“Our lives are totally changing,” Stella says at one point. “Soon we’ll be forming mom groups and arranging playdates.”
“That sounds like so much fun,” Candice gushes, making Stella roll her eyes.
Eventually they all leave, and it’s only Eleanor who’s with me. She helps me pick up around the living room, throwing away the discarded wrapping paper and gathering the paper cups still scattered around. When Theo arrives home a half hour later, he grabs all the gifts and takes them to the baby’s room.
“I’m so happy for you two,” Eleanor murmurs when I walk her outside to her rental car. She came into town for the weekend with Mitch, and they’re staying at some fancy hotel in Big Sur. “I can’t believe you’re going to be a mom.”
“Me either.” I smile, suddenly feeling tired. “I need a nap.”
Eleanor laughs. “You’re going to need a lot of naps to prepare for all those sleepless nights.”
“Don’t remind me,” I say with a groan.
We hug goodbye and I watch her leave, waving frantically when she turns onto the next street. I glance over my shoulder to find my husband standing in the open doorway, watching me with fondness lighting his eyes while he watches me.
We ran off to Vegas a few months ago and got married. Eleanor was my maid of honor. The rest of the gang came with us, and so did Theo’s family. Our wedding even made the tabloids, thanks to Mitch accompanying Eleanor. The paps thought they were the ones getting married.
“You have fun?” he asks as I make my way toward the front door.
“I had the best time,” I say, wincing when I feel the shooting pain radiate down my leg.
Theo rushes toward me, gently grabbing hold of my arm and guiding me into the house. “Here, sit down,” he says as he leads me to the couch.
I settle in, resting my hands on my protruding stomach. “I could balance a dinner plate on this belly.”
Baby girl kicks my palm in answer, making me laugh.
Theo settles in beside me, resting his hand on top of one of mine. “You got a lot of nice stuff.”
“We did,” I tell him. “Your family was so generous.”
“Mom and Dad are excited. First grandbaby and all.”
“I’m excited too,” I admit.
“Not scared anymore?”
I got scared at about the five-month mark. I told Theo I wasn’t made out to be a mother, I had a terrible example growing up, so what do I know? But he reassured me as usual that I’ll be just fine, I’ll be a good mom and he loves me.
That’s all I needed to hear. As we draw closer to her due date, I’m so excited to meet her, to hold her. I can’t wait.
“No, I’m not scared,” I say softly, closing my eyes when he leans in and kisses me. His lips are soft, but I feel the urgency there. Mixed with a little bit of hesitancy.
Like he wants to push, but believes I’ll most likely turn him down.
“Are you trying to get me back into the bedroom?” I ask him when we finally end the kiss.
“If you’re asking if I’d like to have sex with you, then yes.” He runs his hand up and down my belly. “You’re sexy when you’re pregnant. You’re sexy all the time.”
“I don’t feel sexy,” I say.
“Well, you are.” His voice is firm and he leaps to his feet, offering both of his hands to me. “Come on, wife. Let’s go get it on.”
I burst out laughing and let him pull me to my feet. “I won’t be feeling up to much sex after she’s here, you know. I guess we better do it as much as possible.”
“Exactly, so let’s do this.” He pulls me into his arms once we’re standing at the foot of the bed, his fiery gaze meeting mine. “I love you, Mrs. Crawford.”
I smile, pure joy threatening to overwhelm me. “I love you too, Mr. Crawford.”
Acknowledgments
The Dating series has come to an end, and I’m feeling nostalgic. Not only did I love creating stories for each of the women in this friend group, I also had a lot of fun building the friendships with these women throughout the series. How open they are, and how they make time for each other no matter what, is what we all deserve in a friend. I want to be friends with these women, and I hope you do too!
A big thank you to Nina and the rest of the team at Valentine PR for always taking good care of me and my books during release (and year round, truly). A huge thank you to the bloggers, reviewers and readers who read my books, who reached out to me about this series and fell in love with it. Thank you so much for your support.
I do plan on writing a spinoff series involving Theo’s family, but nothing concrete planned yet, so watch for more details and preorder links coming soon!
Thank you so much for reading. It would mean the world to me if you left an honest review for this book.
The Dating Series
If you love WEDDING DATE, make sure you check out the other books in the series!
Out Now:
Save The Date
Fake Date
Holidate
Hate to Date You
Rate A Date
Wedding Date
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Also by Monica Murphy
Dating Series
Save The Date
Fake Date
Holidate
Hate to Date You
Rate A Date
Wedding Date
The Callahans
Close to Me
Falling For Her
Addicted To Him
Meant To Be
Forever Yours Series
You Promised Me Forever
Thinking About You
Nothing Without You
Damaged Hearts Series
Her Defiant Heart
His Wasted Heart
Damaged Hearts
Friends Series
One Night
Just Friends
More Than Friends
Forever
The Never Duet
Never Tear Us Apart
Never Let You Go
The Rules Series
Fair Game
In The Dark
Slow Play
Safe Bet
The Fowler Sisters Series
Owning Violet
Stealing Rose
Taming Lily
Reverie Series
His Reverie
Her Destiny
Billionaire Bachelors Club Series
Crave
Torn
Savor
Intoxicated
One Week Girlfriend Series
One Week Girlfriend
Second Chance Boyfriend
Three Broken Promises
Drew + Fable Forever
Four Years Later
Five Days Until You
A Drew + Fable Christmas
Standalone YA Titles
Daring The Bad Boy
Saving It
Pretty Dead Girls
About the Author
Monica Murphy is a New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over two million copies worldwide. Both a traditionally published and independently published author, she writes young adult and new adult romance, as well as contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She’s also known as USA Today bestselling author Karen Erickson.
Copyright © 2020 by Monica Murphy
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, in
cluding information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Cover design: Hang Le
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Editor: Mackenzie Walton
Proofreader: Holly Malgieri
Wedding Date (Dating Series Book 6) Page 23