“Alright, well…I’m gonna go pick them up. Don’t go anywhere,” I tell them.
My nerves are on high alert as I prepare for my speech. I’m as anxious as I was the day I proposed.
“Kenzie?” I call out when I walk in the door. Amora greets me in the living room, and I pick her up for a hug. “Hey, sweetie. Where’s Mommy?”
“She was gettin’ dressed.”
I kiss her cheek, then set her down. I can’t wait for Amora to see her new room. “Can you get your boots on? We gotta leave soon.”
“Okay, Daddy!” She scurries to her room.
“Sweetheart, you in here?” I open our bedroom door and find her sitting on the edge of the bed, hunched over and crying. “Baby, what’s wrong?” I rush over and kneel in front of her.
She finally looks up and wipes her cheeks. With a grin, she hands me a pregnancy test that says PREGNANT.
“Oh my God.” I blink at the stick, my heart pounding. “We’re having a baby?”
I wrap my arms around her and pull her to my chest.
“Yeah, I guess we are.” She chuckles, tightening her hold on me. “I’m in shock because we just started trying.”
A month ago, Kenzie stopped taking her birth control, and we decided to go with the “if it happens, it happens” motto, but neither of us expected she’d get pregnant so soon. However, I’m not disappointed.
“I’m so excited, babe. Amora is gonna be the best big sister,” I say.
“She really is. I can’t wait to tell her.”
“Well before we do, I actually have a surprise for the both of you.” I stand and grab her hand. “But we gotta go right now.”
“Now? My face is all red and splotchy.”
I take her cheeks in my hands and press a kiss to her lips. “You’re beautiful.”
On the way there, I make the girls wear blindfolds.
My heart is still racing, especially after finding out we’re expecting, and now I know this couldn’t have been better timing. I park the truck, then help them out of their seats.
“Where are we?” Amora asks, wiggling in my arms as I hold her.
“Smells like the ranch so I don’t think we’re far from home.” Kenzie chuckles. “Oh great, now my senses are gonna be heightened. Hope it doesn’t make me sick.”
Two loud gasps echo, and I glare at Mila and Maize for making a noise. Shit, they overheard that and are gonna know exactly what Kenzie means.
“What was that?” she asks.
Purposely dodging her question, I tell them to remove their blindfolds. Kenzie blinks a few times, notices her family, then looks at me. “What’s this?”
“Is that our new house?” Amora squeals.
Kenzie’s eyes widen as I smile and nod. “It sure is, sweetie. All ours.”
I set Amora down so she can run to Mila.
“What do you mean? How…” Kenzie stares at everything in disbelief. “How are you always pulling off these surprises?”
I grin at how stunned she is. “Do you like it? I picked an exterior design I thought you’d love the most, and it has an open floor plan that you said you wanted. And it’s a three-bedroom.”
“Grayson, I can’t believe you did this…”
Maize and Gavin walk up with their kids. “C’mon, I’ve been dying to give you the tour,” Maize says. “And show you the pictures we hung.”
“I think I’m in shock.” She pretends to pinch herself.
I give her a sly grin. “Did my best to keep you busy and away from this part of the ranch.”
“Busy baby-makin’.” Maize snorts.
“Y’all heard that, huh?” Kenzie grins, unable to contain her excitement. “We just found out before we came here.”
Mila wraps Kenzie in a tight hug. “Congrats, honey.”
“I hope it’s triplets,” Maize taunts, and my eyes go wide at the thought.
“Don’t you dare curse me.” Kenzie glares at her.
“What does baby-makin’ mean?” Amora asks, interrupting them.
Kenzie gives Maize a pointed look, and she shrugs. “Guess that’s payback for telling the twins that spiders crawl in their mouths while they sleep.”
“That was an accident!” Kenzie counters. “They weren’t supposed to be listening.”
“They slept with tape on their faces for a week!” Maize grinds out, and I bite back laughter.
I kneel in front of Amora and hold her hand. “It means Mommy has a baby in her tummy. You’re gonna be a big sister.”
She releases a loud gasp and squeals, “I am?”
Kenzie joins me and smiles wide. “Yep. Are you excited?”
Amora wraps her arms around our shoulders and nods. “I can’t wait!”
After all the excitement, they’re given a tour of the house. Grandma Bishop and the rest of the family were impatiently waiting inside, along with my mom and stepdad, who were excited to be a part of Kenzie’s surprise. Instead of keeping the pregnancy a secret, Kenzie and I share the news since they’d find out soon anyway. Of course, Rose said she knew it all along.