She could hear Mark laughing in the background and teasing him about being strapped to the ol’ ball and chain. Alex made an obvious effort to cover the phone as he snapped back at Mark, “She’s sexier than hell.”
“Can’
t argue with you there, buddy,” Mark shot back, laughing again.
“Enough; you guys are terrible,” Jamie laughed despite herself.
“So where is that sexy girlfriend of mine?” Alex teased.
“She's now your wife, who wants dinner with you and a long night beneath you.” She pursed her lips as images moved through her mind. It had been a few nights since they'd been together. One night was too much.
“I can't argue with that, nor would I try.” His breathing started to return to normal. “You're taking it easy, right? You weren't feeling too good this past week.”
“I'm good. Stop talking to me like you're my dad.” She got up and walked back into the house, waiting for a comment that didn't come.
“Mark. No, dude. Give me that. I gotta go, baby. We'll be home around six, or we'll try. Take a nap or go for a swim.” There was a pause. “Hey, dickhead! Mark!”
Jamie rolled her eyes and set the phone on the counter as she walked back into the kitchen.
“What was I doing? Right. Might as well get the garage light changed.” She pressed her hand to her stomach and paused, thinking she felt something flutter deep inside of her. Then nothing.
“Probably gas.” She shook her head and walked back to the garage and Jake jumped around at her feet. “I know, buddy. Daddy will be home soon and we'll have some dinner. Did you have fun playing outside today?”
She grabbed the ladder and moved back to the center of Alex's spot. Why he had to have such high ceilings was beyond her, but everything was bigger and grander in Alex's world than it ever had been in hers. The ladder was almost too heavy to lug into the right spot, but she'd never been one to give up on a good challenge, which this was proving to be.
After positioning it securely and double-checking it a few times, she made her way half way up and paused, groaning. “The freaking lights.” She carefully moved back down and grabbed the lights, which forced her to only use one hand going back up. “Just breathe. It's not even that high.”
She made it to the top and paused, letting out a shaky breath. There was no way she was going to reach the light fixture without standing on top of the ladder. The very top. “Only someone not afraid of heights would think this was a good idea to do this.” She chuckled as she tucked the light bulb package under her chin and moved up slowly as her stomach tightened. Maybe waiting on Alex would make more sense.
She kept her hands on the top rung and moved up until she was bent over, her feet on the last possible rung before the top.
Alex would have taken care of the lights had he been home. He promised things were going to get better a week ago when he moved both Mark and Paul up into management positions, which allowed him to move some of his senior advisors up to junior partners. Everyone was supposed to shift the weight of responsibility from Alex down, but she'd yet to see any relief from the decision. She was supposed to be a senior advisor as well, but she’d asked to just to stay his personal assistant for the next nine months, and then they could go from there.
One thing had worked for the better... with Kristen gone, Paul and Mark had gotten back to being friends, though their joking around in the office could easily get on her nerves at time. It was all in good fun, and worth it if it allowed them to work well together.
“Okay, man up.” She looked up and let out a grunt. There was nothing to hold on to but the fixture as she extended to a standing position. Her legs shook a little, and she began to second-guess herself. Just go back down. This isn't that important, and Alex is going to be as pissed as a hornet when he comes home and finds out you got on this ladder.
A smirk formed on her lips as she reached up and grabbed the fixture. She steadied herself and pushed off her left foot carefully. Within seconds, she was on top of the ladder, and balancing well. “There. Easy as pie.” What in the world was she worried about anyway? Heights had never been a problem before. Why would they be now?
Because I’m having a baby. Some part of her had to know that protecting herself also meant providing a safe place for the little one inside of her. The need to know the sex of the child rolled through her as it did ten times a day, but she dismissed it. No need to let anything distract her, though everything tried to.
She used her free hands to work a light bulb out of the package, and lifted to her toes as the ladder moved a little. Jake.
“Hey, buddy. Don't do that, okay? I’ll be down in a minute. No pushing on the ladder, please.” She held her breath, praying like hell he would run off, but unfortunately he didn't.
Jake jumped again, and the small puppy from Christmas that had turned into a good-sized dog pushed the ladder just enough. “Jake! Stop it! No. No, buddy!”
He pounced against it again, happy as could be.
“Oh shit! No!” she cried out as she lost her balance. A million thoughts raced through her mind as she fell backwards toward the concrete floor. Hitting her car felt like running into a ton of bricks, but it was better than slamming into the concrete with nothing to cushion her fall.
She smacked her face hard against the hood of her car before sliding down onto the floor. Jake moved in and jumped around her, licking at her as she tried to swat him away, but she couldn't get her hand to move.
There wasn't enough air in her lungs, or the room, to formulate words, and she knew she was in trouble. The single light bulb high above her head blurred, creating several lights and colors as her eyes crossed.
Just let the baby be okay. Don't let me have done something stupid that would hurt the baby.
Tears burned her gaze, and pain ripped through her as a sob left her and the room grew dim. She was close to passing out, but the thought of closing her eyes scared her far more than anything. She blinked rapidly as Jake continued to dance around her.