“And I think you’re wrong about that.” Mark got up and squeezed his shoulder, then walked out of his room, leaving him to get some sleep.
Loud laughter pulled Stephen back into the present. His uncle Tucker had finally walked through the door. Stephen thought his uncle was a workaholic and needed to get a life. Stephen was still smarting from the verbal thrashing he’d gotten from his uncle on his stupidity. The only reprimand he got was desk duty for the rest of his pregnancy. He placed a hand on his baby bump and smiled sadly. He loved his daughter already, but he was having doubts.
It was silly, maybe, but he wanted to prove to his fellow agents that even though he was pregnant, he could still handle the tasks of being an agent. He didn’t want them to see him as a burden, and that was his biggest fear and the reason why he ran into the building without thinking. But no matter what his reasons were, it was still stupid. He should have thought about his daughter and the danger he was putting himself in. With all the medical issues that can happen to some males when they were pregnant, he needed to be more conscious of his actions. He gasped and looked down at his stomach in shock.
“Are you all right?”
He looked up, and Brenden was by his side, kneeling in front of him. “Yeah, I'm good.” He felt the same fluttering in his stomach again. “Just your daughter letting me know I need to put her first.”
“Yeah, and how did she do that?”
Instead of answering him, Stephen took his hand and placed it on the side of his belly pressing it gently. “I’m not sure if you can feel it…” They waited for a few minutes and just when Stephen thought it wouldn’t happen, their little girl made her presence known to them.
“Wow,” Brenden said with wide eyes. He leaned forward and brushed their lips together. “Thank you.”
“Aw, you two are just simply adorable together.” They both turned and looked at Marylin that was staring at them adoringly with wedding bells gleaming in her eyes. “So?” she asked.
“So what?” Brenden asked back.
“When are you planning to tie the knot? Since I’ve started my business as an event planner, I reserve special dates and prices…”
“Let me stop you right there,” Stephen breathed. He adored the woman and understood why her family loved her so much. She had a huge heart and only wanted to see the people she cared about happy.
“We are not ready to get married,” Brenden added.
“Maybe one day,” Stephen said, looking at Brenden, who was staring at him and he could tell his partner was in complete agreement with him.
“Yeah, maybe one day.”
They turned to Marylin who huffed and shook her head. “Young people and their resistance to the idea of marriage. At least let me plan your baby shower,” she suggested.
“I…” Stephen started.
“Don’t worry about that, dear, I will take care of it,” Marylin told them as she walked off, mumbling something to herself that Stephen couldn’t answer.
He looked at Brenden to see if he was thinking the same thing. And by his expression, he was.
“When that woman gets an idea in her head, there’s no stopping her,” Brenden commented.
“Tell me about it.”
“Hey.”
“Yeah,” Stephen answered.
“Are you all right with what I told her?”
“I am. I know we’ve never talked about it. We’ve confessed our love for each other, and we are working to build a family with Nicholas and our little girl. That’s all that matters to me right now.”
“Me too.” Brenden kissed him on the forehead, and they were given just a short moment to themselves before Rosa called them to dinner.
** ** ** ** **
Stephen was in bed waiting for Brenden to finish with his shower. He could only take a bath with Brenden’s help. He shifted his injured leg and winced in discomfort. He couldn’t take any of the heavy drugs that would numb the pain because he was pregnant and had to stick with pain killers that would not be harmful to the baby. Stephen was almost six months pregnant, and in less than four months they would be welcoming a baby girl to their family. He felt giddy at the idea.
When he’d told Brenden about Nicholas, and later the baby, he did not expect them to get this far. What he’d hoped for, being friends at the most. But now they’d confessed their feelings for each other and were looking to the future. Brenden’s phone rang and without thinking Stephen reached over and picked it up. He looked at the screen and his brows furrowed when he saw that the number was blocked. He answered it anyway thinking it could be someone from work.
“Hello?” No one responded, he said hello again. When no one spoke, he hung up and threw Brenden’s phone on the bed. Strange, he thought, before his mind went blank the second Brenden walked out of the shower in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist showcasing his wet, golden skin.
