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“You know already.”
“Yeah, I know already.”
She reached across the bed and rummaged in her purse. She pulled out a pack of two pregnancy tests and handed it to me.
“Clare, you star!”
“I stopped by the pharmacy when I took Mads out for a stroll before her nap,” she told me.
I hugged her tight again and whispered, “Thank you so much!”
I tucked the test kit into my bedside table and picked up the baby monitor. Together, we crept out of the room and headed up the hall, towards the delicious pizza smell.
* * *
Everyone headed out about an hour later, with loads of hugging and backslapping and talk about hot baths and early nights. Clare gave me an extra squeeze when she left and said quietly, “Call me if you need me.”
“Same,” I replied. “I love you.”
She grinned at me. “I love you too.”
I loved her like a sister, and it was about time I started telling her so. I told my brother too, when he left – and promised myself we’d spend more time together in the future. I really wanted Maddy to know her Uncle Chip better. And, who knew, maybe my second baby too…
Kayla and Alex curled up on the couch and watched a documentary about the rainforest while I had a hot bath. Afterwards, I made a pot of camomile tea for us all and I joined them, wrapped in a silk dressing gown. Alex and I both knew what lay ahead of us, but we didn’t rush to wrap up the day. We both enjoyed the rest of the show, and Kayla clearly loved having her dad’s attention on her favorite subject, and mine too.
Alex encouraged her off to bed about ten, and then it was time…
I’d been sleeping in Alex’s bed at nights, using the baby monitor to keep an ear out for Maddy. Luckily, she’d been sleeping so well lately that I hadn’t had to get up very much. Alex had offered to come and sleep in my room, to be close to Mads with me too, but it wasn’t necessary. She didn’t need me unless she woke, and I loved having our mom and daughter space just for us. I’d also really been enjoying having Alex’s room as a sexy space for us to explore, play and drive one another wild.
This would be the first night that we’d spent together with Kayla in the apartment, and I’d worried that it might feel awkward, but it didn’t at all. We wouldn’t be having a hot, sexy night with her there, I knew that – but curling up together would be bliss.
Curling up and taking in the news, maybe…
‘You ready?” I asked Alex, as he came into the room and closed the door behind him.
“Yep. Kayla’s flat out asleep, and Mads is too, so we have privacy.”
“I’m ready too… I think,” I told him, feeling nerves and excitement jangling in my stomach.
I’d put the test kit in his bathroom already, and now I led him in there by the hand. Then I led him out again, because I realized I wasn’t going to pee with him watching me.
When I’d done, I called him in and we both stood staring at the test, fingers linked. There was one blue line, and then… a second blue line appeared.
“You’re pregnant!” he gasped, putting his arms around me. “Oh, my God, I’m going to be a dad again!”
“Yes, you are,” I croaked, tears of joy streaming down my face. “And I’m going to be a mommy again!”
We kissed then, long and hard and deep. When we broke apart, he pulled me towards the bedroom. “Come lay down with me,” he said, low and quiet. His beautiful voice made my whole body shudder with wanting him, and with loving him.
We laid on the bed side by side in the soft lamp light, facing one another, staring into each other’s eyes.
“I want to be a father to Maddy too,” he told me. “I mean, respectfully to Caleb and everything. She can have two, very different dads.” My heart leapt with love for him, just when I thought I was already blissed-out to bursting point. “You know I love her, right?”
“I know.” My voice cracked with emotion. “And she loves you.”
“So, she should,” he said, with a wide smile. “Where else is she gonna get the Mr. Moo Moo song and dance?”
I stroked his face and kissed his forehead. “You’re such a great dad,” I said. “Our children are very lucky – all three of them. I don’t have to tell you how much I love Kayla too.”
