Glancing at the clock, I see it’s five minutes until two. That gives us an hour. “Good plan,” I say, climbing back into bed and holding my arms open for her. She doesn’t hesitate to cradle her body against mine, allowing me to wrap her in my embrace. It feels right. She feels right. This is how I want to spend every day—with her in my arms. “Marry me.” The words are out before I can think about what I’m saying. It’s not how I thought I would propose, but it’s us.
“Wh-What?”
“Marry me. I want you here in our bed in my arms for the rest of my life.” My hand slides down to rest on her belly. “I want to make babies with you. Give Milo lots of little cousins. I want you to be my wife, Gabby.” She rolls over to face me. Cupping her face in my hands, I ask her again. “My sweet Gabrielle, will you do me the incredible honor of becoming my wife?”
Tears run unchecked down her face. “Yes,” she whispers.
It takes a couple of seconds for my brain to compute that she said yes. That Gabby is going to be my wife. Mine forever. “I love you,” I mumble against her lips before kissing her. It’s a kiss filled with promise and love. I don’t take things further; instead, I kiss her like we’re teenagers. My hands roam her body, tracing every curve that I’ve taken upon myself to memorize in such a short amount of time, while getting lost in the taste of her lips. All with the knowledge that she’s forever mine.
“Shh, Uncle Chase is sleeping.” I hear Gabby whisper to a fussy Milo. “I know, let’s get this diaper changed, and get your belly full. We’re going to go see Grandma and Grandpa.”
“Hey,” I say, sitting up in bed.
“Hi, we were trying not to wake you.”
“It’s fine. I need to get up anyway. What time is it?”
“Two thirty. This little guy’s hungry. He is also in need of a diaper change. There’s a foul odor coming from his diaper.” She laughs.
“I’ll change him.” I stand to join them at the bassinet.
“It’s okay, I can,” she says, sounding funny.
I study her and realize she’s not breathing through her nose. “Why are you not breathing through your nose?”
“It’s a bad one.” She swallows hard. Her face is pale and a small bead of sweat is starting to form on her forehead.
“Let me take him. You don’t look so hot.” I take Milo from her and she’s right; the smell is foul. The worst one yet.
“I’m—” She stops talking, slaps her hand over her mouth, rushing to the bathroom before I can ask her what’s wrong.
I stand still, not sure what to do, who to take care of first. I want to help her, be there for her because she’s obviously getting sick, but the stench coming from Milo’s diaper along with his cries tells me he needs my attention too.
“Shh, it’s okay, buddy. Let’s go check on Gabby, and then we’ll get you changed.” Walking to the bathroom door, it’s cracked so I push it open with my hip. Gabby is sitting on her knees in front of the toilet. Her elbows are resting on the seat. Her color is back, but she’s still looking haggard. “Gabby, what can I do?”
“Nothing. I’ll be fine in a minute. I’m actually going to take a shower.”
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah, it just hit me all of a sudden,” she says over Milo’s cries. “Go take care of him, I’m fine. I promise. If I need you, I’ll yell.”
“Okay,” I reluctantly agree. Slowly leaving the bathroom door open, I back out and lay Milo on the bed to change him. “Hoo-wee, no wonder Aunt Gabby got sick,” I tell him. This kid, he’s cute as hell, but the smells that come out of his ass are bad. So very bad. He immediately stops crying once I have a clean diaper on him. “I’d be crying too if I had all that in my pants. Yuck,” I say, making a weird face and he grins. “We have to take this one out to the garage. It’s that potent,” I tell him, lifting him back into my arms. I leave the dirty diaper on the changing pad and peek in on Gabby. She’s in the shower and seems to be okay. “Gabs, I’m going to run this shitty diaper out to the garage.”
“That would be great. Thank you.”
