by Natasha Boyd
I leaned into him, peering over his shoulder. “The mystery of the disappearing pregnancy result,” I read.
“Oh, shit,” he said and we both leapt up.
At the bathroom door, we stopped and stared at the stick lying so innocuously on the vanity too far away to read. “It’s only been two minutes,” I said.
“The box says as little as two minutes.”
“But what if it hasn’t turned yet and we think it’s negative?”
“I guess we’ll both be disappointed.” He looked into my eyes, brushing a hair from my temple.
“I guess we will, won’t we?”
He smirked. “Then we’ll do it like we mean it this time.”
I lightly punched his arm and chuckled. “Jack.”
“That actually makes me sad that we don’t know which time got you pregnant.” He proceeded to list out his favorite moments making my cheeks pulse with heat.
I rolled my eyes at him. “When we get the first ultrasound, we’ll try and trace it back, okay?”
“Okay.” He nodded eagerly.
“Dork,” I said.
“Learning from the best,” he said and kissed my forehead. “Now it’s been three minutes.”
We both took a deep breath and dashed across the bathroom to the stick-shaped oracle.
Seventeen
We stared down at the white plastic stick that was predicting our future.
“Well,” began Jack after a long pause, “looks like my boys can swim.” Then he turned to me with wide eyes. “We’re gonna be parents!”
“Wow,” I managed after a moment.
Jack wrapped his arms around me so tight I lifted off the ground.
I clung tightly, and he carried me back to bed and laid me down. Stripping down to his boxers, he climbed under the covers next to me and propped his head up so I could lay my head on his shoulder.
His hand found its way to my belly again, and I entwined my fingers through his.
“I can’t believe it,” he whispered.
“I know. It’s crazy.”
“We need to schedule a doctors appointment. Does Joey know any baby doctors?”
I laughed. “I’m sure he does. We’ll ask him tomorrow.” Then I paused. “I have to tell my brother tomorrow that I’m pregnant and unmarried.”
Jack rolled toward me, hooking a leg over mine, and propped his head on his hand. “Almost married. But yeah, this kind of throws the order of things off a bit.”
“I do not want to get married looking like a whale,” I whined.
His green eyes fixed on me with seriousness, even as he laughed. “You’ll be beautiful no matter what.”
“Thank you. Ugh, I know it sounds so vain, but I didn’t plan on being pregnant in a wedding dress. Nana is probably turning in her grave.”
“So you want to wait?” Jack asked, with a grimace that looked like he wished I didn’t want to.
“No. I don’t know,” I answered with caution. “I mean I definitely don’t want to throw together a quickie wedding. I want it to feel deliberate, not rushed.”
“You’re thinking after he’s born?”
“He?”
“Or she.” Jack grinned ruefully. “I have no idea why I said that.”
“I’d love a little Jack.” I brought my hand up and traced a finger across Jack’s brows and down his nose to his gorgeous lips. It was hard to focus on his face with the massive diamond ring right there.
“I’d love a little Keri Ann,” he mumbled under my fingertips, then his tongue flicked out to catch my finger, drawing it into his mouth, and I forgot about the ring.
Replacing my fingers with my lips, we kissed for long minutes. Softly, unhurriedly. Every touch was a gentle caress, every sigh was reverent worship. My eyelids grew heavy, my body languid. “Happy birthday,” Jack murmured sometime later. “We’ll talk more in the morning.”
In the morning, on my birthday, I’d wake up pregnant and with a wedding to plan. But my last thought was someone was going to be getting married at my childhood home, and it wouldn’t be me. Even lying in the comfort of Jack’s arms with our whole future ahead of us, that thought made me a bit sad.
I awoke to Jack carrying in a tray piled high, he banged the door and almost lost his balance. “Shit, sorry,” he whispered. “Happy birthday.”
“What are you doing?” I asked, flopping over to my side, my body no longer languid, more heavy and hungover. My head was muzzy. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes. “I’ve given up caffeinated soft drinks, coffee, and alcohol, and this is how I feel?” I grumbled. “I should feel amazing. I don’t feel amazing. I feel hungover without the fun.”
