In the mirror, I can see his hands resting on his hips as I balance on the drawers to step into my shoes.
With a huff, he drops to his knees, gently lifts my leg and helps me slide them onto my feet one at a time.
I hold onto his broad shoulders as he takes his time lacing each shoe, and I can’t help but let my hands explore his shoulders, reaching the strands of hair that curl around his nape. Now he’s wrapped the film, he can cut his hair, but I selfishly don’t want him to.
I barely slept last night. Smudge kept kicking my organs to the point where I would wake up every few hours in pain, and then I’d lie there with Jackson next to me, overthinking this whole plan.
Mum knows not to invite Cleo, right? She wouldn’t put me through that again. She’s just being a mum.
I swallow against my dry throat before looking into Jackson’s dark, worry filled eyes. “I’m going.”
He looks up at me from his knees, reading the firm expression on my face. He’s ready to argue more, ready to push his point, but something on my face must tell him I’m still not budging.
He presses a kiss to my wrist.
“Okay, pretty girl. It’s your decision, but glitterball me if you need an escape plan okay?”
I can’t help the smile that cracks across my face. It started out as a joke, but I know he’s serious. All I need to do is send a code word, and he’ll come running. It’s something Ican imagine our daughter using in the future, the guarantee that he’ll be there whenever she calls. “Glitterball.” I nod seriously as my phone buzzes on the bed.
“It’s Mum,” I tell Jackson. “She’s outside. I’ll meet her outside the gate.”
If Jackson has a problem with me sharing our address, he doesn’t say anything, just silently follows me down the stairs and helps me into my coat, wrapping my scarf around my neck like a mother hen.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be,” I tell him as I pull my hair from the collar.
He nods. “Danny invited me to watch the rugby, so I’ll swing by there after the hospital.”
“Don’t forget the bag in the kitchen. It’s just some cookies for Kaia and Masen. It’s not much but…” I made them this morning before starting to get ready, so they were still warm when I put them in the Tupperware.
“Thank you, baby. I’m sure they’ll love them.” He presses a kiss to my lips and I melt into his arms.
“I have to go,” I smile against his mouth as he groans.
“Okay, just send me a text when you’re on your way home or if you need me to come pick you up. And if you’re in any pain or just get too tired or?—”
I reach up on my tiptoes and press another kiss to his lips. “Stop fussing. I’ll be fine.” At least I hope I will be. “Plus, the girls will be there for backup.”
He relaxes slightly as I open the door, stepping out into the damp afternoon. The sky is still suspiciously gray with barely a hint of sun, but at least it’s stopped raining.
Our feet crunch on the gravel as we slowly cross the driveway to my mother’s familiar silver hatchback.
I wave awkwardly as Jackson tugs the gate open over myhead, and I can see her leaning across the seats to gape at the house.
Jackson tugs the car door open. “Hi Andrea,” he says gruffly as he helps me lower myself into my seat.
“Hello,” Mum says stiffly, settling back in her seat. “If I’m not allowed out of the car then the least you can do is keep the heat in, Rosie.”
Jackson glances at me as he rests his forearm on the door. “Glitterball?” he murmurs.
I bite my lip before shaking my head. “I’ll text you in a bit.”
“Alright,” he says, pressing a final kiss to my lips. “Have fun,” he tells me with an encouraging smile.
If I didn’t know how stressed out he was, I’d almost laugh at his overprotectiveness.
“I’ll see you later.”
The door’s barely closed before the car is rolling away from the house.
