He left the room and went down the hall to his own bedroom, where he had been hiding the gift he’d purchased for the baby. A moment later, he returned, holding a massive bear in his arms. It was almost as tall as Chelsea, and twice as wide. “What do you think?” he asked, holding it up.
She gasped. “Miles, it’s gorgeous! Oh, what a sweet bear! Where did you get it?”
“Hart and Honey.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
He grinned. “I’m surprisedIknow what it is. It’s a baby boutique downtown. Dad told me about it. Apparently, my parents shopped there before I was born, so I went down to check it out after work a few days ago.”
“It’s huge! How did you get this thing in the house without my knowing?”
“I brought it in while you were in the bath the other day,” he explained. “What do you think — over here in the corner?”
“Yes, I think that’s great,” she said as he positioned the bear sitting up in the corner of the room. “It looks so cozy. Our baby is going to be the luckiest little kid in the world.”
She got up and went over to the bear, sat down between its arms and legs, and snuggled into its body. “This will be a great place to sit and read the baby a story,” she said.
Miles nodded. He could picture it. Although, seeing her there now, he found himself thinking that he ought to get a nice thickcushion for her to sit on while she did it. The mother of his child couldn’t be forced to sit on the floor. Yes, that was the next surprise he would bring home for her, as soon as he had the chance to go shopping again.
Another month passed.The nursery was painted and decorated, and it seemed impossible that they still had so long to wait before its new occupant would be moving in. And yet, at the same time, sometimes Miles still found it hard to believe that a real baby was on the way — that this wasn’t just a wild fantasy he had dreamed up for himself. That was, until the night he woke to the sight of Chelsea standing in the doorway to his room.
He sat bolt upright, fear lancing through him. “What is it? What’s the matter? Is the baby all right?”
“The baby is fine,” she said quickly. “Nothing’s wrong. It’s… Miles, it’s kicking. I can feel it.”
He was out of bed in a heartbeat, his hands on her shoulders, guiding her to sit on the edge of his bed. “You can feel it?”
“It’s amazing.” Her voice was full of awe and wonder. “I’ve never felt anything like this in my life. I had no idea… It’s a real little person.”
He stared at her belly, as if he might be able to see the kicks. She was wearing a tank top and it had ridden up, so a few inches of her bare skin were exposed.
Chelsea reached out and took his hand. “You have to feel this,” she murmured. “You have to.”
She pulled his hand to rest against her stomach, keeping her own hand on top of it.
At first, Miles didn’t feel anything. He looked at her, brow furrowed, wondering if this was like that first ultrasound — if he was just missing out because he didn’t know how to perceive what he needed to perceive.
She gasped. “Right here!” She yanked his hand to one side.
And Miles felt it. A strange sensation below the skin, barely more than a rumble — but it was there. “Oh, my God…”
“That’s our baby!” Chelsea’s eyes were full of tears. “That’s really our baby, Miles. It’s really in there.”
He met her gaze, and his heart swelled with love.
Love for the baby.That was all it was. Just love for the baby. But even that was so much more than he had expected to feel at this stage. He was having this baby to make his father proud. He had expected that he would grow to care for it, of course, and that he would want to be a good father. But he hadn’t dreamed of this feeling. It was powerful. All-consuming. He had never felt anything like it before in his life.I would do anything for this baby, he realized.I would go to the ends of the Earth.
And it was impossible to separate that feeling from the way he felt about Chelsea. The two of them, at the moment, were one. Caring for the baby meant caring for Chelsea, and he knew in that instant that he would have done anything in the world for her, too.
But that’s just because she’s carrying the baby. That won’t last. Once the baby comes, my feelings for Chelsea will go back to normal.
But she was looking at him with such tenderness in her eyes, and he was suddenly sure her feelings mirrored his exactly. They were so close. Those lips he had thought about every day for the past three months were so close. That soft skin, that sweet aroma that haunted all his fantasies…
Miles couldn’t resist anymore. There had never been much hope.
He leaned in and kissed her, deeply and passionately, and her arms wrapped around his neck as she returned the kiss in equal measure.
CHAPTER 16
