She calmed down considerably and let me know she’d be on a plane first thing in the morning. At least it wouldn’t be tonight.
“I’ll tell her. Safe travels and congratulations, Granny.” Hey, I couldn’t resist the nickname. It was clear that Kenzie’s mom was never going to really like me, which made it that much more fun to mess with her when the opportunity presented itself.
When I hung up the phone, Kenzie fell into a fit of giggles. “Oh, my God. I can’t believe you just called her Granny. That was awesome.” She threw her arms around me, kissing me with exuberance.
“She’ll be here most likely tomorrow, but you have a day at least.”
Kenzie sighed. “I’ll take it, and you’re my hero.”
I picked up her legs so that her feet were on my lap and slid off her shoes. When I massaged the first one gently, I enjoyed the little gasp of pleasure she expelled at the contact. “I’m already her least favorite person, so let me be the bad guy with her. I mean it, if she starts to stress you out, I’m throwing her out.”
Kenzie bit her lip, apparently enjoying the foot rub. “God, that feels good. If she steps over the line, she gets one warning, then I’ll throw her out myself. And I don’t think you’re her least favorite person, although finding out we were an item when she caught us kissing at the Christmas Eve party with your hands on my ass probably didn’t start you guys off on the right foot.”
I laughed at the memory from a couple years ago of her mom, in shock, dropping the glass she’d been holding. “I don’t seem to remember you minding. And can I help it if my hands wander there automatically? Matter of fact, your ass and I have become so acquainted over the last few weeks, with me only being able to do you from behind thanks to the belly, that I think I could dub myself a definite ‘ass man’ now.”
She smiled. “Careful with how you phrase that.” She shifted in her seat, sighing. “You would have to get me all hot and bothered at the most inconvenient time ever.”
Her voice was low and husky and made me think about all kinds of things, none of which were associated with being in a public place or keeping our clothes on in the back of this car.
“Are you kidding me? The fact that I’m able to turn my wife on while she’s in labor, at the hospital is like the crowning achievement of manhood.”
She gave me another kiss before wincing through what I assumed was another contraction. “All right, I’m done gorging myself. I guess we can go in now. Thanks for the foot rub, by the way. Best husband award definitely goes to you.”
She’d gone through the last forty weeks like a champ, making my role easy. I gathered up the trash, slipped her shoes on, and helped her out of the car.
“Remind me why we didn’t have a destination delivery?”
I laughed out loud. “Even if there were such a thing, I’m not sure your mother has gotten over the fact that Brian and Sasha didn’t tell her they were adopting until after they brought their son home. Nor do I think she’s forgiven us for eloping, so going off to have this baby would probably send her over the edge.”
She scoffed. “A true elopement would’ve meant she hadn’t been invited. She was there.”
In fact, our whole family and most of our friends, along with our exuberant rescue dog, Lucky, had attended our big engagement party almost a year ago, where we’d surprised them by turning it into our nuptials. I didn’t blame my bride for not wanting to deal with the aggravation of planning a wedding with her mother, so we’d unapologetically done it our way by getting married on the beach in Cabo in a low-key sunset ceremony. The only concession to her mother’s disappointment had been to let her throw us a large reception back in Virginia a month later. Kenzie may love her mother, and her mom may have made some positive changes to help their relationship, but the days of letting her dictate her life were long gone.
I led Kenzie into the maternity wing where we met my mom and Josh all of us looking hilariously out of place in formal wear. He handed me her bag which thankfully he’d insisted on taking with us tonight just in case and hugged me.
My brother had been especially supportive of me over the last few years and we’d grown closer both with professional respect and on a personal level. Last week we’d gone old school back home in our decrepit tree house drinking our father’s favorite whiskey with him telling me he was proud of the man I’d become. As if marrying the woman of my dreams, being nominated for my first major award and having a baby wasn’t enough to make me overly emotional, hearing those words from my big brother, who I’d always looked up to, about did me in.
Thankfully Kenzie had insisted that it just be the two of us in there for the birth, so when we went into her room it was only the nurses coming in and out. Even though I was nervous as hell, at least we were in it together.
She took my hand, looking completely at peace with the fact that we were about to become parents. “You doing okay, soon-to-be-my-baby-daddy?”
I grinned like a loon. “I sure am.” I couldn’t wait to become a dad. Since Josh had become a father again earlier this year and Brian for the first time only a month ago, I already had a welcoming committee waiting for me to enter the club, too.
“Promise me something, though,” Kenzie started, while changing out of her beautiful gown and into the hospital garb.
Helping her onto the bed, I watched her breathe through yet another contraction, one which seemed to come faster than those she’d had in the car. She rolled her eyes as if the interruption in conversation was annoying and then kept talking.
“Promise that even after this baby, we’ll still make time to go on tropical vacations and have hot, amazing sex like last night.”
Was it any wonder I was crazy about this woman? Although I wasn’t a man who blushed easily, my bride could definitely manage to make that happen, heating my face when I looked up at the grin of the nurse in the room. “I promise.” I leaned down and whispered in her ear only, “And you’ll need to stop talking about last night if you don’t want an embarrassing display in the form of your husband’s erection while you’re giving birth.”
