AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She wants to cry in peace.” I patted his knee.
“Oh.” He watched after her for a moment, then turned back to me. “At least you’re smiling now.”
I leaned against his side and rested my head on his shoulder. I had a lot to smile about. Sure, I had a lot to figure out, and I was pretty sure I was currently existing in some area of suspended reality when it came to fully accepting the fact I was growing a tiny human in my womb, but I could smile, even if I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt.
It was better than crying, and I didn’t want to do that, so that was something.
“No,” I said quietly.
“No? What do you mean, no?”
“The answer to your question. If I’d leave if the test was negative. The timer cut me off.” I slipped my hand into his and linked our fingers, holding onto his arm. “I wouldn’t have left, Matt. No.”
His chest rose and fell with a deep breath, and he slowly turned his head and pressed his lips against the top of my head.
I closed my eyes and slowly inhaled, letting a deep breath spread peace through my body. My moment of quiet was broken by more footsteps, but this time it came as a set of four and was accompanied by a very large head being rested on my knees.
I cracked one eye open to stare straight into Baxter’s large, brown eye.
He gave a little whine, and we both moved until my legs were flat out. Baxter promptly flopped himself down on my thighs and rested his head there, slowly wagging his tail across the floor in great long sweeps.
“Do you think he knows?” Matthew asked, letting go of my hand and scratching him under the ear.
I smiled and looked down right at the moment Baxter looked up at me with puppy eyes. “I think he’s going to be my best friend for the next few months.”
Matthew sighed. “I wouldn’t have signed up for this if I knew I’d lose my dogs.”
“Hey, mister. I’m giving you a baby. The least you can do is give me the dogs.”
“That is an excellent point.” He smiled at me. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“No,” I replied honestly. “But you were right when you said it’ll all be fine. I just need to let it sink in, that’s all.”
“Why don’t we go out for lunch? We can go with Addy, Alex, and Oly, or just you and me.”
“Is it bad if I want it to be just you and me?”
He shook his head. “No. We couldn’t have guessed this would happen, sweetheart. I doubt anyone will begrudge us having some time alone. Alex mentioned the zoo yesterday. They’ll understand.”
“You’re right. They won’t mind.” I paused. “And I really do need to figure out how the hell this happened.”
“All right, Miss Marple.” Matthew extracted himself from my grip and stood up. “Let’s get you up, fed, and tell everyone the news so they can make adequate plans for the day, and Nan can start figuring out all the things she’s going to need to knit for the baby.”
I sighed, and as if he knew, Baxter freed my legs by getting up, but he stayed attached to my side as I took a few steps forward. “You know a place for lunch that allows dogs?”
Matthew laughed, scratching the top of Baxter’s head. “I know several. Come on. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
MATTHEW
Pregnant.
Eva was pregnant.
We were having a baby.
It’d been hours since we’d found out, and although we hadn’t said a word about it since we’d left the house this morning, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
My feelings were a mess. This situation had been coming, of course, but when I’d put all this out there to her a few months ago, I hadn’t anticipated being in the emotional place that I was.
The one where I was falling for her.
Where this baby mattered as something more than just potentially ensuring the future of the earldom.
It was the beginning of what I hoped would be a real family.
Asking Eva what she’d do if the test was negative wasn’t my finest moment this morning. It’d slipped out against my will and was a prime example of my lips moving before my brain had engaged them.
The fact that she’d said she wouldn’t have gave me hope. Hope that I could convince her that there was something between us worth exploring.
Something real.
Something worth the effort.
It was also early days with everything—I was more than aware of all the things that could go wrong from here, but I had to believe that everything would be all right.
Heck, I could just ask my grandmother.
Nan seemed to know everything.
Eva leaned over and prodded me. “What are you thinking about?”
I looked at her. “Watch your step.”
She peered down and deftly side-stepped a tree root that was sticking out of the ground. “Thank you.”
