Page 85 of Mating of Convenience
“Congratulations! It’s a boy!”
I stared at the doctor, barely registering his words. Who cared if it was a boy or a girl? I cared that it was finallyout.Oh my fucking God, I was never having a baby again.
But then I caught the way Nathan looked at the tiny human as the nurse carried him away to be measured and wrapped up. He had a smile on his face, but there were tears too.
Was he actuallycryingfor joy?
I knew he’d wanted this baby but I never realizedhow much.
That was, until the nurse brought my son to me to rest on my chest. That magical moment I knew exactly what Nathan was feeling. Pure, unconditional love for the life we had created.
“Still want me to get snipped?” Nathan asked with just a hint of smugness in his voice.
“Of course, turtle.” I smiled at my mate. “You should ask if they can do it right away.”
“Uh...” His eyes darted to the baby and then back at me again, his face losing all expression. “Wait, are you just messing with me again?”
I shot him my widest grin for figuring that out. “Got me. I don’t want you to get sterilized. Notimmediately.” I looked at our son again. “Isn’t he just the most amazing baby you’ve ever seen? What are we naming him? He needs a kick-ass name.”
“I’m not sure.” Nathan peered at the baby a little more closely. I had to smile at the concentrated look on his face. He was treating this question as if he’d never been asked anything more important. A few weeks ago we’d both decided that we weren’t settling on a name until we’d actually seen our child, but that didn’t mean that we hadn’t been thinking about it. Well, I hadn’t, but I knew Nathan had. Hell, he’d probably been keeping a list of names ever since he was a child himself.
“C’mon,” I nudged him. “What’s your favorite boy’s name? Don’t be shy.”
“Well...” Nathan hesitated, but then he finally came out with it. “I’ve always kind of liked the name John. He kind of looks like a John, doesn’t he?”
I chuckled, eyeing our beautiful baby. “He looks bald.”
“Who cares if he’s bald? He’s super cute, and he’s ours.” Nathan dipped down to kiss baby John’s cheek. “Besides, he won’t be bald forever.”
“No, I know he won’t, and even if he was bald forever, he’s perfect.”
My mate only nodded. Of course he did. I was right, after all. It was funny how things worked out. I’d run from Oceanport because I’d thought I could never be a parent, and now here I was, holding the most perfect bald baby ever in my arms.
Life was strange.
But also wonderful.
I glanced at my mate. “You think we should get John tattooed so the nurses don’t switch him up?”
Nathan’s eyes widened in horror. Oh God, he really was too much fun to mess with. I couldn’t keep a straight face, bursting into tired laughter. After a moment, Nathan joined in. “You’re the worst!” he said.
“And yet you married me,” I pointed out. “For real!”
“Oh, definitely for real.” He leaned in to give me a kiss that I was only too happy to return. There was no question that I had the best baby, but not only that. I also had the very best mate.
I decided then and there that I was getting another tattoo.
A heart with an arrow and three names in it.
Epilogue: Nathan
Six Months Later
“You’ll text me if anything comes up, right?” Raphael asked, bag already slung over his shoulder but still reluctant to leave the house. “Or better yet, call,” he added. “I might not hear the phone otherwise. I might get busy. There were a lot of people looking in yesterday.”
“There were.” The day before had been the grand opening of Raphael’s new tattoo studio. Three months later than we’d planned, but we’d needed the time to adjust to our new family life. We’d thought six months was enough, but I could tell it still wasn’t easy for my mate to leave me and the baby in my arms behind to go to work, even if it was his dream job.
“I never thought the opening would be such a spectacle,” Raph said, obviously just to draw the conversation out, because we’d discussed this before.
