"Thank you," he whispered and kissed the gleaming gem.
"I also thought since we're going to be a family, maybe we should be the Morgan family."
Confusion flashed across his face for a moment.
"I thought I would change my name, Carter."
"Really?" Childlike glee spread across his face. "You don't have to Eva, it doesn't matter to me. I mean it does, but not really. I just want you here, every day with me."
"I want to do it Carter. I want to be the Morgan family. Carter, Evangeline and baby Morgan." A smile spread across my face and I kissed his soft lips. He could hardly keep the grin off his face.
"You are the most amazing woman." He placed both hands along either side of my face and kissed me fully on the lips.
"Why, thank you. You're pretty amazing yourself." I grinned between kisses. "Can we go to bed now?" I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his shoulder.
"Definitely, although sleeping is the last thing on my mind." Carter ran his hands up my torso and thumbed the fabric underneath my breast.
"I didn't say anything about sleeping, Mr. Morgan." I crawled up into his lap and kissed along his jaw.
"Mmm…" he moaned. "Insatiable as ever Mrs. Morgan." He held me tightly as he stood and I wrapped my body around him and held on for the ride. I kissed along his jaw and flicked my tongue on the sensitive skin beneath his ear as he climbed the stairs. I ran my fingers through his hair and tugged softly.
"I missed you so much, Mr. Morgan," I whispered into his ear. A ragged groan escaped his throat as he palmed the cheeks of my ass.
"Keep that up and we won't make it to the bedroom."
"I don't mind." I caressed the shell of his ear with my tongue before dragging my teeth down his earlobe. He stopped on the next landing and bent us over a settee in the corner.
I moaned and arched into him as his hands slipped under my shirt and made contact with my skin. He lifted my arms and slid the shirt off my body and then leaned back as his eyes took me in reverently.
"You are so beautiful, Evangeline. You bring so much light into my life," he said as he slid the straps of my bra down my arms and pulled the cups down to reveal my breasts to him. I groaned and arched my back as he took a nipple in his mouth and sucked softly. I thrust my fingers into his hair and pushed him closer to my chest, needing more friction along every inch of my body.
"What do you want, Evangeline?" he whispered as he moved to my other nipple, while his hand pressed against my aching center from the outside of my jeans.
"Fuck me, Carter." I pulled his hair to bring his lips up to mine. I pressed a hard kiss against his soft lips and our tongues twisted together passionately.
"I'll fuck you senseless later, right now I'm going to make love to you," he whispered as he popped the button on my jeans and slid them down my thighs. He slid to his knees on the floor, removing my jeans and spreading my thighs. My breathing hitched when I realized that he was going to make love to me with his mouth.
"Carter," I moaned his name and writhed beneath his firm hands holding my thighs in place. He dipped his head and I felt his soft hair tickle the sensitive flesh between my legs.
"Keep still, baby," he said in a throaty whisper before laving his tongue up my center. My body relished the contact as I threaded my fingers through his hair and pressed him closer to me. He thrust two fingers inside as he circled his tongue along my clit.
"Carter," I gasped and bucked into him. "God… please."
"You're so fucking wet, Evangeline. I'm going to make you come so many times tonight you won't be able to walk when I'm done," he said before sucking my clit between his lips and pulling. Amidst a haze of swirling and massaging and thrusting I fell apart panting his name.
"Not even close to being done, love." I heard his zipper come down and he aligned his arousal with my center and entered me slowly. He rocked in and out, never fully entering all the way, caressing the sensitive nerves at my entrance. I groaned and threw my head back in pleasure.
"Look at me. I want to see your beautiful eyes when we make love." He continued to rock gently as my eyes fluttered open to meet his. Bright blue irises shone back at me with love and emotion. He rewarded me by thrusting deeper into me, hitting me to the hilt quickly and then dragging his length back out slowly, caressing every nerve on the way. I gasped when he thrust and shuddered each time he pulled back. My teeth locked down on my lip as I held eye contact with him. A lopsided grin crossed his face.
