Page 49 of Mase
I nod and cradle her cheeks in my palms. “Damn right, sweetheart. You’re mine.” My mouth becomes dry and my hands tremble, preparing to open myself up to her further and silently begging her not to let me down. “And I’m yours, right? I’ll guard your heart with my everything, Sum.”
Please say yes.
“Always,” she whispers.
That one word rights all the wrongs in my world.
TWENTY-EIGHT
MASE
“I’m sorry,did you say twins?”
“Ye-yes, sir.” The doctor nods frantically.
“Like, two of them?” My excitement is spilling over.
“Exactly.”
My mouth falls open, and I gape at Summer. She chews into her bottom lip, but you can’t miss the laugh she’s fighting to hide as my eyes drop to her stomach.
“There’s two in there?” God knows how; she’s so small, there’s barely a bump at all.
The doctor points to the screen again, where two small beans float around. “Definitely two.”
“Can you tell the sex yet?” Summer asks, and the doctor shakes his head.
“They can’t tell the sex until around four months, beautiful.” I smile brightly at her. Of course I know all the facts about babies and pregnant women. I’ve witnessed this so many times but always from the outside looking in. I’m so fucking elated I’m almost lost for words.
“We’re having twins,” I say again.
“You are, Mr. Campbell, and they’re perfectly healthy up to now. We will keep a close eye on babies and mom, but all is going well so far,” he says, pulling the gloves from his hands and throwing them in the trash.
And they’ll be staying that way if I have anything to do with it. Summer and our babies are my priorities.
“I just can’t fucking believe it, a family of our own,” I rasp. Summer entwines her fingers with mine, and I bring them to my lips, covering them in kisses along with a thousand promises to be the man she deserves, the one I want to be.
Myself.
SUMMER
Taking another sip of the orange juice, I cast my gaze around the manicured park. The smell of our picnic fills the air and brings a smile to my lips.
This is perfect.
“My mom used to bring me here when I was a kid.” Mase smiles wistfully. “I always imagined bringing my wife and kids here.”
There’s a lake with rowing boats, and Mase filled me in on the lengths his best friend Reed went to in order to get his family. He took his new family to the local park and hired rowing boats similar to the ones here and went overboard in order to save the dog he’d purchased that day to impress Gia and her son.
By the time he finished telling me the story, I was in a fit of giggles. It also made me realize how much his friendships mean to him, so when he suggested us trying to live in New Jersey before the babies come, I rapidly agreed. A fresh start.
The dark thought about my past looms in my stomach like a thick ball of dread, but I refuse to acknowledge it, not when everything is going so well. I deserve this; he deserves this. I refuse to let it cloud our day.
“It’s a really pretty park.” I smile while Mase stuffs another sandwich in his mouth. He woke early this morning to prepare a picnic for the park. Who knew he could be so sweet?
“My mom always made picnics for us.”
“When the babies are older, we can bring them back here if you like?”
