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“What’s your excuse for trying to run us down that night?”
“I’m not a bad guy.”
I raise my Glock, pointing it at his temple. “No one ever thinks they’re the bad guy.”
Including me.
Fifty
Heidi
“Where you at, Heidi?” Blake calls when he walks in the house.
I’m upstairs in the bathroom, staring at a positive pregnancy test for the second time in my life.
“Heidi? I know you’re home.” His teasing voice tips the corners of my mouth up. He’ll be happy about this; I know he will.
I step out of the bathroom. “Hey.”
“What’s wrong, beautiful?” Blake’s gentle voice unchains the fear wrapped around my heart. This is nothing like the first time I got pregnant. For one thing, we’re older, and Blake can’t wait to have more children.
My nervous eyes meet his curious ones, and my bottom lip trembles. I don’t have anything to be scared about. He’ll be excited. “Nothing.”
“What’s behind your back?”
Slowly, I pull my hand from behind my back and wave the little white test stick at him. “I’m pregnant.”
Happiness breaks out over his expression. “Oh my God, this is awesome!”
He yanks me into his arms and hugs me so tight, I gasp for air. “I’m sorry. I know we weren’t—you’re happy, right?”
I twist my rings round and round, waiting for his answer. We just got married. Blake just got out of the hospital. He’s still recovering. He just took over as VP. Now might not be the best time for more responsibility in our lives.
His fingers graze my chin, and he tips my head back. “Heidi, I’m thrilled.”
“I still need to go to the doctor to be sure.”
“Okay. Tell me when, so I can go with you.”
Surprised, I’m not sure how to answer at first. “You’ll do that?”
“Of course, I will. I can’t wait.”
Hope had been the one to go with me to most of my appointments the last time. Axel went once or twice, but it always led to an argument afterward. “I love you, Blake.”
He runs his hands up and down my back and squeezes me tight. “Love you, too.”
Alexa toddles over, wrapping her little arms around his leg. “Up,” she demands.
With one final kiss on my forehead, he lets me go. Leaning over, he picks up Alexa, lifting her high in the air until she squeals and giggles. “You ready to be a big sister, baby?”
Her eyes light up, and she claps her hands.
“She’s already a good big sister to Grace,” I say.
Alexa twists toward the door. “Gracie?”
“They’ll be over later.”
“I hope it’s a boy,” Blake says.
“Of course, you do.”
“Poor Chance is already outnumbered as it is.”
“Please. He’ll be thrilled when he’s older.”
He groans.
“Can we keep it a secret?” I ask. “Just until we know for sure?”
“Absolutely. But make the appointment soon. I’m way too excited to keep my lips sealed for long.”
“Baby,” Alexa says.
“Uh-oh.” I laugh and place a finger over her lips. “Shh. Secret.”
“Secret baby,” Alexa repeats in her sweet little voice. My heart swells with love for my little girl, my husband, and our new baby on the way.
Fifty-One
Not far down the road…
Murphy
I think I’m almost as nervous about today as I was on our wedding day.
Scratch that. I’m more nervous.
I never doubted Heidi would show up to say, “I do.”
Today, there’s a chance—an extremely slim chance Charlotte has promised me—that the judge could say no to my petition to adopt Alexa as my own.
Heidi steps into the bedroom and my heart squeezes. I didn’t think it was possible for her to be any more beautiful.
“Does this look okay?” She runs her hands over her dark red dress.
“You have no idea how fucking sexy you are.”
She tips her head up and stares at me. “I don’t want to look sexy. I want to look like a mature, responsible adult.”
“Why? You’re not the one who’s being judged today.”
She flicks her gaze toward the ceiling. “I don’t know about that.”
I rest one hand on her hip and the other on her belly, searching for any movement from our daughter. “The way this dress hugs your curves makes me want to fill you with more babies.”
Finally, she laughs, even though I wasn’t even remotely joking. “Come on, let’s get this tie on. Marcel’s not here to help us figure it out.”
I chuckle and don’t even bitch about the damn thing choking me.
There’s nothing I won’t do for my girls.
We stop at Rock and Hope’s to pick up Alexa.
“Looking good, Murphy.” Hope fusses with the knot in my tie, making sure it’s perfect.
Alexa squeals, “Daddy!” and runs to me.
My heart kicks in that familiar way it does every time she calls me that.
“Look!” She twirls around in her purple dress until she falls, landing on her butt.
Grace chortles and points at Alexa from the safety of Rock’s arms.
Alexa giggles as I pick her up and kiss her cheeks. “You look so pretty.”
She reaches out and pets my beard that’s grown in better than before. “Daddy.”
“Yup.”
Our next stop is Teller and Charlotte’s house. We have to keep an eye on Alexa so she doesn’t run off to play with the chickens and ruin her dress.
“Wow!” Charlotte opens the door and steps back. “You clean up nice, Murphy.”
Under her scrutiny, I get jittery and start tugging my sleeves down.
“Don’t worry, you still look like a badass,” she assures me.
“Not what I’m worried about.”
“It’s just a formality, Blake, I promise,” she says in a softer voice. “You’re already her dad. This is nothing more than a piece of paper.”
“Thanks, Charlotte.”
She leans up and
kisses my cheek, stopping to pat my beard. “This has grown back nicely. Wouldn’t even know you were missing it a few months ago.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Let’s go!” Marcel hollers.
I bust a gut laughing. “Nice suit, bro.”
“Eff off.”
“Eff off?” I glance at Charlotte. “What happened to him?”
She shrugs and nods at Alexa. “Little ears, I guess.”
Rock’s heavy footsteps thud over the porch and he stops outside the front door. “You know we still need to find a parking spot downtown, right?”
“Got everything?” Charlotte pats her pockets and searches for…something.
I almost think she’s as nervous as I am.
“We’ll follow you down,” she says.
Downtown’s busy as usual but we find a spot near the courthouse. The wait outside the courtroom is what kills me.
Charlotte arrives and runs straight for the bathroom.
“She okay?” I ask Teller.
He shrugs, even though he’s wearing a doofy-as-fuck grin. “Nerves, probably.”
“I do not miss this,” Hope mutters, looking around the courthouse. “At all.”
Rock takes her hand. “We’ll go in and get seats.” He clamps a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Settle down. Everything will be fine.”
With all the bad experiences Rock’s had inside courthouses, you’d think he’d want to avoid them forever. But as he told us last night at dinner, there was no way he’d miss this.
“I’ll go check on Charlotte,” Heidi says.
Teller taps my chest. “You all right?”
I shrug a few times, trying to adjust the suit jacket. “I want to get it done.”
Inside the courtroom, Alexa climbs into my lap and plays with the rings on my fingers while the judge reviews the file in front of him.
“Mr. O’Callaghan.”
I snap my head up and turn to Charlotte. Do I stand up? Say something? She nods at me which isn’t all the helpful.
“Yes, sir,” I finally answer.
“I’ll assume your attorney has explained this to you, but I want it to be crystal clear. You understand you’re taking on all legal rights and responsibilities of parenthood? Even if you and the mother divorce in the future, you will still be obligated to pay child support. Your adopted daughter also gains the right to your estate. Under the law she will be no different from any of your biological children.”
