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“I’m gonna give them to them now,” she said with so much excitement, her aquamarine eyes outshone the ocean.
“Good idea,” I encouraged her.
She turned to run off into the house but stopped and swung back around. She pressed her face into my huge stomach and kissed it loudly. “Bye-bye, baby brother.”
I laughed as she disappeared into the house.
“They’re all convinced it’s a boy,” Harris said with a sigh as he dropped down onto the swing beside me. Lifting my feet from the stool, he put them in his lap and took off my black slippers before squeezing with just enough force to make me moan in pleasure. “I don’t have the heart to tell them it’s another girl.”
I laughed again, happiness flooding out of me in forty-foot waves as I closed my eyes. “We don’t know that yet. It could still be a boy.”
And honestly, I didn’t care either way if it was a boy or a girl. I was just ready to meet the little demon who had been using my insides as a punching bag for the last few months. Whoever was in there had made it impossible to rest the last few months, but especially this past week. There wasn’t a comfortable position that offered any relief, and I was about to cry defeat and beg to be induced since this brat was already a week past due.
But I was happy that he or she had held off long enough to let us get Hayat’s third birthday party over with. I would have been so sad if I hadn’t been able to make the day special for her. Not that she would remember the perfect princess party she’d had that day. This was like any other day to her, because she was just that spoiled.
“How about you let Poppy and Pop-Pop take you for ice cream?” I heard Dad say
ing, and I lifted my eyes to find him walking out onto the porch with Hayat in his arms. “Then we can have a sleepover with Gammy. And tomorrow Gammy and Nana will take my pretty girl shopping. That way, Mommy can sleep all night, and Daddy can take care of her.”
“Can I have chocolate chip, Poppy?” the three-year-old asked hopefully, as if she honestly didn’t think her grandfather would give her whatever she wanted. “With whipped cream, please?” Dad pretended to think about it, making her bat her long lashes at him. “Pretty, pretty please, Poppy?”
“I guess so, if Mommy says you can have it.”
“Mommy?” she pouted down at me, her eyes like the most beautiful jewels I’d ever seen. “Can I, please?”
“Fine,” I said with a smirk at Dad.
“What?” He grinned. “I asked you first, didn’t I?”
“So asking me if you can spoil her makes it all right?”
He sighed in mock exasperation. “I can’t win with you. You yell if I don’t ask, you yell if I do. I can’t take the yelling anymore, Lu.”
“Mommy didn’t yell, Poppy,” Hayat told him with a frown. “She doesn’t yell.”
“Sure she does, cupcake. She might not yell with her voice, but her eyes are screaming at me right now. Will you protect Poppy?”
Her arms tightened around his neck. “Don’t worry, Poppy. I won’t let her hurt you.”
Harris snorted, but Dad ignored him. “Dev and I are taking her for ice cream. Your mom wants to help clean up a little more, so I’ll be back for her later.”
“Not too much ice cream, Daddy,” I implored. “She’s already had cake and all that pizza from earlier. If you give her as much as you usually get her, she’s going to puke.”
“I know what I’m doing,” he said with a shrug, but I knew he would take what I said into consideration. His eyes landed on my stomach, concern darkening his eyes. “You want anything?”
I bit my lip, contemplating it.
“Lu.”
“Can you get me a pint of the dill pickle mixed with the s’mores?” My mouth watered at the thought of my latest favorite combination. Thankfully, the ice cream shop a few miles up the road catered to pregnant women’s cravings.
Dad made a disgusted face but nodded. “Whatever you want, Lu. Say bye-bye to Mommy and Daddy, cupcake.”
“Bye!” She blew us a kiss, but she didn’t seem to care she was leaving us behind. It was sad for us both, but we loved that she was so comfortable with her grandparents she didn’t mind being away from us even overnight. On the weekends, Hayat was always at a sleepover with one or the other pair of them. And throughout the week, Dad and Devlin frequently stopped by to take her out for a little while. They all doted on her, and she loved them all fiercely, but the bond she had with my dad was just a little bit stronger than what she had with Devlin.
Not that Dev knew that. He was so twisted around his granddaughter’s finger, he couldn’t even tell. When they were all together, she didn’t treat him any differently than she did Dad. But when it was just Dad around, I could see the difference. It was one secret I would always keep from my father-in-law, though.
Harris continued to massage my feet, and all the energy I’d had throughout the entire day seemed to evaporate. My eyes grew too heavy for me to keep open. “This is nice,” he murmured, kissing the top of my head. “But why do I get the feeling this is just the calm before the storm?”
