When Constellations Form (Light in the Dark 4)

She swallows thickly. “I’m really going to have to work on the swearing.”

I laugh in agreement. I don’t swear as much as she does, but it’s enough. “We’ll get a swear jar,” I tell her, curling my hand into her hair. “A quarter for every time we curse.”

“We’ll be able to go on a month long European vacation in no time.”

I smirk. “With your mouth—make it a whole year.”

“Hey!” she cries in offense and swipes at me, so I jump away, pulling her hair by accident in the process. “Ow! Oh, it’s on now!”

She launches off the chair and at me. I turn to run, but she launches at my back like a fucking spider monkey.

I’m not expecting it and I start to go down. I manage to catch myself before my knees hit the ground, and I stand there with Thea hanging around my neck.

Here we are, having just found out we’re going to be parents, and we both clearly refuse to grow up.

But I think it’s that quality that’ll make us amazing parents. I just have to get Thea to see it.

This isn’t a bad thing.

Not by a long shot.

“You can let go now.” But even as I say it, she’s winding her legs around my waist from behind.

“You pulled my hair,” she says in my ear.

“It was an accident.”

She reaches up and tugs on my hair playfully—it doesn’t hurt at all.

“Now we’re even.” She finally lets me go and drops down onto the floor.

I turn around and find her smiling, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. I know she’s scared, and worried, and a million other things right now, but I want nothing more than to make her feel better.

And I know just how to do it.

I sweep her legs out from under her and she screams in surprise.

“What are you doing?” she asks, her arms going around my neck.

“We’re having a lazy day,” I declare.

“But we have to finish unpacking.” She looks to the stairs, where most of the mess is in our room.

She has a lot of clothes.

“It’ll wait,” I say lightly.

I carry her back through the kitchen and into the open family room. I don’t sit her down until we reach the leather sectional couch. We only have one blanket for now, and I grab it from the back of the couch and drape it over her.

The box of DVDs hasn’t been unpacked, but there’s only one box and not that many in it so it doesn’t take me long to find the movie I’m looking for.

“Want me to make popcorn?” I ask her as I kneel on the floor to put the DVD into the player.

She gags. “Um, no. I don’t think my stomach can handle that.”

“Fair enough.”

I start the movie and join her on the couch. She snuggles against me, and I smile. I don’t think she even realizes that she’s done it and I love that.