People walking past the shop started stopping to look through the windows, and a small crowd began gathering outside, murmuring amongst themselves about the scene unfolding. I could hear their comments drifting in through the open door, things like "That’s a mother who’s expecting; she should let the child have it" and "Pregnant women should be setting better examples," and I felt my jaw clench with irritation because they had no idea what they were talking about.

Rosie looked at the crying child on the ground, then at the onlookers, then back at the two innocent donuts sitting in the display case. And I watched in absolute amazement and disbelief as my mate deliberately lowered herself down onto the bakery floor and started crying too, full-on wailing just like the kid was doing.

The murmuring from the onlookers stopped abruptly, and the store lady’s mouth fell open in complete shock, her lips pursing as she tried to process what was happening.

Even the child stopped mid-tantrum to stare at this pregnant woman lying on the floor crying just as dramatically as he was, clearly not having expected this turn of events at all.

The kid seemed to realize at that moment that he wasn’t going to win this battle, that this crazy pregnant lady was willing to match them tantrum for tantrum, so he stood up and walked out of the shop in defeat.

I couldn’t help it anymore; the laughter just bubbled up from my chest uncontrollably because this was simultaneously the most ridiculous and most adorable thing I’d ever witnessed.

Rosie’s crying stopped immediately the second the kid left, and she looked up at me from the floor, her eyes narrowing in that way that meant she was about to get defensive. "Are you laughing at me?" she asked.

I bent down beside her, still grinning, and offered her my hand to help her up. "No," I lied. "You won, sweetheart."

Before she could respond, I pulled out my wallet and paid for both donuts while the store lady handed them over with the most bewildered expression. I helped Rosie up off the floor from the ground easily and handed her the bag containing her donuts.

She immediately pulled one out and took a huge, triumphant bite, and then she turned to look directly at where the kid was walking away down the street and called out cheerfully, "I’m not giving you any!" while grinning around her mouthful of donuts.

As we walked further through the square, Rosie was huffing and talking under her breath, "I don’t like kids," she muttered while taking another aggressive bite of her donut. "Like, how can kids behave like that? Throwing tantrums to get what they want? It’s manipulative and bratty and just—" She stopped mid-rant, and her free hand moved to rest on her belly.

And I watched her entire expression transform from irritated to tender in a heartbeat, softening completely as she rubbed gentle circles over her stomach. "But I love our kid," she whispered. "Snow, baby, you won’t ever act like that, will you? You’re going to be sweet, and nothing like that bratty child; Mummy loves you so much."

My heart squeezed in my chest watching her talk to our unborn baby with such love and gentleness, and I thought to myself that this woman, this incredibly beautiful woman, was going to be the mother of my child.

Rosie spotted a bench near the fountain and made her way over to it, sitting down with a small sigh of relief, and I could see the exhaustion starting to creep into her features.

I crossed my legs and sat down on the ground right in front of the bench, positioning myself at her feet and reaching for her leg. "Give me your foot, sweetheart," I said, and she complied without any argument.

I gently lifted her foot and started massaging it, working my thumbs and applying pressure to all the spots I’d learned over these months made her sigh with relief, and sure enough, she moaned, "Oh god, that feels so good, don’t stop," her head falling back against the bench.

I smiled and continued the massage, working on one foot thoroughly before switching to the other one. After I’d massaged both feet properly, I reached into my side bag and pulled out the pair of comfy slippers I’d been carrying around specifically for this moment because I’d known her feet would start hurting eventually.

"What are those?" Rosie asked, her eyes opening to look at what I was holding.

"Comfy slippers," I explained while carefully removing the small wedge sandals she’d been wearing and slipping the soft, cushioned slippers onto her feet instead. "I knew your feet would start hurting, so I brought these."

Her blue eyes glistened as her voice came out small when she said, "You brought slippers for me?" "You’ve been carrying them around this whole time?" and I nodded.

"You are so sweet," she smiled, and we stayed there on that bench for a while, just sitting together peacefully with Rosie running her fingers through my hair absently while she people-watched.

Before Rosie pulled me out of the moment, "Jude," she said, pointing at the store. "Cotton candy, I want cotton candy."

I looked over to where she was pointing, and sure enough, there was a vendor selling cotton candy, and I stood up before offering her my hand. "Let’s go get you some cotton candy then, sweetheart."

We walked over to the vendor, and Rosie ordered the largest size they had, insisting very specifically that it be filled "to the brim" when it was handed to her; she took a bite. "So good," she mumbled around the cotton candy. “I love—”

She stopped mid-sentence and winced as her expression scrunched up in pain. Her free hand flew to her lower belly, and she just stood there with her hand pressed against her stomach, her breathing becoming shallow.

"Sweetheart?" I stepped closer immediately, my heart racing in panic. "What’s wrong?"

She stood there frozen with her hand on her belly and that pained expression on her face, and then I noticed water dripping down her thighs, darkening the yellow fabric of her sundress, pooling on the ground beneath her feet.

Rosie looked down at the water running down her legs, then up at me with her blue eyes wide with panic and fear. "I didn’t just pee, right?" she asked, and her voice was high and scared, almost pleading. "Jude, tell me I didn’t just pee myself in the middle of the town square; please tell me—"

"Your water broke," I said, and my voice came out calmer than I felt inside because my heart was suddenly pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears and adrenaline was flooding my entire system. "Sweetheart, you’re in labor."

"What?" She looked at me with genuine confusion. “But it’s too early; I’m only seven months. The baby isn’t supposed to come until—" Another contraction hit her hard, and she cried out, grabbing onto my arm with both hands and squeezing.

The cry of pain from my mate snapped me into action immediately, and I dropped down and scooped her up into my arms in one smooth motion, one arm under her knees and the other supporting her back, cradling her against my chest as I started moving.

"Jude, what are you—" Rosie started then tensed in my arms as she buried her face against my chest, her fingers digging into my shirt.

"Hospital," I responded. "We need to get you to the hospital right now, sweetheart; just hold on."

"But the baby, Snow, isn’t supposed to come yet. What if something’s wrong? What if—" her voice was higher and more panicked.

"Don’t," I interrupted her firmly. "Don’t think like that, don’t go there, sweetheart, Snow is going to be fine and you’re going to be fine.”

***

Yay! Baby snow is here. complication or no complications. I’m dreading to finish this book... just 2 -s to go. Thank you so much for picking Jude x Rosie story. I really appreciate it. The moon tickets, the gift, the comment. I’ve an important announcement, please do check discord mYou can join my disc ord group for more characters profile and all https:// discord.gg/ XQPKUE4Umy