“It’s—” That’s when it hit her. “Oh. Yes, it’s a safe time of the month for me.” Then she laid a hand on his chest when he leaned in for another kiss. “Wait. Why did you ask that?”
“Because if or when we decide to try for another baby, I’d rather they not be an oopsie.”
She stared up into his eyes. “Does that mean you want another baby?”
“That means if you decide you want to have another baby, I’d rather it be planned. Or at least consciously prepared for.”
“But you get a say in it, too. You sure you want to put up with me being pregnant again? I’ll be the first to admit I was…tetchy, as Badger said.”
He smiled, his hands coming to rest on her hips and gently pulling her against him. “Yeah, but it was your first one, and you were—and still are—dealing with a lot of emotional stuff. If I ever change my mind and decide no, I don’t want more kids, I promise I’ll tell you. Beyond that, the choice of having more kids is squarely on your shoulders.”
She cocked her head at him. “Why is that?”
He adorably snorted. “Because unless there are medical developments that allow me to get pregnant and have babies, you’re designated as ‘it’ when it comes to that. Your body, your choice.” His smile faded. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to sound like a political ad.”
She rose onto her tiptoes and kissed him again. “Do you know how much I love you?”
“Why, because I’m adorkable?” One corner of his mouth quirked up in the hint of a smile.
Dewi molded her body against his, his erection pressing against her through their clothes. “You’re utterly, completely adorkable. And you put up with me, meaning you’re a fricking saint.” She nuzzled his nose. “And because I think you’re perfect. I can’t imagine ever being with anyone but you.” She slanted her lips over his again, savoring this, and him. “And let’s call oopsie baby evensies for how I grabbed you out of nowhere in a sports bar and overloaded your brain in the process.”
Now he fully smiled, slowly grinding against her in that way she loved. “Yeah, but I’m not complaining about how that turned out.”
“Well, neither am I.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Reeeeally? I think you spent the last several months doing nothing but complaining, honey. When you weren’t trying to scare me to death with your four left paws, that is.”
“Yeah, but that’s just because…” She realized what he was doing. “I know,” she finally said, resting her head against his chest. “Give myself the grace I’d extend to everyone else. Because I’m harder on me than on anyone else.”
He wrapped his arms around her, his breath warm against her scalp. “Exactly. And it’s not like we need to decide this right now.”
“I want more,” she whispered, her eyes squeezed shut. “I want a houseful of kids. I want them close in age, like Peyton and Trent. Not spread apart like me and Peyton. I want them to be able to count on each other should…something happen, I want them to be able to be there for each other, not be nearly strangers to each other.”
He didn’t respond, at first, but his body didn’t tense, either. “Okay,” he simply said.
She finally looked up at him. “But I’m Head Enforcer.”
“Yeah? And?”
“How do we manage that?” she asked.
“Uh, I think I’ve proven I don’t have a problem changing diapers.” He smiled. “And I get to work from home. Plus, we’ve decided that Da’von will work under me, so I can train him how to do my job. He’ll be able to work remotely, too. He can pick up the slack when I need time off to be a dad. Between him and Gillian, and Trent, of course, and any future hires, I think we’ve got this.”
He cupped her face in his hands. “You’re overthinking this, honey. Whether we have only one, or we have ten kids?—”
“Ten? You want ten kids?”
Ken’s right eyebrow arched again. “That’s not what I said. You’re the one who said ‘houseful of kids.’ Doesn’t matter to me how many kids, because I’m here for you. You’ve already made my dreams come true, baby. I’m all-in. For life.”
She rested her head against his chest again. “I don’t want ten,” she finally said. “That’d be…a lot. But I think I’d like at least a couple more.”
“Then why don’t we practice after our shower?” he suggested. “Which we should start taking before the hot water runs out.”
They stripped and climbed in as tendrils of steam curled through the shower. Draping her arms around his neck again, pressing her body against his—it truly felt like they were made for each other. As if the Goddess herself had sculpted the two of them as a matched set.
Ken’s hands slowly skimmed down her sides, reaching around to cup her ass and firmly press her against him while slanting his lips over hers. The long, languid kiss melted every cogent thought struggling to erupt in Dewi’s mind and anchored her there, to him, to the present.
To them.
