Claim My Baby (Crescent Cove 2)

She and our baby were okay, and somehow she loved me. Nothing else mattered.

I grinned. “You have yourself a deal.”

“I have to go now, but I’ll be home soon.”

“Seth’s home. There’s something here for you—” I stared blearily at the dark, snowy world beyond the nursery’s windows. “Ah, fuck it. It’s probably ruined. Probably a stupid idea anyway. I’m full of them. But I’m here for you too.”

“You’re all I want.” She paused to speak to someone else, and then she came back on the line, her voice seemingly so much closer. It poured into me like warm caramel, full of promise. “And Oliver?”

“Princess,” I replied gruffly.

“Yes.”

23

Sage

“You should let me drive you to the doctor’s.”

I shook my head from the backseat of Seth’s car. “I’m fine.”

“If you say that any more, you’re going to turn into one of those bobblehead dolls.”

I had to laugh at Ally. And that was a minor feat, because I still felt as if my vital organs were trembling under my skin. I kept hearing the squeal of the tires and the sound of the SUV crashing into the ditch, over and over.

But over all of that, the number one thing on repeat in my head was Oliver’s low, frantic voice telling me he loved me. Asking me to marry him. Laying himself on the line for me and the baby in a way I’d never imagined in my wildest dreams.

“You know Oliver is going to drag you right to urgent care the minute you step in the house,” Seth said, meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror before returning his attention to the road. It was still snowing just as bad as it had been when Ally had skidded.

“Yeah.” I rubbed my arms, desperately trying to chase away the chill. It was as if I would never be warm again. “I’m all right with it. It’s better if we know for sure. And I know he won’t rest until he has it in writing that the baby is okay.”

And God, wasn’t that the most wonderful thing in the world? Somehow when neither of us were looking, this pregnancy had become the most important part of our lives.

“Try in blood,” Seth said, shaking his head. “He was ready to run out to find you, and he didn’t give a shit that Ally was my wife. Nothing came before him finding you himself. He said—” Seth stopped and looked at Ally. “The guy is gone for you and the baby, Sage. In a way I never thought he could be for anyone.”

I reached for my necklace. My origami dragon was tucked safely in my purse—and yes, I had searched for it on the floor of the SUV, even when the vehicle was precariously balanced and even while Ally couldn’t find her cell phone. That dragon meant so much more to me than just paper and ink.

It was the man I loved showing me he cared without needing to utter a single word.

“What did he say to you? Tell me. I’ll keep your secret.” When Seth hesitated, I gripped my necklace and leaned forward. “Please.”

“I said Ally was my wife, and he said you were his everything. You and the baby.”

I slumped back into my seat. “Oh, is that all?”

Lordy, no big deal. The guy just said me and the baby were his everything while he was panicking he was going to lose us. You know, small fries.

Thank God I’d sprung for that lace cutout teddy with the little pink bows over the nipples. He was so getting laid tonight.

Ally sighed. “Who would’ve guessed Oliver had it in him?”

“Not me,” Seth said. “But after this afternoon, when he had us racing around doing the message in the backyard—” He broke off and glanced at the rearview mirror. “So…how about those Knicks?”

“What message?” I questioned.

“Open mouth, insert size twelves,” Ally said. “Though ‘what message’ is a very good question.”

“Yeah, what happened to your violent diarrhea?” I asked suddenly. In all the chaos, I’d forgotten it. But Seth certainly didn’t seem ill. “Did you chug Imodium or something?”