Page 117 of About that Fling
“Of course,” Jenna said, her cheeks warming. “Even if PDA weren’t a factor, I wouldn’t dream of disrespecting you by?—”
“No—that’s not it.” Mia winced and shifted in her seat again. “You can disrespect me all you want. I kinda like it sometimes, especially if there’s spanking involved.”
Adam grimaced. “That I didn’t need to know.”
“Whatever, lawyer boy. You’re just jealous I never asked you to smack my ass.”
Kendall frowned. “Could we please refrain from?—”
“I’ll tell you what I need everyone to refrain from doing,” Mia interrupted, turning to Jenna. “Talking. About anything. Because you know how we all joked about my water breaking at dinner?”
Jenna frowned. “What?”
“I think it just happened. Either that, or I peed myself in the Human Resources office. Can one of you help me get to the Family Birthing Center? I’d rather not have this baby on a conference table.”
“She’s beautiful,” Adam said.
He watched his ex-wife look up and smile, her red hair tangled and lovely as she cradled the infant tightly in her arms. “Thank you.”
Beside her, Mark leaned forward in his wheelchair and stroked a finger over the baby’s clenched fist. She stirred, offering up a sleepy, sucking noise that made Mark grin and made Adam remember again that he might not hate the guy after all.
“Would you look at that?” Mark murmured. “Knows her daddy already.”
“Smart girl,” Jenna said, and Adam watched Mia’s gaze slide to her best friend’s. The two women exchanged some sort of unspoken communication, and Adam held his breath, not wanting to break the connection.
“Smart, and very lucky,” Jenna added. “To have the two of you as parents. And Katie as a big sister.”
“Yep!” Katie grinned and bent down to plant a kiss on the baby’s forehead. Then she drew back and looked shyly at Mia . “Want me to run to the cafeteria and grab one of those Snickerdoodles you like?”
Adam watched Mia’s eyes widen with surprise and joy. Then a smile broke over her face. “That would be amazing. Grab my name badge out of my purse so you can charge it to my account. Get one for yourself, too.”
“Okay.” Katie kissed the baby again, then scampered away. “I love you, baby sister,” she called. “And Daddy. And Mia.”
“I love you, too,” Mia murmured as Katie bounded out of the room.
Adam slid an arm around Jenna’s shoulders, not sure if it was the right thing to do just then, but knowing it felt right. Sometimes, that was enough. She responded by leaning against him, fitting into the curve of his chest like she belonged there. Like she’d always belonged there.
Mia smiled at Mark over the top of the baby’s pink knitted cap. “I’m so glad they let you out of the recovery unit for this. It meant a lot having you here.”
“You kidding me?” Mark smiled. “I could have had bullet holes in both legs and arms and I still would have found a way to crawl down here for this. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
“I’m happy you were able to do it without all the extra bullet holes,” Mia said.
Mark smiled, glancing quickly at Adam and Jenna before leaning forward to touch his wife’s arm. “Look, Mia—I’m sorry about everything. I know I haven’t been there for you like I should be these last couple weeks. I’ve been torn up thinking about how I let Katie down, how I’m not able to be the father I always thought I’d be. But I need to be a good husband, too. I’m going to do better. For you, for Katie, for little Lola here—for all of us.”
“Me too,” Mia whispered, her eyes shimmering. “I’m going to do better, too.”
Adam felt Jenna squeeze his hand as Mark leaned forward to kiss his wife.
His wife. Adam repeated the words in his head, and they felt right this time. They fit. He squeezed Jenna’s hand in return and leaned down to murmur in her ear. “Think we should give them some time alone?”
“I heard that,” Mia said, looking up. “No, I want you two here. I need to say something before Katie comes back or my parents show up and start making a bunch of noise.”
Adam quirked an eyebrow. “Is this the season for heartfelt relationship speeches or something?”
“Shut up, Adam,” she said, but her voice had no venom. “I just want to say that I’m happy to have you here. Both of you. All of you.” She smiled at Mark, then looked back at Adam and Jenna. “I know things have been weird this past month, and I’m not pretending they won’t be pretty damn weird in the future.”
Jenna nodded, her hair brushing the hollow beneath Adam’s chin as she moved. “I think we can pretty much guarantee the weirdness.”
