In the last couple of seconds, we had inched closer, drawn by the undeniable energy between us.
“Oh!” She grasped my hand. “There she goes. Feel that?”
I had always thought that holding a hockey stick, feeling it as an extension of my arm, was where my hands were meant to be.
I was wrong. This was it. My hand on her belly, absorbing the kick of my child. I didn’t just want a family. I wanted this, the whole stinking lot of it.
And I wanted it with her.
I continued to rub her stomach. Being this close to her and watching that light glitter in her eyes was the most satisfying thing in the world. Super Kid appeared to have calmed down, but I hadn’t. I was like a starving man with a can of Pringles: once you pop, you can’t stop. My hands couldn’t leave this woman’s body, but they were in a losing battle with the rest of me.
My eyelids grew heavy. “The snails are our teachers,” I murmured.
“They sure are.”
“They work better with a mate.”
“Not work better, just are more fertile. It’s all about ensuring the continuation of the species.”
I smiled, feeling so, so sleepy. But happy. I was where I was meant to be.
“So not just one kid, but a whole brood of ’em. That’s what the snail wants.”
My eyes fluttered closed, and I fell off the cliff into sleep.
Chapter Forty-Six
Franky
* * *
Five hours later, I returned home to find him sitting at the breakfast bar, scrolling on his phone.
“Hello.”
He smiled, a flash of white through that dark beard. My fingers itched to touch it. I’d seen it online, but the reality was truly magnificent.
“Hey, Doc. Sorry to drop in unannounced.”
“That’s okay. I had to go into the lab to check on my specimens. But I managed to move some things around so I could spend time with you.”
He moved off the stool and closed the gap between us. My heart beat wildly. I still couldn’t believe he’d come to see me right after the series ended. Part of me wondered if it was damage control, because of Everly.
But he hadn’t even brought it up, probably because he didn’t think it was any of my concern. After all, several weeks had gone by.
He placed a hand on my bump. “Are you sure you’re not overdoing it? You’re about six weeks from lift-off, and I worry this might be too much.”
I bit my lip. I needed to say something. I needed to hear his side instead of condemning him in my mind. Love should have no boundaries when it came to communication.
“You never told me that your ex-girlfriend just had a baby.”
“Everly?” He looked genuinely confused. “Didn’t think it was relevant.”
“But … you wanted to settle down with her and have a child? And she didn’t?”
“She did, just not with me.” A flush darkened his cheeks.
“After you split up with her, she met someone and got pregnant.”
