A strong kick followed by Josh's low murmur wakes me up.
"That's my good girl. Show Daddy how strong you are, Lulu."
My fingers naturally find the curls at the base of his neck and I run my fingers through his hair as he rests his head on my stomach. His hand gently rubs where Luciana just kicked. No, I don't think that's going to work for me. Lucy's cute though. I wonder if Josh would go for that, then he could still have his Lulu as a nickname.
"Happy Father's Day!" I greet him. I thought about trying to surprise him with breakfast in bed, but he wakes up so damn early.
"Good morning." He grins at me. He looks so much younger when he's happy. This weekend started out very stressful, but it got better. I hope today is relaxing and enjoyable for him.
"So. . . breakfast in bed? Or did you already eat?"
He looks a little sheepish. "Um, I saw the donuts by the coffee maker. You know District Donuts are my weakness. I had one after my run. It was really good. . . . I hope you don't mind."
"Nope. I left them where you could find them on purpose. Maybe some day little Ava and I will be awake earlier than you and we can surprise you."
"Ava?"
"Just giving it a test run. I heard you call her Lulu this morning."
He looks sheepish again.
"Hey, it's Father's day. You can call her whatever you like today."
His face lights up. "Okay." He turns back to my belly. "Good morning Leonora." He says it with the soft Italian sound and my heart does a little flip. It's perfectly awful, but he says it with such reverence.
She gives him a good strong kick in response. "See she likes it." He tells me with confidence.
"Maybe that means she hates it. Our baby could be the first to rebel in utero."
"Never. She's a good girl. Aren't you Cordelia?" No response from the baby. Hmmm.
"Ugh. Cordelia Lyman sounds like an 80 year old spinster librarian."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Yes! Geez, can you wait until she's born before you start planning how to sabotage all her dates?"
"I suppose." He puts his cheek back down on the bump "You're not allowed to date until you're 30, got that, Lulu?"
Baby girl kicks him in the face. She's a feisty one. But he grins, very pleased. He looks back at me.
"So, is that a no on Cordelia? I thought we were going to wait a couple weeks to cross more names off the list?"
"Well, it is Father's day. And that is one of yours, so it stays for now. But yeah, I wouldn't get too attached to it."
"Don't worry, I'm not. You can cross it off now if you want."
"Speaking of Father's Day, I'm surprised you showered without me."
"I wanted to get my run in early. I didn't know what you had planned for today, and there's a Mets game tonight." He looks hopeful. "I was pretty disgusting when I was done. I definitely needed a shower before I got back into bed. Trust me."
"Well, I know how much you like lazy, naked Sundays, but I am going to need to get showered and dressed at some point. And I'd like to go for a walk or something. Dr. Andrews would like for me to get a little more exercise."
"I can think of a way to get some exercise." He wiggles his eyebrows.
"More exercise! She said. I'm already counting the sex in my daily totals."
"Okay then, get up and put some clothes on. We'll go for a long walk around the neighborhood."
"But I'm hungry." He rolls his eyes at me. I'm not doing a very good job of making this day about him so far. At least I got the donuts! "I'm sorry. Let me start over. It's your day. What would you like to do?"
Josh scoots up the bed and takes my face in his hands and then gives me a long, lingering kiss. I should have known what he'd want. . . . . Yes, this is nice. . . . . Food can wait. . . . This works as exercise. . . . . Mmmmmmm.
Several minutes later Josh pulls back. "I'd like you to get dressed and put on some exercise clothes. I'll drive us over to Book Hill Park. We can stop at a café on the way."
He's a good man, that Joshua Lyman.
Then it hits me. "Did you say drive us? As in- you'll drive our car? Not we'll take the town car?"
"Would you like that?"
I would but it's Father's day. It's supposed to be about him. I try not to get too excited.
"Whatever you want is fine. But, really?"
"Yeah, I had a chat with Ron yesterday, once we determined that the helicopter crash wasn't hostile fire and the conflict still appears to be in a stand-off, I told him I'd like to see us get a bit of normal back. He still wants us to use the driver to and from the White House, and obviously for any official business. But he said we could start using the car again on weekends, if we'd like."
"What about the agents?"
"They're still going to be stationed at the house. They'll follow in the SUV. But they'll give us a wide perimeter."
