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“I’m good,” I told her, not even daring to shake out the throb that still lingered in my fingers.
“Dray, baby, get our future son-in-law something to drink while I change this little one. I just called his mom to ask if he could spend the night. Looks like my guys are getting a sleepover tonight.” Lana cooed down at Conrad. “Does my little man want to spend the night cuddling with G-Mom?”
“I want to cuddle with G-Mom,” Drake called after her, a pout on his face. “Can I cuddle with her too?”
“Only if you get Jordan something to drink and are nice for the rest of the day,” she yelled back from the kitchen.
“I can do that, I guess,” he grumbled. “You want tea or soda, kid?”
“I should probably head home,” I told him as I pocketed the ring box once again. “Need to ask your daughter a pretty important question.”
“That can wait another five minutes,” he growled at me. “Angel said I have to get you a drink or I can’t cuddle with her tonight. You’re getting the fucking drink.”
Grinning, I followed him into the house. “Is this how it’s going to be with Arella? Am I going to have to do exactly as she requests to get cuddles from her too?”
He released an unhappy grunt as he crossed to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of diet soda. “You’ve met her, right?”
Lana’s soft giggle at her husband’s question reminded me of Arella’s. I hadn’t seen her all morning, and I was itching to get back to her. I needed to hear her voice, smell her skin, touch her. I didn’t like being away from her for long, but this was important. Now, I ached to be beside her again.
To make my new future in-laws happy, I stayed long enough to finish a drink with Drake before heading back to the apartment where Arella had already texted me she was. The ache in my chest that was always there when we weren’t beside each other was pressing down on me, but I tried—and failed—not to speed to get back to her.
> By the time I walked into our living room, I was almost gasping for each breath in my need to hold her. “Love?” I called when I didn’t see her. “Arella.”
“In here!”
I followed the sound of her voice into our bedroom and found her sitting in the middle of the bed. She had on one of my T-shirts that practically swallowed her, one side hanging low over her shoulder, exposing the top of her breast enticingly, with her hair pulled up into a messy but sexy knot on top of her head. As I walked in, she pushed up onto her knees and held out her arms, welcoming me with a secretive little smile that made my heart clench.
Kicking off my shoes, I grabbed hold of her hips and jerked her against me. “Missed you so damn much,” I groaned, burying my face in her neck.
“Babe,” she murmured with concern. “You’re shaking.”
“Can’t do this shit anymore, love. I can’t spend so many hours without you beside me.” My hands slid down to her ass, my fingers digging into the tight muscles of each hip through the shirt. “Nearly lost my mind on the way home because I couldn’t breathe without you.”
She combed her fingers soothingly through the hair on the back of my head. “It was only one morning, Jord. We’re rarely apart.”
I clenched my eyes closed. “I know, but I can’t think straight when you’re away from me. I know I can’t be with you every second, twenty-four seven, that I’ll smother you if I’m not careful, but there is this weight on my chest when we aren’t together that physically hurts.”
I felt her lips touch the side of my face. “You couldn’t ever smother me, I promise. I want to be close to you every minute of the day. Beside you is my favorite place in the world.” One of her hands left my hair and rubbed down my back before reaching behind her and taking hold of one of mine. She guided our hands around her body and placed them over her lower abdomen. “Jordan…”
Something in her voice had my eyes snapping open, and I lifted my head. That secretive little smile was back in place on her lips, and her eyes glittered with tears. “I’ve been waiting to tell you this for over a week, but I wanted to confirm it with the doctor in case I was wrong.” Her tongue brushed over her bottom lip, but for once, she couldn’t so easily distract me. Every cell in my body suddenly felt like it was zinging with electricity. “We’re pregnant.”
I’d thought the day Arella told me she loved me for the first time was the happiest day of my life, but every day since had been even happier than the last. Yet, this moment would be something I remembered when I was ninety and couldn’t even remember how to feed myself. I’d never forget the happy tears that made her blue-gray eyes sparkle or the pink flush to her cheeks. The way her smile was so sweet and precious that my heart felt like it could fly out of my chest as I looked down at her and realized that no man could possibly love his woman as much as I loved mine.
My heart was in my throat, making it nearly impossible to swallow, but I forced it down. A hundred different questions filled my head, but all I could get out was, “How are you feeling? Are you okay? Do you need anything?”
Her smile became even more brilliant. “I’m fine. I’ve had a little bit of nausea, but if anything, my appetite has only increased lately. I’m honestly surprised you haven’t noticed the five pounds I’ve put on already.”
My hand that was still clenched at her ass flexed. “Just more of you for me to love, babe.” My hand that she was holding low against her belly stroked back and forth lovingly. “You saw the doctor today?” She nodded. “Is the baby okay?”
“Our little nugget is perfect,” she said and moved back. Reaching under her pillow, she pulled out a few pictures and excitedly handed them over. “The doctor did an ultrasound, and our sweet little baby is already measuring ahead of schedule.” She skimmed her finger over a little black blob area on the picture. “This is him or her. I know you can’t really see much of anything, but by the next ultrasound, we will be able to make out everything.”
All I could do was stare in awe at the glossy piece of paper. That little blob was our precious little nugget. We’d made him or her with love, and I would spend the rest of my life making sure they and their mother never questioned how much the two of them meant to me.
Something dripped onto the picture I was holding, and it was only then that I realized I was crying. Sniffling, Arella wiped away my tears. “It’s okay, babe. I cried when I first saw our nugget too.”
I dropped down on my ass and pulled her onto my lap, holding her back to my chest, I lifted the paper closer so we could both see it. “This is the most beautiful picture I’ve ever seen,” I whispered. “I can’t take my eyes off it.”
“Should we wait and tell our parents?” she asked after a few minutes of us just silently sitting there looking adoringly down at our baby’s first picture. “I know some people wait until after the first trimester, but I don’t know if I can. I mean, we don’t have to tell the entire world yet, but I think it would be nice to tell the grandparents.”