Grabbing the foul diaper, I head to the kitchen. I place Milo in the Pack ’n Play so I can wrap the diaper in a bag before tossing it. We’ve learned that helps keep the smell down. Diaper disposed of, I wash my hands and make a bottle. Milo is fussing, but nothing too bad by the time I pick him back up. “Here you go, bud,” I say, settling on the couch and placing the bottle to his lips. He sucks it back like he’s starving. Kid can eat, that’s for sure. My cell rings and I have to shift to dig it out of my pocket.
“Hello,” I say, hitting the speakerphone button and resting the phone on the arm of the couch.
“What’s up?” Harrison asks.
“Just feeding Milo.”
“Sounds like he’s enjoying it.” Harrison laughs.
“He does like to eat.”
“Hey, speaking of eating, Gwen and I wanted to see if the three of you wanted to come over for dinner.”
“Thanks, but Mom called when I left the gym and invited us over. She has some kind of surprise for me.”
“If it’s her chocolate chip cookies, you have to save me one. No, make that three.”
I can’t help but laugh. My mom’s chocolate chip cookies are on point. “I doubt it’s cookies. My guess is she and Dad want to take Milo for the night or maybe a few hours tomorrow to give me and Gabby a break. Although, Gabs isn’t feeling well so I don’t know if we’re even going to go.”
“What’s going on?” he asks. I can hear the concern in his voice for his sister-in-law and my future wife.
She said yes.
“I don’t really know. She was fine and then she wasn’t. She was holding Milo and he shit. It was bad, man. Anyway, she got pale and rushed off to the bathroom to be sick.”
“Chase.”
“Yeah?”
“How is she now?” he inquires.
“Her color is back. She’s in the shower.”
“Huh,” he says as if he’s just discovered something that he’s been trying to figure out for weeks.
“Huh? What’s huh?”
“Is it possible that she’s pregnant? That’s exactly how Gwen was with Sophia and with this pregnancy. Certain smells set her off. She gets sick and then she’s fine. She’s been sicker with this one than the last one. I know it’s super early, and you’ve only been together a hot minute, but from all the reading I did when Gwen was pregnant, these things can show after just a week, which is crazy, but still something to consider. I just hope we can hold the diabetes off. She’s already changed to a strict diet and has been walking on the treadmill here at the house,” he rambles on.
“Harrison, stop. I don’t… I mean, we’ve only been sleeping together a couple of weeks. Can you even tell that early?” I ask.
“Gwen!” he yells for his wife. I hear him relay the information and ask her if it’s too early. “She says it’s possible. Also, that she got sick today when they were having lunch when the waitress brought out their food.”
Pregnant?
Gabby might be pregnant.
With my baby.
I want to be a father.
“Thanks, guys. I gotta go. I’ll check in with you later.” I hit End on the call and finish feeding Milo. Once he’s burped and the bottle is rinsed out, I make my way back to the bedroom to find Gabby.
“Hey, did he eat?” she asks from her seat on the edge of the bed.
“Like a champ,” I say, placing him in the bassinet and turning on the small mobile that hangs overhead to capture his attention. Walking around the bed, I take a seat next to Gabby. Reaching over, I lace her fingers with mine. “How are you feeling?”
“Good. I’m not sure what happened. It just hit me out of nowhere.”
“Gabby, is it possible, I mean, do you think that you could be pregnant?”
Her face pales. “I-I don’t know,” she whispers.
“Gwen told Harrison that you got sick earlier today at lu
nch.”
Her shoulders sag. “Yeah. Gwen suggested it, but I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her eyes fill with tears. “You’ve been through so much. From thinking you were his father, to finding out you’re his uncle. I didn’t want to add something else to the plate, especially if I’m not. This really could just be the flu.”
“Gabby.” My hand slides behind her neck as I hold her gaze. “If it concerns you, I want to know about it.”
“You’ve been through so much,” she says softly.
“I know, baby, but you’ve been right there with me. Through every second of this, you have been by my side. Let me be there for you too.”
“Are you mad?”
“Mad? Why would you ask that? Of course I’m not mad. If you are pregnant, you didn’t do it on your own. Besides, I want babies with you.” I shrug. “What do we do? Do we need to go to the doctor?”
