by Kat Mizera
“I’m sorry you thought you had to keep it a secret all this time. I wish you’d trusted me enough to tell me.”
“Trust is apparently a thing with me.”
“Yeah, I see that.” I cupped the side of her face with my hand. “But I’m not going anywhere, okay? I’ll be here until long after you finally start to trust and believe in me. I love you, Margot. Do you love me too?”
“So, so much.”
I leaned in and kissed her, softly, hating that there had been this kind of breakdown in communication between us, over something that was so special. So important. I was going to be a dad. Jesus Christ, we were having a baby and she still didn’t know about the ring. I got up so fast I almost dropped her, pausing to set her on the couch as I yelled up the stairs.
“Ian! Dude!”
He appeared at the top of the stairs and tossed something at me.
I caught the velvet box from the jewelry store with a grin and turned to Margot.
“Well, you ruined the surprise, because this was supposed to happen in Limaj, but I’m not waiting anymore. You know that fifteen-thousand-dollar surprise I told you about?”
She nodded in confusion.
I dropped to one knee in front of her and held it out. “I bought you an engagement ring, babe. Will you marry me?”
“Y-you…bought me a…ring?”
“Yeah.”
“And I was mad at you.” She was blinking away tears again.
“Don’t cry.” I smiled. “Just say yes so I can kiss you.”
“Oh.” She stared at the diamond for a second and then held out a trembling left hand. “Y-yes.”
I slid it on her finger and then pushed her back against the cushions of the couch as I kissed her. And kissed her. And kissed her a little more.
“Enough already,” Everly said, coming down the stairs and plopping down on the couch beside us, reaching for Margot’s hand before we’d even pulled apart. “Look at this bling! It’s beautiful! And now we’re planning a wedding.”
“Oh.” Margot sat up and looked at me. “We have to think about all that because I’m pregnant.”
“You’re pregnant?” Everly didn’t look surprised, but Ian did and he was staring at us in confusion.
“I’m gonna be a dad again,” I told him, sliding my arm around Margot. “Except from the beginning this time.”
“I don’t know if I want to get married while I’m pregnant,” Margot said quietly.
“Then we won’t.” I shrugged. “We can wait until next summer or New Year’s Eve or whenever you want.”
“You don’t mind?” she asked, biting her lip.
“Of course not. I want you to be happy. When are you going to get that through your thick skull? The most important thing to me is making you happy.”
“I’d rather buy a house than have a big wedding,” she admitted.
“Well, Tore and I had an idea,” Ian said. “From now until the baby comes, give or take a month or two, you guys should live here. That way, you won’t be alone when we’re on the road, and you guys can put away a shit ton of money. When I first mentioned it to Tore, it was about paying off his debt, but since he’s already done that, this would be the perfect time for you guys to save up a good chunk of change toward a down payment on a house.”
I looked at Margot. “What do you think? Move in here until after the baby comes so you have Everly with you while we save some money?”
“You guys…” She was on the verge of crying again, and I had a feeling I was going to be seeing that a lot in the next six months or so, but it was okay. I leaned over to kiss her since that seemed to keep the tears at bay, and then we started talking about moving and weddings and baby names. She sat close to me, the side of her body against mine, as if she couldn’t get close enough. She also kept staring at the ring on her finger like she couldn’t quite believe it was there.
“We should go home and get naked,” I whispered in her ear a little while later.
She snickered. “We have to go get Gracie.”
“We just got engaged—can’t Everly go get her?”
“Oh my god, are you two trying to find time for a booty call?” Everly demanded, laughing. “But yes, I can go get Gracie.”
“Yes!” I jumped up and grabbed Margot’s hand. “Let’s go home!”
“I haven’t even packed.”
“We can do that when we come to pick up Gracie later. Come on, engagement sex is epic!”
“Have you ever been engaged before?” she asked as I pulled her out the door.
“No, but how could it be anything but epic?”
We got back to the apartment and were naked within minutes. But instead of ravishing her the way I wanted to, I had her on her back and climbed on top of her. I was resting on my elbows so that my hands were on either side of her face and I kept my eyes on hers as I slid inside of her. She lightly ran the fingernails of one hand up and down my back as I sheathed myself and then didn’t move.
“Before I rock your world,” I told her with a playful grin, “we have to get something straight.”
“Oh?” She looked up at me curiously.
“I don’t ever want you to be afraid to tell me something. Whether you spent too much money or you’re pregnant for the sixth time or you signed me up for naked yoga—I need to know that you’ll come to me if you need me. I never want you to feel alone again, no matter what’s going on.”
“There will be no sixth pregnancy,” she said with a grimace. “One of us will get fixed before that.”
I chuckled. “That’s fair. And I volunteer.”
“God, I love you. And I won’t ever doubt you again. I should have known you would spend that money on something to make me happy. I didn’t need a diamond this big, but now that I have it, you’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands to take it away from me.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” I leaned down to kiss her plump pink lips.
“Make love to me, Tore.”
“Isn’t that what I’m doing?”
“I don’t want to fuck.”
“So…romance and tenderness and all that?”
“Can we?”