Jack chuckled. “You’ve gone cold turkey, that’s why. And you have hormones raging. You may not feel amazing, but you are amazing. You’re growing a human,” said Jack and set the tray down on the dresser. “So I’ve been reading up. You might feel sick any time, not just morning. Keeping something in your stomach at all times is the best defense.”
I groaned. Could I really just eat for nine months straight? That would be awesome. “Can I eat birthday cake for nine months?” I asked rhetorically.
“I wasn’t sure what appealed so I went to the store,” Jack went on. “I have crackers, cereal, with and without milk, a donut.” He glanced at me briefly before returning his gaze to his inventory, a worried look on his face. “Some scrambled eggs and bacon, but if you go with the eggs, pick now because cold eggs are just,” he shook his head, “no.”
My smile that had materialized at the start of his list, turned into a full-blown laugh. “You are the cutest boyfriend ever.”
“Fiancé.” He growled, his eyes narrowed on me.
“Oops.” I smirked and looked down at my ring. The morning sun chose that moment to catch the facets of the diamonds. “Holy shit.” It really was big. And so, so beautiful.
“You ... forgot we got engaged last night?” Jack prowled toward the bed.
“How could I when I need my other arm to move my hand under the weight of this ring?” I teased as he loomed closer. “Last night, I almost had to wake you up to help me turn over.”
Jack dropped his hands on either side of me, propping up his body and looking down at me. “Wench. And you’ll probably need me to help you turn over because of your big beautiful belly before too long so ... careful.” His eyes teased me. “Now what would our baby like for breakfast this morning?”
I laid my hand on my flat abdomen and feigned listening intently. “Eggs and bacon please.”
“Of course he would.”
“She.”
Jack winked and pushed away to go back to the tray. “Do you think it’s even a he or she yet? I’m trying to remember biology class. How long until cells replicate one way or the other?”
“No idea. You could probably use that pocket computer thingy you carry everywhere,” I sassed referring to his smartphone.
“Hmm. I probably could. It’s already been so useful telling me all about what’s going on with you,” he said and unstacked everything but the eggs, bacon, and a can of ginger ale from the tray and brought it over.
“Hang on, I need to pee,” I yelped and dashed to the bathroom.
When I came back, Jack was still holding the tray with his eyebrows raised. “You’re making it impossible to bring you breakfast in bed.”
“Sorry.” I giggled and climbed back under the covers, propping myself up on pillows. I patted my lap.
Jack set the tray down and I began eating immediately. “Mmmm, so good, thank you,” I managed after I swallowed the first bite of lukewarm, buttery eggs.
“A little cold.”
“Perfect.” I shook my head. “And I love that you looked up what’s going on with me before what’s going on with the baby.”
He climbed carefully onto the bed on his side so as not to upset the tray. “I wanted to look up baby stuff together, so I could discover right along with you.”
“So read to me while I eat?”
“Sure.” He smiled, and my heart pinched at his boyish enthusiasm. “Okay, where are we?” He scrolled down his screen. “Ah.”
He began reading, but because I didn’t know when we’d conceived, it all seemed a little hypothetical.
“Stop,” I said after a few minutes. “I want to imagine a person, but the reality is we have a lima bean with a pulse. Maybe not even a pulse.”
Jack looked up from his phone. “I agree. Until we get an idea of how long Bean’s been growing, it seems pointless.”
“Bean, I like that. It takes care of whether to call it a he or a she for now.”
“And Bean has totally overshadowed our engagement and Mommy’s birthday,” he spoke sternly to my belly, making me laugh.
Jack took my empty tray, and I leaned over to get my phone so I could call Joey and tell him the news and ask for a referral.
“You’re going to be an uncle,” I said when he answered.
“Who is this?” Joey asked, and I momentarily pulled my phone away to look at it. Nope, definitely called the right number.