"Let it go, baby. Let me see the pleasure I give you." He gripped my ass in both his hands and began to pound relentlessly, lifting my hips to meet him and hitting a sinful spot deep inside that had me screaming and writhing with pleasure. My body clenched around him and I heard his own erotic groan as he hit his release. My nerve endings tingled and stars flitted in my vision as I squeezed my eyes tightly while deep breaths wracked my body.
Carter collapsed onto me and I held his body tightly to my own, caressing the firmness of his back with my fingertips. Carter carried me the rest of the way to our bedroom moments later and proceeded to fuck me senseless and make love to me the rest of the night.
Eleven
The next few weeks went by in a blissful blur. I stayed with Carter at his house; it was now our house as he reminded me at every moment. I happily signed the paperwork to make my name officially Mrs. Evangeline Morgan. My heart swelled with love that the three of us would be a united family.
I wasn't naive enough to think that all of our problems were behind us, and I would be lying if I said that once and a while I didn't fear that Carter would throw his walls up and lock me out, but he hadn't and I wanted to believe deep down in my heart that those days were behind us.
I’d also bit the bullet and called my parents and broke the news that Carter and I had gotten married. My mom was understandably devastated. I was her only child; she'd always dreamed of being at my wedding some day. She cried, I cried, but I explained that Carter and I were happy and working on our future together. Dad on the other hand wasn't so receptive, but I knew Mom would bring him around.
Carter and I had decided to wait to share the news with our families about the baby; I was so nervous that something bad could happen at any moment, I was still holding my breath every passing day until our next appointment. Carter also broke the news to his parents that we'd gotten married and they were beyond excited. Emma had in fact known that day at the barbecue and gushed on the phone that she was so excited to finally have a sister and that she'd nearly burst with wanting to spill the beans.
"Are you nervous?" Carter had taken the day off to take me to my six-week appointment. This was the big one, the one where we would hopefully hear the heartbeat.
"Always," I frowned. The nurse called me in and took my vitals. Everything was as expected. The nurse guided us into a room and I sat on the table while Carter held my hand and caressed my wrist softly with the pad of his thumb.
"Maybe we could get lunch after this? Or make a stop at La Perla?" he breathed in my ear seductively. His warm breath tickled my neck and sent shivers down my body. When I wasn't sleeping or peeing my desire for him was through the roof, apparently a side effect of all of the hormones in my system. Carter wasn't complaining in the slightest.
"Carter, you're making me nervous." I tilted my head to block his access to my neck.
"I’m trying to distract you." He pulled the hair off my neck. The cool air caused another wave of shivers to race through my body.
"You're making it worse," I whispered.
"It doesn’t sound like it." He trailed his lips along my sensitive flesh.
"Good morning, Evangeline." Dr. Burke breezed into the room with a nurse following behind her. Carter pulled away from me in a flash.
"Good morning." I smiled.
She shuffled through her paperwork and then turned to me. "Six weeks today, huh?" She stood and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Yep," I sighed nervously.
"So we're g
oing to listen for the heartbeat today. We should be able to hear it, but if not it's still early on and not abnormal. Lean back on the table and lift your shirt."
Carter laid me back slowly and waggled his eyebrows with a mischievous smirk. I rolled my eyes at him.
Dr. Burke turned around and placed a probe against my belly and turned up the volume on the box in her hands. I held my breath as she moved around my belly searching for the little heartbeat I was desperate to hear. Carter held my hand tightly and continued to caress the skin with his thumb. It was taking what felt like forever. I kept reminding myself that if we didn't hear it to today it didn't mean anything was wrong.
She moved the probe to just above my pelvis and then a small whoosh-whoosh echoed through the room.
"Is that it?" My eyes darted to hers.