A big smile break out on my face. "Yes, I'd like to go for a ride in the car with you ."
He looks really pleased with himself and rightfully so. I grin at him while I whip off my sleep shirt and boxers. And he watches as I put on some black cotton capris and a wicking t-shirt. Then I throw my hair up in a pony-tail.
"I'm ready." I raise an eyebrow and look him over. He's still sitting on the bed in the buff. He grins again. Then gets up and quickly gets dressed. I think we are both really looking forward to this.
After a lovely piece of quiche from a French bakery, Josh pulls into the park and helps me out. I haven't had much time to explore the Georgetown area. This is a nice little park. We stroll hand in hand up the curving stone steps. Then walk through the greenhouse and gardens at the top of the hill. Then back down the other side and over the bridge, stopping just to stare at the small stream for a few minutes.
There is an agent trailing us but he's far enough away that we aren't drawing any attention. This is really, really nice.
"Enough or do you want to go over to Dumbarton Oaks? It's only a few minutes from here." Josh asks as we get back to the car. I've always wanted to go there, but it's an all day kind of thing. I think it would be better if we save it for later.
I really don't have a lot planned for today. I was figuring we'd do carry out at some point and I knew he'd want to watch the Mets game. I probably should have planned something better. He did such a good job at Mother's day. But I do think he'll like his presents. And this walk is turning out very nice. I could keep going a bit more.
"Sure, if you want to, I'm okay to walk some more. But I'm fine if you want to go home, or just go for a drive. This is supposed to be your day."
"I'm spending it with you, so this day is wonderful. I'm really happy doing whatever you want."
"Let's just walk a little bit more here, then head home. We should probably pick up something for dinner on the way. I didn't get any further than District Donuts."
"Alright."
I guess one nice thing about not planning it in advance, Josh got exactly what he wanted for dinner. Pizza and Beer. He seems really happy, sitting on the couch watching CNN. And the game will be on before too long.
"Hey, I've got some presents for you."
"You didn't have to get me anything. You're giving me the greatest gift of all." He rubs my belly appreciatively.
"I wanted to get you something. I think you'll like it."
I head into the guest room and gather the packages. Neither of us is very inventive with the hiding place.
"Here you go." His eyes light up as I set 3 gift bags on the coffee table. He might say he doesn't need anything, but he's still a big kid. He likes opening presents.
"Is there any particular order I should open these?"
"Not really." He grabs the shiny royal blue bag first. He pulls out the tissue paper, then he grins as he pulls a 3 pack of Mets onesies out of the bag. There is a blue one, an orange one, and a white one that sort of looks like a baseball. It's my favorite.
"Did you think we were having a boy?"
"No. Those are unisex. But once we found that she's a girl, I ordered a tutu. Look at this!" I pull up a picture on my phone. It's multi-layered tulle in Orange, Blue and White. "It will match all three onesies perfectly!"
"And get some bows too!" Josh exclaims, "some big-ass bows!" He stares at the photo for a minute with a grin on his face. I can tell he can't wait to be bouncing the baby on his knee while watching the game. He's going to be a great dad.
I shove the second package towards him and he pulls out the paper. "You've got to be kidding me. These are freakin' adorable!" He's holding the itty bitty Mets high tops and socks up. "Are her feet really going to be this small?"
"Well, smaller to start. I got everything in 6-9 month size because she'll be bigger by the start of baseball season."
"You're brilliant." He gives me a big kiss.
"It's okay that I got these, right? They are for YOU not the baby. But if you want to share them with her you can."
"Exactly right. Thanks babe."
He reaches for the last package. The white one with blue and orange tissue paper sticking out. Even though it didn't really matter, he ended up picking the order I would have handed them to him.
He pulls out the matching father-daughter baseball caps. They are going to look so cute together.
"There's something else in there."
He tips the bag upside down causing the envelope to fall into his lap.
"Tickets for games in August and September, here against the Nationals! Awesome! Thanks, baby."
He leans over and gives me a long kiss. "This was the best Father's day yet!"
"Well, I think next year will be better. You know, since Olivia will be here to drool all over you."
"Livy?" He tries out the nickname. It doesn't really sound right. The way he says Lulu really is cuter.
"You can still call her Lulu if you want, you know. It can be your special name for her no matter what name we end up picking."
