Page 159 of Only Fate

Again.

And again.

And again.

So many kisses that I lose my breath.

I’ve never seen a grin so big on his face when he inches back.

The pregnancy wasn’t planned, but we haven’t been careful.

Condoms have pretty much been nonexistent.

It wasn’t the smartest decision, but I like feeling him without a barrier.

We tried the pull-out method, but both of us forget half the time, too caught up with each other.

“We’re having a baby,” he says against my lips.

“We’re having a baby,” I whisper.

My body has gone through so much.

I’ve loved it, hated it, and loved it.

And soon, it’ll give us a child too.

50

Four Months Later

I’m going to be a dad.

Essie and I are going to be parents.

Holy shit. I still get excited each time I think about it.

My dream life keeps coming true.

Essie and I are together.

We share a firm.

We’re in a town we love.

“All right, just in case some of you don’t know, pink means they’re having a girl, and blue means a boy,” Ava explains as Callie carries out a cake.

One side of the cake has blue frosting with a blue bootie drawn in icing.

The other side is the same, only pink.

River relaxes in his chair and grins. “Thanks, Doc. We really needed those medical terms.”

He shares the same excitement for Essie’s pregnancy as we have. He keeps saying he can’t wait to be the best uncle ever and introduce the kiddo to video games.

Ava stares at him in annoyance. “I still don’t miss you, FYI.”

Today is our gender reveal party, and we’re having it at Callie’s Bake Shop. Callie closed the shop down. While she didn’t have to add anything pink to the interior, she did hang some blue banners and streamers from the ceiling.

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