Chapter 49

Ryan found himself sitting in the grey lounger in the nursery at 08:00AM the next morning. He just couldn't resist not entering the room while he was in the kitchen. This just means that they're so much closer to meet their baby girl, because Alex is 8 months pregnant, and in one more month they get to meet her. Deep down he actually wished Phoebe would make her appearance sooner, rather than waiting the full nine months to greet the world. He sat there looking at the ultrasound pictures on the wall when his phone rang, making him jump a little. Shelby was calling. "Hey Shelby." He greeted friendly sitting back propping his feet up on the bean bag in front of the lounger. "Good morning Ryan Booth." She greeted friendly and Ryan could hear her smiling. "Is everything planned and ready for today?" She asked hoping he did not forget. "Yeah, I think it is. I'll get Alex over to the venue before 3:30PM. Relax." Ryan answered certain. "I cannot relax, I'm worried and excited. I just hope everything will work out. Your mom and sisters still coming? And Sita also knows about it right?" Shelby asked from the other end. "Yes, yes they're coming and they know about it, and no they didn't say anything to her about the baby shower." Ryan answered all the questions she might still ask him. "Okay, good. That's all for now. And you know that it's all about the ladies and your expecting baby mama so you're not invited. You boys will have to figure out what you're doing for the rest of the day." She concluded. "Got it. It's still at that private garden thingy right?" Ryan questioned just to make sure they don't get lost on the way there. "Yep. Don't show up late with our home girl!" Shelby warned before dropping the call.

Ryan lingered in the nursery a little longer contemplating on what excuse he was going to come up with, without Alex getting suspicious about the surprise baby shower the girls are giving her today. She hated surprises everyone knows that about her by now, but this one would be different. Almost like her bachelorette party but not as wild. He smiled thinking back on how tipsy she was when she came home and how she and his sisters fell asleep on their bed not knowing how all three of them ended up there. He picked up his phone again calling Caleb. "Yes, we are going out today. I don't know what we're doing just yet." Caleb said before Ryan could even greet him. "Okay. That's not even what I wanted to ask." Ryan lied thinking about what he could say to make it sound less obvious. "Why you always lying?" Caleb said in a sing song voice. "Quade has a contact that can got us in for a paintball session, starting at 4PM." Caleb concluded. "All right, sounds fine. We can grab a couple of beers before going there." Ryan said and Caleb agreed. He texted Quade and Clive to confirm the time, when the door opened and Alex peeked her head around the door.

"Good morning sleepy head." He greeted friendly and she walks over to him as he stands up so she can sit on the lounger. "Morning." She smiled trying to get comfortable, grabbing a brown fluffy stuffed toy hugging it over her belly. "How'd you sleep, you seemed restless most of the night. Is everything okay?" Ryan asked concerned taking a seat on the bean bag opposite her and she propped her slightly swollen feet on his legs while he massaged them. "I didn't get much sleep, I can't get into a comfortable position anymore so I'm all too grateful when the sun comes out just so I can get up." She said yawning and stretching. "It's almost over." Ryan said trying to console her not really knowing what else to say to make her feel better right now. "Are you too tired to go somewhere later tonight?" Ryan asked hoping she'd say yes. "Why? Where'd you want to go? We can go as long as I don't have to walk for hours on end." She answered, she can barely see her own feet or put her own shoes on as it is already, and the extra weight she's carrying around makes moving around harder than what it used to be. "It's going to be chilled sweetheart. I promise." Ryan laughed looking up at her. "All right then." She said nodding her head, ready to get up and get something to eat. But the moment she started moving baby Phoebe gave a really hard kick causing her to wince in pain, and she patted her stomach lightly. Ryan's worried expression was enough to make her laugh and forget about the stabbing pain for a while. "Alex! What's wrong?" He questioned standing up so he could be closer to her. "It's just her kicking but it was harder than usual and really uncomfortable than other times. But it seems like it's over now." Alex said extending her hands so Ryan could help her get up. He was still worried. "Maybe we should get you to the hospital, Alex. Just to be sure." He said once she was standing in front of him. "No, I'm fine it's gone now." She said smiling reassuringly at him, before walking out of the room towards the kitchen to get her some breakfast. Ryan monitored her closely while she ate and watched TV even after she came out of the shower and dressed, just to make sure that she is really okay. He made a mental note on telling Shelby that she should keep a close eye on her this afternoon.

"Babe, you're ready to go?" Ryan asked from the kitchen it was 3PM and they should be leaving now or they're going to be late. "Yeah, I'll be down in a second." Alex said. She was standing in the full length mirror looking at herself again. She decided on a long white maxi dress, which flowed nicely and made her prominent belly look a little smaller, not much though. She wore her hair lose with a middle path and tucked her hair in behind her ears. "Alex!" Ryan called again when she didn't come down. "Relax your hormones, Ryan." She said appearing on the top stair walking down the other seven. "You look pretty." He said smiling when he saw he come down. "Thank you." She smiled and kissed him passionately. "Come on, if we keep this up we're not going to make it in time." Ryan said as they pulled away from the second kiss and headed for the door.

