Page 113 of Manhattan Bossholes

My eyes welled as he spoke—for what he grew up missing and for the sacrifice he was willing to make for our child to make sure history didn’t repeat itself.

“Are you sure?” I asked quietly.

“One hundred percent, without any reservations.”

He dropped to his knees in front of me and pressed a kiss to my stomach, which made the tears pooling in my eyes spill down my cheeks.

“I love you so much,” he said in a strained voice, his cheeks pressed against me. “I love you both so much. And I’m so fucking happy.”

“You don’t even know.”

He kissed my stomach again, then stood up to give me a tender kiss on the lips. “We should probably get back out there.”

“No,” I pouted. “I want to stay in this moment with you forever.”

He drew away from me. “But don’t you get it? We’re going to have so many moments like this, Piper. It’s just the beginning. Of us.”

He pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me. I breathed him in, and as usual, I felt like I was home.

I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and spotted Chloe taking a picture of us.

“Sorry!” she said. “I was passing by, and I couldn’t resist capturing the cuteness. Carry on!”

Vincent and I looked at each other wearing secret smiles. How were we going to keep this to ourselves?

Chloe was still watching us, frowning slightly. “What’s going on? You two look guilty.”

“Nope,” I giggled. “Definitely not guilty.”

Vincent pressed his lips to my ear. “Can we tell everyone? Please?”

“It’s still early, though…” I whispered.

But then I realized every single person who had come here today for us had been a part of our journey. They were my closest friends, family, and colleagues.

It was the perfect time to share the wonderful news.

Chloe was still waiting for an explanation from us.

“Okay, let’s do it,” I said to Vincent. I turned to Chloe. “You’re going to want to hear this. Paul too.”

I smiled to myself, thinking how over the moon he was going to be when he found out he was about to be an uncle.

Vincent gave me a confident nod, and we walked out into the main room with his arm slung around my shoulder.

He grabbed a water glass from a nearby table and held it over his head as he banged against it with a spoon.

“Hi everyone,” he said as the noise died down. “I just wanted to say a couple of things before we sit down for lunch. First, Piper and I want to thank all of you for being here today. It means so much to celebrate with you. Second, we want to give a huge thank you to our hosts, Chloe and Paul. We love you guys.”

Paul beamed and raised his glass to us as people applauded. Chloe blew kisses, and I could tell by her expression that she was waiting for us to reveal what she’d caught us celebrating.

“I want to leave the most important announcement of the day to my beautiful bride-to-be,” Vincent said. He gave me an encouraging nod.

I cupped my hands around my mouth. “I’m pregnant!” I shouted without a preamble.

The room went silent for a beat, then exploded into cheers and applause. Everyone rushed closer and closed in around us, offering congratulations and hugs.

It was a beautiful moment of connection with the people I loved, and it filled me with a joy I’d never known before. I glanced over at Vincent in between hugs.