"That's the baby." She smiled brightly. The whooshing sound filled my ears and a smile spread across my face so wide it hurt. Water pooled behind my eyelids and I heaved an immense sigh of relief. I looked at Carter and his own wide smile matched mine.
"I can't believe it."
"Me either," he whispered.
"That’s interesting." The doctor shook us out of our blissful baby bubble.
"What?"
"I think I’d like to get a closer look." The doctor turned to the nurse and whispered a few indecipherable syllables before the nurse stepped out of the room. My heart clenched in my chest.
"We're going to do an ultrasound, Evangeline." Dr. Burke pulled away the probe and the whooshing that had filled the room with so much love moments ago was now absent.
"Is everything okay?" I choked out through a lump of fear in my throat.
"I just want a closer look." She patted my leg. She meant it as a reassuring gesture but it only served to ratchet up the fear that had settled in the pit of my stomach. The nurse came back in wheeling a cart with a monitor perched on top.
This was terrifying and wrong. Something must be off. What could she have determined through that sweet whoosh whooshing of the heartbeat we'd heard just a few moments ago? Could she tell if there was a defect?
Oh God, please just let our baby be healthy. The fear choked my throat and a few stray tears traveled down my cheeks. Carter took notice and wiped them away with the pad of his thumb.
"Everything is going to be okay, baby," he whispered and kissed me on the forehead. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"This is going to be cold." The doctor squirted gel on my stomach. Carter continued to rub my forehead and stroke his large palm down my hair. It calmed me to have his soothing hands reassuring me.
Dr. Burke swirled another probe around my belly and then pushed hard above my pelvis where she'd found the heartbeat.
"There's the baby." She turned the monitor to us and pointed at the screen. "That little flickering there is the heart." We watched as a little black dot on the screen flickered inside a tiny white blurb. The doctor shifted the probe around more and the baby moved off the screen. She pushed and prodded and then the baby came back into view from a different angle.
"And there's baby number two." She smiled brightly. My world froze in time as I stared at the second flickering heartbeat on the screen, now obvious next to the first one.
"Oh my God. Twins?" My eyes widened.
"Yes, congratulations. You'll be welcoming two babies next July."
Carter's hand stilled on my forehead and the hand holding mine tightened to almost the point of pain. I realized that he hadn't said anything and I turned to him.
"Carter…" I whispered as I watched his intense gaze staring at the screen. He didn’t respond to me, just stared straight ahead, holding my hand tightly.
"Carter?" No response. Oh God this wasn't good at all. Please don't let him have a meltdown right here in front of the doctor. He'd just wrapped his brain around one baby. My stomach flip-flopped at the idea that we would now be bringing two babies into our home.
"Carter?" I squeezed his hand to shake him out of his shock.
"Twins?" he whispered.
"Twins, Mr. Morgan," the doctor replied with a gleam in her eye.
"Fucking hell," he whispered and collapsed on a chair next to the table. My mouth dropped open in shock. That certainly wasn't the reaction I was expecting.
Twelve
"Are you okay?" I held his hand as we stepped out into the chilly December air. I directed us both toward the car. Carter still had a dazed look on his face.
"Yeah," he grumbled. We reached the car and I stopped.
"Are you okay to drive?"
"Of course." He helped me into the passenger seat and then strode around to the driver side. I twisted the strap of my bag in my hands. He was so clearly not fine. Not fine at all. I had just gotten the news that we were expecting twins too; it was a shock, but I certainly wasn’t going into shock. I wanted to haul off and deck him at the moment.
"Where are you going?" I looked out the window and took notice of our surroundings.
"Home," he replied.
"I thought we were going to lunch." My stomach was empty and not happy about it.
"Oh, right." He moved into another lane of traffic. "Anywhere in particular?"
"You're asking me?" I arched an eyebrow in surprise.
"Of course."
I rolled my eyes. Of course my ass. Carter never asked my opinion on where we were eating. Ever.
