My period is late.
With everything going on with my mom, I never did get around to going on birth control.
Chapter 29
Owen
"Doyou want to grab a beer after work?" Ace rounds the nurse’s station, holding on to either end of the stethoscope that's slung around his neck.
"No can do," I answer, slapping the paper files I'm holding against the desk. "Today Autumn had all of her stuff sent to my house from New York. I gotta help her unpack."
I can't help the wide grin on my face. Fifteen-year-old me is pumping a fist in the air in excitement. Hell, twenty-eight-year-old me is doing the same.
I got the girl, the girl of my dreams. My future wife is Autumn Cummings. It still feels crazy to say.
Ace wrinkles his nose like he's just smelled rotten potatoes. "You're out of your mind. A girl tries to leave a toothbrush at my place and it'ssayonara." He whips his hand around like he's waving goodbye. I know he’s joking, he was happiest of all for Autumn and I. Even offered to throw us an engagement party.
"You'll change your mind one day,” I tell him.
He shakes his head and pounds a fist against his chest twice. "Bachelor for life."
"Fifty bucks says one day you'll eat those words."
He throws out a hand. "A hundred says I never will."
We shake on it. Nurse Theresa stares at us from her spot behind the computer, wearing a low-key look that says,I don't know how you two are doctors, because you're idiots.
Ace takes one look at her expression and says, "Well, that's my cue to leave." He goes in the opposite direction I'm headed in, which is to my office to grab my things so I can leave the hospital.
When I get to my car, I send Autumn a message asking her if she needs me to pick up anything on my way home. She responds with a picture of some casserole cooking in the oven.
I know it won't always be this way. Next week Autumn and Livvie will start moving inventory into the new space at Tlaquepaque. She'll be interviewing potential employees, and Livvie will move down to Phoenix to be with her husband, leaving Autumn in charge of it all. But for right now, it feels like the domesticity I always wanted with her.
After pulling my car into the garage, I walk inside. The place smells good, and it's not just the mouthwatering smells wafting in from the kitchen. There's a candle burning on a table, something that definitely wasn't there before. There are also new throw pillows on the couch, and a blanket draped artfully on the back of a chair.
"Welcome home," she says, her arms sliding around my waist from behind. She presses her nose into my back as she hugs me.
"Music to my ears." I loosen her grip so I can turn around to face her. Placing a finger under her chin, I tip up her face to kiss her. "You're beautiful." Her hair is piled messily on her head. She wears yoga pants, a tank top, and not an ounce of makeup.
She rolls her eyes as if she doesn’t believe me.
"I have something to show you," she tells me, and her eyes sparkle like a clear night sky. "Follow me."
I do as I'm told, trying to guess what it is she has to show me. What if it's a floral comforter for our bed? I make a face, and I'm glad she's in front of me and can't see it. How am I going to tell her I don't want a floral comforter without hurting her feelings? I’ve never lived with a girl, and I’m kind of freaking out she’ll want pink and flowers everywhere now.
Oh shit.What if this is our first big fight while living together? What if—?
Instead of going right into our bedroom, Autumn takes a left into an empty bedroom I have across the hall. My stress evaporates. She's probably making the room into an office for herself. That I can totally handle; she can floral the crap out of it for all I care.
I walk in and pause, trying to understand. Pieces of furniture are strewn around the middle of the room. In the corner by the window is a rocking chair. Beside it is a ridiculously huge stuffed hippo.
Hmm, not exactly the office décor I would imagine for her. I suck in a sharp intake of breath when my eyes land on one of the furniture boxes in the middle of the room.
It’s a crib.
"I was trying to finish the crib before you got home, but they are way harder to assemble than you'd think." Autumn bites the side of her lower lip and watches me like a hawk.
My brain trips over my jumbled thoughts. All the weight leaves my limbs and I'm floating, except I'm not because I'm still here, standing in this …nursery?
