Operation Bailey Babies

Liam

Savannah’s at the head of the conference table when I arrive at Bailey Timber near the end of the workday.

“Liam.” Grandma Dori’s there too and she crooks her finger, so I bend down and she kisses and hugs me. “This pregnancy has made her so nice,” she remarks, patting my arm.

I say nothing because Savannah’s within earshot. She’s worried that pregnancy has made her soft, because she cries at commercials now.

“Let’s keep her pregnant,” Grandma Dori jokes.

I wouldn’t mind Savannah being pregnant again.

She’d take that pen that’s in her hand and stab me in the throat if she heard me say that though, which is why I’m quietly waiting for her to finish talking to the company lawyer.

Her distraction lets me eat her up like I used to, catalog all her features.

I’ve begged and pleaded with her to let me paint her, but she keeps putting it off because she feels as though she’s ugly now.

She’s sexy as hell and it’s not that her skin glows or her tits are fuller and bigger. It’s the fact that she’s growing our baby. A piece of her and me together is inside her.

I never thought the moment would come where I would stand witness to this.

Sex has been a challenge as her stomach got bigger. She wasn’t pleased this morning when she found out she could no longer look down and see her toes. Which is why I decided to surprise her today.

“Hey, Liam, good to see you.” Dan puts his hand out and I shake it. “Any day now, huh?”

“Bite your tongue, Dan, we have three more weeks,” Savannah says.

I love the fact that she says we.

Dan laughs and closes the door behind him, which is my signal to swivel my chair around and meet my wife at the end of the table.

My lips hit her cheek, and she leads my hand to her belly. “She’s been kicking all day.”

It’s hard to explain how happy I am when I feel our baby move. I never really thought about what it would be like to have a baby of my own.

I guess I always thought about after the baby was born, never what it would be like during the nine months of pregnancy.

I’d have my hand permanently affixed to Savannah’s stomach if she’d allow me, which we all know she won’t.

I bend down and whisper, “Hey, sweet girl.”

The baby’s kicking subdues a bit.

“She just wanted her daddy.”

Savannah smiles at me. “So did her mommy. Ready for dinner?”

“I assume you are?”

She laughs. “I’m starving.”

“Did you eat lunch?” I ask.

She rolls her eyes, but it’s been a hard lesson for her to learn that she needs to take time away from working to nourish the baby. She gets tunnel vision and doesn’t come up for air. “Yes, Dad.”

I fiddle with the tie of her dress. “Would you be mad if I untied this?”

“I would if you did it here.”

I pull the tie a little and she shoots me her sternest look, but it’s sweet compared to how she used to look at me before we got together. “Model for me?”

She pulls away from me. “I told you, no. I’m bloated and have gained so much weight because I eat the entire grocery store aisle of potato chips daily.

“She couldn’t have cravings for sweets, it had to be salty.”

I laugh because I just bought five bags of salt and vinegar chips at the store. Savannah will be done with them by week’s end.

“Maybe she’s a little like her mom—salty.” I shrug.

“I hope she’s a little sweet like her daddy too.”

“Dinner?” I ask.

“Yeah, I need some grease and salt. Force me to have carrots tomorrow, okay?” She opens the door to the conference room.

“Sure,” I say, following her.

Walking to her office, we run into Grandma Dori again, where she’s bent over Savannah’s new assistant’s desk with a fist full of money.

“No, no. I have Brooklyn first, Savannah, and then Holly. Brooklyn is in such a sour mood lately, she needs to get that baby out of her.”

“Grandma?” Savannah asks as though she has no idea what her grandma is doing.

I laugh behind her and that sweet Savannah from the conference room disappears. She glares at me over her shoulder.

“Are you betting on when we’ll all deliver?”

Grandma Dori looks over her granddaughter’s shoulder to me and smiles. “That I am.” She turns back to Dedra. “You got that, right?”

Dedra bites her lip, looking at Savannah.

We all wait for the explosion. Each of us but Grandma Dori—she doesn’t care.

Then Savannah holds her hand out toward me. “I’m definitely delivering first. I say me, Brooklyn, then Holly.”

There’s the competitive wife I know and love.

I pass her some money from my wallet.

“We’ve got one thing in common. Holly is last,” Grandma Dori says.

Dedra smiles, her relief obvious. “Would you like to bet on times or days or pounds?”

Savannah sits down. “Seriously?

“Does no one work around here?” She surprises us all when she puts her hand out for more money and bets that our little girl’s birth weight will be precisely seven pounds three ounces.

I help her stand afterward and she waddles into her office. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. Her waddle is cute.

Dori leans in close. “See? Get her pregnant again right away. She’s a delight.”

I shake my head. “I’ll do what I can.”

Of course our sex life hasn’t been affected at all. If anything, she’s so horny all the time, I was exhausted during her second trimester.

“Let’s go.” Savannah comes out of her office with her coat in her hands and purse hanging off her shoulder. No computer or work to bring home. These are the good nights.

I take her coat because she’ll never wear it even though spring is late to come this year, and we head to dinner.

***

After Savannah eats a greasy burger, fries, and onion rings at Lard Have Mercy, we drive home. My sweet ride comes into view when I pull in, though it’s covered by a cloth tarp.

Sav climbs out of my new truck with help from me holding her arm as she steps onto the running board I installed after I purchased it.

I love my car, but the seat belts in the back weren’t safe enough for a baby. It’s stored away for date nights and when our daughter is old enough.

She points at the empty car seat boxes by the trash can. “You already installed them?”

“In your car and the truck,” I say.

She laughs as we walk into the house. “I didn’t even notice when I got in. From what I hear, Austin had a horrible time with theirs.”

“Why didn’t he call me?” I unlock the door, but she takes my hand, leading me around the side of the house.

“Every man wants to install his own baby car seat.”

She’s right. I wouldn’t allow anyone else to do that job. Her hand grows tighter around mine and I shiver from the cool breeze.

Meanwhile, she walks around with only her wrap dress on as though it’s eighty degrees out.

We get to the barn and she leans against the wood siding, waiting for me to get my keys out.

“What are we doing out here?” I ask.

She pushes off the wood and puts her arms around me, kissing my jaw. “I want you to paint me. But be flattering. Don’t go making it super realistic with my cankles and big butt.”

I open up the barn and lead her in before shutting the door and locking it back up. “I wish you saw yourself through my eyes.

“You’re the most incredibly sexy woman.” I kiss her neck, my fingers fiddling with the tie of her dress.

“You have to say that. It’s your baby I’m growing inside me.”

“Nah, do you think I’d want to paint you if you were hideous?” I chuckle.

She smacks my shoulder and I chuckle in her ear, my tongue sliding around her earlobe as I unbutton the flap of the dress and it falls open, bearing her naked stomach to me.

I fall to my knees, cradle her belly in my hands, and press a light kiss to it. “You’re beautiful.”

Her smile says she believes me. I unhook her bra, letting it fall between us. After leading her to the couch, I strip off my shirt and get the canvas ready.

“How long will this take?” she asks.

“An hour maybe.” I set up my paintbrushes. “Why?”

“Because staring at you with your shirt off and that fresh tattoo of my name on your skin is making me want to do something else on this couch.” Her tongue slides out to wet her lip.

I drop the paintbrush and head over to my wife.

I can paint her tomorrow. After all, a happy wife means a happy life.