Can I risk not coming home to my girls?
“No,” I say out loud, my voice firm even to my ears.
Sam and Shaun glance at me with wide eyes as the plans for today’s fight scene trail off awkwardly.
“I’m not doing this stunt,” I say, catching eyes with Marky. He nods with a frown, his face still pale from the news.
“Jackson, we have to do the stunt today, man,” Shaun says, glancing at Sam nervously. “It’s in the schedule.”
I tug on my beard as my fist tightens on my bicep.
“I appreciate that, but I can’t do this stunt today. Or any day.” The decision is final and settles in my gut like a stone.
Marky clasps me on the shoulder as I take a step away from the group, my phone already in my hand.
I scroll until I reach Kaia’s number, unused for years. I close the door to my trailer as I listen to her sobs from down the line and get her and Masen on the next flight over here.
My mind is on autopilot as I arrange the transfer for Tony to the finest neuro hospital in the city, roping in Eric to help me get Kaia and Masen a rental near the hospital when they get here.
It’s a mess, but at least I can do something.
Travis calls with an update about the double that’s being brought in to replace my stunts, but it’s barely a concern to me now. This is what I want.
40
ROSIE
February arrivesand so does my bump. It enters a room before me and I can no longer see my feet. Which works for me as I know my ankles have doubled in size, so at least I don’t have to look at them. Jackson still swears I’m beautiful, rubbing my tired feet at night and cradling my bump to take the weight off my back.
Gloria wasn’t joking about Harper’s being big babies, so her and Ella advised me to start doing perineal exercises over Christmas dinner, which made Jackson go very pale and Cody gag into his turkey.
I told Jackson that he needed to do what he needed to do, but I can’t deny that I breathed a sigh of relief when he told me he was stepping away from the stunts. Even though that means the schedule has extended to make up for the lost time arranging his double.
He was home for only a few days before he had to go back to set, this time for even longer. It’s fine. I lived on my own for years before he started climbing into bed with me each night and waking up with me each morning. One moreweek until the film’s wrapped and then he’s home for good, just a few weeks before my due date.
I can’t wait for him to be home more, even though I have to work basically until I’m due anyway.
The guys at work have been strangely supportive, especially Conor and Lee, who have somehow taken it upon themselves to get me anything I want so I don’t have to get up from my desk. Even Kevin keeps to himself a bit more, which is a blessing. Gareth has also allowed me to negotiate working from home three out of five days of the week. So generous of him.
It’s on one of my office days, when I’m waiting outside the building for my car home, that she finds me.
“Hi Rosie,” my mother says, standing beside me, wrapped in a scarf with a trim coat secured around her shoulders. It takes me a few seconds to register that I’m not hallucinating.
“Mum?” I ask, bewildered. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, you’ve refused to tell us your new address, so I had to take it upon myself to find you.” She crosses her arms across her chest.
I blink. “I don’t have to tell you where I live.”
She huffs, clutching her coat tighter around herself. “Don’t be ridiculous Rosalie. Of course your mother needs to know where you’re living, especially when you’re shacked up with a basic stranger.”
I roll my eyes. “Jackson is not a stranger, Mum. He’s my boyfriend.” She glances away.
“What are you doing here?” I repeat, still absorbing the shock. I turn towards her, placing my hand on my belly as Smudge nudges me.
Her eyes drop to my stomach, and I swear they dampen. “Look at you,” she whispers. “When are you due?”
“February twentieth.”
