Page 371 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
Sure enough, when I pulled back to peer up at him, he looked over the moon. “You’re not mad?” I asked, though, just to be sure.
“How the hell could I be mad to know that the woman I love is pregnant with my baby?” Adam asked. “Unless you’re trying to tell me that it isn’t mine?” His eyes crinkled at the corners as he joked, and I exhaled a breathy laugh.
“Oh no, you are fully responsible for this,” I said. Then, I frowned. “Well, maybe not fully.”
Adam laughed as well, pulling me back into his arms as though he never wanted to let me go. “I’ve always wanted Ethan to have a younger brother or sister,” he mused. “Beth and I talked about that a lot. But we just weren’t ready at first, and then she got sick.” He was silent for a moment. “Are you mad?” he finally asked tentatively.
“I’m scared,” I admitted frankly. “I feel like I’m not really ready. I did a bunch of research today about, you know, things to expect when you’re pregnant, and there’s so much that I didn’t know about. But I think we can do this. Together.”
“We can,” Adam promised me. “I’ll be right here by your side, every step of the way.” He was quiet for a moment and then tilted my chin up so that I was looking at him. His eyes had never been more serious. “I love you.”
I grinned at him, leaning up to kiss him gently. Heat stirred in my belly again, even though I would have thought that we had fucked all of that out already. But no, I could never get enough of this man. And now, it sounded like he really was ready to commit to a future with me. “I love you too.”
Maybe I should have told him about the job in Europe as well, but we could figure out the rest later. I just wanted to be happy about the baby. I had been excited when I found out that I was pregnant, but I had been nervous as well. I hadn’t known what Adam’s reaction to the news would be. Now that I knew that he was on board, I felt like I could finally start to enjoy the idea of being a mom to a child of my own.
I grinned at him, and he grinned right back. Right then, it felt like my whole life was complete.
CHAPTER 69
ADAM
Bailey stirred against me on Monday morning, scrunching up her face as she yawned and then smiling sweetly at me. “Good morning,” she said, sounding like there was nowhere in the world that she would rather be.
I nuzzled her jawline. “Good morning, Mama-to-be,” I told her, and she giggled.
“You really are happy that I’m pregnant?” she asked, and I could hear just how worried she was.
I understood that, to a certain extent. I was worried as well. There was a lot of work that went into having a kid. I knew there would be plenty of sleepless nights, and plenty of tough days along the road ahead of us. But at the same time, it meant something to me, knowing that she would be there by my side through all of this. And at the end of it, we would share something truly wonderful; the miracle of that little baby’s firsts.
I kissed her to show her just how happy I was to learn that she was pregnant. Of all of the news that she could have told me the previous evening, this was really the best of what I could ever have hoped for. I was already looking forward to debating names with her, to building a cradle for our little one, to massaging Bailey’s feet at the end of long days, to going to the store half a dozen times for various things that she was craving, only to find her craving something else by the time I made it home.
Bailey leaned around past me suddenly, though, wincing when she saw how late it was. “I didn’t mean to sleep in so late,” she said. She yawned. “I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy or the way that I’ve been working lately, but I just feel so tired all the time.”
“Probably the pregnancy,” I told her, shrugging. “And the, what, three orgasms last night probably took something out of you as well.”
Bailey grinned, blushing a little. “More than three,” she admitted, and I mentally gave myself a pat on the back. I hadn’t been able to keep my hands off her the night before, but I hadn’t realized I had gotten her quite that good. She deserved it, though. I hoped she knew that.
But Bailey still looked faintly worried. “Don’t you have to go pick Ethan up at some point?” she asked. “It’s almost noon.”
“I called in a favor,” I admitted. “I slipped out of bed a little while ago.”
“Oh,” Bailey said, frowning in puzzlement. “Is Ethan going to stay at his friend’s house for a little while longer?”
“I wouldn’t do that to Jake’s parents, after they hosted ten kids at their house for the whole night,” I said, shaking my head. “Actually, I called my Dad and, uh, said that you had just gotten home last night. He didn’t need any more explanation.”
Bailey shook her head. “You didn’t have to do that,” she said.
“Dad loves spending time with Ethan,” I said. “And he heads into town for groceries on Monday mornings anyway, so it’s no big deal. Besides, I wanted to be here when you woke up.”
“Well, I appreciate that,” Bailey said finally, smiling at me. “I guess we should get dressed, though, before they get back.”
“Probably,” I sighed. I propped myself up on my elbows and watched as she pulled on her leggings from the previous day. But instead of the long sweater that she’d been wearing when she arrived, she grabbed one of my flannels out of the closet, fixing me with a look of challenge while she did up the buttons.
I laughed. “I am never going to stop you from looking sexy in my clothes,” I promised her.
We headed down into the kitchen, and I couldn’t get over how comfortable it was, having her there in my life. I had never expected to have anything quite like this again. I didn’t know how I had gotten so lucky.
“Hey,” I said, catching her hand as she went to sit down at the table. I gave her a long, drawn-out kiss, and I could feel her smile against my lips.