“No, if I am pregnant and I’m already getting sick, it will show up on a pregnancy test. But, Chase, if I am, it’s really early, like really early,” she repeats.
“Okay.”
“Well, things could happen, and I just… it’s early.”
“Hey.” I lean in, resting my forehead against hers. “No matter what happens, we’re in this together. You and me. Side by side. Okay?”
“Okay.” She gives me a watery smile.
“Now, what do I need to buy? I’m going to get a test or five.” I stand and run my fingers through my hair.
“Now? We have to be at your parents’ for dinner.”
“Yes, now, we have a couple of hours before we have to be there. It will put both of our minds at ease. Now, tell me what I need to buy.”
“I’ll go. You stay here with Milo.”
“You sure you feel up to it?” Her color is back, but I don’t want her getting sick again while she’s gone.
“Yes. I’m fine,” she says as there’s a knock at the door.
Rising to my feet, I make my way to the door and pull it open. “Gwen, hey,” I greet my future sister-in-law.
“Here.” She shoves a bag at me. “Tell her to pee on these.” She grins, winks, and jogs back to her car.
“Thank you,” I call after her. She simply waves over her shoulder before getting back behind the wheel and backing out of the drive.
“Who is it?” Gabby asks from behind me.
I shut the door and turn to face her, the bag from the local pharmacy in my hands. “That was your sister. She shoved this at me and told me to tell you to pee on these.” I hand her the bag as a flush coats her cheeks.
“Okay then. Well, I guess I’ll just… um, go do that.” She turns on her heel and rushes back to the bedroom. I follow her and barely get my foot in the door before she tries to shut me out. “What are you doing, Chase?”
“We’re in this together, Gabby.”
“I appreciate that. Really, I do. However, can I at least pee on the stick in private?”
“I’ve seen all of you.”
“That’s not the point.” She stomps her foot like a toddler and crosses her arms, and I grin.
“What is the point?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest, mirroring her. I don’t want her to be alone when she finds out.
“The point is that I’m going to shut this door, open one of these boxes, because from the weight of this bag there is more than one, and this is Gwen we’re talking about. So, yeah, I’m going to open one of these boxes and then I’m going to piss on the little stick. I’m going to do that alone. I promise after I’ve washed my hands and all that, I’ll open the door and we can get the results together.”
“No.”
“Dammit, Chase.” She huffs out a breath.
I glance over my shoulder, where Milo is in his bassinet cooing. “I don’t want to miss a minute of this,” I confess. “I want to be there for you and for this baby every step of the way. That includes being witness to you pissing on a tiny stick that’s about to confirm we’re going to be parents.”
“What do you mean, confirm? This is a hunch, Chase, that’s all. Please don’t get your hopes up.”
“Too late. If it’s negative, we’ll just have to try harder next time.”
“We’re not trying. This was a slipup.”
“We are now. And never call our baby a slipup. It’s fate. This was all meant to happen.”
“Chase Callahan, what am I going to do with you?” she asks, and even though I know she doesn’t want an answer, I’m going to give her one anyway.
“You’re going to love me, baby. You know why?”
“Enlighten me?” She drops her hands to her sides as I step closer. My chest pressing against hers, eliminating the space between us. “We’re just getting started.” I wink and pull away. “Now, do you need a bottle of water or anything? Maybe I should turn on the faucet. I hear that helps when you need to go.”
“Where did you hear that?”
I shrug. “I think I saw it on TV, a movie or something. Anyway, what can I do?”
“You can let me do this on my own. I promise I’ll open the door as soon as I’m done.”
Her eyes are pleading, and I realize I’m invading her personal space but dammit, my gut tells me she’s pregnant and I refuse to miss it. Any of it. “Two minutes.” I pull my phone out of my pocket and check the time. “Two minutes and you have to swear to me that you won’t look at the results before you let me back in.”
“Chase, these things take a couple of minutes to do their thing. I promise I’ll let you back in. Just let me pee in peace.”
