Her smile sent his heart into overdrive. She had to hear it beating loudly as she set her head against his chest and curled into his arms.
“Just say it, sweetheart. Whatever it is, whatever has got you all twisted up, we’ll face it together.”
She shook her head against his skin. “I’m pregnant.”
The whispered words might as well have been shouted, the reality of what she’d just announced slamming into him.
“You’re pregnant?” His thumb rested under her chin and he tipped her face up towards his. “You’re sure?”
“I peed on a bunch of sticks with Lily while you were in the hospital. I’m sure.”
Stone stared into her eyes, his mouth refusing to form any of the ten thousand thoughts that were running through his brain. Mae was having a baby. His baby. He was going to be a dad.
“Say something…” she whimpered, her eyes wet with tears.
“Marry me.”
“What?! That cannot be the first thing you say when you hear I’m pregnant.”
“Why not? I’m so happy, Mae. I want you to be mine, forever. The baby…” Stone’s breath caught in his chest, but that didn’t stop him from tightening his hold on Mae, pressing a kiss to her lips. His hand moved down, spreading across her belly. He knew her body like the back of his own hands. He’d spent hours upon hours worshiping every inch of her. So how could he have been so oblivious to the little bump that sat between her hips?
“Our baby…”
His eyes went wide as Mae giggled.
“I’m just bloated. The baby’s only the size of a raspberry… or a blueberry… I don’t know, some very tiny berry.”
“The most perfect little berry ever.” Stone pulled his arm from under Mae and moved down the bed, until his face was right at her belly button. And then he leaned in, pressing against the tight skin. “Hi, sweet baby. I’m your dad… Holy shit. I’m your dad. I’ve waited my whole life for this moment. My god, Mae.” His eyes bounced up to meet hers. “I’m so fucking happy.”
“I was so scared.”
He could see the truth in those words shining back at him so clearly in her eyes. And that broke his heart. Because she’d known for days… weeks… and hadn’t felt safe to tell him. “You thought I wouldn’t want to be a dad?”
“I didn’t think you’d want to do it with me.”
Stone moved back up to the top of the bed so he could wrap Mae back up in his arms. He stroked his hand over her shoulder and down her back, trying to pour some of his excitement into her. “How could you think that?”
“We weren’t exactly out in the open with our relationshipbefore you were shot. It all just sort of rushed out and since then you haven’t said anything about what you’re thinking about us and the future and then to just throw a baby in, which is like the most stressful experience two people can go through?—”
“Michaela soon-to-be-Lawson Morgan, take a breath. You’re breathing for two now.” He smiled as she took a big breath in, melting down into his embrace.
“I thought I just made it perfectly clear what I’m thinking about you and me. Wedding. Honeymoon with baby on board. More babies. A house with a white picket fence and three golden retrievers named Matthew, Colleen, and Brian.”
“You hate dogs. And what about Katie?” Mae laughed, catching on immediately to the fact that he’d suggested Dr. Quinn’s children’s names for their pets.
“She’s obviously our cat.”
He expected Mae to laugh at that, but her face pulled tight.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing…” Her hand budged him out of the way and she pressed circles into her side. “Just a little cramp. It’s why I came to bed earlier. I had a few and Lily said I should rest.”
Shit. She was overdoing things, which was already bad. But she wasn’t just exhausted because of what she’d emotionally gone through. She was exhausted because she was pregnant. “Mae.”
“It’s all good. Just blueberry demanding I take better care of myself.”
“Our kid is already so smart. Making sure their mama listens to her body.”
