In The Safety Of A Lie - COMPLETED!

Chapter 27

Weeks and months passed by quickly, bringing about more warmth and an even more expectant Evelina. There was no hiding the obviousness of her rounded belly and impending due date.

Nakita had moved out of the house so that Joey and Ev had a place to themselves. She had said it was a wedding gift to them. Not that she had moved very far away, in fact, she moved only a few streets away and closer to the diner. Ev was sure it was to keep an eye on her.

Joey's job continued with Senator Downs and things between them had led them to grow closer. It was awkward at first, given the situation that had led to Ev's near death experience. Things had started out tense, but the senator was much more caring once you were put in his care to protect.

Senator Downs unexpectantly kept tabs on Evelina's condition and had made the move to pull them under his wing. For whatever reason, he seemed to genuinely care about how they were doing. He also made sure to keep Joey from doing too risky of jobs. Evelina was thankful for that. It meant that he'd come home to her every night.

She had the reassurance that she needed to just stay calm, and focus on enjoying the last little bit of the pregnancy that she had left to endure. Her due date was rapidly arriving and with that came the cravings that reminded her that she was definitely very much pregnant — as if the growing belly hadn't been enough evidence in itself.

Jimmy and Nakita would drop in every once in awhile to visit or to see if either of them needed any help. Evelina appreciated that, especially since things were getting harder for her to do and she needed to rest much more often. The days seemed to pass by faster than usual as her due date rapidly came.

There was no preparing for the date, nor any way of knowing when it would come, but when it came it came suddenly. Evelina's eyes widened as her hand went over her belly. No amount of preparation could have made this moment any smoother. She inched her way over to the phone, praying that Joey had it on him. Her fingers fumbled over the digits as she dialed his number as fast as possible. Her breathing increased rapidly as she impatiently waited for the phone to be picked up. It rang... and rang... and rang some more. Nobody answered and an answering machine quickly turned on. Evelina sighed in irritation as she left a message for Joey to call her back as soon as possible.

She hung up the phone and bit her lip. Her body rocked back and forth as she tried to think of who else to call. She bit back the onset of pain that threatened to overwhelm her as a contraction jumped through her. Her back arched and she threw her hand to her spine, rubbing it to ease some of the intensity. Fear tried to stop any possible form of thinking for her. Quickly, she dialed another phone number. She was desperate.

"Please answer..." Evelina begged the phone out loud. "If you don't answer, I'll wri..."

"Hello." Jimmy answered the phone, interrupting the irrational woman's thoughts.

"Is Joey there? Please tell me Joey's there!" Evelina begged Jimmy.

"Nope, he's not." He said simply, reminding her that maybe she had called him one too many times with that question.

Mentally chiding herself, Evelina moaned and let herself fall back against the couch she was sitting on. She reached up to rub her forehead, quickly moving her hand back over her bulging belly. Gently, she massaged the aches out of it, uncertain at what to do next. She needed her husband.

"Why? What's up, Ev?" Jimmy asked her seriously, not that he really was one for jokes anyway.

"My water just broke." Evelina moaned again, forcing herself not to move and feel the warm wetness underneath her. She was too nervous to be disgusted by it. Besides, it was just nature's way of saying it was time for a miracle to happen