“Good.” He glances at me and smiles. Reaching out with his right hand, he takes mine in his. “I love you, babe.”
“Me too.”
“Now, tell me your secret.”
“Well, it’s not a secret, secret. It’s more of something I know that you don’t.”
“Sounds like a secret to me.”
“I guess.” I pause when I feel a flutter in my belly. When there isn’t pain, I sigh with relief.
“Are you going to tell me?”
“Tell you what?” Then I giggle. “Right. My secret.”
“Your secret.”
“Here goes.” I place my palm on my belly and say, “The minute I saw you at The Dirty Rabbit that night, I wanted you to impregnate me.”
Eli’s car jerks a little to the left, but he quickly gets it under control. He laughs. Hard. “Jesus, Em.” Then he laughs some more.
“Well, maybe I said it wrong. I think my ovaries exploded that night.” I look over at him. He’s still laughing. “Better?”
“Oh, yeah.Somuch better.”
Now we’re both laughing. Until I feel the telltale sign another contraction has started.
By the time this one eases, we’re in the valet parking line at the hospital. “I’ve got a secret of my own.”
“Oh? Please don’t tell me that you had a boner the second you saw me.”
“No.” He snickers. “Well, maybe.”
“What’s your secret?”
“The day I saw you in the library…?”
“Yeah.”
“The day after The Dirty Rabbit, I saw you walk into the library. I followed you. After you went upstairs, I searched the library for over an hour until I spotted you.”
“No.” My voice sounds breathless. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. You were a surprise. I had to know who you were.”
“Obviously, it was all due to my amazing pickup line.”
“Obviously.”
“I love you, Eli.”
“I love you more, Em.” When it’s our turn at the hospital valet, Eli jumps out and tosses the keys to the woman who’ll park our SUV. Opening my door, he unbuckles me, then lifts me out and keeps hold of me. “Now. Let’s go have a baby.”
“Yes. Let’s.”
Amelia Rose Baxter
7 pounds, 4 ounces
