I rolled my eyes. “I’m too excited about the baby to care about that.”
He turned toward the sink. “I’m excited too, but I still have basic hygiene.” We brushed our teeth together, side by side. I couldn’t wait to take him to my home and show him what I built for the two of us. Since I knew he was my mate when I selected the house, I specifically designed it for the day that he would join me there. And now we’d be planning a nursery and figuring out how to set up our home for a child.
“We still have two more days of this vacation,” I said. “Do you want to stay here, or…?”
“Is there a reason to rush home?” he asked with a mouth full of toothpaste. He seemed to be working hard at cleaning his teeth, paying special attention to his tongue.
“Should we get you to a doctor?”
He met my gaze through the mirror. “Braxton, seriously, I’m fine. We just found out two minutes ago that I might be expecting. I feel fine. Morning sickness is normal. I don’t think a doctor is necessary yet.”
“It wouldn’t hurt.”
“Are you nervous?” he asked, his smile widening.
“I’m not nervous. I’m just cautious because—”
“Because you’re worried?”
“I’m cautiously excited.”
“How about this, we head to the local grocery store and pick up a test?”
My breath hitched. Yes. That would make a lot of sense. “It’s too soon. Store-bought tests aren’t going to be accurate.”
Kip seemed to think it over for a minute. Then he broke out into a smile. He reached for his phone, holding up his hand to stop me from talking before I could ask what he was doing.
“Branson?” he said when his call connected. “This is Kip—” He paused. “Yeah, that’s the cabin! Good memory. You must be great at your job.” He laughed at something Branson said. “Hey, do you have any omega pregnancy tests at the lodge? The kind that have the early detection?” Another pause. “You do? Great. Can I get one?”
Twenty minutes later, we were sitting on the couch next to the roaring fire. I had stoked it while Kip had taken the test. It now sat on the coffee table next to the stack of pamphlets.
It came out positive.
We were going to be parents.
“We’ll need to leave a good tip for Branson. He didn’t have to go the extra mile and hand deliver this to us,” Kip said. The blue lines on the test had not taken the full three minutes to appear. By the time he walked out of the bathroom and handed it to me, they were there clear as day.
I pulled Kip closer to me and pressed a kiss to his temple. “Whatever you want, dear.”
He laughed. “Whatever I want, huh? I could get used to that. But you know that I’m not made of glass, right? You don’t need to coddle me just because I’m expecting.”
“I suppose that’s true. But I’m going to.”
“Brax. I can still work and do all the things—”
“Of course you can, and you will, but you’ll also be cherished and spoiled by me for the rest of your days. It’s just the way it’s going to be.”
Kip sighed, sinking into me as he exhaled. “I suppose I’ll allow it.”
Chapter 13
Kip
I had never been happier to be on solid ground—or at least somewhat solid ground. I was inside Braxton’s truck now, after finally getting off the plane. Thankfully, he had been smart enough to drive himself to the airport, whereas I had gotten a ride there. At least this way, we only had one vehicle, and it wasn’t a rental or someone else driving us. With the way I felt right now, the last thing I wanted was company.
We had been able to move our flights up to an earlier day, so that way, we were getting home a day earlier. It wasn’t much in thegrand scheme of things, but I was happy to be headed toward the comfort of my own den and my own bed.
Then again, I supposed I wouldn’t actually be in my own bed now, would I?
