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Chapter 167: Not the way I'd hoped it would go
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2022-11-24 14:32:56Related chapters
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 168: And goodbye to you, too
NOAHI watched Alison's car disappear around the bend in my drive. I wanted to smash something, kick a wall-yell at the top of my lungs, maybe. I was furious, frustrated, terrified-and there was a chance I was still in shock. My lips were numb. And dammit, I hadn't been ready for Alison to leave yet. I had hours of questions left. She showed up, dropped a bombshell on my lap, and then scurried away when Juliet came out and scared her off. Juliet. Thinking of her reminded me that there was yet another woman who had a lot of explaining to do . . ."What the hell, Juliet? Alison showed up here, and you lied to her? You told her I wasn't at home? Do you know what a mess you've made?" She backed up to the edge of the porch and gripped the railing behind her. "You didn't want to see anyone. You kept telling me that. And you'd been ignoring her messages, so I figured you'd want me to just get rid of her that day. Showing up here without being invited was kind of ballsy, wasn't it?"
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 169: Tongue lashing
NOAHFor the better part of an hour, I sat in my living room as the sun set and darkness stole quietly over me. My phone was in my lap; I wanted to call Alison, but I also wasn't certain what to say to her. Where did we go from here? Should I offer to marry her? To give her money? Both of those options felt wrong to me, and even though I'd proved time and again that I was clueless when it came to women, I had a hunch that neither offer would be well-received. When my phone finally rang, my heart leaped, and I snatched it up, staring at the screen, willing it to show Alison's name. But I was destined for disappointment because it was Emma calling instead."Hey." My voice cracked a little. "What's up?" "What's up?' She sounded incredulous. "For the love of God, Noah. What the actual fuck? I just talked to Alison. She shows up at your house to tell you that she's pregnant-finally-and you have Juliet there? What was she doing with you? I thought she was out of the picture after she d
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 170: Lonely
ALISONAlison"Hey, Dr. Wakely. Are you feeling okay?" I straightened from where I'd bent over a file drawer. It was only with the greatest of effort that I kept from rolling my eyes as my office manager called out her question.Earlier today, I'd had a brief meeting with my staff and announced my pregnancy. I knew it was time; so far, I'd avoided morning sickness, but the fatigue was definitely real, and I didn't want to have to make up excuses for why I'd be going home right after my last appointment of the day. Plus, of course, there was the fact that before too long, the bump that was beginning to emerge wouldn't be easily hidden under my clothes. To say that they were shocked was an understatement. Mariana, my office manager, Gina, the assistant manager, and Cathy, my new nurse practitioner, weren't quite sure what to say or ask first. I'd forestalled some obvious questions with a blanket statement. "As far as the baby's father-he's no one you know. He's not local. I'd
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 171: Dinner
ALISON "Hi. What are you doing here?" I stuck my head out the crack I'd opened. Noah looked . . . well, the same way he always looked. He was unjustly hot in his faded jeans and flannel shirt. I was torn between a sudden desire to either kick him in the shin for making sexy look so easy or to pull him inside and force myself on his muscled body. But on the other hand, that kind of thing was what had landed me where we were. I needed to pull myself together and act like an adult. A non-lusty, non-horny, responsible mother-to-be adult. Noah was running his hand over his hair as he answered my question. "I thought we should talk. And I thought it might be easier for you on your home turf." He rolled one shoulder. "And before you ask, yes, Emma gave me your address." I peered over his shoulder to the street. "How did you get here? I didn't hear a car in the driveway.""Car service." Noah rested one large forearm against the doorjamb. "I'm not cleared to drive yet. My physical
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 172: Detente
ALISONWe ate in companionable silence until both of our plates were empty. When I started to get up to clear the table, Noah stopped me with a hand to my shoulder. "I got this. Sit." He picked up both of our plates and carried them to the sink to rinse them off before sliding them into the dishwasher. "Hey, I know you said you don't love sweets right now, but I did bring over a little dessert if you want to check out the smaller box." I reached for it and took a peek inside. "Oh, my God. Cannoli. I love these." "Think you can eat one, or doesn't it sound good right now?" I considered. "They smell good. Maybe just a taste . . ." I lifted one to my mouth and crunched down on it. "Oh, sweet baby Jesus. This is so good." I demolished it and was licking my fingers before Noah even made it back to the table. "I guess some sweet things are still appealing." "I see that." Noah glanced from the box to me and back again. "Are you still hungry? Do you want the other one, too?" I hes
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 173: Lunch
NOAH"Thanks for meeting me today, Juliet." I stood up as she approached my table in the quiet little restaurant. "I appreciate it." She stepped just close enough for me to take her hand and offered me her cheek. "Well, I always enjoy a good grovel. And the chicken salad in this place is to die for." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I held her chair and then took my own seat. "I know it's one of your favorite places for lunch.""Yes, it is. Convenient to both the stadium and my house." Unfolding her napkin and smoothing it over her lap, she looked up at me expectantly. "All right. The small talk is over. The groveling can begin right now." I took a moment to sip my ice water. "I'm not here to apologize or-as you say-to grovel. I don't feel as though I have anything to be sorry for. I think I was perfectly within my rights in being angry last week when I found out you'd been lying to me-and lying to Alison, too." She raised one eyebrow. "I told you, I thought I was prote
