Part 18 (1/2)
Something tickled her nose as she woke up. At first, she thought it was her hair, and then she realized it was coa.r.s.er than hers. She opened one eye and found that she was lying with her head on top of Steven's chest. It was his chest hair irritating it. She huffed out a breath and attempted to turn over. The immovable object at her back grunted when she elbowed it.
”Sorry. I need to turn over.” She waited as Greg moved out of her way.
”You all right, baby?” Greg's gravelly voice sounded sleepy.
”What's going on?” Steven's didn't sound much better.
”Nothing. Go back to sleep. I just needed to turn over. Greg had to move out of my way.”
”She elbowed me in the gut, man. Watch out. She's got deadly aim.”
”Funny.” Janet smiled and settled between them once again.
After thirty minutes of staring up at the ceiling and listening to the two of them snore, Janet was ready to scream. She wanted out of the bed, but that would mean that the men would have to get up, too.
She stretched the thirty minutes into another twenty before she was so antsy that Greg woke up and called her on it.
”If you need to get up, baby, just tell us. We'll get up with you.”
”I didn't want you to have to. You should be able to sleep in if you want to.”
”Don't worry. If I get tired later, I'll take a nap. In fact, we'll both take a nap later. How's that?”
”Since I already know that I'm going to get sleepy later, I'll take you up on that.”
”So are you two getting up or staying in bed and keeping me up?” Steven's m.u.f.fled voice could be heard from under the pillow.
”Come on, baby. We'll go get something to eat. Sleepyhead will have to make his own when he does manage to get out of bed.”
Greg helped her climb out of the bed then led her to the bathroom. When she finished in the bathroom, he had her clothes ready and helped her step into the sweatpants and pull on the oversized T-s.h.i.+rt.
She followed him downstairs, stopping halfway to rest before reaching the bottom. He arranged her on the couch with a blanket and one of the baby books before he slipped off to the kitchen to make breakfast. She read the introduction of the book and quickly lost interest. Her mind just wasn't on it. She was too busy going over the dream she'd had the night before. Was it a dream or had her subconscious pulled out her memory?
She was in the cellar putting up the canned tomatoes she'd made. She walked up the stairs and just as she reached the top, something ran between her legs, causing her to lose her balance. It had looked like a small cat. Then she was falling. When she looked up from where she had landed, the thing was sitting on the top step looking down at her. It had a row of razor-sharp teeth and hissed at her. Then she woke up.
The odd thing about it all was that she didn't remember the thing touching her, and she hadn't been afraid while she was dreaming. Not even when she fell down the stairs.
”Hey, there. What are you thinking so hard about over there?” Greg walked into the living room.
”Thinking about a dream I had last night. I'm wondering if it was actually a memory and not a dream, though.”
”What was it about?”
”When I fell in the cellar.”
”Tell me about it.”
Janet waited until he sat down next to her to go back over the dream. He nodded.
”I think that was a memory. That sounds too much like what was bound to have happened. The place I covered and nailed shut was in the bas.e.m.e.nt, so it had to have been down there with you.”
”But you never found it.”
”No, baby. I looked all over this house. I think it got back out, and then I closed it out.”
”I hope I never see it again.”
”I'm with you on that. Let's go eat breakfast.” He stood up and held out his hand for her to use to pull herself up.
They had just finished eating when Steven shuffled into the kitchen and headed right for the stove. He sniffed at the contents of their leftover meal. She giggled when he frowned. They hadn't left much for him to eat.
”Sorry, Steven. You should have gotten up with us.” Janet couldn't help but point that out.
He yawned and stretched before scratching his belly and shuffling over to the fridge for more supplies.
”Come on, baby. Let's leave him to cook and go read your book. You can sit in my lap.”
Greg snagged the book off the couch as he walked toward his recliner. He pulled her onto his lap and pushed the chair back so that they were in a semireclined position. Janet opened the book and began reading about what to expect as her body changed to support the baby. Evidently, Greg was reading along with her because he groaned at some of the changes.
”I like the part about bigger b.o.o.bs, but I'm not so wild about some of the others.”
”You think you're not wild about them. Imagine having to actually deal with them. I'm going to make you aware of every one of them when they happen.”
”At least you're not having anymore morning sickness.”
”I am very happy about that!”
”What does it say about s.e.x in that book?”
”Hold your horses. I can tell where your mind is.” She pulled the book toward her chest so he couldn't see and turned to the index. ”It looks like you have a few chapters to go before I get to that part.”
”Can't you skip on over there now?” Greg tried to look over her arm at the book.
”Nope. I'm going to go in order. It's like that for a reason, I'm sure. Now pay attention.”
She began to read the less desirable parts to him, skipping over the good parts on purpose.
”Ugh, don't read anymore of it to me. I'll wait 'til you get to the part on s.e.x, and you can read that out loud to me then.”
”What are you two doing in here? I can hear Greg groaning all the way in the kitchen.” Steven walked into the room.
”Just reading over the baby book with him.”
”Don't let her read it to you. It's got some disgusting parts in it.”
Steven chuckled. ”I can imagine. I think I'll wait for the CliffsNotes version.”
”The two of you are going to have to read these books all the way through with me. I insist. If I have to live through it, you can at least read through it.”