Allison handed over baby Kendall.
All of a sudden, I was a nervous wreck. Panicked, I looked up at Allison. “Please tell me if I do something wrong. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“You’ll be fine, Sam.”
The moment she was in my arms, a connection formed between Kendall and me. I loved her fiercely. I was surprised, but then again, she was a part of my best friend. She was perfect with her little scrunched-up face as she slept.
I broke out of my trance as Allison said, “We named her Kendall Marie Rebecca Wales—Kendall from my mom, Marie from you, and Rebecca from Damien’s sister. I wanted her to share the names of the most important women in both our lives. I hope she has your strength, tenacity, and love for life.”
That caused the dam to break as a few tears slowly slid down my cheeks while I held little Kendall Marie to me. The fact that Allison had named her after me meant that Allison hadn’t thought about my past or the things I had done. Allison loved me for who I was even after knowing everything.
I softly said, “She’s perfect. It’s amazing how much I love her already.” Looking up, Allison had tears in her eyes as I continued, “Thank you. I love you, Allison.”
She nodded as I stared back at Kendall Marie. I spoke to her, “I’m going to be the best auntie ever. We are going to play dress-up, go on outside adventures, get sundaes, go to the movies, and shop. You and I are going to have so much fun. I might even teach you how to give your daddy a really hard time.”
Looking up, I saw Damien and Allison watching their baby adoringly.
Damien came over and got his little girl from me before sitting back down next to Allison. “Don’t listen to your Auntie Sam on that last part.”
Mark’s voice brought me back from my thoughts. “Are you excited to see Kendall?”
“Yes. I haven’t seen her in over two weeks. She’s probably already forgotten who her Auntie Sam is.”
He chuckled at the serious note of distress in my voice.
Every time I’d called Allison, I would make her hold the phone up to Kendall, so I could talk to her. Kendall would squeal in delight as I spoke to her with excitement.
Mark’s phone rang, and he connected the call via Bluetooth. “Hey, Mom.”
I chimed in, “Hey, Mom.”
Annie said happily, “We had such a wonderful time at Christmas. We can’t wait to see you again. Are you guys going to see that precious niece of yours?”
I answered, “Yes, but your son is driving like a grandpa. We should have been there ten minutes ago.”
Annie laughed. “Give that baby a hug for me. I sure hope it gives you the baby fever, Sam.”
I mashed my lips together.
Mark said with a warning tone, “Mom…”
She gasped. “Oh my gosh! You’re pregnant, aren’t you? Oh my gosh! I knew it. I knew it from the moment you walked into the house at Christmas.”
My eyes bulged. How the hell did she figure it out?
Mark was stunned, too, and he muted the phone. “Sam, I swear, I didn’t tell her. I swear.”
“I know. What do we say?”
He shrugged, looking as dumbfounded as I felt, while we whispered back and forth to each other.
How did these women know?
She knew, so there was no reason to lie to her now just to turn around and call her this evening to tell her that we were pregnant.
“Go ahead and tell her,” I said.
He nodded, grinning.
Thinking about my parents, I clarified, “But they can’t say anything. My parents still don’t know. I don’t want them to feel left out.”
A ginormous smile spread across his face. I loved seeing Mark this happy, knowing I had something to do with it.
He unmuted the phone. “Mom?”
“I have you on speakerphone, and I conferenced in Brina,” she said.
I started laughing. This was a typical Robertson family moment, all out there and in the open.
Mark continued in a warning voice, “You guys cannot say anything because Sam’s family doesn’t know yet. So, no posting on any of your social media sites until you get the go-ahead. Yes, Sam and I are having a baby.”
The other end of the line went loud with cheers and clapping.
Annie broke through all the noise and said, “Oh, Mark and Sam, we promise, we promise, we promise! We wouldn’t want to ruin this for you guys. Congratulations. I’m going to be a grandma! Can we come see you next week? When are you due? Sam, how are you feeling?”
Mark looked at me and grabbed my hand, and then I brought our hands to my stomach. I embraced their craziness. If it ever got to be too much, I knew I could talk to them, and they would back off.
Mark answered his mom, “We’d love to have you guys. Sam is doing great. She’s a little over two months along, which puts her due date in July.”
There was more clapping and screaming, and it caused me to start laughing.
Mark was trying to talk through all the chaos. “Mom, Mom, Mom.”
They weren’t paying attention as they were all planning showers and the baby’s first Christmas. I loved each and every one of them.
Pulling up to Allison’s place, it looked like we were the first ones to arrive.
Mark continued to try to penetrate the Robertson chaos barrier, “Hey, guys. We are here. Remember, not a word of this to anyone. Sam’s parents need to be the next to find out. I want to make sure we’re at our place when it hits the media. The news of our wedding caused a lot of pandemonium, and I want to be prepared this time if it’s the same. I’ll text you when you can start going crazy with the announcements.”
When pictures had been released of our wedding right before the playoffs, the press had swarmed us for weeks. We had almost gotten security.
That sobered up his mom. “Mark, I promise. We won’t say a word. We will respect you and Sam. This is your baby.”
“Thanks, you guys. We’ll call you this evening to plan your visit.”
