Page 78 of Redeemed in Crimson
“Ledger! You scared the crap out of me. I thought you were still asleep,” she says, picking up the razor she flung down when I startled her.
“And miss this performance? Never,” I say, pulling off my boxers and stepping into the shower with her.
Kissing her deeply, I move to help her rinse out her hair with the handheld attachment.
“Happy New Year, how did you sleep?”
“Happy New Year to youagain. Mmm,” she moans, as I use my fingers to massage her scalp while I rinse. “Overall, pretty well, I think. How about you?”
I finish my rinsing and pull her back into my chest, wrapping my arms around her waist and resting my chin on top of her head.
“Incredibly well, until I woke up and you weren’t in bed with me. Please don’t make a habit out of that, baby. I like cuddles in the morning. You know this.”
Sloane’s giggles are infectious. “Well, I hardly ever beat you getting up, but obviously you were having some good dreams—you were smiling in your sleep. Care to share with the class what was so lovely?”
I nuzzle into her neck and smile, placing one hand across the span of her swollen lower stomach. “Just dreaming about our future, Angel. That’s all. Now hurry up or we’ll be late to our own party.”
“What do you want it to be?” she asks, as we make our way to my mom’s house for the gender reveal party.
“Human.”
“Ledger, seriously!”
“What? I am serious! With all the monster and alien smut you’ve been reading, I can never be too sure.”
Her cheeks blush that beautiful shade of pink, “I, uh… I didn’t know you knew about those.”
“I knoweverything,dirty girl. You know that.”
Sloane gasps as I pull into my mom’s driveway, and I follow her gaze to see the Johnsons' car.
“It’s okay, baby. They can’t hurt you,” I say, squeezing the hand of hers already on my own and bringing it to my mouth to kiss.
My brave girl takes a series of deep breaths and sits up straight. “I know. Let’s do this.”
Before we can knock on the door, we are greeted by my mother, blocking us from entering the house. “Sloane, darling, I know you’re probably going to be royally pissed at me, but I had a little talk with your parents and ended up inviting them over.”
“Mother, what is this about?” I grit out, interrupting her confession.
I’m leveled with a glare only a mother can give her child as she turns her attention from my wife to me. “This is about Sloane and her parents making up for the good of this baby.”
I’m about to march us both back to the car, gender be damned, when Sloane speaks up. “Ledger, it's okay.” She places a hand on my chest and uses her other to bring my own to her swollen belly. “Blanche is right. This is for the best. It’s been two years. It's time.”
Mom finally lets us through, and we’re greeted by our whole family. I can tell Sloane’s parents want to say something to her, but they just sink into the background as more of the others crowd around us.
“Alright, everyone, I had all kinds of games for us to play before we did the reveal, butI just can’t wait any longer!” Blanche announces to the room. “Jack, dear, can you do the honors?”
Jack disappears into the kitchen before rolling out a black punching bag until he stops in front of me. “We thought this would only be fitting considering the night you, um, got married,” he says, glancing at the Johnsons. “Sloane, you’re welcome to do the honors, I suppose, but I think this was designed for our dad-to-be.”
Sloane steps back in a clear sign that she wants nothing to do with this.
“I haven't fought since that night either, but I’ll give it a go.”
The material rips with one punch, sending blue powder flying into the air, and before I can make sense ofliterally anything,I hear the collective screams in the room. “It’s a boy!”
I turn to my wife, whose beautiful eyes glisten with unshed tears as she wraps her hands around her womb, before picking her up, careful to avoid any harm to our baby and spinning with her in my arms. “A boy, baby!” she says as her tears start to fall down her face. “We’re having a boy!”
I set her back on her feet and lean down to rest my forehead against her, placing my hands over hers on the swell of her stomach as tears begin falling from my eyes as well. “I know, Angel. I know, a boy.”
