AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Robin sighed. “You’re right. I didn’t stand a chance.”
“He loves it,” Holly insisted with a wave of her free hand. In the other one, she held Jack and Robin’s squishy little nephew, Chris. “Don’t let him fool you. Besides, he’s not so frosty about Christmas anymore, is he? He should just think of this Christmas in July surprise party as a warm-up for this year’s holiday season.”
“I’m right here,” he said dryly. “Stop talking about me like I’m not.”
She stuck out her tongue, and he returned the gesture before looping his arm around Robin’s shoulders and dragging her away from Holly. “You know this wasn’t actually a surprise to me, right?”
Robin stilled, her cheeks going as red as the perfect Christmas-in-July sundress she’d decided to torture him with today. “You knew?”
“I’m not your next-door neighbor anymore, Mrs. Rhodes. You can’t plan a surprise birthday party for me while living under the same roof.”
Jack and Robin had gotten married in the spring, then went to Paris for their honeymoon because Robin had always dreamed of going. She’d wanted to plan it for Abby’s spring break so the Pattersons wouldn’t have to worry about getting her daughter to school while they were gone, and Jack hadn’t minded the fast timeline in the least. It meant that after three years of wishing she could be his, they made it official three months after he proposed.
When they got back, he, Robin, and Abby had promptly moved their stuff into Jack’s house. He’d told her he was willing to move into her place instead since it held so many memories for his girls, but she’d been excited to rent it out to a pair of young newlyweds. They’d grown up in Snow Hill and were looking for a home close to the elementary school, and he could tell it made her happy to offer them the perfect house to start their family in.
Well, that, and he could also tell she loved the clawfoot tub in his bathroom. Hers wasn’t nearly as nice. But that was only a small part of it, he was sure.
“Has anyone ever told you that you should be a detective someday, Officer Rhodes?” Robin asked, turning toward him and wrapping her arms around him just above his duty belt.
He leaned down and kissed her, right there in the midst of the party going on around them. He didn’t even care that their family, friends, all of his coworkers, and a couple dozen Snow Hill residents were crammed into the bullpen to celebrate his birthday. Life was short. If he wanted to kiss his wife, he would.
“It’s on my to-do list,” he replied when he pulled back. Then he looked up and scanned the smiling faces around them. It was hard to find anyone in a packed room like this, let alone someone who was a lot shorter than everyone else. “Where’s Abbs?”
“She’s working on another surprise that I’m pretty sure you won’t see coming.”
He narrowed his eyes at his wife. “You sure about that?”
Robin searched his face for a long moment, then she let out an exasperated sigh. “How do you know?”
“Welivetogether,” he said again, shaking her in his arms as if to bring his point home. Then he leaned down, whispering in her ear. “All the ice cream? Certain items missing from the shopping list? Skipping out on spa night because you’re too tired to do your own toenails?”
Impossibly wide eyes greeted him when Robin leaned back. “What are you talking about?”
“Um … the surprise?”
“Which you think is … what?”
He blinked rapidly, wondering if he’d hallucinated all of the little signs that his wife was expecting. But, no. Living together had taken the getting-to-know-each-other thing to the next level for them, and he’d be willing to stake his life on the fact that the clues he couldn’t help but notice meant they were about to be parents again.
“Aren’t you pregnant?” he asked in a low whisper, hoping beyond all hope he wasn’t wrong. At least he hadn’t mentioned her mood swings or increased appetite. Hopefully, that would lessen the fallout if this blew up in his face.
Robin stared open-mouthed at him for long enough to make him want to crawl under his confetti-covered desk. Then, she reached behind him and plucked her purse off his desk chair, scattering bits of red and green as she brought it between them.
He peered inside, frowning at the sight of a cellophane-wrapped box of pregnancy tests mixed in with all the other stuff she carried around with her. “Uh, what am I looking at here?”
“I’ve been suspecting it,” she said quietly, “but I was going to take the test tonight.Notas a surprise. I thought it would be fun to find out on your birthday. Together.”
Jack chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Spoiler alert: I’m pretty sure I already know the answer.”
“You’re not a crystal ball or an expert on these things, so hush. We’ll just have to find out later.”
“Or, you can go to the women’s locker room and find outnow. I’m not sure how I’m gonna get through the rest of the day without knowing.”
She gaped at him. “You’re not kidding.”
“No, I’m not. Scoot.” He jerked his chin in the direction of the locker room.
“Bossy much?”
