Page 4 of Pieces into Place (Moonflower Cove Romance #16)

Heading into the office, Blake checked in at the front desk before they found a quiet corner to sit.

Blake put her hand on her stomach, still finding it hard to believe there was actually a baby in there.

Although she always wanted to have kids, she never thought she’d actually be pregnant.

It was hard in the acting field to have a baby and keep your job and Blake had seen a lot of actresses step back after having kids.

All her life, Blake said that she’d find a way to do both.

She chuckled to herself at how na?ve she’d been.

Between Harper, the twins, and now the new baby, Blake felt pulled in a million different ways every single day.

Then there was also the need to make time for her relationship with Alexis, as well as attempting to work on a script for a movie.

Blake understood now how truly amazing women with families and careers were.

As a nurse called them back, they headed to an exam room.

It was the usual questions and tests that Blake had gotten used to before they saw Dr. Jacobs.

Blake still shivered at the cold gel as the ultrasound tech put it on her belly.

Alexis clasped her hand as they looked at their little baby together.

“She’s so cute.”

“Or he is,” Blake teased. It was still too early to know the gender, but Alexis was convinced it was a girl. Blake was just hoping for an easy delivery either way.

She’d only seen two births in her life and that had been when Alexis had the twins.

Watching Archer and Reese be born was the most amazing and simultaneously traumatizing event Blake had ever witnessed.

Seeing all the pain Alexis was in as she persevered and pushed two babies out made her look at her with absolute awe every day since then.

Blake had no idea how she’d be able to handle birth like that.

Her plan was to be medicated as much as she could be, unlike Alexis, who chose the all-natural route.

More power to her, but Blake knew her strengths, and it would not be childbirth.

After seeing Dr. Jacobs and getting the all-clear, Blake and Alexis headed out of the exam room.

And right into Vera.

“Hey!” Vera excitedly hugged Alexis in a bear hug before giving Blake a simple side hug. “Fancy running into you two here. How are things going? Everything okay?”

“Everything’s great!” Alexis answered for them, holding up the sonogram pictures for Vera to see. Blake watched as Vera marveled at them, putting her hand to her chest as she looked at her next grandchild.

Blake felt tears nipping at her eyes, but they weren’t happy ones. No. They were hot and sad and Blake begged them not to fall. Not now. Not ever. And especially not around Vera.

But seeing Vera and Alexis excitedly talk about the baby made Blake realize how even Alexis had a better relationship with her other mother than she did.

Even if Blake didn’t fully see Vera as a mother figure, she was married to her mom, which made her a step-mom, if nothing else.

She wished she could have the happy, chatty conversation with Vera about the baby growing inside of her, but she didn’t know how to do that.

There was too much water under the bridge for Blake to forge it.

“How are you feeling, honey?” Vera put a hand on Blake’s shoulder and slightly squeezed.

She cleared her throat, still hoping the tears didn’t fall from her eyes. “I’m good. The baby’s good. Everything’s good.”

“Good,” Vera repeated.

“I’m going to go to the car.”

Without another word, Blake excused herself from the trio.

She walked through the waiting room and outside, where she finally let herself take a full breath.

Placing her hand on her stomach, Blake tried to not let her emotions overtake her.

A part of pregnancy she loathed was how amplified all her emotions were.

It went against everything of how she was raised.

Ben Calloway had taught his daughter that tears don’t get you what you want. Hard work does.

That motto went against everything the Mackenzies believed.

But Blake was never a Mackenzie.

She was born after her parents married and had Calloway on her birth certificate.

In fact, it wasn’t until after her father died and she began going through his things that Blake found out Isla’s maiden name was Mackenzie.

Before then, that was never information she wanted or needed.

Everything she knew about her mom came from her dad. And he hadn’t painted a pretty picture.

Still, Blake had the faintest memories in the back of her mind of Isla before she was taken from her.

She remembered making pancakes with her in their kitchen, dancing in the living room to Broadway songs, and cuddling up with her when she had a bad dream.

Blake wished she could do that now; just crawl into her mom’s bed and let her hold her.

But she was thirty-six now, not five. She had to toughen up.

A hand on her shoulder startled her as she turned to see Alexis.

“What was that?” Alexis had a concerned look on her face. She gently caressed Blake’s cheek with one hand before placing the other on her stomach. Blake would never understand how a simple touch from Alexis could calm her racing mind so quickly. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry.” Blake shook her head. “Sometimes I just get the vibe that Vera hates me.”

“Blake,” Alexis scolded her as if she was one of their kids, “you know better than that. Vera doesn’t hate you. Come on. Don’t be ridiculous. ”

“I don’t know. I just can’t shake the feeling that she’s mad at me for not picking her to be my doctor.”

“I’m sure she understands. I’m not sure I’d want my mom all up in my business.”

Blake resisted the urge to point that Vera wasn’t her mom, but it wasn’t the time or place for that inevitable argument.

“Besides, I don’t think I’d have used her for the twins if she hadn’t delivered Harper before she was my mother-in-law. So I get it.”

“I know you do,” Blake chuckled. “I just don’t know if Vera does.”

“She does.”

“Or she secretly hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you. How many times am I going to have to tell you that?

” Alexis put her hand on her hips, and Blake knew she was frustrated.

They had had versions of the same conversation countless times over the last five years.

But Blake couldn’t help how she felt. “You have to stop thinking that, babe. It’s not doing you any good. ”

“I know,” Blake mumbled. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not the one you should apologize to.”

She didn’t have to ask Alexis who she was referring to. Blake knew it was Vera. But she wasn’t going to be apologizing right now, so Blake changed the subject.

“Baby’s hungry.”

Alexis rolled her eyes, smirking. “It’s so convenient how the baby gets hungry every time I try to have the hard conversations with you.”

“Isn’t it?” Blake laughed, pulling Alexis into a hug. “I’m sorry. I’ll apologize to Vera next time I see her.”

“Good.” Nodding her head, Alexis leaned in to kiss her. “Come on. I’ll buy you lunch.”