“Sorry,” Zoe squeaked. I grinned at her cute red cheeks and sheepish expression.
Weston laughed. “Congratulations, by the way. Aspen mentioned your little peanut. I’ll talk to you later.” The phone clicked, signaling he’d hung up.
“Landon, I know how angry you are,” she said softly. “And I agree, he shouldn’t be in this business. But, let’s not stoop to his level by letting out his secret solely for revenge.”
Sighing, I pressed my forehead against hers and then breathed in her sweet scent. “You have a much bigger heart than I do, Blondie.” She smiled at me and it soothed my ire enough to come up with a compromise. “How about I give his father a call and let him know we have it? Tell him to get Steve out of the industry and to do a better job keeping a leash on him?”
“Now you’re thinking,” she said cheekily, her green eyes twinkling. In one smooth move, I turned us so she was caged beneath me on the bed.
I began kissing my way down her body, lingering over our little one and then stopping at her pussy. “I’ll call him after breakfast,” I mumbled.
***
Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.
Zoe’s hand squeezed mine tightly as we both stared at the black and white screen.
“Do you want to know the sex?” the doctor asked.
I glanced at my wife to give her one last chance to change her mind and was met with a blinding smile and a nod. “Yes,” I answered.
“Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Heath, you’re having a baby girl.”
A girl. I pictured a beautiful baby girl with Zoe’s platinum hair and green eyes. My heart stopped. I was filled with love and joy, but I was also scared shitless. I had two sisters and I remembered what they were like growing up. Too gorgeous for their own good. And, heaven help the boys who’d tried to date them.
Dating.
My daughter.
“Oh, fuck that,” I muttered.
“Excuse me?” the doctor exclaimed, clearly offended.
I didn’t even realize I’d spoken aloud until then. My head whipped towards Zoe, worried that she misunderstood me. I should have known better. She almost rolled off of the table laughing.
“I’m sorry, Doctor,” Zoe gasped through her amusement. “You’ll have to excuse my husband. He’s already skipped the baby years and is stuck on the dating. I’m sure he’s probably trying to figure out how many guns to buy and designing the tower he’s going to lock our daughter in.”
I scowled at her. “No dating. Ever.”
“Yes dear,” she patronized, and then saluted me smartly.
Narrowing my eyes, I gave her a warning glance. “And, the next one better be a boy, Blondie. I’m fucking outnumbered as it is.”
Zoe rolled her eyes, and then reached out to take a small photo the doctor handed her. Her eyes misted as she studied it. “That’s our baby girl, Daddy.”
The minute she said Daddy, I melted. I couldn’t wait to hear our little one call me that.
After Zoe’s stomach was clean, she pulled her shirt down and I helped her off of the exam table. We thanked the doctor, made a new appointment and headed out to our car. Before opening her door, I crushed Zoe to my chest.
“Nothing will ever top our wedding day, but I have to admit, this one comes close.” I dipped my head into the bend of her neck and shoulder, nuzzling her. Her sweet little sigh shot straight to my core and my dick was suddenly very interested in receiving some attention.
“Let’s go home and celebrate,” I suggested.
Zoe giggled and waited for me to lift my head before she pecked my lips. “Sounds like a fantastic idea. Can we stop for Chinese on the way? And maybe some ice cream?”
“Whatever you want, baby. As long as I get to eat dessert off you.”
“I like the way you think, Mr. Heath.”
After helping her into the car, I knelt down beside her seat and buckled her in, deliberately letting my hands brush along her sensitive tits. She inhaled quickly and shifted positions. “You inspire my best ideas, Mrs. Heath,” I purred.
Later that night, we lay in bed, studying the picture, both of us fascinated.
Some people might think I should be stunned to have gotten what I wanted. But, the truth was, you can’t “get” what is already yours. And, I knew, from the moment I met Zoe, that she was mine.
Epilogue
Zoe
“Turn here! Turn here!” I yelled. “I want to stop at Timmy’s.”
“Timmy who?” Landon growled, his eyes flashing with a possessive gleam when he looked my way.
