“But you have to know that Tommy and I have never had sex,” she bawls. “At least, not the type of sex where I could get pregnant. Tommy came over that night, but he ejaculated on me, not in me. It was all over my butt, and I swear, he didn’t come inside.”
I nod, keeping my voice gentle.
“I know, baby girl, and I believe you. I had sex with you that night, remember? That was our first time together, and I noticed everything, honey. You had his seed caked all over your bottom, but I could tell that there was none in your ass or pussy. It’s okay, sweetheart, because I know you’re telling the truth. I believe you. I don’t doubt it.”
But Natalie’s still upset.
“Maybe we can get a genetic test done on the baby while they’re still in utero,” she says in a broken voice. “That would prove you’re the father, Morgan, and not him.”
I press a soft kiss to her forehead, stroking those brown curls.
“It’s not necessary, honey. I know this baby is mine, and I want us to be together. I love you, Natalie Sherwood, despite the shit show that we’re currently at the center of. It’s like we’re standing in the eye of a hurricane, right? Crap’s flying all around us, but you and me? We’re okay.”
She gulps before looking up to meet my eye.
“Really?” she asks in a tremulous voice.
I press a kiss to her brow again.
“Yes, we’re definitely okay, honey. And you know I love you, now more than ever. You’re the right woman for me, and I’ve known that for a while already. I just haven’t gotten a chance to tell you, sweetheart.”
The beautiful woman hiccups a little before staring at me with soft chocolate eyes.
“I love you too, Morgan,” she says in a trembling voice. “I was so afraid to tell you about the baby, but if you love me then everything’s going to be fine.”
I seize her lips in a deep kiss then, my tongue sweeping into her mouth.
“Everything’s going to be more than fine,” I growl possessively. “You belong to me, and this baby belongs to me too. We’re going to be a family: you, me, June, and the new child, no matter what people in this town think.”
With that, my sweet girl wraps her arms around my shoulders and sighs as she shudders against my broad chest, finally letting some of the stress go. After all, it’s not every day that this happens. It’s not often that a teenage babysitter becomes a teenage mommy, but I’m the man who made it happen, and I adore Natalie Sherwood all the more because of the love we’ve created together.
EPILOGUE
Natalie
Six months later.
Morgan and I are sitting on the lawn in our enormous back yard we soak up the sunlight. It’s such as lovely day outside that I suggested a picnic so that we can enjoy the balmy weather and soothing breeze. Morgan readily agreed, and now we’re snacking on delicious sandwiches prepared by Mrs. Schmitz as well as a heavenly array of finger foods.
“June!” I call. “Do you want some carrots?”
The little blonde girl turns her head for a moment.
“No, Mama,” she replies. “Not now.”
My heart contracts as I smile because I love how June calls me “Mama” now. She understands that her biological mother is Fiona or “Mommy,” but there’s more than enough room in her heart for a second maternal figure, and that’s me.
Morgan hears his daughter too and presses a kiss to my hand before laying a big palm on my bulging belly.
“Are you ready to be a mama, Mama?” he quips with a grin.
I sigh while stretching languorously in the sunshine.
“I’m more than ready,” is my reply. “At this point, I’m so huge that I feel like I need a wheelchair to get around!”
Morgan laughs because it’s true. I’m as big as a house but my man loves it and places a tender kiss to my belly, his black hair glinting in the light.
“Well, you just better pray that I don’t knock you up with twins next because then what would you be? A mansion? A manor?”
I merely giggle even as my heart races.
“So soon, Mr. Aston?” I coo. “You’re already thinking about more kids, even though this one isn’t even born yet?”
He nods, those blue eyes glinting as they sweep over my very pregnant form.
“Hell yeah,” he rasps. “You’re so fucking sexy when you’re swollen with child, baby, and I want to keep you that way. You’ll be popping out my kids until you’re forty.”
I merely roll my eyes and laugh because I’m only nineteen at the moment! That would be twenty more years of childbearing, which is more than I can take.
But I sigh happily again while looking around because life has turned out really well. I moved in with Morgan immediately after that disaster of a Town Hall, and it was a little bumpy at first. My parents were shocked that I was pregnant by an older man, but what could they do? At least I was living with the baby’s daddy.