Bojan, page 4
He had a huge grin on his face and a smoothie in his hand. As he held it out for her, he said, “This one’s special. I doubled up on the protein and added some oils to help calm your nerves.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Right. Any particular reason for the nerve tonic?”
He gave her a big fat smile. “Not at all,” he muttered, “but sometimes life tosses us curve balls, and we don’t always appreciate it, so knock it out of the park.”
She winced. “I guess everybody is wondering what’s going on, huh?”
“No, I think they all know exactly what’s going on,” he replied, “just not the details.”
“Well, at least Bojan said something,” she muttered. She took a sip and stared up at Dave. “You forgot the apple juice.”
“I didn’t want to give you anything too sweet,” he explained. “You’ve been having blood sugar rushes lately.”
She sighed. “This tastes like …” Then she frowned.
“Like what?” Dave asked.
“Dried hay, rolled out in the mud, and left to ferment.”
He burst out laughing. “I know it’s not that bad.”
“Are you sure about that?” she asked. “Maybe you’re not thinking it through.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I’m thinking it through,” he argued, with that big smile. “Bottoms up.”
“I suppose you made one of these for Leia too.”
“Yes, but hers is a little different. She needs extra vitamins.”
“Makes sense, considering she’s extremely pregnant.”
There. She’d said the word. It was something that she avoided saying as much as she could. Turning her back on Dave, Lacy walked over and sank down on one of the lounge chairs, feeling the chill set in already. She never understood how she could be cold after a workout, but she still managed to find chills, even here in sunny Africa. When that hit her, the others generally looked at her in surprise, but it all depended on how much energy she had burned through during the exercise.
“Breakfast will be ready soon too,” Dave shared cheerfully.
She looked over at him. “I can just come in and get something easy. I’m running late.”
“Yeah, you are, but everybody is today. They stayed up talking pretty late themselves.”
“Good,” she muttered and then yawned.
“It seems you didn’t get anywhere near enough sleep.”
She shrugged. “I got enough.”
“Considering today is not a surgery day, maybe you should use the opportunity to take care of yourself too. You can’t keep burning the candle on both ends.”
She gave him a flat look. “Why not? I’ve been doing it for a long time.”
“There’s a cost that rolls around for that too,” he warned her, “and you’re about to hit it.” With that, he turned and walked away.
She could do nothing but groan behind him. Everybody here was always so concerned about keeping her comfortable, yet what was really hard to adjust to was how many people knew her business, knew what was going on. That would be one of the biggest problems with having Bojan here.
People would be curious, questions would be asked, and issues would be raised. Right now, she would do her best to lock them all out, but it wouldn’t work when they were on top of each other. Particularly not when Bojan did energy work that made him very skilled. Whether Bullard’s team knew it yet or not, they were lucky to have Bojan. Considering that he would be assigned to her, Lacy knew perfectly well that she was lucky too. She didn’t want to be lucky, at least not in the way it was happening right now.
Shaking her head, she downed the rest of the shake and waited for her stomach to settle. As much as she knew the smoothies were good for her, they didn’t always settle as easily as they should. Some of it was nerves, and some of it was just pouring too much goodness into an already touchy stomach.
Once her stomach calmed down enough, and she felt herself warming up, she threw on her coverup to help protect against the bright sun, then got up and headed into the kitchen. She sniffed the air as she walked in. They had full-time chefs now because, with so many of them, Dave couldn’t handle it all, plus his other duties. Besides, Dave had a wife now himself, and she was one of the catering chefs. Therefore, she had hired somebody else she had known for many years to help as well.
Lacy sniffed the air again and murmured, “It smells lovely in here.”
At that, Pia turned and gave her a big grin. “You’re too skinny. My breakfast will fix that.”
“Great, so it takes just the one meal, and I’ll be totally okay, right?” she teased, with a laugh.
“No,” he snapped, “but you stay here longer, and, sure enough, we’ll get some weight on you.”
“I don’t need weight on me,” she argued, with an eye roll.
He looked at her and repeated, “You’re too skinny.”
“Thank you for that,” she quipped in exasperation, “but I hardly think that’s the case.” He just shrugged. “Fine, when is breakfast?”
“I’m just bringing it out, so you go sit. Everybody is already there.”
“I’ll go get changed first then.” Not giving him a chance to argue, she headed upstairs, opting for one of the back staircases to avoid the crowd. The last thing she wanted was everybody eyeing her in her bathing suit, as she went through the place. Upstairs, she quickly changed into a sundress and sandals, then braided her long blond hair and put it over her shoulder. Walking down the stairs, she took a deep breath and smoothed her braid, trying for a composed look. She knew it would be hard to maintain, but, hey, she was determined to start out that way.
As she walked in, she caught Leia sitting there, an odd look on her face. Lacy walked over, leaned down, and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Indigestion,” Leia replied calmly.
“Right.” Lacy smirked. “You just don’t want to say anything.”
“Do you know what it is like to be surrounded by as many nursemaids as I have around here?” With a wave of her arm down the table, Leia smirked. “Whoever would have thought that these big brawny men would be so petrified and worried sick over every cough or sneeze?”
