Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
“Braden?”
I open my eyes to find my woman standing over me.
My cock stirs in my swim shorts, shifting like an animal with a mind of its own.
She’s wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Neither item is skimpy, or revealing too much, but it’s the shape of her that is endlessly fascinating to me, the curves of her breasts and her hips. It’s her hair, messy, begging for my touch. It’s her smile.
Hell, it’s her everything.
But I beat back the beast inside when I see the look on her face, how wide her eyes are, the way her hands tremble slightly.
“What is it?” I stand and stalk over, and stare down at her. “Bria?”
She looks up at me with tears glistening in her eyes, and then her gorgeous lips twitch upward in a smile. A smile that causes somehow, even more, love to ignite inside of me.
Just when I think I’m overfull, she always prompts more within me.
I return her smile as I reach up, smoothing her tears away.
“Tell me,” I whisper.
“I wanted to be extra sure,” she replies, wrapping her arms around me despite the wetness from the pool. “I asked Maximillia if she could come with me to the doctor’s office, just so I knew it wasn’t a false positive. Because it means so freaking much to us and I had to know. I had to.”
I press forward and wrap my arms around her, pulling her close to me, staring down into her lovable eyes as I feel a tear prick at my eye. I can’t remember the last time I cried – when I was a kid, probably – and yet I can feel how close I am now.
“We’re pregnant, Braden,” she says, her voice cracking. “One hundred percent. We’re pregnant. We’re going to have a baby.”
I just stare at her for a few moments, as her words sink, as my thoughts fill with laughing children and how Bria will look when she’s surrounded by our family, the maternal flush that will fill her cheeks when our little Bear does something mischievous and wonderful.
“Pregnant,” I repeat, and then my smile gets so wide my cheeks start to ache. “Pregnant? We’re pregnant. Oh my God, we’re pregnant.”
I roar the last words as I pull her into my arms, spinning her around and around as both of us laugh like lunatics, like we’re never going to stop.
“I love you so much,” I breathe in her ear, tears stinging in my eyes as my voice breaks.
“I love you too,” she gasps.
“Hey,” I tell her as I put her down, smiling down at her. “I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to our little Bear. I’m joking. I was talking to both of you.”
She giggles and slaps my chest. “Do you know what Maximillia told me? Apparently the name Bjorn means Bear. So if he is a boy…”
“Yes,” I snarl. “Then we’ll always remember that moment in bed, the way I tickled you, that captivating way you laughed for me. We’ll always remember where we started.”
She bites her lip, nodding as she gazes up at me.
“I can’t wait to meet him, her. I don’t care. I just want them to healthy and happy. That’s all I care about.”
“Me too,” I assure her, smoothing my hand over her belly. “I love you both so, so, so much, Bria. I can’t wait to see you become the amazing mother I know you’re going to be.”
“I love you both too.”
She leans against my bare chest, sobbing quiet happy tears, as I run my hands through her hair.
“Hey, Braden,” she says after a moment.
“Yeah?”
“Do you mind that I told Maximillia first? It’s just that I wanted somebody to come with me to the doctor’s office and I don’t really have anybody else and—”
“Hey.” I push her back slightly so we can gaze into each other’s eyes. “You don’t have to explain yourself. You don’t have to apologize. I love how close you and Maximillia have become. I love that you’ve found somebody you can share stuff like this with.”
She smiles, placing her head against my chest again.
“Thank you,” she sighs. “I love you so freaking much.”
Extended Epilogue
One Year Later
Bria
I sit with Bjorn in my arms, rocking him softly as Braden wraps his arm around me. He squeezes me close to him and leans down, kissing the top of my head.
The couch is long and large, big enough that we could both lie down on opposite sides if we wanted to, but we always find ourselves pushed close together as we settle down in front of the television.
All throughout the pregnancy, we got into the habit of watching movies together, schlock and classics and everything in between, Braden watching with a keen eye for the acting and me with a keen eye for the costumes.
Now, with little baby Bjorn in my arms, I feel an even more urgent need to snuggle close to him.