Page 155 of For Wrath and Redemption
Her eyes flutter shut for a moment, and then her breath hitches again. Her shimmering gaze locks with mine once more, and she smiles brightly.
“It says hello, Daddy.”
“Did you feel it move?” I swallow back a sob and blink away more tears when she nods. “What’s it feel like?”
“Like a little flutter. Like a stomach flip.” She kisses me again. “Say something. Talk to it.”
I step back then kneel in front of her, putting my face level with her stomach. I don’t take my hands off her, though. I just lean in close and say the first thing that comes to mind.
“Hey there, baby Trouble.”
Claire laughs. “It likes you. It’s flipping around like a little fish.”
“Yeah?” I rest my forehead on her stomach. “I like you too.”
Claire takes one hand off mine and threads it into my hair. I tilt into her touch, then kiss her little bump.
“I love you, baby Trouble,” I whisper. “You and your mommy. I love you.”
This feeling. This absolute, unconditional feeling of love. Me and Claire and this baby. This will be part of my new normal. This will be my every day from now on.
“I won’t miss anything else,” I say against her. “Never again. I promise.”
“I know. I believe you.”
She takes a step back and then gives my hand a soft tug. I stand up as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone.
“Actually, I have something for you.” Claire glances down at the screen and scrolls before handing the phone to me. “It’s a little album. Some videos and pictures. Mabel flew home every other week between shows, so she was able to film the appointments. It was her idea, and I know it’s not the same, but I wanted you to have something.”
I hold my breath as I flip through the album, blinking rapidly to clear my vision so I can see through the tears.
There’s a short video of her first ultrasound. I saw the ultrasound images, but this video is a different experience. Then there’s a video of Claire and Mabel in a doctor’s office hearing the heartbeat. I play that video three times, closing my eyes so I can hear it better. So I can commit it to memory. There are pictures of Claire from the side with a progressively growing belly, each one labeled by the week of pregnancy, but it stops at twenty-one.
“Where’s twenty-two?”
She shrugs. “I wanted to take it with you.”
I hiccup on another sob and pull her back into my arms. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” I hold her until I catch my breath, then I step back and smile down at her. “I have something for you, too. Want to come with me to my place?”
She smirks and arches a brow. “Are you going to take your dick out?”
“Only if you want me to, but no, this isn’t code for let’s go have sex.”
“Okay,” she says with a playful smile. “I suppose I can go with you.”
40
JONAH
Gettingto the address Torren programmed into my GPS takes three minutes.
I knew it was close to Sav’s, but I didn’t realize it was just down the street.
When we pull up to the gate, I punch in the code—which happens to be Mabel’s birthday because she thinks she’s hilarious—and drive up the brick driveway. When I stop in front of the two-story Mediterranean-style estate, I try not to be obvious about how I watch Claire’s expression, but I fail. She turns wide eyes on me and smiles.
“This is gorgeous. The courtyard and the ivy? Talk about curb appeal.”
“Come on. Let’s check it out.”
