She smiled as she looked at it. “Looks like everything is still working properly.”
“Maybe you should make sure.”
* * *
I lay in bed, bandaged up and exhausted. I had just taken more pain killers to control the throbbing sensation all over my body. My ribs hurt the most. Just taking a breath was painful. A fire was burning in the hearth, and the sun was beginning to set.
Button sat beside me in bed wearing one of my t-shirts. Her brown hair was pulled over one shoulder, and her face was free of makeup. She hadn’t put any on since she showered, but I preferred her appearance this way. She wasn’t hiding behind anything. It was nothing but her, in her purest form.
She scooted close to my side and kissed my shoulder. She was careful to snuggle with me without touching my injured areas. She normally rubbed my chest, but that area was off-limits because it was too close to my ribs.
I stared at her beside me, treasuring the sight of her face. I’d pictured it constantly to keep my strength. It was strange to think there was a time in my life when I wasn’t living for her, when she wasn’t the motivation behind everything I did. My life didn’t seem that valuable until she walked through the door. Now, I lived every day for her, to make sure I would be alive to make her days perfect.
And now, I had another person to live for—someone I hadn’t met. “Does it feel different?”
“What?” she whispered.
My hand moved to her flat stomach, my large fingers stretching across her entire torso. It wasn’t that I had big hands, but she was particularly petite. “To be pregnant.”
“In the beginning, it was. I felt sick pretty often.”
“And what about now?”
“I don’t know.” She placed her hand on top of mine. “I guess I don’t feel different. I guess I don’t look different. But knowing they’re in there…that feels different. I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, but I can feel them. I don’t feel like the only person in this body.”
My hand pulled up her shirt, and my fingertips felt her bare skin. There was no way to detect someone was deep inside. She’d only been pregnant for weeks. It would take months before we noticed a change in her body. “When I’m better, you can expect me to wait on you hand and foot. I’ll get you all the ice cream you want, make you as many fires as you want…”
“You already do those things.” She smiled at me, her affection obvious.
“Then you don’t have to feel as bad for asking me to do it.”
“I never ask, Crow.”
I did those things on my own, making sure she had what she needed. I never thought I’d be a good person to take care of another human being, but the second Button became mine, I automatically did everything for her. Sometimes I was cold and distant, but she was still the first person in my life. “I guess I spoil you too much.”
“You do.” She moved closer into my body and pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth.
My arm circled her waist, and I pulled her tighter to me, hugging her even though it made me wince in pain. The discomfort was worth the pleasure. I kissed her back and sucked her bottom lip into my mouth. I wasn’t a man of many words, and the best way I communicated with Button was by touch. I wanted to make love to her, to erase the hardship we’d both experienced. But I was too weak, and she would never allow it to happen.
So I kissed her instead.
The kisses turned hotter, deeper. I felt the connection deep down inside me, the burning need to take more of her. I could have died in that warehouse, but I was here with her now. I was kissing my wife as our baby grew inside her.
She pulled away first, probably because we were getting carried away. She licked her lips, tasting me one last time before she shifted back. “What do you think we’ll have?”
I hadn’t given it much thought. “I don’t know. I don’t care.”
“Really?” She cocked her head to the side, examining me with intelligent eyes. “You don’t prefer a son?”
“Why would I?”
“Every man wants a son.”
Just a month ago, I wasn’t thinking about having a family at all. It was a luxury I didn’t care about. I imagined our lives would be just about the two of us. So I never thought about my preferences. “As long as they’re healthy, I’ll be happy.”
She smiled.
“Do you want a boy or a girl?” If I had a son, I imagined he’d look a lot like me. I would raise him to be similar, to inherit my strengths and avoid my weaknesses. If I had a daughter, I imagined she would look just like Button. She’d be beautiful, with thick brown hair and gorgeous eyes. She’d inherit her mother’s love of life and also her ferocity. When she grew older, a man would fall in love with her—and I’d have to kill him.