She smiled at him and moved even closer, though there was still a good foot between them. “I took a test, Hunter. And I went to the clinic before we left.” She bit her lip, then exhaled. “I’m pregnant.”
Hunter blinked once, then again. “Pregnant.”
Mal nodded, just once. “Pregnant.”
Nothing happened for a moment, then Hunter started laughing. Softly at first, then a disjointed chuckling, and then it rolled into deep belly laughs that shook him until he had to brace his hands on his knees.
Mal watched him, wondering when he was going to say something, but grinning at his laughter all the same. “This better be good laughter, husband, because I’m not going to be laughing once we get to the end–”
Hunter cut her off with a triumphant kiss that told her everything she needed to know and more. “Yes, baby,” he whispered against her lips when he let her breathe, cupping her face. “Yes! I’ve wanted a family with you from day one. Nothing could make me happier. Are you okay? Are you excited? Scared?” He pulled back and ran a hand over her hair. “Are you scared, babe?”
“All of the above,” Mal admitted, gripping his shirt in her hand. “I didn’t know we’d start so soon, and my career is just taking off–”
“We’ll make it work,” he overrode, shaking his head and nodding at the same time. “We’ll make all of this work. It won’t mess anything up. It’ll just make us more creative.” He smiled and kissed her hard. “I will wear the baby in a carrier at the office any time you need me to, I promise.”
Mal bumped her nose against his chin, giggling. “I might let you.” She sighed and looked up into his eyes. “I wasn’t sure I wanted this until you. And I wasn’t sure when I wanted it even then. But now it’s here, and… I want your baby, Hunter. I want our baby. Because it’s ours.”
Hunter leaned down, touching his brow to hers and closing his eyes. “I love you, Mal. So much.”
Mal hummed and reached up for the back of his neck. “I love you too, babe. And so does our baby.”
He grinned at that, then kissed her again.
And it was something to remember.