Never Going Back Again

8. The Road Home

Later...

"So, are you ready?" Lori asked, rubbing her sister's tummy.

"I think so," Stevie replied, nodding.

"I was asking the baby, not you," the red head arched a brow. "You're about to twirl and kick and basically a set of gymnastics plus ballet and this poor baby is probably asleep."

The blonde smirked, "They'll be just fine, love---" she shook her head with a smile as she stood. "Ow!" she shifted her weight to one leg right after.

"What's the matter?" she asked, helping her to sit down again.

"My hip is killing me on this side and it's really taking a toll here," she gestured to the lower abdomen. "It freaked me out because the doctor tells me a pain in the lower abdomen is a pain a woman get during miscarriage. But I know it's my hip," she shrugged.

"You're positive about that?"

"Yeah," she agreed with a nod, standing up slowly. "All of the stretching and movement I do plus wearing high boots, it puts a lot of pressure on my lower back and hips. But since I got pregnant with Will, my hips are always tender. I never got a chance to just let them heal and get back into shape and then I got pregnant with Lee and all I do is tote them around. So, pain and," she waved it off before finishing. "You get the idea." Walking over to her vanity, she picked up a glass jar of cream and jabbed it into her hip to relieve the tension in her side.

"You should stop getting pregnant if that's the whole ordeal," Lori smirked.

"Definitely," she shook her head undoubtedly. "Lindsey and I love our kids, but we decided this little one is the last one," she rubbed her tummy gently as she rubbed out the side of her leg and hip. "And if we accidentally got pregnant again, we'd love that baby to death but... We really don't plan on another."

"You told me you didn't plan for this one," Lori added.

"Yeah and that's the case here. We love our babies, but our planning sucks," she chuckled. "We're gonna be sticking to some birth control and hopefully it's something I remember to take. I take a lot of vitamins and dietary supplements so it shouldn't be an issue, but sometimes I forget those." She then set the jar back on the table and let off a sigh and put her attention on her tummy. "You're getting so big, so fast, little one."

"This is going to be seventeen weeks?" Lori asked, pretty sure of herself but wanting the confirmation.

"Yep. By Tuesday, eighteen," she turned to the side to see if her stomach was seeable in the mirror.

"You're definitely growing, but I don't think anybody will be able to tell," her sister shook her head. "We can tell, but you haven't really gained weight anywhere else."

"I really hope it stays that way," she assured, putting a shawl over her shoulders and hugging herself with it. "Where is Sharon, is she ready?"

They were in Maine and she was absolutely freezing---in the late weeks of November. Her whole body was just becoming more and more sensitive with time and cool weather was making her shiver easily and being in thirty degree weather was making her teeth chatter.

"Yeah, she was just changing and management is getting everything on stage ready," Lori replied, knowing all the details because she was the one who took the brunt of it all since she wanted Stevie to stress less.

"Cool," she nodded. "I'm so tired already---I'm gonna need to just go to bed after."

"A nap before you come down to party," the red head assured.