Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“How are you feeling?” Deacon asks.
I smile. “Happy.”
He nods and pulls Ramsey into his arms. “Congratulations.” He looks at me and then at Brooks.
“Thanks, man,” Brooks replies, and I can hear the excitement in his voice.
“Okay, so let’s talk names,” Ramsey says with a wide grin. “I mean, I did help the two of you find your way back to each other. I’m thinking naming rights to my niece or nephew is sufficient,” she teases.
“You knew?” Deacon asks.
She smiles up at him. “I knew.”
“Don’t be mad at her. I swore her to secrecy.”
“I’m not mad. I’m glad you had someone to talk to. I wish y’all wouldn’t have hidden this from all of us, but that wasn’t our choice to make.”
“It just kind of happened,” I tell him.
“Back to naming my niece or nephew.” Ramsey gives me a pointed look, and I burst out laughing.
“Niece,” Brooks tells her.
Ramsey shrieks, “What? You know?”
“No.” I’m quick to shake my head. “He just thinks he knows.”
“Gut feeling.”
“Aw, we’ll finally have a Ramsey Kincaid,” my best friend teases.
“I love you, Rams.” I smile at her.
“Love you too. We’re going to head out. Brooks, can you get our girl home safely?”
“If by home you mean my place, then yes.”
“That works for me,” Ramsey tells him. She hugs us both, and then my brother steps up.
He hugs me. “Love you, little sister. Congratulations.”
“Love you too.”
Deacon pulls back and offers his hand to Brooks. They shake, nod at one another in some sort of silent understanding, and then they’re gone.
“I think the bedroom next to ours is the best for the nursery.”
“Ours?”
“You’re moving in with me.”
“Oh, am I?”
“Yep.”
“Do I get a say in this?”
“Sure. If you want to move to a different place, we can.”
“You really want me to move in with you?”
“Yes. I want you to move in with me. I want this baby to grow up in the same kind of loving homes that we did. I’m in this, Palmer. One hundred and fifty thousand percent, I’m in this. I love you. And I love this little girl.”
“I love you too.”
“We will eventually need a bigger house.”
“What? Why? You have three bedrooms.”
“She needs lots of brothers and sisters.”
“What if we have all girls?” I hide my smile, because I’m more than on board with this life plan that he has for us. I can see it all playing out in my head. Our future.
“I hope they all look like their momma.” He kisses me just as another knock sounds at the door. “Come in,” he calls out.
“Hi, I’m Sabrina. Oh, Brooks. Hi.” She waves.
“Sabrina, this is my fiancée, Palmer.”
“Nice to meet you,” Sabrina says and gets to work setting up the ultrasound machine.
“Fiancée?” I mouth to Brooks.
He grins. “Did I forget to mention that I want you to be my wife?” he muses.
“You’re like a freight train without brakes on the tracks.” I laugh.
“When it comes to our family, I’ll own that.” He winks just as Sabrina begins to explain the process of the ultrasound.
I move into position, feeling uncomfortable as hell, but Brooks can sense that, and he leans over, pressing a kiss on my cheek, and whispering in my ear, “Relax. We’re about to see our baby girl.”
I melt, and my body instantly relaxes. The way he just accepted this is our future, the way he openly tells me how he feels, has my belly doing flips and my heart soaring.
“All right,” Sabrina says. She’s moving that damn wand inside me, and I grip Brooks’s hand. Sabrina rattles off measurements and medical jargon with Brooks, and then she points to the screen. “Right there. See that tiny flutter?”
I focus on where she’s pointing, and I see it. “Yes,” I say, my voice raspy.
“That’s your baby’s heartbeat. You’re measuring at about five weeks, and sometimes that’s a little too early to see the heartbeat, but this little one wants to show off today.”
Tears leak from my eyes as I stare at that tiny flutter. That’s our baby. Brooks presses his lips to my temple and clears his throat.
“Everything looks good?” he asks her.
“Just perfect.” Sabrina smiles. “Congratulations, you two. Your due date is calculating at June seventeenth.”
“Thank you,” I tell her.
She quickly cleans up and moves toward the door. “You can go ahead and get dressed. Brooks, just crack the door when you’re ready, and we’ll send someone in with discharge paperwork.” With a wave, she leaves, shutting the door behind her.
Brooks frames my face with his hands, and his big blue eyes swirl with emotion. “I love you. Not just because you’re having my baby, because of the incredible woman that you are.” He swallows hard. “I promise to love you and our children every day of forever.”
“That’s a long time, big guy.” My heart feels like it’s too big for my chest.
“And to me, it doesn’t sound nearly long enough. Come on. Let’s get you dressed and stop and get your prescription and get you home.”