Page 157 of With A Little Luck
“That would be amazing. Thank you so much for the goodies. I’m sorry I got distracted.” I pat Saylor’s arm and head for the couch, but I’m pretty sure the cat is out of the bag with Trigg and Easton and how they’re related.
“I’d have a mild meltdown over that too,” Saylor says, following me to the couch. “Please say I’m allowed to tell Shaw that he was right because I’m legitimately incapable of keeping something like this a secret.”
Briar sighs. “East is going to spank me over this. I can feel it.”
The two women went above and beyond with adorable outfits, baby blankets, and a variety of other small things like pacifiers, a thermometer, and baby socks.
I’m tired by the time they leave, but I’m unsettled. A vague plan starts to form in my head. I should hunt down Trigg to see if things are going to be weird between us. Only forcing myself to stand proves harder than I expected. My legs and feet hurt,and I’m generally just not interested in having to move at the moment.
“Well, you look exceptionally pouty.” Ridge grabs the baby stuff, moves it out of the way, and climbs onto the long end of the sectional next to me. He’s still injured, but he lifts his right arm and plants his hand on my stomach.
I sigh.
Now I’m even more uncomfortable.
Ridge is the only one of the guys I haven’t said I love you to. It’s complicated because I do have feelings for him, but I’ve known Hartley a whole lot longer. Or rather, I’ve spent more one-on-one time with Hart.
Trigg had been coming into the diner for weeks before all of this stuff went down… Maybe I did rush to say it too soon.
I don’t know.
It would be impossible to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced a bond, but it links two people on a deep emotional and spiritual level. Being able to feel their emotions toward me only seems to heighten my own feelings in response.
When Trigg gave me the necklace, it felt a lot like love was the emotion he was sending in the bond. It lit up my system, and the next thing I knew, I was blurting out the words.
“Look, I’m not expecting any declarations of love,” Ridge says, running his giant palm over my stomach. “I’m content to go at our own pace, but if you want to tell my dick you love him, he is a little insecure…”
My face burns even hotter.
“I couldn’t resist.” He chuckles. “Tell me what I can do to cheer you up.”
“I’m okay,” I say, and I really am. This is a small hiccup, and I know that. I’m so ready to feel like my old self again. Pregnancy isn’t easy, and I still have over a month left. Then I’ll be dealing with all the crazy postpartum hormone fluctuations.
“Can I just preemptively apologize in case I get crazier the longer this pregnancy goes on?” I ask, turning to check out his bright aquamarine eyes. “I almost don’t want to admit it, but I’ve heard the few months after she comes might actually be worse.”
“Sweetheart.” He laughs and rolls onto his side, bringing our faces close together. His expression quickly morphs into a grimace and back to a smile. Dammit. I hate seeing him hurting. “You could amp up the spiciness by two-hundred percent, and you still wouldn’t need to apologize. Pregnancy is rough, mentally and physically. None of us expect you to keep that in. I’m here for you.”
Little crinkles appear next to his eyes as he studies my face, and it only makes him more handsome.
“That means the world to me.” I pull my hand to his cheek, running my fingers over his beard. “I’m so grateful we found each other.”
His face turns serious. “Me too, Mama. Me fucking too.”
Ridge is incredible. I’ve never met anyone who can make me laugh the way he does. Upon noticing the clothes and other baby gifts that I opened from Saylor and Briar, he suggests we tackle some of the boxes in the garage.
He didn’t just get baby furniture.
Ridge bought basically everything we could need to bring our daughter home from the hospital. There are boxes of diapers, wipes, diaper rash cream, onesies, sleepers, outfits in multiple sizes, socks, blankets, washcloths, burp rags, and so many other things that my eyes ache.
King lies next to my thigh on the floor in the nursery. He’s quite a sweet dog, even if he’s gassy and grunty at the weirdest times.
Getting down here wasn’t the easiest, but getting up will be a whole different world of complicated. It’s still worth it, though.
Ridge was the one who recommended organizing everything by age. We put all the newborn and zero-to-three-month stuff in one pile, that way we could pluck off the tags and wash it together. Then we have another smaller pile of three-to-six-month clothing and so on.
My newly bonded alpha went way overboard with stuff in the smaller sizes, but I don’t have the heart to tell him that she probably won’t even get to wear it all before she outgrows it.
He’s done everything he can to make this entire transition as easy as possible. I don’t know many men who wouldn’t at least wait for the results of a paternity test, but not Ridge.
