by Kate, Jiffy
“Yeah, it is,” I tell her, hoping she still feels that way when I tell her my other news in a few days.
For the next few hours, Charlotte helps me pack up my bedroom and then goes with me over to Ross’s to unload everything into the guest house.
It doesn’t take us long to unpack and get things put away and as we’re standing in the middle of the great room, Charlotte pulls me into a hug.
“This is a good move for you,” she says, her head resting on mine. “I feel it in my bones.”
“What no jokes about me boning Ross?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”
For the second time today, I want to tell her everything, but I don’t.
And I can only pray that when I do, she’s as receptive to it as she has been to me moving into Ross Davies’ guest house.
Chapter 19
Ross
Pulling up to my gate, I sigh in relief when I see Casey’s car parked in the drive. A small voice in my head said she wouldn’t be here and like last time, something would come up or spook her and she’d bail. But she’s here and there’s also a light on in the living room, which means she’s probably inside waiting for me.
I’m so anxious to get to her that I put the code in wrong on the first try. Finally getting it right, I drive up and park next to her car, my eyes glued to the window with the light, willing some sort of x-ray vision to kick in so I can see her.
As I unlock the door and step into the foyer, I can’t help the smile and overwhelming sense of rightness I feel when I see her curled up on my couch.
It’s always good to be home after a long road trip, but it’s so much better with her here.
Setting my duffle bag down, I kick off my shoes and quietly walk over to see she’s sleeping.
Her blonde hair is draped over half her face, so I brush it back and tuck it behind her ear. Leaning down, I kiss the top of her head and then her forehead, breathing her in. She stirs a little, but doesn’t wake, so I decide to carry her to bed.
I wanted to be inside her tonight, but I’ll settle for holding her.
When I scoop her up, I swear she feels lighter than the first night I carried her upstairs, which concerns me a little due to all of her sickness and doctor’s appointments. But that’s something to worry about another day.
Right now, she’s here and she’s in my arms and that’s good enough.
Her hands grip my shirt as I start to ascend the stairs. “Ross?” she asks, her voice thick with sleep.
“Yeah, baby, it’s me.”
She mumbles a few noncoherent words against my chest and I smile, kissing her hair.
As I lean down to lay her in my bed, her eyes slowly open. “Ross.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re home.”
“Yeah.”
“I missed you.”
Instead of telling her how much I missed her, I show her, pressing my lips to hers.
At first, the kiss is slow and tender, like we’re remembering how good it feels to kiss each other. As Casey opens her mouth, I deepen the kiss and it’s like a switch is flipped.
My hands go to the hem of her t-shirt as she pulls me on top of her.
Just like the first time, all thought goes out the window and I just feel… her soft skin, her perfect breasts… “I missed you too,” I murmur against her neck as I kiss my way down.
When I get to the waistband of her pants, her body goes stiff and she pushes my hands away, scooting back on the bed.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, panting as I catch my breath.
Her hand comes up to her lips which are swollen and red from our kiss, looking even more kissable than usual. I want to taste them, along with the rest of her body, but I don’t like the way she’s looking at me right now.
“Casey?”
She inhales deeply, her shoulders rising and then falling as she exhales. “I have to tell you something.”
My heart drops, along with my stomach. She wouldn’t know this, but those are the exact words Felicia said to me the night she told me she wanted a divorce. I get that Casey and I aren’t anything official, but like it or not, she does hold power over me and the trepidation at whatever she needs to tell me is still there.
“What?” I ask, sounding a little harsher than I intended.
Her brows pull together and she cocks her head, taking another breath and blowing it out.
“This isn’t really how I planned on doing this,” she mutters, more to herself than me. “But here goes nothing.” Adjusting her shirt, she locks her eyes on mine. “Oh, God… this is way harder than I even imagined and that was… hard.”
She blows out another breath and now I’m starting to freak the fuck out. Is this about her? About her doctor’s appointments? Is she sick or—
“I’m pregnant.”
My heart beat slows.
My breathing stops.
My mind short circuits.
“What?”
“I’m pregnant…eleven weeks tomorrow.”
“You’re… pregnant.” It’s not a question. It’s a statement. I needed to say it to see if it would help me process the information better. “And I’m…” I look up at her, needing her to finish that statement for me so I know exactly what she’s telling me.
“Going to be a dad,” she says quietly, swallowing hard.
The night we had sex, I assumed she was on birth control. Everything happened so fast…and I didn’t ask…and she didn’t say anything…
“Please say something.”
When I look back up at her, I see the fear in her eyes. She’s worried I’m going to be upset or not want the baby, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I’ve always wanted to be a dad.
“We’re going to have a baby,” I tell her, still wrapping my mind around it.
She nods slowly, pressing her lips together as her eyes fill with tears.
Reaching for her, I pull her into me and cradle her body against mine. “Don’t cry,” I murmur into her hair. “It’s going to be okay…everything is going to be okay.”
