Page 129 of Marriage (Red, White &) Blues

Snow and frigid temperatures blanketed the outside world. I shivered before even left the warmth of the terminal.

“Maybe we could get our friends to move to Guam. They’d love it,” I offered with a hopeful smile.

“I’m sure they would, but my guess is if they haven’t decided to live tropical yet, it’s because they don’t want to.”

“They just don’t know any better. If we tell them how we’re moving there, too, everyone will be happy.”

“You certainly think a lot of us and our influence.”

I harrumphed. “What? They love us. Theywantto be near us.”

“Okay.” He placated me while helping me inside the back seat of the Uber. An hour later, we pulled into the drive of my house. Ant kept the property up for us in our absence. He and my husband made arrangements back when he’d showed to collect Georgie and Miranda.

We crashed in the warmth of the fireplace crackling and snuggled. We ordered takeout and snuggled some more. If snuggling were an Olympic sport, Blake and I were in the running for the gold medal. At least in the pairs competition.

The next afternoon, after stopping at Macy’s to find a proper Michigan winter parka, gloves, and boots that would cover my growing belly and pregnancy swollen feet, I felt the Subaru slow and then stop. Yes,feltit. Blake, for some reason, blindfolded the pregnant lady. He helped me from the car and my boots sunk down in a good two feet of snow.

“You know falling is bad for the baby, right?” I asked, unimpressed with our adventure so far.

“I won’t let you fall, sweetheart. I’m too invested now.”

I marched because walking was out of the question. Marching made more sense, just not for the five hundred hours Blake had me doing it. That might’ve been an exaggeration, but not by much. Then he tore the blindfold from my eyes and I looked around at an expanse of white surrounded by trees on three sides and the fourth, the lake. As in Huron.

“Where are we?” I asked, shivering yet exhilarated at the same time.

“Our new home—I mean, if you like it.”

“Our new home? How far?—”

“You’re closer to Pen and Sierra here than you are up in Beverly Hills. Twenty minutes from Pen’s place and thirty from Sierra and Georgie would have plenty of room to run. We have fifteen acres. Our own beach. Picture it: summertime, you and me, naked and getting freaky without the fear of cameras.”

“You just had to bring that up, didn’t you?”

“Ah, Glory… What doesn’t kill us makes us?—”

“Angry,” I finished for him.

“You’re no good at this game.”

“I didn’t know we were playing a game,” I pushed, chuckling while bending down. I scooped up a handful of snow, crunching it into a ball, and threw it at his chest. “But now we are,” I finished as I ran.

“Oh, you’re in for it now,” he warned as he slung snowballs at me. The man had skills and a very good arm.

We laughed so loud, birds shot up from the trees in the distance. We laughed so hard that I couldn’t catch my breath because the icy air burned my lungs and I plopped down into the snow. He caught up to me, dropping down next to me. He rolled over on top of me and we kissed. My favoriteromance novelkisses. He made me feel wonderful.

“What do you think?” he finally asked, cheeks flushed from Gloria and not from the cold, or, not totally from the cold.

“It’s beautiful. Let’s make an offer.”

The privacy made sense for us. His eyes went unfocused as he held me. “I’m going to get you pregnant,” he said.

I bit my lip. “Honey, I’m already pregnant. You can’t really get me pregnant again.”

“I mean after this one comes. I want us to share this with a family that we create.”

Rolling us over so I lay on top of him, I bent in to peck his nose. “How about we enjoy this one for a little while before you go knocking me up again?”

“Works for me. Glory B! I’m glad I married you!”

---