This Can't Be Real

Chapter 23

The smell of fresh paint fills my senses as I walk up the stairs and along the hallway towards the bedroom that will be the nursery. It's taken a total of five weeks to decide on what we wanted to do for the nursery and what furniture we wanted to get.

As we don't know what we're having, we agreed to keep everything neutral - whites and creams for everything. We've been buying a lot of plain white baby clothes and just seeing them lying in the mountain of bags that have overtook one of the other spare bedrooms, is just making us wish that the baby was coming sooner rather than later.

I come to a stop by the opened bedroom door and peer inside the empty room that's in the middle of being painted. The off-white walls are almost finished being painted and the newly laid cream carpet is covered with clear plastic so nothing ruins it.

It took little convincing from my part to tell Joe that this bedroom would be the best choice as the baby's nursery. It's right next door to the master bedroom and to the other side of it, there's Zachary's room. It's the third biggest bedroom in the house, so it made sense to turn it into the nursery.

A lot's changed in the past five weeks and for starters, Joe and I are now sleeping in the same bed together. We've become more affectionate with each other and since I'm now sixteen weeks pregnant, I'm starting to enjoy being pregnant.

I'm enjoying the feeling of the baby moving inside of me and when it does move, either Joe or Zachary are right by my side feeling it move along with me. I guess that's one of the good things that comes along with sleeping in the same bed as Joe - whenever the baby kicks, he's there and can experience it with me.

It's a shame I can't say the same thing for Jess.

Since Joe's altercation with Thom after our shopping trip, neither of us have seen or heard from them. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing and I know it's a bad and sad thing to say, but I'm sorta happy about that. I've been able to spend time with the ones who are able and willing to help me get back on track without lying to me. They're honest and take my side no matter what.

Just being in this house is doing the job no one can really do. I've been able to remember the key things no one would be able to help me with. I've started remembering parts of where certain things have happened throughout the house and when I mention them to Joe, he smiles and fills in the gaps I may not yet recall.

The simplest things from where things are kept and how Joe likes certain foods made and what foods he likes and doesn't like, come to me without even trying. I've even managed to cook him dinner on one occasion which turned out to be the first dinner I ever cooked for him. That shocked us both but in a good way.

The other things like what Zachary's first word was, where he took his first steps , and even to when he went to his first ever football game all came to me without someone telling or showing me evidence form those moments.

Piece by piece, everything's coming back to me and even my doctor doesn't think it'll be long before I remember everything. It's something we're all looking forward to.

"Leigh, where are you?"

I lean back from where I'm leaning against the doorframe at the sound of Joe's voice calling to me from the floor below. I look towards the top of the stairs and listen carefully to the footsteps starting to come up the stairs. "Upstairs," I answer clearly.

I straighten up and glance round the room once more. It'll all be in place before we know it and with the furniture coming tomorrow, all that will be left to do is put everything in its rightful place and then it'll be a waiting game until the baby's here.

"There you are," Joe breathes heavily, his arms creeping round my waist and pulling faintly till I'm pressed back against him.

"I said I was up here," I giggle as he places a light kiss on my neck.

"I know but I did tell you that I didn't want you in here while the guys were painting it. The fumes from the paint may get to your head and make you feel sick."

"Joe-" I turn in his hold and place my hands on his chest. "-I'm fine. We're both fine. Stop worrying."

"I'm your husband. I'm allowed to worry."

"Yeah, right." I push at him to move and he does so freely. "Did you get what you needed from the shops?"

"I did," he nods, taking my hand in his as we walk down the stairs and into the living room.

"And what was it?" I query. I take a seat on the couch and glare at the small pile of bags sitting on the floor by the glass coffee table.

"Well, seeing as it's now July and because we've all been too caught up in what happened to you and trying to help you, we missed your birthday last month." He reaches to the floor for a small bag and comes over to the couch and sits down next to me. "I'm sorry we forgot."

I smile shyly at him. "It's okay. In all honesty, I didn't realise what day was which at all last month until you brought it up now."

"Either way, I'm sorry and to make it up to you, Zachary and I went out shopping and got you a few little something's to make up for it."

He passes the small gift bag over to me. I raise a single brow as I take it and look inside at the tissue paper filled bag.

"What is it?" I curiously ask.

"This one is from me," he answers with a smile playing on his lips.

I nod and begin to pull the tissue paper out of the bag. When everything's pulled out of the bag, I pull the small blue box out that's at the bottom of the bag and drop the empty bag to floor.

"What's this?"

"This-" Joe starts, taking the small box out of my hands and turning it so the opening of the box is towards me. "-is something I should have bought to replace the other one when people started questioning why you weren't wearing one."

He pulls at the lid of the box and I think my breath catches in my throat at the sight of the diamond ring staring up at me. The large center diamond is cased with smaller diamonds which continue onto the half of the platinum band.

It's beautiful.

It's perfect.

"Joe," I breathe.

"It may be a bit too big for you after you give birth but at least you'll have a ring on your finger until then that is where any ring I give to you should be." His explanation has tears forming in my eyes and my right hand rises up to cover my mouth as a way of trying to stop the tears from falling. "Anytime I give you a ring . . ."

"It's to go on that finger and no other one," I finish. I don't know why I finished his sentence, it just came to me. I mean, I know he said something similar to me about it seconds ago but it seemed to be right words he was going to say.

"It is," he agrees with a small smile.

I smile to myself and it's because I know what that smile means. I just remembered something he has said to me before in regards to any ring he gives or has given to me.

He takes my left hand in his after puling the ring from it's place in the box, and slides it onto my finger. "Where it should be," he whispers before lifting my hand to his mouth and kissing the ring. "Where it always will be."