Only for You (Crave Book 3)

by C. C. Wood

  It took a special kind of woman to put up with my brothers. I loved them, but they were oblivious in a lot of ways.

  By the end of the day, I was thoroughly confused. I mentioned the books in passing while I was working with Cam and she'd grinned and clapped her hands.

  "Oh, I'm so glad they came!" she exclaimed.

  I looked at her in confusion. "You sent them?"

  She shook her head. "No, J.J. did. He asked me if I knew what sort of books you wanted and I mentioned that I'd seen you adding stuff to your Amazon wish list the other day. I have no idea how he found the list, but he did, and he ordered you some books. I thought it was so sweet."

  It was sweet. He could have asked me, the way my brothers had, but instead he'd gone out of his way to surprise me. My wish list was public so my mother and father could see it but I'd never considered that my husband would have looked at it.

  I'd called him on my dinner break that night and thanked him. He surprised me further by asking me to make a list just for the two of us so we could pick out things for the baby and discuss what would be necessary or wouldn't.

  And he'd already added several items.

  "Ready?"

  J.J.'s question snapped me out of my musings and I glanced down at my half-dressed body.

  "Uh, no."

  He chuckled and left the room. "We have to leave in ten minutes if we're going to be on time."

  I made a face at his back and he said, "I saw that. I'm just reminding you because I know how much it stresses you out when you're late."

  He was right. I sighed. It was strange how well he seemed to know me even though we hadn't spent much time together since our childhood. I mean, before we had sex and got married.

  Okay, so I didn't know what I meant, but it made sense to me.

  I finished putting on my clothes and hurried into the bathroom to put a little powder and mascara on my face.

  I walked into the kitchen seven minutes later, which made J.J. grin and say, "I knew that would get you moving."

  "You're such a huge help," I stated dryly.

  "I aim to please."

  J.J. tried to drive but I planted my butt in the driver's seat before he could. He tried to argue with me, so I just buckled in, started the car, and revved the engine a couple of times. I knew he wasn't going to try to wrestle me out of the driver's seat.

  He sighed and walked around to the passenger side. As I backed out of the driveway, he grumbled, "I don't know why you wouldn't let me drive."

  "One, you're nervous. Two, you drive too fast on a normal day. Three, I wanted to."

  J.J. chuckled but didn't argue with me anymore.

  Twenty minutes later, we were in Dr. Stubens' office and I was lying back on the table with gel smeared on my belly. I knew how big the baby was supposed to be but it was still a surprise to see it on the screen. Well, the parts I could recognize, which was essentially the head in profile. Everything else was a strange mix of light and dark shapes.

  Dr. Stubens seemed to know exactly what she was looking at though because after she checked to see that the baby was developing properly, she looked at me. "You still want to know the baby's sex, right?"

  I nodded.

  "Okay, then. Let's see, shall we?" She moved the device across my belly, shifting it here and there. "All right, little one, cooperate please." After a few seconds, she smiled. "Well, Mommy and Daddy, you're having a little girl!"

  I smiled. "A girl? You're sure?"

  "Well, I have been known to be wrong occasionally, but my accuracy is usually around ninety percent or so."

  I looked up at J.J., who was still holding my hand like a lifeline.

  "A girl?" he repeated, staring at the screen in awe. "How can you tell?"

  Dr. Stubens pointed at some lines on the monitor. "See those? That's how I know it's a girl."

  "I have no idea what I'm looking at," J.J. said.

  I giggled.

  "You don't have to know," Dr. Stubens said. "Because I do."

  I imagined that was the tone she'd used when she babysat him decades ago because J.J. looked chastened.

  Dr. Stubens removed the device from my belly. "Well, that's all for today. I'll print out some pictures for you to take home with you and then you can get dressed and go tell everyone you know that you're having a little girl."

  J.J. and I laughed together.

  Dr. Stubens put a towel on my abdomen so I could wipe myself off and she left the room.

