“I love you,” he said.
“Love you too,” I said with a soft smile.
I looked up and realized the officer was standing there. “Oh, I’m sorry, my husband called wondering where I was.”
Her lips thinned, and she seemed to swallow hard. She handed my paperwork and ID back to me. Then her gaze dropped to my obviously pregnant belly. “I’m just giving you a warning this time. You be careful. Looks like you have precious cargo there.”
I looked at the written warning in relief. “Thank you, Officer Santiago.”
She took a deep breath and nodded, then turned to walk back to her vehicle but paused. She rested her hand on my door and looked like she was going to say something else but stopped. “Have a good day, and happy birthday to your son.”
“Thank you,” I said, then put my stuff away as she walked back to her vehicle. I carefully merged in with traffic. A sigh of relief escaped me, and I drove the rest of the way home—watching my speed.
Pulling into our neighborhood, I got warm fuzzies.
We’d found a house in a newer neighborhood that I’d fallen in love with. I’d been afraid without me working, we wouldn’t be able to afford it, but it had all worked out. I’d intended to look for a job and had already submitted several résumés when I found out I was pregnant.
The garage door was open, my handsome husband waiting with his arms crossed and a brow raised. My nose wrinkled, and I gave him a cheesy grin. He wasn’t falling for it.
As soon as I shut the Jeep off, I climbed out, and he was in front of me. “Okay, speedy. How much was this one?”
My smile went brilliant. “Nothing! I got a warning!”
His expression morphed to one of hesitant disbelief. “Bat your pretty eyes at him, did you?”
I huffed as I started to gather the bags from the back seat. “I resent that. It was actually a girl cop.”
“Hmm,” he said. Shaking his head at me, he dropped his arms and approached me. “Let me help you bring stuff in.”
Before he took the bags, he placed a hand on my rounded stomach, then crouched in front of me to talk to it. “How’s my baby girl? Is Mommy scaring you by driving like a maniac?”
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Really?”
“Shh, I’m having a serious conversation with my little girl. She missed me today while her mommy was practicing for her new NASCAR career.” The exaggerated frown he gave me only made me laugh.
“You are absolutely ridiculous.”
“Not even close. I’m the best husband and dad in the state.”
“Oh, Lordy. Well, I can’t say I disagree,” I agreed with a smile. He was pretty amazing.
The door from the garage to the house opened, and my dad stuck his head out.
“Thought I heard the garage door. Need any help? The natives are getting restless out back.”
We both laughed, and I shook my head. “I think we got it, Dad. But thank you. I’ve got the bags; could you get the cake?” I motioned into the Jeep with my head.
“No problem.” Angel slid the seat forward to get the box from the back seat. “Holy shit. Could you get a bigger cake?”
I shrugged innocently. “I like cake.”
He laughed, and Dad held the door open for us to get inside.
Trace and his new friends were playing in the backyard with Voodoo and Kira’s dogs. After setting the bags on the counter, I paused and watched them run around laughing. Several of Angel’s brothers were out back manning the grill. Declan and Diesel had even come up from Arizona.
“Did you say something about Chains going back with them to help with their tattoo shop?” I questioned as I motioned to where Chains was drinking a beer in the shade.
“Yeah.” His tone was tight, and I looked over my shoulder at him in question.