Mommy Mouse (sequel to City Mouse)

Chapter 37: And Baby Makes Four

AN: Two chapters left, okay? Just this one and then a short one...Fair warning 😉

Leo carefully balanced the coffee cup, holding it in both hands. His tongue was sticking out as he concentrated, to help with the task of not spilling it. He slowly made his way to the room that used to belong to Mouse, when she was his nanny, in the months before she became his mother. Happy followed close behind, offering moral support, presumably.

Mouse, mountainous and nine months pregnant, watched him from the kitchen, hoping he made it. She took a breath of relief when he turned back to smile at her from the doorway.

"Mary Lizard? I brought you some coffee," he called, setting it safely on the nightstand.

"Hmm? What?" Mary Lizard rolled over, stretching, yawning, smiling as she reached for the heavenly smelling brew. "Ooh, thanks so much, Leo, this smells absolutely incredible."

"Good morning," he replied, hopping up to sit on her bed. "It's Jamaican Blue Mountain," he offered helpfully. "I can't tell the difference, but Mommy and Daddy said 'it's the shit.'"

Mary, who was just about to take a sip, carefully held the cup away as she laughed. "They say that, do they?" she asked rhetorically. "You maybe shouldn't repeat that, you know, Leo?"

"Why? Mommy says there's no such thing as a bad word, just words that aren't appropriate sometimes," Leo intoned.

Again, Mary held the cup away until she knew she wouldn't spill it. "Gotcha," she said, grinning.

"She's making breakfast for us right now," Leo told his aunt. "Smells really good, better than the coffee, even."

"Kay, gimme a sec to get dressed, I'll be out," Mary said.

Leo nodded amiably and got off her bed.

It was mid-May, and Mouse's due date was fast approaching. Mary had come to "help," though so far she hadn't done much except play with Leo.

He went back to the kitchen to see Mouse leaning against the counter with her eyes closed.

"Mommy? You okay? Is the lil bean hurting you? Punching your bladder?" He scurried to her to pat her bottom tenderly.

"I'm okay, big guy, and no, she's not doing much, but I think I just felt a contraction," she told him, eyebrows raised.

"Really?" Leo's eyes were huge. "Can I call Daddy?"

"Yeah, you call him, then let me talk, okay?" Mouse handed Leo her phone, and he quickly pushed the numbers to connect him with Henry.

"Hey Daddy! Mommy just felt a construction," Leo informed his father.

Mouse and Mary Lizard, who'd just emerged from her room with her coffee cup, locked eyes filled with mirth.

Leo shook his head. "No, just one. She said I could call and tell you, and then she wanted to talk to you." He listened, then spoke again. "Okay. I love you, too, Daddy."

He held the phone up to his mother. "Here you go," he said. "Is breakfast ready? Or are you not going to make it because of the construction?"

Mouse thanked him and held the phone to her ear as Mary and Leo took over breakfast prep. Mouse was half-way through making omelets, so Mary set Leo on the counter to supervise while she assembled them and put them in the pan.

"Henry?" Mouse laughed as she spoke into the phone. "Yeah, it felt like a really strong cramp, and my stomach got really hard. No, like he said, just the one. No, no need to come home. I might not even have another one for days, right?" She listened, smiling, then continued. "Just know that it's started, okay? Yeah, get things settled down there so you can be here if I need you." She nodded. "Yes. Yes. Okay. I'll call you if anything else happens.