Sylas just shrugged. “Nothing that won’t wait and this was definitely more fun.” He pulled his jeans up over his hips but left them unfastened. “Now, what do you say we clean up and then we’ll find some dinner?”
Chapter Fourteen
Sylas
“Whatcha doing?”
I paused, my roller dripping over the paint pan and cocked a brow. “Is that rhetorical?”
Paul laughed – I was noticing that he did that easier and more often nearly every day of the three weeks since we’d been away from the ODI compound -and looked around the small sitting room that was connected to our bedroom. “Well, obviously you’re painting,” he said with a smile. “I guess what I meant was why?”
I laid the roller back down -I’d finished the first two coats and it wouldn’t hurt to let them dry for a bit -and walked over to wrap my arms around the sweet boy who had just enough sass to keep me on my toes. “Honestly?”
“No, lie to me,” he deadpanned, making me snort.
“I noticed that the beige on the walls was pretty worn,” I said, rolling my eyes even though I was definitely skirting the truth with my answer. “I thought you might want a spot to keep things, so I figured some fresh paint on the walls might freshen the room up.”
“Things?” Paul repeated, confused. “What kind of things?”
“Well,” I crossed my fingers that I wasn’t moving too fast. “You’re going to need to start looking for baby stuff, aren’t you?”
Paul frowned. “I guess.”
“I thought it might be less overwhelming if you could pick up a few things at a time instead of having to buy it all at the end.” I kissed his cheek before going back to my roller. “This way you have a nice, fresh room to organize it in, make it easier to keep track of what you get and what you still need.”
I neglected to mention that if I had my way we’d be setting it up as a nursery in the near future. No sense in scaring him off.
“That’s very sweet,” Paul murmured, his eyes starting to look damp. “You’re going to make me cry.”
“Nope!” I said firmly, taking another swipe at the wall. “No crying. We only have about an hour before we need to leave for the doctor and every time you cry, we end up in bed.” I winked at him. “You’ll have to cryafterthe doctor tells you what a healthy baby you’re building in there.”
Paul gave a strangled laugh. “You are such a dork, Sy.”
I threw him an over-the-top innocent look. “Who, me?” and when Paul grinned and shook his head, I took it as a win and turned back to the task at hand.
I finished painting -pretty happy with how the cream-colored walls- and scrubbed up just as it was time for us to leave.
“You’re pretty quiet,” I observed after we’d been in the truck for a bit. “What’s wrong?”
Paul shook his head. “What if there’s something wrong? What if I’ve been doing something wrong? What if..”
I interrupted, dropping my hand on his knee. “Everything is fine, Tiger. You forget that I can hear the little one’s heartbeat and it is strong and healthy.” It was also slow and steady which I was fairly sure meant a boy, but I kept that prediction to myself. I could tell he was going to argue with me, so I tut-tutted. “And I can smell the baby’s scent and it is happy and healthy, otherwise we would have already gone to the doctor, love.”
“Yeah, okay,” Paul agreed in a mumble, blowing out a long breath. “I’m just so nervous.”
“That makes perfect sense,” I tried to reassure him. “But I’m here with you and everything is going to be fine.”
To my immense satisfaction, Paul seemed to accept that without question, settling back in his seat and visibly relaxing.
“You’re right,” he agreed, a soft smile teasing his lips as he glanced over at me. “As long as you’re with me, I know it will be okay.”
My heart swelled so much at those easy words that I was surprised my chest didn’t burst right there in the truck.
Everything was fine as I parked the truck and we took our spot in the waiting room, but when the nurse called out his name, Paul turned to me with wide eyes. “You’re coming with me, right? I mean, they can’t stop you, can they?”
Tossing my magazine on the table by my chair, I stood and reached for Paul’s hand, pulling him to his feet and wrapping my arm around his waist. “If you want me there, I’m there,” I assured him. “Nothing on this planet will keep me from your side as long as you want me there.” I could tell from the nurse’s eyeroll that my declaration was a bit over the top but Paul didn’t seem to mind.
He nuzzled close to me as we followed the nurse down the hall. “Thank you.”
