He stopped crying the moment that the doctor handed him to me. The little bundle felt like nothing at all – he was so small that I worried there was nothing in amongst the blankets at all. But when I looked down, I saw two perfect, bright, shining eyes staring up at me in wonder.
“Oh my god,” I breathed, and felt emotion well up in my chest. All of a sudden, I let out a loud sob. “He's perfect.”
Tripp started crying and I leaned down to carefully place our baby in his arms.
“Look, Tripp,” I through another set of sobs. “He's perfect.”
“Oh my god,” Tripp cried, tears pouring down his face. “He's so perfect.”
“Right?” I asked the doctor, suddenly remembering that our little guy might be too little.
“He's on the smaller side, as predicted with an early delivery, but all seems perfectly healthy,” the doctor reported.
“Really?” Tripp looked up at him with tears in his eyes. “I was so worried, it was so early...”
“It's far more common than you'd think,” the doctor said, reaching over and tucking the blanket in around our babe's face. “Do you have a name?”
“Damian Trevor Savage,” I replied through more sobs.
“Good job on the natural birth, by the way,” the doctor said to Tripp.
“Uh, what?” Tripp asked. “You didn't lay it on me, like I demanded?”
The doctor chuckled, “No, your paperwork said not to use any, no matter what, but that we should offer – something about giving you the opportunity to say no, so that you'd remember to use your natural techniques?... Well, it was weird, but that pain management you did seemed very effective.”
Tripp's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and he stared up at me in shock.
“Whoa,” I said, truly impressed.
“Deck...” he said, sounding completely shocked. “I can't believe it but... Yoga actually works.”
Six months later, and yoga was still working for Tripp. He performed his calming breathing techniques at Nona’s dining table when Damian flipped a bowl of mashed bananas onto his head – and not for the first time that day.
Damian let out a hysterical giggle and clapped his banana-slicked hands as he watched the smooshed pulp slide down Tripp's face.
“You're a banana monster! Leave your Dada alone, he doesn't need a banana hair treatment!” Nona growled, picking Damian up out of his high chair.
Our little bundle of trouble immediately smooshed his dirty hands all over her face and let out a howl of laughter. Tripp couldn't help but laugh and I let out a little chuckle too. Nona held the tyke at arm’s length and gave him the stink-eye before letting out a laugh of her own.
“Sorry, Nona,” I said, reaching out. “I can take him if you like.”
She shook her head and held him closer to her chest. “Nonsense. This is my pride and joy. Get your own.”
I laughed and let her enjoy the banana face mask that Damian was smooshing into her cheeks as she carried him to the bathroom.
Tripp and I cleaned up the dining table, and his hair, while Nona got Damian bathed and tucked into bed. Having a supportive babysitter had meant that we’d been able to live an almost normal life after having our first baby. We’d focused on our work again and our channels had exploded since we'd started our Life’s a Tripp relationship vlog. It had grown even bigger with sponsorships and paid advertising since we'd had Damian. In fact, I'd posted the video from when I got the call from Holden telling me that Tripp was in the hospital – it was such a genuine and touching moment that it had instantly gone viral. We got serious traffic from new parents, and fans who were obsessed with our dynamic. It made me happy that we'd grown our brands together, but I was even happier that it gave us plenty of free time and completely flexible schedules to take care of Damian together. Both of us were almost always with him together, and I couldn't remember a time when I wouldn't want for life to be that way. I had so much love to give both of them - and Nona. In fact, something deep inside me had been rumbling about having so much love to throw around, and not enough places to put it...
“Remember what I said when I was in labor with Damian?” Tripp asked as he wrapped his arms around me from behind while I washed the dishes at Nona’s sink.
“That you hate me?” I laughed.
“I'm pretty sure I didn't say that,” he said, raising his eyebrows.
“Uh, I promise you – you did.”
He rolled his eyes and waved me off, “Yeah, yeah, but do you remember what else? About never wanting a baby again?”
A little surge of sadness filled my chest and I felt my wolf let out a disgruntled sigh. I just nodded and looked over at Tripp as he stared at me with dreamy eyes.
“I think I might have been lying,” he grinned.
“Uh... About...” I said, very slowly putting it together.
“I want another kid,” he smirked, that playful glimmer in his eye catching me completely off-guard.
“Are you serious!?” I spun around, my hands dripping with dishwater, and stared at him.
He nodded quickly and bit down on his bottom lip. “Do you...?”
“Yes!” I cried, and felt extremely proud of how easy it was to express myself these days.
Tripp let out a happy laugh and threw his arms around my neck, bringing me into a warm kiss.
“Thank you,” I whispered, and kissed him again.
“For what?” he asked, pulling back and frowning.
“For being my pretend boyfriend.”
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Claimed By My Pretend Boyfriend
Blackwater Pack: Book 6
Liam Kingsley
© 2019
Disclaimer
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.
This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).
Claimed By My Pretend Boyfriend: Blackwater Pack Book Six Page 18