“Well, in this case,” Lacy noted, “it’s potentially with good reason.”
“I’m fine,” Leia stated firmly. “If anybody goes into labor around here, I’m pretty sure I’ll know.”
Lacy gave Leia a half smile. “Well, you will eventually. Everybody’s just trying to get the jump on you, that’s all.” With that, she turned and headed to an empty spot at the table. She intentionally didn’t look around to see where Bojan was, just taking the first open chair. Then noted he was staring at her, from directly across the table. She sighed. “Good morning. I hope you slept well.”
“I slept fine,” he said. “You?”
She nodded. “It took a bit, but I got there eventually.” Just then Pia came out with huge platters. She frowned at him. “What’s the occasion? Are we celebrating?”
“The men always eat like this,” Leia stated calmly. “Particularly when they’ve just come back from jobs.” At that, the platters were passed around, and, before she knew it, a few sausage links were dumped on her plate.
She looked over at Eton. “What if I didn’t want that?” she asked, with a frown.
“Eat it anyway,” Eton ordered. “You’re too skinny.”
She sighed. “Are you on Pia’s side or something?”
“No, I’m on the side of whoever it was that pointed out you’ve been losing weight ever since you got here,” Eton explained, his voice firm. “We can’t have that. You need your energy at all times. If we need to run, we need to know that you’re able to run with us.” Then he added bacon and several spoonfuls of scrambled eggs on top of her plate.
“Good God,” she muttered. “I’ll sleep for a week after eating this.”
“Yeah, and you can,” Eton noted. “It’s your day off, so sleep away.”
She sighed, then picked up her fork, and, looking around the table, she saw everybody busily chatting among themselves.
Leia caught Lacy’s eye and smiled. “See what I mean?”
Lacy nodded. She understood. Everybody was always looking after everybody else. It was sweet, but, at the same time, it was freaking irritating. Still, with half a smile, she dug in, just as Bullard stepped into the room and announced, “We’ll be having a meeting after breakfast.”
At that, several of the men looked up and asked, “Any reason not to have it now?”
“Yes,” Bullard barked. “We will have a private meeting.”
“No, you’re not,” Leia argued, “not if it involves me.” She looked over at Bullard, her face flushing. “Everybody is in on it, or nobody is.” He glared at her, and she shook her head. “No, that was our agreement. You get to look after me, as long as I’m allowed to stay in the loop. However, if you try keeping secrets from me, I’m going back to work.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and continued to glare at her.
She went back to her breakfast, ignoring him, as she picked up another bite of sausage and chewed away thoughtfully, not even looking at him.
But for the sounds of eating, the room was nearly silent, as everybody waited to see what Bullard would do. Then he sighed, his shoulders sagging. “Fine, but you know this is what we do, right?”
“Of course I know it’s what you do, and you do it very well. But you won’t do it behind my back, without keeping me in the loop.”
“Fine,” he grumbled, “but not while eating. It will give you indigestion.”
“Then you can wait until we’re done eating,” she replied, with a smile. “Besides, there is sausage, so come and eat.”
He looked at the table and frowned. “How come we’re having sausage?”
“Because we have company,” she declared, looking around.
He sighed, as he threw his huge bulk down onto a chair. “So because we have company, we get to have sausage? Have I not been asking for sausage for a week?” he muttered.
“We didn’t have any until the shipment came in, so stop your bellyaching.”
He glared at his wife but rustled several sausages off the platter, just as Eton was busy grabbing several spares.
Bullard now glared at Eton. “Do I get any extra?”
“I don’t know. However, if you don’t get to the table on time, you know what happens around here,” Eton replied, with a smirk. At that, Leia took a sausage off her plate and put it on Bullard’s.
“No you don’t,” he argued. “You’re not taking food off your plate to feed me.”
“Will you stop? The baby isn’t coming anytime soon, so we have time. Would everybody just chillax?” At that, an odd silence took over, as she looked up and around. “What?”
“Are you sure it’s not coming soon?” Pia asked, as he swapped out a platter. “I think everybody expects you to blow like today or tomorrow.”
“It won’t be today. It won’t be tomorrow. Hell, chances are, it won’t be next week either,” she complained. “I’m only thirty-four weeks along, so we have another month and a half at least.”
At that, Lacy shook her head. “No, you don’t,” she countered, her voice hard.
At that, Leia looked at her. “So, how long do I have then?” she asked, her voice determined.
Lacy hesitated, then looked over at Bojan, who just shrugged. She looked back over at Leia. “Are you sure you want to know?”
“I want to know,” she declared, “and, if nothing else, it will keep the men off my back.”
At that, Bojan spoke up. “Details like that aren’t always that healthy. If she were to give you a date, it would change your behavior. For example, instead of resting, you would probably work even harder and not get as much rest. No matter when it happens, you need to be taking good care of yourself.”
She gasped at that. “That’s not fair. At least tell me if it will be early.”
“It’ll be early,” Lacy stated.
The talk at the table stilled. “How early?” Bullard bellowed, staring at her.
