~ * ~ A Few Months Later ~ * ~
Kindlin placed her mug back down on the table again, along with the book. She sighed and glanced across the table to Nick, who was still looking in his baby book. They were trying to find names for boys and girls that would keep up the pattern they had been using with their children's names. A's for all first names, G's for middle names for the girls, and J's for middle names for the boys. They really hadn't gotten very far, both of them finding names like "Abby Gertrude" and "Albert John." Things like that... well, wouldn't work.
Suddenly Kin gasped, making Nick look up in worry. Every now and then she'd have a pain in her stomach, but the doctor had said the baby seemed to be doing fine. But when Nick looked up he only saw a happy look on her face.
"Nicky," she breathed, meeting his eye. "I found the best name for a little girl."
"Oh, yeah? What's that? 'Cause I think I found a pretty good name for a boy..."
"Andraya Gabrielle."
Nick smiled, "Yeah, that's pretty... I think that would be a good name! That is... if we have a girl."
Kindlin rolled her eyes, knowing he was looking forward to another little boy. They were planning, after this, to have no other children and at the time they had two boys and two girls... this baby would break the tie. Nick was going for a boy, but the thought of a precious little baby girl made Kindlin's insides melt. She loved boys - Alex and Aaron were her world (as well as Ashley and Aisya), she loved taking them to professional baseball games (at least Alex, since Aaron was a tad bit too tiny), and taking him to his little league practices, and helping him catch frogs... but there was something about watching Nick with their daughters that made Kindlin's life feel totally and completely fulfilled. They say that daughters always bond to their fathers, and Nick was a wonderful father... and he surely did have a bond with their daughters... she felt it would be fun to have another.
"So what's the name that you found for a boy, my dearest Nickolas?" Kin smiled at him.
"Adam Jonathon."
Kindlin stuck her tongue out in distaste, "Nick, that doesn't even go together. Adam Jonathon? Noo... Plus, I don't like the name Adam, and you know that."
Nick laughed, "Fine... but we're running out of good A names for boys."
She nodded, "I agree... guess we'll just have to have a girl!"
Nick rolled his eyes as he watched her walk out of the room, a grin on her face, "Like we can choose..." he called after her, laughing slightly.
~ * ~
Kindlin came home at 9 p.m., one night a month later, to a noisy house. All her children were running around shrieking and chasing each other, hyper out of their minds on all the sugar they'd had.
Kin sighed and dropped her purse in the entryway, walking into the living room and standing in the pathway of the stampede of little tykes. Alex crashed into her, before looking up and cringing.
"Hey, mom."
"Where's your father?" Kindlin asked, trying not to laugh at the expression on his face. She had to be firm - they were supposed to be in bed, and Nick, the father-babysitter, was nowhere to be seen.
Alex shrugged, before grabbing Aisya's hand to stop her from running. Alex was the only one who had even noticed their mother was home.
"Alright, get upstairs and get ready for bed... I'll be up in a few to tuck you guys in. No playing! Brush your teeth and put your PJ's on... Take Aaron up with you," Kindlin stopped her three children who were already running up the staircase and picked up the fourth, the toddler who was just learning to walk and loved to do so. She kissed Aaron's head gently, before handing him to Alex and watching as he walked up the stairs with his little brother, his two sisters on his heels.
Kindlin sighed and took her jacket off, quickly hanging it up on the hook in the doorway. Picking her purse off the ground, she hung it next to her coat, and walked down to the den which had been turned into a playroom and TV room once they'd had three kids. Kindlin could hear Nick playing his drums in his studio which was down the hall. Nick never had finished the insulation on it, completely, and once you were downstairs it was no longer sound-proof.
Kindlin smirked, her eyebrows raised, as she headed down the hall towards the studio. So her husband was playing his drums, instead of watching their kids... just wonderful. She couldn't help but laugh at the thought - typical male thing to do. Opening the door, and going unnoticed by Nick, Kindlin stepped inside the loud room, sneaking up behind him. She stood in the back of him for what seemed like an eternity, but he was so into the music he didn't even realize she was there... until her arms snaked around his neck and her lips brushed against his cheek softly.
"I'm hooome..." she purred quietly, in his ear, just before he stopped drumming. "...and you weren't watching the children," she added, to see his reaction.
"Kin! I... uhh... wanted to drum?" Nick tried helplessly, knowing he was in for it. He was surprised when she bit down on his earlobe gently, her tongue snaking out a moment later. "Okay, that was better punishment than I was thinking."
"I missed you," Kindlin sighed, nuzzling her nose against his neck.
Nick swiveled around in the little chair and pulled her down onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She was five months pregnant, and wasn't very big, so he could still hug her with ease. By nine months she was usually pretty big, but she carried their babies straight out in front, and from the back you couldn't even tell she was pregnant... the only thing that enlarged was her stomach. "I missed you too," he smiled at her.
She'd only gone to the grocery store, but when Kindlin was pregnant she'd get very clingy and lovey-dovey... until she was giving birth, and then she had the typical outlook on her husband. You know, the whole "You'll be sleeping on the couch for the rest of your life and keep your dick away from me!" thing.
"I love you, Kin."
"I love you too, Nick."
"Did you feel alright today? Nothing went wrong, right?" he asked, a genuine expression on his face, as he played with the ends of her curls.
"No, nothing went wrong," she spoke softly as she looked down at her stomach. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked back up at him, "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to this baby, Nick... we've gone through so much together... getting pregnant with Alex and having to get him back, the Postpartum Depression, the thing with Alex's teacher... I don't know if I could take much more. If something happens to this baby, I don't think I could deal with it."
Nick held her tighter and leaned his head against her shoulder, "We'll be fine, baby... the baby's gonna be fine, and so are we. Nothing's gonna happen during this pregnancy, okay?"
"Nick, you don't know that," Kin insisted, looking at him with urgency. "I'm not saying I'm going to miscarry, or the baby will be mentally ill... but I know something's going to happen... call it mother's instincts, or whatever... but something will happen to this baby."
Nick just stared at her, not knowing what to say... she'd never come out and just said it so bluntly like that before. She was so sure something was going to happen to their baby... but what??