  I cleaned the gel off my belly and watched J.J. with a careful eye as he flopped down in the chair next to the table.

  "You okay?" I asked.

  "Yeah, I'm good." He looked at me and smiled. "I'm great. Just...oh my God, we're having a girl!"

  I grinned and shook my head at him. "You have something against girls?"

  "Absolutely not. I love Brody's girl to pieces. I should probably be grateful since that gives me some experience with girl children. I wouldn't know what to do with a boy." His eyes widened and he stared at me. "If we had a boy, do you think he would act like your brothers?"

  I winced. "There's a good chance our daughter is going to act like my brothers, too. Our only hope is to make sure we don't leave her with them unsupervised until she's too old to be indoctrinated."

  "How old will that be?" J.J. asked, looking less shell-shocked by the second.

  "Forty-five?"

  He laughed and leaned his head back against the wall. "Wow. I mean, I knew we had two options in terms of what the doctor would say today but knowing for sure just made it seem more real."

  I knew exactly what he meant.

  "Just be glad I didn't let your sister talk me into a gender reveal party," I commented. "She's been trying since she found out I was pregnant. Something about making an ice cream cake with pink or blue inside."

  J.J. outright laughed. "There's no way she would be able to keep her mouth shut if she was the only one who knew. Everyone at the party would know what the baby was before we did."

  "That's exactly why I declined. Politely."

  I finished wiping my skin clean with the towel but there was still a residue. I held out my hand to J.J. and asked, "Can you hand me a baby wipe?"

  A few minutes later, I was clean and had my shirt pushed down and my pants buttoned up and we were leaving the doctor's office.

  "I'm hungry," J.J. said. "Are you hungry?"

  I glanced up at him. "It's ten-thirty. We just had breakfast an hour and a half ago."

  "I know, but I couldn't eat. I was too nervous."

  I had to laugh. "I guess I could eat again."

  "Let's go to the cafe."

  Dr. Stubens' office was just off the square, a block away from downtown, which was where the cafe and Crave were both located.

  J.J. headed toward the car but I stopped and shook my head. "No, I want to walk. It's a beautiful morning and we won't be able to get a parking space at the cafe anyway."

  J.J. looked like he wanted to argue with me but he caved and came back up to the sidewalk. Taking my hand, he started off in the direction of the square.

  "You need to be taking it easy," he grumbled.

  "You were there when I asked the doctor about exercise, right? Because she said walking would be good for me."

  "You're on your feet all day and she said that you needed to take frequent breaks," he retorted.

  "Yes, when I'm working which I'm not doing today."

  "I think this is your first full day off since we got married," J.J. pointed out. "Shouldn't you want to be lazy?"

  "I don't know how to be lazy," I admitted. "I've always been active. If I sit still for too long, I go a little stir crazy."

  He shook his head. "I think you'll learn the value of doing nothing once the baby comes and you're not getting enough sleep. I'm already contemplating napping in preparation for the coming sleep deprivation."

  I laughed at him as we crossed the street. J.J. stopped and used his hold on my hand to pull me closer.

&
nbsp; "What?" I asked.

  "Nothing." Then, he kissed me.

  I forgot that we were in the middle of the street. I didn't think twice about the people walking around, shopping or going into businesses. I just wanted him to keep kissing me like this for the next hour. Or year. Maybe the rest of my life.

  Someone laid on their car horn and we sprang apart. I looked to my left and saw Cam hanging out of the window of her little silver sedan.

  "Get a room!" she cried out, which drew more attention to us.

  My face heated to the point that I wouldn't have been surprised if my skin melted off.

  J.J. tugged me to the sidewalk and shot Cam a rude gesture. She returned it, leering at us as she cruised by.

  I was laughing by this point even though my face was still hot.

  Cam pulled into the empty parking spot right in front of the diner and J.J. gave me a speaking look.

  "If we'd driven over here, I bet all the spots would have been full," I replied to his non-verbal I told you so.

