“What are you doing?” she asked, a smile in her voice.
“This belongs inside you, and one day, when we’re both ready, we’re going to make a baby together. I’m just practicing.”
She sighed happily. “Well, you are an athlete. Practice makes perfect.”
Why is my heart racing like I’ve been doing speed drills?Are we really talking about this? About starting a family?
“What if I’m not ready when you are?” Tension that hadn’t been there before laced her tone.
Fuck. I shouldn’t have brought it up. The truth was, I wanted kids, but only with her. “It’s okay. It’ll happen when it happens. We don’t have to talk about it now. We’ll get there.”
She rolled on her side to face me. “It’s a big deal. Life changing. And with my bakery and you traveling during the season...”
“Most of it would fall on you. I understand your hesitance.”
“It’s not just that. We... until recently, we hated each other. How can we be talking about having babies?”
I trailed the back of my hand over her arm. “I never hated you.”
“I see that now.”
“I’m sure about you. That’s all that matters to me. I never want us to be apart.” Fear curled in my gut. We were going back to the real world after this. To the circumstances that required us to live separate lives.
“Who says we have to?”
“Life. You said it yourself. I’m going back to away games and traveling all the bloody time. You’re going back to buttercream and rolling pins and demanding brides.”
I hated how needy I sounded, but I hadn’t allowed myself to think of this until just now. Not really. I did what I did best, ignored the issue until it either went away or became a problem. My knee gave a throb as if to remind me of the latter.
“My job is more than buttercream and rolling pins.”
“You know what I mean. You were in that kitchen all hours of the night, working your pretty little arse off.”
“And you will always be practicing or playing.”
I tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I suppose we’ll have to figure out how to make time for each other.” She gave me a sweet smile. “Have you talked to Scarlett since the last time? How’s the extra staff working out?”
“Not much more than just a text or two each day. It’s hard here with the time difference. She seems to be handling it really well, though. The extra staff helps.”
That made me proud. I’d done that for her. I’d given her what she needed, but of course, I’d asked for something in return.
“I’m glad.”
“It’ll take some of the pressure off if we can keep them on.”
The idea of easing her burden made my heart swell. “Good. That’s good. I just want you to be happy, hen. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“You make me happy.”
Wrapping her in my arms, I pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. “You can’t know what that means to me.”
A harsh banging on the door pulled my attention from my wife and made me wish like hell I’d booked us at the inn for the remainder of our visit. But, after our wedding night, we’d returned to a magically working water heater and my entire family in residence.
“Taylor, if you two don’t quit shagging up here, Mum is going to come up here and drag you downstairs by your ear.” My sister’s voice was strident and annoyed.
Becca erupted into giggles, attempting to get out of bed, but I wasn’t having it. I tugged her into me and layered kisses all over her face and neck.
“Mmm, maybe I’ll just eat you for breakfast,” I murmured against her ear.