Page 70 of Encore

“That’s fair,” he acknowledges before wrapping his arm around my shoulder and pressing a kiss against my head. “Shall we get out of here, Kid?”

“Would you mind? I just want to go home, let the news sink in,” I say before looking back at Cynthia. “Will you do me a favour and let us tell everyone when we’re ready?”

Cynthia grins. “Your secret’s safe with me. I’ll make your excuses.”

“Thank you. Truly,” I reply.

“See you soon,” she says, hugging me briefly before pulling open the door and stepping out into the hallway.

The second she’s gone I place my hand over my stomach, this sudden well of emotion bubbling up my chest as one by one the loves of my life place their hand over mine.

“I already love this baby so much,” I whisper, choking up.

“Forever,” Xeno adds, with this fierce kind of love burning in his eyes.

“And always,” we all respond, just as fiercely.

FIFTEEN

Make You Feel My Love

ZAYN

“How much longer?”Xeno asks, pacing back and forth in the kitchen as the rest of us hover over the thin white stick on the countertop. Right now the little window that will either saypregnantornot pregnantremains stubbornly blank.

“It’s only been a minute,” York says, eyes wide with excitement as he looks over at me. “Two more minutes to go, yeah?”

“The instructions said we should wait the full three minutes.”

“Fuck, not sure if I can take the wait,” Dax says, chewing on his fingernail as Pen leans into my side, her arms wrapped around my waist. “This is the worst kind of torture.”

“What if Cynthia was wrong?” she asks. “I’m already in love with this baby. I don’t think I’ll be able to take it if I find out I’m not actually pregnant.”

“She’s not wrong,” I say, turning Pen in my arms and cupping her cheeks in my palms. “You’re carrying our baby. I know it.”

“But what if she is?” Pen insists, blinking up at me, her eyes welling with tears. They spill over her lashes, and I gently wipe them away with the pads of my thumbs.

“Then we make a baby. Tonight. Right now. If that test is negative, we will make love until you are so full of our cum, there isn’t a possibility that you’re not pregnant by the end of the damn night.”

Pen laughs softly. "It doesn't work like that. There's only a small window of opportunity in a woman's cycle that pregnancy can occur."

"Then we stay in the bedroom until that time. We will eat, sleep and fuck over and over again," Xeno says, striding over to us both. I step back, giving him some room as he hugs her close. "Whatever it takes, we'll have our family."

"I'm down for that," York says, grinning widely. “Second best thing to having a baby is making one.”

"Dax?" I question, needing to know he’s on board too, that if this test is negative, then we put a smile back on Pen’s face, whatever it takes.

"There’s nothing in this world that would stop me," he agrees, jumping when the timer on his mobile goes off. He snatches up the pregnancy test, fisting it. "Fuck. It's time."

All eyes are on the white stick gripped in his hand. “Are you going to tell us the result?” I ask, blowing out a nervous breath.

"Just give me a second," he replies, clearing his throat.

"Jesus fuck, Dax," York snaps, scraping a hand over his face as he stares at Dax’s clenched fist.

"Dax, please?" Pen whispers as Xeno hauls her against his chest, his voice stolen as we wait.

"Okay, fuck. Here goes," Dax replies, his fingers unfurling as he looks at our future resting there in his palm. Seconds pass, the silence only broken by a sob escaping his lips. When he looks up, the undeniable truth is written all over his face.

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