Rice, Rice, baby

Chapter 22

"Hello, my boy. Hello. It's your uncle James" Madders says while talking to my bump and caressing it. "Hello my gorgeous nephew."

"Was he also like this when you were pregnant?" I ask Kennedy.

"Worse" she sighs. "You should have seen him after we felt Leo moving for the first time. His hand was glued to my belly and he constantly talked to it to try and figure out which words made him move."

"How did that go?"

"He ignored me" Madders says while caressing my bump. "Have you felt him yet?"

"No, I haven't. But my doctor said it can happen any day now."

"James cried like a baby the first time in both pregnancies" Kennedy chuckles.

"I was feeling my children for the first time. Of course I cried!" he says. "For you guys it's different because you feel the changes inside you, but we don't. And seeing a scan or hearing their heartbeat isn't the same as actually feeling something move."

"Declan cried when he heard his heartbeat for the first time, so he'll probably do it again when he feels him move too. And then I'll join him."

"Speaking of him... How are things between you two?" Kennedy asks me. "Have you forgiven him?"

"I... I don't know. Since I found out I was pregnant I haven't had time to stop and think about anything else, to be honest. And I am feeling so many things at the same time, and it is all so confusing, that I don't know what is real and what is just caused by my hormones."

"I know the feeling" she smiles. "So it's best to just focus on the baby and then once he is here... We'll see."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Once he is here, he is gonna get lots of cuddles from his uncle James, that's what he's gonna get. Aren't you, my boy?" Madders says, back to talking to the bump.

"Unless he gets fed up of hearing your voice all the damn time, and starts crying the moment he sees you" Kennedy teases him.

"Love you too, honey" he replies, rolling his eyes and making me feel something weird on my chest. Something similar to what I felt earlier when they took their kids for their nap and Leo gave Madders a kiss and a big hug while telling him that he loved him, or when they were feeding the twins, laughing at their weird faces.

It could be heartburn, but it could also be... that I'm jealous. I'm jealous of Kennedy and Madders. Of what they have, of the family they've built.

"Liv, are you ok?" Kennedy says.

"Uh?"

"You are crying."

"Am I?" I say, touching my face.

"Is everything ok? Are you in pain?" Madders asks me with a concerned look.

"No, no, I'm fine. We are fine. I just... hormones" I shrug.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, James. So stop being this cute and worrying about me, or I'll start properly crying."

"I'm your older brother, Liv. It's my job."

"Making me cry?" I laugh.

"That too" he smirks. "But mostly taking care of you" he says, hugging me. "I love you very much, little sis."

"Love you too, big bro" I reply, hugging him back while Kennedy lets out a big "aww" next to us.

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