“Be careful with our baby!” I laughed out loud, trying to catch my breath.
We lay there for a while, soaking in the moment in what would soon be our new house. It was so surreal. I knew how much this meant to Gabriella, and how important it was for her to make this purchase. She deserved this moment. She earned it. She was amazing.
“So, you’re the breadwinner now…” I said with a smirk.
“Seems that way.” She winked at me before I pulled her in for a kiss.
Chapter 59
Gabriella
“Where should I put these?” asked Chandler, holding up a pair of strappy black high heels that I wouldn’t dream of putting on my swollen feet.
“Ugh,” I whined. “I miss my cute shoes. And my tiny feet.”
I tossed the shirt I was folding into a nearby box and leaned against the wall of the closet, resting my hands over my even bigger belly. Every time I thought I was done growing, I seemed to pop even more. I pouted over my shoe predicament, looking up at Chandler from the lush rug strewn across the wood floor.
“Your new feet are just as cute,” he said, kneeling in front of me and setting the strappy shoes aside.
I lifted one and attempted to wiggle my chubby toes, which was just laughable at that point.
Chandler burst out laughing alongside me.
“You still love me?” I asked, knowing the answer, but it was nice to hear with my pregnancy hormones all over the place.
“Always. Chubby toes or not.” He smiled, leaning in and planting a kiss on the tip of my nose.
“Now, where do you want me to put the shoes?” he asked, standing back up and looking around at the closet we still had to pack up.
“That box is fine,” I said, pointing to the large cardboard box stacked on several others.
I watched him place them in a shoe bag and set them in the box, before moving through the rest of my shoes on the shelf. He had been the one who had packed and boxed most everything so far, while I usually found a comfortable spot to facilitate. It was about all I could do, since bending over and lifting heavy weren’t options at this point.
I couldn’t believe we were moving tomorrow. Just two weeks ago, I had driven Chandler to the brownstone I had fallen in love with all those months ago, hoping he would fall in love with it too. Thankfully, his sentiments were the same as mine and I called the realtor up that night telling her not to put it on the market. I was willing to pay well over asking price to make sureit ended up being ours, but didn’t end up having to. The owners were happy their old home was going to a growing family.
It was my first ever “big girl” purchase. I had spent my life working and trying to earn my place in my father’s shadow, all the while earning a steady stream of income. My father was proud of my independence and my responsibility, which was why he gave me early access to my trust fund. I had been sitting on over a billion dollars for the past few years, never spending a lick of it, as I lived paycheck to paycheck. And they were generous paychecks.
As proud as I was of myself, I never really talked about it with anyone. I internally celebrated my success, but hadn’t celebrated it with friends or any romantic interests. I didn’t want to come off as boastful to my friends, and I never found a man who stuck around long enough to share it with. Any man I had come close to being romantically involved with was turned off by my independence and “obsession with work,” as one had said to me.
And then it came to feeling like I could trust my finances with someone, wondering if they would be into me for the right reasons, and not just see dollar signs. It wasn’t easy to trust people when I was attached to the name Harold Enterprises.
Since being with Chandler, who was secure in not only who he was as a man, but a businessman as well with an empire all his own, I didn’t feel the need to hide it anymore. I could be proud of my success, and I knew I could also fight for what I wanted without him thinking I was entitled or “obsessed” with work. He was equally as obsessed, which made us partners well suited for each other.
Even though we were both stubborn powerhouses, we knew when to give and take. Right now, he was pulling the weight when I physically couldn’t. Of course, we had hired movers to help us with the big move tomorrow, but we had been doing as much as we could ourselves. We wanted to have our hands in this big life change, and make memories along the way to share with our daughter, even if they just included me sitting on the floor and pointing to boxes.
I watched Chandler lift a box of my fancier dresses, heavy from the beaded detailing and heavy trains. His muscles strained under his white t-shirt, and it was hard not to pounce on him here in this closet, if I could even move that quickly. He must have noticed my stare because he looked at me and raised a brow before wiping away at his damp forehead.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” He chuckled.
“You have no idea,” I practically purred.
“Is that so?” He smirked, walking toward me with that familiar look in his eye.
“Uh-uh-uh.” I wagged a finger at him. “Too much work to do! The movers are going to be here at the crack of dawn.”
Chander sighed dramatically and went to pick up another box.
“Have it your way,” he said over his shoulder with a pouty look on his face, but my eyes were drawn to his ass in those gray sweats.