“That’s the problem,” Lacy said. “I can tell you where things are at right now, but I can’t guarantee, given more stress or any other changes in her physiological conditions, that it won’t change. So, even if I gave you a date and time, it wouldn’t necessarily hold true, and then you will say I’m full of shit.” She glanced over at Bojan and glared. “You know perfectly well that’s what happens every time I end up giving some kind of a premonition.”
He muttered, “Much better we don’t say anything.”
At that, Leia turned slowly to look at him. “You too?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes, yeah.”
Leia just stared from one to the other and then turned to Bojan. “Well, you need to give me some idea, so I won’t sit here and worry about everybody being upset all the time.”
Bullard stared back and forth at the two of them. Then he spoke. “Well, since you two are here, and you’re trying to be useful, the least you can do is give us an idea of how much longer we have.”
“You should have at least four weeks,” Lacy replied. “Now, if you stay calm, maybe even longer. But, if you’re overtired and stressed out all the time, it could go the other way.”
“We need you at thirty-six weeks at least,” Bullard noted, frowning at his wife. “The baby won’t be as viable at any less.”
“The baby is very viable already,” Leia said glaring at him. “And I know perfectly well that we need to get to thirty-six weeks. But it would be helpful to know if it could be thirty-six, thirty-eight, or forty.” Leia gave a sideways glance at Lacy. “You and I must have a talk.”
Lacy laughed. “Well, we might have to,” she declared, with a rueful look over at Bojan, “to clear up a misconception.”
“What kind of misconception?” Bullard asked, staring at her suspiciously.
She winced and looked to Bojan for help.
Bojan held up his hands, glaring at Lacy. “Hey, you’re the one who brought it up. I would just have kept my mouth shut,” he stated.
Lacy added, “Bojan, surely it’s better if they know.”
“I don’t know about that,” Bojan hedged. “People get kind of irate over this kind of stuff. Besides, they’re doctors, and they should know better.”
“I’m almost a doctor,” Lacy declared, exasperated. “Besides, it didn’t show on any scans.” At that, a shocked silence came, and she groaned, then slammed her hand against her mouth. “Damn it.” She sighed. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
“But you did,” Bullard stated, his voice soft, almost deadly. “So, whatever it is, we need to know it too.”
She groaned again, then looked over at Bojan. “You’re really no help at all.”
“No, I’m really not,” he agreed cheerfully. “Yet now that you’ve got them all worried, you better spill it.”
She switched her gaze to Leia, who was looking at her with shock on her face. “Oh, damn, I’m so sorry. That’s the last thing I wanted to do. To start with, nothing is wrong, nothing at all.”
Leia settled back a bit, with a slight sigh. “Do you want to explain?”
“Yes, of course. Well, the misconception is that you’re having one baby,” she cried out. “You’re not. You’re having twins.” At that, a thunderous silence surrounded them.
*
Bojan wanted to laugh because the look on everybody’s face was complete and utter shock. He looked over at Lacy and smiled. It was the one thing he could give her right now. Whatever came out of this, she had definitely surprised them, and he didn’t think that happened very often.
“That can’t be,” Bullard argued. “We’ve scanned several times.”
“Yes, you have, and chances are the next scan would have shown it for sure, but I’m telling you that number two is in there and is being very shy about it all.”
“Why though?” Leia inquired.
“I don’t know. I haven’t asked,” Lacy replied.
A series of audible gasps filled the room, and her shoulders sagged even farther. “Oh God, I’ve had plenty to eat, so I’ll grab a coffee and go outside and try to relax.” With that, she got up, and, even as she attempted to walk around the table, Bullard got up and glared at her.
“How long have you known?” he asked.
“A couple weeks after I got here, I guess,” she muttered. “I thought you guys would have known, but it was for you to figure out. You’re also doctors, so I preferred not to say anything. I figured it would show up on the scans, if you didn’t figure it out.”
“We would have, if there had been any indication at all,” Leia admitted, “but honestly, in fairness to you and whatever messages you’re getting, I’m … confused,” Leia said, trying to be delicate about it.
“The scans don’t show that,” Bullard repeated.
“I know,” Lacy agreed. “I’ve seen the scans myself. Remember?”
“And your explanation for that is what?” Eton asked curiously.
“I don’t have an explanation, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” she muttered. “Now, if you will all excuse me, I definitely need to go digest this meal somewhere else.” With that, she stomped off.
Bojan, with a smirk on his face, reached for the sausages she left on her plate, snagging them before the others had a chance to take notice.
Bullard just glared at him. “You agree with her?”
He looked over at him and then nodded. “Yeah, I sure do, but again it won’t make a damn bit of difference to us. You guys are the ones with the medical backgrounds.”
“It does happen,” Leia acknowledged, her voice soft.
Bullard nodded. “It can, for certain, but with our equipment? … Surely with that, we would have known. Sometimes, … no, we should have been able to see it.”
“We really depend too much on equipment,” Leia noted. “I was much more attuned to the people I helped on my island, with only my senses and my knowledge to guide me. We tend to get lazy and depend far too much on these tools, and they become crutches. I’ve wondered why I was feeling so tired and worn-out.”
