Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
“That you do. Let’s get the rest of our groceries before that, you know, without all the junk food.” Lily rolls her eyes but doesn’t take the chips and queso out of the cart. I’m thinking it wasn’t just because she was in her own head but more a craving. It would usually be salsa, but today it’s queso.
“I’m thinking we should grill dinner tonight. Cheeseburgers?”
“Whatever you want, honey.” She’s every which way today, and I’m enjoying the shit out of it.
“I’m a mess, aren’t I?” Lily asks next. I grab her hand, pulling her into me, not wanting her to question anything, and say, “No, not at all. You’re kind of all over the place today, but Lily, I get it. Just know, no matter the results, if it’s positive or negative, I’m not going anywhere. We’re not going anywhere. If it’s negative, we’ll keep trying. If it’s positive, then you and I will be the best parents we can be. It’ll also mean we’ll be getting married, and that will be happening soon, no matter what.”
“Okay.” Her voice is soft, sweet, and much calmer now.
“Alright, now kiss me. Let’s get the food we need for the week, grab a test, and head home.” Lily’s lips meet mine, not wanting a small peck either, instead, in the chip aisle, I take her mouth, my tongue finding hers, letting her know just how much I’ll always need her.
“Thank you,” she breathes against my lips, giving me one last taste of her mouth.
“Nothing to be thanking me for, Lily. I’m right where I’ve always wanted to be.” I smack her ass, causing her to giggle, then we go about our shopping. Her happy to be loading up on food she’s clearly craving, me secretly fucking loving it. The only good part about this trip is, we don’t have to buy certain things. Nope, we source those from the ranch—beef and eggs are plenty available. So, that cuts down on some of our shopping.
“Ready for this?” she says once we’re done getting the food part and we’re in the pharmacy area.
“Yep, grab three different brands, just in case.” I wink.
“Ha! You’re a real funny guy, Mr. Byrd. Who do you think has to pee on all of these tests? Then, if it’s positive, I’ll have to do it again in a doctor’s office. Men are so damn lucky,” she grumbles, but still picks out three different pregnancy tests.
I don’t respond, just let her do what she wants. When we have everything we need, including more food than we could eat in a week, we head to the check-out line. Thank fucking Christ. I think I’d rather shop with her at a mall than come to a grocery store. It was like this before Lily came into my life too. Hell, I’d pay someone to buy groceries nine times out of ten. But this is something Lily likes to do, and for the past month and a half, I’ve not really let her out of my sight, and probably won’t until we can figure out what is up with this Chad bullshit, even if he is nowhere near the area for the time being. As soon as you let your guard down, that’s when they attack. I’m no fucking idiot, that’s for sure.
“I think I’ll start coming to the grocery store alone. I know you hate coming, and you’ve done it with me the entire time, but seriously, Beau, it’s ok.” Apparently, she’s reading my mind, or my face is saying it all.
“Nope, no way. You want to use one of those delivery services, I’m down with that. You want to pay the neighbor some money to do the shopping instead, I’m good with that too, but you don’t come out on your own. I’ll be with you. I don’t care what it’s for, until Chad is brought in for questioning or we know where he is, it’s not happening.”
“Fine, I get it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I know how tired you are when you come in from work, grabbing a few hours of sleep and then getting up and taking me to work, going back home, sleeping, and then picking me up yet again before you have to go into work. I see what it’s doing to you. It’s doing it to all of us. Promise, as soon as this is taken care of, you take care of you too.” She holds on to my hand. I squeeze it in response.
“I promise. For now, let’s just deal with what we have to.” I pay for the groceries as she stomps her foot trying to do that as well, and I already know I’m in for an earful once we get in the truck. Lily may not realize it, but even our arguments make me smile. I just don’t let her see it. Lord knows she’d really stomp her foot at me then.