The Mafia King's Nicotine

Chapter 86

Vivian looked up at the ceiling, watching the shadow of her curtain swaying back and forth allowing the streetlamp to illuminate a sliver of the wall beside her.

She couldn't sleep.

Her mind was racing, her anxiety high and most of all, her little blob would not settle down. She felt as if she had a massive stomach ache but nothing would help.

Her worst fear was that something was wrong. That she was sick and was going to lose her son. After all that she had lost, seen, and been through she refused to lose her child. God would have to pry him from her cold dead fingers and even then she wouldn't let go.

She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly after holding it for a few seconds. Mid release a sharp stabbing pain made her gasp and grasp the blanket tightly. Her face screwed up in pain and she was beginning to turn red from the lack of oxygen as she held her breath. As the discomfort began to dissipate she groaned and fell back against her pillow.

Nothing she had tried worked. Laying on her left side, eating crackers, drinking water because heaven knows she is always dehydrated and yet it wouldn't go away.

It was almost as if she was having the worst period cramps of her entire life.

But-

They couldn't be contractions.

It was far too early.

Maybe Braxton Hicks, but-

Do they last this long?

Ever since they landed she seemed to be in increasing amounts of pain.

"Shit."

She flung back the sheets and slid out of bed, holding her housecoat close around her, since she had been sleeping naked due to the heat.

Heat.

It was early February and while strange weather wasn't uncommon in Nebraska and her childhood bedroom was always blazing hot, that was not the case on this very night. She could feel the cold floorboards under her bare feet, and the fierce winds that dragged along the side of the house were enough to signify the freezing weather outside.

She shuffled over to her mother's bedroom door and hesitated, her hand hovering over the doorknob. It had been years since she had entered her parent's room in the middle of the night. She never thought she would be doing it now, especially not while married and pregnant, but here she was.

Quietly she turned the knob and peered into the pitch-black bedroom, her eyes completely blind to any of her surroundings. Still, even without sight, she knew where she was going and felt her way around the room to the edge of her parent's bed where her mother now slept alone.

After her eyes had adjusted a fair amount she could see the outline of her mother's shoulder, which was rising and falling with each shallow intake of breath.

She reached out to wake her but once again hesitated. This wasn't like when she was a child and simply had a nightmare or an emotional break down at midnight. Now she truly needed her mom's help, and she shouldn't feel guilty because of that.

"Mama?" She whispered, gently shaking her awake. The same way she had when she was much younger and life was very different, "Mama?"

Mrs. D'inia groaned and rolled over, slowly blinking open her eyes, "Vivian?" She questioned, still clinging to the loose ends of her dream.

"Mama." Vivian called once more, "Something's wrong."

This got her attention and she quickly sat up, "What?" She asked, standing up and taking her daughter's hand.