“Oh, yeah.” I kissed her like I was a man on a mission. And maybe I was. Because I’d recently discovered that my mission in life was to make her, Gracie and any future babies we had happy.
Epilogue
Margot
I was twenty weeks pregnant the first week of March and we’d arranged my ultrasound appointment around Tore’s schedule. He was so excited to find out the sex of the baby, it was kind of funny. We’d done a blood test to find out, but we’d asked Dr. Diaz to keep the results to herself until we could do the ultrasound. The blood tests weren’t a hundred percent accurate, so we were going to compare what we saw today with the results she’d gotten.
Tore, for reasons I didn’t understand, seemed to want a girl. I was all about having a boy since I’d already had a girl. Every time we jokingly argued about it, he said we’d just have to get pregnant again to try for the other sex. His excitement was contagious because I hadn’t loved being pregnant the first time and from a physical perspective, it wasn’t any better this time. Tore couldn’t wait, though. He talked to the baby every night he was home, telling it about his day, about hockey, and about how much he loved it. It was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen.
He was also amazing with Gracie. She was going through a jealous phase right now and he was so good about distracting her, reminding her of how important her job as big sister was going to be. I’d honestly never imagined Tore would be this excited about becoming a father. On top of that, we were in the process of having him legally adopt Gracie. He said he didn’t want her to have a different last name and that he never wanted her to feel like she wasn’t part of him. And while she would never be his biologically, emotionally she was absolutely a child of his heart.
Watching them together often made me misty-eyed, though a lot of things made me cry these d
ays. But those moments were special. Sometimes, I struggled to believe all of this was real. My life had changed so much, in such wonderful ways, and it was all because of the blond hockey god currently holding my hand as we walked into Dr. Diaz’s office.
Did I mention he was my husband?
We’d done the math and no matter how you sliced it, if we didn’t get married, I wasn’t going to have health insurance and it was going to cost us a fortune to have this baby. Especially if there were complications. We were lucky that Tore could afford it, but it seemed like a waste since it was so easy to just get married and get on his plan. So we’d eloped with just Gracie, Shelley, Everly, and Ian in attendance. This summer, after the baby came and I’d had some time to get back on my feet, we’d have a big party to celebrate.
“Hi, guys.” Dr. Diaz smiled as the nurse set up the ultrasound machine. “You’re absolutely radiant, Margot.”
“Thank you.”
“You haven’t gained much weight, which is excellent, and the baby’s heartbeat is strong. Are you staying active?”
“I’m walking and taking maternity yoga,” I said. “I’m finally getting my energy back, thank goodness, because falling asleep at seven thirty every night was getting old.”
“You’ll miss those days once this little one comes along.” She held up the wand. “Are you ready?”
“Let’s do it.” Tore rubbed his hands together.
She brought the baby up on the screen and Tore was mesmerized. Maybe it was different for me since I’d been through it before, but he couldn’t get enough, squeezing my hand as he stared at the picture of…his son on the screen. He hadn’t yet noticed the penis, at least I didn’t think so, so I smiled to myself as Dr. Diaz did her thing, taking measurements and whatever else they did with the information provided.
“So what did the blood test say?” he asked.
She glanced at me and I nodded.
“Boy.”
“Wait, then…” He whipped his head around and squinted at the screen. “Is that his dick?”
“Yes,” Dr. Diaz said patiently. “That’s his penis.”
“It’s almost as big as his leg!” Tore said, grinning.
I rolled my eyes, swatting his arm. “Relax, Ron Jeremy.”
“Babe, we’re having a boy.” He was the one who was a little misty-eyed now.
“Told you.”
He talked nonstop about the baby on the drive home and once we were back at Ian and Everly’s. They’d taken Gracie to the movies this afternoon so we could go to the doctor’s appointment and now we had the house to ourselves.
“We have to get serious about names,” he said as I made myself a snack. I had to eat every few hours to ward off nausea.
“We have time.”
“How did you decide on Gracie’s name?”
“I’ve always loved the name Grace, so it was pretty much my first and only choice.”
“And of course you chose her middle name for your best friend.”
I smiled. “Yup. Grace Everly.”
“So, Something Ian.”
“Something is a pretty generic name,” I deadpanned. “The kids in school will probably tease him.”
He lightly swatted my backside. “Whatever.”
“Thor Ian?”
He made a face. “Even though I’d love to have him named after me, I really hate that my name is Thor. It feels so pretentious… The blond Scandinavian guy with a name like Thor. Why do you think I go by Tore?”
“I know, but I’m not Scandinavian, so there’s a fifty percent chance he won’t be blond, and you’re technically only half-Scandinavian. He’s our kid and we can name him whatever we want. I love Thor Ian Brekken.”
“Well, if you love it, then let’s put that at the top of our list.”
I turned to him with a teasing glint in my eye. “I feel like that was too easy. You’re buttering me up for something.”
He laughed. “I was thinking it’s time for me to use my Christmas present.”
“Your…” I was pretty sure I blushed, even though it was the stupidest thing ever since we’d done anything and everything in the bedroom since we’d been together. Maybe not literally everything, but he was wildly adventurous and I’d never even considered refusing any of the things he wanted to try. We’d been a bit more cautious since I’d gotten pregnant, but it was mostly to do with him spanking me because he was incredibly nervous about hurting me or the baby.
