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“Whatever you want.” Truthfully, telling the grandparents was both fun and stressful. I loved that they were all always happy.
“Hmm, I want a lot of things, Frankie babe. You may not want to give me that much latitude.” At the last light, waiting to turn, he leaned over and gave me a kiss.
“I can handle you,” I reminded him and his smile transformed into a genuine grin.
“Hell yes, you can.” He tapped his hands against the steering wheel. “Do you want to wait? Because if it’s that important to you…”
I shook my head. “We waited with Izzy and I loved the added mystery of it to everything else. We fell in love with the bump, all of us. When she arrived, it was amazing. Jake wanted to know with Josh and finding out we were having a boy a few months ahead of his arrival—it was still magical. Then Coop wanted to know, but Charlie never cooperated.”
He’d constantly been turned away during every ultrasound. Even when they tried to get him to turn, he was a hard no. Silly baby.
“Then yes, I really want to know. I want every minute of the anticipation and I want to talk names and plans and…” He pulled into a parking spot and then twisted to face me. “I want every single moment. I never got it when the guys said it was a little different when they knew. It doesn’t make me love the other kids any less. I will punch the first person that tries to tell me Izzy isn’t mine too, but…”
“But this one is the one we made,” I murmured, and the desire that flared in his eyes at the acknowledgement had me reaching over to cup his cheek. “I remember. I love all of you so much. And every baby is just another reflection of how much we love each other. Do you have any preferences?”
“Happy. Healthy. With us.” Archie ticked off each one. “I want you happy, and healthy too. So far, the morning sickness hasn’t been a problem?”
“Not even a little bit. I know my age might play a little factor, but women have babies later on all the time.”
“This isn’t our first, but you have to be fine. You have to be fine, then they have to be fine.” The intensity in his brown eyes held me captive there just like it had the first time he told me he loved me. I’d loved them for so long, I really couldn’t imagine my life without them in it.
“We’re all going to be fine. The benefit of being old pros, you know?” I wanted to make this as easy for him as I could.
“You calling me a pro?” He pursed his lips. “I can live with that.” Then with a wink, he was out of the car and hurrying around to my side. The late September weather was almost perfect. Warm sunshine. Cooler breezes. The grass had been cut recently and they’d begun to swap out the flowers for the fall colors.
“Nothing like Texas, huh?” Archie said as he wrapped an arm around me.
“Nope. I like the seasons here and the not sweating all the time.” Tilting my head back, I grinned up at him. “You?”
“The best part of Texas came with me up here. Never have to go back again. Dad and I are talking about selling the house there eventually. I mean—I have really fond memories of it, but again, the best part of Texas came with me.”
“I love you,” I whispered and he grinned.
“Best part of my day, every day.”
With a long sigh, I nodded toward the building. “Shall we?”
“Yes, we shall.”
Thirty minutes later, we were all set up in the exam room. I didn’t have to get naked for this one, so that was always a plus. Instead, I sat on the foot of the little exam table, kicking my legs lightly. Archie parked it in a chair after pacing around the room. The time between the nurse checking my vitals and going over everything, and now, seemed forever.
“Why have an appointment, if they are going to be late?” Archie asked.
“Patience,” I counseled him.
“If we were late, you’d lose the appointment.”
“True,” I said, with a little shrug. “But I need to see the doctor and they don’t need to see me. Ergo, we need to be patient. Besides, Dr. Patterson is fantastic and she never rushes us. She spends as much time with her patients as they need.”
Disgruntled, Archie folded his arms. “Not a fan of the waiting.”
“Tell me about the engine you and Jake are testing, I know you wanted to be ab—” Before I could finish asking there was a brisk knock on the door.
“Hello,” Dr. Patterson said as she hustled into the room. The woman always filled the air around her with so much positive energy.
“Hey, Dr. Patterson.”
“Frankie and—we have Archie today. Welcome.”
