What ya' got if you ain't got love? The kind that you just want to give away. It's okay to open up, go ahead and let the light shine through.
Olivia sat herself down on the couch in her favorite seat and leaned her head so it was resting against the back. Her hands instinctively went to her swollen belly as she felt a small flutter tickle her insides. The baby had kept her awake for the past few nights and she was exhausted.
"I'm home," Brian announced softly as he walked in through the door, shutting it behind him. He shimmied his brown coat off and draped it over the back of a kitchen chair. "Hey," he smiled as he gave Olivia a swift peck on the lips, "were you able to get some rest today?"
Olivia sighed and shook her head, "nope. I just can't get comfortable." She looked up at Brian and gave him a tired smile. Even her eyes showed just how exhausted she really was.
"How about you take a nice bath while I get dinner started?"
"As great as that sounds," Olivia said, "I'm too tired to move."
Brian gave her a light chuckle before sitting at the opposite end of the couch and swiftly pulling her feet into his lap. He pulled her fuzzy socks off and began massaging them, earning a gentle moan from Olivia.
"That feels so good," she said, "you have no idea how bad my feet have been hurting today."
"I can't imagine," Brian said sympathetically as he continued to rub her sore and swollen feet. "Is Cameron already asleep?"
Olivia nodded. "He was pretty good today. He helped me with the laundry. He thinks he is so grown up when I let him help fold his own clothes."
Brian smiled at the thought. Olivia was on maternity leave now and because of that he had been picking up extra time at his precinct. The extra cash was good to have around with the baby on the way but Brian missed out on getting to be at home during the day to take care of Olivia and to interact with their oldest son.
Cameron was three years old and he was a little spit fire. He loved to help his mommy around the house but when it came time to picking up his toys, he wasn't having it. He would throw tantrums seldom but most of the time he was a well behaved three year old. Cameron was enrolled in daycare and he went three days a week from noon until five. Olivia and Brian had decided that it would be good to start him in school at a young age so that when it came time for kindergarten, he would already be used to it. All of the decision making involving Cameron was decided by both Brian and Olivia. There wasn't a decision they made without consulting the other.
"Liv," Brian dragged out, "I told you to rest today. I would have done the laundry when I got home."
"I know," Olivia said as she let her eyes drift close. She was really enjoying the foot massage. "Cameron didn't have any school clothes clean though so I just did one load."
"Didn't you hear the doctors orders Wednesday? He said to take it easy."
"I'm trying," Olivia argued, "I didn't think it would be so hard…"
This earned a grin from Brian who had stopped rubbing her feet and slipped her socks back on. "Come on," he said standing up and reaching for her hand, "let's get you to bed."
"Can't I just sleep here?" She stuck out her bottom lip and gave him those puppy dog looking eyes that he just couldn't resist.
"You don't want to cuddle with me tonight?"
Olivia perked up at that and thankfully accepted his hand as she hoisted herself into a standing position.
"I think the baby wants cake," Olivia mumbled as she crawled into bed under the covers and tried her best to find a comfortable position.
"Oh yeah? What kind of cake?"
"Chocolate. Definitely chocolate."
"I think we have a German chocolate piece left in the fridge from last night. Does that sound good?"
Olivia nodded and thanked Brian before he left the room to retrieve the sweet piece of velvet. Olivia was seven months along and so far things had been going well. Besides the morning sickness and fatigue, there was nothing wrong with either her or the baby's health. Brian was doing his best to tend to her every craving and every time she had a mood swing he was right by her side helping her through it.
"I went ahead and fixed you a glass of milk too," Brian said as he re-entered the bedroom carrying a plate with German chocolate cake in one hand and a glass of milk in the other. He was just about to hand her the plate when he looked down and realized that she had already fallen asleep. He smiled to himself as he heard her begin to snore. He put the cake and the milk back into the refrigerator because he knew Olivia would be craving something sweet in the morning.
"Night, Liv," he whispered as he crawled into bed next to her and flipped off the lamp. "Goodnight Little One," he whispered to her stomach before closing his eyes and drifting into a peaceful slumber.
It was two-thirty in the morning and a rather harsh storm was going on outside. A loud jolt of thunder had woken Olivia and she hadn't been able to go back to sleep. She didn't feel any less tired than she had before. She sighed heavily as she pulled the blankets up higher over her stomach.
