Two Wrongs

Stand By Your Man: Allegra

He was nervous.

He wouldn't admit it, but I could tell. I could tell by how quiet he was. I could tell by the strained smiles he gave me when he was trying to convince me he was okay. I could tell because he'd been standing in the same spot in the shower for the last twenty minutes without so much as shampooing his hair. Liam Cohen was nervous.

In less than three hours, there would be a TV news crew infiltrating our home. Granted, it was going to be a small crew: an interviewer and two or three camera people was all, but I don't think it was the size of the crew that was bothering Liam. More the topic they would be covering.

Liam had already been so brave. Even thinking about telling the world what his childhood had been like was an enormous deal for him. I was already so stinking proud of that man; I couldn't even put it into words. I'd already promised I'd been right there with him. I'd even bought a cute little maternity sweater dress just in case he felt like he needed me on screen with him. Whatever Liam needed from me, he was going to get, whether that meant being onscreen with him and holding his hand or standing behind the interviewer guy and making stupid faces to keep him smiling, Allegra Reynolds was on the job. And right now, it looked like the job Liam needed me to do most, was to provide a distraction.

"You just gonna stand there all day or what?" I asked as I stepped behind the steamed-up glass door.

Liam whipped his face to me, his shaggy curls sending a cascade of water droplets flying into the air. "What? Sorry."

I gave him a sweet smile and reached up, brushing away the hair stuck to his forehead. "Baby, you need to breathe. They're not even here yet."

"I know. I know that," Liam stated, his breathing staggered and erratic. "I'm just running through my head what I want to actually say."

"We went over the questions a million times last night, babe. Stop stressing yourself out." I snugly wound my arms around his waist and set my chin against his sternum, gazing up into those worried pools of blue. "Breathe. Please."

He gave me another poor excuse for a smile. "I'm trying, Legs."

"I know you are," I stated softly. "I know you are terrified right now, and that is absolutely okay. I just need you not to give yourself a heart attack. Our Peanut needs her daddy."

That got a real smile out of him. Bringing up the baby got him glowing ninety-nine out of one hundred times. This man was so excited to be a daddy that it still astonished me. I'd even gotten to the point where I was more excited than scared, and there was no doubt in my mind that it was because of this handsome movie star standing in the shower before me. In fact, for the last few weeks, if he ever went MIA, I immediately knew where to find him.

We'd finally decided on turning the bedroom across the hall from the master into the baby's nursery. It was almost as big as the master, just lacking its own bathroom, but it would be a few years before that was a real concern. Liam worked on that nursery night and day. I don't know if it was because of his excitement, or if it was more stress relief against his godforsaken mother, but the man turned into a regular old contractor. I'd had absolutely know idea the man was so handy (well, not in the construction meaning anyway), but at this point, it was painted, the furniture was built, and everything was set up. He'd even somehow managed to turn the walk-in closet into the baby's own private changing room. This kid was going to be a spoiled little princess without me having to lift a finger. The only thing left to do in the just over four months we had left, was pick out a name, and we'd been bouncing around a few ideas there too.

"Where'd you go?" Liam's voice asked, breaking me out of my appreciative fog. He tilted his head like a little puppy as he swiped some water droplets off my cheeks. "You left me there for a second."