Chapter 18

Jack watched with love, as at 7 months pregnant Samantha waddled up the path to Maria's house for Katie's birthday party. She struggled up the steps and turned around to see Jack looking at her.

"Go on, say it then." She said, out of breath.

"Fatty, fatty two by four, can't fit through the living room door." He chanted as if he were back in grade school.

"Got that out of your system? Good. I don't want to have to kill you, this baby needs a father." She turned and rang the bell. He came up behind her and placed his hand protectively on her stomach as he kissed her. She smiled up at him and leaned against him.

"You're forgiven, for now." The door was opened by Maria who smiled at them both.

"Samantha! Well look at you!"

"Yeah, how could you miss me?" Samantha joked as she stepped inside the house. Maria smiled sympathetically at her as she called for the girls. As Samantha handed her coat and scarf to Maria she marvelled at how far they'd all come.

It had been a slow process but finally the three of them were at a point of being civil to each other. Maria had even been verging on nice recently. Samantha had put that down to her condition, simply the sisterhood rallying around one of their own.

Jack, however, had put it down to the fact that she was probably seeing someone or she was on some kind of mood altering substance.

Afterwards Samantha watched as the children played games in the living room.

"Who's that lady with your daddy?" Katie's friends had asked her.

"That's my other mommy Samantha. She's having a baby. I'm going to be its big sister and I'll get to boss it around like Hannah bosses me around."

Samantha laughed and went into the kitchen. She carefully got up on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, leaning on the counter with her elbow. After she was seated she sighed and patted her bulging stomach. She had no idea she'd be this big already. She had been convinced that there was more than one baby in there but the doctor said it was definitely only one. They hadn't asked about the sex of the baby, they wanted to be surprised.

Maria came in with empty cups and plates and smiled at Samantha.

"Are you ok? I'm going to make some herbal tea if you'd like a cup? Those kids are enough to put anyone in a lunatic asylum."

Samantha puffed out a breath and nodded.

"Yes please, I seem to be drinking a lot of herbal tea lately. It's a poor substitute for the hard stuff though." She sighed wistfully, missing her daily fix of caffeine.

Maria laughed, empathising with her.

"Coffee was definitely what I missed the most." She turned to Samantha and eyed her carefully. She seemed to be making her mind up about something. Then she opened a drawer and handed a bag to Samantha who eyed it suspiciously.

"Don't worry it's not a bomb."

Samantha blushed and apologised opening the back to reveal a book entitled "Pregnancy and Birth: A Woman's Journey". She looked up at Maria and smiled.

"I've been meaning to give it to you but I wasn't sure… You know. Anyway, it answers a lot of questions, it did for me anyway. Its expert advice mixed in with real women's experiences." She explained as Samantha nodded.

"Thank you, I really appreciate this."

Maria shrugged and busied herself with making the tea. Not looking at Samantha she continued.

"I had a lot of things that I couldn't talk to Jack about and didn't really want to talk to my mother about so the book was my impartial helper, I guess. I should have talked to Jack but, well, what's done is done right?" She sighed setting a cup down in front of Samantha. She stood at the bar with her own cup, in wonder at how easy Samantha was to talk to. She started to feel pangs of guilt about how she'd treated her in the past.

"So have you figured out your birth plan yet?"

"Kind of. We start Lamaze next week. That ought to be interesting!" They both laughed at the thought of Jack concentrating on his breathing.

"So, Jack's going in with you then? To the delivery room I mean."

"Yes, the truth is I really need him to be there. I guess if I'd been closer to my mother but…. Anyway he said he'd like to, having not been for Hannah or Katie's."

Maria looked down at the floor a sheepishly, knowing what Samantha was referring to. Maria had asked Jack to wait outside for both their births, preferring to have her mother with her instead. He respected her wishes but always regretted not seeing them being born. Yet another one of a million sore points between them.

When they were home and Samantha began reading her book she told Jack of their conversation in the kitchen and he seemed flabbergasted.

"Wow that was deep for Maria."

"How about Katie calling me her "other mommy"."

Jack smiled at that. Kate had asked her father once about how they were all going to be related once the baby was born. As he had explained it to her she took it all on board and simply said,

"So you and Samantha are the baby's mommy and daddy, the baby is mine and Hannah's half brother or sister and mommy is just our mommy, right?"

"Right."

"So Samantha's sort of like our other mommy, right?"

"Sort of, honey."

"That's good, she's a great other mommy." With that she had kissed him on the cheek and went back to playing with her dolls. He was amazed how she understood all that and how she viewed their situation.

Samantha laughed and leaned back on the bed. She rubbed her belly.

"I wonder if this little one will make us laugh as much as she does."

"I'd settle for a good night's sleep every now and then." Jack quipped as he lay down carefully beside her.

"Oh honey I think our sleeping days are over." She deadpanned.

He groaned and kissed her passionately. He hadn't been able to keep his hands off her since she had gotten bigger. He just found her incredibly sexy, not that he didn't any other time but there was just something about her now.

She sighed as he kissed her; she would have rolled over onto him if only she could have. Instead she got up (with a gentle push from Jack) and took off the long chain around her neck which had on her wedding and engagement rings. Her fingers had swollen up a while ago. One day Jack had come home to see her crying on the sofa with an ice pack on her left hand.

"Baby, what happened?"

She was gulping and sobbing.

"I was looking at my hand and it's all swollen and I can't get my rings off." With those last words she broke into another sob and leaned in against him. He hugged her and tried to calm her down.

"I'll be back honey, its ok." He disappeared upstairs and came back with some baby lotion.

He sat down beside her and took her face in his hands, gently wiping her tears away and kissing her on the forehead. He took her hand in his and gently poured a little baby lotion onto her swollen fingers. Slowly he worked the rings off her finger and set them on the table. He gently massaged both her hands with the oil for a while until she'd stopped crying. They both leaned back against the sofa, Jack wrapping her up in his arms.

"You've done that before." She said softly.

"Yep, it's an occupational hazard of being an expectant father."

Samantha looked at her finger and then at her rings on the table. She lifted her wedding ring and looked at the inscription inside it. That had been Jack's idea. He had gotten both rings engraved with "Jack and Samantha March 3rd". She felt a lump rise in her throat again. Jack felt the tear drop on his shirt, seeping through to his skin.

"What's wrong baby? They'll fit again, I swear they will."

She sat up and looked at him.

"It's not that. You put my wedding ring on my finger and I never wanted to take it off."

He sighed and understood.

"Honey, it's ok. You can put them on a chain around your neck and when the time comes I'll put it back on for you, I promise. Ok?