Page 63 of His Determined Bear

“It just takes time,” Dr. Finch said in a monotone sort of fashion. Then the beating started. “See, there we go.” He slowly moved the wand over the stomach. “Everything looks great.”

I breathed a sigh and turned to Cooper. He had tears in his eyes, and I leaned in and kissed each one away before kissing him on the lips.

“See, there’s the head.” I turned back to the ultrasound as Dr. Finch pointed out the parts I would have never picked out. “Do you wanna know what you’re having?”

“Yes!” Both Cooper and myself yelled in unison.

I held his hand tightly, and we waited with bated breath. “You are having a little boy.”

“A boy?” I squealed. I turned to him, and we kissed, both eager to see exactly what it was like to raise a son. We would have been happy with whatever we were blessed with, but this was perfect, in my opinion. From the way Cooper’s eyes shone, I knew he felt the exact same way.

When Dr. Finch left, I pulled Cooper up to a seated position and continued the celebration. “You’re going to be a great Dad,” I whispered as we breathlessly kissed one another.

“You will, too.”

I couldn’t wait until we could experience that joy of being parents together. Cooper got dressed, and we left the doctor’s office, brochures in hand and smiles on our faces.

“Do you want to grab something to eat?” I asked. “We can have anything you choose.”

“Actually, I would rather just celebrate at home in private, if you don’t mind.”

I was good with whatever Cooper wanted to do since I would be going back tomorrow. We made a quick stop by the grocery store and picked up some things to choose from, and his favorite New York Strip and salad. I have to think that was his favorite for a very sexy reason.

We got back to the house. I helped him into the house since our son grew larger every day. When he settled on the sofa with the remote in his hand, I went into the kitchen to fix dinner. Just as I was preparing to grill the steaks, Cooper walked in and stood in the doorway to the kitchen.

“I need to ask you a question.” I looked up to find a very serious expression on his face.

“Sounds so serious.”I quipped, giving him a little smile.

Cooper shrugged. “I guess you could say it’s pretty serious.” That got my full attention.

“Do I need to sit down?” I arched an eyebrow, curious and desperate to find out what this question was.

“I don’t think so. I’ll just come right out and ask it. Do you think it would be possible for you to stay another week?”

I turned off the grill and looked at him. I knew he missed me, and the baby wasn’t due quite yet, but I’d promised to be by his side whenever he needed me. I couldn’t fail him now.

“I think I can do that. I’ll just have to call Rhys and have him cover for me a few more days. Changing the flight is no big deal. I would say it’s doable. Why the sudden change of plans?”I asked, watching the relief wash over him.

Cooper came into the kitchen and sat down at the table. I quickly joined him, then took his hand in mine.

“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked again.

“Well, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. We’re getting close to the end of this pregnancy, and I don’t want to still be here when you go home to Asheville. If you’re going there, then I want to go there too. So, I thought you could stick around and help me pack up some of my things and all the things we bought for the baby. I don’t want to take a lot with us because I’ll be shipping most of it. It's just hard to pack while you carry a basketball around all day.”

“Are you serious?” I asked, my jaw still dropped.

“Definitely! This is what I want. I don’t want to be away from you any longer than I absolutely have to. I want our son to have two full-time parents.”

I swooped in and carefully pulled him into an embrace. We kissed, sealing the deal. We were going to all be together, and I couldn’t be happier.

Chapter 28

Cooper

I reached out and grabbed Graham’s hand as the plane prepared to descend. “Can you believe it?” I asked. “After a week of packing up boxes, shipping crates, and prepping for this day, we’re finally here. We’re finally landing, and I’ll finally have a new home. I longed for this day all my life but didn’t think it would ever get here.”

“When you said you wanted to move home with me, I was afraid to even think about it. I was so afraid that you would change your mind once you realized the work that would go into this move. But now…”

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