"Y'okay?"
"No," Olivia answered with a certain shakiness to her voice.
Brian was fully awake now and sitting straight up as he strained to see her face in the dark. "What's wrong, Babe?"
"I just want to sleep," Olivia answered hesitantly as a fat tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm exhausted and if it isn't one thing it's another! I just want to be able to sleep for one night."
"Come here," he said gesturing for her to scoot closer to him. He lay down and pulled her to him so her head was resting against his bare chest. He played with her hair while telling her that it would be okay. "Close your eyes," he whispered delicately, "I'm right here."
Just when Olivia was beginning to drift back off to sleep the unmistakable sound of Cameron appeared in the doorway. "Mommy, Daddy, I can't sleep." Even though Olivia didn't blame Cameron, she began crying hysterically.
"Hey," Brian soothed her, "Shhh, it's okay. I promise. I will handle Cameron. You just lay down and close your eyes and I promise you can sleep in for as long as you want" Brian rolled out from Olivia and watched as she buried her face into his pillow.
"Come on, Buddy," he said to Cameron as he reached down to pick him up. "Let's get you back into bed."
"Why is Mommy cwying?" he asked, genuinely concerned. It wasn't very often at all that he got to see his mother in tears.
"She's just tired," Brian explained.
"Does she have a boo-boo?"
"Nope," Brian answered again as he flipped the Toy Story blankets back on the toddler bed, "she just needs some sleep and then she will feel all better."
"Maybe you should read her book, Daddy," Cameron said as Brian sat him down onto his own mattress and covered him up with the blankets. "Mommy likes books."
Brian smiled, "maybe I'll try that but, first let's get you back to sleep."
"I'll be okay, Daddy. I'm a big boy. You go to Mommy. She is prolly scared of the storm."
"Okay," Brian said as he leaned over and gave the boy a kiss on the cheek. "If you get scared you just holler for me and I will be right back, okay?"
"Okay."
Brian said his 'goodnights' and 'I love you's' to Cameron before leaving the room and keeping the door cracked. He returned to his bed where Olivia was still awake and crying.
"Sweetheart," he said at the pitiful sight, he hated seeing his wife so stressed, "you couldn't go back to sleep?"
"I had to pee," she said miserably.
"Oh, sweetie…" he climbed back into bed and snuggled close to her. "I wish there was something I could do."
"You could rub my back," Olivia offered hopefully, "it really hurts…"
"Okay," Brian nodded, "turn over." Olivia turned over so she was lying on her right side and her back was facing Brian. He lifted her night shirt up and began tracing lazy circles on her lower back where he knew the pain would be centered. "Just try to rest, okay? I have the day off tomorrow so you don't have to worry about getting up with Cameron."
Olivia nodded and closed her eyes, praying that sleep would soon find away to come to her. "I love you, Bri," she mumbled.
"I love you too, Olivia. Goodnight."
The next morning Brian woke up to a cloudy sky that was still lingering on from the early morning storm. There were puddles flooding the sidewalks and streets as he looked out of the window and into the rush of the morning Manhattan had to offer. He closed the curtain before changing out of his pajamas and leaving the room quietly, careful not to disturb his peacefully sleeping wife.
He made his way down the hallway that contained the bathroom and Cameron's room and into the living room where he was expecting the television to be blaring with cartoons. That had been Cameron's new thing; waking up in the morning and sneaking into the living room where he would turn the television on and press all other types of buttons on the remote. Brian figured he would go ahead and start on breakfast so that it would be done when Cameron and Olivia did manage to get out of bed.
Several minutes later and Brian had managed to finish his own plate as well as a cup of coffee. He was starting to wonder why Cameron was still asleep. He sat the sport's magazine he was reading down on the table and carried his empty dish to the sink where he rinsed it off and placed it in the dishwasher before making his way into Cameron's room.
"Cameron," he said just before pushing the door open, "time to get up."
When he pushed Cameron's bedroom door open and saw the empty bed he felt his heart skip a beat. His breath caught in his chest and immediately the worst thoughts started invading his mind.
Uh oh. Where's Cameron?