She laughs, half falling against me. “I’ll squish you!” she protests.
“That is not what you were saying last night,” I tease.
She grins, sitting in my lap with her legs spread around me.
“You have to know that I want to do everything for you, Pixie. I want to help you with every little part of this. I can’t carry our baby for us. You’re doing that all on your own, and you’re doing such a freaking good job of it. So let me do everything else for you. Call me every five minutes. Call me every thirty seconds. In fact…let’s just cuff your hand to mine so we’re stuck together,” I smirk.
“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you,” she laughs.
“The cuffs are still in the bedside drawer,” I tease.
“Fine,” she sighs softly. “I will stop worrying about needing you so much and ask for help more often.”
“Good. Now, we are going to be late. So let me retrieve your other sneaker and get it onto your little whale foot so we can leave?”
“Hey!” she gasps in horror as I lift her with ease and set her back on the sofa. “You are messing with a pregnant woman’s hormones. You should know you’re asking for trouble!”
“Oh please, the only hormones that are raging around inside you are the kind that I really, really like.”
She giggles and shakes her head as I kneel down in front of her again to slip her other shoe on.
“I can’t help it. Even now…if I had my way, we wouldn’t even leave the hotel, we’d just stay here all day and enjoy that very comfortable bed,” she grins.
“The bed. The sofa. The shower. The bath. The kitchen counter?”
“Exactly,” she nods enthusiastically.
“And then I’ll get in trouble with your family again when they think I’ve kidnapped youagainbecause you don’t show up to the family dinner,” I argue.
“You know we could have just stayed at Josiah’s place while we're in Chicago,” she says.
“Right? Is that so? You know you’re the reason wearen’tstaying there. Because you can’t be quiet to save your own life, and no one in that mansion, no matter what wing they were staying in, would get any sleep for all the moaning and gasping coming from our room,” I say, raising my brows and daring her to challenge me.
Her eyes glitter beautifully as a smile teases the corner of her lips.
“Fine,” she huffs, letting me pull her to her feet. “We can go to dinner. But as soon as we get home, I need yourhelpwith something,” she winks, over-exaggerated and obvious as mischief spreads across her face.
I laugh, pulling her into my arms, holding her as close as I can while her belly keeps us apart. “I love you so fucking much,” I whisper against her lips.
***
The door is open when we arrive, and we walk into Josiah's mansion without any small humans knocking us off our feet for a change. The twins must be playing outside. The weather is beautiful today, hot enough to swim, even.
Things have changed in massive ways over the past few months. The most drastic change has been between Josiah and me.
The animosity has completely faded. All that’s left of it are playful jests that get thrown back and forth as we try to compete with each other over stupid things that are meaningless.
Tonight, we’re having an early barbecue dinner, and the competition involves who can cook the best steak.
However, I don’t know how reliable the judges are, considering they're his kids.
Kelsey, I trust you to be fair and reasonable. Kira is a little terror and will burn the world down for her father. It’s rather admirable, actually.
Some things have changed. And some things haven’t. Illyin, for example. He hasn’t changed. He’s refusing to take Izabel’s calls. I told her to keep trying. One day, he will come around. For the time being, she has this family, and everyone here adores her.
“There he is!” Josiah shouts from outside as I step through the patio doors with Izabel at my side.
Josiah walks over to us, reaching out to shake my hand. “Hey, man.”
