“Yes,” I smile, “It’ll be a nice surprise when we dothe party.”
He nods, “Okay, Red.”
In the underground parking lot, he hits the button for his SUV and the beep of it unlocking echoes through the space. He opens my door for me but before I can climb inside, he grasps me and crashes his mouth to mine. I’m breathless by the time he pulls away.
“What was that for?” I breathe but he just grins, all charming and boyish.
“Because I can,” He winks before he slams my car door shut and rounds the hood, getting in beside me.
“Careful now,” I tease, “Or I might think you love me back.”
His whole-body freezes, “What did you just say?”
Panic consumes me, “It’s okay! I didn’t mean it, like it’s fine if you don’t love me back yet.”
But then his brows pull low, and devastation crosses his face, his green eyes holding so much emotion I don’t know how to handle it, “You don’t think I love you already?”
“Well, I…” I trail off.
“I am in love with you,” He chokes, “So damn in love with you my heart may as well be walking around outside of my body.”
I blink, the words slowly seeping into my skin, making my throat close up and my eyes sting.
“I fucking love you, Willow Stanton, with every ounce of who I am.”
“You do?” I whisper.
“I do,” He reaches over, grasping my chin in his fingers, “I fucking love you so damn much I don’t know how to handle it.”
“I love you, too.” I whisper.
He grins, eyes sparkling, “I know you do, baby.”
The gel is cold against my stomach as the wand is moved around and the tech tries to get the best angle to show the gender of the baby. I have no idea what I’m looking at so I keep watching the screen, where the obvious shape can be seen and the sound of the heartbeat fills the room, like a galloping horse. Olivia makes a choking sound next to me and her hand squeezes mine, while Bast holds my other.
“They’re so precious,” Olivia whispers, voice broken. I glance away from the screen to look at my best friend, seeing the tears rolling down her face, her eyes wide and filled with so much joy.
The tech must find what she is looking for as she pauses with the wand and hits some buttons on the keyboard, capturing new pictures before they start toprint and then she grabs some paper and writes something down before she shoves it into an envelope and hands it over to Olivia.
“I’ll give you some time,” The tech smiles kindly before she vacates the room, leaving the three of us inside.
“Are you going to look?” I ask, sitting up on the bed.
“You want me to right now?” Olivia wipes her tears.
“I mean,” I glance to Bast who just shrugs so I continue, “Sure why not? I know you’ll keep it a secret.”
“Okay,” Olivia’s hands shake as she pulls out the piece of paper, keeping it hidden behind the envelope and then new tears are rolling down her face, her brown eyes glassy and continuously filling with water. “Oh,” She whispers shakily, blinking which doesn’t help the tears and puts the paper back inside.
She grins at me and tucks the envelope inside her purse.
We are halfway through now, halfway there and it’s terrifying to think in another twenty weeks, give or take, I’ll have a little girl or boy.
-
We walk Olivia to her car before we head to Sebastian’s SUV and head back to the apartment.
“I think we should start shopping,” I tell Sebastian on the ride up, “For the nursery.”