She giggled. “You know I love it when you blush.”
We both watched as the nurses continued hooking her up to various machines.
I squeezed her hand, waiting for the next contraction to subside. “How was that one?”
“Getting more intense for sure.”
I was completely envious of how calm she was. “You sure seem ready for this.”
“Well I would hope so considering you made it your mission to knock me up on our honeymoon and there’s no going back now.”
Yeah, so we’d decided not to wait. Hell, I wasn’t getting any younger, and Kenzie loved kids so much that she’d been just as eager to get started on our family. Then we’d made a bet about being able to get her pregnant during the honeymoon which of course made it that much more fun to try. “And what a week that was. I guess I’m just wondering what your secret for being so unruffled by this is?”
She motioned me down for a kiss. My lips met hers as her fingers threaded lovingly through my hair. “I’m calm because you’re still my center. The world is about to tilt, but right here, right now, it’s us. It keeps—oh, shit—”
I watched her breathe through the next wave, grinning at the colorful language coming out of her mouth until she was through it.
She was my center too, and over the last three years of our relationship, there wasn’t a day that I ever took her for granted. After she’d returned from Bali, we made it a rule not to spend more than a week apart. It hadn’t been easy while she’d been on the road touring that following summer, but we’d made it a priority, with me meeting her on several of the stops. I’d proposed a year later by taking her to Vegas and having the diamond engagement ring spin on the roulette wheel instead of the ball when she’d placed a bet. By the time she’d realized it and turned my way, I was down on one knee. She’d practically tackled me when she said yes.
Now with one year l
eft in school before she became a certified music teacher, she’d found her calling in working with the cancer foundation and taking her talents into area hospitals where she could bring music to sick kids. Between her and my sister-in-law, Haylee, they’d grown the organization to the point where it supported several hospitals throughout the country, offering everything from grants and scholarships to Kenzie’s favorite: musical performances that made the children forget, at least for a moment, what they were going through.
The doctor came in smiling. “Hi, Kenzie. Let’s check how you’re progressing. How far apart are your contractions?”
Kenzie had to think about it. “Every few minutes, I guess. My water hasn’t broken yet though.” She turned towards me. “Thank god that didn’t happen during the ceremony.”
I chuckled thinking that probably would’ve been a first for the Golden Globes.
Her doctor went about examining her. “Sometimes we have to break it for you. Oh, my, you’re dilated nine centimeters already. Were you opposed to natural childbirth?” she asked, glancing up.
“Uh, I’d prefer the drugs, actually. Why?”
I would’ve said the same thing. My wife might be strong, but she wasn’t opposed to a pain-free experience if given the option.
“The thing is, I don’t think we’re going to be able to get an epidural in you in time now. It would most likely take effect after you were done since you only have one more centimeter before I’m having you start to push.”
“Holy shit,” Kenz and I said at the same time. I knew there was a mix of panic and amusement on both our faces.
“Alright guys, I’ll return in a couple minutes and we’ll get started,” her doctor said, stepping out.
“Guess I shouldn’t have insisted on the drive-thru and eating in the parking lot, after all,” Kenzie said with a sheepish smile.
“Or not telling me you were in labor during the entire three hour awards show,” I gently chastised.
A surge of anxious expectation hit me. Once the doctor came back in, this was it. When I leaned down to kiss Kenzie, I said a little prayer internally for her and for our baby. Emotion clogged my vision for a second before she snapped me out of it.
“Don’t you go getting emotional. There’s only one girl in this relationship, and you aren’t it. If you start tearing up, then you know I’ll cry.” She was already speaking with a catch in her voice.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I feigned, burying my face in her neck and breathing deep.
“I love you, Colby.”
Damn. Those words were’nt making it any easier to keep it together. “I love you too, Kenz.” I wiped the hair from her brow and kissed her forehead. And because she was starting to look nervous, I added, “You have this, sweets. I know you do. And think of it this way: The faster you do this, the sooner I can go down to the snack shop and get you some Hostess snowballs.”
She squeezed my hand. “You always know what to say.”
Kenzie winced again in pain with another contraction. “Wow, that was a good one. I think your baby girl is getting anxious to come into this world.”
Shaking my head, I smiled at our familiar disagreement. “We’re not having a girl. I’m telling you, it’s going to be a boy.”
We’d chosen to let it be a surprise, and now each of us was convinced we were right in knowing the gender.
Her face lit up. “You wanna bet?”
Music to my ears. “But, of course. Now then, if you lose, which you most surely will, I’m naming our son Leonidas.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a dude. We are not naming him after the movie 300.”
“That movie was based on the King of Sparta. Besides, we could call him Leo for short.”
She looked to be contemplating and then smirked. “When I win, after we have our daughter, you will—oh, damn—”
She gripped my hand with a strength that had me wincing.
“That one was really close to the last one.”
