I take his hand and place it on my stomach. “I wanted to be sure before I said anything.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Nope. You said you wanted to start your own team. Well, here’s your chance.”
Speechless, he shakes his head in disbelief. “I didn’t think it would be so soon.”
“Me neither, but that’s how things work with us. Are you happy?”
“Of course, I am, Kitten. I’m still in shock, I guess.”
“Do you want to see the sonogram?”
“Yeah, hand it over.” He holds out his palm to me. “This time, everything will be different. I’m not missing a single doctor’s appointment.”
“Unfortunately, you missed this one, but I swear I wasn’t keeping a secret from you. I suspected I was pregnant again after I missed a period or two. Noah keeps me so busy that I couldn’t even remember my cycle. I thought it would be a fun surprise for you to have Noah announce that you’re going to be a father again.”
I pull Dean’s print out of the sonogram from my back pocket and place it in his palm. He brings it up to his face to study the picture, grinning like a fool. With Noah, I was so afraid of ruining Dean’s life that I hid the truth. Underestimating Dean was the biggest mistake I ever made.
“What is that other dot?” Dean points at the paper, holding it out to me.
“Your child.”
He peeks up at me. His expression is unreadable. “Are we having twins?”
I sigh. “Yes. Can you imagine two more just like Noah? Or like my brothers?”
Dean laughs. “I don’t know about two more like Theo and Tucker, but I want more babies like Noah.”
“Twins are a handful; I would know. I’m so glad your mom finally sold her house and is moving here to help us.”
“Me, too. Wait until I tell her. She will flip out but in a good way.” Shifting Noah to his left hip, Dean hooks his arm around me and pulls me into his chest. “Are you ready to be a big brother?” Dean asks Noah, who smiles up at him.
I never expected to fall in love with my best friend. When I met Dean our freshman year of college, I thought he was another one of my father’s fanboys. That much is still true, but he became my friend, the one person who I could talk to when I needed someone most. Now, we are a family.
After dinner, Dean offers to watch Noah, while I sink into the couch cushions and close my eyes. Dean takes Noah into his bedroom to play on the floor with some of his new toys, giving Mommy a much-needed break. Sleep has been non-existent since Noah was born. I love him to death, but I had no idea I would never sit down or get a decent night of sleep ever again. Maybe in a few years, I had told myself—until the doctor confirmed my pregnancy.
Dean is a huge help when he’s home. Too bad we spend a lot of time apart because of his hockey schedule. And I need my sleep. Now that we have two more babies on the way, I am looking forward to Dean’s mother coming to live with us now more than ever. Family is the most important thing in both of our lives.
I doze off for what I swear is only five minutes before I hear Dean talking to Noah in his baby voice. Dean is so adorable when he speaks to him in the tone he reserves only for our child. Pretending to sleep, I keep my eyes shut, but Dean has other plans. He drops to the floor next to me and places Noah on my stomach.
I turn my head to look at him. “Dean, c’mon. I need a few more minutes.”
With a good grip on the baby, he holds him in place and leans in closer. “Noah has something he wants to show you.”
“What do you want to show me, sweetie?” He has no idea what I am saying but giggles at the sound of my voice. I grab Noah’s little fingers. A silk pouch falls from his hand and onto my chest.
I look at Dean, with a curious smile on my face. “Did you get me that hockey charm we saw at the mall?”
“Nope, I got you something better.”
I tug at the tiny strings holding the bag closed, and a diamond engagement ring slides out and into my hand. My mouth widens in shock as Dean takes the ring from me.
“I…” I have trouble getting out the words. “Are we? Are you?”
He nods. “I had the perfect engagement all planned out before you told me about the twins, but you made me realize that we don’t need a grand gesture to show each other how much we love each other. Plus, Noah should be here when I ask you the most important question I will ever ask you.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” I wipe away the tears that slide down my cheeks.
Dean holds Noah with one hand and the ring in the other, staring into my eyes. “I wanted to be more than your friend after the first time we kissed. I always knew you were the one but was too afraid to ruin our friendship.”
“If not for Noah, who knows where we would be right now.”
“I would have fought for you, Kitten. I never gave up on you. I never gave up on us. Time was all we needed.”
“And now look at us.” I smile. “Can you believe we’re only twenty-five and about to have two more babies? This was not at all how I thought my future would turn out.”
“I did,” he whispers. “We were a family long before we ever had one. At least now it’s official.”
I reach up to touch his cheek. “I love you, Dean.”
He grazes his lips along my fingers, holding my gaze. “I love you, too, Kitten.” Dean clears his throat and sits up straighter. “Okay, here goes. Why am I so nervous?”
“Don’t be,” I tell him. “It’s just me. I’m still the same girl you stalked freshman year.”
He laughs. “I did not stalk you. I observed you from a distance. There’s a difference.”
“Observing. Stalking. Same difference.” I flash a wicked grin at him. “I’m glad you found me. It was one of the best days of my life.”
“Mine, too. I’d thought that meeting Nick Baldwin’s daughter was about as close to meeting someone famous as I would ever come. I never expected us to become friends.”
“What did you expect?”
He shrugs. “I wanted to see if you had some of his hockey skills. And you do. That wasn’t what held my interest. You’re beautiful, even in full gear. I couldn’t take my eyes off you once I saw you.”
“So, you lied,” I joke. “Dean, how could you?”
“Hey, let’s not go there with the lies. Okay, woman?”
