Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 118693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 593(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 593(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
“Monopoly?” Preston asked with a smile while Harmony gasped.
“No! Not Monopoly!” Harmony cried out.
Rory walked up to the baby and smiled at her while asking, “I don’t get it. What’s wrong with Monopoly?”
Quickly pulling Rory away from us, Harmony stated, “Don’t ever ask them to play that game, challenge them to it, or even hint that you could win at it. You’ll be stuck for hours. In Monopoly, the Wards are a play-until-only-one-person-is-standing kind of family.”
Preston stood and gently placed his daughter into Rory’s hands while my jaw dropped to the floor.
“How…why…? We’re blood, dude! You gave her to Rory first?”
Preston shot me a dirty look. “I like her better than I do you.”
I shot him the middle finger and turned my attention to Rory. “Let me have her.”
“Not yet,” she said as she rocked the baby back and forth. Soon Rory softly started to sing to her, and I had to grab onto something to keep my legs from giving out.
“You’re such a beautiful girl. Yes you are. Look at how big you’ve grown. Oh my, look at those blue eyes.”
“Care to share what you’re thinking right this second, Finn?” Harmony whispered.
Dragging my eyes off Rory, I took Harmony in. She looked so much more rested than she had earlier today. “I’m not thinking anything.”
“Uh-huh. So you’ve got that goofy look in your eyes and you’re wobbling on your legs because…?”
I didn’t want to blurt out to Harmony how I wished that this was our child Rory was holding. The idea alone should have had me running for the hills, but strangely, it didn’t. I was even a tad bit jealous of Preston. He had the very thing I found myself longing for.
A family.
“Want to feed her before she goes down, since you guys showed up late?”
I couldn’t help but notice how Harmony looked at Rory. Almost as if she thought it was Rory who’d made us late.
“Flash destroyed the campground. Dad and I had to take everything down while Rory and Mom cleaned up the campsite. Looks like our camping trip is over.”
“Well, that’s a bummer. You guys gonna head back into Boston tonight?” Preston asked while handing me a bottle.
I glanced over to Rory, who nodded. “Probably,” I said.
Preston flashed me a big grin. “Well, you know you can stay here. We have a guest bedroom.”
Laughing, I took Presley from Rory. “You just want to be able to stroll in late tonight, that’s all.”
“Hell yeah, that’s what it is.”
Harmony playfully hit Preston’s stomach. You couldn’t help but feel happy for them. When Preston draped his arm over Harmony’s shoulders, I felt a ping of jealousy. I was going to push Rory a little harder about moving in with me. I wanted to be around her as much as I possibly could. Things were starting to pick up more in the solar business Wes and I owned, which meant that on my days off I’d be working on that as well. If Rory lived with me, I’d see more of her.
Glancing down at the beautiful baby in my arms, I made a funny face and was rewarded with a smile. “Hello there, princess. Are you hungry?”
Presley had opened her mouth and was about to fuss when I slipped the bottle in just in time.
Harmony sat on the edge of the sofa. “You know you’re a natural at this, Finn.”
I laughed. “Well, it’s easy when you know it’s not your kid.”
When I glanced up, I couldn’t help but notice how Rory’s smile faltered some. Was she wanting kids right away? Hell…for all I knew she wanted kids now.
Shit. Was it to soon in our relationship to talk about things like that?
I made a mental note to talk to my parents about it.
Harmony kissed Presley on the forehead. “I’m going to go get changed. Be sure to burp her well—and don’t forget the burping rag this time. I don’t want to hear you screaming like a girl again, Finn.”
“Hey!” I replied with a frown. “Her spit up ran down my shirt. Down. My. Shirt. That was nasty.”
Preston fell back onto the sofa and kicked up his feet. Harmony turned and stared at him. “You aren’t getting ready?”
“Um…I am ready. Wait. Am I ready? What’s the right answer?”
Laughing, Harmony waved him off and said, “You’re taking me somewhere nice for dinner…that’s all I know.”
Rory giggled. “That means go get ready and dress nice.”
“Damn it. That’s what I thought it meant.”
“Want to make out?” I whispered in Rory’s ear while she shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
She hit me on the stomach and rolled her eyes. “I’m not making out with you on your brother’s sofa.”
Frowning, I asked, “Why not?”
Rory searched through the popcorn, looking for the yellow ones; she claimed they were the best because they had the most butter on them. In the background played a movie she’d picked out. Beauty and the Beast. I’d already dozed off three times, only to be woken up by the singing.