“What?” mouthed Jack.
I shook my head with a grin and put the phone back to my ear just in time to hear my brother. “—tulations! Wow, Keri Ann. Are you serious?”
“Yep,” I squealed happily.
“I thought you were calling to be annoyed that I hadn’t called to wish you happy birthday yet. Happy birthday, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
“Soooo that was fast. Didn’t you want to enjoy being engaged or married a bit first?” My brother laughed.
“I’m not one day pregnant, you goober.”
“Obviously, I’m kidding. So how far along are you?”
“I don’t know. I was taking the pill.” A thought occurred to me and my stomach dropped. “Shit, is it dangerous to the baby that I was taking birth control?”
Jack stalked back to the bed and sat down, his face worried. “Shit,” he echoed.
“No, it shouldn’t be,” said Joey in my ear. “It happens all the time. The pill’s not a hundred percent effective against pregnancy anyway. But I’ll look up a recent study to put your mind at ease.”
Jack was glaring wide-eyed at me waiting for an answer.
I shook my head at him, laying a hand on his forearm. “It’s okay, I think,” I whispered.
“Is that Jack?” asked Joey. “Can you put me on speaker?”
I pulled the phone away from my ear and hit the speaker button. “Here you go,” I said.
“Hey, Joey.”
“Jack, congratulations, man. Listen, I know you’re probably worried about this getting out, but I have a friend who’s an obstetrician on Hilton Head Island, and she’s completely trustworthy. I can refer you. Keri Ann needs to have a checkup as soon as you guys can manage it. This doctor has a practice outside of the hospital, so maybe she could see you on the weekend to minimize anyone recognizing you both.”
“That would be great, Joey.” My fiancé looked to me for agreement.
My fiancé! I nodded. “Thanks, Joey.”
“So do I get to be the first to tell Jazz something for once?” Joey asked.
“Sure.” Jack looked at me with a shrug.
I bit my lip and grimaced. “She already knows, sorry.”
Jack’s mouth dropped open.
“You guys,” I exclaimed. “It’s Jazz. Also, I practically vomited on her feet at the same time I realized I was probably pregnant. It would have been a little hard to keep that to myself.” I folded my arms. “Why am I mansplaining? It’s Jazz. Of course she knows.” I finished on a huff.
“It’s fine,” Jack said, sitting back with an eyebrow raised at my outburst. “Really.”
Joey was laughing.
“Ugh. Both of you.” I sat back against the pillows in a huff.
“So back to the news of last night,” Joey said with a chuckle. “Does this mean you’re getting married sooner rather than later?”
“We don’t know yet,” answered Jack and leaned over to kiss my nose.
I grabbed his face and planted my lips on his.
“Joey, I’m calling you back,” said Jack when I let him go and pressed end. But then he got up.
“What?” I asked. “Are you mad I said I was mansplaining?” We’d recently had a good laugh about how Jazz and I seemed to always know what the other meant about stuff and that the guys just didn’t get it.
Jack didn’t say anything, just went into the bathroom with his phone and closed the door.
I pursed my lips. The bed was so cozy, I didn’t feel like getting up just yet.
A minute later, Jack came back out and tossed his phone on the dresser. Then he stood at the end of the bed and peeled off his heather gray t-shirt, revealing his toned stomach and mussing up his hair.
My breath stuttered in my chest. Every. Single. Time. He was just too gorgeous for words. “What are you doing?” I asked, but he kicked off his shoes and his jeans and then took his boxers off.
I swallowed, my body responding to the sight of him already fully aroused.
“You should know that Monica and Devon have gone out,” he said with a mischievous wink.
“Okay?” I asked, pretending I expected him to elaborate, which he didn’t. “Wait. Did you just call my brother again from the bathroom?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“You don’t want to know.”
He reached under the comforter and grabbed my pajama bottoms and tugged them down my legs with determination.
My heart pounded. “Oh my God, did you ask my own brother if it was safe for us to have sex now that I’m pregnant?” I asked, horrified. Horrified and ridiculously turned on.