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 174: Hospital
ALISON"I'm mortified." I covered my face with my hands. "This is so embarrassing." Dr. Pickler, the hospital's obstetrics attending, glanced up from his tablet. "Get used to it. Pregnancy and childbirth are one long exercise in losing your dignity." "Thanks for that word of encouragement." I was grateful for my good sense in having chosen Maggie Corning as my midwife. This guy had no bedside manner whatsoever.Before he could open his mouth and stick his foot in it again, the door to my room flew open, and Noah burst in. "Alison." His face was red, and he was breathing hard, as though he'd been running. "Thank God. They wouldn't tell me where you were, and I had to call Emma to get her to talk to the nurse so I could get in here-" He sucked in one deep breath and let it out. "Are you-how are you? What's going on?" I blinked a few times. "How did you know I was here?" Before he could answer, my brain caught up with what he'd just said. "Oh. Emma called you. I totally forgot t
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Diagnosis: Love Chapter 175: Steadfast
ALISONIt didn't surprise me at all that I wasn't moved upstairs to a room on the labor and delivery floor until early evening. Nothing moved fast in a hospital unless someone was coding or racing toward the OR, and that didn't happen as often as some television shows would have us think. It also didn't surprise me that I was left largely alone by the staff in the ER while I was waiting to be moved. There wasn't much they could do for me, and as long as I wasn't complaining, bleeding, or puking, I was the least of their worries. What did surprise me was that Noah never left. He sat with me, periodically soaking the small towel for my head, wringing it out, and replacing it. He didn't fidget or skim social media on his phone. As a matter of fact, he never took out his phone at all. His attention was on me the entire time, and when they finally wheeled me upstairs, he walked alongside me, his hand in mine.I was still getting comfortable in the new room when Maggie arrived. "Lo
Last Updated : 2022-11-24
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Diagnosis: Love Chapter 193: As long as we both shall live
NOAHNoahIt was a beautiful day for a wedding. We gathered at mid-morning under the covenant oak on Jimmy and Anna Girard's farm. Alison and I had decided that since Emma and Deacon's wedding had been the start of our love story, we should say our vows under the canopied branches of that same steadfast tree. We hadn't wanted anything grand or involved, but it was important to us that the special people in our lives were present. So when Alison and I joined hands and made our vows, among those surrounding us were Emma and Deacon, Darcy and Jackson, Jenny and Nico, Mira Hoskins, and all of the people who worked with Alison in her practice. Maggie Corning, the midwife, and Brooke Slater, Alison's therapist, were there, too. My family had flown down en mass from Wisconsin and other key points around the country. My mother couldn't stop smiling, and my dad looked proud. Even my brothers and sisters and their families were behaving themselves. And then of course, there was the Tam
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 192: Happily Ever After part 3
ALISONA human being can accomplish almost any task while sobbing her eyes out. I'd known this from experience in my past life, but after Noah left that afternoon, I went about proving it all over again.I cried as I wiped the table and counters. I wept as I took out a frozen macaroni and cheese to eat for dinner. I sobbed as I climbed the steps and listened at the baby's door-she was still asleep in the crib. I sniffled as I switched a load of newborn clothes from the washer to the dryer.He was gone, and I was alone. Again. Naturally.The hell of it was that even as he'd pleaded his case to me, even as he'd told me that he loved me, I'd known he was telling the truth. I believed him. But I couldn't trust what he thought he felt, not when people changed their minds about being in love all the damn time. People claimed to love a friend or a child or a lover, and then they changed their minds. It happened. I knew it first-hand. I'd experienced it over and over again before I was t
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 191: Break
NOAH"Where's the baby?" Alison walked into the kitchen, her face etched with fatigue. We'd had a long and trying few days as Evangeline had apparently been going through a growth spurt: she nursed almost constantly and was difficult to console the rest of the time. She'd fought sleep, and she'd cried piteously no matter what we'd tried to do. The pediatrician had assured us that this was normal and we'd get through it, but privately, I thought he was a heartless imbecile who clearly didn't understand that our daughter was advanced and needed more attention than the typical newborn. But finally, today we'd caught a break. Alison had gone upstairs to take a shower-her first in three days-and somehow, I'd managed to get the baby to sleep without the benefit of a boob. More than that, I'd actually laid her in the crib without waking her up. I was pretty satisfied with myself, all in all. I was also crossing my fingers that she'd stay asleep long enough that her mother and I could d
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 190: Parenthood
