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Her chin props itself up on my torso to meet my sleepy gaze. “Hi.”
“Coño, te extraño,” I airily confess in Spanish.
“I’ve missed you, too,” she echoes to my surprise.
Only a beat passes before I’m asking, “Would you like to talk about why you were…so upset?” Harper’s hesitation has me rushing to pre-comfort her. “It’s quite alright if you don’t. You deserve any space you need for thoughts or feelings you’re having. I just…I want to be here for you when you need me to be. I am here for you when you need me to be, beautiful. Whether you’re not speaking to me or on the verge of not speaking to me, none of that bullshit matters when you need me. I’m here. I’m fucking right here. I’m not going anywhere. You are mi vida. You are my number one priority now and always.”
“Promise me you’ll give our son or daughter that same amount of devotion.”
Keeping my excitement at bay is damn near impossible. “I promise.”
She attempts to smile. “And in Spanish.”
“Te lo promento.”
“And in Irish so I know you mean it.”
“Geallaim.”
The corners of her lips finally curl upward to show me the expression I haven’t seen in what feels like lifetimes.
Not wanting to ruin the moment yet desperate to have her confirm it, I cautiously ask, “You’re really pregnant?”
She slowly nods while rising up to a sitting position. “I took three pregnancy tests Thursday and got my blood drawn at the hospital yesterday morning to officially verify. I should have a concrete yes sometime tomorrow.” Harper pushes her loose hairs away from her face. “I hope you’re really ready to start a family because there’s a 99% chance it’s happening.”
“How did it happen?” Joining her in a sitting position is followed by further investigation. “Did you stop taking the pill and forget to tell me? I would’ve been shagging the hell out of you twice as much had I known.”
Appalment and amusement fight for the proper ruling on her face. “Ohmygod, Tate.”
“I am beyond ready to do the family thing with you, bella. All of it. The birthing classes. Googling the pregnancy books. Kissing your stomach while bathing you in the bath.”
“You know there’s more to it than that, right?”
“Tá.” Enthusiastic nodding can barely be controlled. “I’m ready for the midnight feedings and having him fall asleep in my arms while I’m watching Elvis sing on the TV. I’m ready to figure out car seats and gripe about the cost of childcare and get one of those backpack things to strap him to the front of me while we’re in the pool winning a dunk competition against Felipe.”
Giggles fill our home for the first time in days allowing me to breathe a bit easier.
“Family means everything to me, Harper. And growing that with you…will always be the one thing I want.” An open palm is offered her direction. “No matter the place. No matter the time. No matter the circumstance.”
She folds her fingers with mine on a heavy sigh. “Then you have got to get your shit together about Daniel because I wanna raise kids with you not babysit you like you are one.”
Fuck me, just hearing his bloody name threatens to make my eye twitch.
“I have two real friends in my life, Tate. Two. That’s it. No one from my childhood or high school or college. I’m not like you. I don’t have spares around every corner and have trouble making new ones even if I wanted to. Nat and Daniel are the only family I have outside of you and yours and I need you to be okay with him in my life.” My face starts to drift off only to gently be turned back to meet her gaze as she adds, “Our life.”
Feeling Dad’s advice physically push me forward causes me to confess. “I’m just a wee bit jealous of the bloke.”
“Why?”
“He’s attractive. He’s bloody wealthy. And he knows you in ways…I don’t yet.”
Her shoulders slump sympathetically.
“My greatest fear is that he will wake one day – if he hasn’t already – and realize you were the best thing that ever happened to him, the best thing that could ever happen to him, and regret letting you go.”
“And?”
“What do you bloody mean and?”
