Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 65354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
I walked from my car to see Justin leaning against the door. He was grinning at me, and I raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m guessing you already knew?”
“Tori couldn’t keep the secret to herself, but I said nothing to anyone. Congratulations!” Justin clapped me on the back as we walked in. “You seem happy.”
“It was a shock, but I am. I’m thinking a lot about the future now.” We walked into the large room, and I glanced around at the machines. I was in the mood for a good run and told Justin I was going to hit the treadmill. As I ran with music blaring in my ear, I thought about telling my mom about the baby. She was going to be thrilled.
I grabbed a small bite to eat with the guys after an intense workout and headed back to the condo. I opened the door and glanced around the living room. It seemed that Elyse was still sleeping. I set my keys down and walked down the hall towards the bedroom, peeking inside to see her sleeping peacefully. She looked beautiful, and I smiled at her before going back to the living room.
I checked out the schedule and made notes of when I’d be gone. I hated my travel schedule, but there were people to help. We could do this.
Chapter 22
ELYSE
I MANAGED MY DAYS with a lot of snacks and rests. I painted as much as I could and stocked the galleries, making regular visits to make sure everything was running smoothly. I had Tori and Ryder breathing down my neck to make sure I felt okay, and it was exhausting. We told the team a couple of weeks before everyone else, and the wives stepped up to the plate to help.
It was nice having support. I missed my mom so much in my quiet moments, and even cried some nights. I wanted to tell Diana more than anything, but our last conversation had gone badly. She was angry that I was with Ryder after the night of my showing and worried endlessly about me. That was something she’d been doing since my mom passed away, and while I appreciated it, I felt stifled. I wanted to live my own life now.
I came home early one day and started to make dinner for Ryder. He only had practice today, and I thought we could relax before he left next week for another road trip. I had an appointment when he was gone, but Tori was going to go with me and offered to stay at the condo with me while he was away.
I didn’t want to think about that as I baked chicken and made mashed potatoes. I also had a salad ready to go and bought cupcakes for dessert. I was craving them all the time right now. I knew I needed to curb that, but tonight I was indulging in a chocolate treat. I got Ryder his favorite lemon one and knew he’d work it off in five minutes.
I looked up to see my sweaty man walk through the door, smiling immediately. “Hi, baby.”
“Love, it smells amazing in here.”
“I wanted to make dinner for us. It was a good day, and I needed some alone time with you.” He dropped his gym bag and walked over to me, kissing me gently.
“You feel okay?” he asked between kisses as I slid my arms around his waist.
“I managed to visit two galleries and stop for dessert.” I gazed into his eyes and kissed him again. I was coming up on twelve weeks now, and the nausea was slowly going away. Everything had been great, and I felt good about the baby.
“Productive.” He kissed my nose. “Need any help with dinner?”
“I just need gravy for the potatoes, but everything else is nearly ready.” I heard the beep of the timer and grabbed the mitts to pull the chicken from the oven. “I tried to make it healthy, but the potatoes were too tempting.”
“I can work it off,” he assured me, reaching into the pantry for the gravy we enjoyed every so often.
“I’m just going to get fat.” I hated the idea, and Ryder stared at me.
“You’re not. We talked about you working out at the gym with the other girls so you can feel better about things.”
I knew he didn’t mean to hurt my feelings in any way, and I did talk about that. I just felt tired when I wasn’t working and needed to find the energy.
“You look incredible, Elyse. I’m not telling you what to do, but just reminding you about what we spoke about before. You know what I need to do with my job in the gym, and I support anyone else with that.”
“I know. You’re a machine.” I laughed and hugged him. “I do want to do something to maintain this. The doctor said it would help with the delivery as well. That’s always a plus.”