The Baby Contract

Her eyes welled with tears.

“But I know that was partly my fault if you thought all I cared about was the baby.” I laughed. “I’d been trying so hard to make you fall in love with me, but I failed to tell you the most important thing. I love you.”

She threw her arms around me. “Dax was right. We were too dumb to see what was in front of us.”

“Dax, huh?”

“I’m here because of him.”

“In that case, I’ll give him a huge bonus.” Unable to avoid it any longer, I dipped my head and pressed my lips to hers.

With Anne in my arms, my lips melting against hers, the hole in my chest began to fill. Happiness and joy filled me. I lifted my head to look into her eyes to see if she felt the same. She had a sweet, satisfied smile on her beautiful face. But I also noted tiredness in her eyes.

"It's late. You must be exhausted."

"I will admit I'm tired but —"

I didn't give her a chance to finish. I swept her up into my arms and headed upstairs to my room. I set her on the edge of the bed and stripped all her clothes off except for her panties. I went to my dresser, grabbing a T-shirt and bringing it to her. Her expression was surprised as she slipped the T-shirt on.

"You need your rest." There would be time to make love to her tomorrow.

I stripped down to my boxer briefs and then pulled the covers back on the bed. I climbed in next to her, pulling her to me, her back against my chest, my body spooning around hers.

"Just so you know, this is your room now too."

I hoped I wasn’t pushing for too much, too soon. But it felt like I’d waited forever to have her in my life. I wanted to start forever now, falling asleep and waking up next to her every day.

"Well, if you insist."

I placed a soft kiss behind her ear. "I insist."

We lay quietly, my hand absently running over the soft swell of her belly. I felt a light flutter under my hand.

"Are you hungry? I didn't think to offer your food, but it seems like your stomach is grumbling.”

Her hand pressed on her belly and she rolled over onto her back, her eyes wide and filling with tears.

Panic shot through me. "What's wrong?"

I lifted my hand terrified something was wrong with the baby.

She took my wrist and brought my hand back to her belly. "It's the baby. It's moving.”

I looked at her in shock. "You can feel it?"

She nodded. "That's what you felt. It wasn't my stomach rumbling."

Overwhelmed with emotion, I couldn't stop the tears coming to my eyes. It wasn't like I didn't know there was a baby, but feeling it move inside Anne’s body made it all the more real.

I slid down her body, pressing my lips against her belly. "Hello in there, my little one."

I kissed her stomach again and then moved up her body, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close to me as I buried my face along her neck. "This is the happiest moment in my life."

She held tight as well. "We felt the baby."

I pulled away so I could look into her face. I caressed her cheek with the backs of my fingers. "This is the happiest day of my life because you're here with me. And our child is moving within you." I stared into her lovely gray eyes. "Just so we're clear, again. The deal is off. There are no arrangements. It's you and me now, Anne. It's you and me and our child."

Tears rolled down her cheeks, but I was certain they were happy ones.