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She could feel his grin, wicked and full of himself, against her neck. “Deal.”
The next morning, Kyle made his wife a travel mug of coffee and gave her a long, lingering kiss goodbye before following her out to her car, Buddy in tow on his leash. They watched her drive off into the early dawn. It was damn early, but that was the price he’d pay for keeping Laney home last night.
Worth every extra cup of coffee he’d chug. But first, the dog park. Buddy needed a good workout this morning, because Kyle had a long day of work ahead of him.
Back inside an hour later, he looked longingly at his PlayStation. That would have to wait. He’d negotiated with himself—an hour of the latest Batman game when he finished his first paper. Two hours and a beer when he finished the second. A pizza and as much game-time as the weekend allowed once he was done both and his lesson plan for Monday was sorted out.
And still he worried about Laney, and wanted to be with her in the car for the long drive home.
Chicago had given him more than he ever expected—love, first and foremost. So much love, he couldn’t believe it. And now they were having a baby. He looked around their three bedroom house. They never used their spare bedroom, so that would get turned into the nursery. Laney’s office would remain untouched. They had a nice fenced backyard, perfect for toddlers and dogs alike.
This house, and their life here, was perfect in almost every way.
The fact that they were six hours from every member of their family was still hard for him. He kept that buried deep down inside, because it paled in comparison to how important his wife was. Laney was his everything, and wherever she went, he would follow without a second thought.
Without regret.
Five months, he muttered under his breath.
He’d finish his Masters degree in Education in the summer. Then he’d be free to make all the drives back and forth with her. He squared his shoulders and headed for the coffee pot. Maybe if he lost himself in his paper on post-humanist theory, the time would pass and before he’d know it, she’d be sending him a text that she’d arrived.
“Holy shit, you’ve popped!”
Laney rolled her eyes at her older sister. “Why are you surprised? You’ve done this three times. It’s what usually happens, no?”
“I know, but we just saw you at Christmas, and you weren’t like…that.” Evie pointed at Laney’s belly.
It was true. Somewhere around New Year’s, she’d lost the ability to pass as just being addicted to cheese. Although that was true, too. Baby liked Gouda. Now she had a solid basketball under her snug, long-sleeved t-shirt. “I was also wearing dressier blouses over the holidays. In hindsight, an excellent move. What is it about a woman being pregnant that turns everyone into Handsy McHandsys?”
Evie made a shushing should as she reached for the belly.
“See?”
Her sister just laughed and gave her future niece or nephew a rub. “Hey Little Bean.” Evie glanced up. “You’re really not going to find out if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“Nope.” They could find out, of course. Laney had done all the prenatal screening available, including CVS, which would definitively provide gender.
If they wanted to know.
Which they didn’t.
So it sat there in the report at her OB’s office, a little secret.
From her purse, her phone dinged. “Can you grab that for me? It’ll be Kyle.”
Evie passed it over, then headed for their mother’s kitchen. “You want tea?”
“Sounds great.” Laney answered automatically. She read Kyle’s response—Glad you made it. I hate school—and laughed. Then she realized it was her hippie-dippie sister making the tea, and thought she should clarify just exactly what was on offer. She lifted her voice. “Wait, is it made of grass?”
No response. She tossed her overnight bag onto the steps, and followed her sister into the kitchen.
“Evie?”
Her sister stuck out her tongue. “Red raspberry leaf tea. Excellent uterine tonic.”
“That doesn’t sound like it’s been tested in a double blind study. Keep your woo-woo tea away from me.”
“It’s nice with honey.”
