* * *
Cherie drove back to Coates Island, attempting to process what she’d gone through in the doctor’s office. The sonogram indicated she was pregnant, and her estimated due date was mid-October. The doctor faxed a prescription to the pharmacy on Coates Island for a three-month supply of prenatal vitamins and gave her an appointment to return the following month.
She picked up the prescription from the pharmacy and went home. It took more than two hours for her to work up enough nerve to tell Reese she had to see him. He sent a reply that he didn’t get off until midnight and would come by then.
Cherie opened the door when she heard his pickup pull into the driveway. The familiar scent of bodywash wafted to her nostrils when he walked into the entryway. “Hey, you,” he crooned before he lowered his head to kiss her.
“Hey, yourself,” she whispered against his mouth. “Come with me into the family room because I have something to tell you.”
Reese held her hand. “Why do you sound so mysterious?”
“Because what I have to tell came as a shock to me.” Cherie sat on the love seat, and Reese’s body’s followed hers down. She took a deep breath. “I went to the doctor today, and he ran some tests.”
Reese’s hand tightened on hers. “What is it?”
She heard a tremor in his query. “I’m pregnant.” Cherie felt her heart stop and then start up again when he closed his eyes and slumped against the back of the leather sectional.
“Are you certain?”
“Very certain. I had a sonogram and saw the baby. I’m at least four months along.”
Reese released her hand and put his over his mouth. “So I wasn’t that far off the day you were hurling your guts out when I joked about you being pregnant.”
“No. I still don’t believe it because I never missed my period.”
“You know what this means, Cherie? We’ll have to skip the engagement and get married as soon as possible.”
“Hold up, sport. I thought we decided we would talk about this.”
“We are talking.”
“No, we aren’t, Reese. You’re telling we must marry next month. Don’t I have any say in this?”
“Weren’t you the one who said you had to be married before you had a baby. Now is your chance.”
“Why do you make it sound as if you’re doing me a favor?”
“Am I?”
“Yes, Reese, you are. Let’s wait until next week before we discuss this again. I haven’t even told my mother that she’s about to become a grandmother.”
Reese nodded. “Okay, bae. Whatever you say. Meanwhile, I want you to take it easy.” He rested a hand over her flat belly. “Remember, you’re carrying around precious cargo.”
“Okay.” She wanted to remind him that, despite her condition, she hadn’t had to modify her daily activities. “It looks as if I bought all those condoms for nothing,” she teased.
Dropping an arm over her shoulders, Reese pulled her into an embrace. “You can’t imagine how much I love you.”
“I think I can.”
He pushed to his feet and swept her up in his arms. “It’s time for Momma to go to bed and get her rest.”
* * *
As Reese undressed Cherie, he looked for the obvious signs that she was pregnant, but didn’t find any. Her breasts weren’t fuller, and her stomach was still flat. He’d heard stories about women carrying to term without realizing they were pregnant. Perhaps Cherie was one of those women. Sitting on the side of the bed, he bent over and kissed her belly. The shock that he was going to be a father still hadn’t sunk in, and he didn’t care whether he had a son or daughter. He just wanted it to be healthy.
It was only after Cherie told him she’d informed Edwina that she was going to become a grandmother that Reese felt it was the appropriate time to tell Parker that he and Cherie were expecting a baby. He’d begun sleeping at her house every day and spent time at his home on his days off to work on the bookshelves for her office. His next project included designing baby furniture. He had to talk to Cherie about turning one of the guest bedrooms in her house into a nursery and storing the queen or twin beds in the attic at his house for future use.
He was relieved that she’d stopped working at the café and was now devoting her free time to planting flower, herb, and vegetable gardens in the backyard. They still hadn’t decided on a date for their wedding, and Reese had to constantly remind himself that Cherie wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was he.
