Page 78 of Line Change

He pulls me into his arms. “You are. How do you feel about that, momma?”

I sink into his embrace. “Scared. Excited. All the things,” I admit.

“Little princess is going to be so spoiled and loved,” he says, his hand resting on my belly.

I put my hand on top of his. “I know.” I stare down at our hands on my stomach for a few beats. “We should probably go. I’m sure they need this room for the next patient.”

He lets go of me, and I immediately miss his warmth, his touch. He makes me feel safe. Loved. Cared for. All the things I wasn’t sure I’d ever get.

I push those thoughts aside. Now is not the time to be thinking about how he makes me feel.

I grab my purse, and he guides me out of the room, his hand on my lower back. We make a quick stop at the receptionist’s desk to make my next appointment, and then we’re on our way.

The ride back to the condo is silent as I’m lost in my thoughts. Everything feels so much more real now I know the sex of my baby. I have to think about names for her, figure out where I’m going to live when this arrangement is over, and start buying baby items. I’m halfway through this pregnancy. The next twenty weeks are going to fly by.

“Where are you going?” I ask when he makes a right turn at a light we should have turned left at.

“You’ll see,” he tells me, and a few minutes later he’s pulling into a shopping center parking lot.

He finds a space and parks the car before helping me out. He steers us over to a mommy and baby clothes boutique and holds the door open for me.

“What are we doing here?” I ask when we get inside.

A saleswoman greets us and tells us to let her know if we need help.

“First of all, we’re going to pick out some things for baby girl, and then we’re going to find new clothes for her mama.”

“Bash,” I protest but let him lead me over to the newborn clothes.

“Please, let me spoil you and her.” He steps closer to me and drops a kiss to my cheek. “I know you’ve been struggling with less and less of your clothes fitting lately, and I imagine it’ll get harder. As much as I enjoy seeing you in my clothes”—his eyes darken—“and don’t mind you wearing them, I’m guessing you’d rather have your own.”

I pat his chest, the last stones of the wall around my heart crumbling. If I wasn’t in love with him before, I am now.

“I was going to go over to one of the box stores and buy a few staple pieces to get me through or order a couple of things online.” I glance around the store, lowering my voice. “This place is outside of my budget.”

He chuckles, taking my hand and kissing the back of it before entwining our fingers. “But it’s not outside of mine. Let me spoil you. Only the best for my girls.”

And my panties are ruined.

My girls.

I like the sound of that.

Does he mean it the way I hope he does?

“Fine.” I gesture for him to lead the way.

We wander around the newborn girl clothing section, and he picks a few floral onesies, a short and shirt set with sea creatures on it, and a couple of multiple colored long sleeve pajamas. He keeps grabbing more and more newborn clothing until I finally tell him that babies don’t fit into that size for very long. We end up choosing a cute pink dress in three-to-six months and a few different colored onesies in a variety of sizes.

“Come on.” He tugs me toward the maternity section.

The saleswoman comes over and takes the baby clothes from Bash before disappearing again.

“This is overwhelming,” I tell him, staring at the racks of clothing. He’s right, the majority of my clothes don’t fit well, and even the bigger sized bras and underwear I purchased a few weeks ago are already getting too small. A few new outfits would be nice.

“Want me to find the sales lady?”

I shake my head and make my way down an aisle, picking out a few pairs of dress pants in different sizes, since I don’t even know what size I am, along with some office-appropriate shirts. Turning, I find an adorable sundress and spot it in my favorite shade of blue. Might as well get it in teal too. I can put a cardigan over top of it and wear it to the office.