Spoil me rotten

Jenny's last day had come and passed just like her first day, which was very fast. Before she knew it the clock had struck six and her shift was over. Jason was there on the minute and took her with him as soon as she had finished up the last patient in her round. She said her last goodbye at the workstation and handed in whatever papers she still had before they walked out together. As they were walking to the car, with Jason's arm around her shoulder and him carrying the gifts her colleagues had given her, Jason asked her, "How does it feel to go home knowing you won't have to return for another four months."

Jenny let out a soft sigh before she answered him. "Strange. I think that word best sums it up. On the one hand I know I am going to miss all that hectic running around and seeing patients on the other hand, I am glad to stop and take a breather. I have been so busy with not dropping the ball and pulling my weight like any other day, giving my all at work and at home, that I barely had any time left to focus on our second bundle of joy arriving any moment now." She then turned to the side to add with a big smile, "Now, I can take my time to enjoy what remains of this pregnancy, kick my feet up, let everyone spoil me rotten and spend some months at home with my little girl. I might not have liked being confined to the home with Charlie, I am going to make the most of that month this time around. I have already thought about what movies I am going to watch, which books I am going to read and what kind of pampering I want. So, brace yourself husband dearest for the spoiling of the century."

Jason chuckled as he opened the passenger door and let Jenny in the car. "Bring it on. I am sure it will pale in comparison to what I would have done if you had left everything up to me. For now I am just glad to hear that you have thought of a way to use this time before the actual birth as a type of vacation, since your actual vacation was cut short. If you can do that by using me as some errand boy or leaning more on me, I will be happy to do it." Jenny squinted her eyes and with a playful glimmer hidden in the corner of her eyes said the things she thought would be the worst things she could ask of Jason during this month of 'vacation'. "Oh really? Even if I make you run out to the store in person five times in a row for a specific flavour of ice cream or ask you to stay in bed with me all day to watch a chick-flick and ditch your work. Even if I ask you to massage my feet till I say stop on your birthday or wake you up in the middle of the night to rub my belly?"

Jason, who was fastening his seatbelt at that moment, clicked the belt in place and turned to Jenny. Looking deep into her eyes and after stroking her hair, stopping his hand just under chin, he said, "Even if you ask me to do the chicken dance at two in the morning until the sun comes up because you are feeling bored, I would still be okay with it. So, do your worst." His words left Jenny speechless for a moment as she was left with no way to make fun of him and felt how treasured she really was by this man next to her. Instead she responded to his words by placing her hand on top of Jason's hand that was resting on the gearstick. He glanced to the side before turning his attention back to the road. He then turned the autopilot function on and while the car took over most of the driving, he freed up his hand to lock their fingers.

When Jenny came home and Jason accompanied her up to their room, she saw that her colleagues weren't the only ones preparing gifts for her. Her darling son and her loving husband had prepared something for her as well to celebrate the start of her maternity leave. When she opened the door to the bedroom, not suspecting a thing, she found the top of the bed covered in rose petals. While the flowers were filling the entire room with a sweet smell, Charlie was there to warm the room and her heart. By the side of the bed, her little boy was standing with her favourite movie and a box of sweets. As she let sink in that what she had used to test Jason's resolve, was something he had prepared for her himself, Jason said, "What do you say? Does it also count if Charlie and I both join you for the movie-watching?"

So close to the delivery date, Jenny was a complete mess of hormones and the smallest things could cause her to tear up. So, something like this and a question like that were definitely enough to get her waterworks going. With tear-filled eyes, she turned her face back to Jason, who was standing behind her with an amused smile, probably recalling her words from before and enjoying her current reaction. With a pitched voice she responded, "Of course." After scraping her throat, in order to make her voice return to normal, she added, "I couldn't ask for anything better." After saying that, she walked to where Charlie was standing. She accepted the gifts her son had prepared and gave him a kiss on the cheek before taking a seat on the large comfy bed. Once she was comfortable and the movie was displayed on the TV, Charlie crawled up on the bed and took his place on one side of Jenny and Jason did the same on the other side. Like that, the movie was started, dinner was served upstairs in bed, and the first day of pampering and leisure had officially begun!