With a wink, Jack was diving under the covers and crawling in between my legs.
“Oh,” I managed, gasping, as hands pushed my legs apart and I felt warm breath at my center. And all thoughts fled my mind. “Oh,” I said again. His hot tongue made contact, and my eyes felt like they rolled back in my head.
I couldn’t see him under the covers, I could only feel the exquisite heat and movement of his tongue loving me, his hands holding me open to him, and soon the muffled sounds of his enjoyment. Somehow the inability to see what he was doing to me amplified the wicked deliciousness of it. I was lost to the feel of him working me, vaguely aware I was moaning loudly, opening more to him, clutching at the sheets as he pushed me to the peak. I gasped for oxygen that didn’t seem to be forthcoming. I was almost fighting my rush to the edge, wanting the sensation to last forever. And I teetered, suspended there, as his mouth abruptly left me.
I let out a sound of dismay, but then he was on top of me, gazing down as I blinked my eyes open.
“And yes, it’s safe. Thank God,” he rasped.
And then he was filling me.
His body filled me.
The love in his eyes filled me.
I felt so complete in that moment that tears burned. I held him tightly as he buried his face against my neck, in my hair, kissing me, his body moving in mine with slow and deliberate strokes. I moved with him, needing more, wishing there was a way for us to get closer even though we were as close as we could get. My body, previously ready and worked into a frenzy with his tongue, rushed back to the cliff.
Jack’s mouth left mine, and he stared down into my eyes. “Thank you for agreeing to be my wife. For carrying my child. For being my everything that’s good and perfect.”
I reached for his face, holding him so I could keep those beautiful dark green eyes on mine as his heart and soul made love to me the same way his body did.
“I love you, Jack. So much. And,” I grabbed a breath, trying not to be distracted by the incredible feel of him. I failed. “You feel so good.” I moaned. My hips surged up to meet him, my legs moving higher, wrapping around him, taking him deep, silently begging for the deep nudge that would send me flying.
Jack’s hips ground down on mine in response. His expression tightened, his brow furrowing
. “I love you too.” The words left him in a rush, like he couldn’t hold them back. “And I love being inside you. I’m scared I’m hurting you. Hurting the baby.” His body moved in a relentless, seductive, powerful rhythm.
“More, Jack.” I panted. “I need—”
No, I didn’t need anything more. I had Jack. Forever. “Jack,” was the last thing I managed to say as my body tightened almost painfully before it soared, unraveling at lightning speed. I clung to him tightly as I cried out, long and loud.
Jack followed.
Minutes later, out of breath, our skin cooling as the air dried us, Jack rolled to the side. He pulled me into the crook of his arm and kissed the top of my head.
I laid my hand that wore his ring on his chest, feeling his heart pounding slowly down to a resting rate.
Under my palm, I felt the incremental drawing of a deeper breath to speak.
“Will you marry me next week?” Jack asked softly. “Please?”
Eighteen
Jack and I slowed to an out of breath walk. I was determined to keep exercising during this pregnancy if I was going to be eating like I had been the last few days. It hadn’t taken much to persuade Jack to take a jog on the beach since it was his favorite pastime these days.
The morning mist had cleared off the water, and the sun, while bright, still allowed the breeze to cool our bodies.
I stopped and bent over, my hands on my hips. “Wow. I’m out of practice.”
“Or you just have less personal energy right now,” Jack suggested. “Anyway, it’s not like we had time for a long run anyway.”
We were due to have lunch with his mother and stepfather.
“So do we tell them I’m pregnant?” I asked Jack as I straightened and we resumed walking.
He took my hand. The morning breeze whipped around us and I huddled closer to him. “Well,” he said and kissed my forehead. “Until you’ve decided if you can marry me next week—”
“Jack,” I admonished. “You promised you’d give me time to think about it.”
“You’ve had two hours,” he joked. “How much more time do you need?”
I laughed and shook my head.