“Are you mad at me?” she asks, her voice breaking as she falls apart against me. “I swear I didn’t know…I’ve been on the pill for so long. I didn’t think I could get pregnant by missing one pill. But I didn’t do it on purpose. This isn’t one of those Lifetime movies where the girl tries to trap the guy by getting pregnant with his baby and if you don’t want to do this thing, I get it…I do...and...I can do it by myself.”
The last few words come out as stutters as Casey’s sobs take over and she begins to shake.
“Case,” I say, trying to calm her. “Don’t cry…please don’t cry.”
For a minute, I just run a hand up and down her back, trying to soothe her as I collect myself and pray I say the right words. God, please don’t let me fuck this up.
When she settles and her body stills, I take a deep breath like I’m at the plate getting ready to throw a pitch. Center. Focus. Visualize. “Casey?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, just making sure you didn’t pass out on me.”
She laughs and it’s sad and still filled with tears, but it’s the best damn sound.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, okay? I’ve always said it takes two…it takes two people to make a relationship work. It takes two people to make a baby. That night, I should’ve worn a condom. We should’ve talked about it. I won’t make any excuses for that, but it’s just as much, if not more, on me than it is you. So let that shit go.”
Swallowing, I close my eyes and inhale her sweet scent because that is what soothes me.
“But I can’t say I’m sorry this happened…I’m not.”
She stills, her hands gripping my shirt a little tighter.
“I’ve always wanted to be a dad. Sure, this isn’t exactly how I saw it happening, but I’ll never be sorry about it...it’s not a mistake. You can call it fate or a miracle or an act of God, but it’s not a mistake. And it mi
ght take me a while to fully wrap my head around the idea of it all, but just know, I’ll always be here for you and this baby, okay?”
I feel her sag with relief and I kiss the top of her head.
“How long have you known?”
“A few weeks.”
It all makes so much sense now—her being sick while I was at Spring Training, then during our first few games, and her weird behavior when I got back home.
“Are you still getting sick?” I ask, going back to running my hand up and down her back.
“Sometimes… it comes and goes.”
“Is there anything I can do for you?”
She sighs, finally letting go of my shirt and wrapping her arms around my torso. “You’re doing it.”
After a few more minutes of just holding her, I extract myself and discard my jeans and t-shirt on the floor before climbing back in bed and pulling her to me. As I tuck the blankets up around her, she melts into me.
I saw this night going so differently…
A baby.
I’m going to be a dad.
Talk about a fucking curveball.
My mind is still reeling and trying to come to terms with it, but my heart is all in. I wish she would’ve told me sooner, but I can’t change that. All I can do is be here for her—for the baby—going forward and I plan to do that. The rightness inside trumps any anger or resentment.
I can’t imagine if I was in her place… who’s to say I would’ve handled it any differently or better?
Surprisingly, sleep comes easily and when I open my eyes again, sunlight is streaming through my bedroom window and Casey is still passed out beside me.
And my first thought is the baby.
Sliding my hand from where it’s protectively wrapped around her shoulders, I touch her stomach. It’s still flat, so if she hadn’t told me there’s a baby inside, I wouldn’t know.
No one would.
Which brings me to one of many questions: has she told anyone else? Her sister?
The thought of Casey carrying this all by herself makes my insides ache. I can’t explain it, but I don’t like the idea of her bearing all the burden, not that this baby is a burden, but… shit, I don’t know. What the fuck do I know about any of this? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I’ve always heard that a man becomes a father the day his baby is born, but a woman becomes a mother the day she finds out she’s pregnant. For her, this has been real from day one… her reality. And I can only imagine what she’s been going through… fear of the unknown, anxiety about what she’s going to do…
I wonder if she ever considered not having it?
No, that’s not Casey.
I don’t know how I know that, but I just do. She’s always come across as the maternal type. Even though she’s younger than Charlotte, she takes care of her.
Shit, she takes care of me.
And I know she’s going to be the most amazing mother.
As images of her in all stages of pregnancy flood my mind, I try to imagine her holding a baby, our baby, and then another thought comes at me out of nowhere.
What if something happens?
I mean, I’ve had friends whose wives and girlfriends have had miscarriages. That happens, probably more frequently than anyone realizes. It could happen to her… to us.
“Your thoughts are very loud this morning,” Casey mumbles as she reaches a hand up to rub her face and then brush her hair back.
Chuckling, I forget my hand is still resting on her stomach until her hand comes to rest on top of it and the entire atmosphere shifts.
This is happening.
Me.
And her.
And this baby.
I don’t know what it means for us and our relationship, I’d never force Casey into anything she doesn’t want, but I need her to know I want her. I want this baby.
Pulling her on top of me, I tip her chin up and force her to look at me.
“Change your mind about anything while you were sleeping?” she asks, her sleepy gaze something I’d love to wake up to every morning. When she traps her bottom lip with her teeth, I brush my thumb against her mouth and then replace it with a kiss.
It’s slow and understanding, telling her all the things I want to say, but doing it better.
I’m here.
I’m not going anywhere.
You’re not in this alone.
