Page 33 of Silver Linings
“Me too, Lil. Now go. Rest.”
Lily swiped at her eyes as she left the funeral home.
“You okay?” Gunner asked as he took her hand and helped her into his truck.
“Yeah, just thinking about your mom. It’s been such an emotional day, but these are happy tears for sure. I loved her so much.”
“And she loved you, too.”
“I know she did,” Lily sighed. “Let’s get home. I’m about to fall asleep.”
The drive was soothing, twilight settling over her hometown, and the gentle bumps in the road rocked her as she rested her head on the window.
“Lil?” Gunner’s voice broke through her dreamless sleep all too soon. She groaned in protest. “I’m sorry. We’re home now.”
“No worries,” she mumbled as she wiped the drool from her face. Pregnancy exhaustion was like nothing she’d ever experienced before.
Gunner moved around the front of his truck and opened her door, holding his hand out for her to take. Always such a gentleman. As she twisted, a contraction started low in her back and wrapped its hooks into her belly. She closed her eyes, squeezing Gunner’s hand as she placed her other hand over the baby.
“Lily?”
“It’s fine. Just a sec,” she huffed.
After a few tight breaths, the hooks loosened and she sucked a deep breath in.
“Did you just have a contraction?”
“No. They’re just practice ones.”
“That didn’t look like a practice.”
“Now you’re sounding like Gia. I’m fine, I promise. If the baby was coming, I’d let you know.” She grunted in a very undignified way as her feet hit the ground. “Is your truck getting higher?”
“I think this is a you thing, Lil, not a truck thing,” he laughed.
“Thanks. That makes me feel great,” she teased, pulling her hand away from his as she stalked towards the house. Her foot hit a box at the edge of the porch and she stopped, looking up in awe. The porch was covered in what had to be fifty different boxes.
“What is all this?” Lily asked.
“Oh, well…” Gunner rubbed the back of his neck as he bent to pick up the box Lily kicked. “I ordered some things for you and Sprout. I hope that’s okay. I researched the highest safety rated stuff and just bought everything off that list.”
She was stunned. “Gunner, what? This is too much.” Looking around, she spotted a big box with the cutest image of a baby strapped into a car. “You got her a car seat?”
“And the matching stroller. One of those mommy blogs said it was a lifesaver. Her kid would only sleep when they took him on walks in it.”
“I can’t believe you know what a mommy blog is,” she gave a watery laugh. “You didn’t have to do all this.” Tears filled her eyes, whether from the sweet gesture or the overwhelming way her body hurt, she couldn’t say. “Thank you.”
“You go inside and I’ll start shuffling all this stuff in while you get off your feet.”
“I can hel?—”
“Don’t even finish that sentence, Lily Kate.”
“Stubborn man,” she grumbled.
“Stubborn woman,” he replied.
By the time Gunner had moved all the boxes inside, Lily had silently gone through two more contractions. She needed to relax.