"Wherever. Somewhere close, and fast. I'm starving." I rubbed my tummy.
Carter slid into a parking spot in front of a deli. I jumped out of the car and bee-lined for the door with Carter a step behind me. We ordered sandwiches and then sat at the only available table in the crowded room.
I took the pickles off my sandwich and ate them separately. Carter huffed from across the table and then picked them off his sandwich and set them on my plate. I smiled up at him. It felt like he was coming back to normal, at least marginally. I ate his pickles and then took a bite of my sandwich. I chewed and watched him.
He inspected his sandwich before taking each bite, but I knew he wasn't really seeing it. His mind was racing with the information we'd just been given. I took another bite and chewed and then set my sandwich down. I took a drink of my lemonade, my eyes on him the whole time. I could see that his beautiful steely blue irises were a million miles away.
"I know it's a shock," I offered.
"Yeah," he breathed a sigh.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he answered again without looking at me.
"Carter, seriously. You're worrying me. Or killing me. Or I’m going to kill you. I haven't decided yet."
He finally looked up and his eyes met mine. They melted before my eyes and came back to normal. I reached for his hand across the table.
"We're going to be okay. It's a lot, but we can do it." It was my turn to reassure him. He'd been telling me throughout our entire relationship that I was it for him; that we were meant to be together. Now it was my turn to tell him that this was exactly how it was supposed to be and somehow we would manage. I had complete faith that not only would we survive two screaming toddlers ransacking our house, but we would also thrive together. I smoothed my thumb over the knuckles of his hand. "I promise."
A half-hearted attempt at a smile lifted the corners of his mouth.
"I love you more than my own life." He lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss there.
"I know." A happy smile lifted my cheeks. He rolled his eyes at me with a grin. "I love you, too." I beamed back at him.
"I’m sorry I was a basket case back there." He dusted his lips along the knuckles of my left hand.
"And that you swore in front of the doctor?" I arched an eyebrow.
"I did?"
"I believe the exact words were 'fucking hell'."
"Oh, right. I'm sorry for that too." His eyes danced with amusement.
"Are you okay now?"
"Yes. I just needed a minute to process." He set my hand back on the table and sipped through his str
aw.
"I know. Me too." I plucked a pickle off my plate and popped it in my mouth. "So no more breakdowns?" I watched him cautiously.
"Nope." He grinned at me.
"Good, because I thought we could shop for baby clothes. Maybe furniture, too."
Carter coughed on his drink. I laughed at him and took another bite of my sandwich.
Thirteen
My parents had driven down for Christmas and stayed with us for the long weekend on Beacon Street. We spent Christmas day at Carter's parent's house in Belmont where Carter's mom had pulled out all of the stops for dinner. I was thankful for many things in my life—one, I’d been blessed with a mother-in-law that had amazing skills in the kitchen. I let Carter spill the news around the table of our impending surprise.
Carter said he was thankful that we could all be together. He said family was a wonderful thing to be blessed with and I'd made him the happiest man alive when I'd agreed to marry him. He then proceeded to say the second happiest day of his life was the day he saw two tiny heartbeats on the ultrasound screen.
Everyone's eyes whipped to me, and my mother's green gaze looked terrified. She probably thought there'd been a mistake.
"Evangeline?" she whispered.
"Twins mom." A sob escaped my throat as she came around the table and held me in her arms. Congratulations spread around the table and we left that evening happy and exhausted.
It was now New Year's Eve and I was feeling better than ever. The morning sickness had passed, the constant peeing had subsided—at least for now, and I had more energy now than before I found out I was pregnant.
"Why are you all dressed up and looking delicious? I thought we were staying in tonight? I believe you said you required sweatpants and ice cream only?" Carter walked in the bathroom off our master suite.
"I have a surprise for you—reservations at Anthony's on the Pier. Jump in the shower. We leave in twenty."
Precious Lace (Lace #4) Page 8