“Tim Horton’s, you silly caveman,” I giggled, pointing at the sign for the Canadian chain which didn’t have a location in the entire state of Wisconsin. The closest one was all the way in Michigan. “They have the best coffee ever.”
He gave me a weird look. “You don’t even like coffee!”
“Only because nobody else makes it like Timmy’s does.”
“Are you sure it’s a good time for you to have caffeine?” he asked, glancing in the rearview mirror to check on our beautiful baby girl.
“Yes,” I sighed, well-accustomed to his over-the-top concerns and wishing once again that I’d hidden all the baby books from him before he’d had a chance to memorize them. “I only had a tiny mug of tea this morning before we left. It’s been almost twelve hours on the road. Trust me when I tell you that I need a little caffeine in my system before we’re swarmed by my family.”
“But—”
“No buts! We’re almost at my parents’ house so I’ll be breastfeeding Tallie before it even has a chance to really hit my system. It’s the perfect time for me to have a cup of the only coffee in the world that I enjoy,” I growled.
We were finally making our first trip up to visit my family. Taking a road trip with a four-month-old baby wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but Tallie had come down with an ear infection last week so we hadn’t wanted to risk flying with her so soon afterwards. She’d already recovered quite nicely, but Landon tended to be over-protective with her... and it only made me love him more.
He must have realized it was in everyone’s best interest to do as I asked because he turned into the Tim Horton’s drive-through.
“Get me a double double and a dozen blueberry jam busters.”
“A double what?” he grumbled. “What in the hell is a jam buster? And why do you want them in blueberry when you know damn well that I’m allergic?”
“Sorry, Mr. Grumpypants. A double double means I want two creamers and two sugars in my coffee,” I laughed.
“Well that explains why you like it, it’s not even coffee when you take it that way.” He shook his head as he placed the order, adding a black coffee for himself.
“You may want to get an extra dozen donuts since the ones I got are blueberry jelly filled.”
“Ah, the mysterious jam busters,” he mumbled, looking over the menu and adding more donuts to the order.
“The blueberry ones are my mom’s and my favorites,” I explained once we were back on the road, after slurping down most of my coffee. “She’ll be happy to have them for breakfast tomorrow morning, and I
’m sure Dad will help you with the strawberry ones you picked.”
“I think we’ll need more help than that with twenty-four donuts and only four of us.”
“Trust me, there will be more than four of us for breakfast,” I sighed, knowing darn well that my sisters and brothers would be over bright and early. As we pulled into my parents’ driveway, I realized I’d underestimated my siblings since there were five extra cars parked on the road in front of their house. “Way more than four of us for dinner too.”
“I thought it was supposed to be just us tonight?” Landon asked, sounding a little nervous.
“That’s what I thought, but my brothers and sisters aren’t very good at listening to me. Which is a huge part of the reason I moved to Wisconsin in the first place.”
“Thanks for reminding me,” Landon breathed against my lips, stealing them for a quick kiss after he parked the car. “I owe them a lot for being a major pain in your ass.”
“Try to remember that when my brothers ask you to play hockey out back on the pond and proceed to try to beat the shit out of you,” I suggested. “Or while my sisters take Tallie hostage and refuse to give her up unless it’s time for me to breastfeed.”
We were swarmed as we walked into the house. My oldest sister, Willa, grabbed the baby carrier as soon as we walked in the door. My other sisters, Hazel and Phoebe, quickly followed her to the kitchen after giving Landon and I hugs. They flashed me the thumbs-up sign, while pointing at Landon’s ass as they walked away.
My oldest brother, Devin, glared at them before leveling Landon with what I assumed was supposed to be an intimidating look. Gabe stood behind him, trying to do the same but the twinkle in his eye gave away the fact that he was trying not to laugh at the whole thing.
“You two better be nice to my husband,” I warned them.
“Or else what, baby sis?” Gabe laughed.
“Or else you won’t get any dumplings!” my mom called from the kitchen.
“But I’m the one who stopped and got them,” he yelled back.