Josh follows the guys down to the den. Carly and Anna take Marco downstairs to play a game. Liam and Aidan follow them, I'm sure they're going to play video games. Conor hesitates a minute then heads toward the den. Smart boy. If I were him, I'd defintely avoid Anna for a few hours.
My Mom leaves the room, then comes back a few minutes later with a tub of plastic eggs and a lot of candy.
"Get stuffing, girls." She directs us.
As we are filling eggs, the discussion naturally turns to pregnancy.
"So Bella, did you throw up the whole time with Anna and Aidan?" They were both born during the "Freeride" years. I didn't spend enough time with my sister to know what her pregnancies were really like.
"I had a lot of morning sickness with both of them during the first trimester, but it pretty much went away when the second trimester started. I did have a lot of heartburn with both of them. Thank god for tums!"
"Oh! That's good to hear. Maybe this will eventually go away then."
"Liam was my worst pregnancy." Becky volunteers. "Conor had been pretty easy. Then being so sick while having a 2 year old. Ugh. It was horrible and I was convinced he must be a girl because every one said girls make you really sick. And it was such a different pregnancy, I figured it must be a different gender. I was really surprised when Liam was born and turned out to be a boy!"
"What was your pregnancy with Carly like?"
"I just remember being tired all the time. Conor was in pre-school, thank goodness, but we were desperately trying to get Liam potty trained, hoping not to have 2 in diapers." Becky laughs at the memories. Well that's good to see. I guess no matter how bad the pregnancy goes you get over it once you have the kids.
"It's worth it." Julie says standing up. "And since this one is napping, I'm going to get a little shut eye too. That's the best advice for once you have a newborn, whenever the baby sleeps, sleep if you can. Especially if you have older cousins around to play with the 3 year old!"
"Bella, Becky, can you two help me with dinner? Donna, a nap might not be a bad idea for you either, if the smell of food cooking is going to bother you."
I don't really want a nap. I'm tired of being sick and tired. But I also don't think I can stand to be in the kitchen. I wander down to the den and peek through the doorway.
"Donnatella! Come give your father a hug." I walk in and my Dad wraps me in a gentle hug. "My baby girl. Going be a Mama."
"Daddy. Stop." He's going to make me cry.
"Do you know if you are having a boy or a girl? We could use a few more granddaughters around here."
"It's too soon to tell. And I don't know if we want to find out. Josh and I haven't talked about it." Speaking of Josh, he's not here.
"We only found out with Carly. After two boys Becky really wanted to know. She had convinced herself that Liam was going to be a girl, she didn't want to be surprised again." Sean smiles, I know he wanted a little girl.
"We found out with Aidan too. I was happy to have one of each." Bob made no secret that he wanted a boy the first time. It was a little awkward when Anna was born.
"We found out with both Marco and Kate. We just kept it a secret." Finn shares.
"Sneaky!" Sean lightly punches him in the arm.
"Wow! I thought you guys didn't know." That's an interesting idea. I might have to talk to Josh about that.
"Yep it was easier to keep it a secret that way."
The guys settle back into watching something on the history channel. It seems like something Josh would like. I watch for a few minutes until the smell of cooking meat starts to drift through the house.
"Oh god." I get up and hurry to the upstairs bathroom. I guess I should have listened to my Mother. If I was sleeping, I might not be vomiting. Once I'm done in the bathroom, I head into my room. Now I really am ready to lay down.
Josh is standing in front of the desk trying to hide something behind his back.
"I'm not quite ready."
"Ready for what?"
"A surprise. Can you, um, lay down and close your eyes?"
Well, that was the plan when I came in here but now I'm curious. I lean to the side and try to peek around him.
"Donna! Close your eyes!"
Ooooh, the no-nonsense voice. I actually comply for once, and close my eyes and stand still.
"Good girl." Josh whispers in my ear. Oh my god, he's making me want to forget the nap, but we cannot have sex right now. Josh covers my eyes with his hand and leads me over to the bed.
"Okay, keep your eyes closed and sit down."
Once I do, I end up yawning loudly. It's not even noon yet. How can I be tired?
"Maybe you'd better lay down. I need like, 10 minutes."
"Okay." I lay down and listen to Josh rustling things.
"What the heck is this?" I hear him mutter. I'm tempted to open my eyes and peek, but my eye lids are just too heavy.
"Lunch is almost ready. Do you want to try to eat?" Josh is running a hand over my head and tracing my face gently with his fingers. It's such a peaceful way to wake up. When I open my eyes, Josh is sitting on the bed next to me.
"Mmmmm" I stretch and start to sit up. "What time is it?"
"Almost one, you slept about an hour."
"I'm sleeping my life away. This is crazy."
"Hey, growing a baby is really hard work. You deserve all the rest you can get."
"What's that?" I just spotted a basket on the desk. Was that what he was doing when I came in earlier?
"It's an Easter Basket." Josh's eyes get wide for a second.