  Cam clambered out of her car and came over to us. "Were you just at Doc Stubens' office? How's the baby? Everything look good?" Then, she stopped and stared at us with wide eyes. "Wait, you're sixteen weeks now, right? Did she tell you the baby's sex?"

  "First of all, how do you know when the doctor can tell the baby's sex?" J.J. asked. "And second, how did you know we had a doctor's appointment this morning?"

  Cam nudged J.J. to the side with her elbow so that she stood between the two of us, her back to him. This also meant he had to let go of my hand, which I immediately missed.

  "For your information, Lee is my friend as well as sister-in-law. She's also an employee. I'm privy to all sorts of information regarding her, which you should honestly be the one to tell me since this baby is my niece or nephew. Also, I've been doing some research on pregnancy so I can be helpful if I need to be."

  J.J.'s pained expression over her shoulder was enough to make me smother a laugh.

  "Do you have pictures?" she asked me, effectively blocking her brother as he tried to scoot around her.

  I reached into my purse and pulled out the small envelope of ultrasound prints, taking them out to show her.

  "Wow, what am I looking at?" she asked, turning the first picture a couple of times.

  J.J. leaned over her shoulder for a better look. "My daughter's vagina," he deadpanned.

  Cam twisted the arm not clasping the pictures to swat him in the belly with the back of her hand, making the air whoosh out of his lungs. "Not funny—" Then, she stopped talking and whirled around to face him. "Your daughter? You're having a girl?" she squealed.

  She started jumping up and down and tried to hug him at the same time.

  "Oh, my God, I'm having a niece! A niece! I'm so excited. I'll buy her all the pretty dresses and teach her to take down the patriarchy. I can't wait!"

  I laughed and found myself enveloped in Cam's strange bouncing embrace as well.

  "I'm so happy for you guys!" She released us and took a step back. She grimaced at J.J. when he took the ultrasound pictures out of her hand and carefully placed them back in the envelope. "Have you told Mom yet?" she asked.

  J.J. sighed. "We just found out ourselves. We haven't had a chance to tell anyone else. Now, if you don't mind, I was taking my wife out for a late breakfast before you brought us to the attention of the entire town."

  Cam made a face at him, which I barely acknowledged because my stomach was all shivery at the sound of J.J. calling me his wife. Now that we were sleeping together and spending every waking minute together, those words affected me. In a good way, but they still affected me.

  "Well, you know how Mom is. As soon as she finds out, she's going to want to get everyone together."

  J.J. glanced at me as if he wanted help, but I just shrugged. "My mom will want to do the same thing."

  "We'll call the moms later," he decreed. "Right now, I just want to celebrate with Lee." When Cam opened her mouth, he lifted a hand. "Just the two of us."

  She pouted but it was so obviously fake that I had to laugh.

  "Fine," she said. "I have things to do anyway." Turning away from J.J., Cam gave me a hug. "Congrats again. I'll be sure to schedule us a day off soon so we can go shopping for girl things."

  I hugged her back. "Thanks, but let's wait just a bit before we do that." I met J.J.'s eyes over her shoulder. "I think we'll be looking for a new place to live soon so I need to focus on that."

  She released me and frowned. "But you love your house. You said you always wanted to live there."

  My answering smile was sad. "I do, but it's only two bedrooms and tiny. We won't have enough room for the baby and her things if we stay there."

  "I'm sorry," Cam said, squeezing my hands. "I'll ask around, see if anyone's planning to sell and let you know."

  "Thanks."

  She released me and faced her brother. "No hug for you. You're mean to me."

  He grinned and grabbed her in a bear hug anyway, lifting her off her feet. She yelled and smacked him on the shoulder.

  When he dropped her back onto the sidewalk, she socked his shoulder one more time for good measure.

  "You're the worst big brother ever," she huffed.

  "You love me anyway," he said, his voice smug.

