Chapter Thirteen
When JC returned home, he was surprised to see his brother-in-law’s vehicle still sitting in the driveway. Even though he’d asked the man to stick around, he also knew that his wife had her brother wrapped. If she’d demanded that he leave, he would have been long gone. He was pleased to see that his wife had finally understood JC’s intentions… or so it seemed.
He headed to the back of his vehicle and removed his sleeping daughter from the car seat. Carrying her inside, he saw the brother-sister pair sitting on the couch, Brandon rubbing Jen’s feet. It was quite a sight.
“Hey man. I wasn’t expecting you to still be here.”
“Yep. The old girl decided to let me stick around and keep her company.”
“Just because you fed me,” she told him, giving her brother a grin. She didn’t even turn her attention to her husband. She was still incredibly hurt by him. Pushing herself into a sitting position, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her brother’s cheek. “Thanks for hanging out with me tonight.”
He gave her a smile and a little wink as he patted her leg gently. He watched as his pregnant sister pushed herself up off the couch and brushed passed her husband coolly. He shook his head.
“I’m going to bed,” she muttered, though she didn’t look at him. JC felt hurt that she’d not acted any warmer towards him. He shook his own head and looked to Brandon.
“You gonna be here for awhile? I’m gonna go put this rugrat down,” he said, nodding to Julie who was snoring away in his arms. Brandon gave him a nod. He needed to stick around to have a loooong talk with this man!
~*~
When JC came back down, he walked over to the chair and took a seat in it.
“God. I stopped in to check on Jen and she nearly bit my head off. Jesus.”
“Yeah… listen… we need to have a talk about her.”
“I’m glad you said that! How in the world do you keep her straight, man?”
“No Jace. That umm… that’s not the kind of talk I had in mind…”
“Oh sure… umm… go ahead.”
“Listen… Jen knows that what you’re doing is for her own good and she truly respects that. Hell, I would probably do the same thing but you’ve gotta let up, man. She’s really starting to get down and that kind of stress can’t be good for the kid either.”
“I’m not sure… what do you mean?”
“I mean that you need to chill. The kid was almost in tears tonight because of how you’re treating her. She’s a grown ass woman and she knows what she needs to do in order to make sure that this baby is safe. It’s hard enough for her to deal with the fact that she can’t do stuff anymore. Don’t make it harder by breathing down her neck 24/7 man.”
JC was completely taken aback by his brother-in-law’s assessment of the situation. Had Jen told him all of this? Was she really almost crying? He felt like an ass!
“And dude… this is disgusting for me to say. And if you weren’t my sister’s husband, this would NEVER come out of my mouth ‘cuz I’d be beating your ass…But just… go up there and give her some… love, huh? She desperately needs it. Gross. I’m going to throw up. Yuck. I’ve gotta go!”
Rolling his eyes as Brandon’s theatrics, he stood and walked the man to the door.
“I really appreciate you talking some sense into me. Jen will appreciate it too.”
Giving JC a smile, Brandon clapped him on the shoulder. He started to walk away but stopped and turned.
“Oh, and Jace?”
“Hmm?”
“Make her cry again and I’m gonna kick your ass,” he said, in all seriousness.
“You’ve not got that to worry about.”
~*~
After making sure that all the locks were secure downstairs, and setting the alarm, he headed up to try and make amends with his wife. When he pushed the bedroom door open, he found her standing in the middle of the floor, dressed in only her bra and panties. It looked like she was trying to get changed into her night clothes.
“Do you need some help, baby?”
“No,” she snapped, figuring this was just his way of spying on her once again. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, even though his hands could not touch in the front. Instead, he laid his palms flat against her round belly, feeling for their child kicking inside.
He ducked his head and pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder. She truly was beautiful.
“Please? Let me help you,” he whispered, moving his hands down to her thighs slowly. He felt her lean back into his embrace, causing him to smile. He helped her dress with ease and then helped her back to the bed, getting her all situated before he laid down beside her.
“You really hurt my feelings tonight,” she told him softly.
“I know Jen. I’ve been an idiot but I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I swear. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you, or that I thought you’d do something to hurt yourself or the baby. It was me being protective and I’m sorry if it came off as otherwise.”
Giving him a small smile, she leaned over to kiss him. She knew that he’d been acting that way due to worry and she could understand. But she was also happy that she’d managed to tell him how she felt. It had taken a load of her chest. She just hoped that the remainder of the pregnancy would fly by so she could get this kid out and get back to normal!
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