That’s all it takes.One more thrust, and I hold still as I spill over inside her.It’s a feeling I can’t explain, and I’m the lucky bastard who gets to repeat it over and over again for the rest of his life.
Careful not to crush her, I swoop in for another kiss as I pull out.“Stay put,” I say, before rushing across the hall to the bathroom to get a washcloth to clean us both up.I didn’t get to take care of her the last time before she freaked out on me.This time, I’m doing it right.
After cleaning us both up, I toss the washcloth onto the floor and climb back into bed, pulling her into my arms.“I love you,” I tell her, pressing my lips to her hair.
She tilts her head up to look at me.“I love you— Oh shit.”
“Ells?”
She scrambles to sit up.“Shit.Shit.Shit.”
“Ellison.What’s wrong?”
She pulls the blanket up to her chest and turns to look at me.Her face is as white as the sheets we’re lying on.“I’m late.”
“Late?I thought we were staying in, but I can take you wherever you need to go.”I move to climb out of bed so we can get ready.
“No, Copeland.I’mlate, late.As in my period.”
I can hear the panic in her voice.I pause, waiting for the same emotion to hit me, but all I feel is happy.
“You’re smiling.Copeland, why are you smiling?I just told you I might be pregnant.”
“I know.”I nod slowly.Still no panic.“We need to take a test.Do we go to the hospital?How are you feeling?Was I too rough with you?”I fire off questions.
“No, we don’t need to go to the hospital.We can buy a test at the grocery store—hell, probably the gas station.I’m fine, freaking out a little, and no, you were not too rough with me.”
“A test.Got it.”I climb out of bed and quickly slip back into my clothes.
“You’re leaving me?”she asks, eyes wide.
“No, baby, I’m going to get us a test.”Bracing my arms on the bed, I lean over and kiss her.“Do you need anything else while I’m out?Have any cravings?”
“I don’t even know if I’m pregnant, and it’s pouring down rain.”
“I won’t melt.”I kiss her again.“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”I stand and turn to leave.
“Copeland.”I stop and turn to look at her.“Be careful.”
“Always.”I take the stairs two at a time, sliding into my shoes that I left by the door, and rush out into the rain.I make it to the pharmacy in time, mere minutes before they close.I rush in and go straight to the register.“Pregnancy tests?”
The older lady behind the counter grins at me, and that’s when I realize it’s Edith from my mom’s quilting group.
“Aisle three, all the way at the end,” Edith tells me.
“Thanks.”I slap my hands on the counter and turn for aisle three.However, I know I need to say something to Edith about my mom.I stop and pivot so that I’m once again facing the counter.“Don’t mention this.We don’t know yet.”
Edith makes a show of zipping her lips and tossing away the key.There’s a gleam in her eye that I don’t know if I can trust, but I can’t worry about that right now.I have tests to buy.At the end of aisle three, I find what I’m looking for, but the options are overwhelming.I don’t know which one is the best, so I do what any man excited about the prospect of becoming a father with the love of his life would do.
I buy one of each.
Edith checks me out, wearing a grin, and I make her promise again to keep this between us, before I take my two bags of pregnancy tests and a large pack of peanut M&Ms for my girl and rush back out into the rain to my truck.
The drive back is short, and as soon as I’m in the house, I find Ellison, now dressed, sitting on the couch with a pillow on her lap, wearing a worried expression.“Ready?”I ask, holding up the two bags of tests.
“You bought two bags of tests?”she asks.
I shrug.“Yeah, I didn’t know if we would need more than one, and I didn’t know which one to get.”