  "Only because biology dictates we love our pack mates so we'll be inclined to protect their dumb asses when they do something stupid and dangerous." She shot me one more look. "When you get sick of him, just say the word. I'd rather have a sister than a brother anyway. See you at work tomorrow!"

  She flounced back to her car and backed out of the space before she sped away.

  J.J. sighed and took my hand again. "I love my sister, but she's a nut."

  "I've always wanted a sister," I commented. "But I got stuck with four stinky older brothers."

  "Brothers are the best. Every girl should have a brother," J.J. argued, walking toward the cafe.

  I fell silent at his words. Even though things were going well between the two of us, we still hadn't really discussed our marriage. Or plans for the future.

  When I agreed to marry him, I'd told J.J. that it wouldn't be permanent, but now I couldn't imagine my life without him. I not only wanted our marriage to work but I wanted to give our daughter a brother or sister in the future. I wanted to argue about who was going to take carpool duty. I wanted family dinners together, movie nights on the couch, and vacations that were both wonderful and made me want to pull my hair out because the kids were driving us nuts...I wanted to get dressed up and go on dates with my husband. Something we hadn't really done.

  I wanted a real marriage.

  Now, I just had to figure out how to tell my supposedly temporary husband that I wanted something permanent.

  19

  As Cam and I had predicted, our mothers both wanted to do something to celebrate the news that we were having a girl.

  However, rather than inundating us with plans or ideas, they did exactly what they had done for our wedding—they hatched a plan between the two of them.

  I'd been to Sunday lunch at the McClanes' several times since J.J. and I married, so I wasn't surprised when they decided to have the event on a Sunday and at lunchtime. It was a standing event for the McClane family.

  What did surprise me was that my mother insisted the lunch happen at her house and that all my brothers and their spouses and children come. Even Cam and Sierra and their respective husbands were invited.

  That was nineteen people crowded into my parents' house. Granted our dining room sat twelve since there were seven of us growing up, but it was still going to be a tight fit, even if the kids ate in the living room at a card table.

  I don't know how our mothers managed it, but the lunch was scheduled for the following Sunday, less than a week away. I don't know what my mother threatened my brothers with to get them to agree, but I knew threats had to be involved. Sundays were usually lazy days for them and they didn't like having loud family event
s with mandatory attendance.

  I was also worried that we would arrive and there would be over-the-top pink decorations on everything. I loved that my family wanted to celebrate the new addition, but I didn't want to walk into an explosion of Pepto-Bismol either.

  But, since I couldn't control the moms, I decided to just roll with it. If they wanted to hang pink streamers off every available surface, I would be grateful. It could be worse, my family could be the type who didn't care.

  With that thought on my mind, I got ready for lunch on Sunday with a smile on my face.

  I was going to have an afternoon with my entire family before I had to go to work at Crave, something we hadn't done since Mom's birthday earlier in the year. Both my nephews and my niece would be there and I would get to see my sisters-in-law.

  "You realize this is going to be mass chaos, right?" J.J. asked as we walked out to the car.

  "Yes, why?"

  "Because you're smiling."

  I laughed, partly because he was funny and partly because he wrapped an arm around my waist and guided me to the passenger side of the car rather than letting me go to the driver's seat like I wanted.

  "I love my family, even if they're loud and obnoxious. And I don't know why you're grumbling, you came over all the time when you were in middle and high school. You know exactly how they are."

  "Yeah, but I'm older now and my tolerance for noise has dropped considerably." He helped me settle into the passenger seat and closed the door, so I had to wait before I could voice my response.

  As soon as he settled into the driver's seat, I said, "Then, you're in trouble because babies make lots of noise."

  I put my seatbelt on as he started the car.

  "Yeah, but how noisy can one baby be?" he asked.

  I laughed. "Just ask D.J. I'm sure he'll tell you all about when his oldest was born. I don't think that boy stopped crying the first three months of his life."

  J.J. stared at me in horror, his hand resting on the gearshift. "Three months of non-stop crying? Do all babies do that?"