“Coming right up.”
***
I watch Taylor in amusement as she skirts around the bedroom, trying on yet another outfit.
“Sweetheart, it’s just a barbeque.”
“I know, but I still want to look nice. I’m sure Elle and Sara won’t be there in jeans and a ratty shirt, but it’s all that I have that fits.”
Frustrated, she stomps across the room toward the bathroom. At first, I think she’s finally happy with her choice, then she huffs back into the room.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she growls, hands placed steadily on her hips.
“I’m not looking at you any which way.”
“Don’t argue with me right now, Hunter.”
Wordlessly I stand from my perch on the bed and move in her direction. She immediately stands straighter, ready to go to war with me, but she underestimates my defense. I extend my arms outward and then circle them around her slender shoulders, pulling her body against mine. Instantly her mass relaxes and she wraps her own arms around my waist.
“I’m so sorry,” she cries out, her tears soaking through my T-shirt. “I don’t know what’s come over me.”
Knowing better than to tell her that it’s just her hormones going out of whack, I say, “It’s okay, you’re just having a rough time.” Jackson has made that mistake with Elle and I was around to witness the aftermath. No, thank you. Death by laser vision doesn’t sound like my cup of tea.
“I just. . .I want to look nice for your family. Whenever they see me, I’m a mess.”
“No, you’re always beautiful. Why don’t you wear that brown dress with the flowers on it?”
“Oh.” She perks up and pulls out of my hold. I miss it straight away. “You’re a genius! Why did I not think of that dress? And I have the cute ankle boots too.”
While she’s in the closet, I lean back against the edge of the dresser, my hand nervously runs through my overly long hair in need of a trim.
“Hey, Taylor. Can I talk with you about a few things?”
She peeks her adorable face out from the closet and smiles. “Sure, what’s up?”
“Well, you know how you’ve been paying rent since you moved in and stubbornly refuse to not pay rent?”
“Yep.” She pops her “p” for emphasis.
“I’ve been putting all of that money into an account. I mean, it’s just a couple thousand, but I thought that maybe we could use it for the wedding, or honeymoon, or for Tabitha’s college fund.”
Finally getting her full attention, she stares at me with bright eyes and I’m not sure if she’s mad or upset. “College fund?” Her voice quivers as she asks.
“This isn’t coming out right.” Moving from the dresser, I stalk over to where she stands and place my hands on her shoulders. “What I’m trying to say is that I want to adopt Tabitha. She’s as much my child as Shane will be.”
“Shane?”
With a shrug of my shoulders, I explain, “Yeah, I like the name. What do you think?”
“Shane,” she repeats. “I like it too.”
“Good.”
“You want to adopt Tabitha?”
“I would be honored. I love her, Taylor. You have to know that. My heart beats for you and for her.”
She sniffles as moisture puddles along her lower lids. “Oh, well, I can’t argue with that. We love you too, Hunter.”
“So, just for clarification. Shane. College. Adoption.”
“Yep. Yep. And yep.”
“Cool. Now get your butt in gear. Some barbeque ribs are calling my name.”
I swat her behind and she launches toward the bathroom, glaring at me the entire time. Yeah, it’s going to be fun being married to her.
My parent’s house is filled to the brim when we arrive. I have to park at the back of their driveway and I hope the size of the crowd doesn’t throw up red flags for Taylor.
“Wow, this is quite the crowd. Your parents must throw some kind of party.”
“That they do.”
“And you’re sure we didn’t need to bring anything? I feel like this is so last minute. There is no way your mom could have had everything prepared.”
“You talked to my mom yourself last night and she said we just needed to bring ourselves. That is after you let her dig into how I’m a terrible son for not telling you about the party sooner.”
“Well, us ladies have to stick together.”
Laughing, we get out of the car. Taylor reaches in for Tabitha’s diaper bag while I pull the toddler free from her restraints.
We walk up the gravel path, music filtering from around the back of the house, and the little girl in my arms starts to bop along to the beat. Taylor tries to walk around the house toward the back, but I steer her through the front, telling her that I need to drop off the diaper bag.
I hold the door open and let her walk through first.
“Surprise!!!” the group shouts. I wish that I could see the look on Taylor’s face, but when she turns back to look at me, I’m rewarded by a mega-watt smile.
“What is this?”
“It’s your surprise gender reveal party.”
“Did you plan this, Hunter?” she asks in complete awe.
“He had some help,” a feminine voice rings out from across the way and Taylor’s head twists so fast I’m afraid she’s going to have whiplash. The crowd starts to dissipate outside leaving just a small gathering/
“Kerry? Oh my gosh. How are you even here?”
Taylor rushes forward and almost knocks Kerry to the floor with the strength of her embrace.
“I received a call on Friday and Hunter asked me to help plan this all out. And, of course, I couldn’t miss it.”
I leave the crowd and move outside where the men are all congregating by the grill and cooler. Crouching down, I let Tabitha slip from my arms as she joins the other kids playing in the yard.
“Things still going good?” my father asks and I tell him things have never been better. He’s the only one privy of my surprise after the party.
“So, your mother said that we aren’t allowed to eat anything until she knows what you were having. Go grab Taylor and pop those damn balloons, put us out of our misery.”
