, nervously.

“A little.”

“I’ll try to be quick.” He replied, gently lifting one edge of the bandage. With this much skin exposed, his mind immediately flashed to mental images of them making out; their passionate kisses and immediate arousal.

Taylor cleared his throat quickly and blinked back the images. His hand jerked and pulled the bandage suddenly.

She gasped and tensed further. “That hurt.” She pointed out, unnecessarily.

“Sorry…” He muttered, pulling the bandage a bit more, but it was stuck to the wound.

“Ah!” She gasped in agony, jerking her body away.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” He said quickly. “I’m almost done.”

“Hurry…” She urged, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Taylor could have punched himself. He hated inflicting so much pain on someone he cared so deeply for.

He tugged lightly at the bandage again, causing her to cry out in pain again. He apologized profusely. “One more time, okay? Then it’ll be all over.”

She nodded quickly.

In one solid movement, he jerked the last of the bandage from the wound. Replacing it with a fresh bandage was relatively easy in comparison. He simply put some antiseptic cream on the wound and taped some gauze over top.

He replaced her shirt and her blankets and as she sat up sobbing, he did the best thing he could think of: he wrapped his arms around her tightly, and gently stroked her hair. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He whispered.

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