Almost three weeks later, Charlotte's busy taping together boxes. They signed the papers three days ago and have been in non-stop clear out the loft mode since then. There are boxes everywhere, making navigating through the loft almost impossible. She's exhausted, drained from packing, and is grateful that they're almost done. She's ready to move, ready for all these boxes to move out as well. The task of unpacking them into the new house isn't as appealing. She's dreading that part, but she'll grit her teeth and suck it up.
Cooper walks into the loft and almost runs right into a large box. "Whoa." He pushes the box to the side and makes a path. "You've been busy."
She rips off a piece of tape with her teeth and nods. "I need you hands."
He pads over to her and holds down the flaps as she secures them. He steals a kiss when she lifts her head up slightly. "Take a break. You're sweating and clearly out of breath."
"I'm fine." She flips the box over and bends the other flaps down. "But I could use your help."
He smiles. "Ok." He pauses. "Can we compromise?"
"Depends on what this compromise is."
"I need to go pick Mason up from Garret's house. I just stopped by to grab Garret's hat that he left here the other day. Take a twenty minute break, and we can resume packing up the loft when I get back. We'll make up that time in no time, especially if Mason pitches in."
She sighs. "Fine."
He presses his lips against her cheek and smiles. "I know you want to get this done as soon as possible, but you gotta take care of yourself, sweetie."
She nods. "I know, but once I get goin' on somethin', it's hard for me to stop until it's done."
"But you have to." He pauses. "Have a snack and then lay down until I get back."
"I already said fine."
He laughs. "I talked to the realtor and she said that we can move in whenever we're ready, so we have time. Everything will get done, I promise."
"Can you just go get Mason so we can finish?"
"I'm going right now—after I grab Garret's hat." He disappears into his son's bedroom and grabs the red baseball cap. "Remember what I said."
She rolls her eyes. "Just go!" She sighs. "Sorry."
He smiles. "I'll be home soon." He opens the door and leaves the loft, heading down the hallway to the elevator.
She looks around and grunts. She's tempted to keep working, but she is kind of hungry and her back and feet are killing her, so maybe taking a short break won't be the worst idea in the world.
By 5:30 PM, the loft is almost fully packed away. There's a few necessary items still unpacked, but those will find their way into boxes tomorrow morning before they load up the truck.
Charlotte's sitting on the couch, her back pressed against the armrest, her legs stretched out. She closes her eyes and moans softly.
Cooper's sitting opposite her, kneading his fingers into her sore and swollen feet and ankles. He smiles. "Feel better?"
"Mmhmm." She rests her hand on her stomach and smiles. "Momma and baby are both livin' the life right now—thank you." She takes a sip from her water bottle and shifts on the cushions.
He smirks. "Speaking of the baby, are we finding out the sex?"
She opens her eyes and looks at him. "Coop, I don't need any more surprises with this baby, so yes, we're finding out the sex." She pauses. "Wait, do you not want to find out what we're havin'?"
He shrugs. "I want to know if I'm gonna have a daughter or another son, but something about being surprised is kinda exciting." He pauses. "But I guess it'll be exciting either way. I'll leave the decision up to you."
"I need to know."
"Ok." He presses his lips against her big toe and smiles. "What do you want for dinner?"
"Um, not sure."
"Well, do you want takeout or do you want me to cook something?"
"Takeout."
He reaches behind him and grabs the takeout menus from the drawer in the side table. He hands them to her and laughs at the sheer volume of takeout menus they have. They'll definitely come in handy when the baby's born. "Take a look and choose one. I can eat whatever."
She looks at the menus. Mexican, sandwiches, Chinese, Italian, Indian—you name it, they've got a takeout menu for it. She studies the menus and hands him the Chinese menu.
"Good choice."
"Chicken and broccoli with lo mien, not rice, and I want those Chinese noodle-chip things. You know what I'm takin' 'bout?"
"I do." He angles his head. "Mason!"
Mason appears by the couch a minute later. "Yeah, dad?"
"We're getting Chinese for dinner. Take a look at this and let me know what you want."
"Can we go out to dinner? I mean, not just get takeout, but sit at the Chinese place and eat."
"There a reason why you wanna do that instead?"
"No. I just wanna."
Cooper looks at Charlotte. "You ok with that?"
She nods. "I'm ok with that." She smiles at Mason. "Sweetie, if you wanna go out to eat, then we can certainly do that." She gets up off the couch and stretches. "I'll be right out." She walks into the bedroom and heads into the bathroom.
"You excited to move tomorrow?"
Mason nods. "Yep."
Charlotte walks out of the bathroom, her hair pulled up into a ponytail and a little bit of makeup on her face.
Cooper smiles. "Hey, gorgeous, where'd you come from?"
"Are you two ready to go?"
"I just gotta get my shoes on, momma." Mason runs into his bedroom.
"I have to get my shoes on too, momma," Cooper jokes.
