I snorted in amusement at that. The whole town was always rooting for couples to get married or have babies. Hell, when I was in high school, there was a bonfire celebration the night one of the locals had a baby. You would have thought that kid was destined to become king.
“But not an actual celebration, right?” Blake asked, worrying her bottom lip. “I mean, they’re not really going to throw a party, are they?”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure they already have the baby shower planned. Get ready for an explosion of baby items.”
Blake looked like she was on the verge of losing it. She wasn’t used to all the small-town gossip, but was even less on board with them throwing us a huge baby shower. We hadn’t even moved into our own place yet.
“Thanks, Caroline. Do we need to do anything else?”
“Nope. You’re all ready to go. I’ve printed out some information on scheduling your first visit with the OB-GYN and what kind of vitamins you need. Other than that, we’ll see you next time.”
After she left, I took both of Blake’s hands and squeezed them slightly, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“What’s on your mind?”
She huffed out a laugh. “Um…how quickly our lives have changed. How much of a head start we need before we call my brothers and then flee. Oh, and my personal favorite, where we’re going to live since your father clearly hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you,” I reassured her.
“He does. I’m the woman who kept you away from home! I’m evil.”
“He does not hate you,” I repeated. “He just needs time to adjust. We don’t exactly have the best relationship, so this was always going to be a little bit hard.”
Sighing, she rested her head against my chest. “Why does everything always have to be so difficult?”
“The best things in life shouldn’t be easily won. Look at us. Look at what we’ve gone through.”
“Yeah, and I wouldn’t call that a good time.”
“I don’t know. It was a good adventure,” I grinned, remembering when I accidentally shot her. “Now we get to go on a new one.”
“Just promise me no more bullets. At least until after the baby’s born.”
“I think I can handle that.” Tilting her head up, she finally looked at me and smiled. “You’re gonna be a momma.”
“Yeah. I really hope I don’t suck at it.”
“You’ll be great. Like I said back in Pennsylvania, you can teach the kids to kick ass.”
“Well, I was never gonna be Susie Homemaker,” she sighed.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Sliding off the bed, she took my hand, seeming a little more upbeat than before. Of course, that might have something to do with the way I made her come just a half hour ago, but I wasn’t gonna brag about that right this minute.
“Michael!” Mav shouted down the hall from our room. “Hold up.”
Stopping, I pulled Blake into my side. “What’s up?”
“Just wanted to give you an update on the kid.”
“Is he doing okay?” Blake asked.
“He’ll be fine. He’s staying overnight, but the doc said it’s not too bad.”
“What about the bookstore? I’m sure I owe them a lot of money,” Blake grumbled.
“I think we can split the cost. This kid needs to take some responsibility for his actions.”
