Chapter 48
*7 and a half months pregnant*
Ryan put in a few days leave since he got back from the case. He was downstairs in the kitchen getting some coffee and reading the paper. Alex was still sleeping and he didn't want to wake her up by fidgeting around in the room. He has to admit he is really excited about what the two of them had planned for today. He finished his coffee and read through some of the articles he found interesting, before setting the paper back down on the coffee table with his coffee mug and headed up towards the bedroom to take a shower.
Alex was standing in the full length mirror in their bedroom in nothing but her bra and pantie with her seven and a half month pregnant belly sticking out, examining herself turning in all directions. With her head cocked to one side and her hands pressed to the sides of her stomach she caught Ryan's intense gaze staring back at her through the mirror and Alex frowned. "Please stop staring, I feel hugely unattractive right now." Alex said walking over to the dresser to put something on, but Ryan stopped her in her tracks, walking over towards her. He clears his throat and slowly walks up behind her. Ryan brushes the hair from her shoulder and softly press a kiss where her neck and shoulder meets and they make eye contact in the mirror. "It's not possible for you to be unattractive." Ryan whispered against her skin.
"I never knew you were a boldfaced liar." Alex smirked and laughed as he rolls his eyes and shrugs. Ryan wraps his arms around her and spreads his hands across hers over her pregnant stomach, and Alex had to resist the urge to pull his hands away. Ryan caresses her skin lovingly and Alex was getting worked up, because she always loved her husband's hands on her but right now she didn't feel comfortable in her own body, and she couldn't understand why he would find her attractive the way she looks now. She felt a distant kick in her belly and their eyes met in the mirror. Ryan moved over in front of Alex kneeling to the ground, his hand remaining on her stomach. "Can you make her do that again.?" He asked excitedly. "It's a reflex babe I cannot control it." Alex laughed at her husband's remark, smiling down at him. He was about to get up when he felt another kick, right on the spot where his hand rested, and his smile widens. He placed a kiss on her navel and stands in looking her dead in the eye. "Now do you believe you're beautiful? Because munchkin clearly agrees with me on that." Ryan said stroking her cheek. "No, I still don't believe you two, but I'll take your word for it." Alex said standing on tippy toes to kiss him. "Come on, I made you some breakfast. You need to carbo-load before we start tackling the nursery." Ryan announced walking out of the room while Alex got dressed to start helping him set it up.
There was black canvas like strips covering half off the white tiled surface in the room, and by the time Alex entered the room one wall was already painted the light shade of pink. "When did you do this? And don't tell me it was while I was getting ready because there is no way you can work so fast." Alex said amused looking at the one wall, while the other three were still white. "I started early this morning while you were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you, you were sleeping so peacefully." He said standing back to look at his handiwork. "I like it. So, how can I be of help right now." Alex prompted hands laid on her hips. "You can go do something else while I finish painting, I don't want you to inhale all these odors." He answered pointing towards the door with the paintbrush. "But I wanna help." Alex moaned. "I know you do, but we can't do anything until the paint is dry. So go relax Mrs. Booth." Ryan said walking over to her giving her a few kisses before pointing towards the door again. Alex sighed and walked out of the room into the living room, looking around for something to occupy herself with until Ryan was done. She decided to do some laundry, that will kill time and she won't have to sit around doing nothing, feeling guilty while her husband was working.
A few hours later Ryan called her into the room. He finished painting it and Alex loved the pale pink walls and the white ceiling. She tried to create a mental picture of where they could put everything but the picture changed with every turn she took in the room. "Thank you. I love it, and I'm sure munchkin will love it too." Alex beamed proudly at her husband, whose shirt was covered in pink spots, as well as his arms and hands. "Let me go wash most of tis off then we can start setting up the crib in the lounge." He told Alex and went into the bathroom, while she walked over to the couch, propping her feet on the table waiting for him to come back.
"Ryan, you're doing it wrong." Alex said shifting uncomfortably. "No this looks right." He justified looking at the finished product of the white crib he just put together. "It may look right, but it really doesn't feel right." Alex told him looking at the white crib skeptically. "I'm busy doing this to keep you happy, Alex." Ryan answered. "And I am happy, Ryan but you're still doing it wrong." Alex replied. "Okay, what am I doing wrong?" He asked throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. "You're putting the screws in the wrong slot." She said. "Excuse me?" Ryan asked. "You're putting it in the wrong slot." Alex said again. "It looks fine to me." Ryan said looking at his handiwork. "Sweetheart, you're wrong." Ryan said not seeing anything wrong with the crib, looking at the directions to make sure he did it step by step as they explained it. "No, please hand me the booklet." Alex said and Ryan sighed heavily before handing it to her. "No see, I'm right. This side of the crib has to go on the other side. You have the screws all wrong and those two are in the wrong hole." Alex justified showing him the pictures. "If I had the screw in the wrong slots we wouldn't be in this situation." Ryan snorted and Alex laughed throwing the booklet at him. Ryan looks back at Alex briefly and grins before grabbing the screwdriver and unscrewing all the screws that took him nearly an hour to get into place. Alex watches him as he struggles to get everything in the right place, and had to resist the urge not to laugh at how hard he was concentrating.
After the crib was set up and Alex felt satisfied that it looked like it did in the booklet, Ryan went to retrieve some of the other items they gathered over the past few months and that they stored in the garage. They hung white blinds at the windows and a pink and white square rug covered half of the tiled floor leaving most of the tiles on the sides exposed. The white crib was stationed against the wall together with the white dresser against the opposite side, and a comfortable light grey lounger and a light grey beanbag across from the lounger. A few feet away from the crib was a changing table, diaper champ and a small baby like laundry basket. Ryan drilled a few holes in the wall and hung up three of the ultrasound pictures. Each one at the beginning of the new trimester. The last photo frame was empty, that one was reserved for their little munchkin's first actual picture. On the wall where the dresser was there was another photo frame of two handprints on top of each other. The caption read Daddy, Mommy & Me. Ryan's in blue Alex's in purple and they've decided to make do the little one's prints in pink once she was born. After they were done with their decorating they took a step back to see at what they've done thus far. "Not bad for two people who don't know a thing about interior decorating." Alex announced folding her arms looking at their work. "I agree partner." He said giving her a high five. There was still one thing missing. They had a few alphabetical charts with letters on to put against the open space on the wall above the crib, but last night they couldn't quite decide on a name. "So, are we putting these letters up or do we wait until she's born to name her?" Ryan asked looking at the letters that's on the floor and then at his wife. Alex walked over to crib and traced the white wood with her index finger. "Phoebe." She said softly. "We can name her Phoebe Grace." She answered looking up at her husband's smiling face at her choice.
Ryan walked over to her where she stood against the crib, knelt down in front of her and placed a gentle kiss on her stomach. "I can't wait to meet you, Phoebe Grace Booth." He whispered to her stomach. He stood up and hugged Alex. They stayed in each other's embrace for some time just taking in the moment of how close they are to meeting their baby girl.
Hey guys, hope you liked this setting up scene and I hope you all are okay with the name choice. Enjoy the read and let me know what you think. I wanted the two of them to do something together before the baby comes. I hope you guys can get a mental image of how this looks, I looked at some pictures and tried my best to describe it in the way t was displayed on some of the photos. Read, Review & Enjoy. Lovies-S.