Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 76000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Gently, I wrap my fingers around her wrists and tug her hands down.
“Come here.”
I pull her toward me and rest my forehead against hers.
“If it’s not mine, it was an immaculate conception.”
This makes her lips twitch. “I mean, some men—”
“This is me. This is us, baby.”
“Yeah.” She drags her fingertips down my cheeks. “You don’t look mad.”
“Is this why you wouldn’t talk to me for the past week?”
“I was trying to get my head on straight. It really knocked me for a loop, you know? When Luna and Sarah came to see me because I was throwing up so much, they made me pee on a stick—”
“Hold up. The girls know?”
She bites her lip and cringes. “Well, yeah. They were with me when I took the test. If it makes you feel any better, they are really mad at me for wanting to wait to tell you.”
“I don’t know that it makes me feel any better.”
“Are you mad?”
“I’m…wow, I don’t know what I am, Juniper. In the future, you will not wait to tell me big news.”
“I don’t think it gets any bigger than this, so I can agree to that. If you don’t want to be a part of this, I understand.”
Now, I pick her up, sit her in my lap, and kiss her senseless before hooking her hair behind her ear.
“I’m not going anywhere, babe. Well, I might move into the chapel with you because it’s sweet.”
“Isn’t it so pretty? I’m kind of obsessed with it. I have to say, you’re taking this really well. After the way you reacted the first time you forgot a condom, I thought for sure you’d be upset.”
I kiss her hand and then press it against my chest. “I didn’t want something like this to happen without it being your choice. Maybe that’s a really naïve thing to think, but—”
“No, I get it, and it’s a really sweet thing to say, but sometimes things happen, even when you try to prevent it. I didn’t think I wanted kids at all, to be honest. I just assumed that I’d be the fun aunt to Sarah’s and Luna’s kids, and I was content with that. I’m not convinced that I’ll be a great mom, Apollo.”
“Why would you think that?”
“I’m not naturally nurturing. I’m not the touchy-feely type, and I think kids should have a mom who wants hugs and kisses and all the mushy things that I just didn’t have as a kid.”
“You do those things with me,” I reply, and her brows furrow into a frown. “You do. I mean, you always say we aren’t snuggling, but we are, and you don’t pull away. Even now, I’m holding you in my lap, and you’re not running. You may not be used to showing a lot of affection because you didn’t have a lot of it in your household growing up, but that doesn’t mean you don’t know how to show love to people. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that when this baby gets here, you’re going to be an excellent mother.”
“How do you know?” It’s said in the sweetest whisper I’ve ever heard.
“Because you love so completely, so powerfully, that loving our baby is going to be second nature for you. I’ll be there, too. God knows that I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, so we’ll just muddle our way through it together.”
“Okay.” She nods and licks her lips, thinking it over. “I guess that makes sense. We’ll figure it out, and I don’t have to do it by myself.”
“Never.” Holding her chin with the tip of my finger, I lower my lips to hers. “You won’t ever be alone, Juniper.”
Epilogue
June
“We have to go,” Apollo whispers in my ear, and I roll onto my back and stretch lazily, absolutely loving the fact that we’re lying in our bedroom in the finished chapel together.
“I’m so cozy, though,” I reply and smile when he kisses me on the nose. “We’ve lived in this house for less than a week, and I never want to leave.”
“I get it, I really do. But if we don’t go to Luna’s wedding, she’ll kill us both, and we’ll never come back here.”
“You’re right.” I sit up, letting the sheet fall, and stretch before finally climbing out of bed.
Apollo and I moved into the chapel and had everything unpacked and our Christmas tree set up and decorated two days before Christmas.
I got what I wanted, after all.
“When is Indigo going to put your house on the market?” I ask as I pad into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth.
“Monday,” he replies. “He doesn’t think it’ll take long to sell.”
“You know, you could just rent it out or use it as a vacation rental.”
“No.” He wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses my cheek. “You’re the real-estate-mogul half of this relationship. I’d rather just sell the place so I don’t have to worry about it. I’m not attached to that house, and it was more or less just a place to crash.”