“Fine. I love you. Two minutes and I’m coming back in.”
She shakes her head, a small smile playing at her lips. “I love you too.” Standing on her tiptoes, she kisses the corner of my mouth. “Now go.”
Doing as she asks, reluctantly, I turn to leave, and she smacks me on the ass. Glancing over my shoulder, she shrugs, grins, and then pushes me out of the room, closing the door behind me.
In a few long strides, I’m on the other side of the room, looking down at my nephew. “Hey, buddy. Guess what? Aunt Gabby might be giving you a baby cousin. Would you like that? Someone to grow up with?” My heart pounds in my chest as I think about what’s going on behind that bathroom door.
I might be a father.
For real this time.
With the woman I love.
Closing my eyes, I tilt my head back. “Please let her be pregnant,” I whisper. I want this. I want her, and this crazy life we’re going to build together, and I want Milo to have lots of cousins. The door opens and she stands there with a stick in her hand.
“How long was I?” she asks.
“I don’t know.” I was so lost in my own thoughts I forgot to look. Milo cries, so I pick him up and snuggle him to my chest before walking to where she stands in the doorway of the bathroom.
“This one says wait five minutes.”
“Okay, it’s been what two? Three?” I ask.
“Probably.”
“Let’s look and see if we can see anything.”
“It’s a word. It will say pregnant or not pregnant.”
“What do you want it to say, Gabs?”
“What do you want it to say?” she counters.
“How about this, on the count of three, say yes if you want it to be yes, and no if you want it to be no? We’ll say it at the same time.”
She nods. “Okay, but you better do it.”
“One. Two. Three. Yes,” I say at the same time she does.
Her eyes shimmer with tears, but her blinding smile tells me they’re happy tears. “Look at the stick, Gabs,” I say, stepping closer.
My eyes stay glued to her hands as she lifts the stick and holds it out between us.
Pregnant.
We’re having a baby.
I’ve never thought about being a dad, not really. Sure, I assumed Gabby and I would get there one day. Now, with Milo showing up on my doorstep and this positive pregn
ancy test, babies are all I can think about. We’re growing our family and I couldn’t be happier.
“Oh my God,” she breathes.
“Not God. Chase,” I say, wrapping my free arm that’s not holding my nephew around her waist and pulling her close. She buries her face in my neck and wraps her arm around my waist.
“So full of yourself,” she says, smacking playfully at my chest.
“Damn right. Harrison isn’t the only one with super swimmers,” I boast. I can’t wait to give my best friend shit.
“I’m like minutes pregnant, Chase. We really shouldn’t be telling anyone.”
“What? Why not? I want to shout it from the rooftops.”
“Well, it’s still early. There’s always a chance in the first trimester that I could lose the baby.”
“Say we don’t say anything and that—” I swallow, not wanting to repeat her words. “—happens, then what? We mourn in silence? We don’t share our pain or the loss of our unborn child with those we love?”
“No, we would, but it would be hard.”
“Gabby, it’s going to be hard regardless if that’s what happens. Besides, Gwen and Harrison already know, or they have a good idea.”
“Okay.” She nods. “You’re right. If that happens, we’ll need their love and support.”
“I love you, baby mama.”
She chuckles and pulls away. “Come on, Milo, let’s get ready to go see Grandma and Grandpa.” She takes him from my arms and moves around me to get him changed.
“I’m going to go make some bottles and pack up the diaper bag. I’ll meet you in the kitchen?”
“Sounds good.” She stops what she’s doing and looks up to find me watching her.
“You’re going to be an incredible mother, Gabby.”
She smiles as tears coat her cheeks. “Pregnancy hormones,” she says, laughing and wiping them away.
I leave her to compose herself and head to pack the diaper bag. I text Harrison on my way to the kitchen.
Me: You’re not the only one with super sperm.
Harrison: Congratulations!
Me: Thanks. Tell Gwen thank you as well.
Fair Lakes Series Box Set Page 47