She rolls her eyes. "I do feel like your momma half the time. You're worse than Mason."
Cooper pouts and stands up. "I resent that."
"Then I guess you resent the truth." She pats his stomach and gives him a kiss.
He heads into the bedroom to get his sneakers on.
She takes a seat on the coffee table and waits for them, growing more and more impatient as the minutes drag on. "Did you two get swallowed up by your shoes or somethin'? What is takin' so long?"
Mason comes out, one shoe on his foot, the other in his hand. "Sorry, momma. I couldn't find the other shoe and this is the pair I really wanted to wear."
"It's ok, just put the other shoe on 'cause you can't go out like that."
Cooper walks out into the living room.
"So what's your excuse?"
"My shoelaces were knotted."
She pushes herself up and grabs her purse from the hook. She opens the door and steps into the hallway.
Mason and Cooper follow her and they head down to the elevator.
Later that night, Charlotte and Cooper are lying awake in bed. He pushes up her tank top and brushes his hand across her pregnant belly. He rolls onto his side and presses his lips against her smooth skin, his hand skimming along her lower abdomen. "You'll never know how great this place was, Blue, but your momma and I have had some pretty awesome memories in this place," he whispers and kisses her stomach again.
Charlotte's gotten used to him talking to the baby. She runs her fingers through his hair and listens. "It's sort of bittersweet—this move."
He nods and leans back against the pillows. "We fell in love here, we started our family here, but it's time to move on. I've been in this apartment for years now. We're moving because we've run out of space, our family doesn't fit these walls anymore, and that's why I'm ok with saying goodbye."
She smiles. "We'll make tons of new memories after we move, Coop. This place may be where our family got started, but our new place is going to be where our family's going to grow."
He brushes his lips against hers and tangles his hand through her hair. He pulls back and scoots closer to her, so there's no space between them. "You're right."
"I know I am." She laughs and leans back against him. "It's our last night here. This is actually happenin'. It's not a thought or a wish anymore."
"Nope. We're actually moving."
"It was inevitable."She shifts on the mattress and swallows. Her hand instinctually goes to her stomach and she closes her eyes.
"Char, what's wrong?"
She just shakes her hand and runs her hand along her lower abdomen.
"Sweetie, please tell me what's going on."
"I—I need you to call Addison." She pauses. "No, never mind. Don't call anyone."
"Call or don't call, which is it?"
"Don't call." She rolls onto her side and takes in a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly.
"You're scaring me." He touches her cheek and traps her tears under his thumb. "This is no time to be stubborn, Charlotte."
She lifts her chin. "Call Addison," she whispers.
"You sure this time?"
She nods. "Mmhmm."
"Ok." He reaches for his phone and dials Addison's cell phone number. He strokes Charlotte's hair and gives her a soft kiss on the top of her head as he listens to the rings.
She's trying to focus on her breathing and not the cramping, but she can't help it.
He glances over at her, his heart racing. "Just keep breathing, Char."
She nods and closes her eyes.
He's on the phone for a couple minutes and then he's up out of bed, rushing into the closet. "Addison's going to meet us at the hospital."
"Cooper."
"I know, Char." He pulls on a pair of pants and slips into his shoes. He smiles at her, trying to keep her as calm as possible.
She smiles back, faintly. "I'm ok, Coop."
"Let's go." He pauses. "Crap, what're we gonna do about Mason?"
"You can't tell him."
"We can't leave him here by himself."
"Get the neighbor to come over and keep an eye on him. I don't want to worry him for nothin', Coop. Please, let's just go."
Mason hears commotion, so he comes out into the living room. He rubs his eyes and focuses on his parents. "What's going on, momma?"
Charlotte sighs. Just what I didn't want. "Go back to bed, sweetie."
"Are you two going somewhere? It's ten o'clock at night."
Cooper walks over to his son and rests his hand on the top of his head. "Everything's fine, bud. Addison just has to do some tests on the baby."
"What's wrong with the baby?"
"We don't know. Addison's gonna tell us when we go to the hospital."
"I'm coming with you guys."
"Mason—."
"Can I please come with you? Pretty please?"
Charlotte sighs. He's begging and she shouldn't reward begging, but he's got a thin layer of tears in his eyes and his hands are shaking—he's scared, and she can't just leave him here, knowing that he's worried about her and the baby. It won't do either of them any good. He'll be here worrying, and she'll be at the hospital feeling guilty. "Ok, sweetie. Go put your sneakers on."
Mason smiles and goes back to his bedroom.
"He's good," Cooper jokes, trying to lighten the mood. "He's worried about you, Char. You can't blame the kid for that.
"No, I can't."
Mason comes out of his bedroom and walks over to Charlotte. "Sorry, I took so long, momma."
"You lose your shoe again?"
Mason shakes his head. "No. I was praying."
She fixes his bed head and smiles. She rubs her eyes and the three of them walk out of the loft.
Please Review