Claim My Baby (Crescent Cove 2)

When I was reasonably sure I wasn’t going to toss any more cookies, I stumbled to my feet and into my bedroom. Where I curled up on my bed and, like the mature woman of the world I was becoming, wished heartily for my mommy.

Ugh, being sick alone was no fun. Especially when thoughts were preying on me that this “sickness” would last for a full nine months.

If only I could ask Ally how soon she’d had morning sickness. For that matter, I wasn’t sure she’d had much. She’d talked about carrying crackers just in case, but she hadn’t regaled me with tales of worshipping the porcelain god and hoping for oblivion.

Then again, I was the oversharer of our duo.

Before I could question the impulse, I crawled across the bed and snatched my cell off the nightstand to send her a quick text. Maybe she had some free time today and I could oh so casually inquire what her first signs were of being with child.

Ally replied right away.

I’m @ the real estate office, sprucing it up. This place is 2 boring. So I brought in some silk flowers.

Grinning, I sat up cross-legged.

Should I buy some little heart lights? Or better yet, baby bunnies? Easter stuff is in the stores.

Ally wasn’t as quick to answer that one.

Um, well, maybe if it’s tasteful, but you know Oliver does work here & he’s not really into decorations.

My grin turned downright demonic. Even not being able to see my own reflection, I knew it. Getting to decorate and annoying Oliver to boot? Double-bonus day.

Distraction from possible baby brewing in my belly, check.

I’m grabbing both hearts and bunnies, got it. What about window clings? Or oh, a festive doormat? Maybe both. You know, increase curb appeal.

I couldn’t type fast enough. Ally wasn’t answering me. No problemo. I just wanted to get my ideas down.

Jeez, I hadn’t been this excited since…

Since you used to dream about staging houses for a living, along with running the bed-and-breakfast.

Yeah, well, this was just for fun. Just a way to keep my hands busy since I had too much on my mind and didn’t have plans until tonight with Oliver.

Hmm, they have those copper buckets at the florist’s, the ones right out front? A spray of delicate white blooms would be pretty & they would chase away some of the gloom.

Ally finally responded.

You do realize Oliver hasn’t sanctioned any of these changes, right? He doesn’t even know about my silk flowe

rs, but Seth figured pregnancy dispensation. U don’t have that.

Oh, if she only knew. Thank God, she didn’t. Thank God, I didn’t.

There was nothing to know.

Bad shellfish. That was my story, and I was sticking to it.

Let me handle Oliver.

That made me giggle. Pissing him off was half the fun, since I’d discovered he tended to be even more inventive while dirty-talking naked if I riled him up beforehand. Not seriously riled up, of course. Just from teasing him about the lack of a pair of worn-in jeans in his wardrobe, or that he really had Celine’s greatest hits on his running playlist. Or decorating his office in crazy frou-frou crap like holiday lights and maybe drawing a bunny on his desk calendar. Stuff like that.

Nothing like “oh, hey, how do you feel about me having your baby?”

Or “remember that morning-after pill? I swear, the reason I didn’t take it wasn’t because I was hoping to get inseminated with a golden Hamilton offspring.”

I was pretty sure he wouldn’t get riled up sexually after either of those questions.