“Hello?”
“Hey…” There was a lot of noise in the background. “Everything okay?” A baby wailed. “Is that?”
“He arrived, little baby boy.”
That was quick. He hadn’t made any mention of Lily being in labour.
“Already? Wow. Congratulations.” I turned to Mitch,ready to jump up and down with joy. “They had their baby. A little boy.”
“At least they knew about it.”
My eyes went large as saucers.
“Mom and baby are both happy and healthy. Arrived a little under an hour ago.” Euphoric wouldn’t even be the best word to describe how he sounded. “How’s Mitch?”
“Not much better. Was going to see if you wanted to join us for dinner, but I think you have other plans.”
“Another night.”
“Absolutely. Give our best to Lily, and we’ll talk to you soon.” I hung up, torn between feeling on top of the world over their news, and in the bottom of the well looking at Mitch.
“That’s it. Get up.” I smacked his leg as I jumped off the couch. “We’re going out.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him up. “Damn it, Mitch Macomber, it’s our anniversary, and we have dinner reservations waiting for us. Tonight, you’re going to put on your best suit, and we’re going to have fun and do all the things we shouldn’t, because we deserve it. Do you hear me?”
He blinked and stared at me. “Yes, I’m sorry. You’re right, today is a special day.”
“Damn right. We can deal with what’s-her-name tomorrow.” I stomped my foot for added effect. “Now go. Our reservations are at eight.”
Thirty minutes later, we were ready. Mitch cleaned up well, always did, and looked his charming best in his navy suit with matching bowtie. I opted to go with a jean jacket over my maxi dress and had my wavy blonde hair pinned up, a break from the relaxed braids on either side of my head.
My sweet man gave me a kiss on the lips, reminding me I was still his and how much he loved me. “You are gorgeous. But you’re missing something.”
I scanned myself up and down. “Nope, I have everything.”
He presented me with a long black box he’d pulled from his pocket. “Not everything.”
The lid creaked as I opened it, revealing a stunning tree of life pendant I’d had my heart set on. It was made of hand-twisted metal threads, so each pendant was as unique as the wearer.
“Those are our birthstones.” He pointed to the garnet-coloured stone for January, his birth month, and the emerald-green coloured one for mine in May.
“Help me put it on?” I tore it out of the box and turned my back to him, leaning to give him easy access to my neck. I kissed him after he clasped it and held the weight of it in my hands. It was perfect. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you.”
After this afternoon’s incident, I really couldn’t give him the old pencil case with the positive pregnancy test in it, but I had nothing else of value to give him.
“Your gift,” I purred as an idea sprung to mind, “will come later. I’m going to perform a little show for you, and I’m going to be your little slave tonight. Anything you want.”
His eyes grew large, and he pulled me close. “Anything?”
“Anything.” I needed to distract him and keep his mind off what’s-her-name and locked on me. Plus, we were adventure seekers, and I knew by the way his eyes came back to life, he had something naughty planned.
He slapped my ass. “Wear the red underwear.”
I turned around and flipped up my dress, flashing my red lace thong. “Already on it.”
“It’s going to be a quick dinner.”
“Nope.” I pushed and grinded against him. “It’ll heighten the anticipation.”