“Wonder what it is,” Jack mutters. “The surprise, I mean.”
He talks in a low voice, purposefully vague. I’m pretty sure he was just about to mention the thing, the topic he doesn’t bring up anymore. After Kyra and I first got together, I was certain she was going to get pregnant right away.
I felt sure of it. It was like a burning certainty branded right on my heart.
And then her period came.
I know we only just got together but we were both just so certain it would happen on the first try. To say we were a little disappointed was an understatement. We even bought a rapid pregnancy test just to be prepared. But it’s only been a few weeks I keep telling myself.
We both just want it so badly. We talk about it all the time, though the conversations have been tinged with a new sadness lately, as though neither of us can face what might turn out to be the cold uncaring reality.
Maybe it’s not going to happen for us.
Perhaps I’m being sensitive. There’s no reason for Jack to even be thinking about that. It’s just been on my mind so much lately, a whispering taunting voice that never leaves me alone, telling me we’re destined to not experience what will turn out to be the purest, most love-filled thing in our lives.
“I’m glad the business is doing well,” I murmur, turning away from the window, from the city. “But that isn’t why I proposed to her on camera. I wanted the world to know she belongs to me.”
“Well, you accomplished both. It’s crazy, but the second you stopped being a grumpy douche people stopped calling you a grumpy douche. Funny how things work.”
I grin, flipping him the bird. He grins back. It’s the way we used to joke back in the day, before the business, before Kyra, before everything.
“If you weren’t my best man, I might throw you out the window.”
Jack chuckles. “If you weren’t my boss, I might do the same to you.”
We share a smile, knowing it’s all in good fun. He’s my best friend as well as my best man.
“What are you doing tonight?” I ask him.
“Going out to dinner. We’ve got a sitter. Do you really have no clue what you’ll be doing?”
“That’s the thing,” I say. “I’m taking her to dinner. So her surprise isn’t about where we’re going.”
“Maybe it’s…” He raises his eyebrow, as though he doesn’t want to finish his sentence just in case he jinxes it.
“I was just thinking the same. But I don’t know. I can’t let myself go there. It’ll be… Hell, there was a time when I’d rather take a clean right hook from a pro boxer than admit this to you. But it’d be too painful, Jack, if I’m wrong.”
He nods. “I get it. So just have an open mind. Enjoy the night, whatever it is.”
“You’re right,” I say firmly. “No matter what, Kyra and I will always have each other. Nothing will ever change that.”
When I return to the apartment, Kyra is standing at the end of the hallway in her Valentine’s dinner dress.
It’s bright red and flows down to just above her knees, showing a tempting amount of leg, but not so much that I’d lose my shit if some motherfucker started ogling her. It’s cut high at the neck and hugs her perfect shape perfectly, outlining her curves…
Her curves will never stop driving me crazy. I stalk over to her, looping my arms around her hips and kissing those perfect lips. She moans as our lips come together.
No matter how long it’s been – five minutes or five hours – I always feel like I need to claim her with a possessive kiss.
I grip her hips tightly, groaning as the tip of my cock aches. My body has never doubted we’re going to have a child together… it thrums and pulses every time I so much as touch my woman.
“Is this the surprise?” I growl, leaning back and nodding down at the dress.
She shakes her head. “No. But do you like it?”
“I love it. Just like I love you.” I kiss her forehead softly. “So what is it?”
She blinks and tears appear in her eyes. I’ve seen my fiancé emotional over the past few weeks – during wedding planning and when she got accepted to start film school in the coming fall – but this is the most intense yet. It’s like she’s going to burst.
“It’s the best thing ever,” she whispers. “It’s the most amazing news we could have wished for, Kayden.”
“Kyra…” I swallow, as hope ignites in my chest. “Please, please say this is what I think it is.”
She nods, smiling radiantly. “It is. I am. I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a baby.”
“Say it again,” I croak.
“You’re going to be a father.” She takes my face in her hands. “I’m going to be a mother. We’re going to be a family.”