His mom was so excited as she responded, “Love all three of you guys. Take care. Mark, you keep driving like a grandpa. That’s my grandbaby in there with you.”
“Will do, Mom. We love you, too.” He hung up the phone as he put the truck in park and then stared at my stomach. “I’m sorry that didn’t go as planned. I know you wanted to tell your parents first.”
I scoffed and smiled. This is how it’s supposed to be.
“When does it ever go as planned for us? Edna knew the moment I walked in. She’s the reason we took the test to begin with.”
“True. I have no idea how these women know.” He stopped and swallowed, and then he penetrated me with those deep green eyes. “Thanks for giving me this, Sam. Thanks for giving me you and our child.”
I bit my lip as my hand went back to my stomach. “Thank you for giving me you. I’d never have this happiness if it wasn’t for your unconditional love.”
He leaned over and grabbed my face to kiss me.
Pulling back, I smiled, and then I remembered that my precious niece was beyond those doors. “Will you grab Kendall’s gifts? I have to get to my niece.”
“Sure thing.”
With that, I opened up the truck door and practically jogged to the house.
Mark called after me, “Sam, slow down. You’re going to trip.”
I turned and gave him a salute as I giggled. Trying to slow down a little, I continued on, and I went through the front door to the noise coming from the massive family room. Allison and Damien were on the floor, playing with my niece. She was a crawling machine. My knees would never recover from all the crawling I had done with her.
My target was my niece as I dropped to the floor. “Hey, you guys.” I held out my hands. “Come here, sweetie. Auntie Sam has missed you so much.”
Kendall squealed as she crawled toward me. She was in a red ruffled dress. I scooped her up, and her hands went to my hair. We looked at each other as I hugged her to me.
“You’ve gotten so big. You must be eating your Wheaties.”
Allison laughed while Kendall grabbed my hair. “Tell me about it. She eats and eats and eats and eats.”
I put my fingers underneath Kendall’s little chin to look at her. “You’re a growing baby girl. Yes, you are. Your Auntie Sam missed you so much. Yes, she did.”
She made the most adorable face, and then the most wretched smell came from her. Mark walked into the room and laid the gifts by the tree before sitting down next to me. He smelled it, too, and the look on his face caused me to laugh.
I held Kendall to me. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. How does that come out of this cute little princess?”
That had everyone laughing at me as Damien came around. “I’ll change my sweet baby girl.”
Before handing her over, I gave her one last kiss. “Wales, I want her back.”
He began sauntering out of the room, cooing to his baby.
“Wales, I’m serious. I get her back.”
He didn’t say a word.
Bastard. By the look on his face, I knew he was thinking that we would have our own little bundle of joy in a few months.
Allison cleared her throat. “Martin should be here in a few minutes. So, are you still telling everyone this evening? Your parents are going to be so excited. Are you feeling okay?”
I was perfectly content among the baby toys as we sat on the floor. It was amazing how much my life had changed.
“Yes, Mark’s family guessed while we were on the phone with them on the way here. We’ll tell my parents when we start opening presents.”
She moved over to me and gave me a hug. “Your mom is going to be ecstatic. She comes to see Kendall once every other week when we are in town.”
It was sad that Damien’s mom never plugged in. She lived in her own little world and had only wanted Kendall when it suited her social circle needs. Damien refused to let his daughter be used, so his mother had only seen her a couple of times.
When Damien walked back in the room, I gave him my best puppy-dog face. He brought me Kendall as Martin walked in with his girlfriend, Nina. He was proposing to her on New Year’s Eve. He had rented a yacht and planned to do it while the fireworks lit up the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
Kendall was happy to be back with me as she started kicking and trying to speak.
I always talked to her like I knew what she was talking about. “I know. I know. I missed you, too. I can’t wait to see everything Santa brought you.”
Mark leaned over and gave Kendall a pat as I said, “Can you say hi to your Uncle Mark? He told me he wanted to play dress-up with you. All you have to do is say pretty please, and he’ll give you anything you want. If he doesn’t, you come find Auntie Sam.”
She was squealing as she reached for Mark, and he took her.
I looked over to my husband. “I’m loaning her to you. Martin and I have something we need to give to Wales before my parents get here.”
Mark didn’t answer me as he started pretending to zoom Kendall around like an airplane.
Bastard. I will get Kendall back.
Martin gave me a wink as I got up.
I grabbed one of the gifts from the pile Mark had left by the tree, and I handed it to my brother-in-law. “Wales, this is from me and my partner in crime. You’re welcome.”
Damien proceeded with caution as I walked over and gave Martin a high five. I was glad his girlfriend seemed completely okay with Martin and me being friends.
Damien opened his present and peered inside as if it were radioactive.
He’s smart.
He opened the tissue paper and laughed. He held up the book titled, How Not to Be an Overbearing Dad. Everyone broke out in laughter. He looked at it closer and then laughed even harder. Martin and I had written him a guide on things he shouldn’t do, and we had it printed in hardback. Mark set Kendall down as she was now more consumed with what her dad was doing.
He opened it up and read aloud, “Rule number one: Pretending to be a princess and looking for Prince Charming is not a declaration of her getting married. Stow the gun, Wales.”
