CJ
awoke to the smell of bacon wafting underneath her bedroom door.
She
lay still for a few moments, savoring the fact that for the
first
time, in what seemed like forever, she had nobody to please
but
herself. And John, of course but he had already made it very
clear
that despite their differences', he was going to make sure
that
the last few weeks of her pregnancy were as comfortable
as
possible.
Even though she had only been away from DC for
less than 24 hours,
CJ already felt completely relaxed, and she
decided that the
pleading she had resorted to with her doctor had
been well worth the
humiliation. Abbey, too, had thought that
flying so late in her
pregnancy was risky but she had eventually
given CJ the go ahead
when CJ had promised to call at the first
sign of any problems.
The flight had been uneventful and she
had arrived in Austin the
previous evening. John had sent a black
suburban to meet her. They
were trying to be as discreet as
possible, and they had both agreed
that John meeting her in person
would only make the six-foot Press
Secretary with a bump the size
of Vesuvius even more conspicuous.
Finally, the urge to pee
was the deciding factor for CJ and she
struggled up from the bed
and made her way through to the bathroom.
When she emerged a few
moments later, having splashed some water on
her face and brushed
her teeth, she seriously considered going back
to bed and
snuggling under the comforter.
A loud clatter, followed by a
string of curses, came from the
direction of the kitchen and CJ
hurried through.
"Are you alright?" she asked, when
she saw John crouched down in the
middle of the kitchen picking up
pieces of shattered china.
"My mother's," he
explained, nodding his head to indicate the broken
teapot as he
stood and placed the pieces on the counter. "Watch
your feet,
there are still lots of shards there. I'll go get a
broom."
When
he got back, CJ was on her knees sorting through the
mess. "What
are you doing? You shouldn't be down on the floor in
your
condition." He sounded panicked as he rushed to her side and
CJ
couldn't help laughing.
"John, how many times do I have
to tell you? I'm not an invalid,"
she made to stand and then
stopped, a blush rising in her cheeks.
"What's wrong?" John asked, noticing the flush on her face.
"I'm..."
she took a deep breath and sighed before continuing, "…
stuck."
John
smirked and placed his hands firmly on his hips. "Well,
I'd
offer to help but as you keep reminding me, you're not an
invalid."
"Okay, shut up and help me up," she
groaned as he grabbed hold of
her outstretched hands and carefully
eased her to feet.
"I can put up with the indignity of
doctors prodding me and
examining me where only a select few have
gone before. I can even,
at a push, accept the teasing for falling
asleep in public places
and the untimely gas,"
John
wrinkled his nose at her last comment, having experienced it
first
hand and she slapped his arm.
"I cannot," she
continued, "believe I am incapable of doing such a
simple
thing as standing up unaided. This baby has got to put in
an
appearance soon before I have no dignity left at all," she
moaned.
"You think you've got no dignity now, just wait
until you're
briefing the President with spit-up on your suit or
when you're
on Capital Beat' and you've leaked through your
blouse or…"
"Ok, that's enough," CJ said,
slapping his arm again in an attempt
to silence him.
"So,"
he said, changing the subject before CJ had the opportunity to
hit
him again, "you'll let me help you this week without
assuming
that I think you are weak and incapable? I'm not going to
be
clichéd and say I wish I could go through this instead of
you'
because I don't. I think it's incredible the way you've
coped. I
also understand that at eight and a half months pregnant,
things
aren't so easy for you, I just want to help out a
little."
John stopped and noticed the tears in her eyes.
"Hormones," they chorused.
CJ laughed
and wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her robe. "You
really
can be sweet sometimes," CJ said softly and John
shrugged.
"Anyway, are you going to offer me some breakfast or do
you
expect the mother of your child to scavenge for food?" CJ
asked,
eyeing the feast laid out on the counter. She placed a hand
on her
stomach and tried to massage away the niggle she felt at the
base
of her belly.
"I think the baby's hungry, too," she
announced to John, as she continued to rub
her stomach. CJ was
enjoying eating for two, especially the way the
extra pounds had
enhanced her figure and her closet of Armani and
Vera Wang gowns
was the furthest thing from her mind as she watched
John pile her
plate high with goodies.
"I was thinking," John
called over his shoulder as he busied himself
at the counter
fixing their breakfast, "do you want to join me for a
swim
later? It'll be relaxing for you I would imagine,"
CJ
smiled, "It would be nice to feel weightless for a while,
that's
for sure," and they both laughed as they settled down
to eat.
"CJ!" John called from the pool,
"it's gonna be dark before you put
in an appearance,"
"I'll
be out in a minute. I just need to…" her voice trailed off
and
John gave up, diving under the water to swim a few laps of
the
generous pool. After several minutes, he reached the far end
for
the third time and stopped to look for CJ.
"Quite
the athlete, aren't we?" CJ teased, from the other end of
the
pool where she stood. John wiped the chlorinated water from
his
eyes and stared at her. Dressed in a black one-piece that
clearly
outlined her pregnant figure, her hair hanging loose
around her
shoulders, John couldn't help thinking she was the most
beautiful
thing he had ever seen. His body certainly thought so,
and he
reached his hand into the elastic of his swim-shorts to
allow a
little more room for his condition'. He silently thanked
God that
he was in the water and CJ couldn't see what her body was
doing to
his.
CJ backed down the steps and let out a
dramatic sigh as she lowered
herself into the water.
"Mmmmmm,"
CJ sighed happily. Since waking up, she'd had a dull ache
in her
back and water felt so good. John watched as she allowed
herself
to float. After a few moments she became aware of him
watching her
and she swam over to him. When she reached him, she
mirrored his
action of leaning against the side, head resting
against the cool
tile.
"You're very quiet all of a sudden," CJ noted
several minutes
later. She smiled as he reached a hand out under
the water to
caress her stomach and she turned towards him to give
him better
access. She was used to him touching her belly and no
longer
flinched at his touch, realizing it was his only way of
connecting
with the baby.
He hesitated for a second before
moving his hand up to gently cup
her breast. CJ gasped at the feel
of his hand and suddenly his lips
were on hers, kissing her
softly. She got lost in the moment but as
he tried to part her
lips with his tongue, she pulled back quickly,
wading over to the
steps and hauling herself out of the water.
"No, John,"
CJ said, her words mixed with tears as she rushed into
the house,
leaving John behind.
She was already stripping off her clothes
as she entered her room
and she left them in a pile on the floor
as she moved to the
bathroom and locked the door behind her. She
could hear John
shouting for her over her muted cries but she
couldn't bring herself
to answer him. Everything had been going so
well, why did he have
to spoil it?
"CJ?" John called, knocking gently on the door.
"Go away!"
"CJ,
I'm sorry. I really am. I misjudged the whole situation.
It's just
you looked so sexy in your swimsuit and I've never seen
what the
pregnancy's done to your body in such detail before and it
had
quite an effect on me…I'm sorry. Please come out,"
CJ
could hear the pain in his voice and the tears welled up in her
eyes
again.
"Could you arrange a car for me please?" she
asked, her voice
trembling, a mixture of emotions coursing through
her.
"CJ…"
"Please, John,"
"Okay, if that's what you want. I'll be downstairs,"
She waited
until she heard the door close behind him before
unlocking the
bathroom door and walking over to the bed. Sitting
down, she
noticed he had picked up her swimming things and set them
down on
the armchair.
She was going over everything in her head again
when she felt the
dampness beneath her. Standing to move what she
thought was a wet
towel, she felt a gush of warm fluid between her
legs.
No, not now, she thought as a wave of pain swept over her.
"John!"