Page 144 of Own the Eights Maybe Baby
She needed a distraction.
“I want to show you something,” he said, then pulled a small envelope from his pocket.
“What is it?”
“An addition to your bracelet.”
She gave him the hint of a grin. “Let me guess. It’s a pineapple.”
“One of them is. The other is this,” he replied and held out a delicate infinity charm. “Because we’re more than just a number.”
“Infinity isn’t a number. It’s a concept,” she said, still able to take him to task, even in labor.
He hooked the charms onto the bracelet. “You’re right. It’s the quantity larger than any number, and that’s how much I love you and how much I’m going to love this baby. Our baby.”
He leaned in, and Georgie rested her forehead against his.
“Thank you for being my messy bun girl and for making me a better man. You’re my whole life, Georgiana. You are the sassy eight to my asshat ten, and together, there’s nothing we can’t do.”
“I needed that,” she said, relaxing a fraction.
He listened as she took two deep breaths as if her body were preparing for the final push. As a trainer, he’d worked his body to the max and could sense Georgie’s body responding as instinct and biology prepared to take over, ready for the endgame.
The all-or-nothing moment—where nothing wasn’t an option.
He lifted her chin. “Look at me and focus on my voice.”
She held his gaze.
“Today, when we walked to the shop, I couldn’t stop thinking about you and our life.”
“Goats and alpacas and spiders, oh my,” she bit out through another contraction.
She was even funny in labor.
“I never dreamed of finding someone like you, Georgiana Jensen.”
“That’s because you were following your flawed Marks Perfect Ten Asshat Mindset,” she replied on a tight breath.
He brushed a sweat-soaked lock of hair from her forehead. “All I know is that the minute you came into my life, I knew I would never be the same. Do you know how tough you are? Do you know what a hard-ass you were when we first met?”
“I was actually a nice person until I met you,” she teased through tight breaths.
He gave her a cocky smirk. “I bring out the best in people.”
She blew out a ragged breath. “Jordan, I’m scared.”
He was, too. But, right now, it was his job to be her rock.
He held her gaze. “You can do this, Georgie.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know if I can.”
“You’re the strongest person I know, MBG. And don’t forget.”
She blew out a breath. “Forget what?”
“There’s nothing we can’t conquer together—nothing we can’t get through. Well, maybe not a virtual reality baby simulation. But besides that, we’ve got this. The baby, you, and me. We’ve got this.”