"Well that's the best Father's day gift you could have given me!"
Well, no, I think I've still got a better gift for him than that. I leave him in the living room, and head to the bedroom to get ready for my last surprise. I smirk to myself. He's going to find it hard to concentrate on the game.
I quickly undress then slip on bright orange lace cheeky panties, over that I put on my new Mets jersey. I bought it before I popped, so it's a little too small right now, but I don't think Josh will mind. I just fasten one button about a quarter of the way down. It gives me lots of cleavage and let's the bump stick out a bit. Finally, I put on his lucky Mets baseball cap. I hid it last week. As long as he sees it before the game starts, he won't freak out, so I've got a bit of time. I look myself over in the mirror. Well I certainly couldn't go to a game like this, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to make one fan pretty happy.
Josh is pretty comfortable on the couch with another beer. He doesn't look up when I walk in. Well, that's not going to do. I walk around the couch towards the television, being sure to sway my hips just a little. It's the way I've gotten his attention for years. Then I bend down and pretend to look for a book on the shelf next to the television.
When I hear a large gulp behind me, I know he's gotten a glimpse of the panties. I turn around slowly. "Mind if I join you on the couch and read while you watch the game?"
"Uh, no."
I didn't think so.
As soon as I sit down, Josh wraps his arm around me and tries to slip his hand into the top of the jersey.
"uh-uh. You don't get to second base until they do."
"Are you serious?"
The look on his face is priceless.
"What's the matter? Not enough faith in your team?"
I almost feel sorry for him when the Mets only manage to get 1 runner on base during the first three innings and that was because he got hit by a pitch.
To make matters worse, they're playing the Yankees. Toby keeps sending Josh texts, razzing him over the score. He's only had one little kiss and the Yankees are up 5 to nothing. If the Mets don't make something happen soon they're going to ruin Father's day!
In the 4th inning, Josh perks up. "Go man, go!"
But Reyes ends up getting caught trying to steal second.
"So close, Babe!" I'm trying to be encouraging, but I'm getting frustrated too. I was planning on getting some action here.
Finally in the 5th, Valentin doubles to Right Field.
"Yes! Thank God!"
Josh jumps up and pumps his fist. Then he looks down and smirks at me then pops open the button on the Jersey. He bends his head to the task and doesn't even seem to notice or care when Green leaves Valentin stranded after a pop fly.
I sigh in relief and wind my fingers through his hair. Neither of us pays attention to the game for the rest of the inning.
But then the Sixth inning starts and Josh turns back to the game. The Mets leave me restless until the Seventh Inning, when Wright ends up on first after a wild pitch. Josh gives me a chaste kiss on the lips.
"First Base."
"That's it?!" I can't help but whining. A girl's got needs and these guys aren't doing much for me.
Josh raises an eyebrow at me as Delgado takes the plate. He hits a double, causing Wright to score.
"YES!" Josh and I both cheer. Thank God.
"The Mets score, so I get to score too. Right, baby?"
"Hell, yeah."
He grins and reaches back into my shirt, palming my breast. "I've got a man on second too."
"I'm starting to like baseball."
In the 8th inning, Josh tweaks my nipple with a grin as Castro's hit is ruled a ground rule double. But then Castro scores on a single by Beltran.
"That's 2 runs." Josh wiggles his eyebrows. I don't say anything but if I'm only getting 2 orgasms out of this, I'm not going to be a Mets fan for very long.
The Mets don't manage to score again and the game ends after the top of the 9th with a final score Yankees 8, Mets 2. Josh's phone immmediately buzzes with more harassing texts from Toby. Josh really looks in the dumps. I guess I'll have to find away to cheer him up.
"Hey, man, at least they scored."
"Yeah, but I'm still upset that they lost. What crappy timing."
"It's okay, they'll get 'em next time."
"Yeah, but now you can never wear that outfit during a game again. And I really liked it!"
Is he serious? Is he really this superstitious? Yes. Yes, he is. Well. That won't do. I get up from the couch, taking off the baseball cap and dropping it in his lap.
"Yeah, you're right." As I walk toward the bedroom, I let the jersey slip off and fall to the floor.
I look back over my shoulder. "You probably better get these panties off me as quickly as possible. I mean, we wouldn't want there to be any lingering effects. What if the baby turns out to be a Yankees fan?"