“Hi,” I replied, trying to hide my nervous energy.
“Hey, little man,” he greeted Maddox, scooping him up.
Maddox squealed in delight as Axel carried him off to survey the work completed on the house during the day. It was part of his routine; he did a walk through with Mad sometimes in the middle of the day if he could find the time. We were adding an entire second story. It would take months but the result would double our square footage.
“What’d you do today?” he asked when he’d returned, grabbing a beer from the fridge.
I dropped the knife I’d been holding, startled by his question.
“Jesus, babe, be careful,” he cursed, bending to pick it up. “You all right?” he asked concerned.
“Fine, why wouldn’t I be fine?” I replied hurriedly.
He looked at me skeptically. “Are you on the rag?” he demanded.
I let out a choking sound, something between a laugh and a cough. “Uh no, why?”
“‘Cause you get a little crazy when you’re on the rag,” he shrugged, eyeing me steadily.
“Nope,” I shook my head. “Just must be in a weird mood,” I added breezily. “My mom and Mad had fun,” I added, changing the subject.
“Oh?”
I nodded. “I ran out for just about an hour. Oh, and Sal wanted her to come help with Wren.” I grinned.
He smiled. “That’s great, baby.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “Dinner will be ready soon,” I added, shooing him out of the kitchen. Until Mad went to bed, avoidance was my method of choice and I was rolling with that as long as my far too perceptive man would let me get away with it.
“Okay, baby, what gives?” he demanded in exasperation later that night. I’d spent the evening a bumbling distracted mess. We’d put Maddox to bed and I knew I couldn’t avoid it any longer.
I bit my lip. “I have something to tell you and I’m nervous,” I blurted.
“Okay,” he nodded warily, waiting for me to continue.
“I got you a present,” I said, rising from the bed to grab it.
“A present?” his brow wrinkled in confusion.
“Open it,” I said softly, handing him the gift bag and standing nervously, fighting the urge to pace.
He removed the tissue paper and pulled out the tiny onesie I’d picked up earlier that day. In black letters, it read, “I have the world’s best Daddy.”
He looked at it in consternation for a minute. “But this is too small for…” Then I saw the light go on and he looked up at me in wonder. “Does this mean what I think it means?”
I bit my lip and nodded.
He swallowed hard as his eyes swept my frame landing on my belly. “You’re givin’ me another baby?” he demanded.
I nodded again.
From his place perched on the edge of the bed, he reached out and pulled me between his legs, his head resting on my flat belly.
“Eyes baby. I need your eyes,” he demanded softly.
I looked down stunned at the emotion that looked back at me. “I just wasn’t sure,” I murmured. “If you’d be ready. It’s so much sooner than we’d talked about.”
“Well, we haven’t been exactly great about birth control,” he chuckled.