Grabbing a beer from the cooler, I pop the cap and then take a hearty sip, enjoying the moment of relaxation.
Irritated with my lack of movement, my father points his tongs in my direction. “You may be an adult, but I can still whip you. I’m hungry, boy.”
Chuckling I leave my father’s side and flag down Mom and Taylor asking the group to join us outside. As I take hold of Taylor’s hand, I explain how we’re going to pop the giant black balloons filled with colored glitter. Obviously, we already know the gender, but I’m not too manly to admit that I can’t wait to see my mother’s reaction.
“Ready?” I ask the crowd as I hold the string of the balloon, Taylor holds the pin poised in her hand.
Counting down, I begin. “Three. Two. One.”
Blue glitter flies everywhere and I’m fairly certain that I will be finding specks in places hidden from eyes for weeks.
The group jumps and screams in excitement, and as I wrap Taylor beneath my arm, we watch them. She rubs her belly with her free hand, a solemn expression on her face. I wonder if she’s missing her family – or the thought of family.
Against her ear, I whisper, “I love you.” My lip caressing the soft cartilage on the outer rim.
Then I watch as her smile returns. “I love you too, Hunter.”
As the crowd quiets down, my mother asks if we’ve picked out a name yet and Taylor tells her that we’ve settled on Shane. My mother’s eyes soften and she pulls Taylor from my arms only to yank her into her own.
“You did good, son,” my father says as he pats my shoulder. There is a gruffness in his voice, one made from the sound of blocking tears.
“Thanks, Dad. Hopefully, I’m about to make it even better.”
The small ring that had been bu
rning a hole in my pocket since yesterday settles into my palm as I reach deep inside. I had planned on doing this a bit later but now seems like as good a moment as later.
Taylor stands surrounded by our gathering of friends and family, she’s so lost in the excitement that she doesn’t hear me approach. It’s when Kerry taps her shoulder that she turn around to find me standing beside her.
“Thank you for this, Hunter,” she cries as she reaches up and kisses me in front of everyone. “This has been the best thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“Well, I’m hoping that I can make it even better.”
The speech I had been preparing all night completely leaves my memory, but as I bend down to kneel, looking up at Taylor’s beautiful face, I know that there aren’t enough words in the English language to tell her all that she means to me.
“Taylor Hughes, I would have never expected that a simple shot of whiskey could change my life the way that it has. Until I met you every day passed and merged into another. I didn’t know what I had been missing until you breathed life into me. Taking you home was the best decision I ever made.
“I had all these nice, flowery words in my head to tell you how much you mean to me, but I don’t think I could remember my own name right now if you asked.”
Holding up the ring for her to see, Taylor covers her gasp with her hands.
“I know we already made this promise to each other, but I love you so much, Taylor, that I want all of our family to know that I want to marry you. Not for pretend. Not for any other reason than I love you with everything that I am, you’ve stolen my heart.
“Taylor, I would be honored if you would be my wife. Will you marry me and make us your family?”
Nodding her head, Taylor blasts into my arms as she cries, “Yes,” over and over again. I hold her close as her body shakes with joy and excitement. Finally, as her shivers recede, she slips down my body and I’m able to put the ring on her finger.
“You know this means you can’t get rid of me now,” I joke.
“I’ll never want to,” she murmurs against my lips.
The party continues around us, Taylor barely leaving my side the entire night, until Kerry tries to steal her away as she’s leaving.
“Sorry, we’re a package deal now,” I tell Taylor’s friend.
Laughing, Kerry embraces Taylor and then takes a step back. “Look at you, engaged and a family on the way. I told you breaking the rules isn’t always a bad thing.”
Joining Kerry’s laughter, Taylor adds to the inside joke, “I guess I’ll have to break out my task list for one more event.”
I vaguely remember her mentioning her event rules that night I went to her apartment. And my mind settles on one rule in particular as Kerry leaves the party.
“Well, there is one rule you’re going to have to break at the wedding.”
“Yeah? What’s that?” she asks speculatively.
Wrapping her in my arms, we watch the picturesque sunset.
“You’re definitely going to go the extra mile for one of your guests – the groom.”
A chuckle escapes her lips and she buries her face against my chest.
“Yeah, I think I can handle that one.”
Epilogue – Taylor
I FEEL LIKE THE biggest tub of lard as I wobble my way down the hall for the fifth time to empty my bladder. It seems that this baby knows precisely when I’m about to sit down because that is when he decides to jump up and down.
“Whew, that was a close one,” I whisper to myself as I exit the bathroom, adjusting the strap around my sweater once more.
Back at my desk, I shoot a text off to my grandmother, who is in town for Shane’s birth. We’ve been making enormous strides to put the past behind us. She and Hunter’s mother are home watching Tabitha while I finalize a few things at the office before I take maternity leave – something Hunter isn’t too thrilled about. When I first brought up the idea of maternity leave, he scoffed, assuming that I would be staying home with the kids indefinitely. We argued and stewed for about a week until Hunter caved because he realized that working made me happy.
