DaVinci pointed toward the rafters. “So when you see my jersey up there, I hope you remember that the best things we do aren’t the thingsthat make us famous. They’re the things that make us better. They make our communities stronger. They make the people we love proud.”
He found Halo again. “Lo, baby, I see you. Thank you for showing me true love, the unconditional, I got you, and you got me type of love. I love you.”
The arena lost it. Standing ovation. Cameras everywhere. But Halo only saw him.
Later, on the way out, her feet screamed with every step, and DaVinci could tell. He watched her walk with that look that said he was seconds from scooping her up.
“Don’t even think about it,” she warned as they headed toward the SUV in the private garage.
“Think about what?” He tried to look innocent and failed.
“Carrying me. I can walk.”
“I know you can walk,” he said. “You’re also pregnant with my babies and have been on your feet for hours, so.”
He picked her up anyway.
“Put me down, DaVinci.”
“If it’s one thing I’mma do, it’s what?” he asked.
“The most,” she muttered, even as she relaxed into him.
They laughed, his nose brushing her neck as he carried her the rest of the way. He set her in the back seat and climbed in next to her, shutting them into their own small world.
His hand went straight to her stomach. “How you doing, for real?”
“Tired. Happy. Proud of you.” She layered her hand over his. “That speech was perfect. The foundation reveal was perfect. You were perfect.”
“You cry?” he asked.
“I’m pregnant with twins, and my husband just told twenty thousand people I’m the reason he found his purpose. Of course I cried.”
He grinned, that cocky, beautiful grin that always made her heart skip. “You are the reason, though. Before you, I was just going through the motions.”
“Stop trying to turn me into a cupcake,” she said. “I’m a G.”
“Girl, you say anything,” he laughed, kissing the corner of her mouth, then her jaw, then her neck. “I like you as my cupcake. All soft and sweet for me.”
“I’m seven months pregnant with twins. There is nothing soft and sweet about me right now.”
“You’re carrying my babies. You’re the finest thing I’ve ever seen. And when we get home,” his hand slid higher on her thigh, his touch possessive and deliberate, “I’m gonna show you exactly how I feel about my wife.”
Anticipation curled through her. Pregnancy had not dulled how he affected her. If anything, it intensified everything.
“Langston is right there,” she whispered, nodding to the front where he pretended not to exist.
“The partition is up. He can’t hear us,” DaVinci said, his thumb tracing slow circles on the inside of her thigh. “But if you want me to stop…”
“I didn’t say that.”
“That’s what I thought.”
One of the babies kicked right where his hand rested. He blinked, eyes wide.
“That was one of your babies telling you to chill out,” Halo laughed, pressing his palm flatter against my stomach. “They’ve been active all night. I think they liked the crowd.”
Another kick came from the other side. Then another. Both of them were moving now. His whole face changed, wonder and awe, and so much love, softening every line.
