Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 130159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
His heart skipped, then began thundering in his chest. “You’re sure? You want marriage and babies now?”
“Yeah.” She gave him a watery grin. “I’m ready. Beyond ready.”
A happiness brighter than any he’d ever felt shot through his veins. Beck swept her up in his arms and spun her around in dizzying joy. “Let’s start today.”
He couldn’t wait to get her into bed…naked, panting, and pleading before squeezing his bare cock into her tight pussy.
Yeah, and what about Seth?
Beck didn’t have an answer.
“Not in the middle of the hallway.” She laughed until he set her on her feet.
“You have a point. Good thing there’s a janitor’s closet around the corner…” He winked.
“You are so bad. Besides, I don’t think the three of us will fit.” Then she sobered and sent him a regretful stare. “And I don’t want to do this without Seth. Somehow, we have to make him see…”
“I know.” And he feared that put him back at square one. Sure, Heavenly was more eager now, but until Seth was ready for fatherhood again, nothing would change.
Time for Cooper to decide if he wanted solitude or to share a blissfully complicated life filled with pink-and-blue-swaddled babies, midnight feedings, pacifiers, plushy toys, a minivan, and a white-picket fence.
He sighed. “Got any ideas?”
She shook her head. “You?”
Not really. “Let me work on it some. You do the same. We’ll compare notes and see where we go. How’s that?”
Heavenly nodded. Her hope had dimmed, but it hadn’t died. Beck wouldn’t let it. “The best we can do for now.”
The squeak of sneakers on the tile floor had them both glancing down the hall to see Seth striding toward them. “I feel better. What did I miss?”
Heavenly glanced at the babies once more, then painted on a smile. “Nothing. You two ready to see Raine?”
Yes, but first…one thing Beck hadn’t done was point-blank asked Seth when the hell he’d be ready to think about the future. It was past time for a man-to-man talk.
“Go ahead…make sure she’s decent and not sleeping,” Beck suggested. “If the coast is clear, Seth and I will join you.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
Seth caught his stare, then nodded as he sidled up to Heavenly and cupped her chin, staring into her eyes as if searching for answers he couldn’t find within himself. Then he brushed a feathery kiss across her lips. “Yeah, angel. You go on. We’ll be right there.”
“Okay.” Sending them a last pensive glance, she turned and headed down the hall.
Beck hadn’t had time to prepare any words, but he’d try his damnedest to prod Seth down the road toward their shared tomorrow.
Turning back to face the big glass window, he stared at the pink-bundled twins that were now a part of Hammer, Liam, and Raine’s forever. “Pretty amazing, huh?”
Seth nodded, easing in beside him. “I forgot how tiny and fragile newborns are.”
“Yeah, but they grow up fast. Of course, you know that. You must remember when Jack and Connor were infants, and look at them now. They’re adults.”
Seth scoffed. “Who still act like kids.”
“They’ll grow out of it…eventually.”
“Will they? Jack and Connor should count their blessings.”
“That you didn’t rat them out?”
“No, and thank God I didn’t or I wouldn’t have had any leverage when they found us last night.” Seth sighed. “I mean that not all kids actually grow up.”
“Oh, I know. I’ve worked with immature assholes. Kathryn Hitch comes to mind…” he said of the nurse who had once tormented Heavenly during every volunteer shift.
“You’re right about her…but that’s not what I meant. I was speaking literally, not figuratively. Not every child makes it.”
Beck tensed. The conversation had gone from casual to consequential in a heartbeat. He probably shouldn’t be surprised Seth had caught on to the fact he’d wanted to talk.
“You’re right; not all kids grow up. But babies like those”—Beck nodded toward the glass—“are the future. They’re what keeps the generations before us alive and humanity carrying on. You and I are both pragmatic enough to understand that life doesn’t come with guarantees. Hell, the three of us might walk out of this hospital and a plane could fall from the sky, ending all our lives. I hope not, but fearing the worst isn’t living.”
“Aren’t you full of sunshine and rainbows today?”
Beck scowled. “I’m not trying to be morose, simply stating a fact.”
“Yeah, I get it. So what brought on this philosophical mood?”
“The future,” Beck replied, watching Catronia still trying to focus on her new world. “Our future. The one you’re dragging your feet on starting.”
“I figured that’s why you’ve been pushing me to take Heavenly bareback so often lately.”
“Hmm. And I thought I’d been subtle.” Beck sent him a crooked grin.
“Oh, you were,” Seth drawled derisively. “Like a Mack Truck. Look, I know what you’re trying to do and why.”
“Enlighten me.”
“We both know I’m the one holding up the future with Heavenly we hashed out at the lodge.”