Nerves had me jumping right into it. “I was thinking. The boys are getting older and eventually, they’ll need rooms of their own. So, what do you think about moving them from the room next to ours to the two down the end of the hall? They’d be right across from each other so they wouldn’t feel too separated. We could even get them walkie-talkies until they felt comfortable sleeping alone.”
He turned to face me and his mouth pulled down in thought. “Sure, eventually, but they like sharing a room. We don’t need to rush.”
Um, actually…
I made a face. “And what if we did?”
“Need to rush?” he asked, clearly confused.
This is it. Don’t overthink it. Just take the dive.
My shoulders jumped lightly and my heart began to race when the words fell out of my mouth, “Well, where else are we going to put the nursery?”
Tor’s body stilled. From under me, I held up the white stick with shaking fingers, and for a second, he just stared at it. He stared at it a long moment before he looked down at me and when his unreadable eyes met mine, I swallowed hard. He gave no indication of how he felt about this news. When he closed his eyes and lowered his head with a long sigh, my face fell and my heart sank deep into the pit of my stomach.
Uh oh.
He was unhappy.
My heart stopped dead.
Well, I didn’t see that coming.
A moment passed, then two, and just when I thought to open my mouth to say God knows what, out of his mouth came a quiet, “Finally.”
My head snapped up.
One word, but it had my heart beating again. Mouth dry, I exhaled deeply in relief and held a hand to my chest. A light laugh left me but it faded fast and I found myself scrambling backwards as my gorgeous husband started for me. His hungry eyes had my lips parting and his towel fell away when he put a knee to the edge of the bed. He crawled forward, strong body looming over me, naked as the day he was born, and I lay trapped underneath him, cheeks pink and warm, blinking in surprise.
“How long have you known?” he demanded.
“A couple of days,” I responded.
He glanced down at where my top had ridden up, belly exposed. “Are you sure?”
Why did he sound so tense?
My smile was warm and my nod was light. “Three tests says so.”
His rigid body hovered, his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, and then, a miracle.
The hard angles of his face gentled, his usually cool eyes warmed, he curled a hand around the back of my neck, gripped my nape and lifted my head as he lowered his own. He kissed me tenderly and I sighed against his lips. Soon, kissing wasn’t enough and he undressed me carefully, lowered his solid body over mine and although it was sex, he didn’t fuck me. I felt the difference.
He maintained eye contact as he made love to me, refusing to let me look away, begging me to see him, demanding I feel him, ordering me to understand how precious I was to him. And I did. My heart was flooded with it.
Afterwards, Tor wrapped his arms around my nude body and refused to let go, tenderly nuzzling my belly as he lectured our baby, “And you are going to be good to your mama. None of this heartburn bullshit, okay? No getting her sick in the mornings either. You need to learn this shit early. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
My body shook in silent laughter as I lightly scratched at the short hairs that covered his nape.
He dipped his face into my stomach and pressed his lips to the area just under my bellybutton, kissing us both dotingly.
And just when I thought I couldn’t adore him anymore than I already did, I went and fell all over again, loving him more today than I had yesterday.
Chapter24
At peace
Ettore