Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 24377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
I glare daggers at him as I eat my donuts. “I don’t know what I need.”
“Quite a bit of sugar, apparently,” he says lightly.
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
He puts his hands up in surrender. “Okay, I’m gonna go eat my dinner in the kitchen. Tell me when you’re ready to talk.”
“I don’t know!” I’m crying again. Fuck.
My husband walks over and sits down next to me. He puts an arm around me and I sag against him.
“I’m sorry, babe. I should have realized it was a possibility. This is...a shock, obviously. A big shock. But I support you in whatever you want to do.”
I sit up straight, gaping at him. “Whatever I want to do? I’m almost forty-one. I have a son who is twenty-five. We’re old. What would we do with a newborn who wakes us up crying every two hours?”
“Feed it?”
My laugh comes out maniacal. “Feed it. Are you serious? I thought you’d be flipping your shit over this.”
“I think it’s best when we flip our shit one at a time. And it’s obviously your turn right now.”
I set down my bag of donuts and turn to face him. “Be serious. This is important.”
“I am being serious.” He strokes his fingertips over my forehead, tenderly moving aside the pieces of hair stuck to my teary face.
“You want me to end the pregnancy, don’t you? We have so many travel plans and the business is booming.”
His lips quirk in a smile. “They allow babies in Greece and Hawaii, love. And we can bring our kid to work if we want. We do own the place. Or hire help.”
I just gape at him. “How are you so calm about this? It’s a lifetime commitment.”
“I already made a lifetime commitment to this family. If it grows more, I think that sounds pretty awesome. But if it’s not what you want, I respect that.”
“Are you saying us having a baby sounds pretty awesome?”
He turns his face slightly, side-eyeing me. “You might be about to punch me, but...yeah?”
“But you’ve never had a newborn. They take over your whole life.”
“My friends have had them. I know how much work it is.”
“We’d be...fifty with a ten-year-old. Almost sixty by the time the kid graduated from high school.”
He shrugs. “We’ll be just fine, babe. I know you. You want this baby. You’re scared because of the one we lost, but if you could know for sure right now that we’d have a healthy baby at the end of the pregnancy, you’d be all in.”
I think about it for a second. “Yeah, I would.”
“So let’s do it. One day at a time.”
My heart pounds with excitement. “Are you sure?”
He smiles and kisses my forehead. “Yes. We’ll be way cooler than all those young parents anyway. Fuck ’em.”
I let myself imagine having a baby in my arms again. It’s been so long since Hannah was born, and I never thought this was even an option. But it is, and I’m...happy about it. Really happy.
“Everyone will think we’re crazy,” I say.
“Fuck them, too.”
I put my hands on his cheeks and kiss him. “We’re doing this.”
“We’re doing it.” He smiles, the shine of happiness in his eyes melting my heart.
“A baby.” I put a hand on my stomach. “I guess this explains why I’ve been feeling off in the mornings and why I’m so emotional.”
“You think?” Dom asks, wrinkling his nose with a skeptical look. “You seem perfectly fine to me.”
I shove his shoulder. When our eyes meet, we both laugh.
“Let’s go in the kitchen and get you something better than those donuts to eat.” He stands up and reaches for my hand.
I put my hand in his, excited about our new, very unplanned adventure.
Some of the best things happen when you least expect them.
CHAPTER NINE
ONE YEAR LATER
Cam
“Oh, Tess.” I look up from my four-month-old nephew Ryland’s face to meet my sister’s eyes. “He’s an angel. Are you sure he’s Dom’s?”
She rolls her eyes and takes a cloth from Ryland’s diaper bag, leaning over to wipe a little drool from the corner of his mouth. “You’ve seen the side-by-side photos. There’s no doubt this is Dom’s son.”
“Well, keep trying. Maybe the next one won’t be.”
I love my brother-in-law. No one else better make fun of him in front of me, but Tess and I get a free pass. He feels the same way about me.
Tess cackles at that. “Dom’s getting snipped next month. They couldn’t get him in any sooner. So I’ve only been allowing oral until then because I would literally lose my mind if I got pregnant again.”
“He must be thrilled.”
“You should hear him whine about it. It’s like having two babies.”
“Did I hear something about whining?” My husband Rowan walks into the room. “You must be talking about Dominic J. Locke.”
Tess stands up to hug Rowan. She and Dom flew into Chicago, our home since Rowan got traded to the Chicago Blaze four years ago. My youngest two sons, Max and Oliver, come racing in behind Rowan. They’re just getting home from youth hockey practice.