I laugh harder, holding my belly. Shane turns to look at me with amusement. “Oh, you find this funny?”
“Very.” I smirk. “You’re the one who thought it was a good idea to get five of them.”
“That’s not fair, you got the calm one. Want to trade? I’ll give you Cookie in exchange for Cupcake.” He tries to untangle himself from Cookie’s leash, ready to hand it over.
“No, Cupcake and I are fine right here. You can keep your rowdy children.” He continues to pull on each leash, trying to get them loose. But nothing seems to work, and they only seem to be getting more excited. “Shane, just throw the toy, it might get them to focus on something other than each other.”
He does as I say, except it goes entirely differently than I had pictured it in my head. Instead of them just facing forward, trying to get to the toy, which would give time for Shane to untangle them better, they yank hard on their leashes and spring off toward the toys. Shane begins tipping forward and quickly tries to steady himself, but instead ends up tumbling down to his butt on the pavement and letting go of the four leashes.
“OWW!”
“Oh no!” I cover my mouth with my free hand as I penguin-walk over to Shane, my huge belly making it impossible to walk properly. “Sweetie, are you okay?” I bend over, looking at him while Cupcake licks his arm.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he groans, getting up and dusting his shorts off. “Well, that didn’t go exactly as planned.”
I press my lips together as I try to suppress my giggle. “Not exactly. We also lost the dogs in the process.”
Just then, Sprinkles comes running back with the chew toy in his mouth and drops it at Shane’s feet. “At least I got one faithful dog. You’re a good boy, Sprinkles.” He pats his head and throws the toy again, letting Sprinkles run off to collect it.
He then takes my hand in his and begins our journey down the driveway. “What are we going to do about the other three?” I ask, spotting yellow and purple collars at the far end of the lawn. Where Brownie went off to, I have no idea.
“We’ll find them eventually.” Shane smiles and brings our joint hands to his lips, kissing mine.
I laugh. “What were you thinking getting five dogs?”
“I wasn’t, Angel. I wasn’t.”
SHANE
So, our walk before lunch wasn’t very successful. Two out of the five did walk alongside us like planned, while the other three ran away from me every time I tried to get them. I was a sweaty mess by the time I caught them. I swear, you’d think I was out of shape. At least Aubrey had a good laugh as she strolled leisurely with her well-mannered pup.
I gaze at my girl as she finishes her caramel sundae while stroking Cupcake’s fur as they watch some Christmas movie on TV. Don’t ask me why, she said she was in the mood for it. I didn’t even know they kept them up on streaming sites during the summer. All the other pups are knocked out in their doggie beds, exhausted from all the running they hadmedoing today.
I know Aubrey’s been worried about not finding a wedding dress in time, but I’ve actually found the perfect solution to her problem, which is why I told her to stop looking for one. Hailey came back from her honeymoon two weeks ago, and when she called me to see how everything was going with Aubrey and thewedding, I told her about the dress issue, which is when she hooked me up with the woman who did her dress.
She said she doesn’t usually take last-minute clients like this, even with the large sum I was offering and the referral. But when she heard who the wedding was for, she refused to pass up on the opportunity to dress a future Jefferson bride.
Sometimes I forget just how high my family name is in this society. I’ve grown so used to living my secluded life as a simple head coach in the NHL that when people fuss over my family name, I almost feel like an imposter.
I check the time on my phone, which tells me that Libby, the custom dressmaker, will be here in one hour. Right now, she’s at Hayes’s house getting Aubrey’s bridesmaids fitted for their dresses, which is something else Aubrey doesn’t know about. I’ve already had my tux fitted, so all that’s left is my bride.
“Hey, sweetheart?” I thread my fingers through her soft pale blonde waves.
“Hm?” She looks behind the couch where I’m standing.
“Why don’t you go take a shower? I have a surprise for you in an hour.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Please tell me you aren’t having five cats delivered to us.”
I laugh, sticking my forehead to her head. “No. No more surprises like that. You’ll like this surprise. I promise.”
She smiles and bites her lip. I can see the excitement glittering in her eyes. “Okay.”
I help her stand from the couch by putting a hand to her back, then she waddles off to our bedroom. I love the way she walks now. It’s so adorable and funny to see. Her belly has lowered drastically, which means our daughter is preparing to join us.
When it first dropped and Aubrey started getting what seemed like contractions, I was worried she was going into early labor. Thankfully, we had an appointment with Dr. Carlson that sameday, and she reassured us that it was all normal. That the pain Aubrey was feeling was Braxton-Hicks contractions, which are essentially fake ones preparing the body for the real deal. And that even though our daughter had lowered, she wasn’t showing any signs of labor coming soon.
Forty-five minutes later, I greet Libby at the door as she comes in with two workers. One of them carries a huge duffle bag while the other brings in a covered clothing rack on wheels. “Now, where is the beautiful bride-to-be?” Libby asks once I close the door behind them.
