After You (Because of You 2)

“It’s okay, you couldn’t stand to live another day unless you could be my fiancé. I fully understand.”

“Mm, fiancé,” he murmurs, tugging me back and kissing me again.

“For a little while longer, anyway,” I murmur against his lips.

We’ve already discussed the wedding—more importantly, my lack of desire for one. I want to be married to Derek, but prancing around in a giant cupcake dress in a room full of people whose eyes will all be focused on me much of the time—that’s the kind of horror that causes me to jolt awake in bed, covered in a cold sweat. Derek suggested we could elope to Vegas, but Vegas isn’t for me. As much as I don’t want to say my vows in a room full of mostly strangers, I also don’t want to utter them in front of en Elvis impersonator.

Instead, we’re going to have a quiet courthouse ceremony followed up by a small get-together at the park so the kids can play. Alex is now aware of Derek being in my life

again, but he hasn’t met grown-up Derek, and he still heartily disapproves of the version he remembers. I figured since we’ve made it this far, we’ll just wait until the wedding so it’s too late for Alex to try to talk me out of marrying him.

The fireworks finally start. Cassidy oohs and ahhs with every colorful pop that explodes in the sky. I haven’t watched fireworks in years; I’d forgotten how loud they were. I feel every pop in my chest, and my accelerating heart doesn’t help. Derek may not have held onto his proposal to ask under fireworks for dramatic effect, but I held onto a little something.

When the time seems right and the sky is stained with the aftermath of pink and red fireworks, I tilt and lean close to his ear. “You know what I think we should do this weekend?”

“Naked bedtime stories?” he offers back.

“Well, yes. I have a new book for us to start tonight. But no, that’s not what I was going to say.”

“What were you going to say?”

I wait for the next pop to sound so he’ll be able to hear me, then I tell him, “I think we should start looking for a bigger house.”

Lifting an eyebrow in surprise, he says, “Now? We haven’t even finished unpacking all your stuff. I thought we were going to wait until next year.”

“Well, yeah, that was the plan.” Another pair of consecutive pops in the sky. Leaning closer, I murmur in his ear, “But someone can’t keep his hands to himself during adult bedtime stories.”

He couldn’t be more surprised. “You want to start trying?”

I shake my head no and wait for the next pop before I tell him, “I don’t think we’re going to have to.” He frowns slightly, not quite connecting the dots. “Derek, I’m more than three weeks late.”

Now understanding dawns and his blue eyes widen. “You’re pregnant?”

“Shh,” I say, my gaze snapping to Cassidy. She is busy watching the fireworks, so she didn’t hear him. Looking back at Derek, I tell him, “I haven’t had time to take a test yet, but symptoms are starting to pile up, and I feel like I am, if that makes sense. And we did risk it a few times since you can’t be bothered to keep a steady supply of condoms.”

“Oh, my God, Nikki,” he says, wrapping his arms around me and squeezing me tight. “Are you—I mean, are you mad, happy, not sure yet? This is kind of my fault.”

“This is definitely kind of your fault,” I agree, smiling tenderly and kissing him on the lips. “But I’m happy. Really happy.”

“We’re gonna have a baby,” he says, in mild disbelief.

“Hopefully a girl, or there will be hell to pay,” I half-joke, nodding my head in Cassidy’s direction.

Derek laughs, squeezing me again. “I can’t believe this. Holy shit. You and me… we’re gonna have a baby.”

I nod my head. “I’d put a lot of money on it. We can’t tell Cassidy until I take a test and there’s solid evidence, but… I mean, if I’m not pregnant, I’m probably dying, because my body is not doing what it should be. When Mallory was eating that horrid dip in front of us earlier, I thought I was going to throw up all over her.”

“Is that why you walked away? I thought you were just being salty.”

“Nope, I was trying not to vomit. Not to spare her, of course, I just didn’t want to blow the pregnancy reveal when I knew there would be literal fireworks tonight.”

“Always thinking on your feet,” he replies.

“I know it’s sooner than we expected, but if we’re going to have a baby, I think it might be better to move sooner rather than later. My stuff is already mostly packed so we’d only have to pack yours and Cassidy’s. I know she likes her current bedroom, but now that my house sold and my Dreamcatcher royalties are coming at the end of this month, we can afford a much bigger, nicer place. She’ll have a bigger bedroom, maybe even a designated play room, a bigger backyard to play in…”

“Yeah, I mean, I didn’t even want you for your money, but…”

I narrow my eyes at his playful ribbing and elbow him. “Keep it up, Noble; I won’t let you have any of it.”