“Let’s go to the club Friday night,” he said. “We don’t have a game Saturday, so we can stay out late. Even if I have practice, we can—”
“Wait, you want to go to Club Inferno with your five-month-pregnant wife?” I demanded. “I don’t want people to see me like this.”
“Like what?” he asked. “Pregnant? If you say you’re fat, I’m going to spank you. Hard.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “I’m not fat, I know that, but I’m not sexy right now.”
“I think you are.”
“You’d think so no matter what.”
“So…you care more about what other people think of you than what I think?”
“Not more, just…” My voice trailed off because I didn’t have an answer to that. Why did I care what other people saw? Tore was really the only one who mattered.
“Come on,” he cajoled. “We can’t do the stuff we’d originally planned, but we’ll save that for after the baby comes. We can do lots of other stuff and I think your body is amazing. Your boobs are huge right now, and your belly is still tiny.” He reached out to put his hand over it. “I’m getting hard just thinking about letting people at the club watch me fuck my beautifully sexy pregnant wife. And I bet we could find some hot guy to suck your nipples while I’m fucking you—you know that turns you on.”
My breath hitched a little because he was right—that turned me on.
“Uh-huh.” His gaze was intense as he pulled me closer. “There’ll never be anyone else inside of you but me, but we can play around with stuff like what I just described…some hot guy sucking your tits while I fuck you, maybe a third guy going down on you…”
I moaned, every part of me clenching with excitement. “Now you’re going to have to take me upstairs,” I whispered, licking my lips.
“I know. Hurry up and eat.”
“I’m not hungry anymore.”
“My son is.” He popped a grape into my mouth as he slid his hand inside my leggings. “You’re soaked,” he announced. As if I didn’t know.
“Tore…” I was so hot for him, so excited at the prospect of three men touching me at once, I was going to come before we even left the kitchen.
“Trust me to always take care of what you need,” he whispered, his fingers stroking me expertly. “Sexually, emotionally, financially… There you go, baby. You can let go. I got you.”
I was moving against his hand, my eyes falling closed as he brought me closer to ecstasy.
“You thinking about having three guys all over you?” he whispered. “With my cock in your pussy…two other guys fulfilling all your fantasies… Dark hair or blonds like me?”
“Blonds,” I panted, everything inside of me starting to tighten with need.
He pushed a finger inside of me and my head fell back. I screamed as I came against his hand, my body shaking in response to the pleasure he brought me.
As soon as I was done, he scooped me up in his arms, grabbing the bag of grapes before heading up the stairs.
“Now I’m going to fuck you long and hard,” he murmured.
“Mmm, yes.” I was still a little shaky after coming so hard, but I was safe and comfortable nestled in my husband’s arms. I’d never imagined I’d find someone who took care of every part of me, but my big blond hockey god did it all. And I loved him so damn much.
“First you’re getting a spanking,” he said, tugging at my clothes. “Then I’m going to take your ass.”
“Mmm, okay.” I already knew he was barely going to touch me when
he spanked me. He was nervous about something happening to the baby, so I wasn’t expecting much in the way of pain. He surprised me, though, smacking his hand down on one of my ass cheeks with enough pressure to make me jump.
“Thought you knew what was coming,” he said, chuckling.
“The only thing coming is me,” I chortled.
“Damn straight.”
We fooled around for a long time, morphing from hot and intense to gentle and romantic, something we did a lot more often these days. Tore’s romantic side was epic, and he didn’t even realize how good he was at it. In fact, he was good at pretty much everything when it came to me. We occasionally bickered like any couple, but mostly he treated me like a princess.
I’d dozed off after our third round of lovemaking and jumped when I heard Gracie calling to me. Tore immediately yanked on his sweats and pulled one of his huge T-shirts over my head. Gracie came bounding onto our bed with a big grin on her face.
“Why are you guys sleeping?” she demanded. “It’s dinnertime. Auntie Evie said to get up!”
“We’re up,” I replied, pulling her close to me and kissing her little nose.
“You want to go ice skating this weekend?” Tore asked her. “Maybe Saturday afternoon since I don’t have hockey?”
“Yay!” She clapped her hands. She was already incredible on the ice, and Tore was buying her hockey skates for her birthday.
“Does the baby skate?” she asked, patting my stomach.
“Not yet,” I smiled. “But I’m sure he will when he gets big enough.”
“I could help teach him,” she said thoughtfully.
“That’s a great idea.” Tore nodded. “You’re going to be the best big sister ever.”
It was the first time she’d had something positive to say when it came to the baby.
“Well, I guess it’s time for me to grow up,” she said solemnly. “I can’t be a little kid anymore if I’m going to be a big sister.”
I stifled a laugh. “I think you can still be a little kid. You just have to remember how little he’s going to be and how much he’ll need you.”
“I’m on it,” she said, hopping off the bed. “Now let’s go make dinner. I’m so hungry!” She took off out of the room and down the stairs, calling to Everly.
