AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She wiggled free of his hold and lunged off the bed. She picked up her balled-up pants and extracted the printed photo from the pocket. When she held it out to him, his gaze latched on to the black and white wavy-looking image before jerking up to hers.
“This is it?” His voice sounded so thick, different.
She nodded.
He sat up and took the image from her. With it pinched between his thumbs, he stared down at it. A wave of understanding broke over her. In this moment when he first set eyes on the life they’d created, she knewexactlyhow Slade was feeling.
“He looks like you.”
Her jaw dropped. “He!”
With a laugh, he snaked an arm out and hooked her around the waist, hauling her up to stand between his legs.
He held up the photo. “I think he’s got your eyes.”
“It’s just a blob!”
He burst out laughing. The sound tapped her own wellspring, and pretty soon she was laughing with him.
He locked his arms around her and dragged her back into bed. With her head pillowed on his chest, she gazed at the photo he couldn’t quit staring at.
“We have a lot of decisions to make, MJ.”
A lump lodged in her throat.
He tenderly brushed the hair off her cheek. “I’ll be with you every step of the way. You don’t have to do this alone. You never did.”
THIRTEEN
Slade set the glass of water on the nightstand next to a sleeping Lena. He hated to wake her. Everything inside him fought against it, but in the wee hours while she slumbered in his arms, chatter had come through that there would be a big meeting today about the cartel leader’s kid. She couldn’t miss it no matter how damn much he wanted to shield her from it.
He gently set a hand on her shoulder and shook her.
Her eyes popped open. For a moment, the depths were hazy with confusion. Then they slammed shut again, and she let out a low moan.
“It’s morning,” she whimpered.
A grin took over his face. “And you’re still here. You didn’t run. You slept in my arms all—”
In a flurry, she threw back the covers and launched out of bed. She sprinted to the bathroom, and he jumped up to follow just in time to see her hit her knees in front of the toilet.
“Oh god,” she moaned between heaves.
He stepped up behind her to gather her hair off her face. If she saw his smile, she’d gut him with a pen cap, but it was damn satisfying to know that their baby was making its presence known.
While she suffered through several more heaves, he spoke to her in soothing tones and rubbed her back.
A final shudder rolled over her, and she hung her head.
“Better, MJ?”
“No.” She sounded miserable.
“Hold on.” He went to fetch the water. When he returned, she was sitting on her backside with her head cradled in her hands. He offered the water. “Try to take a sip. Maybe it will alleviate some of the nausea.”
“What do you know about it?” she grumbled, reaching up to take the glass.
“Enough to know that you feel terrible.”