I huff, pretending to be annoyed. “Back then, I never thought you saw me as anything other than one of the guys.”
“Never,” he admits. “I just learned to think of you as a friend. In the beginning, it was hard to separate my feelings for you, but I valued your friendship too much to mess things up. When the twins came to Strick U our sophomore year, that was even more of a reason to keep our relationship platonic.”
“It’s crazy how many miscommunications we had in college.”
Dean clutches the ring between his fingertips. “But we found our way back to each other.
“All of that is in the past, Dean. We have our future to look forward to now. You should probably ask me to marry you before I change my mind,” I say, laughing.
He shakes his head at me, amused. “Katherine Baldwin, my best friend, my Kitten, the love of my life and mother of my children, will you marry me?”
I nod, the tears streaming down my face and onto my shirt. “Yes, of course, I will marry you, Dean.” I hold out my hand for him to slip the ring on my finger.
Noah raises his arm in the air and then slaps it down on Dean’s forearm, laughing to himself.
“Does that mean you approve, Little Man?”
Noah giggles again.
“He can be our ring bearer,” I tell Dean, smiling at Noah. “We should wait until the twins are born, so they can part of the wedding, too.”
“You want to wait that long?”
“Yeah, I think so. Why? What were you planning?”
“I would marry you on this floor in sweatpants if you would let me.”
“Well, that’s not gonna happen. You’re
cute, but not that cute.” I pinch his cheek. “My dad and brothers would kill you if they were not included in our wedding. So would your mom.”
“No, you’re right. Our families have to be there.”
“My dad will spare no expense. Prepare yourself for every Hockey Hall of Fame member to be at our wedding.”
Dean grins like an idiot. “That alone makes me want to speed up this wedding.”
I roll my eyes at him. “I’m sure it does. When are going to start acting like you’re a big deal? You were Rookie of the Year. One day, you will be up there with my dad and his friends.”
“That would be nice. I hope so.”
“I know so,” I say, confident. “I knew that after the first time I watched you play.”
He rubs his thumb along my jaw for a second and smiles. “Thanks, Kitten.”
I sit up to make room for Dean, who takes Noah in his arms and sits him on his lap, giving us enough time to sneak in a quick kiss before Noah demands our attention once more. We will never have a second to ourselves again, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Epilogue
Three years later
Dean
“Hold still,” I tell Kat, who is wincing in pain and squeezing the life from my hand. “It’s almost over.”
She sucks in a deep breath. “This hurts more than I thought it would, and I popped out three kids.”
I lift my other hand to show Kat the wedding band I had drawn onto my skin. Since hockey had brought us together, we wanted to have a symbol to remind us of how we fell in love. Two hockey sticks wrap around our ring fingers and cross over the other, now marking the spot where my wedding band once was, branding our love for one another.
True to Baldwin fashion, Kat’s father had insisted we have our wedding at his estate outside of Chicago. Every hockey player I’d idolized as a child was in attendance to cheer us on along with some of the current players in the league. According to all the sports magazines, it was the wedding of the year. And it was. Nick spared zero expense. We had food on the menu I still have no idea how to pronounce.
Kat’s brothers and some of my teammates had dressed in their uniforms, holding out their hockey sticks to form the walkway that led up to the altar. Everything about that day was perfect. Our sons were part of our wedding. With Noah being the oldest, he was our ring bearer. He started walking right before the ceremony, making it easier for my mom to bring him down the aisle with our rings.
Nick held Owen and Oliver in his arms as we said our vows. They were only a few months old when Kat and I got married. But at least they were in the pictures and present for our special day. As I sit in the tattoo parlor, waiting for Kat to finish with her ink, I realize how pointless our wedding bands have become, though they still have meaning to both of us.
“Oww,” Kat says, one final time before the tattoo artist lifts the needle from her skin and rolls his chair back.
“All done,” the artist says, admiring his handy work. “What do you think?”
Kat holds her hand up to her face, with her mouth twisted in pain. “It’s perfect.” She peeks up at me between her fingers, pinning me down with her bright blue eyes. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
I help Kat up from the chair. “Why? Are you regretting it already?”
She shakes her head. “No, of course not. I would never regret a single decision I made with you. Our tattoos are permanent. Forever.”
I kiss her on the forehead. “Just like our love.”
“Somehow, you always know the right thing to say.” She leans her head on my shoulder with a smile on her beautiful face. “You and our sons are my forever.”
“Forever, Kitten,” I whisper in her ear.
Falling in love with my best friend led to some of the hardest, most grueling years of my life. But in the end, every moment that led up to this one was worth it.
The Baldwin Brothers Series is coming in 2018. This family is so much fun for me to write. If you loved Kat and Dean, you will see them again in all of the Baldwin Brothers books.
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Also by Jillian Quinn
FACE-OFF SERIES
Book 1: Parker
Book 2: Kane
Book 3: Donovan
Book 4: Jameson
STANDALONE NOVELS
Roughing
Holding
Corrupt Me
Teach
More Than Friends
More Than Roommates
About the Author
Jillian Quinn is an international bestselling romance author who likes her females just as alpha as their swoon-worthy male counterparts. As a writer and sports fanatic, Jillian combines her passion for both hobbies into her books. When she's not reading, writing, or blogging, Jillian is obsessively fangirling over hockey players and can be found wherever she can catch the next hockey game.
For more information about Jillian’s books, visit her website at JillianQuinnBooks.com.
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