"I know, silly. Who's it for?" I ask him teasingly. I'm pretty sure I already know.
Once he picks up on my tone he relaxes.
"It's for you. I asked Bella to pick up some stuff. For a second there, I thought she tricked me."
"Can I have it?"
"I don't know." He says honestly, shrugging his shoulders. Then he goes on-
"I don't know how these traditions work. I mean I've seen commericals with Easter Baskets and such, but I never really paid that much attention. I don't know who is supposed to make them, what they should have in them, when you hand them out. . . ."
"Josh, it's okay not to know. We'll figure out which traditions we want to include in our family celebrations, maybe we'll make some new ones. I really enjoyed just experiencing Passover with you and Mom. It's something I'd like to keep doing. So far you've only seen the silly side of Easter. If we enjoy these things, we can do them but if not, it's okay. It's not supposed to be stressful."
"Okay." He says giving me a hug.
"So can I have my basket?"
"Is now a good time?"
"Sure, my Mom will give the kids their baskets before they go tonight since they'll be spending Easter day with their other grandparents."
"They won't be here?"
"No, we have to share holidays. Both Bob and Becky's families live pretty close by so it's pretty convenient. They kind of alternate, since Christmas Day was here, they'll spend Easter Day there. That's why we are having our big traditional Easter meal today instead of tomorrow."
"So we won't see them tomorrow?" Josh looks really disappointed. It's weird but it makes me kind of happy. He really has come to love my family. Well at least the kids.
"Actually, we will get to see them. They'll still come to church."
"Okay, good."
"So, now, can I have my basket, please?" I nudge him in the side and he grins at me. Uh oh. I know what that look means.
"Well, someone's a little impatient. Maybe I should make you wait until tonight when the kids get theirs."
"Josh!"
He laughs and tickles me a little. It's nice and relaxing. But now curiosity has got the best of me. I really want to see what's in the basket.
"Please." I give him the big Bambi eyes as he calls them. He always had a hard time resisting when we worked together, he's practically helpless against them now.
"Okay, okay. Not the Bambi eyes." He says getting up from the bed to retrieve the basket. "You know if you teach our daughter that I'm going to be completely powerless. Our house will be overrun by kitties and puppies and ponies!"
"I always have wanted a Pony!" I laugh. "Don't worry, I can be bad cop sometimes. I'm not really interested in having a menagerie of pets."
Josh sets the basket in front of me sheepishly and starts to explain. "I didn't pick all this by myself. I told Bella what I wanted and she went to the store and added some stuff. I don't even know what all of this is!"
"It's okay. It's the thought that counts."
"Well I didn't really think of it myself. Bella said I should get you a basket. I had just called her with a list of a few things."
"Josh- that's the thought that counts. You thought of some things that might make me feel better and found a way to get them. The fancy basket is just a bonus. Which by the way, I'd really like to open now."
As I start to pull things out, I realize this is a good chance to talk to Josh about it.
"So there's really 3 things that are pretty traditional about Easter Baskets around here- First, is the basket itself. My Mom used the same ones the whole time we were growing up. They had a liner with our inital monogrammed on them. Second, the Chocolate Bunny. That's a requirement."
I pull the gold-foil wrapped bunny out of the basket. God bless Bella, she got good chocolate. I unwrap it and bite the ears off.
"I always eat the ears right away. Otherwise my Dad might do it."
"The stuffed bunny is kind of a thing too. Eventually those stopped appearing in the boy's baskets but there was always one in mine." I give it a little cuddle. I always have liked stuffed animals. "But some little toy type thing or as we got older a gift card or something like that."
"When did you get them?"
"When we got home from church after the sunrise service."
"Sunrise?"
"Yes, that's part of the Irish thing. We'd get up in the dark and go to a short service to watch the sunrise. Then we'd come home, get our baskets and have pancakes, then we'd go back to regular church, then come home and have Easter Dinner. Then an Easter Egg hunt."
"We don't have to go to Sunrise do we?"
"No, that was mostly for my grandparents. I don't even think that my parents church does that."
"Okay, let see what else we've got in here. . . . Ginger-ale. . . that sounds good."
"I put a couple in the refrigerator so you'll have some cold to drink with dinner."
"Good idea."
"Vitamin C drops."
"Believe it or not, Amy suggested those. Apparently they worked for her sister. I'm not sure those Preggie Drop things are really doing any good."
"Maybe a little, but they taste kind of weird. I'll try these." I pull some more stuff out of the basket. Tums, Socks, Lip Balm, Mints, Sea-bands.
"Udder Butter?!"
"Yeah, I have no idea! You'll have to ask your sister."
The last thing I pull out is the baby name book. I noticed it right away. I'm sure it's what Josh sent Bella to the story for in the first place. I look up at him and smile.
"Let's start a real list." He says, making me giggle.
"What?"
"Sexy talk." I giggle again. He rolls his eyes but leans down to kiss me.
"JOSH! DONNA! LUNCHTIME!" Well I guess the list-making will have to wait until later.