“Yeah, I feel like they’re getting stronger, too.” She no sooner uttered the words than the doctor came back in.
With a smile, the doctor looked under the sheet.
“Remember you’re to keep your eyes up here on my face, mister,” Kenzie threatened with humor in her eyes.
She had read some book that said if a man watched the baby coming out, it could freak him out enough to affect their sex life.
“No worries about that.” If I was being honest, I didn’t want to take the chance of passing the hell out at the sight of blood and whatever else, so I was good with concentrating on her face.
“So, where was I? When you lose this bet, and it’s a girl, you’re going to—”
Another contraction seized her and was starting to freak me the fuck out a little. I mean, I’m a guy. The thought of a human coming out of one of my favorite places on my wife was hard enough to grasp, but watching the love of my life in severe pain was rougher than I’d anticipated.
“Okay, Kenzie, ready to start pushing?” her doctor asked.
“Wait—” I interrupted, just remembering something.
Both she and the doctor froze, along with the two nurses. They all looked at me expectantly as I fumbled for my phone.
“If you take a picture that’s not of the baby, you’re a dead man,” Kenzie threatened.
I smiled, aware she wasn’t kidding while thumbing through until I found the link I was looking for. “No pictures, but I forgot; I’m supposed to give you something called a push gift. Josh didn’t offer up many details, but I’m assuming I give it to you while you’re pushing?”
All the women in the room burst out laughing before an amused Kenzie pulled me down to her. “You’re adorable.”
“What did I miss?”
She and the doctor traded glances. “A push gift is a present a man gets the mother of his child for giving birth, or so I’ve heard, but it doesn’t literally have to be given while pushing.”
“Oh, huh. In that case, they should’ve called something less specific.” I went to put my phone away, but she shook her head.
“Hey, now you have to show me.”
I chuckled at her impatience before displaying a picture of the house I’d purchased in Cabo. “See, we’ll always have our tropical vacations only a short flight away.”
“That was so unbelievably thoughtful.” She cringed with another contraction. “I think that’s my cue to start.”
Fifteen minutes later, through a series of pushing and breathing, the effort yielded the most beautiful baby girl in the whole wide world. And this time, neither Kenz nor I bothered to hide the tears of joy streaming down our faces with this miracle.
“How did you know it would be a girl?” I whispered, watching as the nurses got her cleaned up.
She smirked. “Aside from the fifty-fifty chance, I figured it was karma. Now instead of worrying about one penis, you’ll have to worry about them all.”
I groaned, thinking she was probably right. “She’s never dating.”
She shook her head. “I’ll teach her the five-date rule, and she’ll be fine.”
“Okay, but only if we change it to ten.” I happily took our beautiful little girl from the nurses while the doctors finished up with the afterbirth details, something that Kenzie made me promise to turn around and not pay attention to. She didn’t have to tell me twice. “Is it terrible that I don’t want to share her with all of our family coming to visit?”
“Probably up there with the intense desire I have for you to fly me to Cabo right now to avoid my mother. I can’t believe you bought me a house for my push gift. What are you going to do for the next three?”
I turned around, exchanging amused looks with the doctor “Four, huh?” We definitely wanted multiples, but it was the first time I’d heard her mention a number.
“I figure I need at least that many to form my family band.”
Grinning, I thought three more sounded like a grand plan in this
moment. “Four it is. But in the meantime, we need to pick out a name for this beautiful girl.”
I brought her to the bed, where we could both study her sweet face. We’d been on the fence about several names, wanting to meet her first, but as soon as Kenzie said it aloud, I knew it was the one.
“What do you think about Grace Olivia Singer?”
“It’s perfection.” I snapped a picture of her with my phone to send out to those waiting on the news and handed her to Kenzie so she could attempt to feed her.
“Don’t think I’ll forget that you lost the bet. I haven’t figured out what I’d like as payment, but you better believe it’s going to be something good.”
“I look forward to it.”
“Oh, yeah. Why’s that?”
I leaned down and kissed her. “Because losing a bet to you has always turned out to be the very best thing to happen to me.”
Thank you so much for reading Bet Me Something. I’d love to hear what you thought about Kenzie and Colby’s story. If you have a few minutes to leave a review, I’d be incredibly grateful. It makes such a difference for a self-published author. E-mail me a link to it at [email protected], and I’d love to thank you with a personal note.
I’m currently working on the fourth book in the series. It’s finally Catherine’s turn this next time and I guarantee I’ve made her HEA worth the wait. Sign up for my newsletter here to find out once I have a release date.
Sincerely,
Aubrey Bondurant
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First off I want to say thank you to my readers. With so many books to choose from, the fact that you wanted to spend time with my characters means the world! From tagging me on Facebook when you recommend my books, to sending me notes, writing reviews and telling your friends; I’m eternally grateful for your support!
Can you believe it’s been one year since publishing my first book? To those readers who’ve been with me since book one, so patiently waiting on the next one while I balance writing with working full time, raising two kids and all the rest of life. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that! Much love for not forgetting about me!
Bet Me Something (Something Series Book 3) Page 35
