Nini POV
"Nins, would you be able to teach the third grade group tomorrow? Our normal teacher won't be there." Ricky asks me as we sit on the couch together, grading papers and doing work for the music center. I nod, sitting back on the couch, putting down my pen in exhaustion. Ricky moves his lap top and pulls me so that I can rest on his lap. "Yeah, no worries. What time is the class?" I ask him and his fingers move through my hair gently. "It's at 3, your first one of the day. It's just music basics." He says, checking his lap top for reference. I nod again and close my eyes. "Yeah no worries, I kinda want to be around kids anyway." I say with a little laugh and he looks down at me, smiling. "Don't bring any home, we've got our hands full." He says laughing and I nuzzle my head into his leg, filling with joy. "I feel so lucky" I mumble into him and his hand comes to my back. He lifts my shirt up and I flinch from the contact of his cold hand on my bare back. "Sorry" he chuckles and I draw circles on his leg. "Biggest fear?" I ask vaguely and Ricky's brought to attention, looking down at me and carefully rubbing my back. "Letting her down" he whispers and I push my body up, moving close to him. "Same" I say genuinely and he wraps me in a hug. He nods and rests his head on top of mine. "Anything else?" he asks and I think for a second. "Birth. I'm terrified." I admit and Ricky rocks my body back and forth. "I'm going to be there the entire time. You're going to be incredible." He whispers and I sigh. I don't believe him yet, but I don't let myself think about it too much. "In just 13 weeks, we're going to be holding our girl in this room." He whispers and I look up into his eyes, bringing my hand to my mouth in excitement and emotion. "Unbelievable" I whisper and Ricky leans forward, connecting our mouths.
The next day Ricky and I get to work early and he helps me set up the classroom before the class filters in. "It looks like Shannon's unit is ukulele today. You're amazing at that." Ricky says, leaning in and pecking my cheek before giving me his charming smile and high-fiving kids on the way out of the classroom. I laugh and shake my head welcoming the class and telling them to take out their instruments. When I try to demonstrate chords and teach the instrument though, frustrating trouble starts. My stomach is so big that I can't play the instrument and so I try to show the children with charts but none of the kids can understand. My frustration and exhaustion is building and the kids start to take notice. "Mrs. Bowen, are you okay?" A girl asks and I flush, smiling as best as I can. "Yeah hon. Class is just about done, why don't you lead everyone to the break room while you wait to change rotations?" Her face falls and a few kids groan in disappointment. "Okay! Yeah, come on guys." She yells to the class of thirty and I sit back in my chair, relieved. A few students take notice and shoot me concerned glances but I just smile and wave. When they leave the room I get up to close the door and I lean against the wood. My breathing gets heavy and I move to lean against a bar of a riser, trying to stop the tears and my uneven breathing. It just gets worse though and I begin to think about how a panic attack could hurt the baby which further intensifies my panic and anxiety and I don't know what to do.
Ricky POV
As I walk through the hallway to the auditorium I notice a group of kids walking towards the recreation room. There were still fifteen minutes until the class rotation and I jogged up to reach the group and figure out what they were doing. "RICKYY" a boy yells from the group and I give him a high five. "What's up guys?" I ask and a boy shrugs. "Our teacher sent us to recreation time." I nod and I look over the group. It doesn't strike me as odd because teachers give the kids recreation time occasionally, but something about the group of nervous kids strikes me as concerning. I then feel a tug on my jeans and I kneel down to meet the eyes of a little girl. "Can you check on Mrs. Bowen? She was acting weird." The girl says and my heart jumps. I stand back up and look at the class. "Were you guys in Mrs. Bowen's class?" I ask and the group nods. My heart is pounding and I nod. "Alright guys. Head to the break room and change classes when you hear the bell." I remind them and I rush off to Nini's classroom.
Nini POV
My heart is pounding and my face is stained with tears as I try to calm my breathing but it doesn't feel like it's working and I slide down onto my knees in defeat. I cry and hold my stomach and I jump when I feel two arms wrap around me. I open my eyes to see Ricky and he's blurred by tears but his face holds an immense amount of concern. "Breathe baby, what's going on?" he asks as he rocks my body. "I couldn't play the ukulele or teach and the kids didn't understand and-" I feel him nod against my head and I hear him trying to calm me down. "Shh okay, okay. You're okay. The kids had a great class." He tries to tell me and it makes me cry harder because I know he's just trying to make me feel better. "Stop baby shhh" he says and he rubs my back and rocks my body. "I'm sorry" I manage to get out and he breathes out. "No apologies. Breathe with me Nini. Come on." He says and I feel his hands shift to my pulse point on my wrist. I look into his eyes and the pleading in them makes me try to calm my uneven breath and eventually I calm down enough to breathe well again. I let my tears begin to dry up and Ricky breathes out in relief, holding my body tighter. "See you're fine baby" he whispers in my ear and I just let him hold me. Damn hormones.
