Returning to the bed, she slid under the covers, curling her hand over her small bump.
“Don’t worry, sweet one; we got this.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Swatting a glittery balloon out of the way, Reaper closed the door after working a back-breaking shift at the factory. Being greeted by a floating baby foot balloon wasn’t totally unexpected, as Ginny had been telling him nonstop about all the decorations she purchased for T.A.’s baby shower tonight. Still, it was kind of sad to see the club house room decked out in baby blue with swirly ribbons hanging down from the ceiling.
“I could cry,” Nickel moaned, coming into the room with the rest of the brothers.
“The brothers in Ohio would have cardiac arrest,” Jesus groaned in aggrievement.
Puck stepped in rainbow-colored shit. “Better not let Wizard hear about this. He’ll never let Viper live it down.”
Suki gave a low whine, sensing the pain from the brothers who were complaining about their club room being taken over by the women who were stacking baby shower presents on the two pool tables.
Reaper gave the brothers a killing glare when Ginny sighted him and made a beeline toward him.
“The first one who says something to her will be working an extra shift.”
The brothers took off down the hall for the kitchen instead of going farther into the main room. From the loud grumblings coming from that direction, Reaper had no doubt that Ginny decked that room in girly shit, too.
“You’re here!” Ginny enthused as she grabbed his arm. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”
He couldn’t flat-out lie to her with a clear conscience. “It’s exactly like you said it would be.”
“I know, right?” Ginny pridefully surveyed her handiwork. “Sex Piston and Killyama think Trudy’s going to love it. Is it bad of me I wanted more balloons than when Lily had her baby shower?”
“Nothing’s wrong with a little healthy competition.” Congratulating himself on being able to keep a straight face, Reaper took a long look at what Ginny was wearing. Did the woman think he was stupid? She was wearing a dark brown animal dress that came to her knees, with a chunky black sweater that was meant to be loose but was unable to hide the burgeoning belly she was developing.
“How long is it going to take you to get dressed?” She nudged him toward the steps.
Reaper wasn’t fooled by her attempt to distract him. He had been living with her dodging and distracting him every time he tried to talk about her being pregnant for the last two and half months.
“Why do I need to change? I was going to grab something to eat and stay in our room.”
“I have literally told you a thousand times that you have to keep Dalton company. He’s not any happier than you. The least you could do is make it more bearable for him.” Ginny voice went an octave lower. “I don’t think he cares for Sex Piston.”
“No shit? I can’t imagine why.”
Ginny gave him a glare that put his death glare to shame.
“Give me ten minutes, and I’ll be back. That good enough?”
He guessed it was when Ginny gave him an air kiss on his cheek as she moved away after hearing Sex Piston yell from across the room. “Hurry up, little bitch. Trudy will be here any minute.”
Grumbling to himself with no one to hear, he went up to his room with Suki to lay out clean clothes before getting in the shower. Turning the water to hot, he luxuriating in the warmth of the spray. Every fucking bone in his body hurt. He had helped load two delivery trucks with a massive order, after working on the house that he and Ginny were building. This morning they put the wooden flooring in the bedrooms upstairs.
Washing his hair, he felt the length of stubble on the side of his skull was getting longer. He needed to shave it, but he didn’t have the energy. Determined for Ginny and him to be settled into the home before the baby was born was being waylaid by the wet weather and a series of mid-steps that caused multiple delays.
He’d been so distracted with his new life at home, he was surprised to see an email this afternoon regarding the investigation on the islanders’ disappearances. He’d already discovered from meteorological reports that no hurricane had hit Clindale with the force Allerton had described. The discovery had him hiring two ex-military investigators to find out what happened to the islanders. So far, little had been found, and the men were now methodically going through many of Allerton’s patrons to see if they played a part as well.
One of the emails had both good and bad news. What little was left Ginny’s father had been found, and he’d been the only body located in the ocean. He would tell Ginny tomorrow. He wasn’t about to let her party be ruined after she had worked to make it special for T.A.