A yawn takes over my body and with my arms lifted in the air I twist my body to try to bring some oxygen back into my lungs. That’s when the abdominal pain starts. It’s just a small pinch at first and I think about the spicy chicken sandwich that I had for lunch.
“I knew I shouldn’t have added that hot sauce.” I cringe as I rub the underside of my large bump, the tightness reminding me of a stiff piece of leather.
The pain subsides and I try to get back to work but then five minutes later the pain returns. And that’s when it hits me, this isn’t from food at all, I’m in labor.
And two weeks early.
“Okay, okay, okay,” I mumble.
Hunter is out on a client call and I know that I won’t be able to get a hold of him.
“Shit.” Looking at the schedule, I notice that the property he’s working on is right up the road. Taking a heaving breath, I grab my bag and heft it onto my shoulder, car keys and phone in my other hand.
As I get into the SUV we purchased a month ago, I shoot off a message to Elle and Sara, letting them know that I’m in labor and grabbing Hunter to head to the hospital. I’ve grown closer to them since the gender reveal party. They even helped me plan my small wedding.
I think it surprised everyone when I planned the affair two weeks after the surprise party. Not that there was a particular reason for it to happen so quickly. I wasn’t vain about how I would look in my dress or how much weight I would gain, but I couldn’t stand to wait another minute to be Hunter’s wife. I had wasted too much time keeping him just out of reach. Once I let myself love him entirely, there was no turning back.
Thinking about my marriage takes my mind off the growing pain and I’m able to pull up outside the client’s house without incident. It looks like a large piece of property and as I exit the vehicle, I can hear Hunter’s mower off in the distance. It appears I have quite the trek ahead of me.
Talking to the baby, I say, “Alright, if you could just hold off for a little bit while I get your daddy, it would be much appreciated.” I rub my bump as I head through the field.
It doesn’t take long for Hunter to notice a pair of eyes on him. He looks up at me in surprise, but when I point to my stomach and give a thumbs up he comes rushing from the mower – engine still running but brakes engaged.
“It’s time?” Hunter shouts. His earplugs are still in place and he yanks them out as he speaks.
“The contractions have started, they started at five minutes apart, right now there about two to three minutes.”
He places his hands on my stomach, worry etched between his brows.
“It’s too soon, Taylor.”
Trying to ease his fear, I run my hand through his hair hoping to soothe him.
“It’s going to be fine. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get to the hospital. I already let Sara and Elle know. You may want to call your mom so she can meet us at the hospital, and Aiden to come to finish your job.”
“Shit, you’re right.” He looks back at the running equipment but decides not to touch it, instead looks back at me in surprise. “How are you so calm?”
Gently resting my hands on top of his, I tell him, “Because I’m about to meet our son.”
Hunter races to my idling SUV, while I waddle behind him wondering the entire time if the baby is going to fall out from all of my jostling.
“Come on, slowpoke,” Hunter shouts beside the car waiting impatiently for me to make it toward him.
“If I weren’t in labor, I would smack you,” I shout in return. Once I finally make it to the vehicle, I narrow my eyes at my husband. “If you keep this up, mister, I’ll keep you out of the room.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
I huff as I amble myself into the car, the contractions coming a lot faster than before. “Just get me to the hospital please.”
“
On it. I’m going to call my mom and let her know what’s going on so that she can bring your bag too.”
A sharp contraction takes over my body and I reach out gripping the first thing that I come in contact with, which happens to be Hunter’s arm. Unable to hold back the pain I shout, “Drive!”
***
Looking across the room, I watch as Hunter rocks back and forth in the dimly lit area by the window. I know that he carries Shane in his arms, he hasn’t left that place since I delivered him not too long ago.
Unfortunately for me, I didn’t feel very well after Shane came screaming into the world. I was conscious enough to nurse him off and on and change into more comfortable clothing, but my iron levels dropped tremendously low. They’ve been pumping me full of liquids and supplements for the past two hours.
“Hey, it looks like your mommy is awake.” Hunter walks over to the bed and hands off Shane into my arms, the baby instantly squirming around for a meal.
“Hey, sweet boy, you hungry?” My parched voice comes out like a whisper. He eats like a champ, latching on immediately. A sigh flees from my lips as I feel relief.
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?”
“Better.” I move my focus away from Shane and onto Hunter, the bags hang heavy under his eyes, purple marring his tanned skin.
He scoots next to me on the bed and rests his head on top of mine. “You scared the shit out of me. I thought I was going to lose you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. I’m just glad everything is okay. You’re a natural with him, you know.” Hunter changes the subject. “You were remarkable.”
Silently we watch together as Shane eats, his eyes never leaving mine as he fills his tiny belly. I reach up and stroke his tuft of dark brown hair.
“He’s beautiful.”
“Just like his mom.”
Shane finishes eating and burps before falling asleep against my chest. A quiet knock sounds on the door and a nurse pops her head in making sure everyone is decent.
“Oh, I’m glad to see that you’re awake. Your coloring has returned too. That’s very good.” She walks over to the bed and checks a few of the monitors. “You have a few guests anxiously waiting to meet your little guy here. Would you like me to send them in?”
Stolen Hearts (The Stolen Series Book 3) Page 17