"Where are we going babe?" Alex asked once they were on the high way. "Huh uh, wait and see stop being so inquisitive." Ryan said as he drove in the direction towards the garden. They pulled up in front of the gate at exactly 3:25PM. Record time for his driving skills he thought to himself. "What are all these cars doing here?" She asked noticing a few familiar ones amongst the cars that were parked there. Ryan didn't say anything, he got out of the car with her and led her to the entrance. They were greeted by a black board with pink wording on it; Welcome to Alex's Baby Shower. Alex stood in front of the sign and read it before turning to Ryan. He shrugged his shoulders and led her further down the path to where the laughter was coming from. Once they all saw her they shouted "Surprise" in unison and Alex stood there next to her husband smiling. "Enjoy the afternoon, sweetheart. I'll see you later. I love you" He said kissing her forehead before heading back to the car as Alex walked towards the crowd.

"You guys need to stop doing this." Alex said as she hugged her three best friends. She scanned the crowd and saw all her close friends and family members. Ryan's three sisters, that she haven't seen since the wedding. They talked regularly but seeing them all in person is so much better. The two grandmothers, their colleagues from work and some of the girls that were with her at the academy. An intimate crowd of about 25 people whom she has really close relationships with. Alex took a moment to look though the things that were there and how the garden and the trees were decorated. She loved everything from the pearls on all the signs, and the white and pink draping's around the trees.

The afternoon was filed with fun, excitement and catching up on everything, that they've missed out for a while. After a light snack they started playing a few games. Nimah got up and headed to the end of the table. "All right, ladies first game is up. There are 5 clothespins in front of all of you, stick them onto your clothes. But, here's one important instruction that you need to keep in mind. Nimah said looking at the guests. "You're not allowed to say baby. If you hear any of the other guests say the word baby you get to take a pin from their clothes and stick them to yourself. The person with the most stuck to them by the end of the day wins." Nimah explained and they all got their pins on.

"Alex what did Ryan say to get you out of the house?" Natalie asked knowing Alex really wasn't planning on coming out and that it must've taken some convincing to get her here. "He just said we're going out. I actually found him in the nursery looking at the baby's ultrasound pictures when he told me about the day." She said absent-mindedly and Amorey grabbed a pin of Alex's dress. "No no we need to start the game over I didn't know I was in session already." Alex laughed. They all sat in a big circle on comfortable hay bales with plows on them, in the shade of a big old tree, interacting with one another. They were all served with drinks by three of the friendly waiters. In the drinks there were four ice cubes with small plastic "babies" frozen in each cube. They cue was given that whenever the ice melts and the baby is free one has to shout "my water broke."

After dessert was served the group moved around the garden to the various activities there were for them to do. There was a table with white onesies, letters, pictures and cute saying where guests could create an onesie for Phoebe. At another table they were asked to write a wish for baby munchkin to read when she is older. Alex's favourite was the late night diaper notes. They were asked to write a note on the back of the diaper and place it in the box so Alex could take it home. This would hopefully make the late night diaper change a little more humorous. Nadia held hers up for Alex to read. "Only a few more thousand to go before I'm potty trained." Alex read out loud and the group started laughing. Alex looked at her glass and noticed her babies were swimming in the iced water freely. "My water just broke!" She yelled out and had to stifle a laugh at all the shocked faces that stared at her. Theresa and Sita rushed to her side while Natalie got up to get her car keys. Alex couldn't hold it in anymore and started laughing pointing to her glass. They all burst out in laughter. "Alexandra Booth!" Sita said shaking her head at her daughter as she and Theresa both breathed a sigh of relief.

As the day was coming to an end the pins on the clothes were counted. Surprisingly Maranda ended up with the most pins. But all the guests didn't leave empty handed. They all got a little basket with an empty photo frame, a box of chocolates, and cute cookies representing baby bottles and little onesies, each wrapped separately.

"Guys, all of you who contributed to this amazing day thank you so much. All of you know how much I hate surprises but I loved this one. For all of you who came out to be here and did a two hour drive thank you. Each one of you made this day extra special and Phoebe is really blessed to have such amazing aunties and grandmothers in her life. Nanna Theresa and Granny Sita thank you. Not just for today but for spending a few weeks with me, and keeping up with my moods." Alex said laughing. "I love and appreciate each and every one of you. My three sisters thank you for accepting me as one of your own and accepting me." Alex said honestly. "We should be the one thanking you for taking Ryan off our hands, Lexi!" Simone said. "Even my stunt squad, for all the late night calls and messages and constant checkups thank you girls." Alex concluded and they walked over to her giving her a group hug.

They packed the things up and put them into Shelby's car as she drove Alex back home. They said their goodbyes and all the guests headed their separate ways.

When Alex got home and finished loading all the gifts into the house arranging some of them in the nursery and packing the clothes in the dresser they headed to bed. "So, how was it?" Ryan asked waiting for her to get comfortable before he climbed in beside her. "It was awesome. I enjoyed every minute of it." She said burying her face in his chest as he kissed the top of her head and they both drifted to sleep.

Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this baby shower chapter I had fun writing this. Let me know what you think. Enjoy, read & review. Lovies-S