“Not even the baby?” Max asks, his chin quivering.
“I will love this baby with my whole heart, just like I love you with my whole heart. This baby won’t change how I feel about you. You are my son, my firstborn.” Max gives me a watery smile and the tight band around my heart loosens. “And yes, some things will change. I’ll want to spend time with the baby, but I promise you that we will still have our time. Plus, it’s not just you sharing me.” Max cocks his head to the side. “I’m going to have to share you too. This baby is going to love you so much, and I have no doubt that you’re going to be the best big brother in the world. One of these days you won’t want to kick around the ball with me because you’ll be kicking around the ball with him—”
“Or her,” Max says, smiling sheepishly.
“Or her.” I nod.
“So you’ll still be my dad?”
“Without a doubt,” I say. Throwing an arm around his back, I pull him in for a hug and he latches onto me with a strength I didn’t know he was capable of. “You’re stuck with me, bud. I will never stop being your dad.”
“Pinky swear?” he says, holding up his hand. Max hasn’t ‘pinky swore’ with me in several months. He told me a while back that it was childish, which felt like a punch to the gut at the time, so I don’t hesitate now to take him up on that offer.
Linking my little finger with his, I kiss his forehead. “Pinky swear.”
“Tyson?” A hand lands on my shoulder, and I look up at Harley to see tearstains on her cheeks. Honestly, I forgot that she was even in the room. She mouths ‘I love you,’ smiling sweetly, and I mouth the words back. “I hate to say this, but you need to get going or you’re going to be late for work.”
Shit. I forgot I had to work today. These fucking weekend shifts piss me off.
“Okay.” I sigh, cupping a hand to the side of Max’s neck. “Soccer. Tomorrow night. Just me and you, got it?”
Max’s face splits into a blinding smile and he nods. “I’ll kick your butt,” he says, laughing. The sound is like music to my ears.
“No, you won’t.” Rolling my eyes, I stand up and pull Harley in for a hug. “Can you believe this kid? He thinks he can actually beat me at soccer.”
“You are getting old.” Max laughs even harder at Harley’s jab, and when I tickle her side, she spins away and takes off running through the house with the two of us hot on her heels.
The next few weeks flew by without incident. Harley had her first prenatal check-up, and other than a slightly elevated blood pressure, she was given a good report.
Max seems to be back to his normal self, which has been a huge relief to both Harley and me.
Still, that day we told him about the baby shook me more than either of them realized. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d told Max that I loved him, and it floored me to hear that he still had doubts.
That’s when it hit me.
My words weren’t enough. Max needed action.
So the very next day I put a call in to my lawyer—a call that I’d already been dying to make—and the paperwork was delivered to me yesterday at work.
Now it’s time to share it with my beautiful girl.
“Harley, baby,” I whisper. “It’s time to wake up.” The sheet is bunched around her waist, and the smooth curve of her back draws me in. Peppering kisses along her neck, I then slowly trail my lips down the length of her spine. She stirs for a brief second and I pull back, watching as she cuddles against her pillow.
She’s had a rough three days of work. Back-to-back twelve-hour shifts would tire anyone out, so I couldn’t imagine working those hours while pregnant. I hate to wake her up, but I’m excited and full of nervous energy, anxious to give her the surprise that I’ve been working so hard on.
When my alarm went off at six o’clock this morning, I got up to help Max get ready for school and then dropped him off. I’ve been pacing around the house ever since, waiting for sleeping beauty here to wake up.
A soft moan filters through the air and Harley rolls onto her back, baring her naked breasts. Her nipples instantly pucker when exposed to the air, and it takes everything in me not to bend over and suck one of those tight buds into my mouth. My cock stirs, but that’s no surprise.
The surprise, I remind myself. Just give her the surprise and … fuck it.
Leaning down, I blow across her breast, watching as her nipple tightens. Goose bumps scatter across her chest, and when I see a faint smile tug at the corner of her mouth, I decide that I’ve waited long enough to taste my girl.
“Tyson.” Her fingers find their way to my hair and, gripping the back of my head, she holds me to her. Swirling my tongue, I nip and tease, first one breast and then the other, until she’s writhing beneath me.
“I want you.” Harley has the sexiest morning voice. It’s all gravelly from sleep, and it does things to my body that no woman’s voice should be able to do to a man. I want her too—so fucking bad—but right now I have something else incredibly important that needs to happen first.
I release her breast with a wet pop, moving away from the temptation in front of me, and Harley’s eyes flutter open. “No,” she says. “Not acceptable. Get back here.” She reaches out for whatever she can get her grabby little hands on, which happens to be my t-shirt, and she drags me to her. “I don’t think you heard me right.” A sexy little grin spreads across her face, and then her eyes focus on mine. “I said I want you. Now.”