Little Secrets:Unexpectedly Pregnant

Sage looked into his eyes and she shrugged. “I don’t know. But I think they would give us an idea of our different parenting styles. I think I’ll be more of an operate-from-instinct type of parent and I suspect that you will be the disciplined one.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Oh, the fact that you do Tai Chi at the crack of dawn, you go to the dojo four times a week and that you run six miles a day.”

“Eight,” Tyce corrected her and Sage saw the flash of the dimple in his cheek as the corners of his mouth lifted. Then she noticed that he was holding a bag of frozen peas, which he dropped into her lap.

“Slap it against your tailbone and that bruise,” he told her, holding a glass of red wine in his other hand.

Sage tried to twist her waist so that the bag of peas hit the right spot but winced when she turned. While she wasn’t in as much pain as she had been the evening of the accident, she was still damned sore. Tyce whipped the bag from her hand.

“Can you lean forward a bit?” he asked her, his big hand on her shoulder.

Sage leaned forward so that he could slide the bag down her back. She winced again as the cold seeped through the fabric of her yoga pants. With her injuries, yoga pants, a snug sports top and hoodie was all Tyce had seen her in. Super casual wasn’t her best look. “Damn, I’m not sure what’s worse, the cold or the bruise.”

Tyce sat down next to her, his muscled thigh pressing into hers, and her body started to tingle. “Trust me, the bruise is worse,” Tyce said.

“That bad?” she asked. After all, she couldn’t see it herself.

“Size of a football and a deep, angry blue,” Tyce told her. “You hit the ground at speed.”

He snagged a copy of the survey from her lap and squinted at the paper. “Okay, let’s do this. Question one... Is diaper changing a job for the mom, the dad or both of you?” His lips twitched. “That’s easy. If it’s loaded, it’s your job.”

“And if I’m not with you?” Sage asked, feeling the heat from his body, his fresh, citrus-masculine-Tyce smell drifting up her nose. Her sensitive nipples tightened and her blood slowly heated.

“The kid will have to hold it,” Tyce replied before flashing her one of his sexy, oh-so-rare grins. “I’m kidding. I’ll do my share but, fair warning, I’ll try and charm you into doing it if I can. If I can’t charm you, I might resort to begging.”

He’d probably succeed too, Sage thought as drops of water from the frozen packet of peas ran down her butt and she twisted her arm, wanting to pull the bag away.

Tyce placed his hand on hers and shook his head. “Five more minutes. Please?”

Sage pulled her hand out from under his and gave him a reluctant nod. Tyce’s hand moved up to her shoulder so she partially spun around so that the back of her head rested on his chest. She looked down at her sheet of paper.

“The two most important qualities I want my child to possess? Mmm, that’s hard.”

Tyce didn’t hesitate. “Resilience and determination.”

Sage nodded, immediately understanding that his childhood would’ve been even more difficult if he hadn’t been blessed with enormous doses of those traits.

“You?” Tyce asked.

Sage bit the inside of her lip. “I’d like our child to be bold and courageous. To have confidence.”

“Just like her, or his, mama.”

Sage tipped her head back, saw the warmth in his eyes and wanted to explain that she wasn’t bold, or brave. She was scared to live life to the fullest, scared of what life had in store for her, scared to love, to open herself up and feel. She wanted to tell Tyce that her default habit was to run from people and situations that made her feel uncomfortable, that every day she spent with him was a curious combination of terror and exhilaration. He made her feel alive, like she was plugged into an unseen source of energy that replenished and renewed. She also had a knot in her stomach because she knew that this couldn’t last, her bruises would fade and Tyce would move back to the periphery of her life, leaving her feeling empty and alone.

Sage saw Tyce swallow, noticed that he clutched the paper a little tighter, felt the tension radiating off him. He cleared his throat and when he spoke his voice was a low growl. “Next question... I know my partner is going to be a wonderful parent because...hell.”