NOAHParenthood was amazing, fulfilling, beautiful, awesome . . . and exhausting. The first few weeks of baby Evangeline's life at home were a blur, a constant, never-ending whirlwind of feeding, and changing, and washing, and catching whatever small bites of sleep we could whenever she slept. People came to visit and brought gifts and food, and I was pathetically grateful for that, because I didn't have the energy to cook, and both Alison and I were tired of takeout. The one factor that made everything survivable was the baby herself. God, I hadn't known how much I was going to love this ten-pounds of tiny, perfect human. I'd never anticipated that staring at her sleep for an hour was better than four quarters of football. Or that catching what might have been a smile could make me feel as though I'd just witnessed greatness. What was some missing sleep compared with noting how well my two-week-old daughter could lift up her head?Even so, as much as I was ga-ga over my baby gir
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 189: New life
ALISON"Congratulations, mama! You're at six. I think it's time to break your water and get things really going." It sounded like a great idea to me, but I saw Noah's lips go white. "Are you okay?" I asked, rubbing my fingers over the back of his hand. "You look a little green." He swallowed, his throat convulsing. "This is the only part I'm a little, uh, squeamish about. I watched that birth online, and breaking the water looked-intense." Maggie chuckled. "Stay up there by Alison and keep your eyes on her face. We don't need papa hitting the floor and suing the hospital." Noah did as he was told, watching me intently as if waiting for me to show some sign of distress. "Does it hurt?" he asked quietly. "The water part, I mean." I shook my head. "It feels a little weird, but not-oooooh!" I gasped as I felt the gush hit my inner thighs. "Okay, then. Eyes here, Noah. Come on. We're in this together." After that, it felt as though everything got a lot more serious. The con
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 188: Giving in
ALISON Spoiler alert: having sex with Noah did not start my labor.But it sure was worth the effort. Two days after that monumental night-and after we'd given it the good old college try several more times-we went to Maggie's office. I was in a rotten mood-being a million years pregnant can do that to a person-and poor Noah looked a little haggard. He'd been sleeping with me in my bed (we both clung to the excuse that if I went into labor, I'd want him closer than across the hall), which meant that he woke up whenever I had to climb out of that bed to pee. He thought I'd been exaggerating about how often I had to go. He was quickly disabused of that notion. After a quick exam, Maggie made some notes on her tablet and then turned to the both of us. "So listen," she began. "Do you want to have this baby?" I stared at her as though she'd lost her mind. "What the hell do you think I've been trying to do for over three weeks now, Maggie?" I bellowed. "Of course, I want to have th
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 187: Finally, at last
NOAHNow I got it. The night we'd first had sex-the night after Emma and Deacon's wedding-we'd challenged each other to come up with the sexiest, most outrageous names for cocktails. Alison was playing the game again."Ohhhhh." I grinned. "I still don't believe that last one is legit.""It totally is. The bartender confirmed it." With a smile that was deceptively seductive for an extremely pregnant woman, she reached down to grasp the bottom of her oversized T-shirt-which was not so oversized just now-and lifted it over her head. I helped just to make sure she didn't topple over in the process. It was the first time I'd really seen her without a shirt in many months. My first few impressions were awe at the size of her swollen middle. I knew she was huge, but damn. The skin was stretched as tight as a drum, and her belly button looked like a cork just about to give way. And her boobs-they were incredible. Within the utilitarian maternity bra, they were still the sexiest breasts
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 186: Things you shouldn't ask
NOAH"What's the world record for the longest pregnancy ever?" I glanced up at Alison from the book I was reading. We were both lying on her bed while a movie that neither of us was very invested in played on the TV. The couch downstairs had become too uncomfortable for her over the past week or so, so we'd begun hanging out here in her room. It was strictly for comfort, though; we stayed on top of the covers, with Alison on one side while I stuck to the other. It was a king-sized bed with plenty of room for us. But while we hadn't hesitated to cuddle and kiss on the sofa, something about being on the bed made us more cautious. I didn't know why, exactly; Alison was so tired of being pregnant that she wasn't up for much of anything other than television lately. She'd stopped going into the office after her due date since she'd already arranged with Dr. Johanson to cover her hours. So we were both at home now all the time . . . just waiting.She really was huge. While the ultraso
Diagnosis: Love Chapter 185: Trust love
ALISON"Read me that last part again?" Noah and I were sitting in the nursery, surrounded by boxes, gift bags, and about a million pieces of a pine crib. He had spent the last two weeks focusing on the nursery. He'd painted the room a lovely pale yellow color, insisting that I stay with Emma and Deacon at the cabin for the two nights after he'd completed the first and second coats so that I didn't have to inhale the paint fumes. Together, we had selected the crib and the dressing table. Noah's mother had sent us the cradle that all of her children had slept in, and that was already set up in my bedroom.Now, with my due date less than ten days away, we were finally tackling the project of building all of the furniture that hadn't come pre-assembled. I squinted at the paper in my hand, trying to decipher the words."I'm pretty sure that this was translated directly from Swedish by someone who didn't speak English," I commented. "It doesn't seem to make sense.""Does it say at wh
