Page 267 of Wait for Him

He shoots to his feet so fast his chair kicks backward and somebody's glass goes over on the table. “BABIES?!” His voice cracks hard enough to send the room into hysterics. “Babies?! You said babies!”

“Surprise!” I say, holding up one hand while the room fucking erupts around us.

Jackson doesn't even seem to hear them. He's staring at my stomach with his mouth hanging open, looking so completely fucking stunned that I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at him.

“There are two babies in there?”

“Well, don't sound so alarmed.”

“I'm not alarmed! I'm...” He looks around the room like maybe someone else can identify whatever the hell is happening to him. “There are two?”

“Yes, baby.”

“Since when?”

I stare at him. “Since conception, presumably.”

The room loses its shit again, and Jackson points at me as he starts making his way around the table. “No, smart-ass. Since when have you known?”

“A few weeks.”

“A few fucking weeks, Rosalie Jackson?” By the time he reaches me, his hands are already going to my stomach, spreading over it like knowing there are two babies in there has somehow changed the dimensions. “And you didn't tell me?”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“At our wedding?”

“I considered skywriting, but this felt more intimate.”

He looks up at me, and all the shock and disbelief on his face suddenly gives way to tears.

Well, shit. There goes my fun.

“We're having two babies?” he asks, quieter now.

And fuck him, because that gets me too.

I put my hands over his where they're resting on my stomach. “Yeah, baby. We're having two. A boy and a girl.”

His face completely changes.

Then he pulls me into him so fast I lose my footing, and he has to wrap both arms around me to keep me steady. The room erupts around us, people clapping and screaming as they crowd closer, but Jackson barely seems to hear any of it.

He kisses me hard, laughing against my mouth, one hand still spread protectively over my stomach like he suddenly needs to keep all three of us attached to him at once.

When he finally pulls back, he cups my cheek in his palm.

My eyes flutter closed for a moment before I lean into his hand and look up at him.

“Hi, Mama.”

I smile through the tears. “Hi, Daddy.”

His eyes change. “Oh... fuck yeah.”

Groans come from the crowd, and I stare at him for half a second before I realize what just happened, and then I burst out laughing. “Absolutely not. Do not make that filthy right now.”

“Too late.” His grin spreads as he pulls me closer. “You called me Daddy. I heard it. My body heard it. We all heard it.”