Allison was laughing, which caused Kendall to crawl to her mom and laugh. Allison scooped her up and said to her daughter, “I love you.”
I turned my attention back to Damien and noticed when he saw the other book in the box. He pulled it out and showed it to everyone. It was another book Martin and I had written. It was titled, How to Drive Your Daddy Nuts.
Damien opened it and read the inscription aloud.
Everyone was in tears as Damien read the first page, “Guideline number one: Tell your daddy about every boy you meet every single day.”
Allison looked at me. “You’re so bad. You wait.”
I moved my finger in a come-here motion and said, “Bring it, sista.”
Smiling, Damien put the gift away. “Just so you know, Kendall is going to be a nun.”
I retorted, “Uh-huh, if you say so.”
My parents walked in the room, and everyone greeted them. Kendall began crawling over to my parents. Seeing my mama’s face light up made me want to tell them immediately.
I looked at Mark, silently asking if it was okay, and he kissed me on the cheek.
He whispered, “Go ahead. I can’t wait either.”
I sprang up, went to the tree, and got the joint gift for my parents. I was jumping up and down as I walked over to them with Kendall now in Mama’s arms.
I held out the gift. “Mama, Dad, we want you guys to go ahead and open up one of your gifts.”
My parents looked confused as my dad took the gift, and they walked over to the couch. Once seated, Dad took Kendall and gave Mama the gift. She opened and gasped as my dad looked, and their eyes shot to me and Mark, who was now standing behind me with his hands on my stomach. Their present was a picture frame that had the word Grandkid written on the top. In it was an ultrasound picture we had done just for this moment.
I said, “Congrats, Gram and Gramps.”
My parents got up, and Mama handed Kendall to Allison. Then, with tears in their eyes, they hugged us.
Almost two years ago, what had started out as a vacation when Allison went to Miami had turned out to be the catalyst for my best friend and me to find true love. If she hadn’t gone on that trip by herself, she probably wouldn’t have met Damien, which meant I would never have met Mark. It was amazing how interconnected life was at times.
My world was complete in a way I never knew possible.
Allison had gotten a family she never thought she would have, and I had gotten a love that I never thought I deserved.
It was all built on the foundation of…
Trust.
Love.
And a promise.
On the following pages
are two scenes written in
Mark’s point of view.
Hope you enjoy getting
a little piece of Mark.
Sam and Mark’s night in Vegas in Trust Me.
This was their first night together.
The night was coming to an end. I had met an incredible woman here tonight. Sam Matthews was beautiful, sexy, and funny as hell. We had been flirting all night, and there seemed to be an irresistible spark between us. We’d kept finding each other the entire night, and I wasn’t able to take my eyes off her. Her green depths made me want her. There was something special about her. Whatever was going on was more than a one-night stand. I wanted to take her out on a few dates and get to know her.
I started making my way toward her. She bit her lip and gave me a sly smile from a few feet away as some asshole was talking to her. Not wanting to chance her leaving with him, I walked up to them. Sam looked at me again and gave me the most gorgeous smile as her eyes lit up. The other guy stopped speaking, realizing he had now become the third wheel.
This night is shaping up.
She linked her arm in mine. “Hey, Sport, are you ready?”
My cock jumped to life at her seduc
tive tone. She has a body made for worshiping.
“Never thought the night would come to an end.” I gave her a wink, and we both laughed.
We started walking. I loved having her on my arm.
It was time to start laying the foundation to get to know her. “There’s a coffee shop in the lobby.” I sounded like a pussy, but I wanted to get to know her before we got into bed together.
The sexual tension between us was high, and it was only a matter of time before we were together.
She stopped and looked at me as a million different emotions flashed across that beautiful face of hers. She glanced toward the exit and then toward the elevators as if she were torn. Almost as quick as it had happened, she masked her emotions.
She came closer to me and stood up on her tiptoes as she sexily whispered in my ear, “Mark, I think you know what I want, and it’s not a cup of coffee.”
Fuck me, she is direct.
Normally, when I slept with a girl, there was a connection of some sort. I wanted to see where it would go. It was like a get-to-know-you period. But Sam wanted to have sex.
If I push for coffee, she might bolt.
The thought of having coffee seemed to scare her for some reason, but she seemed undecided, like maybe a piece of her wanted more.
I kissed the part right below her ear. “I’m in room four fifteen.”
“Good choice.” She gave a little whimper before stepping back, and then she sassily walked toward the elevators.
I followed Sam into the elevator. After I pushed the button, I started to speak, wanting to try to use any chance I had to strengthen the connection, but she put her index finger on my lips.
“Don’t ruin this, Sport. Just be in the moment.”
Most women wanted to talk to me. Sam wanted to fuck me. I had a feeling that she’d walk if I pressed the limits too far. I knew I had seen something earlier, but her defenses were up, like an impenetrable force. We rode up in silence as we stared at each other.
Maybe if I give her what she wants she’ll have breakfast with me?
The elevator door pinged, and we walked out into the corridor. We made it to my door. I slipped in the key card and turned the doorknob.
Promise Me Page 31