“I need to brush my teeth,” she mutters, breaking this kiss and dipping her head.
“I like you just the way you are,” I tell her, tipping her chin back up and reclaiming her mouth. “Morning breath and all.”
She laughs into my mouth and it causes my dick to stir.
I know when she feels the hardness beneath her because she pulls back again and this time there’s nothing but lust and need in her gaze.
Running my hands up her thighs, I realize they’re bare.
At some point during the night, she must’ve kicked off her pants.
The only barrier between us are two thin pieces of fabric.
Without those, all it would take is one thrust and I’d be inside her.
“I want you,” I tell her, needing her to know and also giving her the reins. “But I don’t want to do anything you’re not comfortable with or anything that would…”
Hurt the baby.
Hurt you.
“I want you too,” Casey says breathlessly, her hands already pulling at the waistband of my boxers. “So bad… you have no idea.”
“Is it okay?” I ask, tugging her closer so I can devour her neck, needing to taste every inch of her. “I mean, with the baby and everything. Is it okay?”
“Yes,” she moans as I nip at the sensitive spot behind her ear.
“Tell me if I do anything wrong,” I tell her, meaning it for more than just now. “This is all new to me too and I don’t want to fuck anything up.”
We should be having this conversation with clothes on but I can’t stop.
I need her.
Gripping the bottom of her shirt, I pull it over her head and toss it to the floor. Her panties and my boxers follow shortly after and seconds later, Casey is positioning her slick entrance over my hard as steel cock.
From this angle, I can see everything and it’s glorious.
With her hand wrapped around my shaft, she guides me inside and I groan at the instant pleasure of being enveloped in her tight heat.
“Fuck, Casey. You feel so good,” I groan, my hands going to her hips and she takes every inch of me.
When her hips are flush with mine, I open my eyes to see her gazing down at me, looking like a fucking goddess. Her long blonde hair hangs in curtains around her face. Those soft, perfect breasts are on full display.
“Move, baby, I need you to ride my cock,” I command, kneading her pert little ass as I urge her hips forward.
She lets out a moan as her head falls back and her hair brushes my thighs.
Reaching out, I take a handful of one of her breasts and lean up to take it into my mouth, sucking on her nipple.
Casey’s high-pitched keen echoes around the room and I smile against her skin, loving the way she completely loses herself when we’re together.
“That’s it, baby… I want to hear you scream.”
Her hips move faster, pressing down harder as she finds the friction she’s looking for. I can feel her walls begin to tighten and spasm. Laying back, I reach down between us and rub small circles around her clit until she falls apart… her muscles tensing… her breaths halting… and then she explodes around me.
While she continues to ride out her orgasm, I take over, thrusting up into her.
Another wave hits and I feel her walls spasm again, which sends me careening over the edge.
Cool heat travels up my back as my balls tighten and then I’m releasing into her—claiming her, owning her… and even though she just gave me everything, I want more.
Chapter 20
Casey
“Do yo
u want to see a picture of the baby?” I ask Ross as we lay in his bed after a second round of mind-blowing sex. Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones or the fact there aren’t any barriers between us, but if I thought our first night together was amazing, then this morning has been otherworldly.
I can’t even begin to describe it.
And I might be ruining it by bringing up the baby, but I want to share this with him… if he’s interested and I figure there’s no time like the present to find out.
“Of course I want to see a picture of the baby,” Ross says, sitting up so quickly he pushes me off him onto my side.
Laughing, I look up. “Are you sure? Because if it’s too much too soon, we don’t have—”
“Casey, show me my baby.”
His baby.
Biting down on my lip, I try to hide my grin and also the tears threatening to break free.
Stupid hormones.
“You’re really serious about this?” I ask, needing to hear it from him again. Call me needy, but after keeping this secret to myself for three weeks, it feels good to have it out in the open and to know he’s onboard. I’m not sure what I expected exactly, but his response was better than I’d hoped for.
“I’m very serious,” he says, those gorgeous eyes boring into mine and making me want things I shouldn’t. Leaning down, he kisses me, almost making me forget what we’re talking about. “Now go get the picture.”
Rolling out of bed, I grab my t-shirt off the floor and slip it on as I walk out of his bedroom and down the stairs. As I’m making my way across the dining room to get the ultrasound out of my bag, I hear Ross in the kitchen.
“What can I make you for breakfast?” he calls out as pans clang. “Eggs, bacon, hash browns…”
Bent over, my hand immediately goes to my mouth and I drop the envelope as I run to the bathroom under the stairs. Fortunately, I make it to the toilet. After weeks of dealing with this, I know when it’s a false alarm and when it’s the real deal.
This was the real deal.
“Casey?” Ross asks from behind me, sounding worried.
Waving him off, I turn my head, hoping he can’t see me. “I’m fine. Please go.”
“No.” Taking a few steps into the bathroom, he pulls a washcloth from the cabinet and turns the water on. I listen while he wets the washcloth and rings it out. Kneeling beside me, he gathers my hair and holds it back. “What can I get for you? Tell me what to do.”